Compared to other medieval Islamic periods, the Ayyubid period in Jerusalem (1187–1250) has remained unexplored by archaeologists and art historians. This is a short and turbulent period that falls within a much larger period of the Crusader wars in the Levant, lasting about two centuries (1096–1291).

The conquest of Jerusalem by Salah al-Din in 1187, after nearly nine decades of Frankish rule, opened a new era of cultural, socio-economic, and architectural change. Thus, the renewed political fervor that followed it gave fresh impetus to the extensive building activity initiated by the Ayyubids, exemplified by a variety of monuments that would later influence the magnificent medieval Islamic architecture of Jerusalem.

My many years of research and fieldwork in and around the Old City of Jerusalem provide a comprehensive architectural and archaeological study of the Ayyubid buildings that still stand there today. I have described, recorded, and discussed twenty-two such monuments by means of survey drawings and photographs, providing essential archaeological data and architectural discussion that complement the epigraphic, archival, and historical literary evidence.

I will present a selection of new archaeological and architectural discoveries that were revealed in the course of my work. I will focus on four buildings: the Double Gate of Bab al-Silsila/Bab al-Sakina (1198–1199), Qubbat Sulayman (ca. 1200), the Qubba Nahawiyya (1207–1208), and the Madrasa Mu’azzamiyya (1217–1218). While these buildings include many characteristic features of the Jerusalem’s Ayyubid architecture, they also present some archaeological and architectural problems. The fact that the first two buildings include many Crusader architectural spolia has led to a controversy among scholars regarding their identification as Crusader or Ayyubid in date.