1119 A.D.

Battle of Sarmada, between the Crusader Principality of Antioch and the Artuqid Atabeg ruler of Aleppo, witnessing the success of the local Muslim forces even without assistance from the Seljuq sultanate.

1128 - 1146 A.D.

Atabeg ‘Imad Zangi rules Aleppo, uniting it with Mosul and strengthening the northern frontier against the Crusaders.

1148 A.D.

The second Crusade arrives in Syria, led by Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, besieging Damascus for four days, but failing to conquer it.

1154 A.D.

Nur al-Din, son of Zangi, takes control of Damascus and establishes it as a capital city. It becomes the new cultural, economic, religious, political and educational hub of the Islamic world at large, attracting many scholars.

1174 A.D.

At Nur al-Din's death, his powerful lieutenant Salah al-Din (Saladin) defeats other claimants to the throne, marries Nur al-Din’s wife and is recognised as sultan, becoming founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty.

1187 A.D.

Battle of Hattin in which Salah al-Din defeats the Crusader army and liberates Jerusalem.

1206 A.D.

Badi' al-Zaman al-Jazari (from al-Jazira) is commissioned by the Atabeg Artuqid court to write his brilliant illustrated manuscript on mechanical engineering, a milestone in technology history.

1230 - 1240 A.D.

One of the greatest Sufis of Islam, Ibn al-Arabi (b. 1156), travels all around the Muslim lands and finally settles in Damascus where, under Ayyubid patronage, he composes many works.

1259 - 1260 A.D.

After devastating Baghdad, the Mongols, led by Hulegu, invade Syria and put an end to the Ayyubid dynasty. The Mongols lose Syria when they are defeated by the Mamluks in Ain Jalut.

1271 A.D.

Crac des Chevaliers, a critical Crusader stronghold in the Syrian coastal mountains, falls to the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars (r. 1260–77).

1302 A.D.

Arwad Island is the last Crusader position in Syria to be repossessed by the Muslims.

1305 - 1375 A.D.

Damascene Ibn al-Shatir, a great Muslim astronomer, craftsman and instrument designer, composes important new planetary theories that predate Copernicus by two centuries.

1348 A.D.

The most devastating plague hits Damascus, handicapping the city and killing 2,000 people a day, as recorded in the chronicles of the Moroccan voyager Ibn Battuta.

1400 - 1401 A.D.

Last Mongol invasion of Damascus, by Timur i-Lang (Tamerlane).
Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian historian in Damascus at the time, pleads with Tamerlane on behalf of the city, but the Citadel is breached and the city sacked.

1404 A.D.

Mongol troops return to Central Asia after sending the scholars and artisans of Damascus to Samarqand and massacring the rest of the population. Mamluk leadership is weakly restored. Internal dissent and militias are rife.

1477 A.D.

The Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay goes on an inspection tour of the Syrian provinces and strengthens urban development as Syria is contested by the rising power of the Ottomans in Turkey.

1482 - 1546 A.D.

Prolific historiographical and encyclopaedic writing in the Mamluk period. Three authors focused on urban topography of Damascus are Ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi (d. 1503), al-Nu’aymi (d.1520) and Ibn Tulun (d.1546).

1491 - 1520 A.D.

Cultural and economic exchange between the Italian states and Mamluk Syria, exemplified by Andreas Alpagos, physician of the Venetian consulate in Damascus, who translates many Arabic manuscripts.

1516 A.D.

At the Battle of Marj Dabiq, north of Aleppo, the Ottoman Empire defeats the Mamluks and takes over Syria.

1518 A.D.

Sultan Selim I enters Damascus and builds a shrine over the tomb of Sufi Sheikh Ibn al-Arabi, with a mosque and a takiyya nearby, as the first Ottoman imperial buildings in Damascus.

1554 - 1566 A.D.

Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent commissions the huge takiyya in Damascus, a pious and imperial act meant to accommodate and impress pilgrims, under the supervision of famous court architect Sinan.

1570 - 1590 A.D.

The Ottoman Empire's military strength and imperial patronage of religious and commercial buildings, especially in Damascus, by Lala Mustafa Pasha (1570), Darwish Pasha (1574) and Sinan Pasha (1589).