Among Syrian historians of the period the most important are abu-Shamah (1203-1268), chronicler of the careers of Nur-al-Din and Saladin, and abu-al-Fida (1273-1332), Ayyubid ruler of Hamah and continuator of the great ibn- al-Athir (d. 1234). Abu-al-Fida made a worthy contribu- tion to geography too ; he argues for the sphericity of the earth and the loss or gain of one day as one travels around it. His contemporary Shams-al-Din al-Dimashqi (d. 1326/7) wrote a cosmographical treatise rich in physical, mineral and ethnic data. Another Damascene, ibn-Fadl-AUah al- Umari (d. 1349), produced a travel book and an epistolary manual for administrators and diplomats. The two leading historians of the period, the Egyptian al-Maqrizi and the Tunisian ibn-Khaldun, are connected with Syria. Al- Maqrizi ( 1364-1442) was of Baalbekan ancestry and held a professorship in Damascus. His teacher was ibn-Khaldun (1332-1406), who, in 1401, accompanied the Burji sultan Faraj to Damascus and was received as an honoured guest by Timur. Ibn-Khaldun's prolegomena, the first volume in his comprehensive history, entitles him to the distinction of being the greatest philosopher of history Islam produced. In his attempt to interpret historical happenings and national traits on economic, geographic, physical and other secular bases, ibn-Khaldun had no predecessor in Islam and remains without a worthy successor.
The onslaught on Syria by Timur Lang (Tamerlane) was the last and most destructive of the Mongol invasions. Timur spread havoc and ruin throughout south-western Asia until Syria lay prostrate beneath his feet. For three days in October 1400 Aleppo was given over to plunder. Its citadel was perhaps for the first time taken by storm, the invader having sacrificed of his men enough to fill the moat with their corpses. Some twenty thousand of the city's inhabitants were slaughtered and their severed heads piled high. The city's priceless schools and mosques built by Nurids and Ayyubids were for ever destroyed. The
