Ayyubid Syria dynasty was a Sunni Muslim Kurdish dynasty that ruled much of Syria during the late 12th and early 13th centuries, alongside Egypt and other parts of the Levant and Middle East
 
The dynasty traces its roots to Najm ad-Din Ayyub ibn Shadhi, a Kurdish soldier of fortune who served under the Zengid ruler Nur al-Din in Syria and Iraq Britannica+1. His son Saladin (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn) rose to prominence as vizier of Fatimid Egypt. After Nur al-Din’s death in 1174, Saladin proclaimed himself Sultan of Egypt in allegiance to the Abbasid Caliphate, abolishing the Fatimid Caliphate and establishing the Ayyubid Sultanate