Salaam. See Salltation.
Salacia, in Roman mythology, was a goddess of the salt waters, the wife of Neptune, and mother of Triton.
Saladin, the name given by Western writers to Sa- lah KD-DiN Yl'SSef ibn-Ayub, the sultan of Egypt and Syria, and the founder of the Ayubite dynasty in those countries. As the great Moslem hero of the third crusade, and the beau-ideal of Moslem chivalry, he is one of the most interesting characters presented to us by the his- tory of that period. He belonged to the Kurdish tribe of Kavad, and was born at Tekrit (a town on the Ti- gris, of which his father, Ayub, was kulwal, or governor, under the Seljuks) in 1137. Following the example of his father and uncle, he entered the service of Nourcd- din (q. v.), prince of Syria, and accompanied his uncle in his various expeditions to Egypt in command of Noureddin's army. Saladin was at this time much ad- dicted to wine and gambling, and it was not till, at the head of a small detachment of the Syrian army, he was beleaguered in Alexandria by the combined Christians of Palestine and the Egyptians, that he gave indications of possessing the qualities requisite for a great captain. On the death of his uncle, Shirkoh, Saladin became grand-vizier of the Fatimite caliph, and received the title of El-me/ek (l-7iasr," the Victorious Prince.'' But the Christians of Syria and Palestine, alarmed at the eleva- tion of a Syrian emir to supreme power in Egypt, made a combined and vigorous attack on the new vizier. Saladin foiled them at Damietta, and transferred the C()ntest to Palestine, taking several fortresses, and de- feating his assailants near Gaza; but about the same time his new-born power was exposed to a still more ft)rmidable danger from his master, Noureddin, whose jealousy of the talents and ambition of his able young lieutenant required all the skill and wariness at Saladiu's command to allay. On Noureddin's death, in 1174, Sal- adin began a struggle with his successor, which ended in his establishing himself as the sultan of Egypt and Syria, a title which was confirmed to him by the caliph of Bagdad. The next ten years were occupied in petty wars with the Christians, and in the arrangement and consolidation of his now extensive dominion. The plundering by the Christians of a rich pilgrim caravan on its w'ay to Mecca, an infringement of the treaty with Saladin, brought down upon them the latter's vengeance. Their army suffered a dreadful defeat at Tiberias (July 4, 1 187). The king of Jerusalem, the two grand-masters, and many other warriors of high rank were taken cap- tive; Jerusalem was stormed (Oct. 2), and almost every other fortified place in Palestine was taken. The news of this great success of the infidels being brought to Western Europe, aroLised the enthusiasm of the Chris- tians to its highest pitch, and a powerful army of cru- saders, headed by the kings of France and England, speedily made their appearance on the scene of strife. They captured Acre in 1191, and Kichard Coeur-de- Lion, at the head of that portion of the crusading army which adhered to him, continued the war with success, twice defeated Saladin, took C;esarca and Jaffa, and finally obtained a treaty for three years (Aug. 1192), by which the coast from Jaffa to Tyre was yielded to the Christians. In the following year, Saladin died at Damascus of a disease under which he had long suffer- ed. Saladin was not a mere soldier; his wise adminis- tration left behind it traces which endured for centuries; and the citadel of Cairo and sinulry canals, dikes, and roads are existing evidences of his careful attention to
SALAGRAMMA
251
SALAMIS
the wants of his subjects. In him the warrior instinct of the Kurd was united to a higli intelligence ; and even his opponents frankly attribute to him the noblest qual- ities of mediajval chivalr}^, invincible courage, inviolable tidelity to treaties, greatness of soul, piety, justice, and moderation. — Chambers s Eiicyclop. s. v.
Salagramma, in Hindil mythology, was a stone into which Vishnu was transformed by the curse of a virtuous woman after he had violated her chastity in the guise of her husband.
Sa'lah (Heb. She'lach, tX^'ii, something sent forth, as a. javelin or a sprout ; Sept. and New Test. 2o\a, but 'S.aXa in 1 Chron. i, 24; A.V. '•Shelah" in 1 Chron. i, 18, 24), the only named son of the patriarch Arphaxad, and the father of Eber (Gen. x, 24; xi, 12, 13, 14, 15; 1 Chron. i, 18, 24), B.C. cir. 2478. See Sala. " The name is significant oi extension, the cognate verb (nVj) being applied to the spreading-ont of the roots and branches of trees (Jer. xvii, 8; Ezek. xvii, G). It thus seems to imply the historical fact of the gradual extension of a branch of the Shemitic race from its original seat in Northern Assyria towards the river Euphrates. A place with a similar name in Northern Mesopotamia is noticed by Syrian writers (Knobel, in Gen. xi) ; but we can hard- Ij' assume its identity with the Salah of the Bible. Ewald (Gesch. i, 354) and Yon Bohlen {fntiod. to Gen. ii, 205) regard the name as purely fictitious, the former explain- ing it as a so)i or offspring, the latter as the father of a race. That the name is significant does not prove it fictitious, and the conclusions drawn by these writers are unwarranted" (Smith).