| Battle of the Horns of Hama | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theAyyubid-Zengid war | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Ayyubid Sultanate | Zengid Emirate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Saladin Muhammad ibn Shirkuh Shihab al-Din al-Harimi | Muzaffar ad-Din Gökböri | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 10,000 | 10,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Minimal | Minimal | ||||||||
TheBattle of the Horns of Hama orHammah[1] (Arabic:معركة قرون حماة,Qurun Hama;[1](Kurdish: شەڕی قۆچەکانی حەمە, şerê qijikên hamayê) 13 AprilAD 1175; 19RamadanAH 570)[2] was anAyyubid victory over theZengids, which leftSaladin in control ofDamascus,Baalbek, andHoms.Gökböri commanded the right wing of the Zengid army, which broke Saladin's left flank before being routed by a charge from Saladin's personal guard.[3] Despite around20,000 men being involved on both sides, Saladin gained a nearly-bloodless victory by the psychological effect of the arrival of his Egyptian reinforcements.[1]
Following the battle, Saladin initially placed the rightful heirs over these territories:Muhammad ibn Shirkuh inHoms,Palmyra, andal-Rahba;Shihab al-Din al-Harimi overHama andIbn al-Muqaddam inBaalbek.[4]Gökböri himself defected toSaladin in 1182.[5] Once his power was further consolidated, however, they were deposed in favour of members of his own dynasty.
On 6 May 1175, Saladin's opponents agreed to a treaty recognizing his rule overSyria apart fromAleppo.[1] Saladin requested that theAbbasid caliph acknowledge his right to the entirety ofNur ad-Din's empire, but he was recognized simply as lord over what he already held and was encouraged to attack theCrusaderkingdom inJerusalem.[1]
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