 The seat of Ayyubid government from Saladin 's rule from the 1170s up to al @-@ Adil 's reign in 1218 had been Damascus . The city provided a strategic advantage in the constant war with the Crusaders and allowed the sultan to keep an eye on his relatively ambitious vassals in Syria and al @-@ Jazira . Cairo was too remote to serve as a base of operations , but had always served as the economic foundation of the empire . This rendered the city a critical constituent in the repertoire of the Ayyubid possessions . When Saladin was proclaimed sultan in Cairo in 1171 , he chose the Fatimid @-@ built Lesser Western Palace ( part of a larger palace complex in Cairo isolated from the urban sprawl ) as the seat of government . Saladin himself resided in the former Fatimid vizier palace , Turan @-@ Shah took up a former Fatimid prince 's living quarter , and their father occupied the Pearl Pavilion which was situated outside of Cairo overlooking the city 's canal . The successive Ayyubid sultans of Egypt would live in the Lesser Western Palace . 
