the natural features of the hillock in the middle of Aleppo had made it an ideal site for defensive structure since prehistory. After the victories of Saladin over the Crusaders its key role as a stronghold in the control of Syria was bolstered further; his son al-Malik al-Zahir Ghazl converted it into a formidable war machine bristling with the most modern developments in military technique, a process accelerated by a state of constant belligerence,The entrance was protected by a brace of powerful keeps crowned by a series of embrasures at the end of a defiant access bridge additionally guarded by a forepart tower. The latter was join and further raised in the Mamluk period with a immense structure as identifiable by the two-colour inlay around the windows. A colossal ditch was dug all around the hill to make the slope higher and steeper, Entirely flagged with reused stone, material thrown down from the restored and upgraded walls would have had a lethal effect on anyone bold enough to try to scale them or undermine them with tunnels.