Page 523

Cli. XVI THE CAREER OF NUR-AD-DIN 523 
Manuel had little reason to desire the destruction of NUr-ad-Din's power,
wishing rather to utilize him, negatively, to hold the Latins in check in
Syria, and, positively, as an ally against Kilij Arsian in Anatolia. Negotiations
were accordingly set in train at the end of May, and in return for Nür-ad-Din's
surrender of Bertram of Toulouse, Bertrand of Blancfort, the master of the
Temple, and other Frankish prisoners, the alliance was formed and Manuel
withdrew to Anatolia, "having earned thanks and praise, and without injuring
a single Moslem."1' 
 The immediate advantages which accrued to Nür-ad-Din from this situation
were limited to the occupation of Raban, Kesoun, Behesni, and Marash while
Kilij Arslan was engaged against the emperor and the Dãnishmendid
Yaghi-Basan, in the course of i i6o. During the same year Reginald of Châtillon
fell into his hands, captured by Ibn-ad-Dayah on his return from a raid against
Aintab in November. But in spite of the confusion which resulted from this
in Antioch, Nür-ad-Din seems to have been unable to turn it to profit,
and indeed after some raiding, he concluded an armistice with Baldwin. Either
before or after this, however, he made an attack on Uãrim, which was
repulsed by a combined force of Latins, Greeks, and Armenians, but succeeded
in recovering Arzghan, which had been retaken earlier by Reginald. 
 The two-year armistice with Baldwin relieved Nür-ad-Din's anxieties
over Damascus and the south, which had been exposed, almost unprotected,
to some raiding during his northern campaign in i i6o. But the course of
events in Egypt set him a new, and even embarrassing, problem. When Shavar,
driven out by Dirgam in August 1163, appealed for military assistance to
reinstate him, Nür-ad-Din, already burdened with the task of maintaining
his extensive territories with relatively small forces, hesitated. Finally,
however, he was persuaded to accept the proposal by Shirkuh, "a man of great
bravery and strength of character, and impervious to fear," on the understanding
that Nür-ad-DIn should receive one-third of the revenues of Egypt, less
the pay of his troops. Shirküh set out late in April 1164, accompanied
by his nephew Saladin, and defeated and killed Dirgam under the walls of
Cairo in August. Shavar's failure to observe his engagement led ShirkUh to
occupy the province of Sharqiya; the vizir then called on Amalric for assistance
on the former terms, and the joint forces of the Latins and Egyptians besieged
Shirküh in Bilbais for three months.12 At length Amairic agreed to treat;
"On the Byzantine intervention see below, chapter XVII, pp. 543—545.
12 Forfurther discussionof Amairic's Egyptianpolicy, see below, chapterXVll,
pp.5~—55o.