Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi (Arabic: صلاح الدين الأيوبي, Kurdish: سهلاحه دينێ ئه يووبى / Silhedînê Eyûbî, Persian: صلاح الدین ایوبی, Turkish: Selahaddin Eyyubi) known also as Saladin or Salah al-Din Yusuf (c. 1138 – March 4, 1193), Sultan of Egypt and Syria, was a 12th-century Kurdish Muslim general and warrior from Tikrit, in present day northern Iraq. He founded the Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt, Syria, Yemen (except for the Northern Mountains), Mesopotamia, Mecca, Hejaz and Diyar Bakr. Although he is known worldwide as Saladin, his given name was Yusuf--an Arabic equivalent to the English name "Joseph."