Meanwhile difficult problems had arisen in Syria. The Saljuq Turks, who were now dominant in Baghdad, were fanatically orthodox and set themselves deliberately to root out the Fatimids from Islam. In 461, during the period of disorder in Egypt, they had gained possession of Jerusalem, and in 466 they took Damascus which never again acknowledged a Fatimid ruler. The Saljuq general Atsiz then planned an expedition against Egypt itself, and as this threat came just at the moment when Badr was setting himself to the task of restoring order in Egypt he was not in a position to attempt an expedition against the Saljuk Turks. Ships were made ready to remove the court to Alexandria, and messengers were sent out to attempt to bribe the Turkish general to retire. In fact Atsiz was not well supported and felt himself not in a position to press forward, so that this danger was averted. As soon as Badr had reduced Lower Egypt he sent an expedition to recover Palestine and Syria, and his army was able to gain possession of Jerusalem, where Atsiz had been governor since 468. Hard pressed by the Egyptians Atsiz appealed for help to the Saljuq general Tutush who had entered Syria with large reinforcements, and at length evacuated from Jerusalem and marched out to join with him. He met Tutush at Damascus, but the Saljuq Commander-in-Chief severely rebuked Atsiz for quitting Jerusalem and arrested and executed him (A.H. 471), and then himself took possession of the whole of Syria. In 478 Tutush, now ʿAbbasid viceroy in Syria took Aleppo, but soon after this he found himself opposed by his nephew Barkyaruk, with whom he was compelled to wage war for some time until he was slain in battle by his nephew’s forces in 488. Taking advantage of this civil war Badr made another attempt upon Damascus, but this was unsuccessful, although the Egyptians recovered Tyre and Akka. Shortly after this success, in 487, Badr died and was succeeded as wazir by his son Abu l-Kasim Shahanshah, commonly known as al-Afdal; and the wazir’s death was soon followed by that of the Khalif Mustansir. The rule of Badr was especially associated with a great development of building, and especially with the construction of new walls and gates round Cairo. In this work Badr employed Syrian architects who introduced Byzantine styles of architecture and of fortification, and made a greater use of stone in place of the brick which predominated in the older constructions. The existing gates known respectively as the Bab an-Nasr, the Bab al-Futuh, and the Bab az-Zuwayla, are specimens of Badr’s work, and show an almost purely Byzantine style in marked contrast to the native Egyptian work, and so the outpost tower called by the unintelligible name of the Burg adh-Dhiffir. All these formed part of the south boundary of the ancient Kahira, but are now included within the area of the modern city. To the same period belongs the restoration of the Nilometer in the island of Roda (A.H. 485).