The town is first mentioned in the Fall of Assyria Chronicle, as being a refuge for the Babylonian king Nabopolassar during his attack on the city of Assur in 615 BCE. Tikrit is usually identified with the Mesopotamian Birtha. As Tagrit, it was the seat of the Maphrian of the Monophysites. Over a thousand years ago, it possessed a fortress and a large Christian monastery. It was renowned as a centre for the production of woolen textiles. The Arab Uqaylid Dynasty took hold of Tikrit in 1036. Around 1138, the legendary Kurdish leader Saladin was born there; his many achievements include defending Egypt against the Christian Crusaders and recapturing Jerusalem in 1187. The modern province of which Tikrit is the capital is named after him. The town, and much of Iraq with it, was devastated in the 13th century by the Mongol invasion under Hulagu. Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river (at 34.61N, 43.68E). The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the province of Salah ad Din-