When the Mongol Ilkhan Hulagu besieged Aleppo, beginning in December 1259, one of the men in his camp was a mameluke, a slave officer and representative of the ruler of Homs, who had already submitted to the Mongols; this is his account, as handed down through two Arab historians. He describes the Mongol camp, Hulagu's negotiations with Aleppo, and his own conversations with Hulagu during the investment and taking of the city.