The minbar of Saladin: reconstructing a jewel of Islamic art

The minbar of Saladin: reconstructing a jewel of Islamic art

"This is the remarkable story of one of the masterpieces of Islamic art, the Minbar of Saladin. Made in the middle of the 12th century, this wooden pulpit, perhaps the finest ever seen, stood in the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for some eight hundred years until it was burned down in 1969 by a tourist claiming to be acting on orders from God. Its loss to the Muslim world was immense, and so the decision was taken by the mosque's guardians, the Jordanian royal family, to rebuild it."--Jacket.

New York : Thames & Hudson

Edited by Lynette Singer

A stairway to heaven -- Crossroads of conflict: the minbar of Saladin's place in history -- The destruction of the minbar and the aftermath -- Islamic art: sacred geometry, harmony and balance -- Rebuilding the minbar: the quest for lost knowledge and skills -- The man who solved the puzzle -- The minbar reconstructed -- The new blossoming of Islamic craftsmanship.

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