Ayyubid Jerusalem: The Holy City in Context 1187-1250 – By Robert Hillenbrand and R. Auld

By Robert Hillenbrand and R. Auld

Ayyubid rule marks a new beginning for Islamic Jerusalem, after almost a century of Crusader domination, and it served as a curtain-raiser for the thorough transformation which the city experienced under the Mamluks. This renewed interest in Jerusalem was triggered by the Crusader presence and by the supreme effort that it took to dislodge them from the city. Nevertheless, it proved problematic to sustain the momentum generated by Saladin’s victory at Hattin in July 1187 and his capture of Jerusalem a few months later. This was a time of transition, when—after the shock administered by the Crusaders—Jerusalem reclaimed its Islamic identity once more.

This work, edited by Robert Hillenbrand and Sylvia Auld, looks at the city, its history and its monuments, and at Ayyubid art in general during this critical period; it examines their context and what influenced them. It draws on the expertise of a wide range of disciplines represented by internationally acknowledged academics and specialists who have produced a corpus of material which will serve as a standard work on the subject for the foreseeable future.

This monumental work stands as the third element in a great trilogy on the Islamic heritage of Jerusalem which the Altajir Trust (and its predecessor The World of Islam Festival Trust) has published in the last 25 years. Thus Ayyubid Jerusalem takes its place alongside Mamluk Jerusalem (1987) and Ottoman Jerusalem (2000)—three works which will endure as a magisterial record of the fortunes and achievements of the city from the 12th to the 20th centuries.

CONTENTS

Ayyubid Jerusalem—a Historical Introduction – Carole Hillenbrand

The Art of the Ayyubids: an Overview – Robert Hillenbrand

Cross-currents and Coincidences: a Perspective on Ayyubid Metalwork – Sylvia Auld

The Minbar of Nur al-din in Context – Sylvia Auld

The Wooden Balustrade in the Sakhra – Sylvia Auld

The Power of the Word: Ayyubid Inscriptions in Jerusalem – Sheila S Blair

Woodwork in Syria, Palestine and Egypt During the 12th and 13th Centuries –Jonathan M Bloom

Smaller Domes in the Haram al-sharif reconsidered in Light of a Recent Survey – Michael Hamilton Burgoyne

Ayyubid Illustrated Manuscripts and their North Jaziran and cabbasid Neighbours – Anna Contadini

Religious Circles in Jerusalem in the Ayyubid Period – Anne-Marie Eddé

An Ambiguous Aesthetic: Crusader Spolia in Ayyubid Jerusalem – Finbarr Barry Flood

Ayyubid Monuments in Jerusalem – Mahmoud Hawari

Economic Growth and Currency in Ayyubid Palestine – Stefan Heidemann

The Ayyubid Aqsa: Decorative Aspects – Robert Hillenbrand

Eastern Christian Art and Culture in the Ayyubid and Early Mamluk Periods: Cultural Convergence between Jerusalem, Greater Syria and Egypt – Lucy-Anne Hunt

Qur’ans and Calligraphers of the Ayyubids and Zangids – David James

From Monastic Cloisters to Sahn: the Transformation of the Open Space of the Masjid al-aqsa under Saladin – Sabri Jarrah

Ayyubid Mosaics in Jerusalem – Lorenz Korn

Ayyubid Jerusalem in Perspective: the Context of Ayyubid Architecture in Bilad al-sham –Lorenz Korn

The Pottery of Ayyubid Jerusalem – Marcus Milwright

Science as the Handmaiden of Power: Science, Art and Technology in Ayyubid Syria – Martina Müller-Wiener

Ayyubid Architecture in Cairo – Bernard O’Kane

The People of the Book – Johannes Pahlitzsch

Biographies of Ayyubid Sultans – D S Richards

Ibn Wasil, Historian of the Ayyubids – D S Richards

An Image of what once was: the Ayyubid Fortifications of Jerusalem – Yasser Tabbaa

Bibliography

Index

Language(s): English
ISBN: 9781901435061
June 2009, Hardcover in a Slip Case, (29.8 cm x 22.0 cm, 528 pages, plus 32 pages of colour photographs, many drawings and black and white plate