Ayyubid Jerusalem
The Holy City in Context 1187-1250
edited by Robert Hillenbrand and Sylvia 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

298 x 220mm, 528 pages, plus 32 pages of colour photographs, many drawings and black and white plates; hardback in slip case
£135.00
ISBN 978 1 901435 06 1
June 2009
Altajir Trust