The Crusades- Islamic Perspectives

by Carole Hillenbrand

  3.8 Great Mosque, minbar, detail, 548/1153, ‘Amadiyya, Iraq

  3.9 Funerary madrasa of Nur al-Din, 567/1172, muqarnas domes, Damascus, Syria

  3.10 Funerary madrasa of Nur al-Din, 567/1172, muqarnas dome, Damascus, Syria

  3.11 Funerary madrasa of Nur al-Din, 567/1172, door, Damascus, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5673)

  3.12 Funerary madrasa of Nur al-Din, 567/1172, interior of muqarnas dome, DamaSCUS, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5502)

  3.13 Jami‘ al-Nuri, inscription on outer north wall, after 552/1157, probably 558/1162-3 and later, Hama, Syria

  3.14 Jami‘ al-Nuri, inscription on outer north wall, detail with the name of Nur al-Din, after 552/1157, probably 558/1162-3 and later, Hama, Syria

  3.15 Jami‘ al-Nuri, inscription on outer north wall, detail with the date, after 552/1157, probably 558/1162-3 and later, Hama, Syria

  3.16 Maristan of Nur al-Din, exterior of muqarnas dome, 549/1154, Damascus, Syria

  3.17 Maristan of Nur al-Din, interior, painted inscription, 549/1154, Damascus, Syria

  3.18 Maristan of Nur al-Din, interior, detail of muqarnas vaulting in arch, 549/1154, Damascus, Syria

  3.19 Maristan of Nur al-Din, detail of portal, 549/1154, Damascus, Syria

  3.20 Maristan of Nur al-Din, portal, 549/1154, Damascus, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5497)

  3.21 Jami‘ al-Nuri, minaret, probably after 552/1157, Hama, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 1516)

  3.22 Great Mosque, central aisle from the west, rebuilt by Nur al-Din after 565/1169—70, AleppO, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5648)

  3.23 Great Mosque, aerial view of marble patterning in courtyard, after 565/1169-70, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5646)

  3.24 Great Mosque, minaret, 483-7/1090-5, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5653)

  3.25 Great Mosque, mihrab and minbar, after 565/1169-70, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5651)

  3.26 Aqsa Mosque, interior, qibla arch with Fatimid mosaics dated 426/1035, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 524)

  3.27 Jami‘ al-Nuri, riparian facade, after 552/1157, probably 558/1162-3 and later, Hama, Syria

  3.28 Aqsa Mosque, minbar of Nur al-Din, detail of main inscription, 564/1168, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5006)

  3.29 Aqsa Mosque, minbar of Nur al-Din, detail showing craftsman’s signature, 564/1168, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5011)

  3.30 Aqsa Mosque, minbar of Nur al-Din, 564/1168, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5005)

  3.31 Aqsa Mosque, minbar of Nur al-Din, detail showing doors, 564/1168, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5008)

  3.32 Jami‘ al-Nuri, minbar (now in Hama Museum), with a Qur’anic inscription (25: 62-3) perhaps punning on the associations with light (nur) in the title ‘Nur al-Din’: ‘Blessed be He that fixed to the firmament the constellations, who hung the lamp, and the moon that shines. He has made night and day …’, 559/1163-4, Hama, Syria

  3.33 Jami‘ al-Nuri, minbar (now in Hama Museum), upper section, 559/1163-4, Hama, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6079)

  3.34 Jami‘ al-Nuri, minbar (now in Hama Museum), upper section with dome, 559/1163—4, Hama, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6078)

  3.35 Funerary madrasa of Nur al-Din, 567/1172, undated cenotaph, Damascus, Syria

  3.36 Jami‘ al-Nuri, part of Qur’anic inscription band in white marble and dark paste referring to Jerusalem as the First Qibla, 566-8/1170-3, Mosul, Iraq

  4.1 Fals of Saladin, copper, 586/1190-1, Turkey or Iraq

  4.2 Jami‘ al-Nuri, exterior view (photograph taken before 1940 rebuilding), 566-8/1170-3, Mosul, Iraq

  4.3 Jami‘ al-Nuri, window-frame in sanctuary, 566-8/1170-3, Mosul, Iraq

  4.4 Jami‘ al-Nuri, mihrab, 566-8/1170-3, Mosul, Iraq

  4.5 Jami‘ al-Nuri, dome over mihrab (photograph taken before 1940 rebuilding), mihrab of 566-8/1170-3, dome rebuilt thereafter, Mosul, Iraq

  4.6 Jami‘ al-Nuri, dark blue marble columns in sanctuary. The octagonal columns date from 566-8/1170-3; the composite columns with lyre-shaped capitals were probably incorporated from an earlier building but at a later date. Mosul, Iraq

  4.7 Mausoleum of Saladin, medieval and modern cenotaphs, Damascus, Syria

  4.8 Dome of the Rock, exterior, 72/691-2 onwards, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 1406)

  4.9 City walls from within, various periods from antiquity onwards, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4969)

  4.10 City walls, exterior with view of the snow-covered city behind, various periods from antiquity onwards, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 1456)

  4.11 Unidentified building, throne niche of stone with representations of the royal khassakiyya corps, the personal mamluks of the Ayyubid ruler, c. 1220-30, Gu’-Kummet, Sinjar, Iraq

  4.12 Unidentified building, throne niche of stone with representations of the royal khassakiyya corps, the personal mamluks of the Ayyubid ruler, c. 1220-30, Gu’-Kummet, Sinjar, Iraq

  4.13 Great Mosque, minaret, originally dated 529/1134-5, rebuilt after its destruction in 1982, Hama, Syria

  4.14 Great Mosque, sanctuary facade (1923 photograph), probably twelfth-thirteenth Centuries, Hama, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6064)

  4.15 Great Mosque, courtyard arcades (1923 photograph), probably twelfth-thirteenth Centuries, Hama, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6070) 207

  4.16 Great Mosque, interior arcades and vaults (1923 photograph), probably twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Hama, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6066)

  4.17 Unidentified building, marble intarsia work, twelfth century, Mosul, Iraq

  4.18 Unidentified building, marble intarsia work, twelfth century, Mosul, Iraq

  4.19 Jami‘ al-Nuri, inscription on mihrab capital with the name of Taqi al-Din Mahmud, Ayyubid prince of Hama between 626/1228 and 642/1243, Hama, Syria

  4.20 Jami‘ of Imam Muhsin (formerly al-Madrasa al-Nuriyya), marble intarsia work, 589-607/1193-1211, Mosul, Iraq

  4.21 Mashhad Imam Yahya ibn al-Qasim, facade, detail, 637/1239-40, Mosul, Iraq

  4.22 Jami‘ of Imam Muhsin (formerly al-Madrasa al-Nuriyya), marble intarsia work, 589-607/1193-1211, Mosul, Iraq

  4.23 Mashhad Imam Yahya ibn al-Qasim, facade, detail, 637/1239-40, Mosul, Iraq

  4.24 City gate, between 631/1233-4 and 657/1259, ‘Amadiyya, Iraq

  4.25 Mashhad ‘Awn al-Din, carved alabaster portal, between 631/1233-4 and 657/1259, Mosul, Iraq

  4.26 Aqsa Mosque, facade showing both the central gable (formerly bearing Fatimid inscription, second half of eleventh century), and Ayyubid porch (note incorporation of Frankish elements, perhaps as references to Muslim victory), 615/1218-19, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4993)

  4.27 Great Mosque, Mamluk minaret (1923 photograph), probably fourteenth century, Hama, Syria

  (Creswell Photogra
phic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6067)

  4.28 Mosque of Baybars, detail of portal, 665-7/1266-9, Cairo, Egypt

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 2586)

  4.29 Mosque of Baybars, portal, 665-7/1266-9, Cairo, Egypt

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4503)

  5.1 Jami‘ al-Nuri, minaret, probably 566-8/1170-3, Mosul, Iraq

  5.2 Minaret, detail, Great Mosque, c. 1170, Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘man, Syria

  5.3 Dome of the Rock, interior showing the Crusader grille around the Rock, 72/691—2 onwards, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 60)

  5.4 Fountain, Great Mosque, twelfth century(?) but using pre-Islamic spolia, Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘man, Syria

  5.5 Aqsa Mosque, Ayyubid mihrab with glass mosaic ornament restored by Saladin, 583/n 87-8, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5002)

  5.6 Aqsa Mosque, Ayyubid mihrab area restored by Saladin, 583/1187-8, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5000)

  5.7 Jami‘ al-Nuri, window-frame in sanctuary, 566-8/1170-3, Mosul, Iraq

  5.8 Jami‘ al-Nuri, dark blue marble columns in sanctuary. The octagonal columns date from 566-8/1170-3; the composite columns with lyre-shaped capitals were probably incorporated from an earlier building but at a later date. Mosul, Iraq

  6.1 Madrasa al-Halawiyya (a church converted into a madrasa in 543/1148-9), COUrtyard, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5658)

  6.2 Madrasa al-Halawiyya, prayer hall (note typical Byzantine pendentives), 543/1148-9 and earlier, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5657)

  6.3 Madrasa al-Halawiyya, wooden mihrab dated 643/1245, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5659)

  6.4 Aqsa Mosque, Ayyubid porch (note incorporation of Frankish elements, perhaps as references to Muslim victory), 615/1218-19, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4996).

  6.5 Great Mosque, treasury (1923 photograph), perhaps seventh century, Hama, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6071)

  6.6 Madrasa-Mausoleum of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, Gothic doorway from Acre reused as a trophy, 695—703/1295-1304, Cairo, Egypt

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, after K.A.C. Creswell, The Muslim Architecture of Egypt II, 1959. pi. 85a)

  6.7 Ayyubid canteen with Christian scenes, front, inlaid brass, c. 1250, Syria

  7.1 Islamic swords, iron and steel, undated but late medieval, Egypt and Syria

  7.2 Mamluk axe of the tabardariyya corps (axe-men), engraved metal, fifteenth century, Cairo, Egypt

  7.3 Bab al-Nasr, 480/1087, Cairo, Egypt

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 3433)

  7.4 Bab al-Nasr, detail showing shields, 480/1087, Cairo, Egypt

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 3431)

  7.5 Turkish foot-soldiers wearing splint armour, thirteenth century, Turkey

  7.6 City walls, exterior, various periods from antiquity onwards, but largely early Sixteenth Century, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4953)

  7.7 Citadel, eleventh century onwards, Cairo, Egypt

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4202)

  7.8 Citadel, bastions, undated, Cairo, Egypt

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4257)

  7.9 Citadel, northern enclosure, largely by Saladin 572/1176, Cairo, Egypt

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 4249)

  7.10 Citadel with Ayyubid inscription, early thirteenth century, Damascus, Syria

  7.11 Citadel, mainly thirteenth century, Damascus, Syria

  7.12 Citadel, inscription, thirteenth century, Damascus, Syria

  7.13 Citadel, tower, thirteenth century, Damascus, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 933)

  7.14 Citadel, mainly late twelfth to early thirteenth century, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5682)

  7.15 Citadel, outer gateway, erected 606/1210, rebuilt 913/1507, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5690)

  7.16 Citadel, bridge over the moat, 606/1209-10, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5692)

  7.17 Citadel, inner gateway, 606/1209-10, Aleppo, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5693)

  7.18 Citadel, various periods from antiquity onwards, Hims, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5910)

  7.19 Citadel, tower, thirteenth century, Hims, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 5902)

  7.20 Qal‘at al-Najm, exterior, mainly twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6096)

  7.21 Qal‘at Ja‘bar, exterior, mainly from 564/1168-9 onwards (rebuilding of Nur al-Din) and 736/1335-6 (rebuilding of the Mamluk governor of Damascus, Tengiz), Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6657)

  7.22 Qal‘at Ja‘bar, exterior, general view, mainly from 564/1168-9 onwards (rebuilding of Nur al-Din) and 736/1335-6 (rebuilding of the Mamluk governor of Damascus, Tengiz), Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6658)

  8.1 Mamluk banner, openwork steel, fifteenth century, Egypt

  8.2 Mamluk banner, openwork steel, fifteenth century, Egypt

  8.3 Qal‘at al-Najm, exterior fortifications in dressed stone, mainly twelfth-thirteenth Centuries, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6101) 522

  8.4 Qal‘at al-Najm, interior, mainly twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6111)

  8.5 Qal‘at Ja‘bar, exterior, mainly from 564/1168-9 onwards (rebuilding of Nur al-Din) and 736/1335-6 (rebuilding of the Mamluk governor of Damascus, Tengiz), Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6660) 525

  8.6 Qal‘at Ja‘bar, exterior, mainly from 564/1168-9 onwards (rebuilding of Nur al-Din) and 736/1335-6 (rebuilding of the Mamluk governor of Damascus, Tengiz), Syria

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 6661)

  8.7 Lateen-rigged boat, Almohad glazed ceramic dish, twelfth century, Spain

  9.1 Saddam Husayn as the heir of Saladin, propaganda picture, probably 1980s

  9.2 Statue of Saladin, 1992, Damascus, Syria

  9.3 Statue of Saladin, foot soldier and Sufi, 1992, Damascus, Syria

  9.4 Statue of Saladin, Reynald de Chatillon (left) and King Guy of Jerusalem (right), 1992, Damascus, Syria

  9.5 Statue of Saladin, members of his army and Crusaders, with the sculptor, ‘Abdallah al-Sayed, 1992, Damascus, Syria

  9.6 Dome of the Rock, interior, 72/691-2 onwards, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 180) 607

  9.7 Dome of the Rock, exterior, 72/691-2 onwards, Jerusalem

  (Creswell Photographic Archive, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, neg. C. 1272)

  List of Figures

  1.1 Horseman, enamelled glass beaker, c. 1260, Aleppo, Syria

  1.2 Signs of the zodiac on the Wade Cup (a: Taurus, b: Cancer
, c: Virgo, d: Scorpio, e: Capricorn, f: Pisces), inlaid brass, c. 1230, Iran

  1.3 Signs of the zodiac on the Wade Cup (a: Aries, b: Gemini, c: Leo, d: Libra, e: Sagittarius, f: Aquarius), inlaid brass, c. 1230, Iran

  1.4 Tent, Cappella Palatina, ceiling, c. 1140, Palermo, Sicily

  1.5 Seated ruler, Cappella Palatina, ceiling, c. 1140, Palermo, Sicily

  1.6 Animated inscription on cup made for Khalaf al-Julaki, inlaid metal, c. 1230, Syria(?)

  1.7 Servants, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  1.8 Mounted archer, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  1.9 Enthroned ruler, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria. Note the artist’s signature on the throne

  1.10 Border of a robe of honour made for the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim (386-411/996-1021), Egypt

  1.11 Western minaret, Mosque of al-Hakim, 380-93/990-1003, Cairo, Egypt

  1.12 Northern minaret, Mosque of al-Hakim, 393/1003, Cairo, Egypt

  1.13 Fatimid carved wooden frieze, eleventh century, Egypt

  1.14 Monolithic funerary statues depicting Turkic princes, c. ninth century, southern Siberia

  1.15 Seljuq inscription on city walls, 484/1091-2, Diyarbakr, Turkey

  1.16 Mounted hunters, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  1.17 Peacock, Seljuq underglaze tile, thirteenth century, Kubadabad, Turkey

  1.18 Seljuq double-headed eagle on city wall, thirteenth century, Konya, Turkey

  1.19 Blazons on Mamluk coins, thirteenth-fifteenth centuries, Egypt and Syria

  1.20 Servants, inlaid brass basin known as the ‘Baptistère de St Louis’, c. 1300 or earlier, Syria

  1.21 Enthroned ruler and attendants, painted ivory casket, thirteenth century, Sicily

  1.22 Horseman with a banner, lustre dish, tenth century, Samarra, Iraq

  1.23 Bronze coin of the Seljuq prince Rukn al-Din Sulayman (reigned 592-600/1195-1204), Turkey

  1.24 Astrological image (the moon?) on copper coin, 626/1228-9, Mosul, Iraq

  1.25 Dinar of the only female Mamluk ruler, Shajarat al-Durr (‘Tree of Pearls’), 648/1250-1, Cairo, Egypt

  1.26 Mounted hunters, mina’i tile in relief, early thirteenth century, probably Kashan, Iran