This book is a carefully researched and well-illustrated biography of the Umayyad mosque in
Damascus - an iconic monument of world architecture and the oldest mosque still standing in
something close to its original state. Using a wide range of sources including little-known and
untranslated eighth-century poems descriptions of the mosque by medieval scholars as well as
photographs and paintings made by nineteenth century European travellers the author critically
assesses the material textual and visual evidence to recreate this extraordinary mosque's
original appearance.
