4to. 199 pp., 37 figures, 4 plates, publisher’s original wrappers, slightly foxed round edges, Unopened, paper browned, otherwise copy clean & in very good condition, Institut Francais de Damas, Vanoest, Les Editions d’Art et d’Histoire, Paris, first edition, 1947.

Synopsis

Interesting and scholarly treatise on the Omayyad (Ummawi) reconstruction of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah (Medina), with an in depth study into the origins of the mosque and elements introduced at the time of Caliph al-Walid. With floor plans, and brilliant literature survey and analysis of relevant Arabic source.
“It is known that the mosque founded by Muhammad in Medina, after being first enlarged by the Caliph ‘Omar, then again by the Caliph ‘Othman, was rebuilt from the ground up, at the beginning of the eighth century, on the order of the Umayyad Walid b. ‘Abdalmalik. This reconstruction of the “mosque of the Prophet” is of particular interest, because this Umayyad foundation of Medina is the first of the great monumental mosques that were soon to rise, by the care of the Caliphs of Damascus, in the main localities of the Muslim world: it would be important to be informed precisely of its ordinance to recognize if it presented the usual device of these buildings, if it inaugurated the monumental series, very homogeneous, of the great Umayyad mosques, or if it had on the contrary received a special arrangement in relation to its particular quality. The question is of primary interest to monumental history….. “. [Introduction].