Al-Muqaddasi

This article is about medieval Arab geographer. For other people named Al-Maqdisi or Al-Muqaddasi, see Maqdisi.

al-Muqaddasī (al-Maqdisī)

Born	c. 945/946 CE Jerusalem
Died	991 CE
Era	Islamic Golden Age
Region	Islamic civilization
School or tradition	Balkhi school
Main interests	Islamic geography
Major works	The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Regions
Influenced by Al-Balkhi

Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Shams al-Dīn al-Muqaddasī or al-Maqdisī (Arabic: محمد بن أحمد شمس الدين المقدسي‎), also transliterated as el-Mukaddasi, (c. 945/946 - 991) was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Aḥsan al-taqāsim fī maʿrifat al-aqālīm (The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Regions).

Biography

Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD. He had the advantage of an excellent education and after having made the Pilgrimage to Mecca in his twentieth year, determined to devote himself to the study of geography. For the purpose of acquiring the necessary information he undertook a series of journeys which lasted over a score of years, and carried him in turn through all the countries of Islam. It was only in 985 that he set himself to write his book, which gives us a systematic account of all the places and regions he had visited. Le Strange comments of Al-Mukaddassi work: ' His description of Palestine, and especially of Jerusalem, his native city, is one of the best parts of the work. All that he wrote is the fruit of his own observation, and his descriptions of the manners and customs of the various countries, bear the stamp of a shrewd and observant mind, fortified by profound knowledge of both books and men'. (From: Guy le Strange, 1890: Palestine Under The Muslims p.5 - p.6)

Further reading

• Al-Muqaddasi (Basil Anthony Collins (Translator)): The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions. Ahasan al-Taqasim Fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim. Garnet Publishing, Reading, 1994, ISBN 1-873938-14-4
• Mukaddasi (1886). Description of Syria, including Palestine. London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society. 
• Collins, Basil Anthony: Al-Muqaddasi; the man and His Work, Michigan Geographical Publication, 1974,
• le Strange, Guy (1890), Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500, Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund 

Resources

• Al-Muqaddasi
• Al-Muqaddasi: An Encyclopaedic Scholar
• Zakariyeh Mohammed: Maqdisi: An 11th Century Jerusalemite Consciousness Double Edition 22 & 23, 2005, Jerusalem Quarterly

See also

• List of Arab scientists and scholars
• Zedekiah's Cave