Damascus: Masons

Date: Before 1203

The biography of Muʿayyad al-Din Abu al-Fadl Muhammad b. ʿAbd al-Karim (d. 599/1202-1203) records that, among his many other pursuits, he practised stone cutting. He is also described as a muhandis (engineer or architect). He was born in Damascus.

Citation: Ibn Abi Usaybiʿa (d. 1270),ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt  al-aṭibbāʾ, (ed.) N. Rida (Beirut, 1964), II, 190-91. Translated by Terry Allen: http://www.sonic.net/~tallen/palmtree/ayyarch/ch11.htm#muayyad (last consulted: 8 June 2016).

See also: Mayer, Leo Ary, Islamic Woodcarvers and their Works (Geneva: Albert Kundig, 1958), p. 53; Bloom, Jonathan, ‘Woodwork in Syria, Palestine and Egypt during the 12th and 13th Centuries’, in Robert Hillenbrand and Sylvia Auld (eds), Ayyubid Jerusalem: The Holy City in Context, 1187-1250 (London: Altajir Trust, 2009), p. 132; Milwright, Marcus, Islamic Arts and Crafts: An Anthology (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017), p. 52.