Damascus: Wood Carvers
Date: c. 1155
Muhammad b. Ahmad b. ʿAbd Allah is recorded as having made in c. 550/1155 the cenotaph for a tomb traditionally held to be that of Sukayna, daughter of Husayn b. ʿAli. The tomb is located in the cemetery outside Bab Saghir in Damascus.
Citation: Mayer, Leo Ary, Islamic Woodcarvers and their Works (Geneva: Albert Kundig, 1958), p. 54.
Damascus: Wood Carvers
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 carpentry. He was born in Damascus, and was responsible for architectural commissions in the city, including the doors of the maristān (hospital) of Nur al-Din.
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.
Damascus: Wood Carvers
Date: Unknown
The minbar of the Umayyad Mosque was constructed by the muʿallim (master) ʿAli b. Muhammad al-Maʿarri. The date when this work was done is not recorded. The artisan’s nisba (epithet) reveals that he came from Maʿarrat al-Nuʿman.
Citation: Mayer, Leo Ary, Islamic Woodcarvers and their Works (Geneva: Albert Kundig, 1958), p. 35.