THE MINBAR OF SALADIN

The story of how this magnificent Islamic treasure was painstakingly reconstructed under the aegis of the Jordanian royal family. Ea rly one morning in August 1969 a firebomb was set off in the al-Aqsa mosque in the heart of one of the holiest places in Jerusalem. A devastating blaze soon engulfed the thousand-year-old building, severely damaging the interior. When the firemen had put out the f lames, a sodden pile of ashes was discovered, all that remained of one of the jewels of Islamic art, the Minbar of Saladin.