The minbar of Saladin, an intricately designed wooden pulpit, was one of the masterpieces of Islamic art. Made in the 12th century, on Saladins conquest of Jerusalem, it was placed in the al-Aqsa Mosque, where it remained for almost 800 years. This book charts the difficult process of reconstructing the minbar from scratch

• Introduction: A stairway to heaven
• Andre Singer
• Crossroads of conflict: the minbar of saladin's place in history The destruction of the minbar and the aftermath
• Islamic art: sacred geometry, harmony and balance
• Rebuilding the minbar: the quest for lost knowledge and skills
• The man who solved the puzzle
• The minbar reconstructed
• The new blossoming of Islamic craftsmanship