Palestine Under the Moslems

Originally published in 1890 and translated from "the works of the medieval Arab geographers," Palestine under the Moslems is a collection of historical and geographical Islamic writings on Syria and Palestine. Palestine is known as the Holy Land with a religious focus on both Judaism and Christianity, but it also holds a position of high importance in Islam, which these writings demonstrate. Presented in two parts, Part I contains translations of Arabic and Persian works that date back to A.D. 650-1500, as well as notes and observations from the editor, while Part II includes an alphabetical geographical dictionary and references to relevant Islamic sources.

GUY LE STRANGE (1854-1933) was born in Hunstanton, Norfolk, England, as the youngest son of Henry L'Estrange Styleman. He studied Arabic and Persian at the College de France in Paris, after which he spent many years traveling and living abroad in Persia, Florence, and Palestine. He settled in Cambridge in 1907, where he contributed to The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, of which he was a member until his death. Le Strange was the editor and translator of several well-known books on the Middle East and Islam, establishing him as one of the most recognized historical geographers of medieval Islam to write in English.