the niche records his thanks for victory. The beautiful pulpit, dated 564 A.H. (1164 A.D.), that stands near the mihrab was brought by Saladin from Aleppo. It is an extremely fine example of twelfth century Moslem woodwork.
Saladin, in general, readapted all buildings of Moslem origin to their original purposes and adapted Christian buildings to Moslem needs. For example, he turned the palace of the Latin Patriarchs in Jerusalem into a great khanqa (hostel), whose entrance, built by him, still stands; he converted the Church of S. Anne into a school for the teaching of Shafi doctrine. He also repaired the walls of Jerusalem. Although these walls have since been dismantled, largely rebuilt or repaired, yet they still contain much of his work.
The three centuries, the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth, which followed Saladin's capture of Jerusalem were distinguished by great building activity. Despite the neglect from which they suffered in Turkish times, many noble specimens of Moslem architecture produced during the three centuries preceding the Ottoman conquest remain to us. Most of these monuments are to be found in Jerusalem. To the early thirteenth century belong the ruins of a great madrasa (Moslem seminary) built in 1209 A.D. by Melek Muʾazzam al-ʾIsa to the north of the Haram al-Sherif. To the same period appears to belong the gateway of the Haram known as the Bab al-Hitta. Into the lower part of this gateway a fine Frank altar or tomb has been built. In the street from the Bab al-ʾAtm (one of the northern doors of the Haram) to the Tariq Sitti Maryam (Via Dolorosa) is one of the finest examples of Moslem architecture in Palestine. This is the madrasa al-Salamieh. This school dates from 1300 A.D. It has a stalactite entrance of exquisite design and workmanship. The masonry of the whole building is most finely dressed and perfectly jointed. It is deeply to be regretted that this magnificent building is completely neglected and is falling into ruin. Among the hostels built in the thirteenth century are the great Mansuri
