Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi, also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, (c. 945/946 - 1000) was a notable medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions). Biography Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD. He'd the advantage of an excellent education and after having made the Pilgrimage to Mekka in his twentieth year, determined to devote himself to the study of geogra… (More on Al-muqaddasi)