Josef Meri holds the doctorate from the University of Oxford (Wolfson College) and is a specialist in the social and cultural history of the medieval Islamic world and interfaith relations and is an historian of ideas. He is presently at work on a book entitled Sacred Landscapes of the Medieval Islamic World and is serving as General Editor of the forthcoming Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia.

• 1. Sacred Topography ; 2. The Friends of God ; 3. Experiencing the Holy: Sacred Ritual and Pilgrimage ; 4. Jewish Pilgrimage ; 5. Pilgrimage Places ; Conclusion

This is a book of scholarly value that should prove important as a source for the more specialized study of individual cults and their sites. It is also distinctly thought-provoking and thus takes a worthy place in the ongoing study of the theological and sociological interrelationships of Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Middle East.