Format:
1 Online-Ressource (xliv, 256 Seiten) :
,
Karten.
ISBN:
978-1-4798-0623-2
Series Statement:
Library of Arabic literature 74
Content:
Flora, fauna, and famine in thirteenth-century EgyptA Physician on the Nile begins as a description of everyday life in Egypt at the turn of the seventh/thirteenth century, before becoming a harrowing account of famine and pestilence. Written by the polymath and physician ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī, and intended for the Abbasid caliph al-Nāṣir, the first part of the book offers detailed descriptions of Egypt's geography, plants, animals, and local cuisine, including a recipe for a giant picnic pie made with three entire roast lambs and dozens of chickens. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf's text is also a pioneering work of ancient Egyptology, with detailed observations of Pharaonic monuments, sculptures, and mummies. An early and ardent champion of archaeological conservation, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf condemns the vandalism wrought by tomb-robbers and notes with distaste that Egyptian grocers price their goods with labels written on recycled mummy-wrappings.The book's second half relates his horrific eyewitness account of the great famine that afflicted Egypt in the years 597-598/1200-1202. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf was a keen observer of humanity, and he offers vivid first-hand depictions of starvation, cannibalism, and a society in moral free-fall.A Physician on the Nile contains great diversity in a small compass, distinguished by the acute, humane, and ever-curious mind of its author. It is rare to be able to hear the voice of such a man responding so directly to novelty, beauty, and tragedy.A bilingual Arabic-English edition
Note:
Text englisch und arabisch
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe
Language:
English
Keywords:
Hungersnot
;
Alltag
;
Soziale Situation
DOI:
10.18574/9781479806232
URL:
Volltext
(URL des Erstveröffentlichers)
Author information:
Mackintosh-Smith, Tim, 1961-
Author information:
ʿAbd-al-Laṭīf al-Baġdādī, 1162-1231,
