Prophets, poets and scholars: the collections of the Middle Eastern Library of Leiden University

Uittreksel

"The year 2024 marks the opening of the new Middle Eastern Library of Leiden University, a purpose-built facility to serve the needs of all those who engage in the study of the Middle East and North Africa from the dawn of history to the present day. To celebrate the occasion, more than 40 authors from Leiden and beyond have contributed to this special volume on the library’s rich and multifaceted Oriental holdings. Topics range from the Ancient Near East to the material and conservational aspects of Oriental manuscripts, and the classical heritage of the Islamicate Middle East in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish and Persian. Other subjects include Berber languages, Jewish writerly culture in Hebrew and Aramaic, Eastern Christianity, the fascinating but often controversial world of Western Orientalism and the role of modernity in the twentieth-century Middle East. The essays and highlights are enhanced with more than 300 full-colour illustrations"-- Provided by publisher.

Inhoud

Preface / Kurt De Belder -- Introduction / Arnoud Vrolijk -- 1. The ancient Near East. NINO's Böhl Collection of cuneiform tablets / Caroline Waerzeggers -- The Lion Gate at Hattusa on a glass slide / Willemijn Waal -- Persepolis in the eyes of Charles Chipiez / Anita Keizers -- Egyptologists and their books: the Egyptology library of NINO / Olaf E. Kaper -- The Description de l'Égypte: from Napoleon to Egyptology / Mariëtte Keuken -- 2. Materiality matters. Manuscript materials and binding practices: the codex in the Middle East / Karin Scheper -- Dala'il al-Khayrat or The Waymarks of Benefits: a devotional work on the prophet Muhammad / Karin Scheper -- The stars in Leiden: listening to the stories of Islamic manuscripts / Boris Liebrenz -- Material and textual ties in a Yemeni manuscript / Anne Regourd -- Decorated papers in Islamicate manuscripts / Jake Benson -- Layers of information in a Mamluk manuscript / Karin Scheper -- 3. The great Arabic heritage. The wonders of the world / Remke Kruk -- An ancient fragment of the Qur'an / Marijn van Putten -- Jacobus Golius and his Arabic manuscripts on the exact sciences / Jan P. Hogendijk -- Manuscripts as illustrations of a living medical tradition / Petra Sijpesteijn -- The Amin al-Madani Collection of Arabic manuscripts / Arnoud Vrolijk -- The earliest sound recordings from Arabia / Anne van Oostum -- 4. The splendour of the Ottomans. Levinus Warner's manuscript collection / Ömer Koçyiğit -- A natural history of the Americas and the Ottoman economy / Arnoud Vrolijk -- The Kitab-ı Cihan-nüma printed by İbrahim Müteferrika / Maurits van den Boogert -- A woman on a banknote: Fatma Aliye and women authors in the late Ottoman Empire / Nicole van Os -- A cut above the rest / Karin Scheper -- Wouter Swets: musician, composer, and ethnomusicologist (1930-2016) / Roel Sluis -- 5. Persian refinement. Shahnamah: the longevity of the Persian Book of Kings / Gabrielle van den Berg -- Hakim Sana'i's Garden of Truth and Law of the Right Path / Asghar Seyed-Gohrab -- The materiality of a Hafiz manuscript / Hoa Perriguey -- Images from the Hotz photographic collection: Dutch commercial ventures in Qajar Persia / Corien J.M. Vuurman -- A wedding ceremony in late Qajar Iran / Forough Sajadi -- The Ruba'iyat of Umar Khayyam / Kasper van Ommen -- 6. The other Orient: religions and languages. Hebrew manuscript treasures at Leiden: a personal note / Emile Schrijver -- A result of Jewish-Christian cooperation in twelfth-century England: the Hebrew psalter Or. 4725 / Frederik A. de Wolff -- A Dutch-Ashkenazi Esther scroll for Purim / Evi Michels -- Leiden and the Christian Middle East: the Bible in Arabic, Armenian, and Syriac / Tijmen C. Baarda -- A psalter and its mahdar / Karin Scheper -- A Coptic-Arabic lectionary and homilies / Renate Dekker -- Tashelhiyt Berber manuscripts in Arabic characters / Harry Stroomer and Mohamed Saadouni -- 7. The world of orientalism. The exchangeable sultan: Jan Luyken and Mehmed IV / Jef Schaeps -- Scaliger and his collection of Arabic books / Kasper van Ommen -- Dutch illustrators of the Thousand and One Nights / Richard van Leeuwen -- The 'indolent and vicious disposition' of the Moroccans / Arnoud Vrolijk -- Maps of the Middle East / Martijn Storms -- The Zanzibar–Leiden connection: Sayyida Salme bint Sa'id ibn Sultan–Emily Ruete (1844-1924) / Hans van de Velde and Anita Keizers -- Snouck Hurgronje, the collector / Wim van den Doel -- Émile Prisse d'Avennes's search for Egyptian art and architecture / Arnoud Vrolijk -- Frank Scholten: modernity and the biblical lens / Sary Zananiri -- 8. Modern times. 'The mecca of culture, knowledge and literature': Arabic book covers between 1960 and 1980 / Judith Naeff -- 'They're driving me crazy': Egyptian screen goddesses and Western fashion / Arnoud Vrolijk -- Turkish female writers contemplating their position in Turkish society / Petra de Bruijn -- A pop-up of the Great Mosque of Mecca / Qaisra M. Khan -- The Mediterranean in Leiden's photo collections: Ad van Denderen's So Blue So Blue / Maartje van den Heuvel -- Mostapha Naji and the making of the Moroccan collections in Leiden / Léon Buskens -- About the authors.