A Physician on the Nile : : A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years / / ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī; ed. by Tim Mackintosh-Smith.
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,...
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Place / Publishing House: | New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2021] ©2021 |
Year of Publication: | 2021 |
Language: | English |
Series: | Library of Arabic Literature
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Online Access: | |
Physical Description: | 1 online resource |
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Other title: | Frontmatter -- Letter from the General Editor -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Maps -- Note on the Text -- Notes to the Introduction -- A Physician on the Nile -- Notes -- Glossary of Names and Terms -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute -- About the Typefaces -- Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature -- About the Editor–Translator |
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Summary: | 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. |
Format: | Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. |
ISBN: | 9781479806256 |
DOI: | 10.18574/nyu/9781479806256.001.0001 |
Access: | restricted access |
Hierarchical level: | Monograph |
Statement of Responsibility: | ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī; ed. by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. |