Yezidism is a fascinating part of the rich cultural mosaic of the Middle East. The Yezidi faith emerged for the first time in the twelfth century in the Kurdish mountains of northern Iraq. The religion, which has become notorious for its associations with 'devil worship', is in fact an intricate [...]
Rashid al-Din (1274-1318), physician and powerful minister at the court of the Ilkhans, was a key figure in the cosmopolitan milieu in Iran under Mongol rule. He set up an area in the vicinity of the court where philosophers, doctors, astronomers, and historians from different parts of Eurasia lived together, [...]
The Arab-Islamic city has been always a glamorous urban dream in human cultural memory. This is manifested in Cairo, the world's largest medieval urban system where traditional lifestyles are still implemented. Nevertheless, despite the extensive efforts to preserve Historic Cairo, it is sadly vulnerable. Ahmed Sedky investigates the reasons behind [...]
Before the Mughal style came to dominate the Islamic architecture of the Indian sub-continent, Bengal and its rulers had developed their own forms. The mosque architecture of the Independent Sultanate period (from the 14th to the 16th centuries) represents the most important element of the Islamic architecture of Bengal. This [...]
Glossary of conservation terminology (Arabic-English and English-Arabic) developed by Dr Hossam Mahdy for the ATHAR programme and intended for conservation professionals working in the Arab region. This is a preliminary document distributed to invite discussion and comments. Author : Hossam Mahdy This publication in pdf can be downloaded here : [...]
Orientalist Vision and the Romantic Sense of the Past in Late Ottoman Culture. Author : Ahmet Ersoy This publication in pdf can be downloaded here : https://www.academia.edu/11300463/Osman_Hamdi_Bey_and_the_Historiophile_Mood
One of the world's most important collections of medieval Islamic embroideries is to be found in the Department of Eastern Art in Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum. The textiles were collected by the Egyptologist Percy Newberry between 1900 and 1930, while he was living in Cairo. Most of the embroideries were [...]
A symbolic locus embodying myriad meanings, the political center of the eastern Mediterranean, and one of the old world’s largest urban centers, Constantinople was the site of large-scale urban and architectural interventions. Changing visions—the changing political, cultural, and religious orientations of those who lived there and those who ruled from [...]
This study makes use of the primary sources like ancient texts, and medieval chronicles retrieved initially from Indian archives, and studies of archaeological survey of India reports, district and state Gazetteers. Author : Subhash Parihar The publication can be purchase from here : https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9788173053351/Land-Transport-Mughal-India-Agra-Lahore-8173053359/plp
"Kalila and Dimna" or "The Fables of Bidpai" is one of the gems of world culture, having been translated through the centuries everywhere from China to Spain. "Kalila and Dimna", like the fables of Aesop or Lafontaine, are subtle and suggestive moral tales - a kind of repository of wisdom [...]
