Image from codex Petermann I 673, Staatsbibliothek Berlin, f. 98a
The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science starts the “Islamic Scientific Manuscript Initiative” (ISMI).
The mission of the Initiative (ISMI) is to make accessible information on all Islamic manuscripts in the exact sciences (astronomy, mathematics, optics, mathematical geography, music, mechanics, and related disciplines), whether in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or other languages. Continue reading
New as Open Access on MENAdoc: 3 books on developments in the MENA region published in 1915 give an insight into the German perspective during the First World War.
The German diplomat and orientalist Johann Gottfried “Fritz” Wetzstein published this travelogue in 1860. He was the Prussian consul in Damascus from 1849 to 1861 and therefore an expert of the region.
The edition contains a historical map of Damascus and its surroundings as well as various drawings. It is now available as Open Access on our repository MENAdoc.
„Arabischer Sprachführer für Reisende“ (Arabic Phrasebook for Travelers) compiled by Martin Hartmann in 1881 is now digitally available on MENAdoc.
Martin Hartmann was one of the founders of modern Islamic Studies before the First World War. He was one of the few Orientalists who worked on the spot for a long time and knew the conditions.
The German Fraktur font of the book was converted to full text by OCR software. The results are pretty good compared to the version on archive.org.
Hans Wehr promoted Arabic Studies worldwide with his “A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic “. In 1940, he compiled this overview of the holdings of historical manuscripts of the DMG. These documents are still part of the society’s collection. Continue reading
The open access journal META (Middle East – Topics & Arguments) has published its issue 10-2018 entitled “Trauma”. The editorial describes it as follows:
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