Middle East

An online class from the Bibliothè que Nationale de France discussing al-Idrisi, his atlas, and the Mediterran ean world of the 12th century.

Blog for a Middle Eastern dance guild.

Contains maps, literature, documents, books and other relevant material concerning the past, present and future of historic cities and facilitates the location of similar content on the web.

An online exhibit of Arabic books and manuscripts.

An internatio nal profession al non-profit associatio n of scholars interested in the study of the Islamic lands of the Middle East during the medieval period (defined roughly as 500-1500 C.E.). Its two primary goals are to increase the representa tion of medieval scholarshi p at scholarly meetings in North America and elsewhere by co-sponsor ing panels, and to foster communicat ion among individual s and organizati ons with an interest in the study of the medieval Middle East.

A mailing list for topics relating to Middle Eastern personas; this is the discussion list for a guild based out of the Barony of Sacred Stone, but the mailing list is open to all members of the SCA.

Discusses some prevalent (and erroneous) beliefs about the clothing and cultures of the Near East.

I've heard people with Near Eastern personae in the SCA say that clothing that looks historically accurate is too difficult or too expensive to make, or that expecting people to make historically accurate Near Eastern clothing is elitist, and besides, historically accurate clothing is ugly.

I've heard people who want to enjoy the clothing, food, and music of the Near East but were uncomfortable portraying someone whose religion was different than their own.

I've heard people come up with really bizarre persona stories to explain why they are a pale-skinned and light haired Near Easterner.

Well, folks, it doesn't have to be that way ...

Over the past decade the Ashmolean Museum has undertaken the printing, identification and digitisation of the Creswell Archive with the aim of making this exceptional collection available to a wider audience.

The subjects of the photographs range in place and date from al-Andalus to Iraq, from the late seventh century to the eighteenth. The greater part of the archive consists of images of the architecture of Egypt and the Levant between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. Most were taken in the second quarter of this century.

Some of the buildings which Creswell photographed are no longer extant, others subsequently underwent drastic, and often poorly-documented campaignes of restoration. The photographs therefore provide an invaluable record for those interested in the history of the major monuments of the Islamic Middle East.