IMC 2010: Sessions
Session 618: Arab Historians Exploring the World
Tuesday 13 July 2010, 11.15-12.45
| Sponsor: | Department of History, Universiteit van Amsterdam |
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| Organiser: | Maaike van Berkel, Afdeling Geschiedenis, Europese studies en religiewetenschappen, Universiteit van Amsterdam |
| Moderator/Chair: | Hugh Kennedy, Department of the Languages & Cultures of the Near & Middle East, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London |
| Paper 618-a | Al-Mas'ûdî on Strange Plants and Beasts (Language: English) Index terms: Geography and Settlement Studies, Historiography - Medieval, Islamic and Arabic Studies |
| Paper 618-b | Al-Mas'ûdî and the Exploration of the World: Did Historians Actually Visit the Places They Describe? (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Islamic and Arabic Studies |
| Paper 618-c | Ibn Khaldûn and the Exploration of his World (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Islamic and Arabic Studies |
| Abstract | Ibn Khaldûn (d. 1406) is probably the best known Arab historian of the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, heroic and a-historic labels such as 'father of sociology', 'founder of scientific history' and 'forerunner of historic materialism' often obscure a clear-sighted view on the author and his work. Ibn Khaldûn was first and foremost a child of his time and his work should be studied within the literary, cultural, and scientific traditions of his age and place. Ibn Khaldûn cherished some of his predecessors, especially al-Mas'ûdî (d. 956). The papers in this sessions will compare the work by al-Mas'ûdî and Ibn Khaldûn. Both wrote universal histories. The papers will analyse the ways in which these authors explored the world they describe. |