Tag: Al-Makin

In any language group the first literature that we read is usually the histories of themselves, by themselves.  In Arabic Christian literature there are five such histories: Agapius, Euthychius, Al-Makin, Bar Hebraeus, and one other whose name I can never remember.

Of all of these, the 13th century history of al-Makin has attracted my attention for a while.  The first half has never been printed.  The second half was printed in the 17th century, but the editor died before finishing it.  The remainder of the second half was printed recently.  I felt that I would like to make it all more accessible, so I obtained – with difficulty – some PDF’s of microfilms of manuscripts.  I decided that the first thing to do was simply transcribe one of these, and create an electronic text.  This would make the text accessible, and it would be possible for non-Arabists like me to read it using Google Translate.  A transcriber in Syria was engaged, via a French lady, and off we went.

Unfortunately the project simply will not make progress.  I have so far spent $600, but I have nothing to show for it beyond chunks of text, pages in the wrong order, and so forth.  Small problems become large problems.  Trivial issues block all progress.  Things simply do not get sorted out – things that, in Roman script, would be the work of half an hour to remedy.

I have decided, reluctantly, to do something that I never do.  I am going to abandon the project.  Situated as I am, I have no power to make anything happen.  So I am simply eating my heart out in vain.

I will lose the money, of course.  But I will get my life back.

My life, in the end, is worth much more.

Why, precisely, it is impossible to work with people in the middle east, to do even the simplest tasks, I do not know.   I suppose that this is why those countries are poor, and will always remain poor.

I apologise to anyone who was hoping to see this.  But unless I actually learn Arabic myself and do the job myself, it seems that nothing will be done.

An email brings the text of the Erpenius (1625) edition of al-Makin.  The typist has done a good job.

She’s also indicated that some words – especially names – seem to be corrupt.  These will need to be fixed by comparison against a manuscript.

Erpenius was a very early editor indeed, and his edition is probably very faulty.  I don’t see it as my job to produce a satisfactory critical edition – I leave that to the professional scholars.  What I want to do is get something that we can work with (while the professional scholars sit on their hands, as, since Erpenius, they have done).

Erpenius also died before he finished.  His text only runs as far as 525/1130.  The remainder of his second part (which is all that Erpenius edited) was published by C. Cahen, in “La Chronique Ayyoubides’ d’al-Makin b. al-`Amid.” Bulletin d’Etudes Orientale, 15 (1955-7): 109-84.

It turns out that I don’t have any decent images of manuscripts of that part of the work.  So I have today ventured across to Cambridge University Library and photocopied Cahen’s publication.  We’ll stick that on the end of Erpenius.  I do wish, however, that CUL would buy some new photocopiers!  Theirs are worn out.

Then we can venture onto the really interesting stuff – part 1!  This contains the narrative from the creation down to the 11th year of Heraclius.  I think we may start with Constantine, and do the section to Heraclius first.  The opening material will undoubtedly be very tedious – at least, it was for Agapius, and, if I hadn’t done all the rest of him, I’d have abandoned it there!

The transcription of part 2 of al-Makin (from the Erpenius edition of 1625) is going well.  It’s arriving in 10-page chunks, and there are 300 pages in all so that will make 30 chunks.  Chunk 11 arrived today.

I was reflecting at the weekend on our lack of knowledge of Arabic literature, including Arabic Christian literature.  There is no handbook of this in English.

Yet to create one would merely take time, no more.  It could be done.  Even I could do it.  A single volume, using Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur and Graf’s Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Litteratur as a basis could be compiled relatively easily by any interested amateur, and then brought up to date by a literature search.

And what a difference it would make to our understanding of the subject!  How it would revolutionise our access to this area of knowledge!

I wonder how it might be done …  Perhaps find someone — or better, several someones — with time who knows basic German and has the right mindset.  Just compile a list of authors and works – not very taxing – and then write entries.  Then compile a short bibliography of published editions, translations, and studies in western languages… hmm.  For the latter, one would need to know where bibliographies of Arabic literature may be found.

It could be done.  Whether I can do it, well, I don’t know.  But it could be done.