Putting al-Maqrizi Online

March 14, 2007

One of my important purchases over the summer was this six volume set of the al-Maqrizi's Khitat. Actually the title is much longer than Khitat, as you can tell by the long title running down the spine of these volumes.. but the work is universally known as the Khitat ("Districts") of al-Maqrizi. Neither the shorter nor longer title does a lot to help people grasp what these volumes are about. They unrelentingly describe Egypt in general and Cairo in particular. They begin by setting the geographical place of Egypt within the known world and end by working through the topography of 15th century Cairo.

This work has never been translated, and I have often wondered about that. It is not that they are unimportant.. they are a necessary reference for any work on Cairo's history and cultural landscape. But it is a lengthy work.. as is evident from those six big volumes in the picture above. One can also blame the lack of a critical Arabic text.. which was the direct result of the popularity of this work. There are simply too many variant texts sitting in libraries across the world.

There is one more reason the Khitat has not been translated: it is an inherently difficult text for the modern reader. Not so much for the concepts as for the topographical references. It is humorous to read al-Maqrizi trying to explain the reference of structures that existed several centuries before his time by means of references to structures and landmarks that existed in his own day. Fifteenth century Cairo no longer exists and references to it do not clarify matters for the modern reader!

This layer of place references can be supplied by the use of maps, photos, and site plans. Such visual material can illumine the topographic references.. and give readers a visual key to the structures that al-Maqrizi is describing. The lavish new edition from the Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation tries to supply this layer of visual references:

You can see how photos and site plans can be used to illustrate the text. But as nice as these new volumes are, they cannot hope to compete with the kind of paratextual possibilities afforded by the internet. Besides they are too expensive for anyone except a library or specialist.

My contention is that what the Khitat needs is a web-based translation that will allow for rich layers of visual material. The Khitat is one of those great works that cannot come into their own until they receive multi-media treatment. The standard modern "book" is simply not the right medium for this work. For examples of other such authors who need such special treatment look to our official Old Roads Sites list.. where we are starting to collect these authors, which include Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Blake. Hopefully it will not be too long before al-Maqrizi is included on that short list.