American University of Beirut

Distinguished Lectures

​​​​​​​Public Keynote Lecture:Dispersal and Preservation: Traces of Palestinian Manuscript Cultures
Tuesday, May 6 | 5:00 PM | Basile A. Meguerdiche Conference Hall, IFI Auditorium, Level B 

Konrad Hirschler, University of Hamburg

Abstract:Palestinian Manuscript cultures have low visibility today and are, as the Gaza war has shown, strongly endangered. The absence of national institutions, such as a national archive and library, combined with European colonialism and the establishment of Israel, has made preservation and research difficult. This lecture examines the points in pre-Ottoman and Ottoman history where we gain insight into the production and circulation of manuscripts, reflecting a vivid writerly world. This includes a significant moment in the early 20th century when a distinct movement emerged to establish libraries in Palestinian towns. It will then provide a more detailed account of the post-Ottoman development of Palestinian manuscript collections and libraries throughout the 20th century, including the dispersal and destruction that occurred in 1948.

Bio:Konrad Hirschler is a Professor of Middle Eastern History and the director of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures at the University of Hamburg. His research focuses on Northern Africa and Southwest Asia between circa 1200 and 1500, with a particular emphasis on social and cultural history, including the history of reading, books, and libraries, with a strong focus on material culture. He is, amongst others, author of books such as A Monument to Medieval Syrian Book Culture (2020), Plurality and Diversity in an Arabic Library (2016), The Written Word in the Medieval Arabic Lands (2012) and Medieval Arabic Historiography (2006), and co-author of Owning Books and Preserving Documents in Medieval Jerusalem (2023) and Muʾallafat Yūsuf b. Ḥasan Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī (2021), as well as co-editor of The Library of Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar (2025), Catalogue of the New Corpus of Documents from al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf in Jerusalem (2024), The Damascus Fragments (2020) and Manuscript Notes as Documentary Sources (2011).

​Poster​



Public Book Talk: The Library of Aḥmad Pasha al-Jazzār. Book Culture in Late Ottoman Palestine, Leiden, 2025

Monday, May 5, 4PM | OIB - Book Talk | IFI Conference Room, 4th Floor ​

Konrad Hirschler, University of Hamburg, Discussant: Jens Hanssen, Orient Institut Beirut (OIB)

Abstract: This study is the first to examine the history and composition of the library of Aḥmad Pasha al-Jazzār (d. 1804), the famous governor of northern Palestine in the late eighteenth century, on the basis of the inventory of the library's holdings. The chapters in the first volume situate the library, one of the largest in Palestinian history prior to the end of the nineteenth century, in its historical context, examine the materiality of the collection based on a study of the extant manuscripts and other historical sources, and analyse the contents of the library. The second volume consists of a facsimile of the inventory, a critical edition and index.

Bio: Konrad Hirschler is a Professor of Middle Eastern History and the director of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures at the University of Hamburg. His research focuses on Northern Africa and Southwest Asia between circa 1200 and 1500, with a particular emphasis on social and cultural history, including the history of reading, books, and libraries, with a strong focus on material culture. He is, amongst others, author of books such as A Monument to Medieval Syrian Book Culture (2020), Plurality and Diversity in an Arabic Library (2016), The Written Word in the Medieval Arabic Lands (2012) and Medieval Arabic Historiography (2006), and co-author of Owning Books and Preserving Documents in Medieval Jerusalem (2023) and Muʾallafat Yūsuf b. Ḥasan Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī (2021), as well as co-editor of The Library of Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar (2025), Catalogue of the New Corpus of Documents from al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf in Jerusalem (2024), The Damascus Fragments (2020) and Manuscript Notes as Documentary Sources (2011).​

Poster​


Public Keynote Lecture: The Qur’an and its Textual History

​​​​Monday, April 28 | 5:00 PM | Basile A. Meguerdiche Conference Hall, IFI Auditorium, Level B​

François Déroche, Collège de France

Abstract : The early manuscript tradition of the Qur'an has been long neglected. The situation has now changed dramatically and various studies have been devoted to these witnesses, some of which have been dated to the seventh century CE. What is the impact of these researches on our knowledge of the text? How do they relate to the information transmitted by the Tradition? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this talk.

​Bio: François Déroche is a member of the Institut (Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres) and Professor at the Collège de France, where he has held the History of the Qurʾān, Text and Transmission chair since 2015. He is a specialist in Arabic manuscripts, with a particular interest in the written transmission of the Qur'anic text. His publications focus on codicology (Manuel de codicologie des manuscrits en écriture arabe, 2000), the early Islamic Koranic manuscripts (Qur'ans of the Umayyads, 2014; Le Coran, une histoire plurielle, 2019); and the history of the Arabic manuscript book (Les livres du sultan. Matériaux pour une histoire du livre et de la vie intellectuelle du Maroc saadien (XVIe siècle) Paris, 2022).​

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The Center hosts occasional distinguished lecturers delivered by established scholars of international reputation on topics related to Arabic Science and Philosophy. Such lectures usually present and discuss the latest cutting edge research. 



Past Lec​tures

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