American University of Beirut

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 20^th 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​

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).​