TY - BOOK AU - al-Baghdādī,ʿAbd al-Laṭīf AU - Mackintosh-Smith,Tim TI - A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years T2 - Library of Arabic Literature SN - 9781479806232 AV - DT51 .A12813 2021 U1 - 916.2043 23 PY - 2021///] CY - New York, NY PB - New York University Press KW - Famines KW - Egypt KW - History KW - 13th century KW - Natural history KW - Pre-Linnean works KW - LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Middle Eastern KW - bisacsh KW - Muwaffaq al-Dīn Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Yūsuf al-Baghdādī KW - ancient Egyptian literature KW - ancient Egyptian writing translated KW - ancient Egyptian writing translation english KW - ancient Egyptian writing KW - ancient literature books KW - arabic literature books KW - arabic literature in english KW - book on ancient civilization KW - book on ancient cultures KW - books on ancient Egypt KW - classic arabic literature books N1 - Frontmatter --; Letter from the General Editor --; Table of Contents --; Acknowledgements --; Introduction --; Maps --; Note on the Text --; Notes to the Introduction --; A Physician on the Nile --; Introduction --; Part One, consisting of six chapters --; Part Two, consisting of three chapters --; Notes --; Glossary of Names and Terms --; Bibliography --; Index --; About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute --; About the Typefaces --; Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature --; About the Editor–Translator; restricted access N2 - Flora, fauna, and famine in thirteenth-century EgyptA Physician on the Nile begins as a description of everyday life in Egypt at the turn of the seventh/thirteenth century, before becoming a harrowing account of famine and pestilence. Written by the polymath and physician ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī, and intended for the Abbasid caliph al-Nāṣir, the first part of the book offers detailed descriptions of Egypt’s geography, plants, animals, and local cuisine, including a recipe for a giant picnic pie made with three entire roast lambs and dozens of chickens. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf’s text is also a pioneering work of ancient Egyptology, with detailed observations of Pharaonic monuments, sculptures, and mummies. An early and ardent champion of archaeological conservation, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf condemns the vandalism wrought by tomb-robbers and notes with distaste that Egyptian grocers price their goods with labels written on recycled mummy-wrappings.The book’s second half relates his horrific eyewitness account of the great famine that afflicted Egypt in the years 597–598/1200–1202. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf was a keen observer of humanity, and he offers vivid first-hand depictions of starvation, cannibalism, and a society in moral free-fall.A Physician on the Nile contains great diversity in a small compass, distinguished by the acute, humane, and ever-curious mind of its author. It is rare to be able to hear the voice of such a man responding so directly to novelty, beauty, and tragedy.A bilingual Arabic-English edition UR - https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479806232.001.0001 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781479806232 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9781479806232/original ER -