From the Heavens to the Nile and from Creation to al-Nāṣir Muḥammad: Universal Historiography and Literary Scale in the works of Ibn al-Dawādārī

Van Den Bossche, Gowaart (2025) From the Heavens to the Nile and from Creation to al-Nāṣir Muḥammad: Universal Historiography and Literary Scale in the works of Ibn al-Dawādārī. Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures, 13. ISSN 2421-5503

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Abstract

[EN] In the early eighth/fourteenth century the scope and scale of historiographic projects in Syro-Egypt shifted from an earlier focus on biographical monographs towards expansive chronicles, often of universal scope. This article studies the nine-volume universal chronicle Kanz al-durar wa-jāmiʿ al-ghurar and the single-volume but similarly universal chronicle Durar al-tījān wa-ghurar tawārīkh al-azmān, both composed by the Egyptian litterateur Ibn al-Dawādārī (d. after 736/1335). The chronicles are analysed for their use of scalar strategies in managing large amounts of historical information. In their literary and historical presentations, the texts appeal to a celestial scale and a localised Egyptian perspective, both of which are repeatedly connected to praise of the sultan al-Nāṣir Muḥammad (third reign 709/1310–741/1341). This article argues for a holistic understanding of such chronicles by considering their structural organisation, the holograph manuscripts in which the texts survive, and a close reading of their introductions alongside multiple panegyric sections across the works. The shift in scale in historiographical production is linked to the intellectual environment of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad's court in the decades following his return to power in 709/1310.

Tipologia del documento:	Articolo in rivista
Parole chiave:	universal history; lbn al-Dawādārī; late medieval Egypt; classical Arabic literature; al-Nāṣir Muḥammad; Byzantine literature
Soggetto:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0441 Literary History
Depositato il:	21 Ago 2026 21:41
Ultima modifica:	22 Ago 2026 14:26
URI:	https://www.rmoa.unina.it/id/eprint/8031

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