Die Chronik des Ibn ad-Dawadari

ed: Bernd Radtke 1 Teil. Kosmographie. (Deutsches Archaologisches Institut Kairo. Quellen zur Geschichte Islamischen Agyptens, la) vii, 30, 496pp. Wiesbaden : in Kommission bei Franz Steiner Verlang, 1982. DM 68
ed: Muhammad as-Said Gamal ad-Din Die Chronik des Ibn ad-Dawadari. 3. Teil. Der Bericht uber den Propheten und die Rechtgeleiteten Chalifen .( Deutsches Archaologisches Institut Kairo. Quellen Zur Geschichte des Islamischen Agyptens, 1c) vi 467pp. Wiesbaden : in Kommission bei Franz Steiner Berlag, 1981. DM 68

The publication of these two volumes is part of the complete edition of the Kanz al-Durar of Ibn- al-Dawadari (d. After 736/1335) in nine volumes undertaken by the Deutsches Archaologisches Institut Kairo. The later volumes have already appeared (Vol. 6, ed. S Munajjid, Cairo, 1961; vol 7, ed., S. A. Ashur, Cairo/Freiburg, 1972; Vol 8, ed. U. Haarmann, Cairo/Freiburd, 1971; Vol. 9, ed. H. R. Roemer, Cairo, 1960) and these cover the later and more interesting section of the work which deals with the history of Egypt and the Islamic world from the Fatimids to the author's own lifetime. The two volumes noticed here come much earlier in the work and were, presumably, published more for the sake of completeness than because they contain much new information. Vol.l. is essentially a Cosmography and description of wonders, very literary in style and derived almost entirely from the Mir'at al-Zaman of Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi. Vol.3 deals with the history of the Muslims from the time of the Prophet until the death of Ali and is dependent on earlier general histories. The full account of the conquest of Egypt is based on Ibn-'Abd al-Hakam. Vol. 1 contains an introduction to the work and the sources used by the author which complements the work of Haarman and Roemer.

For notices of the previous volumes see: BSOAS, xxiv, 2, 1961 344-5m (Vol. 9); xxiv 2, 1963, 429- 31, (Vol. 6);xxxv 3, 1972. 625-6 (Vol. 8); xxxvii, 1, 1979 228-9 (Vol. 7).

HUGH KENNEDY