Al-Maqamat: A Digital Art History Student Project
[UNDER DEVELOPMENT]

Welcome! Tap on the images below to play videos about the adventures of a con man named Abu Zayd and his friend al-Harith as they travel across the medieval Middle East. This is a collection of student digital multimedia work about the famous 13th C Arabic manuscript - BNF Arabe 5847 - held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France called al-Maqamat (The Sessions). Tapping on the titles will open an English translation, the manuscript and an Arabic transcription.

Find out more.

Who?

In the fall of 2017, students enrolled in Dr. Hussein Keshani's course ARTH 370 - Art & Literature of the Islamic World at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, Canada, were assigned the task of creating a multimedia web animation. They had to discuss an episode from al-Maqamat using the manuscript BNF 5847. Most had only a rudimentary knowledge of web programming.

Al-Maqamat of al-Hariri

The Arabic collection of 50 short stories called al-Maqamat (The Sessions) was written by al-Hariri (1054-1122). Each story takes the name of a city or region of the Middle East. The narrator is a naive merchant named al-Harith who repeatedly encounters the con man and imposter Abu Zayd in his travels. Written in a highly elaborate style, Al-Hariri's Maqamat is considered a masterpiece of Arabic literature. English translations can be found at archive.org.

BNF Arabe 5847

Illustrated works of Arabic literature became popular in the 13th century. Completed in 1237 AD, the manuscript BNF 5847 was probably made in Baghdad, Iraq and is attributed to the copyist and artist al-Wasiti. BNF Arabe 5847 is considered one of the best examples of illustrated al-Maqamats to have survived and offers rich details of daily life in the medieval Middle East.

Of Damietta (v.1)

Session 4
Of Damietta (v.1)

Session 4
Of Alexandria

Session 9
Of Rahbah

Session 10
Of Sâweh

Session 11
Of Damascus

Session 12
Of Baghdad

Session 13
Of Maghreb (The West)

Session 16
The Reversed

Session 17
Of Sinjar

Session 18
Of Samarkand

Session 28
Of Ramlah

Session 31
Of Zabîd (v.1)

Session 34
Of Zabîd (v.2)

Session 34
Of Sa'dah

Session 37
Of Oman (v.1)

Session 39
Of Oman (v.2)

Session 39
Of Tanis

Session 41
Of Najran

Session 42
Of Al-Bakriyah

Session 43

Al-Maqamat: A Digital Art History Student Project[UNDER DEVELOPMENT]

Who?

Al-Maqamat of al-Hariri

BNF Arabe 5847

Session 4

Session 4

Session 9

Session 10

Session 11

Session 12

Session 13

Session 16

Session 17

Of Sinjar

Session 18

Of Samarkand

Session 28

Of Ramlah

Session 31

Of Zabîd (v.1)

Session 34

Of Zabîd (v.2)

Session 34

Of Sa'dah

Session 37

Of Oman (v.1)

Session 39

Of Oman (v.2)

Session 39

Of Tanis

Session 41

Of Najran

Session 42

Of Al-Bakriyah

Session 43

Al-Maqamat: A Digital Art History Student Project
[UNDER DEVELOPMENT]