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Dr. Amanda H. Steinberg Profile picture
Dr. Amanda H. Steinberg
@MENALibAHS
Librarian for Islamic Art & Architecture @HarvardLibrary. Scholar of women in medieval Arabic pop lit. She/her/hers. Opinions≠employer's.
Feb 12, 2021 • 27 tweets • 9 min read
So I've been asked to gather this together in a #thread-- I'll try! Disclaimers up front: (1) Different organizations have different default settings, so not everyone's will look the same. (2) I'm still learning, so apologies if I miss anything! There are 2 options when scheduling a Zoom lecture. (1) Webinar (2) Meeting. Webinars have the most security features built in, but are basically speakers talking into the void & many don't like that feeling. Our speakers have preferred meetings so they can see participants.
May 8, 2020 • 19 tweets • 7 min read
Ok, let's get started! Alexander the Great: did you know he was hero of a romantic epic popular across the medieval world? Between the 4th-16th cent., it was translated from Greek to Coptic, Ge'ez, Byzantine, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, Syriac, Hebrew & most European vernaculars An international bestseller! Supposedly an account of Alexander's exploits, it is full of bits of lore, fantastical tales, & myth picked up from the various cultures it filtered through. One of these is the trope of the Waqwaq/talking tree (Image: Chester Beatty, Per 104, f. 48)
May 1, 2020 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Waqwaq, Waq al-Waq, Wakwak: a talking tree? Island of women? Exotic archipelago? Join me as I attempt to trace this complicated term, synonymous w/ the wondrous & strange in cultures throughout the Middle East & S Asia, through geography, literature, & art! Pic: BL Or.4615 f. 44r This is a thread I've long thought about, but the subject is complicated. Even more than some myths, Waq-waq is different in different fields. I first encountered it in Arabic popular literature, & when I started to come across it in paintings, I was fascinated by the differences
Mar 12, 2020 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
Ok guys, everything is terrible, so let me tell you about the great sorceress heroine Aqila from the Sirat Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan... First, in case you missed it, I did another thread on a supernatural heroine from this sira a little while ago that talks a little bit about why there are so many magical women in the tale:
Mar 5, 2020 • 21 tweets • 6 min read
Ok, so today, having of course nothing to do current events, I'd like to tell you ab one of my favorite women from medieval Arabic sira lit: 'Aqisa, milk-sister of Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan, smarter & better prepared than the men around her. Spoiler alert: they usually ignored her! So, the Sirat Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan is based in pre-Islamic Yemen, and two unique things about it apply to my story: its extensive reliance upon the supernatural, and its large number of main female characters.
Nov 7, 2019 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
The most common illustration of the Buraq shows it carrying Muhammad on His night journey (mi'raj), often surrounded by angels while traveling from Mecca to al-Aqsa. Many of these views are very similar, some obvious copies of earlier works. Here are some of my favorites... The oldest depiction we have in our collection is in a
Jami' al-tawarikh (Edinburgh Univ. Lib. Or.Ms 20, f. 55r) from 714 AH/1314-1315 AD. Taking up half the bottom of the page (so actually quite small!), I love how fine the expressions are on all the figures
Sep 19, 2019 • 18 tweets • 11 min read
These animals were frequently illustrated in Islamic manuscripts, paintings, and decorative art. Get ready for a double thread! :) The roc, or rukh, is shown in these two illustrations saving travelers from the ocean. The first is from a late 14th c. 'Aja'ib al-makluqat held by the Freer (f. 63a), The second is from a 1632 version of the same text (Rylands Persian MS 3, f. 70b)
Aug 15, 2019 • 14 tweets • 7 min read
Ok! Found illustrations of some of these gentledjinn-- let's go! Double thread alert. I couldn't find any images of the cardinal djinn kings Masir Kamtam Taykial and Qaswarah, even though I've read that their names at least were common on amulets and talismans like the one below (HAM 2002.59). Anyone seen any?
Jul 25, 2019 • 14 tweets • 11 min read
Ok-- images of angels in Islam! I'm going to try to quote tweet and attach images to follow @aaolomi's thread, let's see how it goes! 1/? @aaolomi So first, Gabriel/Jibra'il: . This image of the angel carrying Muhammad across the open seas comes from a Mi'rajnama, or tale of Muhammad's ascension, and is f.121a of the Bahram Mirza Album (TSK H.2154)