Middle East Studies Lecture
From Cordoba to Damascus: Reconstructing the final lost chapter of the Arabic Orosius
- Date
- Tuesday 18 November 2025
- Time
- Serie
- Middle East Studies Lectures
- Address
-
Herta Mohr
Witte Singel 27A
2311 BG Leiden - Room
- 1.128 (Verbarium)
The tenth century CE saw the translation of the Latinate historian’s Orosius (d.423 CE) Seven Books of History Against the Pagans into Arabic at the Muslim court of Cordoba. Supplemented by additional passages from the works of Isidorus (d.636 CE) and the Mozarabic chronicle (c.754 CE), this text offered a unique gateway into the Graeco-Roman past for readers in the pre-modern Muslim West. However, we know from the extant manuscript editions that the 14th chapter of the Seventh book, which covers the reigns of the Visigothic kings of Spain, is missing from the Arabic translation. By searching through a broad array of historical material stretching from Cordoba to Damascus, new evidence has emerged that can help us reconstruct a possible summary of the contents of the lost chapter. Moreover, this historiographical reconstruction will also pose new questions about the circulation and distribution of historical texts across the pre-modern Muslim world.
