Index

In Al-Fihrist, Amin Wassef opens a unique window onto the geography of the Islamic world as known to the ancients, where the names of cities, rivers, seas, and nations that filled medieval maps meet their twentieth-century counterparts. Between the covers of this dictionary, the reader finds a bridge extending between past and present, bridging the gap that has long confused researchers and readers when encountering obscure names in ancient texts. The author does not content himself with documenting terminology, but rather offers precise explanations and sometimes surprising comparisons that reveal transformations of space and time, making a journey through letters a journey through time and space. This book is not merely a dictionary; it is a key to a new reading of history and geography, and an indispensable tool for understanding the heritage of Islamic kingdoms on the maps of the past.