Върхове и езера в Пирин

 Никола Бенин

Муратов връх

Дългото езеро, Вихрен и Кутело

Жълта тинтява (Gentiana lutea)

Връх Тодорка

От Възела към връх Василашки чукар и Тодорка

От Опрено към Вихрен и Кутело

Тевно Василашко езеро и връх Тодорка

Башлийски и Бъндеришки чукар

Муратов връх и връх Гредаро

Башлийски чукар

Типиците, Джангал и Момин двор

Каменица, Яловарника и Зъбът

Башлийца с диви кози

От Василашки чукар

Горно и Долно Василашки езера

Василашки езера на фона на вр. Конарево, Каймакчал и Стражите

Рабата с дъщеря ми Магделина Бенина по проект "Share Learn Improve" в Букурещ

 

Моята библиотека: "The Historiography and Memory of the Crusades in the Modern Arab World" Edited by Amar S. Baadj, Ahmed M. Sheir

 Никола Бенин

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements 9

Foreword 11

Jonathan Phillips

Introduction 15

Amar S. Baadj, Ahmed M. Sheir

The Historiographical Memory of the Crusades in NineteenthCentury Egypt 21

Ahmed Mohamed Sheir

A Survey of the Arab Contribution to the Study of the Crusades

(1899-2023) 55

Mohamed Mones Awad (trans. Amar S. Baadj)

The Fatimids and their Attitude towards the Crusades in Modern Arabic

Historical Scholarship 77

Mohamed Raheel (trans. Amar S. Baadj)

Conceptions of the Crusades in the Saudi Historiographical Imagination:

The History Department of Umm al-Qurā University as a Case Study 97

Amro Abdelaziz Mounir (trans. Amar S. Baadj)

Medieval European Relations with the Islamic World in the Works of the

Historian Maḥmūd Ismāʿīl 117

Amar S. Baadj

Remembering and Imagining the Invasion: A Threat to the Muslim Sacred

Spaces in Arabic Folk Epics 131

Oleg Sokolov

Medieval Muslims and Crusaders in Modern Arab Cinema: Reassessing

Youssef Chahine’s Epic al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Saladin the Victorious) 151

Fadi Ragheb

Notes on Contributors 201

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

A number of people and institutions have played crucial roles in the

production of this volume. First of all, the co-editors would like to express

their sincere thanks to the team at Trivent Publishing. In particular, we are

most grateful to Teodora C. Artimon for her enthusiastic support of this book

as well as the series in which it appears and for providing expert assistance

and oversight at every step of the publication process.

Ahmed Sheir significantly benefited from the Fritz Thyssen Fellowship

(2021–22), awarded for his project “Between Memory and Historiography:

The Crusades in Modern Egyptian Historical Scholarship”, which was hosted

by Professor Albrecht Fuess at Philipps-Universität Marburg. This fellowship

enabled him to initiate his research on the memory and historiography of the

Crusades in modern Egypt and strengthened his ongoing association with

Philipps-Universität Marburg. It also facilitated the organization of the online

lecture series “Rethinking Memory and Historiography of the Crusades in the

Middle East” (2021–22), which played a pivotal role in shaping the themes of

this volume and enriching discussions on Crusade historiography. Since 2022,

Sheir has continued his work on this volume while serving as a research

fellow on the Arabic Fragments in the Cairo Genizah, as part of the ongoing

ERC “APCG” project, based at Trinity College Dublin in collaboration with

the Cambridge University Library. This fellowship provided a crucial

platform for further developing his research and actively contributing to the

editing of this volume.

Amar S. Baadj has benefitted greatly from his association since 2016 with

the DFG-Leibniz sponsored research group on “The Contemporary History

of Historiography” based at the University of Trier under the direction of

Professor Lutz Raphael. It was while employed as a research fellow in this

project that he commenced his study of the modern Arab historiography of

the medieval period, resulting in an international conference (Trier,

Acknowledgements November 2017) and an edited volume entitled A

Handbook of Modern Arabic

Historical Scholarship on the Ancient and Medieval Periods (Leiden: Brill, 2021).

The editors would like to sincerely thank the anonymous peer reviewers

for their rigorous evaluations and constructive feedback on the chapters

which have greatly enhanced the quality of this collection. They are also most

grateful to Jonathan Phillips (Royal Holloway, London University), for kindly

writing a foreword to the volume. Finally, both of the editors would like to

take this opportunity to extend their deep appreciation to all of the chapter

authors for their hard work and their valuable contributions.

 

Amar S. Baadj (Relizane, 25.05.2025)

Ahmed M. Sheir (Marburg, 25.05.2025)

 

FOREWORD

Jonathan Phillips*

This volume constitutes a fresh and significant contribution to the

historiography of the crusades and the Muslim Near East. Ahmed Sheir and

his colleagues, greatly assisted by Amar S. Baadj’s enviably fluent

translations, have produced an impressive, broad-ranging and diverse series

of papers that will do much to put down a marker for the sheer volume and

diversity of work on the crusades in Arabic scholarship. For most of the

twentieth century and even until recent years, scholars of the crusades and the

Muslim world tended to keep at arms-length from one another, in part by

reason of geography, in part because of different historiographical traditions,

in part through politics, and overarching all of this, I suspect, the issue of

language. In 1999 Carole Hillenbrand’s landmark book Crusades: Islamic

Perspectives did much to introduce western scholars and students to the

medieval Muslim world.1 This, combined with a far greater public curiosity

about the history and legacy of the crusades after the use of crusade imagery

in and after the 9/11 terror attacks, prompted a considerable volume of work.

From a western academic perspective one consequence was the up-to-date

translation from Arabic of important narrative texts such as Ibn al-Athir,

Usama ibn Munqidh and Ibn Shaddad, and then, just as importantly, nonnarratives, such as poetry, sermons, pilgrimage documents or compendia

including Ibn abi Usaybiʿah’s huge work The Best Accounts of the Classes of

Physicians.

2

 There is also, much more recently, a far greater interaction

* Royal Holloway, University of London.

1 Carole Hillenbrand, Crusades: Islamic Perspectives (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University

Press, 1999).

2

Ibn al-Athir, The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'lTa'rikh, trans. Donald S. Richards, 3 volumes, Crusade Texts in Translation, 13, 15, 17

(Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006-8); Usama ibn Munqidh, The Book of Contemplation: Islam and

the Crusades, trans. Paul M. Cobb (London: Penguin, 2008); Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad,

Foreword

12

between historians of the crusades and the Muslim Near East. This is

happening at academic conferences, such as the Leeds International Medieval

Congress and the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean. Likewise at the

most recent quadrennial conference of the Society for the Study of the

Crusades and the Latin East held at Royal Holloway, University of London in

2022, or the ‘Hillenbrand 25 Years on’ workshop held at Groningen in October

2024. All of these events have featured participants from a range of academic

backgrounds, although the majority of the Arabic-language scholars are based

in western educational institutions.

While such developments are hugely welcome and exciting for all

concerned, there is still a long way to go. The greater use of hybrid technology

allowing people remote access to talks and events is a huge boon; the series

organized by Ahmed Sheir from which some of these papers derive being an

obvious example. But although it is relatively easy to find overviews of

western historiography on the crusades, this is not the case for the Arab

world.3 We have a need, therefore, to recognize, understand and learn from

the approaches and interpretations these scholars have chosen to take and also

to see the traditions in which they have developed.

While in recent years scholars from and/or based in the Eastern

Mediterranean have been publishing important research in European

languages, notably Taef el-Azhari, Abbès Zouache and Ahmed Sheir, the

Arabic language work of many of their colleagues remains inaccessible for the

The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin or al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya wa'l-Mahasin alYusufiyya by Baha' al-Din Ibn Shaddad, trans. Donald S. Richards, Crusade Texts in

Translation 7 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002); Muslim Sources of the Crusader Period: An

Anthology, ed. and trans. James E. Lindsay and Suleiman A. Mourad (Indianapolis:

Hackett Publishing, 2021); Gouvernance et Libéralitiés de Saladin d’après les données

inédites de six documents arabes, ed. and trans. Jean-Michel Mouton, Dominique Sourdel

and Janine Thomine-Sourdel (Paris: L’académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres,

2015); Ibn abi Usaybi’ah, trans. Emilie Savage-Smith, Geert Jan van Gelder, Franak

Hilloowala et al., A Literary History of Medicine: ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ of

Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah (d. 1270), edited, translated and analyzed by The ALHOM Team

(Leiden: Brill, 2019); abridged as Anecdotes and Antidotes: A Medieval Arabic History of

Physicians (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020).

3 See Christopher J. Tyerman, The Debate on the Crusades (Manchester: Manchester

University Press, 2011); Norman J. Housley, Contesting the Crusades (Oxford: Blackwell,

2006) and the forthcoming chapter by Christoph Maier in volume 1 of The Cambridge

History of the Crusades, ed. Jonathan Phillips et al., 2 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2026).

Foreword

13

majority of western academics.4 Several of the essays here will help redress

that; of course, language may keep much hidden, but having a sense of the

sheer range and variety of work will offer an insight into the study of the

crusades in a particular time and/or place as the papers here by Sheir, Awad

and Mounir show. In many ways, the barrier of language exists in reverse too

– an absence of good translations into Arabic of Latin or Old French texts, and

likewise, the poor availability of up-to-date secondary scholarship, for

example, avoiding the problematic interpretation of Steven Runciman, work

that reviewers described as out of date even on its initial publication in 1952.5

Such a situation can, therefore, mirror the limitations of crusade scholars who

cannot read Arabic, but this volume will, at the bare minimum, show English

language historians what they need to look for, or to be aware of. That in itself

can stimulate either a wish to pursue a line of enquiry following, say, the

chapter by Raheel here, or to signpost a particular source or even to look to

make a personal contact.

These papers also shed valuable light on the variety of perspectives that

scholars in the Islamic world have chosen to adopt. One such case is in the

chapter by Baadj looking at the Marxist-based interpretations of Mahmud

Ismaʿil, and then showing how he, in turn influenced further generations of

scholars (and presumably, public perceptions) of the crusades. Within this

collection, we also get a clear sense of the variety of religious, political and

cultural contexts in which scholars in the Arabic language operate. We have

here also a vital glimpse of the regional and chronological variations

encompassed by these issues which will help to break down the perception of

crusade scholarship in the Muslim Near East as monolithic.

Also of great interest here are the diverse forms of evidence in play. To

bring in non-narrative sources such as folk epics (Sokolov) and film (Ragheb,

noting the vital political context too) can help us to appreciate better the

breadth of scholarship here, but also to get a far better insight into the impact

4 For example: Taef el-Azhari, Queens, Eunuchs and Concubines in Islamic History, 661-

1257 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2019); multiple fine articles by Abbès

Zouache including: ‘Écrire l’histoire des croisades aujourd’hui, en Orient et en

Occident’, in: Construire la mèditerranée, penser les transferts culturels, eds Rania

Abdellatif, Yassir Benhima, Daniel König and Elisabeth Ruchaud (Munich:

Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2013), pp. 120-47; Ahmed M. Sheir, The Prester John

Legend between East and West during the Crusades: Entangled Eastern-Latin Mythical

Legacies (Budapest: Trivent Publishing, 2022).

5 See the summary by Jonathan S. C. Riley-Smith in Crusades 6 (2007), pp. 216-17.

Foreword

14

and the reception of the crusades in both the medieval and the modern

worlds.

Part of the excitement and enjoyment of what we all do is, of course, to see

new perspectives, ideas and information. Too long underappreciated and

often unknown in terms of scope and volume, it is hoped that the scholarship

manifest in these essays does much to bring a wealth of learning to a new and

wider audience.

Участие младежи от сдружение "Инициативи за гражданско общество" в проект "Share Learn Improve" в Букурещ

 Координатор на проекта "Share Learn Improve" е Asociatia Young Initiative от Букурещ по програма Youth in Action.

Моята Библиотека: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages - Florin Curta University of Michigan Press | 2005 |

 Никола Бенин

Книга на английски език, която съчетава история и археология за период от историята, който понастоящем е обект на голямо научно внимание, „Източна, Централна и Източна Европа през ранното Средновековие“ разглежда ключови проблеми на ранносредновековната история на Източна Европа, с особен акцент върху обществото, държавата и приемането на християнството, както и различните начини, по които тези аспекти са били разглеждани в историографията на региона. Включените есета разглеждат документалните и археологически доказателства за ранносредновековна Европа в опит да се оцени тяхното значение за разбирането на изграждането на културна идентичност и процеса на политическа мобилизация за възхода на държавите.

Copyright by the University of Michigan 2005

All rights reserved

Published in the United States of America by

The University of Michigan Press

Manufactured in the United States of America

Printed on acid-free paper

2008 2007 2006 2005 4 32 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise,

without the written permission of the publisher.

A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

East Central & Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages / Florin Curta, editor.

p. cm.

Includes revisions of papers presented at the International Congress on Medieval Studies

in Kalamazoo in 2000 and 2001.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-472-11498-6 (cloth: alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 0-472-11498-0 (cloth: alk. paper)

1. Europe, Eastern-History. I. Title: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Early

Middle Ages. II. Curta, Florin.

DJK46.E23 2005

909'.0491801-dc22 2005048574

Preface

This book developed out of three sessions organized for the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo in 2000 and 2001. Several articles published here (Henning, Urbańczyk, Buko, Shepard, and Font) are expanded versions of the papers presented in Kalamazoo. Others (Kovalev, Barford, Petrov,

Madgearu, and Stepanov) were later solicited by the editor for this publication.

The volume examines specific aspects of the early medieval history of Eastern Europe-with particular reference to society, state, and conversion to

Christianity-and the diverse ways in which these aspects have been approached in the historiography of the region. Many previous studies have described developments in Eastern Europe as replicas of those known from Western Europe or as reactions to military and political encroachments from that

same direction. This volume reconsiders such views and attempts to demonstrate that the processes of social integration, state formation, and conversion

to Christianity were gradual and complex, displaying many specific variations

at the regional and local level. A considerable amount of data is now available,

and old questions can now be rephrased in the light of the new evidence. What

forms of social organization existed in different regions of Eastern Europe in

the early Middle Ages, and how different in that respect was Eastern from

Western Europe? What were the implications of the contacts established with

the world of the steppes or with early states founded by nomads in present-day

Hungary (Avars) or Bulgaria (Bulgars)? How is the process of state formation

reflected in the surviving material and documentary evidence? Above all, this

volume's aim is to open up an interdisciplinary and comparative dialogue in

the study of early medieval Europe, and the included chapters examine the

documentary and archaeological evidence in an attempt to assess the relative

importance of each in understanding the construction of cultural identity and

the process of political mobilization responsible for the rise of states.

This collection of essays should also be viewed as an effort to provide a

more theoretically sophisticated account of the early medieval history of Eastern Europe and to bring its study up to date in terms of developments in the

regional schools of archaeology and history. The approach taken in this volume is both broader and more rigorously contextual than has been the case

with previous English-language studies of the medieval history of this area.

Цар Рамзес III, Изида и принц Амон-хер-Хопшеф. 19-та династия около 1300 г. пр.н.е. / Кing Ramses III, Isis and prince Amun-her-khopshef. 19th Dynasty ca..1300 BCE.

 Никола Бенин

Гробницата на Сети I се откроява като една от най-дългите, най-дълбоките и най-изящно украсените гробници в Долината на царете / The tomb of Sety I stands out as one of the longest, deepest, and most exquisitely decorated tombs in the Valley of the Kings

 Никола Бенин

The tomb of Sety I stands out as one of the longest, deepest, and most exquisitely decorated tombs in the Valley of the Kings. This remarkable burial site, dating back to 1294-1279 BCE, showcases stunning wall paintings and intricate reliefs that offer a glimpse into ancient Egyptian artistry and beliefs. Its grandeur reflects the importance of Sety I, making it a treasure trove for historians and enthusiasts alike.

Гробницата на Сети I се откроява като една от най-дългите, най-дълбоките и най-изящно украсените гробници в Долината на царете. Това забележително гробище, датиращо от 1294-1279 г. пр.н.е., представя зашеметяващи стенописи и сложни релефи, които предлагат поглед към древноегипетското изкуство и вярвания. Величието му отразява значението на Сети I, което го прави съкровищница както за историци, така и за ентусиасти.

Кing Ramses III, Isis and prince Amun-her-khopshef. 19th Dynasty ca..1300 BCE / Цар Рамзес III, Изида и принц Амон-хер-Хопшеф. 19-та династия около 1300 г. пр.н.е

 Никола Бенин

Първо национално състезание по правоговор и правопис на български език за второкласници „Буквоплет-2019”

 Никола Бенин

На 12.05.2019 г., в зала „Европа“ на  Доходното здание, се проведе Първото национално състезание по правоговор и правопис на български език за второкласници „Буквоплет-2019”. В него показаха знания победителите от градските състезания на 12 български града.

       Състезанието протече в 3 кръга, които бяха с различна сложност. Участниците бяха оценявани от жури в състав: Председател: д-р Никола Бенин –  преподавател в РУ „А. Кънчев”, Ива Колева –  журналистка и Анелия Янковска-Сенгалевич –  писател, преподавател и автор на учебници.

Tomb of Queen Nefertari

 Никола Бенин

Свещеник Недже и майка му Мутнефрет. Ново царство, 19-та династия, 1300 г. пр.н.е. - 1200 г. пр.н.е. / Priest Neje and Mutnefret, his mother. New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, 1300 BC- 1200 BC