0.1 A spinstress and her child receiving a guest, Maqāma 5, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 13b; source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF xiv
0.2 Flyer for the conference “Baghdād – Space of Knowledge”. Created by CRC EDRIS, University of Göttingen xxiii
1.1 The neighborhoods of Baghdād (8th-9th cent.). © Brill Academic Publishers 5
1.2 Some porters in front of sailing boats, rowing boats and motorboats on the Tigris, 1925. CC-BY-SA 4.0; created by Walter Mittelholzer, January 1925, from the ETH Zurich’s e-pics bildarchiv, URL: https://www.e-pics.ethz.ch/index/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv_284100.html (accessed 31 January 2022) 6
1.3 Mausoleum of Maʿrūf al-Karkhī, 1924. CC-BY-SA 4.0; unknown creator, 18 January 1924, from the ETH Zurich’s e-pics bildarchiv, URL: https://ba.e-pics.ethz.ch/catalog/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv/r/146408/viewmode=infoview/fc=9%3A8090 (accessed 31 January 2022) 7
1.4 Masjid al-Khulafāʾ (The Caliphs’ Mosque) with the Ilkhanid Minaret, 2014. CC-BY-SA 3.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:مسجد_الخلفاء_في_بغداد.jpg; created by Osamah Ibrahim: 1 September 2014, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:مسجد_الخلفاء_في_بغداد.jpg; (accessed 31 January 2022) 13
1.5 The bricked Talismān gate with Caliph al-Nāṣir’s inscription running around the upper part of the tower, 1918. Public domain; file: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1918_gate_Baghdad_Iraq_by_Sven_Hedin.png; created by Sven Hedin: first published in his Bagdad, Babylon, Ninive, Leipzig 1918, p. 131 via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1918_gate_Baghdad_Iraq_by_Sven_Hedin.png; (accessed 31 January 2022) 15
1.6 The Wasṭānī gate (viewed from outside), 2016. CC-A 2.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al-wastani_gate.jpg; created by David Stanley, 03 April 2016, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al-wastani_gate.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 16
1.7 Khan al-Mirjān in the 20th century (center). © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford 17
1.8 Mausoleum of Zumurrud Khātūn with palm trees, 1924. CC-BY-SA 4.0; created by Arnold Heim, 06 August 1924, from the ETH Zurich’s e-pics bildarchiv, URL: https://ba.e-pics.ethz.ch/catalog/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv/r/12783/viewmode=infoview/fc=9%3A8090 (accessed 31 January 2022) 18
1.9 Mirjāniyya Madrasa and mosque. Public domain; from G. Eric and Edith Matson photograph collection at the Library of Congress, URL: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2019706775/ (accessed 28 January 2022) 19
1.10 Street scene in modern Baghdād (with oriels). Public domain; from G. Eric and Edith Matson photograph collection at the Library of Congress, URL: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003653628/ (accessed 28 January 2022) 23
1.11 Cooking scene with a butcher, two cooks and a female servant, Maqāma 44, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 140a; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 33
1.12 A Sabean silversmith at work in his jewelry store, 1932. Public domain; from G. Eric and Edith Matson photograph collection at the Library of Congress, URL: https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/matpc.15983/ (accessed 31 January 2022) 38
2.1 Astrolabe of al-Sahl al-Nishapurī, ca. 1180s or ca. 1280s. CC-BY-4.0; file: https://objektkatalog.gnm.de/wisski/navigate/4518/view; source: the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg via Wikimedia commons, created 30 January 2019, URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Astrolabium_des_al-Sahl_al-Nisaburi.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 60
3.1 Reconstruction of the plan of Madīnat al-Salām. © Brill Academic Publishers 68
3.2 The marble miḥrāb from the Khāṣikī mosque as displayed in the Iraqī National Museum. CC-BY-SA 4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mihrab_from_al-Khasiki_Mosque_in_Baghdad,_built_by_the_Abbasid_Caliph_Harun_al-Rashid,_192_AH,_Iraq_Museum.jpg; created by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP (Glasg): 14 March 2019, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mihrab_from_al-Khasiki_Mosque_in_Baghdad,_built_by_the_Abbasid_Caliph_Harun_al-Rashid,_192_AH,_Iraq_Museum.jpg; (accessed 28 January 2022) 75
3.3 Opening page of a Qurʾān manuscript by Ibn al-Bawwāb, produced in Baghdād in 1000 or 1001 [= 391 AH]. Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Is 1431, f. 6v. © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library Dublin 77
3.4 End of sūra 73, beginning of sūra 74 from a Qurʾān signed by Ibn Muqla, dated to 91_ [= 32_ AH]. Raza Library, Rampur, MS 6093D, f. 202a. Photo created by author 79
3.5 Discussion near a village, Maqāma 43, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 138a; source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 86
3.6 Courtyard of the Mustanṣiriyya Madrasa, 2014. CC-BY-SA 4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:المدرسة_المستنصرية_في_بغداد_(3).jpg; created by Taisir Mahdi: 17 January 2014, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:المدرسة_المستنصرية_في_بغداد_(3).jpg; (accessed 28 January 2022) 89
3.7 Detail, īwān of the Bishriyya Madrasa, 1255. Public domain; first published in: Sarre, F. and Herzfeld, E., Archäologische Reise im Euphrat- und Tigrisgebiet, 4 vols., Berlin 1911-1920, III, Tafel LII 91
3.8 Tomb of Zumurrud Khātūn, early 20th cent. Public domain; from G. Eric and Edith Matson photograph collection at the Library of Congress, URL: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2019702790/ (accessed 28 January 2022) 92
3.9 Talismān gate, restored by Caliph al-Nāṣir in 1221. Public domain; first published in: Sarre, F. and Herzfeld, E., Archäologische Reise im Euphrat- und Tigrisgebiet, 4 vols., Berlin 1911-1920, III, Tafel X 93
I.1 Al-Bīrūnī’s horoscope of Madīnat al-Salām. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, MS Arabe 1489, f. 140v; source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 99
I.2 Al-Bīrūnī’s horoscope of Madīnat al-Salām (translation). Created by author 100
II.1 Baghdād in the early 9th century, with Madīnat al-Salām depicted as an oval palatial city. Created by author 106
4.1 Map of Ctesiphon. © Brill Academic Publishers 120
4.2 The Great Hall (īwān) of Khosrow II after right side collapsed, 1932. Public domain; from G. Eric and Edith Matson photograph collection at the Library of Congress via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ctesiphon,_Iraq,_1932.jpg (accessed 28 January 2022) 125
4.3 Map of Asoristan and its waterscape. GNU Free Documentation License; CC-BY-SA 4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sasanian_Asoristan_and_its_surroundings.svg; created by HistoryofIran 15 October 2020, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sasanian_Asoristan_and_its_surroundings.svg (accessed 28 January 2022) 133
5.1 Al-Saffāḥ (center) is proclaimed the first ʿAbbāsid Caliph from Balʿamī’s (d. 997) Taʾrīkhnāma (The Historybook) (ca. 1300). © Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. – Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1947.19, folio 158v 144
5.2 The death of Caliph al-Wāthiq, from the Taʾrīkh-i Alfi (The History of One Thousand [Years]) MS LACMA M.78.9.4 (ca. 1594). Public domain high resolution image available from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deaths_of_Al-Wathiq_and_Muhammad_B._Baiis_Jalis_(recto),_Death_of_Anbakh_(verso),_Folio_from_a_Tarikh-I_Alfi_Manuscript_LACMA_M.78.9.4_(1_of_2).jpg; (accessed 25 January 2022) (cropped) 163
5.3 Depiction of Caliph al-Mutawakkil on a silver medallion. CC-BY-SA 4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al-Mutawakkil.png; created by Taha b. Wasiq b. Hussain: 6 March 2020, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al-Mutawakkil.png; (accessed 25 January 2022) 166
5.4 The ʿĀshiq palace of Caliph al-Muʿtamid in Sāmarrāʾ, 2019. CC-BY-SA 4.0; file:
5.5 Dīnār mentioning Caliphs al-Muwaffaq (left, last line) and al-Muʿtamid (right, third line) (dated 884 or 885 [= 271 AH]). CC-BY-SA 2.5; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dinar_of_al-Mu%27tamid,_AH_271.jpg; created by CNG Coins, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dinar_of_al-Mu%27tamid,_AH_271.jpg (accessed 25 January 2022) 171
5.6 The duration of Caliphs’ reigns in months. Created by author 185
6.1 10th-century bowl from Nishapur, Iran, imitating Chinese porcelain and using calligraphy as decoration. CC0 1.0; file: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451802; from the Rogers Fund, 1965 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bowl_with_Arabic_Inscription_MET_DP120823.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 204
6.2 A debate taking place in a mosque, Maqāma 50, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 164b; source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 212
7.1 Dīnār of Ṭughril Beg (dated 1056 or 1057 [= 448 AH]), mentioning him (right, line 4) with his titles al-sulṭān al-ʿaẓīm shāhānshāh on the obverse and Caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh on the reverse (left, line 4). GNU Free Documentation License and CC-SA 3.0; file: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=109405; created by Classical Numismatic Groups 30 August 2012, via Wikipedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TughrilCoin.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 232
7.2 Dīnār of Malik Shāh (dated 1091 or 1092 [= 484 AH]), mentioning him with his kunya Abū l-Fatḥ (right, line 4) on the obverse and Caliph al-Muqtadī bi-Amr Allāh on the reverse (left, line 3). GNU Free Documentation License and CC-SA 2.5; file: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=148370; created by Classical Numismatic Groups (CNG) 30 November 1899 [sic], via Wikipedia commons, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dinar_of_Malik_Shah_I,_AH_465-485.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 233
7.3 Mausoleum of Caliph al-Rāshid bi-llāh (d. 1138) in Iṣfahān, 2007. CC-BY-SA 4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rashed_belah_tomb.jpg; created by Kamcom: 5 March 2007, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rashed_belah_tomb.jpg (accessed 28 January 2022) 235
7.4 The Tigris river with a boat bridge and high water between eastern (bottom) and western (top) Baghdād from a Persian miniature, 1468. CC0 1.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Floods_in_Baghdad.jpg; anonymous author, reproduction from color print, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Floods_in_Baghdad.jpg (accessed 25 January 2022) 238
7.5 Baghdād in the Saljūq period. © Brill Academic Publishers 246
7.6 Ruins of the main īwān of the Niẓāmiyya Madrasa in Khargird, 1925. © Ernst Herzfeld Papers, FSA.A.6; Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives; Gift of Ernst Herzfeld, 1946; Photo: Ernst Herzfeld, FSA.A.6 04.GN.2976 250
7.7 Inscription at the main īwān of the Niẓāmiyya Madrasa in Khargird, 1925. © Ernst Herzfeld Papers, FSA.A.6; Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives; Gift of Ernst Herzfeld, 1946; Photographer: Ernst Herzfeld, FSA.A.6 04.GN.2957 250
7.8 Aerial view of the ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī mosque and mausoleum in Baghdād as reconstructed in the Ottoman period, 1925. Public domain; created by Walter Mittelholzer, January 1925, from the ETH Zurich’s e-pics bildarchiv https://ba.e-pics.ethz.ch/catalog/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv/r/284097/viewmode=infoview via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ETH-BIB-Bagdad_-_grosse_Moschee_aus_200_m_Höhe-Persienflug_1924-1925-LBS_MH02-02-0036-AL-FL.tif (accessed 31 January 2022) 253
8.1 Cupola and minaret of ʿUmar al-Suhrawardī’s (d. 1234) tomb and ribāṭ complex, 2018. CC-BY-4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:جامع_زمرد_خاتون.jpg; created by Mustafa Ismail Khalaf: 19 July 2017, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:جامع_زمرد_خاتون.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 272
8.2 Photograph of the remains of the bricked Talismān Gate, including the inscription (top) of Caliph al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh (d. 1225) and a depiction of his with two dragons (center). © bpk / The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Ernst Herzfeld 273
8.3 Detail showing Caliph al-Nāṣir (center) grasping the tongues of two dragons. © bpk / The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Ernst Herzfeld 274
8.4 Decoration on the Mustanṣiriyya Madrasa’s courtyard, 2012. CC-BY-4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:المدرسة_المستنصرية_ببغداد.jpg; created by Mondalawy: 27 February 2012, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:المدرسة_المستنصرية_ببغداد.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 275
8.5 Mongol troops besieging western Baghdād that is connected to its eastern part by a boat bridge, while Caliph al-Mustaʿṣim (d. 1258) flees the city in a boat, from the Diez Album. CC-BY-NC-SA; Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Diez A fol. 70, S. 4, Nr. 1, URL: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN73601313X&PHYSID=PHYS_0011&view=picture-download; (accessed 28 January 2022) 279
9.1 The Mongols under Hülegü (bottom right) besiege Baghdād in 1258, from Rashīd al-Dīn’s (d. 1318) Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (The Compendium of Chronicles), MS Suppl. Pers. 1113, f. 180v-181r, ca. 1430. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Suppl. Pers. 1113, f. 180v-181r; source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bagdad1258.jpg; (accessed 28 January 2022) 285
9.2 Tombstone of Caliph al-Mustaʿṣim bi-llāh (d. 1258) (his regnal title appears in line three). CC-BY-4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:المستعصم_باللّٰه.jpg; created by Kalabbas: 17 August 2019, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:المستعصم_باللّٰه.jpg (accessed 28 January 2022) 291
9.3 The minaret of the Caliphal Palace Friday Mosque (Jāmiʿ al-Qaṣr) as reconstructed in the Ilkhanid period, 1916. © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford 294
9.4 Two Mongol scholars studying the Qurʾān in a mosque tent, from the Diez Album. CC-BY-NC-SA; Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Diez A fol. 70, S. 8, Nr. 1, URL: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN73601313X&PHYSID=PHYS_0031&DMDID=DMDLOG_0031; (accessed 28 January 2022) 309
10.1 Market scene with black slaves, Maqāma 34, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 105a; source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 318
10.2 Regional merchants bringing melons and bricks to Baghdād by ship, 1932. Public domain; from G. Eric and Edith Matson photograph collection at the Library of Congress, URL: https://www.loc.gov/resource/matpc.13209/ (accessed 28 January 2022) 319
10.3 A rowboat used for the transportation of passengers and foodstuffs, Maqāma 22, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 61a; source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 321
10.4 Dry course of the Nahrawān canal, 1909. © The Gertrude Bell Archive, Newcastle University, Image Code L_146 328
10.5 Water wheel (back) supplying a pond, Maqāma 24, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 69b; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 332
11.1 Gold solidus (obvers) showing Emperor Heraclius (d. 641) (center) with his two sons and successors Heraclius Constantine (d. 641) (right) and Heraclonas (d. 641) (left). Public domain; file: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/462743; from the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, Gift of Darius Ogden Mills, 1904, URL: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/462743; (accessed 28 January 2022) 341
11.2 Map of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in ca. 800. Created by author 343
11.3 Depiction of Greek fire in a sea warfare scene, from the Madrid Skylitzes, Cod. Vitr. 26-2, f. 34v, 12th cent. Public domain; file: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Greekfire-madridskylitzes1.jpg; unknown author, via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Greekfire-madridskylitzes1.jpg (accessed 25 January 2022) 345
11.4 The siege of Amorion, from the Madrid Skylitzes, Cod. Vitr. 16-2, f. 59v, 12th cent. Public domain; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Siege_of_Amorium.jpg; unknown author, from The Amorium Project via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Siege_of_Amorium.jpg (accessed 25 January 2022) 348
11.5 The embassy of John the Grammarian (third from left, second from right) from Emperor Theophilos (right) to the Caliph (left), from the Madrid Skylitzes, Cod. Vitr. 26-2, f. 47r, 12th cent. Public domain; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_the_Grammarian_as_ambassador_before_Theophilos_and_Mamun.jpg; unknown author, via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_the_Grammarian_as_ambassador _before_Theophilos_and_Mamun.jpg (accessed 25 January 2022) 352
12.1 Passage mentioning the embassy to Charlemagne and the elephant (last line) in the Annales Regni Francorum, MS Latin 10911, f. 87v, 9th cent. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Latin 10911, f. 87v; source archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr / BnF 376
12.2 Detail of Fra Mauro’s world map showing Baghdād (identified with Babilonia) encircled by the Tigris and divided by a canal, 1459. Public domain; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fra_Mauro_map,_sector_XXII.jpg?uselang=de; unknown author, via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fra_Mauro_map,_sector_XXII.jpg?uselang=de; (accessed 31 January 2022; cropped) 383
III.1 Sailing ship with mast, lookout, anchor and passengers, Maqāma 39, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 119b; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 402
13.1 Byzantine embassy (left) is introduced to the Caliph (right) by the chamberlain (middle), from the Madrid Skylitzes, Cod. Vitr. 26-2, f. 60, 12th cent. Public domain; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byzantine_emissaries_to_the_Caliph.jpg; unknown author, via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byzantine_emissaries_to_the_Caliph.jpg (accessed 25 January 2022) 409
13.2 Table scene of host with his three guests, Maqāma 5, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 12b; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 421
13.3 Iraqī luster ware bowl from the 10th century depicting a boon companion who holds a cup and grapes in his hands. Public domain; file: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45283; from the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, gift of Edwin Binney 3rd and Purchase, Richard S. Perkins Gift, 1977, URL: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452833; (accessed 28 January 2022) 422
14.1 The rogue challenging the learned assembly with riddles, Maqāma 42, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 131b; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 430
14.2 People passing by on Baghdād’s Maude Bridge in 1925. CC-BY-SA 4.0; created by Walter Mittelholzer, January 1925, from the ETH Zurich’s e-pics bildarchiv, URL: https://ba.e-pics.ethz.ch/catalog/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv/r/284099/viewmode=infoview/fc=9%3A8090 (accessed 31 January 2022) 433
15.1 An oud player in front of a courtly audience that is listening and drinking, from Ḥadīth Bayāḍ wa-Riyāḍ (The Story of Bayāḍ and Riyāḍ) in the codex Vat. Arabo 368, f. 10r, 13th cent. Public domain; taken from The Yorck Project (2002) via Wikipedia commons, URL: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maler_der_Geschichte_von_Bayâd_und_Riyâd_002.jpg; (accessed 28 January 2022) 442
15.2 Reading taking place in a library or a book shop with more than 130 books, Maqāma 2, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 5a; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 446
15.3 The façade of the Mirjāniyya Madrasa, 1980. © Yasser Tabbaa Archive, Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries (AKDC@MIT) 458
15.4 The interior of the Mirjāniyya Madrasa showing the courtyard and the īwān, 1920s. © bpk / The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Ernst Herzfeld 459
IV.1 Dīnār from the time of Caliph al-Mahdī (dated 782 or 783 [= 166 AH]), obverse and reverse. CC-BY-4.0; file http://hdl.handle.net/428894.vzg/99f25bef-3c14-41ec-8d07-72928b17474b; taken from the Münzkabinet der Universität Göttingen, URL: https://www.kenom.de/id/record_DE-MUS-062622_kenom_182389 (accessed 31 January 2022) 468
16.1 A teacher instructing or examining a pupil in front of an audience in a palatial setting, Maqāma 46, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 148b; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 477
16.2 A young man reading a book, from Dioscorides’s De Materia Medica, 1229. GNU Free Documentation License; taken from The Yorck Project (2002) via Wikipedia commons, URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Syrischer_Maler_des_Kräuterbuchs_des_Dioskurides_001.jpg; (accessed 27 January 2022) 502
16.3 A preacher dressed in black on the pulpit in a mosque, Maqāma 29, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 84b; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 508
V.1 Funeral celebrations in a necropolis, Maqāma 11, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 31b; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 525
V.2 A judge dressed in black deciding a case on the pulpit, Maqāma 7, Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, painted by Yaḥyā l-Wāsiṭī in 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 5847, f. 18b; source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF 527
17.1 Page from an Arabic translation of Ptolemy’s Almagest, 1397. CC BY-4.0; file: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bodleian_Library_Pococke369_roll332_frame38.jpg; taken from The Bodleian Library MS Pococke 369, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bodleian_Library_Pococke369_roll332_frame38.jpg (accessed 27 January 2022) 562
17.2 Portrait of Dioscorides, from a manuscript executed at the Niẓāmiyya Madrasa (Baghdād?), ca. 1240. CC BY-4.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Dioscorides_from_De_Materia_Medica.jpg; taken from Bodleian Library MS.Arab. d. 138, f. 2b, URL: http://bodley30.bodley.ox.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet/detail/ODLodl~23~23~113338~140802:A-portrait-of-Dioscorides-A-late (accessed 10 January 2022) 568
17.3 Teacher and disciple discussing herbs, from Dioscorides’s De Materia Medica, 1229. GNU Free Documentation License; taken from The Yorck Project (2002) via Wikipedia commons, URL: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arabischer_Maler_des_Kräuterbuchs_des_Dioskurides_004.jpg; (accessed 27 January 2022) 579
18.1 Aerial view of the Kāẓimayn shrines in western Baghdād from the north, ca. 1932. Public domain; from G. Eric and Edith Matson photograph collection at the Library of Congress, URL: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2019706732/ (accessed 28 January 2022) 615
18.2 Fighting at (top) and destruction of (bottom right) the tomb of al-Ḥusayn in Karbalāʾ, from the Taʾrīkh-i Alfi (The History of One Thousand [Years]), ca. 1594. © The Trustees of the British Museum 620
18.3 dīnār mentioning Caliph al-Mutawakkil ʿalā llāh on the obverse (right, line 4) and his new heir apparent al-Muʿtazz bi-llāh on the reverse (left, line 4) (dated 856 or 857 [= 242 AH]). GNU Free Documentation License; file: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Dinar_of_Al-Mutawakkil,_AH_232-247.jpg; created by CNG Coins 30 August 2012, URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Dinar_of_Al-Mutawakkil,_AH_232-247.jpg (accessed 28 January 2022) 621
19.1 The shrine of Maʿrūf al-Karkhī in Baghdād, 2017. Public domain; file: https://fa.wikishia.net/view/پرونده:مقبره_معروف_کرخی_در_بغداد.png; author Naimi, created 7 January 2017, URL: https://fa.wikishia.net/index.php?curid=31605 (accessed 31 January 2022) 643
19.2 The execution of al-Ḥallāj (center, in white), from the Warren Hastings Album, ca. 1605. No known copyright restrictions; from the A. Augustus Healy Fund and Carll H. de Silver Fund at the Brooklyn Museum 69.48.2 (photo: Brooklyn Museum, 69.48.2_IMLS_SL2.jpg) via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Execution_of_Mansur_Hallaj_From_the_Warren_Hastings_Album.jpg; (accessed 28 January 2022) 666
20.1 Woolen tapestry showing Christian saints, from Egypt, ʿAbbāsid period (750-850). CC0 1.0; file: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.256; from Mrs. Paul Mallon, New York, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.256 (accessed 31 January 2022) 699
20.2 A physician preparing an elixir, from Dioscorides’s De Materia Medica, 1224. Public domain; file: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/446288; from the Rogers Fund, 1913, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, URL: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/446288; (accessed 31 January 2022) 714
21.1 Model of a class taking place in a Jewish academy in Baghdād. CC0 2.5; file: https://www.pikiwiki.org.il/image/view/82548; from Israel Preker, author
21.2 Letter of Rav Ḥayya Gaon from Baghdād to his students asking for a donation for the Academy, 7 February 1007. Reproduced by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library 750
22.1 A mandaean place of worship in al-Nāṣiriyya (southern Iraq), 2016. CC-BY-3.0; file: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mandaean-Mandi-Nasiriya-Iraq.jpg; author Aziz1005, created 6 January 2016, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mandaean-Mandi-Nasiriya-Iraq.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 772
23.1 Irrigation canals watering a palm orchard in Baghdād, 1924. CC-BY-SA 4.0; created by Arnold Heim, 13 April 1924, from the ETH Zurich’s e-pics bildarchiv, URL: https://ba.e-pics.ethz.ch/catalog/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv/r/40738/viewmode=infoview/fc=9%3A8090 (accessed 31 January 2022) 794
23.2 Aerial view of the Mausoleum and Madrasa of Abū Ḥanīfa, 1919. Public domain; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:جامع_الإمام_أبي_حنيفة.jpg; source: http://abuhanefa.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post_7718.html unknown author, via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:جامع_الإمام_أبي_حنيفة.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 800
23.3 īwān of the Mustanṣiriyya Madrasa, 2005. CC-BY-3.0; file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mustansiriya_University_CPT.jpg; author: CTP photo, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mustansiriya_University_CPT.jpg (accessed 31 January 2022) 811
23.4 The Katah bridge, a modern boat bridge connecting eastern and western Baghdād, 1932. Public domain; from G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress, URL: https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/matpc.16004/ (accessed 31 January 2022) 819
23.5 The Muʿaẓẓam gate (view from the inside), with the British army entering Baghdād, 1917. Public domain; file: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maude_in_Baghdad.jpg; unknown author; first published in Menzies, S., Sir Stanley Maude and Other Memories, London 1920, p. 48 via Wikimedia commons, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maude_in_Baghdad.jpg; (accessed 31 January 2022) 820
23.6 Embroidered cotton ṭirāz showing the basmallah from Baghdād, reign of Caliph al-Qādir (r. 991-1031). CC0 1.0; file: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.188; Gift of Ruth Blumka in Memory of Leopold Blumka, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.188 (accessed 31 January 2022) 822