The Archive
To date, MEFA has identified more than 60 manuscripts in Arabic alone which contain texts on falconry written between the eighth and sixteenth centuries across the Middle East. Some of these texts were popular and copied as many as 20 times, while others are preserved only in a single copy.
Through digitisation and state-of-the-art facsimile production, all ancient hand-written (manuscript) documents in Arabic dedicated to falconry will be ‘brought back home’ to form the seminal repository for falconry literature. As the digital home for the heritage of Arabic falconry literature, MEFA will safeguard such important documents enabling the exploration of the deep roots of the heritage of Arab falconry.
The Manuscripts
The earliest surviving books on the care and training of birds of prey were written in Abbasid Baghdad. Most of the manuscripts preserve texts which belong to the genre of ‘technical literature’ which focuses on medical issues, but also discusses training and qualities of birds of prey.
While most literature in the MEFA archives is technical in nature, Usama ibn Munqidh offered especially entertaining accounts of falconry in Crusader-era Syria with its passionate falconers and famed falcons. More than many other authors, he described the close relationship between humans and birds and the great fascination of falconry which the technical literature mostly takes for granted.
The manuscripts are preserved in libraries and archives from across the Middle East, Europe, the US and South Asia. MEFA collaborates with these libraries to digitise or obtain digital copies of these manuscripts, allowing them to be brought together into a single digital home for the heritage of Arabic falconry literature. The digital records of each manuscript are supported by both technical information for academics and engaging educational information for all falconry heritage enthusiasts.
11 Manuscripts Digitized and Reproduced
More than 60 Arabic falconry manuscripts, encompassing 15 treatises have been located in 26 libraries and institutions around the world.
11 of these have already been digitized and reproduced as state-of-the-art facsimiles.
8th century
Kitāb al-bayzarah («Book of falconry»).
Iskandar version of the Ghitrīf
8th century. London, British Library. MS. Or. 8187. MS. copied in 1787 CE.
8th century
Kitāb al-bayzarah («Book of falconry»).
Al Ḥajjāj version of the Ghiṭrīf.
8th Century. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek. Peterman II, 20 (Alwardt 6199). MS. copied in 1434 CE
780 - Baghdad
Al-Ghiṭrīf ibn Qudāma al-Ghassānī
Kitāb ḍawārī al-ṭayr («Book of the birds of prey»)
Al-Hajjaj version of the Ghitrīf. 8th century CE. Oxford, Bodleian Library. MS. Marsh 148 (Uri 393). MS. copied 798 H / 1396 CE.
9th century
Kitāb al-ṣayd
Includes Kitāb al-Mutawakkilī (9th century CE) and al Ḥajjāj version of the Ghiṭrīf (8th century CE).
Facsimile of a manuscript copied in 1559 CE and currently held at the Gotha Forschungsbibliothek, Germany (MS. 2092)
10th cent. Baghdad
Ibn Waḥshiyyah
Kitāb al-Riʾāsah fī ʿilm al-firāsah («Principle book on the science of hunting»).
10th century CE. Oxford, Bodleian Library. MS. Huntington 348. MS. copied in the 15th or 16th century CE
Middle of the 10th century
Abū Bakr al-As’arī
Kitāb al-jawārih wa-'ul ūm al-bazdara («Book on the birds of prey and the science of falconry»). Iskandar version of the Ghitrīf.
Middle of the 10th century CE. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France. MS. Arabe 2831. MS. copied in 1444 CE.
1175–1182 Syria
Usāma ibn-Munqidh
Kitāb al-i’tibār («Book of learning by example»).
1175–1182 CE. Madrid, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio del Escorial. Derenbourg, Les Manuscrits Arabes (1884–1903): MS. 1947. MS. copied in 1213 CE.
1237–1242 Baghdad
‘Īsā al-Asadī
Al-jamhara fi ‘ulūm al-bayzara («Collection on the science of falconry»).
1237–1242 CE. Madrid, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial. Derenbourg, Les Manuscrits Arabes (1884–1903): MS. 903. MS. copied in 1589 CE.
1371–1372 Egypt
Ibn Manglī
Uns al-malā' bi-waḥsh al-falā («Trade of the great ones with the wild beasts of the waveless desert»).
1371–1372 CE. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France. MS. Arabe 2832. MS. copied in 1517 CE.
1541
Al-Fāguihī
Mānahij as-Surūr war-Richād («Paths of joy and good conduct»)
1541 CE. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France. MS. Arabe 2834. MS. copied in 1600 CE.
1576 Morocco
Al-Figuigui
Qaṣīda: Rawd’t as-Sulwane («The garden of consolation»).
1576 CE. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France. MS. Arabe 3236. MS. copied in 1790 CE.
Get To Know The Full Archive
To date, MEFA has identified more than 60 manuscripts in Arabic alone which contain texts on falconry written between the eighth and sixteenth centuries across the Middle East.