Information on the Cities of the Mediterranean Coast of Africa in the Geographic Work of Abu Al-Fida

The paper is devoted to the analysis of information on port cities of the North African coast, preserved in the geographical work of the Syrian geographer and historian Abu al-Fida, “Systematization of countries” (Taqwim al-buldan, 1321—1331), and reconstruction of the map of navigation routes of this section of the Mediterranean Sea. The main object of the study is a detailed description of the coast of North Africa, the translation of which into Russian is given in the paper. Separate fragments of the description resemble a portolano, but at the same time they contain coordinates for many coastal points and navigational landmarks. The coordinate data provided by Abu al-Fida are presented in the table. The main attention is paid to the multifaceted informational context in which the work of Abu al-Fida was created and the identification of its sources on North African port cities. The paper shows that the description of the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea was compiled by Abu al-Fida himself on the basis of various sources — the works of Islamic scholars of the 10th — 13th centuries, including representatives of astronomical geography, as well as actual information about navigation in the Mediterranean basin.

Keywords

Abu al-Fida, the Mediterranean Sea, Northern Africa, geographical coordinates, sea routes, portolano

Acknowledgment

This paper was prepared with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project number 20-09-0027).

Received

08.06.2020

Publication date

15.10.2020

Number of characters

32554

Cite

GOST	Konovalova I. Information on the Cities of the Mediterranean Coast of Africa in the Geographic Work of Abu Al-Fida' // ISTORIYA – 2020. – V. 11. – Issue 9 (95) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840012318-8-1 (circulation date: 14.06.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840012318-8
MLA	Konovalova, Irina "Information on the Cities of the Mediterranean Coast of Africa in the Geographic Work of Abu Al-Fida'." ISTORIYA 11.9 (95) (2020) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840012318-8
APA	Konovalova I. (2020). Information on the Cities of the Mediterranean Coast of Africa in the Geographic Work of Abu Al-Fida'. ISTORIYA 11(9 (95)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840012318-8

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