Egyptian camel caravan passing over Olivet near Jerusalem, 1918
Public Domain
Welcome to the Arab Travels Around the World: 17th-20th Centuries Research Guide
The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. Arabs and Muslims were pioneers in this field, and while our most famous travelers, such as Ibn Battuta, Ibn Jubayr, and Ahmad ibn Fadlan, lived during the Abbasid or Mamluk eras, a number of others appeared during the Ottoman and post Ottoman eras.
This guide aims to shed some light on some of the travel books "Adab Al-Riḥlāt" written by this group of travelers, starting the 17th century up till the mid 20th century, when this type of literature faded away due to the advancement of visual media. The guide includes memoirs and writings by prominent figures from the Arab world.
Some of these individuals were members of the AUB community, such as Philip Hitti, Fuad Sarruf, and Amin Mumayiz. Others are notable Arab personalities, including Jirji Zaydan, Francis Marrash, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, Mohamad Kurd-Ali , Yaqub Sanua and Prince Abd al-Ilah of Iraq and many others. Additionally, the collection features works by clergy, like Philips Nimeer and Mousa Maqhat, who were sent as delegates by their superiors to various Western countries.
The information is available in the form of manuscripts or printed books, with some material digitized and others preserved as hard copies.
AUB libraries is proud to be one of the academic institutes, holding and preserving a large number of titles of this genre, dating to this specific time period.
