A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years

by Abd al-Laf al-Baghdd

Flora, fauna, and famine in thirteenth-century Egypt A Physician on the Nile begins as a description of everyday life in Egypt at the turn of the seventh/thirteenth century, before becoming a harrowing account of famine and pestilence. Written by the polymath and physician Abd al-Laif al-Baghdadi, and intended for the Abbasid caliph al-Nair, the first part of the book offers detailed descriptions of Egypt's geography, plants, animals, and local cuisine, including a recipe for a giant picnic pie made with three entire roast lambs and dozens of chickens. Abd al-Laif's text is also a pioneering work of ancient Egyptology, with detailed observations of Pharaonic monuments, sculptures, and mummies. An early and ardent champion of archaeological conservation, Abd al-Laif condemns the vandalism wrought by tomb-robbers and notes with distaste that Egyptian grocers price their goods with labels written on recycled mummy-wrappings. The book's second half relates his horrific eyewitness account of the great famine that afflicted Egypt in the years 597-598/1200-1202. Abd al-Laif was a keen observer of humanity, and he offers vivid first-hand depictions of starvation, cannibalism, and a society in moral free-fall. A Physician on the Nile contains great diversity in a small compass, distinguished by the acute, humane, and ever-curious mind of its author. It is rare to be able to hear the voice of such a man responding so directly to novelty, beauty, and tragedy. An English-only edition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1479820075
• ISBN13: 9781479820078
• Release Date: November 2022
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.2"