Al-Masudi (the 10th Century)

In the present publication a reader finds stories (novellas) borrowed from the main surviving work by the famous al-Mas‘udi (d. 956) Murudj al-dhahab wa ma‘adin al-djawhar (“The Meadows of Gold and the Mines of Germs”). The acting persons of these abstracts are Arabians and the descendants of the Arabians, who found themselves in the areas adjacent to the Arabian peninsula. Some of them were practically contemporaries of the Author, while the others were sons of the times immemorial. One of the novellas narrates the story of fantastic creatures the nasnas, who allegedly used to inhabit a certain area in Southern Arabia. The Academic translation of the abstract from Murugj al-dhahab..., supplied with scholarly comments proves anew the most high level of the narrative skill, characteristic of al-Mas‘udi

Ancient history · Art · Archaeology and Historical Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies