The Northern Hegaz [With] Arabia Deserta [and] The Middle Euphrates [and] Palmyrena [and] Northern Negd [and] The Manners and Customs of the Rwala Bedouins [plus] A. Musil Map of Northern Arabia (in c

£2,750 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A good set of Musil’s important expeditions in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), Jordan, Syria and Central Arabia (now Saudi Arabia), with the oft-missing map case containing a large four-part map of Northern Arabia. Alois Musil (1868-1944) was a remarkable scholar and explorer whose achievements were initially quietly registered outside German-speaking Europe, but have since garnered increasing attention. Born into a farming family in Moravia, his academic ability set him on course for the Church, leading to a doctorate in theology in 1895. That same year he continued his studies at the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem, where his fascination with the Middle East truly took hold. Further study in the library of St. Joseph University (Beirut) prepared him for field work and he commenced the first of many journeys into the deserts of Syria, Jordan, Sinai and Northern Arabia. Though those travels yielded myriad rediscoveries, that of Qusayr ‘Amra, an eighth-century Umayyad lodge, is best known, as the walls, much to Musil’s own incredulity, bore figurative frescoes. The present set documents his expeditions between 1896 and 1914, with the first five volumes organised geographically and written as topographical itineraries. A significant part of the content covers what is now northern Saudi Arabia and volume five, Northern Negd , includes a history of the Al Saud (see Appendix IX). The sixth volume, devoted to the Ruwallah, is arguably the most important as it

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