During the fall of 2005, Shawkat Toorawa spent a full semester with his students at Cornell University to design a website for the School of Abbasid Studies. Subsequently, at the end of the Eighth Conference of the SAS, held at St. Andrews in June 2006, the official website of the Abbasid Empire was presented. At that moment, the foundations had been laid for the website you are visiting right now.
The Abbasids
Collected information about the Abbasids of students from Cornell.
In the course of time, pages were added, edited and redesigned (notably by Uwe Vagelpohl and then by Ignacio Sánchez), shaping what you see now. However, the information about the Abbasids as well as the photos here presented are the original contribution of the students from Cornell. Enjoy reading it and let it inspire you to add to and expand it, so that gradually, a fuller picture of what the School is about emerges.
Latest news
Most recent conference
The fifteenth conference of the School of Abbasid Studies took place from Tuesday July 12 till Saturday July 16, 2022
at Oxford University, UK.
Awards
Alastair Northedge, Paris-based British professor, researcher and archaeologist best known for his surveys of Samarra, is 2020 laureate of Tamayouz Excellence Award’s Special Recognition Award.
The Special Recognition Award aims to celebrate and recognize contributions to humanity, architecture and the built environment and is presented annually to individuals or organizations.
Read more »
New publication
Popeye and Curly: 120 Days in Medieval Baghdad
Written and Illustrated by Emily Selove
Popeye and Curly is a book of cartoons about Abbasid Baghdad, starring book-loving author Popeye (al-Jahiz) and winebibbing poet Curly (Abu Nuwas), along with their friends Coral (a singing girl) and the Caliph of one of the world’s most influential empires in history. Each episode is derived from historical sources, and designed to entertain, educate, and amaze.
It includes a short preface by Geert Jan van Gelder, as well as a bibliography and index. The full-colour pictures are inspired by illustrations of al-Hariri’s Maqamat.