{"product_id":"a-physician-on-the-nile-9781479820078","title":"A Physician on the Nile","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFlora, fauna, and famine in thirteenth-century Egypt\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Physician on the Nile \u003c\/i\u003ebegins 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 ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī, and intended for the Abbasid caliph al-Nāṣir, 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. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf’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, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf condemns the vandalism wrought by tomb-robbers and notes with distaste that Egyptian grocers price their goods with labels written on recycled mummy-wrappings.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The book’s second half relates his horrific eyewitness account of the great famine that afflicted Egypt in the years 597–598\/1200–1202. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf was a keen observer of humanity, and he offers vivid first-hand depictions of starvation, cannibalism, and a society in moral free-fall. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Physician on the Nile\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn English-only edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48272857858299,"sku":"9781479820078","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_78ba8f85-26f5-419f-9ebd-dedf2c36ff63.jpg?v=1777695149","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/a-physician-on-the-nile-9781479820078","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}