Devotional Annotations: Preserving the Family’s Memory in Arabic Manuscripts

• Main Author: Torsten Wollina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-06-01
• Series: Religions
• Subjects: book history; family history; ottoman empire; Arabic manuscripts
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/6/376

This contribution explores a peculiar kind of annotation in Arabic multiple-text manuscripts. These manuscripts were often compiled as a personal ‘one-volume library’, containing copies and excerpts of a unique selection of texts. Further, they were often used for less guided writing activities. The owners left notes, lists and sometimes even sketches in the margins or on blank pages between the texts. Among these, lists of life dates of relatives are a valuable source for studies on domestic devotion. On the one hand, they give glimpses on the composition of households. How many people lived together and who were they? These lists inform us about names regardless of gender. On the other hand, the penning of these list is in itself a trace of a practice intricately tied to the familial and domestic spheres. These lists are usually the only place, in which the memory of those people is preserved.