Could fragments harbour new insights?

A Leeds academic is to talk at the Louvre in Paris next month about her work on fragments of great historical interest unearthed in Egypt. Dr Anne Regourd from the department of Arabic and Middle Eastern studies is studying Arabic fragments from the 12th to 15th centuries found in the foundations of a Roman and Islamic harbour at Quseir al-Qadim on the Egyptian Red Sea coast.

By deciphering the fragments (mainly merchant correspondence) and examining them in their historical context, her work will lead to a better understanding of the trade of the Red Sea region. Dr Regourd is preparing a book which translates the fragments into English, with comments on each one. She will also discuss her findings at the Cambridge centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies in May.

The RQAD project – reconstructing the Quseiri Arabic documents – funded by the arts and humanities research board, is a joint initiative between Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, modern languages and cultures and the centre for Mediterranean studies, with assistance from the school of computing.

For more information see the RQAD website at http://www.rqad.leeds.ac.uk/.