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Featured Resource Pages

The following pages are highlighted as useful resources for educators.

Click here for Medieval Meets Modern
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Jewish Life in the Middle Ages Special Series

Learn from world-renowned scholars about the daily lives and cultural traditions of Jewish people in the Middle Ages.

 

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Princeton University Library MAFE Series

Click here for resources featuring Princeton-based scholars and medieval items from the Princeton University Library.

  
    

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Exploring Hayy Ibn Yaqzan: Universal Questions and al-Andalus

This video introduces the power of autodidactic inquiry as a way of gaining understanding of both the universe and ourselves by discussing twelfth-century Andalusi Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy Ibn Yaqzan.

Fantastic Beasts in Medieval Christianity

This video focuses on how medieval Christians use mythical animals to tell their stories. It discusses how people of the Medieval world related to animals and why they would use beasts for symbolism. Beasts were used to represent the battle of good vs evil, as guides, and  allegorically. 
 

Fables and Foibles: Kalila and Dimna’s Lessons in Medieval Rulership

Kalila and Dimna is a book containing a collection of fables, translated into Arabic during the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century. The fables contain many animals as main characters as the stories explore various subjects, lessons, and morals. This video delves into specific fables, analyzing portrayals of good and bad rulers to understand medieval conceptions of effective leadership.

The Gwalior Qur'an

Completed in 1399 in what is now India, the Gwalior Qur’an has many features that distinguish it from other Qur’ans. Curator Dr. Marika Sardar delves into the fascinating details in this history-rich short video which is also part of the digital exhibit, "Hidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads."

 

A Document of Sale from Medieval Egypt

This video is a discussion of item 27 in Islamic Manuscripts, Garrett Additional Box no. 20 at the Princeton University Library. This document of sale was written in 980 CE on behalf of the Coptic Christian Yuhānnis ibn Suqayna and his wife Maria, residents of the small town in the Fayyum called Buljusuq. They were buying a house from Maria’s father, Ibn al-Ḥillī. The document was registered by the notary Shuʿayb ibn Zakariyā and witnessed by several Muslims, including Muḥammad ibn Ḥisān ibn Dāwud who made a noticeable typo while writing his testimony. 

Introduction to Zoroastrian Manuscripts
Video Primary Sources

Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. The Spirit of Zoroastrianism. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2011.

The Multimedia Yasna: https://muya-film.soas.hasdai.org/yasna/

Further Reading

Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs…