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Final Major Acquistion
THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARY
#27 |
School
Exercise Book |
| SCHOOLDAYS A: GRADUATE OF THE SCRIBAL ACADEMY, WHERE DID
YOU GO IN OLDEN DAYS? I WENT TO SCHOOL, WHAT DID YOU DO IN SCHOOL? I READ MY TABLET, AND
COPIED MY TABLET. THEY PREPARED FOR ME MY PREPARED LINES - LET ME TELL YOU WHAT MY TEACHER
TOLD ME - EVEN A FOOL COULD EASILY FOLLOW HIS INSTRUCTIONS, TABLETS OF SUMERIAN AND
AKKADIAN, TABLETS OF THE SCRIBAL ART - I AM SCRIBE AND KNOW HOW TO INSCRIBE A STELA.
COLOPHON: NISABA (GODDESS OF WRITING). TOTAL: 36 LINES, EXERCISE TABLET. SUEN -USELLI
RECEIVED IT ON 22ND DAY OF MONTH 11
MS in Neo Sumerian on clay, Babylonia, ca. 19th c. BC, 1 tablet, 10,9x6,0x2,9 cm,
single column, 39+6 lines in cuneiform script.
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#28
Bedtime Stories |
| THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS: THE FIRST AND SECOND FROM THE READING ACCORDING TO THE WAZIR
FROM THE BAGHARI |
MS in Latin and Arabic (text 2) on vellum, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, ca. 1150-1187, 2
partial ff., 19x14 cm, single column, (17x10 cm remaining), 16 lines remaining in
Romanesque book script of medium quality; text 2: Palestine/Damascus, 13th c., 5 lines in
Arabic naskhi.
Context: The script is extremely close to that of the Psalter of Queen Melisande,
written in Jerusalem by a European scribe probably in 1131-43. Only 5 other MSS of 12th c.
crusader books have hitherto been identified. All are luxury books, and rescued to the
West in the face of the advancing armies of the Mameluks before 2nd October 1187.
Commentary: The importance of the Crusades in the history of medieval Europe can hardly
be over-estimated. The liberation of the Holy places was looked upon as God's own work.
Antioch fell to the Franks in 1098, Jerusalem in July 1099. In 1100, Baldwin, count of
Edessa, was crowned king of Jerusalem. By about 1131 Jerusalem stood supreme as the
Christian capital on the very edge of the world, principally a French and Genoese kingdom.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was its cathedral, and followed from 1114, the western
Latin liturgy according to the rule of St. Augustine. The Church must have been the
leading scriptorium during this period. Jerusalem fell to Saladin on 2nd October 1187, the
sacristy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was looted and destroyed, and its libraries
were destroyed. The leaves in MS 1776 more or less double our knowledge of crusader MSS,
and were perhaps the first Latin books ever seen by the Saracens, who, instead of
destroying them all, kept some for their vellum. They used the vellum for that most
quintessential of Middle Eastern romances and fairy tales, Thousand and One Nights, also
known as the Tales of the Arabian nights. They origin from India, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and
Turkey, and the tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba and Sindbad the Sailor have almost become part
of Western folklore. The earliest known reference to the Thousand and One Nights is a 9th
c. fragment, while the present MS is from the 12th c. collection where Egyptian fairy
tales were included for the first time. |
| The Grand Prize Question:
Over the last eleven weeks we have seen cycles
in philosophy and literature through history, some emphasizing ideal or rational thinking,
others reminding us to embrace what is human and qualitatively unique. Many authors
were simply reacting to the times in which they lived; for example, Descartes lived in a
very unstable political period and felt a need for knowledge that was certain and
absolute. Plato also aimed for perfect forms that would encourage more noble moral
values and rationality in his era. Literature has been less concerned with
"right thinking" and has evolved over time more in the way we express ourselves,
going deeper into the human heart and defining what it is to be alive. Dewey was ultimately a reformer and believed past doctrines always require
"reconstruction" to fit the present time. If so, we have witnessed many
reconstructions through history in this course and it seems to be a natural tendency of
the human species. As Habermas says, we are social beings who continually negotiate
meaning in order to reach consensus on what needs to be done to improve our lives.
Of course, we do not make actual "progress"; evolving from one level only means
that we have solved a large problem and moved on. The new level presents new
problems to be solved.
As we are moving into Postmodernism, what do you think are
the problems we have solved, and what new problems are we starting to see? Do they
resemble old problems? In what way?
It is hoped that this course has given you a few insights
into the deeper connections between people through the ages. What would you say the
relationship is between the "education of thinking" and the "education of
feeling"? |
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