Calligraphy Center series "studies"
It is a refereed scientific series, aiming at publishing specialized books and volumes that deal with the studies of inscriptions and calligraphies all over the world, starting from the prehistoric period up to the digital age. This series will be published in several languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish and German.
Some of these series are:
1. The Writings on the Walls of Al Hamra Palaces,
by Dr. Mohamed El Gamal
This catalog is the comprehensive collection of Arabic inscriptions on the walls of Al Hamra palaces. It provides a full analysis of the verses and prose inscribed on the walls of Al Hamra palaces. The inscriptions include a number of poems of famous Arabic poets, such as Aben Zoumrak, Lesan el Deen bin El-Khateeb and Ibn El-Gayab. These poems romantically describe the magnificent palaces of Al Hamra. The inscriptions are considered to be the pattern of Islamic architecture and Arabic calligraphy.
2. Scripts (Alexandria 2002)
This book was published on the occasion of the inauguration of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on 16 October 2002. It is complementary to the special exhibition on “the Wall” concerning the granite cladding of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina building.
The author of this book is Olaf Berggren, born in Alexandria. His parents were Swedish citizens, however his mother was originally Greek. He commands a number of languages to support his interest in scripts, especially French and Swedish, German, Greek, Italian and English
His wealth of information on the scripts of the world is the outcome of a lifetime of interest in all aspects of geography of place, cultures and customs, and all that influenced them within their own environment. He tried, in this book, to display all languages of the world and their roots and branches. In addition, he has demonstrated how language has continually evolved where the written word has been much slower to adapt to the changes, further illustrating how the script “artists”, were and still, are offered a unique status and rank, apart from the quickly changing world around them.
3. Corpus of inscriptions from the Memphite necropolis during Herakleoplitain period,
by Dr. Khaled Dawoud
“The core of the thesis is the compilation and study of a group of monuments, many are published for the first time and difficult of access. These are presented with a brief general survey of the sites of known archaeological contexts of the monuments. The corpus consists of the inscribed stone remains of the offering locations of tombs from the general region of Memphis from the so-called First Intermediate Period: primarily the standard so-called false door, a stele in the form of a door, where the tomb-owner is shown receiving offerings, together with a limited number of decorated side-pieces that framed a stela or formed a niche around it, and a number of the stone-offering tables which were in front of a stela. The majority of these monuments were excavated a long time ago, in excavations that were not properly recorded, and they are from rather poor tombs. From a period where central government was unstable, the texts do not include dating formula, nor by and large do they mention royal names, so that the primary contexts for dating do not exist. As a result, a significant body of inscribed material survives that can only be dated generally between Late Old Kingdom and Early Middle Kingdom. They are available in museums, in the storerooms of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, and occasionally even on their original site. Attempts have been made to organize some of this material, especially from provincial sites, but this thesis study is the first targeted at identifying and presenting a coherent body of inscriptions from the necropolis of the capital”.
4. The Fatimide inscriptions and writings on the architectural monuments (968/1171-358/567).
Archaeological and artistic study, by Dr. Farag Hussein Farag
“This thesis aims at studying the Fatimide writings and inscriptions in an archaeological and artistic prospect. The research demonstrates, as well, the development of the Kufi Calligraphy: its origins, emergence, evolution and its forms”. The study focuses on the material on which the inscriptions were engraved, and its impact on the way and quality of performing it. On the other hand, the research displays the relationship between the Fatimide inscriptions and the historical, economic and political evolution in the society. Finally, the research studies the Shiite doctrine through the Fatimide writings and inscriptions.
5. Ancient Egyptian language for Arabs.
Dr. Okasha Eldaly
This thesis focuses on neglected period in the history of Egyptology; which is ancient Egypt in Medieval Moslem/Arabic writings. It discusses the sources available to medieval Moslems and Arabs to learn about Ancient Egypt. In addition, the methods of Arabs to describe ancient sites and objects. The thesis shows how the Arabs are very interested in Egyptian scripts, and their attempts to decipher Hieroglyphs.
6. "A Study of some Coptic Papyri in the Coptic Museum",
by Maher Eissa
This thesis aims at studying the Coptic Language, which is used to refer to the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language. Then the characters of the ancient Egyptian language are explained. The kinds of scripts and the times of the ancient Egyptian language are briefly mentioned. After that it focuses on the importance of the Coptic language, the reasons of disappearance of the Coptic language from public use and the time and way the Egyptian people invented the Coptic script and how the early Christian proselytizers in Alexandria employed the Coptic in the end of the second century A.D as a way of presenting the Bible to the Egyptian masses.
7. Tuhaf El-Khawass Fi Taraf El-Khawass,
(the masterpieces of art of people of distinction, newly acquired by leading personalities) by El Kalalousy.
It is a rare Andalusian Manuscript interpreted and commented by Dr. Hossam ElAbady.
