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The Zabid Programme
The Zabid Programme (ZP) is a project devised by the Centre Français d’Archéologie et de Sciences Sociales (CEFAS), Sanaa, (French Center for Archaeology and Social Sciences), Yemen, a research unit attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGCID) and the Centre Français de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, French Center of academic Research). The de facto director of the CEFAS is the director of ZP. Supervised by Dr. Anne Regourd, ZP was launched in 2000 (http://www.anne.regourd.org), following an evaluation by the Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes (IRHT, Institute for Research into the History of texts). The Yemeni institution responsible for the manuscripts, as per the guidelines laid down in the chart relative to the preservation of the country’s cultural heritage, is the Direction of the manuscripts of Yemen. Al-Asha‘ir Library, in Zabid, has hosted the Programme since its beginning.
ZP aims to safeguard the manuscripts of the private libraries owned by the city’s religious scholars (‘ulama’). The city is famous for its secular teaching in religious matters. According to a rough evaluation of the collections made in 2000, between 3000 and 3500 codices were found to be in the hands of fifteen families.
The Zabid manuscripts are in danger from attacks by termites and other species of insects. Humidity from the sea is another problem. In addition, manuscripts have been removed from Yemen illegally. The problems encountered are of a diverse nature and require appropriate solutions. Three safeguard initiatives - the manuscripts have been catalogued, in order to record all possible data and identify any missing items, - the manuscripts, their bindings and paper marks have been digitalised, - a scientific conservation and restoration programmme has been initiated.
The foregoing will be realised by training a local team of experts. The team is presently composed of four people: ‘Arafat al-Hadhrami, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Ahdal, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Ahmar and Farag Abu al-Khayr. They will ultimately gain their autonomy, thus ensuring sustenable development of the PZ in the future. This is the reason why equipment and materials, in addition to local financial supports are crucial. In order to reinforce the team’s expertise with regard to cataloguing the documents, its members are to follow a training course in French codicology terminology (1st session beginning in 2008), and a collection of reference works is to be made available on site. Financial support has been secured through the Social Fund for Development (SFD), an institution based in Yemen. The SFD supports in particular the fabrication of the catalogues produced in the frame of the PZ.
Cataloguing The first training session finished at the beginning of 2008. Agreements with the owners of three other private libraries were signed on 3 January 2008 and a timetable was agreed upon until 2012. The total number of items to be catalogued may reach 400. DigitalisationThe team was trained in July 2007, and the equipment ordered in September 2007. The digitalization stage will be subject to agreements with each library owner. Conservation / restoration An evaluation of requirements with regards to training and equipment is planned for June 2008, under the supervision of André Le Prat, Dir. of the Louvre Museum’s restoration workshop. The creation of a state-supported collection of manuscripts (Dar al-Makhtutat) in Zabid is under study, since summer 2007. The project receives the support of the Ministry of Culture in Yemen, the General Organism of Antiquities and Museums (GOAM), and the SFD. Zabid is therefore an appropriate site for a local restoration workshop. A Pilot Programme A project for cataloguing forty manuscripts in Shibam (Hadhramawut) with respect to guidelines laid down by PZ was submitted to the CEFAS in December 2007, with copies to the GOAM and the SFD.
As a means of promoting accurate and better informed cataloguing, a research project in codicology was initiated. We focused on three features of the manuscripts: Bindings The project covered the bindings conserved in private libraries in Zabid, but also includes field research on binders and dyers, their techniques and socio-professional status. Joint results will be summarised in a paper entitled “Fifty Years of Binding in Zabid” (2010). Paper Documented descriptions of the manuscripts bearing watermarks are recorded in the Catalogue Cumulé des Bibliothèques de Manuscrits de Zabid, as a first step prior to the selection of the most interesting items for codicologists and historians. A mission is under study which will analyse the fibres of the papers (2009). Inks The feasibility of laboratory analysis of the inks used in a selection of the manuscripts using the SpectroRaman process is presently under study. The results will be compared with ink recipes remembered by artisans, which were collected during the course of field research between 2002 and 2003.
Social Fund for Development (SFD) Musée du Louvre, Department of Islamic Art and Atelier de restauration Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE)/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7192 (Collège de France) research unit: “History of the art of book and writings in the mediaeval and modern Near-East”.
A reception was held at the Embassy of Yemen in Paris, in September 2006, in honour of the ZP (http://www.anne.regourd.org, events page).
Training in the cataloguing of manuscripts CEFAS – Dar al-Makhtutat, Sanaa, 29.6-3.7.2002. A twenty-five training course in the cataloguing of manuscripts, was held in Arabic with the participation of six speakers, two of whom were French. Organised by Anne Regourd for the CEFAS.
Books Anne Regourd (ed.), Catalogue cumulé des manuscrits de bibliothèques privées de Zabid. 1. La bibliothèque de ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Hadhrami, fasc. 1, Sanaa, Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales, Fonds social de développement, 2006.
Anne Regourd (ed.), Catalogue cumulé des manuscrits de bibliothèques privées de Zabid. 1. La bibliothèque de ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Hadhrami, planches du fasc. 1. Les marques du papier, Sanaa, Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales, parution électronique en français début 2008 ; CEFAS / FSD parution papier bilingue (français, arabe), fin 2008.
Anne Regourd (ed.), Catalogue cumulé des manuscrits de bibliothèques privées de Zabid. 1. La bibliothèque de ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Hadhrami, fasc. 2, Sanaa, Centre français d'archéologie et de sciences sociales, Fonds social de développement, fin 2008.
Articles Anne Regourd, « Les manuscrits des bibliothèques privées de Zabîd : enjeu d'un catalogage », Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 32(2002), 2002, 247-257. Anne Regourd, « Les routes commerciales entre Zabîd et l'Europe : les papiers filigranés de fonds manuscrits de Zabîd (Yémen, fin 18e-milieu 20e s.) », Convegno Storia e cultura dello Yemen in età islamica con particolare riferimento al periodo rasûlide (Roma, 30-31 octobre 2003), Rome, Bardi ed., 2006, 173-198 + 8 fig. Anne Regourd 15.01.2007.
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Bayt al-Ajami, 26 Septembre street #14 Ambassade de France à Sanaa |
Direction : jlambert@cefas.com.ye Webmaster : yfarhan@cefas.com.ye |
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