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GINGKO
NEW
h a us pubBOOKS
l ish in g
NEWJANUARY-JUNE
BOOKS 2021
SPRING 2021
YOU CAN CRUSH
THE FLOWERS
A Visual Memoir of the
Egyptian Revolution
Bahia Shehab
£20
STREET ART, MEMOIR
Paperback with flaps, 200x300mm
JANUARY 2021
978-1-909942-53-0
144 pp | 150 illustrations
'Shehab and her work came to wide attention during the Arab Spring: while her friends
were marching in the streets, she protested by tagging the walls of Cairo...' –New Yorker
'Shehab is not aligned with any political party and works alone, but her work
can be found adorning the Facebook profiles of a generation of young
Egyptian activists, particularly young women.' –The Irish Times
This moving and dignified history-from-below chronicles Bahia Shehab's own artistic
evolution during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, and the passage of her images from the
streets of Cairo to those of cities around the world. It bears important witness to the brutality
of the regime during the revolution, and pays tribute to the protestors who bravely defied it.
Part visual memoir, part history, You Can Crush the Flowers is Shehab's unique record of a
decade of protest, defiance, turmoil and tragedy as experienced on the streets of Cairo and
as reflected in her own street art; telling the story of the creation of such icons of popular
resistance as the Blue Bra, the Children of Asyut, and the defiant Rebel Cat.
Bahia Shehab is a multidisciplinary artist, designer and art historian. Through investigating
Islamic art history she reinterprets contemporary Arab politics, feminist discourse and
social issues. She is Professor of Design at The American University in Cairo. She is also
the author of At the Corner of A Dream: The Street Art of Bahia Shehab (Gingko, 2019).
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Brotherhood at the time; Khairat el-Shater, the Deputy Supreme Guide; and Morsi
himself. The three figures are over two metres in height and are painted in a very car-
toonish manner, using strong black lines on a lightly whitewashed background. On the
left side of the image, el-Shater stands holding a devil’s trident in his left hand. His
right arm hangs by his side with the middle finger sticking out, in a gesture signifying
arrogance and indifference to his critics. On the opposite side of the image is Morsi,
with his right hand making the same offensive gesture. In the centre floats the disem-
bodied head of Mohammed Badie, the Supreme Guide. Wavy black lines stream out of
Badie’s ears and into the ears of el-Shater and Morsi on either side of him, as if his ideas
are flowing directly into their brains. In between el-Shater and Morsi and under Badie’s
head is a large slogan in rectilinear Kufic script declaring that ‘After blood there is no le-
gitimacy’. The word ‘blood’ is painted in red while the rest of the calligraphy is in black.
On either side of el-Shater and Morsi, figures kneel in a prayer position, as if worship-
ping the Brotherhood leaders. The artwork is by Mohamed Khaled, Mahmoud Magdy,
Mohamed Ismail Shawki and Ali Khaled, and the calligraphy is by the artist El Zeft.2
On 4 June 2013, an artist who goes by the name Mozza3 pastes4 three female figures
onto the wall, next to the ‘After blood’ mural: two crouching and veiled women flanking
a standing belly dancer. The faces of the veiled women are covered; the belly dancer re-
A Thousand Times No, Cairo 2012
veals a long, bare thigh but her face has no features, and hence she is also faceless. The
image is a brilliant provocation, juxtaposing religious modesty with a distinctly Arab
form of sensual display. The three women, covered and uncovered, are a witty rejoin-
der to the three leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and an assertion of the diversity of
Egyptian women, perhaps even a suggestion that behind every veil is at least the possi-
bility of a belly dancer? Here is graffiti representing another important aspect of social
and political life — namely, the position and status of women in different walks of life.
**
I am out of town when the locals from Zamalek whitewash the wall, otherwise I too
would have gone to paint on 2 June. Instead I follow the progress of the wall online and
plan my own retaliation.
When I arrive at the wall at 5am on 7 June 2013, the belly dancer has already been slight-
ly damaged. Without having seen Mozza’s work, I too want to address women this time
around. The aggressive, organised and targeted sexual harassment campaigns that
were used to intimidate Egyptian females and dissuade them from joining the protests
on the streets demand a response.5
Intended to feminise the act of rebellion, my ‘Rebel, cat!’ campaign is a call to wom-
en to join the revolution. I create a stencil of one of my favourite images, the cat from
Théophile Steinlen’s iconic ‘The Black Cat’ cabaret poster, and write next to it the slogan
‘Rebel, cat!’. I use the feminine form of the verb ‘rebel’ to ensure women understand
that the campaign is addressing them, and ‘cat’ because it is a common term men call
96 97
2
3
4
80 81
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PA G E S F R O M You C an Cr u sh the Flowers
THE UMAYYAD MOSQUE
OF DAMASCUS
Art, Faith and
Empire in Early Islam
Alain Fouad George
£60
ART HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE
Hardback, 240mm x 290mm (Portrait)
JUNE 2021
978-1-909942-45-5
260 pp | 260 illustrations
Art Series Editor: Melanie Gibson
ART SERIES
‘For the first time we have a book which does full justice to the Umayyad
mosque in Damascus.’ –Hugh Kennedy, author of The Caliphate
The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus is one of the oldest continuously used religious sites
in the world. The mosque we see today was built in between 705 and 715 by the Umayyad
caliph al-Walid on top of a 4th-century Christian church which had itself been erected
over a temple of Jupiter. Incredibly in the recent war the mosque has remained almost
unscathed, but over the centuries it was continuously rebuilt after being damaged by
earthquakes and fires.
In this comprehensive biography of the Umayyad Mosque, Alain Fouad George explores a
wide range of sources to excavate the dense layers of the building's history and reconstructs
what the mosque looked like when it was first built. George has found new information in
three previously untranslated poems written at the time the mosque was built, as well as in
descriptions left by medieval scholars. He also examines the evidence offered by the many
photographs and paintings made by nineteenth-century European travellers, particularly
those who recorded the building before the catastrophic fire of 1893.
Alain Fouad George is Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of Ox-
ford. He is a historian of Islamic art and architecture with core interests in calligraphy,
the arts of the book and early Islam. He is the author of The Rise of Islamic Calligraphy
(Saqi Books 2010).
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p figure 6
The Great Mosque of Damascus from
the south. Joseph-Philibert Girault
de Prangey, 1844. Image flipped to
reflect the actual orientation.
rejecting names suggested by the Sublime Porte. Initial writing in 1961 but drawing from a surviving eyewitness and through a revolutionary technology which now makes it surviving photographs of the mosque were taken a mere two to
proposals to rebuild the monument in reinforced concrete were other local sources, notes that ‘the columns of the mosque were possible to retrieve lost elements from oblivion, if often as four years later, between 1843 and 1844, as part of an expedition
abandoned on historical grounds.59 An unpublished document old and most of them, having already been broken and held blurry details: photography. carried out by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (1804–92).
suggests that Raimondo D’Aronco, an Italian architect together by steel collars, were cleaved by the fire.’62 I was able The three published daguerreotypes—others may yet surface—
famous for his Art Nouveau work at the Ottoman capital, was to distinguish, in early photographs from before 1893, seven The Earliest Photographs of the Mosque show the building from the west and southwest (Figure 6 and
commissioned to produce unspecified work for the mosque.60 columns out of forty with steel collars in the prayer hall, some On 19 August 1839, the photographic process invented by Figure 7).64 They mark a change of era: the moment when
The most consequential decision made at the time was to of which remained standing after the fire. The history of this Louis Daguerre, building upon earlier work by Nicéphore this age-old monument emerged from centuries of verbal
remove the remaining columns of the prayer hall in order to campaign, which triggered passions locally and throughout the Niépce, was presented to the public for the first time at the descriptions—and rare schematic drawings—to a new medium
build the space anew with modern shafts and neo-Corinthian empire, deserves a fuller investigation. Académie des Sciences in Paris. Three months later, several that captured its appearance in facsimile. In an Islamic context,
capitals. These were made with stone from the hills near In subsequent decades, additional changes were wrought French teams were sent to different countries with state-of- the image was taking over from the word as the primary
Mezzeh, just outside Damascus.61 From photographs, one can on the fabric of the building by successive French and Syrian the-art photographic equipment to create a book about the medium for documenting architecture, its mass reproduction
infer that many of the originals were still standing after the fire, restorations, especially in the courtyard. The mosque has monuments and cities of the world. The earliest daguerreotype facilitated by the process of lithography, invented in 1798. As
including the two large columns of the transept façade (Figure 4). lost many of its early elements as a result of these different of Damascus, now lost, was made on 19 January 1840, five if to underline this turning point, at the same moment, in May
Some may have become structurally unsound: al-Ṭānṭāwī, interventions. But its previous state was partly documented months to the day after the launch event in Paris.63 The oldest 1844, John Gardner Wilkinson produced in watercolour the
30 the Umayyad mosqUe of damascUs chapter 1 • the mosque since the nineteenth century 31
the arcade bears mosaics which are no earlier than the Saljuq p figure 73 p figure 74
period.5 In the nineteenth century, two old columns of a darker The north arcade from the northeast Northeast courtyard corner.
corner. Tancrède Dumas, ca. 1870. K.A.C. Creswell, early twentieth
hue appeared here (Figure 72 and Figure 73). By the early Badr El-Hage Collection. century. Oxford, Ashmolean
twentieth century, they had been replaced with white columns Museum, EA.CA.396. © Ashmolean
like those made for the prayer hall in the 1890s (Figure 74). Museum, University of Oxford.
The west end of the north arcade also has a single original
p figure 75
column, with later masonry to the right and above (Figure 75). The northwest courtyard corner.
In the nineteenth century, a second original column stood here, Michael Greenhalgh/Manar
al-Athar, 2003.
along with three colonnettes and two pilasters, as recorded
in three photographs by Bedford (1862, Figure 76), a fourth
by Phillips (1866, Figure 77) and a fifth by Bonfils (undated).6
p figure 76 p figure 77
Later photographs by Bonfils show the upper tier being rebuilt, The Bayt al-Māl and northwest courtyard The Bayt al-Māl and northwest courtyard
which suggests that this part of the mosque collapsed towards corner. Francis Bedford, 1862. corner. Henry Phillips, 1866.
124 the Umayyad mosqUe of damascUs chapter 5 • structure 125
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PA G E S F R O M T he Umay yad Mos que of D amas c u s
HIJAB
Three Modern Iranian
Seminarian Perspectives
Lloyd Ridgeon
£40
RELIGION, GENDER STUDIES, IRANIAN STUDIES
Hardback, Royal
APRIL 2021
978-1-909942-56-1
320 pp | 20 Illustrations
Available as an e-book
An illuminating contribution to post-revolutionary religious thought in Iran.
No nation has suffered the same extent of sartorial conflict and confusion as Iran during
the modern period, caused by the impact of Western views on the hijab in the 19th cen-
tury, the decree to unveil issued by Riza Shah Pahlavi in 1936, and the imposition of the
veil in the wake of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The differences of opinion among seminarians on the hijab in the Islamic Republic of
Iran is explored here with a particular focus on three representatives: Murtaza Mutahhari,
who held the hijab to be compulsory; Ahmad Qabil, who argued for the desirability of
the hijab; and Muhsin Kadivar, who considers the hijab's dependence on time and space.
The views of the three scholars are contextualised within the framework of New Religious
Thinking, usually understood as a development in jurisprudence in post-Khomeini Iran.
Lloyd Ridgeon is a Reader in Islamic Studies and Head of Theology and Religious Stud-
ies at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of Jawanmardi: A Sufi Code of Honour
(EUP, 2011) and the editor of Javanmardi: The Ethics and Practice of Persianate Perfection
(Gingko, 2018).
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WEST-EASTERN DIVAN
Complete, Annotated New
Translation (bilingual edition)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Translated by Eric Ormsby
£14.99
POETRY, GERMAN STUDIES, IRANIAN STUDIES
Paperback, B Format
MARCH 2021
978-1-909942-55-4
640 pp
Available as an e-book
TLS Book of the Year (2019)
‘…This fine volume should make the Divan accessible to many more readers.’ – TLS
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan of 1814 came out of one of the great
moments of cross-fertilization between the literature of Western Europe and that of the
Middle East. Inspired by Goethe’s revelatory encounter with the poems of the fourteenth-
century Persian poet Hafiz (whom Goethe called his ‘twin’), and further influenced by the
then 65-year-old Goethe’s love for the youthful Marianne von Willemer, the West-Eastern
Divan stands as a highpoint of poetic achievement and of lyrical romance.
This much-awaited new translation by Eric Ormsby, noted in his own right as a poet and
authority on Islamic literature, is the first to provide the reader and student with Goethe’s
original German verse set against their lucid translations by Ormsby into English. It
combines these with authoritative explanatory notes; and as a further significant addition
includes Goethe’s own commentary, the ‘Notes and Essays for a Better Understanding of
the West-Eastern Divan’.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was a German poet, novelist, playwright and
natural philosopher, considered one of the greatest figures in Western literature.
Eric Ormsby is a distinguished scholar in the field of Islamic Studies. He taught at McGill
University where he was Professor and Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies.
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N E W I N PA P E R B A C K
THE CULINARY
CRESCENT
A History of
Middle Eastern Cuisine
Peter Heine
Translated by Peter Lewis
£16.99
FOOD HISTORY, MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
Paperback with flaps, Tade
SEPTEMBER 2020
978-1-909942-42-4
235 pp
Available as an e-book
‘Heine’s book is so packed with fascinating information and anecdotes that if you
are anything close to a food aficionado it would be very hard to put it down.’
–Asian Review of Books
The Fertile Crescent region has long been regarded as pivotal to the rise of civilisation.
Alongside the story of human development, innovation, and progress, there is a culinary
tradition of equal richness and importance. The Culinary Crescent shows Heine’s deep
knowledge of the cookery traditions of the Umayyad, Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid, and
Mughal courts.
In addition to a fascinating history, Heine presents more than seventy recipes – from the
modest to the extravagant – with dishes ranging from those created by the celebrity chefs
of the bygone Mughal era, up to gastronomically complex presentations of modern times.
Beautifully produced, and designed for both reading and cooking, The Culinary Crescent
is sure to provide a delectable window into the history of food in the Middle East.
Peter Heine taught at the University of Münster and Bonn and until 2009 was Professor
of Islamic Studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
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R E C E N T LY P U B L I S H E D
CHRISTMAS AND
THE QUR'AN
Karl-Josef Kuschel
Translated by Simon Pare
£12.99
RELIGION, INTERFAITH, ISLAM
Paperback, B-Format
OCTOBER 2020
978-1-909942-38-7
250 pp
Available as an e-book
‘...a subject of great importance for a more intelligent dialogue between Islam
and the Christian tradition. It is a pleasure to welcome the English translation
of this book from a seasoned and creative scholar.’ –Rowan Williams
‘Shows convincingly that the beliefs of Christians and Muslims are
entwined in unexpected and profound ways.’ –Daily Telegraph
The familiar and heart-warming story of Christmas is one of hope, encapsulated by the birth
of the infant Jesus. It is also a story which unites two faiths that have so often been at odds
with one another. The accounts of the Nativity given by the Evangelists Luke and Matthew
find their parallels in Suras 3 and 19 of the Qur’an, which take up the Annunciation to Mary,
the Incarnation from the Holy Spirit and the Nativity. Christmas and the Qur’an is a sensitive
and precise analysis of the Christmas story as it appears both in the Gospels and the Qur’an
and shows startling similarities as well as significant differences. Exploring how Christians
and Muslims read these scriptures, Kuschel reveals an intertwining legacy that serves as a
base for greater understanding.
Karl-Josef Kuschel is Professor Emeritus of Catholic Theology at the University of
Tübingen, Germany. He was a member of the advisory board of Theology and Literature
(London).
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R E C E N T LY P U B L I S H E D
COMPLETE BACKLIST Architectural Heritage of Yemen | 9781909942073 | £35 | pbk. Art, Trade and Culture in the Islamic World and Beyond | 9781909942905 |£60 | hbk. Christmas and the Qur'an | 9781909942080 | £30 | hbk. Democracy is the Answer | 9781909942714 |£30 | hbk. Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1906 | 9781909942912 | £65 | hbk. Iran, Islam and Democracy | 9781909942981 | £30 | hbk. Javanmardi | 9781909942158 | £40 | hbk. Making the Modern Middle East | 9781909942998 | £14.99 | pbk. The Makers of The Modern Middle East | 9781909942004 | £35 | hbk. Memories of Bygone Age | 9781909942868 | £30 | hbk. New Thinking in Islam | 9781909942738 | £28 | hbk. Ottoman Explorations of the Nile | 9781909942165 | £40 | hbk. Pagan Christmas | 9781909942844 | £40 | hbk. Religious Imagination | 9781909942202 | £35 | hbk. The Age of Aryamehr | 9781909942189 | £30 | hbk. The Culinary Crescent | 9781909942257 | £30 | hbk. The First World War and Its Aftermath | 9781909942752 | £56 | hbk. The Mercantile Effect | 9781909942103 | £50 | hbk. The Mercantile Effect | 9781909942301 | £30 | pbk. The Phoenix Mosque | 9781909942882 | £50 | hbk. East-West Divan | 9781909942028 | £50 | hbk. Hafiz, Goethe and the Gingko | 9781909942820 | £25 | hbk. At the Corner of a Dream | 9781909942394 | £25 | pbk. West-Eastern Divan | 9781909942240 | £30 | hbk. The Early Ottoman Peloponnese | 9781909942325 | £40 | pbk. Environmental Challenges in the MENA Region | 9781909942219 | £50 | hbk. A New Divan | 9781909942288 | £20 | hbk. The Image Debate | 9781909942349 | £60 | hbk. The Other Prophet | 9781909942363 | £30 | hbk. Off Limits | 9781909942431 | £14.99 | hbk. Off Limits | 9781909942479 | £9.99 | pbk. On Literature and Philosophy | 9781909942776 | £28 | hbk. Essays of the Sadat Era 1976-81| 9781909942806 | £28 | hbk. The Early Mubarak Years 1982-1989 | 9781909942110 | £28 | hbk. After the Nobel Prize 1989-1994 | 9781909942134 | £28 | hbk. The Unfinished Arab Spring | 9781909942486 | £40 | hbk. The Non-Fiction Writing of Naguib Mahfouz 1930-1994 | 9781909942523 | £95 | Set
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Titles are availabe to bona fide academic teaching staff to review as possible required
texts for their students. For more information and to order an inspection copy please
email gingko@gingkolibrary.com.Gingko aims to inform and educate the interested public and work
with scholars to increase understanding of the Middle East and North
Africa through publications, public events, student retreats
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Our purpose is to foster constructive, informed and open discussion
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