ALMATY – Kazakh National Center of Manuscripts and Rare Books received a copy of a unique 11th-century map on Sept. 8. The map shows parts of Central Asia, including the territory of modern Kazakhstan.
Photo credit: Ministry of Culture and Information
The artifact was donated by the British Embassy and originates from the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, reported the Ministry of Culture and Information press service.
The map comes from an anonymous manuscript titled Kitab Gharaib al-Funun wa Mulah al-Uyun (The Book of Marvels of Sciences and Pleasures of the Eye), considered the only known copy of a medieval work on cosmology and geography. Researchers believe the manuscript was created in Egypt in the late 12th or early 13th century.
Among the map’s key features is the depiction of Zhan-kent, referred to in Arabic sources as Al-Qariya al-Hadisa (New City), which served as the capital of the Oghuz state between the 8th and 11th centuries. Several other significant cities of southern Kazakhstan are also marked.
Acquired by the Bodleian Library in 2002 with the support of charitable foundations, the manuscript was later digitized and is now an important source for studying medieval Islamic geography and cartography.
