Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage in Dubai hosted, on Thursday, 26 June 2025, via its online platform, researcher and editor Mr. Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Suraihi, manuscript expert at the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, to deliver a remote lecture entitled Editing Mu’jam al-Buldan by Yaqut al-Hamawi: Challenges and Difficulties.
This lecture was part of the summer cultural program that the Center consistently organizes during the summer season, in line with its commitment to promoting knowledge and historical awareness, and providing researchers and enthusiasts with the opportunity to explore pioneering scholarly experiences in the field of manuscript editing, preservation, and revival of Arab and Islamic heritage.
During the lecture, Al-Suraihi reviewed the historical, cultural, and civilizational value of Mu’jam al-Buldan, highlighting its distinguished status among the geographical and encyclopedic sources of Arab-Islamic heritage. He also discussed the reasons and justifications for re-editing this valuable work and the need to present it in a well-documented scholarly format befitting the contributions of its esteemed author, Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 626 AH / 1229 CE).
The speaker elaborated on the scientific methodology he adopted in editing, explaining the detailed stages of the work—from collecting manuscript copies, comparing texts, and documenting variants, to reviewing annotations and preparing the necessary indexes to enrich researchers. He also addressed the main challenges and difficulties he faced during the editing process, notably the difficulty of obtaining rare copies, the discrepancies among historical accounts, and the significant effort required to edit a monumental work like Mu’jam al-Buldan.
