PDF Patterns of Evidence: Exodus: A Filmmaker's Journey by Timothy P Mahoney in History

Description

FEW BRITISH EXPLORERS IN ARABIA have produced books whose importance as travelogues is trans-cended by their literary quality. One such is The Holy Cities of Arabia; published to critical acclaim in 1928; with its author hailed as a worthy successor to Burckhardt; Burton and Doughty. Unrivalled among works by Western travellers to Islam’s holy cities; this account of a pilgrimage to Makkah in 1925–26 is made all the more remark-able by its author’s timing. In 1925 ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Ibn Saud brought to an end centuries of rule over the Hijaz by the Hashimite sharifs and their Ottoman overlords. Rutter; living as a learned Muslim Arab in a Makkan household; had a ringside seat as Riyadh imposed its writ on Islam’s holy cities. As striking as his account of life in Makkah before modernization are his interviews with Ibn Saud; and his journeys to al-Ta’if and to the City of the Prophet; al-Madinah. The Holy Cities of Arabia proved to be its author’s only full-length work. After a brief career as a Middle East traveller; Rutter lapsed into obscurity. This new edition aims to revive a neglected masterpiece and to establish Rutter’s reputation. Little was known about him until now and the introduction tells the story of his life for the first time; assessing his talents as a travel writer and analysing his significance as a British convert.