Used by classical historians and modern Arabists alike, this edition of Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Shabushti’s Kitab al-Diyarat, “Book of Monasteries,” is an invaluable source of rare information on the early Christian world of Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Arabia. Based on the single, unique manuscript Berlin 8321, this Arabic work of al-Shabushti (d. c. 1000) is fully annotated and cross-referenced. In addition to the description of 53 monasteries, most of which no longer exist, al-Shabushti’s work is important because of its historical narratives and references to place names. It is also of considerable literary worth since it preserves poems from Arabic poets whose works have been otherwise lost. Whether it is fragmentary bits of information about Arabic Christian life in the first millennium or the larger picture of the monastic developments in the Middle East, Kitab al-Diyarat is a vital source.

George Awwad, (Gurgis, Kurkis) is an important Iraqi historian and bibliographer. His Dictionary of Iraqi Authors during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries is a widely recognized reference work.