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Dr. Mohamed Ahmed

Al Maktoum Associate Professor (Near & Middle Eastern Studies)
      
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Dr. Mohamed Ahmed

Al Maktoum Associate Professor (Near & Middle Eastern Studies)

 ahmedm4@tcd.ie

 


Principal Investigator for the ERC-funded project: 'Arabic Poetry in the Cairo Genizah'. Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies & Al Maktoum Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies. Mohamed studied Semitic languages and Modern Hebrew language and literature at Mansoura University, Egypt, where he graduated with a Master's degree in Modern Hebrew Studies in 2010. He then went on to complete a DAAD funded PhD at Leipzig University, Simon Dubnow Institute for Jewish History and Culture, Germany, in 2015. His dissertation focused on Arabic use in nine Hebrew novels written between the 1950s and 2010s by three Iraqi Jewish authors. Research Interests Mohamed's research interests lie in the areas of Arabic poetry, Judaeo-Arabic, bilingualism, the typology of written code-switching, code-switching in Modern Hebrew and medieval Judaeo-Arabic texts and sociolinguistic variation between Arabic and Hebrew.
  Arabic   Arabic Language/Literature   BILINGUALISM   bilingualism and multilingualism   Hebrew   Hebrew Language/Literature   Iraqi Jews   Judaeo-Arabic   Language and/or Literature, Poetry   Middle East Studies   Poetry Studies
Project Title
 Arabic Poetry in the Cairo Genizah
From
01-JUL-2020
To
30-JUN-2026
Summary
Poetry enjoys a special place in Arabic culture and literature. For centuries, Arabs of all faiths have considered poetry a key source for knowledge, intellectuality and wisdom. In the pre-Islamic era, poetry was considered as `the Arab knowledge" and `the Arab cultural archive", in which the social and cultural history, language, arts, music, religious and Arab"s human experience were stored and preserved. Being a part of Arabic culture, Jews of Arab lands equally enjoyed writing and reading poetry. APCG will investigate for the first time a hitherto neglected collection of Arabic poetry fragments written in Hebrew script (in Judaeo-Arabic), which has been preserved in arguably the most important Jewish treasure trove: the Cairo Genizah. The fragments, numbered in the hundreds, constitute a unique source for understanding medieval and Early Modern Egypt from three main perspectives: Arabic studies, Jewish social and cultural studies, and anthropological studies. The core aims of the project are: " to make the entirety of Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic poetry in the Cairo Genizah accessible to both academic scholars and to the public in a comprehensive database and in critical editions; " to reveal, through the study of poetry, hitherto hidden aspects of social and cultural history of the Jews in the Middle East with regard to literacy, education and intercommunal relations; " to explore hierarchies, interpersonal relationships and the social function of poetry in medieval and early modern Egypt through the study of Genizah poetry. To achieve the planned main objectives, APCG carries out a thorough interdisciplinary study of Genizah"s Arabic poetry. This approach involves research from philological, linguistic, literary, historical and anthropological perspectives.
Funding Agency
ERC
Programme
Starting Grant 2019
Project Type
Grant
Project Title
 From Tuscany to Alexandria: Arabic and Hebrew letters in the Prize Paper Collections, hoated by Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge/ UK.
From
01-FEB-2017
To
January 2020
Summary
From Tuscany to Alexandria: Arabic and Hebrew mercantile letters in the Prize Paper collections The Prize Paper Collections in the National Archives in Kew Gardens contain a sack full of business letters in Arabic and Hebrew script, which were seized in 1759 by British seafarers as part of the loot on a Venetian ship bound for Alexandria. Virtually untouched since that time " most of the letters are still unopened and have been since they were archived in the 18th-century " they present a most exciting opportunity to investigate the interaction between Christian, Jewish, and Muslim merchants across borders in the 18th-century Mediterranean. The letters, numbering in the dozens, are particularly valuable as very little comparative material in Arabic script from that period is known and virtually nothing has been edited and published on the topic. Traders make an extremely important subject for studies on historical interfaith relations for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it is usually business activity that creates the only opportunity for people of different faiths to meet in a neutral place and work for a common benefit. Commerce therefore really establishes an arena in which people deal with each other regardless of their respective religious background. Secondly, being part of a community of merchants also provides a facet of identity to people that may become as important as their religious identity. Merchants therefore often feel as much part of a perceived community of traders as they see themselves as Jews, Muslims or Christians.
Funding Agency
DFG, Germany (€ 147600)
Programme
Fellowship
Project Type
salary-award
Project Title
 "Code-switching in Religious, Secular and Philosophic Judaeo-Arabic Texts". Hosted by Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
From
To
Summary
Funding Agency
Thyssen Stiftung Fellowship (€ 24000)
Programme
Fellowship
Project Type
Research
Project Title
 Arabic Use of the Iraqi Jewish Novelists, hosted by Leipzig University/ Germany.
From
01-OCT-2011
To
01-SEP-2015
Summary
Funding Agency
DAAD PhD Scholarship (€ 81800)
Programme
PhD Scholarship
Project Type
salary-award
Project Title
 DAAD (GERSS) Scholarship
From
11/2009
To
04/2010
Summary
Funding Agency
DAAD (€ 6000)
Programme
Visiting student
Project Type
Research

Page 1 of 2
Details Date
Leadership: Leading PI of the ERC project APCG since July 2020. Major collaboration: Cambridge University Library, University of Cambridge 01/07/2020
Invited Keynote Speaker, Building Bridge Symposium 2020, Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education, Dundee. Keynote title: "Hidden Literature: Arabic Poetry as a Judaeo-Islamic Heritage". Thursday 12th November 2020. 12/11/2020
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
Arabic Fluent Fluent Fluent
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
German Fluent Medium Medium
Hebrew Fluent Medium Medium
Judaeo-Arabic Documents Intercepted in the Year 1800: Prize Papers on Three Algerian Jews and the Ship 'Venus'., Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, Leiden:, Brill, 2028, -, Notes: [A book contract has been signed with Brill], Critical Edition (Book), PRESENTED
Arabic Clerical Letters in the Prize Papers Collections, Dr Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, Leiden:, Brill, 2026, -, Notes: [A book contract has been signed with Brill], Critical Edition (Book), PRESENTED
Arabic Poetry in the Cairo Genizah, Mohamed A. H. Ahmed & Dr BenOuthwaite (Cambridge), 2026, -, Critical Edition (Book), PRESENTED
Six Leaves of the Arabic Kalila wa-Dimna in Hebrew Characters in, editor(s)Nick Posegay , Magdalen M. Connolly , and Ben Outhwaite , From the Battlefield of Books: Essays Celebrating 50 Years of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Leiden, Brill, 2024, pp187-190 , [Mohamed A. H. Ahmed], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
A CLERICAL LETTER BY RAFAEL AL-TUKHI FROM THE PRIZE PAPERS COLLECTIONS (1758) in, editor(s)Esther-Miriam Wagner , A Handbook and Reader of Ottoman Arabic, Open Book Publishers, 2021, pp261-265 , [Esther-Miriam Wagner & Mohamed A. H. Ahmed], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  URL
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, Egyptian Arabic Proverbs in the Cairo Genizah, Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, Brill, 12, (2), 2021, p115-130 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, 18th century Egyptian Clerical Letters in the Prize-Papers Collection, 2021, Notes: [in preparation], Journal Article, PRESENTED
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, Kalila wa-Dimna: T-S Ar.6.321 part of the Arabic book Kalila wa Dimna, story nine, 2021, -, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, 18th-Century Judeo-Arabic Documents from the Prize Papers Collection, Journal of Jewish Languages, 2020, p1-23 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed & Rania Rawhy, The Linguistic Features of the Introduction to Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah (in Arabic)), Al-Abhath, 67, (1), 2020, p155-172 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED
  

Page 1 of 3
Mohamed Al-Temawy, 'Exit in Five Days (in Arabic)', 1st, Abu Dhabi, Thaqafa, 2022, -, Fiction and creative prose, PUBLISHED
28. RYLANDS GENIZAH COLLECTION A 803 (1825) in, editor(s)Esther-Miriam Wagner , A Handbook and Reader of Ottoman Arabic, Cambridge, Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures, 2021, pp365-369 , [Esther-Miriam Wagner & Mohamed A. H. Ahmed], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, 'Wasaya Al-Tufan (Poetry Collection in Arabic)', Cairo, Al-Said, 2021, -, Poetry, PUBLISHED
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, 'Nurani Stork (Novel in Arabic)', Dubai, Thaqafa Publishing House, 2020, -, Fiction and creative prose, PUBLISHED
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, 'Likorna (Novel in Arabic)', Dubai, Thaqafa Publishing House, 2018, -, Fiction and creative prose, PUBLISHED
Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, 'Ghurbat Al-Sufi (Poetry Collection in Arabic)', Cairo, Rawafed, 2018, -, Poetry, PUBLISHED
Mohamed Ali Hussein Ahmed, My Pala Mother Tongue, 2016, Poster, PUBLISHED

  


Mohamed is the Principal Investigator for the European Research Council-funded project 'Arabic Poetry in the Cairo Genizah' (2020-25), which will allow him to lead academic teamwork to expand his work on Arabic Poetry in the Cairo Genizah comprehensively. The project aims to make the entirety of Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic poetry in the Cairo Genizah accessible to both academic scholars and the public in a comprehensive database and critical editions. The project hopes to reveal, through the study of poetry, hitherto hidden aspects of social and cultural history of the Jews in the Middle East with regard to literacy, education and intercommunal relations. The goal is to explore hierarchies, interpersonal relationships and the social function of poetry in medieval and early modern Egypt through the study of Genizah poetry. Mohamed also works on an edition, translation and linguistic analysis of Judaeo-Arabic letters from the Prize Papers Collection. The edition will introduce previously unexplored Algerian Judaeo-Arabic documents from the Prize Papers Collection, which constitute a unique chance to study the history, language and culture of Jewish trading across the Mediterranean and North Africa during the late 18th century. Between February 2017 and January 2020, Mohamed was granted a Research Fellowship funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation) to work on a project entitled: "From Tuscany to Alexandria: Arabic letters in the Prize Paper Collections", which explores Arabic letters of the Prize Paper Collections in the National Archives in Kew Gardens. With collaboration with Dr Esther-Miriam Wagner, Cambridge, Mohamed worked on editions of all Arabic letters of the Prize Paper Collections, which will be published in two volumes with Brill. In 2016, he was granted a research stipend from the Thyssen Stiftung Foundation to work on a postdoc project entitled: "Code-switching in Religious, Secular and Philosophic Judeo-Arabic Texts" at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. This project investigated the phenomena related to mixed-language texts in general and code-switching in particular regarding data from Judaeo-Arabic texts.