Medieval Text Misinterpretation Alters Understanding of Black Death's Spread
Recent research indicates that a 14th-century Arabic text, long considered a factual account of the Black Death's rapid spread from China to the Mediterranean, was misinterpreted. The study, published in the Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, focuses on the 'Risāla' by Syrian writer Ibn al-Wardī, who died during the plague in 1349. Historians previously treated this work as an eyewitness report detailing the disease's path across Asia into the Islamic world. However, lead author Muhammed Omar of the University of Exeter argues that the 'Risāla' was not intended as a historical account but rather as a 'maqāma,' a literary genre characterized by rhymed prose and metaphor. The narrative, which describes the plague as a traveler moving through cities, was a figurative device to help communities cope with the crisis, not a literal record of transmission. This misinterpretation began in the 15th century when Mamluk historians treated the text as fact, an error perpetuated in modern scholarship, notably by hi...
