Mediterraneo Ricerca e Formazione (MERIFOR)

EGYPT TODAY

Venice, Italy

14 – 15 March, 2003

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The Roots and Development of

 Egyptian-Italian Relations

 Egyptian-Italian relations have deep-seated roots in the ancient history of Mediterranean nations, which were greatly influenced by the sea, to the extent that the urbanity of a given country was measured by its interaction with the sea; hence, the greater the nation’s interaction with the sea, the higher degree of urbanity it attained and vice versa. Phoenicia, ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Venice and Carthage, are some of many examples of this. Hence, the ancient civilizations and glorious moments in Mediterranean nations’ lives were always associated with growing maritime activities.

Yet, ‘the very’ ancient Egypt enjoyed a special status. Ancient Egyptians lived close to the Valley of the Nile (and not the Delta). Lying between the Valley of the Nile and the Mediterranean, the Delta stood as a wild swampland, and also a gate for the invaders, who wished to seize the rich cities of the Valley. The early Egyptian mind viewed this area as a ‘dark’ place where Set, the god of evil, was worshipped; whereas the idol of the south was Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, and the mythological correspondent of Set.

 Ancient Greece, and afterwards the old Italian cities, however found its way to Egypt through the sea. Egyptian urbanization gradually moved north, amid an increased European interest in Northern Egypt, especially after Alexander the Great founded his magnificent polyglot, cosmopolitan city: Alexandria.

 Egyptian-Italian relations were, thus, launched through the sea, then developed and enhanced when Egypt became part of the Roman Empire. According to the great historian, Will Durant in his book The Story of Civilization, Rome never regarded Egypt as one of its provinces, but rather a personal estate of the Emperor; the ruler of Egypt was responsible before the Emperor alone; and the three regions of Lower Egypt, Middle Egypt and Upper Egypt, were governed by Egyptianized Greeks, who ruled its 36 provinces in the name of the Roman Emperor. In the meantime, Greek remained the official language .

This reflects Egypt’s distinguished position within the Roman Empire, which was stressed by the cultural and economic dominance of Alexandria at that time: In the second century AD, Alexandria was the second cosmopolitan city, after Rome, in scientific standing and industrial and commercial activities. It was rather held at that time that “every person had a job or craft; even the crippled and the blind had jobs in the Alexandria at that time ,” let alone the great importance that the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Library of the Mouseion) enjoyed in Europe, which gave eminent scientists all over the globe reason to be proud to have been educated in Alexandria.

Egypt remained part of the Roman Empire until the Muslims entered it in the year 20 H. (641 AD) and seized Alexandria by force in the year 23 H. (644 AD) after several Alexandrian revolutions that resulted in the expulsion of Muslims twice . In spite of continuous wars between Muslims and the Roman Empire, commercial activities between Egypt and the Roman state never stopped. In fact, the Byzantine dinar (formerly known in Arab heritage as ‘Herculean dinar’ and ‘Venetian dinar’) remained in use until the Muslims developed a currency of their own at the time of Caliph ‘Abdul-Malik bin-Marawān, who gave his orders in the year 74 H. (693 AD) to mint a golden coin. al-Hajjāj bin-Yūsuf al-Thaqafiy, his vizier, issued dirhams to be circulated throughout the Islamic state in the year 76 H. (695 AD) . However, pure 24-carat gold is now known in everyday Egyptian Arabic as ‘Venetian gold’!

 During the Islamic period of domination, the interaction between Italy and the European culture on the one hand, and Egypt and Arabic culture on the other, continued. Scholars and historians have shown multiple evidence of such interface. In literature, contemporary studies stress on the great similarity between Risālat al-Ghufrān (Letter of Forgiveness) by Abūl-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī (died in 499 H. = 1057 AD) and Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece, the Divine Comedy (who began writing it in 1306 AD;) in science, and during the Renaissance, the Italian cities were an important bridge through which Arab science - including ancient Greek sciences - crossed to Europe. An example of this, is the transmission of the discovery of blood circulation to Europe, the details of which are as follows:

 In the third century BC the ancient Alexandrian physician, Herophilus, maintained that arteries and veins were attached to each other; this scientific fact was long neglected, then revived by the Arab physician Abūl-‘Abbās al-Majūsiy (died before 384 H. = 994 AD) in his book Kāmil al-Sinā‘a al-Tibbiya, which states that if the artery is cut, venal blood is discharged through it.

 Later on, ‘Alā’-al-Din Ibn-al-Nafīs (d. 687 H. = 1288 AD) provided a comprehensive view of blood circulation in his explanation of Ibn-Sīnā’s (Avicenna) book, al-Qānūn fī al-Tib (The Canon of Medicine.) At the time of Ibn-al-Nafis, the Italian city of Padova, was witnessing the birth of the biggest European regular-class university. In the year 1238 the number of students in the University of Padova amounted from 2500 to 3000 students. Padova attained its scientific glory in the beginning of the fifteenth century AD, as it became part of the enlightened Venetian Republic in 1405 AD (807 H.) It was in Padova, that Pietro Di Abano (born 1250- died 1316 AD) introduced the thoughts of the Arab Muslim philosopher, Ibn-Rušd (died 595 H. = 1198 AD, also known as Averroes) for the first time in European history. True that Di Abano was charged with atheism, and faced the death penalty (being burnt alive) but the city of Padova itself, maintained its place as an international scientific center, in which science transcended all doctrines and beliefs.

 Reverting to blood circulation, Andrea Alpago, an Italian physician, made a Latin translation of Ibn-al-Nafīs’ book that was published in 1547. Alpago lived in the Islamic Orient, where he studied the works of Ibn-Sīnā, then moved to Padova .

 The publishing of the Latin translation of Ibn-al-Nafīs’ book, was followed by three other works on blood circulation, by three European physicians, namely the Spanish physician Miguel Servetus (who was burned alive in 1553 AD,) Realdo Colombo, who was a Professor of Surgery in Padova University (he died in 1559 AD,) and Andrea Cesalpino (who died in 1603 AD) he was the first scientist to use the term ‘blood circulation’. A final conception of blood circulation, was later portrayed in William Harvey’s Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals . To understand the nature of the bridge of knowledge, through which this scientific theory was transmitted, one should refer to the following dates:

1288           : Death of Ibn al-Nafīs
1547           : Andrea Alpago translated Ibn-al-Nafīs’ book

1553           : Publishing of Servetus’ book

 1559          : Publishing of Colombo's book
1579           : Publishing of Cesalpino's book
1597 to 1602: Harvey studied in Padova
1622           : Publishing of Harvey’s study on blood circulation     

In the modern age, the strong ties between Egypt and Italy manifested themselves in different fields, such as the significant and strong presence, of the Italian community in Alexandria - and also in Cairo - during the nineteenth century, and in the first half of the following century; and the active Italian Orientalist movement, which existed for a long time (and continues to exist). Indeed, Italy was “the oldest Western nation, to have close and diverse relations with the Near East. Owing to the Vatican, Arab culture and Oriental languages, received great and continuous efforts in translation, preservation, teaching, and publishing .”

 In his book al-Mustashriqun (The Orientalists) Najīb al-‘Aqīqiy lists Italian scientific institutions, concerned with Arabic heritage around 1000 years ago, among which are the University of Bologna (1076), University of Napoli (1224), University of Siena (1246), and the University of Florence (1321) in addition to the ancient University of Padova. Cardinal De Medici had founded a school for Oriental languages in Florence, while Cardinal Borromeo, the founder of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, built many other schools that were specialized in Oriental (especially Arabic) heritage. This was followed by many schools of Orientalism to this time .

Many Italian Orientalists shone and affected greatly the development of heritage studies, among them are David Santillana (1855-1931) who contributed greatly to Fiqh studies; Di Matteo (1872-1848) who specialized in Arabic literature, and published many Arabic manuscripts; Carlo Alfonso Nallino (1872-1938) who was an eminent figure in the field of the history of Islamic astronomy; and many other famous contemporary Orientalists.

  It is important to mention that the modern renaissance that started concurrently in Egypt and Italy, based on similar cultural backgrounds, both faced the same destiny, as they were forced to move towards the Western Eurocentrism mode. Some years ago, I traced in one of my books, several indications of some ‘self-driven’ renaissance, that was being formed in Egypt, a century before the French Campaign, and then aborted in favor of Eurocentrism, and its special context.

The American Orientalist, Peter Gran, then told me, that he was in the course of making a study on Italy’s modern history, so as to trace the Italian urbanisation movement, which was doomed to the same fate as its Egyptian counterpart. Gran stressed on the great similarity between them, and came up with a wonderful idea; that we undertake a joint study to be published in one book, reviewing both the Egyptian and Italian cases. However, time did not allow me, to materialize this important study.

No doubt, Egyptian-Italian relations waned - for basically political reasons - in the second half of the twentieth century, until the initiation of a global project, for the revival of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Italy gave great support to this project, to start a new era, of cultural interface between both our countries. Chief among Italy’s many contributions to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina are: training researchers; providing display cases for the Manuscripts Museum; donating a Restoration Lab; and presenting 7,500 books in different languages to enrich the BA content.

The Italian role was not limited to the Government; private organizations and individuals, also gave a hand in supporting the BA, like the world famous, Italian pen maker Montegrappa, which on the occasion of the BA’s official opening, created a very special edition, of commemorative, pure-silver pens (only 331 pieces, the number recalling the year in which the city of Alexandria was founded, 331 B.C.) to be presented to kings, queens, and heads of states, on that historical celebration. Moreover, eminent world known Italian figures, such as Umberto Eco, are members of the BA’s Board of Trustees; these are all indications, of a promising future, for close relations between both our countries.

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 Now let us look at some shots, of the Manuscripts Museum, to which Italy has contributed these magnificent show cases, then these internal and external pictures of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina after its revival and official opening on 16 October 2002.