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Tengrinews.kz – The collection of the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books has been enriched with a valuable historical artifact. The British Embassy has donated a copy of a map of Central Asia to the center, originally held in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, according to the Ministry of Culture and Information.
The artifact is a unique surviving example of an anonymous 11th-century work on cosmology and geography titled "The Book of Marvelous Sciences and Pleasures for the Eye."
“According to researchers, the manuscript was created in Egypt in the late 12th – early 13th century. Among other locations, the map depicts the city of Zhankent, located in present-day Kazakhstan. In Arabic sources, it is referred to as Al-qarya al-haditha (‘Zhanna qala’ – ‘New City’). Between the 8th and 11th centuries, Zhankent served as the capital of the Oghuz state. The map also marks other major cities in southern Kazakhstan,” the ministry reported.
The manuscript was acquired in 2002 with the support of several charitable organizations, after which it was fully digitized and became a valuable resource for studying medieval Islamic geography and manuscript art.
“The 11th-century map, covering the territory of Central Asia and modern-day Kazakhstan, is a unique historical and geographical source of great scientific, cultural, and national significance,” the ministry added.
