Introduction by the Editor
I worked for many years for various organisations translating some rather esoteric and perhaps seemingly dull Arabic texts. I was sent this one with a large cheque from a wealthy Egyptian benefactor I had worked for previously. He was highly interested in History generally and fascinated with that of the Near East and North Africa. I translated the text and made several copies as is usual. It amazed me and I saught his permission to publish this text. I have now discussed how I got this stunning text I will now detail what this text is.
The Assembled Journals of the El Khadir Family or Annotated History of Cyrenaica.
It seems uninteresting at this point but let me detail this family.
El Khadir is a common name throughout what was once Cyrenaica. This particular family are Byzantine by origin. They originated in Northern (Modern-day) Turkey. They moved south to Damascus and from there to Benghazi. They were typical traders of the time and their wealth increased as Venetian trade with Cyrenaican wool went up. They had niche. By the 1350s this wealth elevated them to a status quite unique they financed the entire Cyrenaican army while the Sultan bankrupted his nation on a large Mosque. By the earliest document we have from this family (1490) they were the Chief Ministers of State and all but ran the country.
This text is the memoirs of one family but also the politcal life of a nation and the nation itself. They - in this text - seem to embody the nation that they ruled not with real titles but with wealth and influence. The first two years are unfortunately filled with ineligible sections and thus I must start the full text at around January 1492.
So now I have rambled enough and I hand over to the more intelligent hand of Ali E Khadir (You note that early members of this family do not have El, merely E).
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Ok this is my first AAR so please be gentle
I worked for many years for various organisations translating some rather esoteric and perhaps seemingly dull Arabic texts. I was sent this one with a large cheque from a wealthy Egyptian benefactor I had worked for previously. He was highly interested in History generally and fascinated with that of the Near East and North Africa. I translated the text and made several copies as is usual. It amazed me and I saught his permission to publish this text. I have now discussed how I got this stunning text I will now detail what this text is.
The Assembled Journals of the El Khadir Family or Annotated History of Cyrenaica.
It seems uninteresting at this point but let me detail this family.
El Khadir is a common name throughout what was once Cyrenaica. This particular family are Byzantine by origin. They originated in Northern (Modern-day) Turkey. They moved south to Damascus and from there to Benghazi. They were typical traders of the time and their wealth increased as Venetian trade with Cyrenaican wool went up. They had niche. By the 1350s this wealth elevated them to a status quite unique they financed the entire Cyrenaican army while the Sultan bankrupted his nation on a large Mosque. By the earliest document we have from this family (1490) they were the Chief Ministers of State and all but ran the country.
This text is the memoirs of one family but also the politcal life of a nation and the nation itself. They - in this text - seem to embody the nation that they ruled not with real titles but with wealth and influence. The first two years are unfortunately filled with ineligible sections and thus I must start the full text at around January 1492.
So now I have rambled enough and I hand over to the more intelligent hand of Ali E Khadir (You note that early members of this family do not have El, merely E).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok this is my first AAR so please be gentle
