Warburg Director's Seminar - 'Myths and Illusions. Western Interpretations of the Mahmal, the symbol of the Hajj'

Professor Alastair Hamilton (Senior Research Fellow, Warburg Institute)

Generations of Western travellers in Egypt were fascinated by the huge palanquin borne by a camel which characterised the pilgrimage to Mecca. The mahmal, surrounded by pious crowds, was paraded through the streets of Cairo before the departure of the great caravan and ultimately became the symbol of the hajj. Western visitors described it and depicted it, but what, they wondered, did it contain, and what were its origins? This lecture will deal with the information (and misinformation) gathered about the mahmal from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.

This event is part of the Warburg Director's Seminar series, which brings leading scholars and writers to the Institute to share new work and fresh perspectives on key issues in their fields. 

ATTENDANCE FREE WITH ADVANCE BOOKING

Image: 'The mahmal painted by Richard Dalton, in his Musaeum Graecum et Aegyptiacum (London 1751)