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A History of Jeddah – The Gate to Mecca in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century

26.10.2021 | 19:00 - 21:00

Book presentation by Ulrike Freitag (ZMO, BGSMCS), moderated by Wolf R. Schwippert (DAFG)

Known as the 'Gate to Mecca' or 'Bride of the Red Sea', Jeddah has been a gateway for pilgrims travelling to Mecca and Medina and a station for international trade routes between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean for centuries. In cooperation with DAFG board member Wolf R. Schwippert, Prof. Dr. Ulrike Freitag presents her critically acclaimed biography of the city under the title A History of Jeddah –  The Gate to Mecca in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century (Cambridge University Press 2020). Seen from the perspective of its diverse population, the study traces the city's urban history and cosmopolitanism from the late Ottoman period to its present-day claim to multiculturalism, within the conservative environment of the Arabian Peninsula.

Ulrike Freitag is the director of Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient and Professor of Islamic Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. She is author of Indian Ocean Migrants and State Formation in Hadhramaut (2002) and co-editor of several volumes on urban history, including Urban Violence in the Middle East (2015).

The event is organised by the German Arab Friendship Association (DAFG) in cooperation with ZMO.

Please register for the Zoom event here.