Contributions of Orientalists in Publishing the Arab-Islamic Documentation

Abstract

This research aimed to show the contributions of Orientalism and Orientalists in exploring, studying, and publishing the Arab-Islamic documentation during the period of (1700-1900). It also showed the origin of Orientalism, documentation, types of documentation, and the contributions made by some Orientalists including: archiving, cataloging, conservation, investigation studying and dissemination of this documentation. The discussed documents include the Arabic papyri which have been discovered in Egypt, the Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai desert, the Geniza's documentation in Cairo, and the Temple Mount’s documentation in Jerusalem. Finally, this research illustrated the pros and cons and inaccuracies resulting from the contribution of some Orientalists and its implications on the development of Arab and Islamic civilization in general, and on the curricula and research critiques used by the researchers in this field in particular.