Yaqut al-Hamawi

Timeline

1. 1179–1194Hamah · SyriaAs a Greek-origin child he was sold to a merchant from Hamah, receiving training in literacy and long-distance trade, and travelling with his master to Persian Gulf ports. This period made him familiar with place names, trade routes, and the circulation of manuscripts, laying up material for his later geographical dictionary.
2. 1194–1210Hamah and Baghdad area · West AsiaAfter a conflict with his master in 1194 he supported himself by copying manuscripts and studied under grammarians. A few years later he returned to the merchant's life; after his master's death he took up bookselling, began reading and excerpting systematically, and turned to the path of a scholar.
3. c. 1210–1221Khurasan (around Merv) · KhurasanFor over a decade he travelled between Iran, Syria, Egypt, and Khurasan, copying at libraries in Merv and elsewhere large amounts of geographical, historical, and poetic material now lost. When the Mongol army approached he fled west, becoming an important transmitter of these eastern collections.
4. 1222–1229Mosul and Aleppo · West AsiaAround 1222 he began the Dictionary of Lands at Mosul, completing a first draft in 1224, recording alphabetically the pronunciation and location of place names, histories of conquest, monuments, and notable figures. Around 1227 he moved via Alexandria to Aleppo to continue fair-copying, and died in that city in 1229.