Khizana Beta

Khizana aims to be a comprehensive bio-bibliographical reference work on agents and works related to Arabic manuscripts, focusing on the period between the 12th and the 19th centuries CE. As a reference work on Arabic literature, it integrates sources relevant to Bibliotheca Arabica. The most important source types are:

• data from manuscript catalogues (print & online)
• data from biographical and bibliographical works and
• manuscript notes on owners, readers, etc.

Using graph based technologies, special emphasis is laid on providing evidence (i.e., provenance) for every piece of information. Work on the

Khizana will be expanded continuously in the next years. Currently, the following entries are available (including possible duplicates):

The main entity types are currently person, work, manuscript and manuscript note — place will be implemented at a later date. The entities are linked to each other and take on corresponding roles, e.g. a person can take on the role of an author, owner, scribe, etc. Our domain model is subject to continuous enhancement. Each entity type (person, work, manuscript, manuscript note) has got its own entry card. In the process of data integration, entities are becoming more and more linked to each other. These internal links are made visible by text highlighting.

Person: ابن أبي اللُّطْف Author of: الفتاوى المحمدية

Each piece of data is evidenced by one or more sources. The provenance buttons appear as soon as you hover over an entry. They look this:
The provenance may include more than on element, i.e. a chain of sources. This is the case when a source explicitly refers to another source, and we have reconstructed this chain in a machine-readable way.

The figurative mark of our logo is inspired by a bookshelf in the library of the Ottoman scholar and judge Saʿdī Celebī Efendī (d. 945/1539), illustrated in ʿĀshiq Celebī's Mashāʿir al-shuʿarāʾ, MS Millet Ktp., Ali Emiri Efendi, Tarih, n. 772, fol. 418v.

The primary goal of our data integration efforts is to create standardised, machine-readable data, not complete reproductions of catalogue information. Among other things, we atomise data, e.g. we extract personal names from biographical records, automatically convert them to Arabic, and add Linked Open Data, such as missing information in the Hidjri calendar format. Due to the high proportion of automatically processed data, artefacts may occur that are immediately apparent to a human observer. We cannot correct all of them manually, but we prioritise those that occur regularly and can therefore be corrected automatically. Our research platform is also a test lab where making mistakes is part of the learning process.

[   ]	loss of text due to destruction (intentional or material damage)
(   )	illegible or unsure. Exception: fractions in prices, e.g. “(ثلث)”
< >	subsequent addition or insertion
...	omission (used in colophons)

* This system was followed increasingly over the years, but early usage may vary.

Script	The default script (writing system) of our data is Arabic. Romanisation (LC, IJMES) may yield additional results. We are working to ensure that searches in Arabic script return all results, but this is a work in progress.
Results	As the data is only partially authority controlled, the list of search results may contain several hits for the person or work you are looking for. Automated authority control, i.e. virtually merging identical entities, is one of our main tasks for the coming years.
Advanced Search	Additional search functions will be implemented as soon as a sufficient amount of standardised and authority controlled data is available.

We are integrating data from manuscript catalogues (print & online), bio-bibliographical reference works as well as manuscript notes on owners, readers, etc. Data from other sources, such as historical catalogues, is also integrated wherever possible. The focus is on Arabic-language manuscripts, with Persian and Ottoman-Turkish manuscripts considered where possible. So far, data from the following sources have been integrated:

Ashrafīya (Ash)	Historical catalogue, data provided by Konrad Hirschler. See also Hirschler: Medieval Damascus – Plurality and Diversity in an Arabic Library – The Ashrafīya Library Catalogue, Edinburgh 2016.
AUB (Aub)	Library Catalogue, American University of Beirut. Arabic Manuscripts only.
Daiber (Dai)	Daiber Collection Database, Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo.
Damascus, National Library (Dam)	al-Ḥāfiẓ, Muḥammad Muṭīʿ: al-Fiqh al-ḥanafī. 2 vols. Damascus 1980–1981. Ḥamārina, Sāmī Ḫalaf: aṭ-Ṭibb wal-ṣaydala. Damascus 1969. al-Ḫaymī, Ṣalāḥ Muḥammad: al-Ṭibb wal-ṣaydala. Damascus 1981. al-Ḫaymī, Ṣalāḥ Muḥammad: ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān al-karīm. 3 vols. Damascus 1983–84. Vol. 1 (Vol. 2 & 3 WIP). al-Ḥasan, ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd: al-Falsafa wal-manṭiq wa-ādāb al-baḥṯ. Damascus 1970. al-Ḥimṣī, Asmāʾ: ʿUlūm al-lugha al-ʿarabīya. 2 vols. Damascus 1973. al-Māliḥ, Muḥammad Riyāḍ: al-Taṣawwuf. 3 vols. Damascus 1978–1982. Vol. 1 only. al-Raiyān, Ḫālid: al-Tārīḫ wa-mulḥaqātuhu. Damascus 1973. al-Ṣabbāgh, Muḥammad Saʿīd: al-ʿUlūm wal-funūn al-muḫtalifa ʿinda l-ʿArab. Damascus 1980. al-Sawwās, Yāsīn / Murād, Riyāḍ: Qism al-adab. 2 vols. Damascus 1982.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī (Iah)	Historical catalogue, data provided by Konrad Hirschler. See also Hirschler: A monument to medieval Syrian book culture – The library of Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī, Edinburgh 2019.
Marʿašī (Mar)	Ḥusaynī, Aḥmad : Fihrist-i nuskhahā-i khaṭṭī-i Kitābḫāna-i Buzug-i Haḍrat-i Āyatallāh al-ʿUẓmā-i Marʿashī Najafī, Qum 1975ff., Vol.1-32 (only). Supplemented by data from aghabozorg.ir (now offline) and Fankhā.
Onomasticon Arabicum (Ono)	https://onomasticon.irht.cnrs.fr, Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes, CNRS.
Princeton (Pri)	Princeton University Library Catalog, Arabic Manuscripts only. Supplemented by data from ʿĀyish, Muḥammad: Fihris al-Makhṭūṭāt al-ʿarabīya fī Jāmiʾat Princeton. 12 vols., 2011 (Ayi).
Zirikly (Zir)	al-Ziriklī, Khayr al-Dīn: al-Aʿlām. 15.ed., Beirut 2002, aligned with al-Maktaba al-shamila.

We are constantly refining our data in terms of quality assurance, machine readability, authority control, etc. These data enhancements, along with application updates, are released approximately every two months. Data generated from new sources is published at least once per year at the end of Q4, if possible, an additional update is realised at the end of Q2. There is currently no automated workflow for regularly updating data when taken from agile databases. Our long-term goal is to make long-term relationships visualisable in order to be able to generate and verify research theses. However, this requires more data from more sources as well as their integration, atomisation, standardisation and linkage. We are still at the very beginning here — see the preview of the “raw” network graph at each entry.

Khizana is edited by Dr. Daniel Kinitz & Prof. Dr. Verena Klemm (Bibliotheca Arabica, Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig).

Further Responsibilities
Computer Science/Software Development: Tariq Yousef, M.Sc. (2022/23), Dr. Thomas Efer (-2022)
Data Engineering/ Data Integration: Dr. Daniel Kinitz
Manuscript Notes: Dr. Boris Liebrenz

See the credits for a list of contributors and partners.

Bibliotheca Arabica's Manuscript Data Lab (data engineering, data integration)
Daniel Kinitz (head), Lisa Dorn (chief assistant), Ossama Saker, Sulamith Voppel, Serra Al-Deen, Hala Al Kaisi, Ezis Issa
former members: Jonathan R. Schmid (+ software development, IT administration, OCR), Parivash Mashhadi, Barbara Altmmo, Christoph Gümmer, Tobias Wenzel, Christian Ellwitz

Boris Liebrenz (data curation manuscript notes)

Martin Reckziegel (external software development)

vigo design (logo)

Data Cooperation Partners
American University in Beirut, Dr. Fatme Charafeddine
Brill, Dr. Maurits van den Boogert
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Prof. Konrad Hirschler/ Dr. Said al-Joumani (Universität Hamburg)
Daiber Collection, Prof. Hans Daiber; Prof. Kazuo Morimoto (University of Tokyo)
Onomasticon Arabicum, Dr. Christian Müller
Princeton University Library, Dr. Deborah Schlein
Qalamos, Chr. Rauch & team, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

Funding
This publication is funded by the Federal Republic of Germany and the Free State of Saxony within the German Academies’ Programme.