The agricultural manual of al-Dimashqī (Al-Durr al-multaqiṭ fī ‘ilm filāḥatay al-Rūm wa-al-Nabaṭ, or Pearls Gleaned from the Science of the Two Agricultures of the Romans/Byzantines and the Nabataeans), dating to the second half of the seventh or first quarter of the eighth century (circa 1275–1327 CE), is a Syrian agronomical text that remains largely unstudied and unpublished. This lecture will explore its unique chapters on village establishment, animal breeding, beekeeping, and silkworm rearing. These sections offer insights into village structures, land division, and the economic activities of peasants, providing practical guidance for successful and profitable agricultural practices.

Prof. Dr. Heba Mahmoud Saad Abdelnaby is a professor of Islamic History and Archaeology at Alexandria University. She is the Cultural Attaché and Director of the Egyptian Cultural Center in Rabat and formerly held the same position in Washington, D.C. (2023-2024). She has authored nine books and book chapters, including Identities in Touch between East and West (2022), Conservation of Architectural Heritage (2022), Birds During the Mamluk Period (2021).  Prof. Abdelnaby is the international representative of the Historians of Islamic Art Association (HIAA), a member of ICOM, the Arab Historians Association, the Arab Archeologist Union, and a referee of the Research Council in Oman, the Fulbright Commission in Egypt and several specialized international journals.