The life and works of Ibn Khaldoun were recalled during an exhibition attended by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak and Spanish King Juan Carlos. Nevine El-Aref attended the high-profile event The 14th century was partially brought back to life on Tuesday at Prince Taz Palace in Sayeda Zeinab where strains of Arabic music filled the evening air while people wearing folklore garb and headdress danced, strolled and sat on tiny chairs decorated with Arabesque. In such enchanting surroundings, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, Spanish King Juan Carlos and his wife Queen Sofia inaugurated the exhibition "Ibn Khaldoun, between Andalusia and Egypt". The exhibition is held as part of the celebrations marking the death of Ibn Khaldoun, the best known Arab-Muslim thinker of the 14th century. The exhibition is named after the famed Arab thinker and founder of sociology who settled for some time in Spain and passed away 600 years ago. In May 2006, Spain's Seville hosted the Ibn Khaldoun exhibition, then inaugurated by President Hosni Mubarak and Juan Carlos. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Supreme Council of Culture (SCC) also held an exhibition on the great Arab historian and philosopher and a precursor of modern sociologists. The exhibition, titled "Ibn Khaldoun in the Egyptian and Arab memory", focuses on the importance of the freedom of expression in inter-civilisation dialogue, particularly pan-Mediterranean, which is in line with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero's initiative. The Sayeda Zeinab exhibition not only aims to better promote and provide extensive knowledge of the life and work of Ibn Khaldoun, but to portray the political, economic and social times that reigned in the 14th century as well as highlight the mutual relationship between East and West, and between Europe and North Africa which are united by the Mediterranean. The exhibition seeks to emphasis that beyond the conflicts that did take place, there was an intense and productive framework of cultural, commercial and human relationships in every sense. There were also close historical, social and cultural ties that united Egypt and Spain from the eighth to the 14th centuries. In this broad geographical region united by the Mediterranean Sea, European and Muslim states are represented in the exhibition by their cultures and conflicts, the commercial exchange between them and their artistic heritage that marked the period. On electronic screens, the exhibition also shows its visitors the contributions of Al-Andalus and Egypt in politics, commerce, culture and philosophy. The exhibition arrives in Egypt following the end of a two-year-long tour of Mediterranean countries. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told Al-Ahram Weekly that such an exhibition shows the peak of cultural relations between Egypt and Spain "which will witness a further jump in forthcoming years." Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the exhibition displays 51 genuine artefacts relating to the life of Ibn Khaldoun and his trips. Hawass added that 35 of these objects provided by the Andalusia Historical Organisation are on display for the first time, as well as eight from Islamic museums and a collection of manuscripts from Dar Al-Kutub. Ahmed Megahed, head of the Cultural Development Fund, told the Weekly that every Thursday, until the conclusion of the exhibit on 22 March, a series of lectures, seminars and cultural nights will be held in Taz Palace. Three catalogues about Ibn Khaldoun provided by the Ministry of Culture, Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Spanish Ministry of Culture will be made available. Born in Tunisia of Al-Andalus ancestry, Ibn Khaldoun visited Andalusia, living for a time in the Nasrid court of Mohamed V. A social historian and author of the famous work Muqaddima, Ibn Khaldoun did not limit himself to a history of events and facts as his predecessors had done. He was a historian concerned with the logic of empires, by their rise and fall, and made a considerable contribution to reflections on the formation of states. This "father of historical sociology" as he is known by some major thinkers, also spent part of his life in Algeria, where he began work on his famous book Muqaddima in Qalaat Bani Salama. Al-Ubbad, Tlemcen, Biskra and Bejaia also figured in his travels. The 14th century was also the historical context for palace intrigues, constant struggles and successive changes of government in the Muslim and North African worlds, and in Al-Andalus.
