THE ORIGIN OF THE FLYING CARPET FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS AND THE EVOLUTION OF ITS MAGICAL PROPERTIES

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Abstract

This paer examines the magic carpet or the flying carpet, which appears in “The Story of Prince Aḥmad and the Fairy Perī Bānū,” one of the most famous stories of the Arabian Nights. This story, of which no Arabic original has ever been found, was related by the Aleppian Maronite Christian Ḥannā Diyāb to the French Orientalist Antoine Galland, who admitted it into his Les mille et une nuits. The flying carpet has been addressed more than once in context of European creativity or the “European stratum” of the Arabian Nights, although its roots are most likely to be found in Muslim traditions about King Solomon. I will focus in particular on its magical aspect as this is embodied in the story, namely its ability to fly under its own power and to obey the thoughts/wishes of the story’s protagonists. By examining Muslim traditions that predate Galland’s Nights and the “discovery” of the Arabian Nights in Europe, as well as a variety of Arabic popular stories, I will attempt to delineate the evolution of this flying vehicle within a broad context, going back to early Muslim legends about King Solomon’s vehicle, which was not magical in and of itself, but was carried and pushed by winds or demons which King Solomon controlled, down to its familiar magical appearance in Galland’s Nights.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationJerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
PublisherThe Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Pages71-118
Number of pages48
StatePublished - 2024

Publication series

NameJerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
Volume55

Keywords

  • Antoine Galland
  • Arabian Nights
  • Flying carpet
  • King Solomon
  • Ḥannā Diyāb

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Language and Linguistics
  • History
  • Religious studies
  • Literature and Literary Theory

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