JEDDAH, 9 April 2007 — For the first time in the Kingdom’s history, an eight-volume Arabic-language encyclopedia about Jeddah, the Bride of the Red Sea, is being compiled and will be ready at the beginning of next year.
Jeddah is said to be the first city in the Arab world and the third city in the world — after New York and London — to have an encyclopedia dedicated to it.
The “Jeddah Encyclopedia” is the brainchild of businessman Muhammad Al-Sihli, a former media person, who is the publisher and financer of the project. In 2004, Governor of Makkah Prince Abdul Majeed agreed to the idea of having an encyclopedia for Jeddah. Work on the project began in April 2005.
Al-Sihli appointed Ahmad Al-Zailai, professor of history at King Saud University in Riyadh, to head a team of researchers for the encyclopedia and form several subordinate teams of academics from the Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, King Saud University in Riyadh and King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah.
“Muhammad Al-Sihli had a vision to show the importance of the city culturally, strategically and economically being the first seaport in the Kingdom and the gate of the Kingdom to the outer world, especially for pilgrims who come to Makkah,” Al-Zailai said.
The encyclopedia will be printed in eight volumes and will also be available online at www.jeddahpedia.com. The eight volumes will respectively cover Jeddah’s geography, history, heritage and archaeology, culture, community, public utilities, commerce and economy and great figures.
Members of the public are urged to visit the encyclopedia’s website and suggest famous personalities, who they feel should be included in the encyclopedia. Online forms are available at the encyclopedia’s website for this purpose. Suggestions will be scrutinized before being included in the encyclopedia.
Al-Zaili said, “The team has researched all available sources to complete the project. We’ve used all available documents and books at libraries in addition to the Internet.” He added that some people have cooperated in making the project a success while others have not been as helpful.
Seventy percent of the encyclopedia has been completed. The publishers hope to bring out several editions and updates over the coming years. “As this is the first encyclopedia about a city in the Kingdom, I hope it will be the start to having encyclopedias for every city in the Kingdom,” said Al-Zaili.
Future plans include having an English version of the encyclopedia to make the resource accessible to non-Arabic speakers.
