Guest Contributor for Middle Eastern Studies
Aida Alavi is an archaeologist and art historian specialized in the post-medieval period. Holding a Ph.D. in Art History from Bordeaux-Montaigne University, her doctoral research examined magical objects in Safavid Iran (1501-1722) and their connection to the religious and courtly ideologies of the Safavid dynasty. Her research interests include magical objects and rituals, alongside working on manuscripts focusing on occult sciences and astrology. She completed an internship at the Islamic art department of the Louvre Museum, contributing to the “Inscribed Objects” database. Aida actively participated in the “Visualization and Material Cultures of the Heavens in Eurasia and North Africa (4000 BCE–1700 CE)” project and database at the Max Planck Institute of Science. Her current project focuses on the role of the Book of Fixed Stars by ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī in the transmission of astronomy and scientific knowledge in both the Islamic and Western worlds during the medieval and early modern periods.
The Digital Orientalist 