PHILIP KHURI HITTI


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Philip Khuri Hitti

What a people believes, even if untrue, has the same influence over their lives as if it were true.
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Hitti was describing the Arabs but the principle would apply to almost any people. See {585931} for a political expression of this principle. Also {594723}, {607508} and {605259}.

Philip Khuri Hitti

The Arabian genealogist, like his brother the Arabian historian, had a horror vacui and his fancy had no difficulty in bridging gaps and filling vacancies
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“Horror vacui” is Latin for ‘fear of emptiness.’ In this case, Hitti was referring to holes or missing information in the historical record. In such cases, Arab historians simply made up a version and recorded it together with what they had real information about.

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  • Born: June 22, 1886
  • Died: December 24, 1978
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Biography

Philip Khuri Hitti (Arabic: فيليب خوري حتي), was a Lebanese-American professor and scholar at Princeton and Harvard University, and authority on Arab and Middle Eastern history, Islam, and Semitic languages. He almost single-handedly created the discipline of Arabic studies in the United States.