Preface List of Figures part 1: Research 1 Arabic Shadow Theatre in Historical Sources 1 Late Abbasid Accounts (c. 1000-1250) 2 Mamluk Accounts (c. 1250-1517) 3 Ottoman Accounts (c. 1517-1900) 4 Western Visitors' Accounts (c. 1760-1900)2 Early Modern Scholarship 1 Orientalism and Arab Shadow Theatre: c. 1890-1945 2 Early Arab Scholarship: c. 1900-19503 New Studies 1 Western Scholarship Since the 1950s 2 Arab Research Activities Since the 1950s part 2: Resources 4 Primary Sources: Manuscripts and Artifacts 1 Manuscripts 2 Shadow Figures5 Language, Style, and Terminology 1 Content and Language 2 Songs in the Shadow Play: Canonic and Non-Canonic Verses 3 Terminology6 Performance 1 Scenes from Medieval Cairo 2 Shadow Theatre of the Ottoman Time 3 Scenes from Early Modern Era part 3: Repertoires 7 Medieval Arabic Shadow Plays: Ibn Daniyal and Others 1 Ibn Daniyal's Three Plays 2 An Unconfirmed Mamluk Shadow Play8 Ottoman Egyptian Shadow Plays 1 Sources 2 An Original Description of the Repertoire 3 Six Early Ottoman Egyptian Shadow Plays9 Late Ottoman and Early Modern Egyptian Plays 1 Four Egyptian Shadow Plays of Late Ottoman Time 2 Short Plays from Early Modern Egypt10 Syrian and Levantine Plays 1 An Overview 2 Lebanon 3 Syria, Damascus 4 Syria, Aleppo 5 Syria, the Coastal Region 6 Other Syrian Plays11 North African Plays 1 The Maghreb: Tunisia and Algeria 2 Libya Epilogue: Notes from the Field Arabic Shadow Theatre Today Appendix 1: Arabic Shadow Plays: an Inventory Appendix 2: Shadow Theatre in Premodern Arabic Poetry 1 The Prime Metaphor: God, Reality, and Shadow Play 2 Performance as Illusions Making and Performer as Illusionist Appendix 3: The Cast 1 Egypt 2 Syria and the Levant 3 Tunisia and Algeria 4 Libya Appendix 4: The Programme of a Layla Celebration Appendix 5: Glossary (Arabic - English) Bibliography Index.