Where the Middle Ages Begin
Disputing with Islam in Syriac: The Case of the Monk of Bêt Hãlê and a Muslim Emir By Sidney H. Griffith Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, Vol.3:1 (2000) Introduction: Although Islam was born, and became a world religion largely within the ambience of the Syriac-speaking communities of the eastern Christian patriarchates, little study has in […]
The Sons of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad and the Politics of Puppets: Where Did It All Start? By Frédéric Bauden Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.13:1 (2009) Introduction: The period from al-Nāṣir Muḥammad’s death (741/1341) until the emergence of the Circassian dynasty under al-Ẓāhir Barqūq (784/1382) witnessed the unbridled succession to the throne of Egypt and Syria of the […]
Rethinking “Damascus” Steel By Ann Feuerbach American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin, Vol.96 (2008) Introduction: Historical accounts testify that for thousands of years, in Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian cultures, crucible steel was the most sought-after type of steel because it was used to produce so-called “Damascus” steel objects. Damascus steel objects, particularly swords, […]
Rotting Ships and Razed Harbors: The Naval Policy of the Mamluks By Albrecht Fuess Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.5 (2001) Synopsis: This article will review the three most important components of Mamluk naval policy and assess the effectiveness of that policy in securing the coast. This three-part review will be followed by a discussion of why […]
Byzantine Elements in the Umayyad Mosque at Damascus By Robert Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh) Given at the International Symposium on the Historical Relations Between Arabia, the Greek and Byzantine World (5th century B.C. – 10th century A.D.) on December 8, 2010
Syrian sources and resources for Byzantinists By Sebastian Brock Paper given at 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies (2006) Introduction: All the Oriental Christian languages have a great deal of interest to offer to the Byzantinist, but of them it is perhaps Syriac which has the most, especially for the early and middle Byzantine periods. […]
Pre-Eighteenth-Century Traditions of Revivalism: Damascus in the Thirteenth Century By Konrad Hirschler Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol.68:2 (2005) Abstract: This article examines whether it is possible to trace eighteenth and nineteenth-century revivalist thought to earlier ‘medieval’ examples. The discussion is centred on the issue of ijtihad/taqlid, which featured prominently in […]
Decline and decadence in Iraq and Syria after the age of Avicenna? : ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī (1162–1231) between myth and history By Nanne Pieter George Joosse and Peter E. Pormann Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol.84:1 (2010) Abstract: ‘Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī’s (d. 1231) work Book of the Two Pieces of Advice (Kitāb al Nasīḥatayn) […]
The Crusades and the Development of Islamic Art By Oleg Grabar The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World, edited by Angeliki E. Laiou and Roy Parviz Mottahedeh (Dumbarton Oaks, 2001) Introduction: Among the numerous catchy but arrogant as well as intellectually dubious aphorisms attributed to great men is Napoleon’s statement “l’intendance suivra.” […]
Antioch was a city attempting to transition from a Greco-Roman Pagan society to an orthodox Christian society in a recently Christian empire.
Economic Growth and Currency in Ayyūbid Palestine By Stefan Heidemann Ayyūbid Jerusalem: The Holy City in Context, 1187-1250, edited by Robert Hillenbrand and Sylvia Auld (Altajir Trust, 2009) Introduction: In 583/1187 Saladin conquered Jerusalem. This occurred in a period of renewed economic growth in Syria and northern Mesopotamia, which lasted until the Mongol invasion. The […]
The historiography of protest in late Mamluk and early Ottoman Egypt and Syria By Amina Elbendary IIAS Newsletter, Vol.43 No.9 (2007) Introduction: History in its various forms – chronicles, biographies and biographical dictionaries – was a favourite genre in late medieval Egypt and Syria. One of the salient features of these histories is their breadth […]
This paper explores how the architectural expression of orthodoxy in the Eastern churches was transferred to Europe before the Crusades and then reinforced through the Crusaders’ adoption of the triple-apsed east end ‘in the Syrian Taste’ in the Holy Land.
In the Shadow of Zengi: Diplomatic Relations between Damascus and the Crusader States during the Reign of King Fulk of Jerusalem Paper by Basit Hammad Qureshi, University of Minnesota Given at the Crusades I session at the 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies (2010) Until recent years, the image of Imad ad-Din Zengi, Atabeg of Mosul […]
Ayn Jalut: Mamluk Sucess or Mongol Failure? By John Masson Smith, Jr. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 44:2 (1984) Introduction: The battle of Ayn Jalut, where the Mamluks of Egypt defeated the invading Mongols on 3 September 1260, is usually presented as the turning point in the tide of Mongol conquest. This, it is usually […]
The Transformation of Middle Eastern Cities in the 12th Century: Financing Urban Renewal By Stefan Heidemann AKPIA@MIT FORUM: Studies In Architecture, History and Culture (2008) Introduction: The 12th century was a period of rapid change in the Middle East. It was a time of renewal as well as completion as the cityscapes’ Islamization came to a head. In […]
The Sons of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad and the Politics of Puppets: Where Did It All Start? By Frédéric Bauden Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.13:1 (2009) Introduction: The period from al-Nāṣir Muḥammad’s death (741/1341) until the emergence of the Circassian dynasty under al-Ẓāhir Barqūq (784/1382) witnessed the unbridled succession to the throne of Egypt and Syria of the scions of […]
The Financial Reforms of Sultan Qāytbāy By Igarashi Daisuke Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.13:1 (2009) Introduction: The expansion of the Ottoman Empire from the middle of the ninth/fifteenth century redrew the power map in northern Syria and eastern Anatolia, threatening the hegemony of the Mamluk sultanate over the region. It also threatened the security of the sultanate, which […]
Symbiotic Relations: Ulama and the Mamluk Sultans By Yaacov Lev Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.13:1 (2009) Introduction: The ulama played a vital role in the political and social life of the Mamluk state. Ira Marvin Lapidus, for example, makes the following observation about the urban society of the Mamluk period: In Mamlūk cities no central agency for […]
When Jesus met Mohammed in the Holy Land: Attitudes toward the “Other” in the Crusader Kingdom By Sophia Menache Medieval Encounters, Vol. 15: 1 (2009 ) Abstract: This paper investigates changing attitudes toward the “other” in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem from two main perspectives; namely, the crusaders’ approach to the former inhabitants of the […]
The Economic Role of the State in the Classical Islamic Literature: The Views of Ibn Taimiyah By Bassam Abu Al-Foul, and Mohamed Soliman Digest of Middle East Studies, Vol.15:2 (2006) Abstract: This paper explores the economic writings of Ibn Taimiyah, particularly his views on the economic role of the state. In so doing, it offers some explanations […]
Legitimizing a low-born, regicide monarch. The case of the Mamluk sultan Baybars and the Ilkhans in the 13th century By Denise Aigle Representing power in ancient Inner Asia : Legitimacy, transmission and the sacred, Charleux, I., Hamayon, R. and Delaplace, G. (eds), (Western Washington University, 2009) Introduction: Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, Syria-Palestine and Egypt were […]
The Medieval Islamic World Through the Eyes of Two Travelers By Melanie A. Clouser Agora, Vol.3:1 (2002) Introduction: Islamic regions, long ignored and misunderstood by many, contain integral information concerning medieval Mediterranean civilizations. Historian Henri Cordier claims, “Westerners have singularly narrowed the history of the world” to their own meager knowledge of historic Israel, Greece, and Rome, […]
A Victory Celebration after a Military Defeat? Al-Mutanabbī’s ‘Ayniyyah of 339/950 By Majd Yaser Al-Massar Journal of Arabic Literature, Vol.40:1 (2009) Abstract: This paper analyzes al-Mutanabbī’s ‘Ayniyyah, one of the poet’s early odes in the court of Sayf al-Dawlah al-Hamdanī (d. 356/967), presented to the emir in the year 339/950. The ode in question is composed after […]
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