egypt connected

14 Pages·2015·1.26 MB·English

EGYPT CONNECTED
C u l t u r a l, E c o n o m i c , Po l i t i c a l a n d M i l i t a r y I n t e r a c t i o n s
(500-1000 CE)
Al-Iṣṭakhrī’s tenth-century world map
Leiden University Library, MS Or. 3101
 www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/lucis/activiteiten
 Registration via [email protected]
THU 18- SAT 20 JUNE 2015 -
LIPSIUS, ROOM 227 (CLEVERINGAPLAATS 1, LEIDEN)
Hayat Ahlili Leiden University | Gideon Avni Hebrew University | Lajos Berkes University of Heidelberg | Antoine
Borrut University of Maryland | Sobhi Bouderbala University of Tunis | Jelle Bruning Leiden University | Sylvie Denoix
University of Paris I | Janneke de Jong Leiden University | Hugh Kennedy University of London | Yaacov Lev Bar-Ilan
University | Bernhard Palme University of Vienna | Vivien Prigent CNRS, Paris | Lucian Reinfandt | University of Vienna
| Peter Sarris | University of Cambridge | Petra Sijpesteijn Leiden University | Irene Soto New York University | Mathieu
Tillier University of Paris-Sorbonne | Joanita Vroom Leiden University | Khaled Younes Menoufia University Egypt
LUCIS
Leiden University Centre for
the Study of Islam and Society
Dear participants,
Welcome to Leiden! The Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society
(LUCIS) is very pleased to host the conference Egypt Connected: Cultural, Economic,
Political and Military Interactions (500-1000 CE). This conference is the third in the program
‘Provinces and Empires’, which is a cooperation between Leiden University, the Institut
français d’archéologie orientale in Cairo (IFAO), Sorbonne/Centre national de la recherche
scientifique in Paris (CNRS), and the New York University’s Institute for the Study of the
Ancient World (ISAW). Earlier meetings in the framework of this research project took place
in 2013 at the IFAO in Cairo (Fusṭāṭ et le controle des territoires) and in 2014 at ISAW in
New York (multilingualism). A final meeting entitled ‘Mémoires concurrentes’ is planned to
take place in 2016 in Paris.
The aim of the Leiden conference is to bring together a group of scholars, who from their own
disciplinary expertise will provide input on the role of Egypt in its wider world in a period
that was highly significant in world history – from Late Antiquity up to the first millennium
C.E. With this disciplinary richness clearly visible in the varied program, the conference
promises to be an inspiring event.
This conference is made possible thanks to the financial support provided by various
institutions. We warmly thank the European Research Council (ERC), Koninklijke
Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW), Leiden University’s profile area,
Global Interactions, LUCIS, the Juynboll Stichting, Stichting Oosters Instituut, and Leids
Universiteits Fonds for their generosity. We would like to thank LUCIS for the practical
organisation.
We wish you a fruitful conference and a pleasant stay in Leiden!
Petra Sijpesteijn
Jelle Bruning
Janneke de Jong
Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 1
PROGRAMME EGYPT CONNECTED
CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND MILITARY INTERACTIONS
(500-1000 CE)
THURSDAY 18 JUNE
8.30-9.00 Welcome (with coffee)
9.00-9.30 Peter Sarris (Trinity College, University of Cambridge): Mediterranean
connector or disconnector: Egypt in its world in the Roman empire
ECONOMIC EXCHANGE
Chair: Miguel John Versluys
9.30-10.15 Irene Soto (New York University): Beyond grain: Evidence for Egypt’s Late
Antique production
10.15-10.45 Coffee
10.45-11.30 Joanita Vroom (Leiden University): Trade activities in the Eastern
Mediterranean through ceramics
11.30-12.15 Gideon Avni (Israeli Antiquities Services): A tale of two cities - Ramla and
Fustat in the early Islamic period: Urban development and commercial contacts
12.30-14.30 Lunch at the Faculty Club for speakers and invitees (Rapenburg 73)
14.30-15.15 Vivien Prigent (CNRS, Paris): Les liens entre l’Égypte et les provinces
centrales de la Méditerranée
MIGRATION
Chair: Sylvie Denoix
15.15-16.00 Yaacov Lev (Bar-Ilan University): Egypt as a gateway for North Africa:
Geography, settlement and Islamization, 7th-10th centuries
16.00-16.30 Coffee
16.30-17.15 Lucian Reinfandt (University of Vienna): Persian presence in Egypt in the 9th
century
17.15-18.00 Hayat Ahlili (Leiden University): Persian influences in Arabic amulets from
Egypt
Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 2
FRIDAY 19 JUNE
ARTICULATION OF POWER - CENTER AND PROVINCE
Chair: Peter Hoppenbrouwers
9.30-10.15 Khaled Younes (Menoufia University): The organization of the ḥajj in early
Muslim Egypt
10.15-11.00 Petra Sijpesteijn (Leiden University): The caliph in Egypt
11.00-11.30 Coffee
11.30-12.15 Sobhi Bouderbala (University of Tunis): Egypt and Syria in the Umayyad
period: Military cooperation and power issues
12.30-14.30 Lunch at the Faculty Club for speakers and invitees (Rapenburg 73)
14.30-15.15 Antoine Borrut (University of Maryland): The cultural memory of early
Islamic Egypt
MILITARY ENGAGEMENTS, ECONOMY OF CONQUEST/FUGITIVES
Chair: Jacques van der Vliet
15.15-16.00 Sylvie Denoix (CNRS, Paris): Nubia’s pacification: A narrative revisited
16.00-16.30 Coffee
16.30-17.15 Jelle Bruning (Leiden University): Jihad from Alexandria: Preliminary
considerations on its intellectual background
17.15-18.00 Janneke de Jong (Leiden University): The economy of conquest and control in
Early Islamic Egypt
18.00-19.30 Drinks at Pakhuis, open to all! (Doelensteeg 8)
SATURDAY 20 JUNE
LAW AND ADMINISTRATION
Chair: Petra Sijpesteijn
9.30-10.15 Mathieu Tillier (University of Paris-Sorbonne): Local tradition and imperial
law in Umayyad Egypt
10.15-11.00 Lajos Berkes (University of Heidelberg): Village organization in Egypt and
beyond, 500-800
11:00-11:30 Coffee
11.30-12.15 Epilogue by Hugh Kennedy (University of London): Egyptian exceptionalism?
A comparison of early Muslim administration in Egypt and Iraq
12.15 Discussion
13.00 Lunch at De Grote Beer for speakers and invitees (Rembrandtstraat 27)
Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 3
Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 4
ABSTRACTS
Hayat AHLILI, Leiden University
Persian influences in Arabic amulets from Egypt
{Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the daybreak. From the evil of what He has
created. And from the evil of the darkening as it comes with its darkness. And from the
evil of the blowers in knots. And from the evil of the envier when he envies.} Q. 2:255
This short chapter of the Qur’ān, together with al-Nās are known as al-
Mu‘awwidhatān (the two sūrāt of taking refuge [from evil]). They are repeatedly
included in amulets for protection and even reports reveal their magical impact in
spoken language. Protection, treatment and healing from the Qur’ān is the main theme
of an amulet. These amulets are extremely rare for this early period in Islamic Egypt in
comparison to other types of documents. In this paper, I will describe the
characteristics of two amulets and provide an interesting view within the Arab Muslim
culture, resulting into resemblance, close or distant, in Persian civilization, from which
Islam might have profited in this respect.
Gideon AVNI, Israeli Antiquities Services
A tale of two cities - Ramla and Fustat in the early Islamic period: Urban development and
commercial contacts
The foundation of Fustat in Egypt and Ramla in Palestine marked a profound change
in both regions, manifested in a new concept of urban landscape, the introduction of
innovative industrial installations, and the establishment of commercial ties between
the two cities. Fustat, which was founded in 641 as a military encampment for the
invading Muslim troops, developed into the administrative and commercial center of
Egypt. An expansion of its urban area, the construction of elaborate residential
compounds, and the development of a complex street system expressed the growth of
the city, particularly during the eighth and ninth centuries. Ramla, which was founded
ex-nihilo by Sulaymān b. Abd al-Malik in c. 715 as the new capital of Jund Filastin,
became before long the administrative and commercial hub of Palestine. It covered a
vast area, accommodating a network of intersecting streets and pre-planned insulae.
Both cities are known from historical written sources and extensive archaeological
excavations. The excavations of Fustat, conducted along the 20th century, revealed
large sections of its residential quarters. Ramla was extensively explored since the
1990s by hundreds of rescue excavations, which provided a basis for the
reconstruction of the physical layout of the Early Islamic city. The abundant finds
retrieved from excavations in both sites illuminated the wealth of the cities, their
residential units and their industrial and commercial infrastructures. The study of the
material culture of both cities reveals an interesting bilateral pattern of influences and
interactions, as well as flourishing commercial exchange.
The presentation evaluates the excavations in both sites and focuses on the
administrative and commercial contacts between Ramla and Fustat as reflected in the
archaeological evidence.
Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 5
Lajos BERKES, University of Heidelberg
Village organization in Egypt and beyond, 500-800
Thousands of Greek and Coptic (seldom Arabic) documents inform us about village
life from Byzantine and Early Islamic Egypt. One of the central topics in this
documentation is local administration. Apart from the basic framework of village
organization, no clear picture has emerged so far. One of the main obstacles is the
complex terminology. However, a closer look at our sources reveals that the variety of
local terms points to an officially set scheme. This paper will deal with the
organization of the village community in the context of rural society and local power
networks. Comparisons with our sporadic sources from Asia Minor, Syria and
Palestine suggest that the structure of the Egyptian villages can be regarded more or
less typical for the whole Byzantine and early Islamic East.
Antoine BORRUT, University of Maryland
The cultural memory of early Islamic Egypt
It is notoriously difficult to write the history of Egypt with the so-called classical
Abbasid sources, best exemplified by the famous al-Ṭabarī (d. 301/923). Indeed, both
the pre-Islamic Egyptian past and the first centuries of Islam are usually poorly
documented in non-Egyptian narrative sources (the conquest of the province being the
most notable exception). Yet, the reasons behind this dearth of information have never
been properly addressed. Why is Egypt so absent from the grand narrative offered by
Muslim chronicles? Does this reflect a lack of available material to work with or rather
a deliberate attempt at silencing the past? This problem is all the more vexing if one
considers the central role of the province under the Umayyads and the early Abbasids,
or if one looks at the abundant evidence offered by the documentary sources and
chiefly the papyri. Such an investigation is important because this historiographical
situation reinforces the notion of Egyptian exceptionalism. It thus prevents us from
adopting a less centralized view of the first Islamic Empire under the first two
dynasties of Islam. My paper will suggest that a different approach to the source
material, from a history of memory perspective, can help us make sense of the limited
place devoted to Egypt in classical Abbasid-era historiography. It invites us to move
away from the quest of historical “truth”, to rather focus on how Abbasid-era scholars
(chiefly in the 3rd/9th and 4th/10th centuries) wished to remember their own past and
the new meanings they granted to it by putting it into new written contexts. Looking at
Muslim and non-Muslim sources, my paper thus aims to investigate the circulation of
historical information and the construction of the past in early Islamic Egypt. Such an
investigation forces us to consider memory and oblivion in the medieval sources
themselves, in order to shed light on the making of a “cultural memory of early
Islam”.
Sobhi BOUDERBALA, University of Tunis
Egypt and Syria in the Umayyad period: Military cooperation and power issues
This paper aims to study the relationship between Egypt and Syria during the
Umayyad period (40/661-132/750), by focusing on two main questions. First, the role
Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 6
o f ǧund Miṣr in the great military conquests and campaigns (Constantinople,
Mediterranean islands, North Africa and Spain), but also in supporting the Umayyad
family in the struggles against its opponents (‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, ‘Abd Allāh b. al-
Zubayr …). Second, a shape of independence in the management of the province and
the regions conquered by ǧund Miṣr, which leads to political tensions, especially
during the governorship of ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b. Marwān, the third civil war and the
‘Abbāsid propaganda.
Jelle BRUNING, Leiden University
Jihad from Alexandria: Preliminary considerations on its intellectual background
In the first centuries of Muslim rule over Egypt, Alexandria and Fusṭāṭ were Egypt’s
main intellectual centers. Both cities attracted large numbers of international scholars.
Alexandria’s appeal can partially be explained by the economic context of these
scholars’ journeys: Alexandria was an important node in national and international
commercial networks and the city’s markets allowed scholars to financially support
their journeys. By the mid-eighth century C.E., Fusṭāṭ’s commercial connections were
of comparative quality as those of Alexandria and Fusṭāṭ’s Muslim community
included the majority of Egypt’s Muslim scholars. Yet, medieval historical literature
records that Egyptian and non-Egyptian scholars continued to travel to Alexandria. A
major reason that is implied in this literature is the possibility of conducting jihad from
Alexandria. This paper discusses this intellectual background to such scholars’
residence in Alexandria and its reflection in medieval Arabic literature.
Janneke DE JONG, Leiden University
The economy of conquest and control in Early Islamic Egypt
In the course of the Islamic expansion, Egypt was cut off from Byzantine control and
came to be ruled by Muslims. From hindsight one can easily label the Islamic
conquest as a key moment in Egypt’s history. Although at the time an ‘Islamic state’
did not yet exist, the Muslims community managed to develop into an empire. The
question of my contribution is how Egypt was embedded in this developing Islamic
empire and how we can evaluate this process departing from a broad application of the
term economy, implying ‘management and (inter)action’. This will be done by looking
at the way the population and its mobility was controlled around the period of
conquest and up to the eighth century CE, mainly from a Greek papyrological point of
view.
Sylvie DENOIX, Universty of Paris I
Nubia’s pacification: a narrative revisited
The history of the conquest follow divergent traditions, such as Egypt, which
produced two narratives: those who say that it was conquered by force (ʿanwatan) and
those who say it was conquered by treaty (sulḥan or bi-sulḥ). In Nubia, traditions are
also plural. The ʿulamāʾ of Fusṭāṭ, especially Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, have written a
version where the jund suffered a severe defeat in Dongola during the governorate of
ʿAbd Allah b. Saʿd in 31/652.
Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 7
So, we understand that Muslims were not, at that time, successful warriors and there
was a truce (hudna) and a “pact” has been signed. This Byzantine word (pactum),
written in Arabic (baqṭ), reports of another reality: as Nubia was not conquered,
Muslims had to make an agreement with that kingdom.
As they will enlighten the process of the implementation of the relationship between
Muslim Egypt and Nubia, the terms of the relationship between these two countries
will be discussed in this communication.
Yaacov LEV, Bar-Ilan University
Egypt as a gateway for North Africa: geography, settlement and Islamization, 7th-10th
centuries
Even though medieval people traversed the oceans and land masses making epic
terrestrial journeys along the Silk Road and sailing the seas from Spain to India, there
were geographical constraints that not only dominated their lives and the way they
travelled, but also the way they conducted trade and waged wars. Geography made
Egypt a gateway to North Africa, its conquest and settlement and the links between the
two were many and variegated. Egypt was the departure point for armies, often
mobilized from the Arab population of Egypt, which raided and eventually conquered
North Africa. Occasionally, Egypt’s governors were sent to serve as the governors of
Ifrīqiya (modern Tunisia) and, in times of need, Egypt’s revenues were allocated to
cover expenses in Ifrīqiya. Egypt’s human resources were also used to maintain the
naval policies of the Umayyad caliphate in Ifrīqiya and, during the reign of al-Walid, a
thousand Coptic families were transferred to Tunisia to establish the arsenal of Tunis
there. As important as Egypt was for the Arab rule of North Africa, however, one must
note that these two regions are very different in terms of geography and climate since
North Africa is more akin to Syria in its complexities and regional diversity than it is
to Egypt with its simple geography and minor climatic variations.
The geography of North Africa is dominated by the Atlas Mountains, a chain that can
be divided into three distinct parts: the Coastal, High Atlas and Middle Atlas
mountains. In Algiers the Tellian Atlas mountains consist of several coastal ranges,
plateaux and plains, including the Great and Lesser Kabylia mountains stretching
between Algiers and Tunisia, while the High Atlas mountain chain stretches from the
Atlantic Ocean (Agadir) to Cape Bon Peninsula in Tunisia and the Middle Atlas
dominates the geography of Morocco, separating Atlantic Coast Morocco from
Eastern Morocco and placing it outside the scope of the present paper.
Rainfall is the key factor that forms North Africa’s climatic zones and the 400-mm
isohyet is of crucial significance since it marks the boundary between the climates of
the Mediterranean and the steppe regions. The 400-mm isohyet line, however,
represents the statistical average and, within its range, the 200-mm isohyet line is of
paramount importance as cultivation without irrigation is impossible in areas below
200-mm of rainfall while grain can still be grown in areas with an average annual
rainfall of 300 mm.
Writing in the late 1940s Daniel C. Dennett, Jr. made the point that geographical
variations and patterns of Arab settlement must be taken into account in any study of
the patterns of conversion to Islam and its driving forces be they taxation or any other
factor. In the North African context, however, any attempt to correlate geography,
climate, Arab settlement and Islamization is riddled with many difficulties because of
Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 8
gaps in the historical records kept and the available literature. While the history of the
Arab conquest of North Africa is well-attested to by the available sources and
literature the pattern of Arab settlement is poorly dealt with by this literature and
whether this reflects a lack of adequate sources or a lack of interest by researchers is
difficult to say. The present paper, more than it deals with the history of the
Islamization process per se and the political and socio-religious forces behind it,
discusses the way it is depicted in the sources.
On two occasions the sources provide information about Islamization in North Africa:
the failure of the Kāhina rebellion and the policies of ʻUmar II (717-720). The Kāhina
rebellion is still a mystery. It probably took place between 698 and 703 and involved
the Berbers of the former Byzantine province of Numidia. The sources claim that
when Kāhina, the female leader of the uprising, realized that the rebellion had failed
she exhorted her sons to adopt Islam and thousands of others also converted in the
wake of these events. There is no way to corroborate these accounts but they fit a
broader conceptual framework of the Islamization process. For what it is worth, the
theme of "persecutions leading to Islamization" as an explanation is a trope commonly
used in Coptic historiography. When we turn to the literature we find that the idea that
Islamization is a result of the weakening and disruption of the social fabric of local
Middle Eastern societies following economic difficulties and fiscal persecutions has
been suggested in the context of the Islamization of the Samaritan community during
830-860 by Milka Levy-Rubin. Thus, Islamization following the submission of
Kāhina’s rebellion fits both medieval and modern perceptions of the process. This
rather broad conceptualization of Kāhina’s rebellion, however, says nothing about the
validity of the claim that Islamization followed the failure of the rebellion, and this
remains elusive.
The sources offer yet another more surprising insight into the Islamization of Ifrīqiya
and link the process to ʻUmar II’s delegation of ten people sent to promulgate Islam in
the province. The accounts suggest that the mission was aimed at both enhancing the
Islamic identity of the Muslim population of Ifrīqiya and winning new converts. Upon
close reading of the accounts one gets the impression that the first aspect was the
primary motive behind the mission and winning new converts was of secondary
importance and may have even been an unintended by-product of the whole endeavor.
It is difficult to put these accounts into a broader context since any missionary impulse
to spread Islam is rarely attested to in the sources. It can be argued that these reports
highlight a totally new aspect of the Islamization process and the forces behind it. Any
"missionary impulse" must be distinguished from a policy of forced conversion and, in
the North African context, the most infamous example of this would be the
nullification of the dhimma protection granted to the non-Muslims by the Almohads in
1147, and its far-reaching consequences.
Lucian REINFANDT, University of Vienna
Persian presence in Egypt in the 9th century
Not long after assuming power, the Abbasid caliphs’ control over territories was put at
stake by an increasing regionalisation. Important provinces became factually
independent from the centre of the empire. Political events were simply surface
phenomena symptomatic for deeper processes, among them repeated migration
movements of considerable geographic reach. The administrative personnel in
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