The Formation of the Civilian Elite in the Syrian Province: The Case of Ayyubid and Early Mamluk Hamah

The urban renaissance in northern Syria from the sixth/twelfth century onwards increased significantly the demand for scholars in order to staff newly arising civilian posts. This demand was in Hama initially satisfied with outside scholars, particularly those coming from the eastern lands. The decisive reason for the appointment of these scholars was their cosmopolitan background, i.e. a trans-regional reputation of scholarship and/or close links with the respective ruling dynasty. It took several decades until the grand Shafi'i families developed from the late sixth/twelfth century onwards that centred their activities on Hama. This local elite was increasingly able to monopolise the town’s important posts during considerable parts of the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries. Descent from the Banu al-Mughayzil, al-Bahrani, Wasil, and al-Barizi remained throughout this period a crucial asset in order to secure one’s career. It was only in the middle of the eigth/fourteenth century that the civilian elite of Hama became less localised: more outside scholars took positions in the town and the local families either lost in influence or adopted an increasingly cosmopolitan profile (Banu al-Barizi). Some families, such as the Banu Qarnas and Banu Rawaha, on the contrary, chose already during the period of a localised elite a cosmopolitan outlook. Although originiating from Hama they were active in many urban centres of the Syrian lands

Defining the Nation: Kurdish Historiography in Turkey in the 1990s

This article examines Kurdish historiography in Turkey in the 1990s. It centres on the question how the national community is historicised via central myths, especially for the pre-Islamic periods. As a source basis writings of members of the intellectual elite which are published in newspapers are used. This article argues that identity in the Kurdish society is currently mainly constructed around an ethnic history, which assumes Kurdishness to be constant and which is based on a dichotomy between barbarism and civilisation. The discursive space for this historiography is mainly determined by Turkish national discourse in its popular version. Finally, a comparative outlook with the Iraqi case is suggested

Pre-Eighteenth-Century Traditions of Revivalism: Damascus in the Thirteenth Century

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 revivalist thought. Taking the example of scholars in thirteenth-century Damascus, it firstly compares the respective readings of ijtihad/taqlid, by focusing on one individual, Abu Shama (d. 1267). It secondly asks whether a scholar like Abu Shama who had adopted a reading similar to later revivalists, also took a critical and oppositional stand against large sections of his contemporary society, i.e. a revivalist posture. It is this article’s main contention that the example of Abu Shama shows the need to study in more detail possible revivalist traditions prior to the ‘grand’ movements. The combination of the history of ideas and social history might allow a deeper understanding of how and in what contexts calls for reform and opposition to the current state of affairs were expressed

The 'Pharaoh' Anecdote in Pre-Modern Arabic Historiography

This article examines the development of the pharaoh as a literary figure in Arabic historiography between the third/ninth and the ninth/fifteenth centuries. The first aim is to reflect upon the changing narrative structure of such anecdotes in texts ranging from the universal chronicle of al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) to the regional chronicle of al-Maqrīzī (d. 845/1442). The article’s second concern is to evaluate the plurality of meanings that emerged from these changes. This discussion is then linked to detailed consideration of the authors’ social contexts, with particular focus on that of al-Maqrīzī. The nexus between literary approach and social history that is proposed here offers a deeper understanding of the function of narrative resources that moved from text to text. Not only was this a salient feature of Arabic historiography, but also it allows us to reconsider the repeated appearance of such elements beyond describing them as simply ‘borrowing’ or ‘copying’. Indeed, the discussion concludes that authors skilfully drew from a pool of narrative devices and artfully established intertextual allusions across both time and genres

Medieval Damascus: Plurality and Diversity in an Arabic Library. The Ashrafīya Library Catalogue

The written text was a pervasive feature of cultural practices in the medieval Middle East. At the heart of book circulation stood libraries that experienced a rapid expansion from the twelfth century onwards. While the existence of these libraries is well known our knowledge of their content and structure has been very limited as hardly any medieval Arabic catalogues have been preserved. This book discusses the largest and earliest medieval library of the Middle East for which we have documentation – the Ashrafiya library in the very centre of Damascus – and edits its catalogue. This catalogue shows that even book collections attached to Sunni religious institutions could hold rather unexpected titles, such as stories from the 1001 Nights, manuals for traders, medical handbooks, Shiite prayers, love poetry and texts extolling wine consumption. At the same time this library catalogue decisively expands our knowledge of how the books were spatially organised on the bookshelves of such a large medieval library. With over 2,000 entries this catalogue is essential reading for anybody interested in the cultural and intellectual history of Arabic societies. Setting the Ashrafiya catalogue into a comparative perspective with contemporaneous libraries on the British Isles this book opens new perspectives for the study of medieval libraries