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Itinéraires d'Orient: Hommages à Claude Cahen by Raoul Curiel; Rika GyselenReview by: Carl F. PetryJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1998), pp. 604-606Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/604828 .
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Journal of the American Oriental Society 118.4 (1998) Journal of the American Oriental Society 118.4 (1998)
Harry Hoffner on Hittite words for body parts, Paul Hoskisson on the goddess Diritim at Mari, Paul Overland on structure in "The Wisdom of Amenemope" and Proverbs, D. T Tsumura on the "word pair" *qst and *mt in Habakkuk 3:9 in light of
Ugaritic and Akkadian, M. K. Wakeman on religious conserva- tism and political invention in ancient Sumer, Edwin Yamauchi on Cambyses and Egypt, and A. York on the maturation theme in the Adam and Eve story.
The volume is well produced and relatively inexpensive.
GARY H. OLLER UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
Itineraires d'Orient: Hommages a Claude Cahen. Edited by RAOUL CURIEL and RIKA GYSELEN. Res Orientales, vol. 6.
Bures-sur-Yvette, France: GROUPE POUR L'ITUDE DE LA CIVILISATION DU MOYEN-ORIENT, 1995. Pp. 442. [Distr. by Peeters Press, Louvain.]
This collection of essays was organized to commemorate Claude Cahen's distinguished career. Its editors emphasize that Cahen was not enthusiastic over the prospect of a "Festschrift" in his honor, but was ultimately persuaded by his colleagues to
participate in planning the volume and selecting its contribu- tors. The volume itself appeared three years after Cahen's death in November 1991. The editors divided the essays among five
subject categories to reflect the range of Cahen's scholarly pur- suits: I. Studies in Oriental History, II. Economic History and
Papyrology, III. History of the Crusades, IV. Medieval Turkey, V. Oriental Sources. Thirty-one individuals prepared essays which range in scope from analyses of minute topics to studies that reflect on broad historiographical issues. The volume con- cludes with a retrospective on Cahen's life: "Itineraire d'une
vie," written by his son, Michel. No bibliography of Cahen's
publications is included since one is to appear in a commemo-
rative issue of Arabica (volume and date not provided). Predictable in a composite work, the substance, if not the
quality, of the essays varies to such an extent that no unified theme is conveyed. Yet the diversity of topics discussed, fre-
quently by eminent authorities, establishes the volume's credi-
bility as a scholarly work and testimonial to Claude Cahen's stature. The section on oriental history begins with an essay by David Ayalon on the building program of Sultan al-Nasir Mu- hammad b. Qalaiun (1309-40) as a prime cause of Cairo's
subsequent decline. Ayalon argues that al-Nasir Muhammad's lavish architectural agenda masked serious defects stemming from his alternating policies of promotion and persecution inflicted upon the Mamluk elite. These defects allegedly set the stage for the fiscal and military instability that ensued
Harry Hoffner on Hittite words for body parts, Paul Hoskisson on the goddess Diritim at Mari, Paul Overland on structure in "The Wisdom of Amenemope" and Proverbs, D. T Tsumura on the "word pair" *qst and *mt in Habakkuk 3:9 in light of
Ugaritic and Akkadian, M. K. Wakeman on religious conserva- tism and political invention in ancient Sumer, Edwin Yamauchi on Cambyses and Egypt, and A. York on the maturation theme in the Adam and Eve story.
The volume is well produced and relatively inexpensive.
GARY H. OLLER UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
Itineraires d'Orient: Hommages a Claude Cahen. Edited by RAOUL CURIEL and RIKA GYSELEN. Res Orientales, vol. 6.
Bures-sur-Yvette, France: GROUPE POUR L'ITUDE DE LA CIVILISATION DU MOYEN-ORIENT, 1995. Pp. 442. [Distr. by Peeters Press, Louvain.]
This collection of essays was organized to commemorate Claude Cahen's distinguished career. Its editors emphasize that Cahen was not enthusiastic over the prospect of a "Festschrift" in his honor, but was ultimately persuaded by his colleagues to
participate in planning the volume and selecting its contribu- tors. The volume itself appeared three years after Cahen's death in November 1991. The editors divided the essays among five
subject categories to reflect the range of Cahen's scholarly pur- suits: I. Studies in Oriental History, II. Economic History and
Papyrology, III. History of the Crusades, IV. Medieval Turkey, V. Oriental Sources. Thirty-one individuals prepared essays which range in scope from analyses of minute topics to studies that reflect on broad historiographical issues. The volume con- cludes with a retrospective on Cahen's life: "Itineraire d'une
vie," written by his son, Michel. No bibliography of Cahen's
publications is included since one is to appear in a commemo-
rative issue of Arabica (volume and date not provided). Predictable in a composite work, the substance, if not the
quality, of the essays varies to such an extent that no unified theme is conveyed. Yet the diversity of topics discussed, fre-
quently by eminent authorities, establishes the volume's credi-
bility as a scholarly work and testimonial to Claude Cahen's stature. The section on oriental history begins with an essay by David Ayalon on the building program of Sultan al-Nasir Mu- hammad b. Qalaiun (1309-40) as a prime cause of Cairo's
subsequent decline. Ayalon argues that al-Nasir Muhammad's lavish architectural agenda masked serious defects stemming from his alternating policies of promotion and persecution inflicted upon the Mamluk elite. These defects allegedly set the stage for the fiscal and military instability that ensued
after his demise. Ayalon admits (p. 14, col. 1) that "... it is much easier to ascertain the Sultan's role than the role of other factors which undoubtedly existed." These "other factors," such as the impact of plague epidemics or shifts in the foreign bal- ance of power, are indeed vital to an objective understanding of complexities surrounding the sultanate's eventual decline.
Jacqueline Chabbi's essay on representation of the past dur-
ing the early periods of Caliphal historiography confronts elu- sive problems of reconstructing the Koranic age. She focuses on al-Tabari's depiction of Zoroaster (1st ed., II: 648; Dar al- Kutub ed., I: 540), who is cast as a disciple of a follower of the biblical prophet Jeremiah. Gerard D6edyan reveals the ethnic
diversity of eastern Anatolia prior to the Ottoman expansion by examining the rivalry between two Armenian clans in the
vicinity of Diyar Bakr in the early twelfth century. R. G.
Khoury's essay on scientific activity and free trade during the first two Islamic centuries lays stress on the fragmentary state of current knowledge. He argues that the biographies of itiner- ant jurists or scholars shed some light on professional offices in this murky period. Dierk Lange's article on the Almoravids and the Islamization of West African states traces the advance of Berber forces into Ghana, Gawgaw (Gao), and Kanem during the eleventh century, replacing the indigenous dynasties there with Muslim regimes. He speculates that Islamization resulted in part from the Almoravid movement to the north.
Bernard Lewis reflects on contemporary Muslim percep- tions of classical Islamic history by examining contradictory interpretations of the Battle of al-Qadisiyya (637) by modern Iranians and Iraqis, and the castigation of Anwar al-Sadat by his assassin Khalid al-Islambuli as Pharaoh in the Koranic tra- dition. Lewis also considers the story of CAmr b. al-CAs as de-
stroyer of the ancient Alexandria Library, a myth concocted by Arab chroniclers to justify the destruction of Ismafili libraries
following the Ayyubid conquest of Egypt. R. B. Serjeant exam- ines several passages in al-Maqrizi's Sulak on shipping to Jid- dah and Aden during the Rasulid period. He interprets the term
mujawwir as "interloper" rather than "smuggler," and notes that
during the decade 828-38 A.H. (1425-35 A.D.), the Rasulid rul-
ers of Yemen attempted to force "interloper" merchant vessels
engaged in the east-west trade to continue docking at Aden, then losing ground to Jiddah as a port.
In the section on economic history and papyrology, Jere Ba- charach examines the circulation of European ducats (ifranti) in Egypt from the mid-fourteenth century to the reign of Bars-
bay, who issued a series of Ashrafi dinars in the 1420s. Due
to debasement of Mamlik coinage, the ducat was regarded as
intrinsically finer and thus more reliable-until the advent of
Barsbay's Ashrafis. Pedro Chalmeta reflects on the develop- ment of tax policies from 644 to the CAbbasid Revolution in
750, noting that these procedures evolved during the Umayyad
period with little reliance on precedents set during the Rashi-
dun era. A. S. Ehrenkreutz revisits the question of Crusader
after his demise. Ayalon admits (p. 14, col. 1) that "... it is much easier to ascertain the Sultan's role than the role of other factors which undoubtedly existed." These "other factors," such as the impact of plague epidemics or shifts in the foreign bal- ance of power, are indeed vital to an objective understanding of complexities surrounding the sultanate's eventual decline.
Jacqueline Chabbi's essay on representation of the past dur-
ing the early periods of Caliphal historiography confronts elu- sive problems of reconstructing the Koranic age. She focuses on al-Tabari's depiction of Zoroaster (1st ed., II: 648; Dar al- Kutub ed., I: 540), who is cast as a disciple of a follower of the biblical prophet Jeremiah. Gerard D6edyan reveals the ethnic
diversity of eastern Anatolia prior to the Ottoman expansion by examining the rivalry between two Armenian clans in the
vicinity of Diyar Bakr in the early twelfth century. R. G.
Khoury's essay on scientific activity and free trade during the first two Islamic centuries lays stress on the fragmentary state of current knowledge. He argues that the biographies of itiner- ant jurists or scholars shed some light on professional offices in this murky period. Dierk Lange's article on the Almoravids and the Islamization of West African states traces the advance of Berber forces into Ghana, Gawgaw (Gao), and Kanem during the eleventh century, replacing the indigenous dynasties there with Muslim regimes. He speculates that Islamization resulted in part from the Almoravid movement to the north.
Bernard Lewis reflects on contemporary Muslim percep- tions of classical Islamic history by examining contradictory interpretations of the Battle of al-Qadisiyya (637) by modern Iranians and Iraqis, and the castigation of Anwar al-Sadat by his assassin Khalid al-Islambuli as Pharaoh in the Koranic tra- dition. Lewis also considers the story of CAmr b. al-CAs as de-
stroyer of the ancient Alexandria Library, a myth concocted by Arab chroniclers to justify the destruction of Ismafili libraries
following the Ayyubid conquest of Egypt. R. B. Serjeant exam- ines several passages in al-Maqrizi's Sulak on shipping to Jid- dah and Aden during the Rasulid period. He interprets the term
mujawwir as "interloper" rather than "smuggler," and notes that
during the decade 828-38 A.H. (1425-35 A.D.), the Rasulid rul-
ers of Yemen attempted to force "interloper" merchant vessels
engaged in the east-west trade to continue docking at Aden, then losing ground to Jiddah as a port.
In the section on economic history and papyrology, Jere Ba- charach examines the circulation of European ducats (ifranti) in Egypt from the mid-fourteenth century to the reign of Bars-
bay, who issued a series of Ashrafi dinars in the 1420s. Due
to debasement of Mamlik coinage, the ducat was regarded as
intrinsically finer and thus more reliable-until the advent of
Barsbay's Ashrafis. Pedro Chalmeta reflects on the develop- ment of tax policies from 644 to the CAbbasid Revolution in
750, noting that these procedures evolved during the Umayyad
period with little reliance on precedents set during the Rashi-
dun era. A. S. Ehrenkreutz revisits the question of Crusader
604 604
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Reviews of Books
Stri (Tyrian) dinars and their negative consequences for the status of genuine Egyptian gold coinage. Gladys Frantz-Murphy analyzes thirty-four agricultural contracts written on papyrus that date from 177 to 348 A.H., now held at the Oriental Insti- tute Museum in Chicago. These contracts identified lands lo- cated from the Fayyum to Idfu in Upper Egypt, and indicated a shift from individual to institutional administration of tax revenues. The Arabic texts and translations are provided. Yusuf
Raghib examines an Egyptian contract for the sale of pigeon manure as fertilizer, the sole example of its kind from the Islamic Middle Ages. Kept in the Garrett Collection of the Fire- stone Library at Princeton, the contract dates from 320/932, and was drawn up for a resident of Buwayt.
The section on the Crusades opens with a study by B. Z. Kedar and M. al-Hajjuj on the demography of Muslim villagers in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. They analyze a tract writ- ten by the grandson of a Hanbali jurist who fled from a village near Nablus with his family to Damascus. From the profile of
sixty-four descendants over three generations gleaned from this text, Kedar and al-Hajjuj ascertain fertility rates roughly com-
parable to those registered by the British during the Mandate. Hans Meyer presents a detailed political survey of the Crusader
principality of Galilee under the authority of William of Buris.
Francoise Micheau considers the reaction of Egyptian Coptic historians to the presence of Crusaders in Palestine. She finds their attitude ambivalent, with little shared identity as fellow Christians. Jean Richard examines the bestowal of the Crac des Chevaliers (Hisn al-Akrad or "Castle of the Kurds") by Count
Raymond II of Tripoli on the Order of Hospitaler Knights. The section on medieval Turkey begins with a brief state-
ment by H6elne Ahrweiler on the probable etymology of the term funduq from Greek precedents. Jean Aubin critiques studies of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I's eastern agenda before
subjecting the hypotheses of J.-L. Bacque-Grammont to close
scrutiny. Aubin qualifies Bacque-Grammont's claim that Selim declared economic warfare against Safavid Iran under Shah Ismacil I. Selim's major objective in the Iranian war was to contain Safavid subversion in eastern Anatolia. He attributes Selim's decision to abandon his Persian campaign in 1518 to the threat of a Crusade by Pope Leo X. Aubin's essay is fol- lowed ironically by a statement from Jean-Louis Bacque- Grammont on realities of "feudalism" in the sixteenth-century Ottoman state. Bacque-Grammont examines the widespread granting of hereditary rights rather than timars over several dis- tricts of the eyalet of Diyar Bekir. Michel Balard considers the harvesting and export of mastic gum from the Aegean island of Chios under Genoese monopoly in the fourteenth and fif- teenth centuries.
Louis Bazin examines the spread of Buddhism and Mani- chaeism in Turkish Central Asia. His discussion centers around a thesis by T. Moriyasu that indicated China as the source of Buddhist influence among Uighur speakers, while Manichaean
tendencies emanated from Soghdian sources. Irene Beldiceanu- Steinherr considers the presence of a community descended from Baba'i Turkomans resident in the Anatolian town of
Goyniik according to the Ottoman tax register of 1487. An-
thony Bryer examines the attendance of the "Sultan of Taka- vor" at the Kuriltai of 1246 in Karakorum convened to enthrone
Giiyuk as Great Mongol Khan, according to the historian Ju- vaini. Bryer speculates that this individual was in fact the Grand Komnenos Manuel II of Trebizond. Irene Melikoff studies a tract describing the organization of a mystic lineage (akhi) in central Anatolia: the Shejere of Muhammad b. Akhi Hiisameddin el-Hiiseyni, dated 692/1293. The document, writ- ten in Arabic, traces eleven generations of this lineage from its immigration into Anatolia to its prominence in Ankara. A translation and detailed annotation follow. Michele Nicolas discusses the cultivation of several species of rose in Anatolia for the production of aromatic oils and perfume. Elisabeth Za- chariadou considers the sparse data in Byzantine sources about the activities of Oghuz Turks during the eleventh century, speculating that the Byzantines focused their attention on Turks who possessed state structures rather than on nomads.
The final category, on oriental sources, is initiated with an assessment of Ibn al-'Adim's biographical dictionary of emi- nent Syrians, Bughyat al-talab fi ta'rikh Halab, by Anne-Marie Edde. She lists prominent authors described in this work, in-
cluding Ibn CAsakir, Usama b. Munqidh, Ibn Sasra, al-Qadi al- Fadil and Baha' al-Din Ibn Shaddad (Saladin's biographers), and 'Imad al-Din al-Isfahani. Jean-Claude Garcin and Mustafa Taher offer a detailed study of a massive charitable trust (waqf) granted by the eunuch tutor serving the sons of the Mamlik Sultan Barsbay, Jawhar al-Lala. In conjunction with a fiscal
analysis of this trust in JESHO 38.3 (1995): 262-304, Garcin and Taher consider the political circumstances behind Jawhar's donation, the network of Ethiopians (habashi) he intended to subsidize, and the pious objectives of an individual who could leave no heirs. Monique Kervran examines three fortresses- Siraf, Qalcat al-Bahrayn in the vicinity of Hormuz, and Ratto Kot on the Indus River delta-in the context of their commer- cial significance from Sassanid times to the sixteenth century, when the straits were dominated by independent princes of Hor- muz. Kosei Morimoto assesses the first and second diwans in
Egypt following its conquest-during CUmar's reign and under the administration of the Umayyad governor, CAbd al-CAziz b. Marwan. The first diwdn, compiled in 21 A.H. and partially preserved by later historians, listed between twelve and fifteen thousand Arab soldiers stipended from tax revenues. Morimoto traces attempts to preserve tribal groups, their reorganization, and rewards for exemplary service. A fragment of the second diwan has survived in a Greek papyrus, indicating the use of that language for the registration of Arab troops stationed in Egypt. Maya Shatzmiller analyzes the social context of craft la- bor according to fatwas recorded in the Kitdb al-MiCyar by the
605
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Journal of the American Oriental Society 118.4 (1998) Journal of the American Oriental Society 118.4 (1998)
Maghribi jurist Abu'l-CAbbas Ahmad b. Yahya al-Wansharishi
(1430-1508). Shatzmiller contrasts the public stance of male laborers who worked in sites removed from residential areas- such as stables, bakeries, baths, forges, and tanneries-with the dominance of women in textile manufacture who worked within the privacy of their homes and relied upon agents for supply of materials and marketing of finished products.
The essay on Claude Cahen's life is a deeply personal state- ment by the sole historian among his six children. Michel Cahen muses at length on his father's ideological commit- ments. While the evolution of Claude Cahen's identity as a so- cialist and member of the Communist Party is intriguing, his contributions to the development of the economic and social
history of medieval Islamic societies are treated primarily as an intellectual complement. Michel Cahen readily admits his lack of familiarity with his father's scholarly corpus (p. 386, col. 2). One of Claude Cahen's most abiding services to the field in- volved his foresight in co-founding the Journal of the Eco- nomic and Social History of the Orient, a fact of extraordinary importance to Islamists but confined by Michel Cahen to a pass- ing reference (p. 435, col. 2). Michel Cahen's comments about his father's distance from historians of the Annales school
(p. 391, col. 2), his aversion to political Zionism (pp. 431-33), and his principles of historical scholarship (pp. 433-38) do shed light on the complexity of his thinking. To Michel Cahen's remarks about the Iraqi War of 1991 (pp. 440-41) and his fa- ther's consternation over French complicity with the United
States, I would only add my sense of Claude Cahen's personal objectivity as a profound savant who never allowed politics to disrupt communication with colleagues. I fondly recall my own extended conversation with Claude Cahen in a wine shop down the street from the Bibliotheque nationale in the spring of 1981. Already suffering from failing vision, this master of several fields readily consented to leave Savigny-sur-Orge for a meeting with a junior partner in the common enterprise of social history. I regard our conversation as a highlight of my own career.
CARL F PETRY
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk Eras:
Proceedings of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd International Collo-
quium [sic] Organized at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in May 1992, 1993 and 1994. Edited by U. VERMEULEN and D. DE SMET. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, vol. 73. Louvain: PEETERS, 1996. Pp. 371. FB 2600.
Maghribi jurist Abu'l-CAbbas Ahmad b. Yahya al-Wansharishi
(1430-1508). Shatzmiller contrasts the public stance of male laborers who worked in sites removed from residential areas- such as stables, bakeries, baths, forges, and tanneries-with the dominance of women in textile manufacture who worked within the privacy of their homes and relied upon agents for supply of materials and marketing of finished products.
The essay on Claude Cahen's life is a deeply personal state- ment by the sole historian among his six children. Michel Cahen muses at length on his father's ideological commit- ments. While the evolution of Claude Cahen's identity as a so- cialist and member of the Communist Party is intriguing, his contributions to the development of the economic and social
history of medieval Islamic societies are treated primarily as an intellectual complement. Michel Cahen readily admits his lack of familiarity with his father's scholarly corpus (p. 386, col. 2). One of Claude Cahen's most abiding services to the field in- volved his foresight in co-founding the Journal of the Eco- nomic and Social History of the Orient, a fact of extraordinary importance to Islamists but confined by Michel Cahen to a pass- ing reference (p. 435, col. 2). Michel Cahen's comments about his father's distance from historians of the Annales school
(p. 391, col. 2), his aversion to political Zionism (pp. 431-33), and his principles of historical scholarship (pp. 433-38) do shed light on the complexity of his thinking. To Michel Cahen's remarks about the Iraqi War of 1991 (pp. 440-41) and his fa- ther's consternation over French complicity with the United
States, I would only add my sense of Claude Cahen's personal objectivity as a profound savant who never allowed politics to disrupt communication with colleagues. I fondly recall my own extended conversation with Claude Cahen in a wine shop down the street from the Bibliotheque nationale in the spring of 1981. Already suffering from failing vision, this master of several fields readily consented to leave Savigny-sur-Orge for a meeting with a junior partner in the common enterprise of social history. I regard our conversation as a highlight of my own career.
CARL F PETRY
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk Eras:
Proceedings of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd International Collo-
quium [sic] Organized at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in May 1992, 1993 and 1994. Edited by U. VERMEULEN and D. DE SMET. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, vol. 73. Louvain: PEETERS, 1996. Pp. 371. FB 2600.
As the title suggests, this book brings together twenty-three articles, in English, French, and German, based on presenta-
As the title suggests, this book brings together twenty-three articles, in English, French, and German, based on presenta-
tions to three international symposiums on the subject of medi- eval Egypt and Syria held in three consecutive years. Nine of the articles are on the Fatimids, six on the Ayyubids, and eight on the Mamluks. The volume thus covers a period of over five centuries (969-1517).
The volume brings together articles from different domains, namely, history (which forms the majority of contributions), art and architecture, literature and poetry, and religious matters. This is at the same time an advantage and a disadvantage. The reader may get a broad perspective on a given period, and will be able to make links between different subjects, and to con- nect various aspects of a certain dynasty, such as politics, royal emblems, architectural projects, and patronage for poets. Occa-
sionally, however, even though the point of reference is Egypt and Syria (with a much heavier dose of Egypt), the reader may find the subjects in the volume to be too diverse for meaning- ful connections to be made. An introduction would have helped to hold together the different articles and to outline the contri- bution of the volume, in terms of method and of content. The
present review will suggest an outline of some of the trends in the book.
The articles cover a wide range of subjects: military, reli-
gious, ceremonial; administration and chancery; architecture and urbanism; poetry. Particularly prominent among these are the military aspects, with two articles by M. Brett, one on the battles of Ramla in 1099-1105 and the other on the Fatimid
origins of some Mamluk military institutions, and one article in French by A.-M. Edde on Ayyubid military institutions. The article by D. Jackson is on a prominent military figure, Saladin, but concentrates on his political abilities and his statesmanship.
The Qalawunid dynasty is also prominent among the various contributions. D. Behrens-Abouseif deals with Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad's architectural projects; one of the articles of P. M.
Holt covers the same sultan's alliances and the other is about
Sultan Qalawiin's relations with the Latin Kingdom. Foreign affairs are also the subject of U. Vermeulen's article on a letter
from the Caliph al-Mustakfi. The volume shows an emphasis on rulers, sultans and ca-
liphs. No less than nine articles contain the name of a sultan or
caliph, from the Fatimid al-Hakim, to the Ayyubid al-Malik
al-Salih, to a number of Mamlik Sultans, their ceremonies, emblems, correspondence, and so on. These include the Mam- 10k Sultans al-Nasir Muhammad and Qaytbay, major patrons of
public buildings in Cairo (D. Behrens-Abouseif). P. M. Holt's
article on Sultan al-Nasir ibn Qalawun's family (wives, concu-
bines, children) analyzes this Sultan's marriage patterns, as
well as those of his sons and daughters, in order to evaluate
their political consequences, but concludes they had few long
lasting effects on the rule of subsequent Qalawunids. One of the few articles that are concerned with other social
strata is the short contribution of F Bauden on the Tabariyya
family in Mecca, based on a little-known biographical dictio-
tions to three international symposiums on the subject of medi- eval Egypt and Syria held in three consecutive years. Nine of the articles are on the Fatimids, six on the Ayyubids, and eight on the Mamluks. The volume thus covers a period of over five centuries (969-1517).
The volume brings together articles from different domains, namely, history (which forms the majority of contributions), art and architecture, literature and poetry, and religious matters. This is at the same time an advantage and a disadvantage. The reader may get a broad perspective on a given period, and will be able to make links between different subjects, and to con- nect various aspects of a certain dynasty, such as politics, royal emblems, architectural projects, and patronage for poets. Occa-
sionally, however, even though the point of reference is Egypt and Syria (with a much heavier dose of Egypt), the reader may find the subjects in the volume to be too diverse for meaning- ful connections to be made. An introduction would have helped to hold together the different articles and to outline the contri- bution of the volume, in terms of method and of content. The
present review will suggest an outline of some of the trends in the book.
The articles cover a wide range of subjects: military, reli-
gious, ceremonial; administration and chancery; architecture and urbanism; poetry. Particularly prominent among these are the military aspects, with two articles by M. Brett, one on the battles of Ramla in 1099-1105 and the other on the Fatimid
origins of some Mamluk military institutions, and one article in French by A.-M. Edde on Ayyubid military institutions. The article by D. Jackson is on a prominent military figure, Saladin, but concentrates on his political abilities and his statesmanship.
The Qalawunid dynasty is also prominent among the various contributions. D. Behrens-Abouseif deals with Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad's architectural projects; one of the articles of P. M.
Holt covers the same sultan's alliances and the other is about
Sultan Qalawiin's relations with the Latin Kingdom. Foreign affairs are also the subject of U. Vermeulen's article on a letter
from the Caliph al-Mustakfi. The volume shows an emphasis on rulers, sultans and ca-
liphs. No less than nine articles contain the name of a sultan or
caliph, from the Fatimid al-Hakim, to the Ayyubid al-Malik
al-Salih, to a number of Mamlik Sultans, their ceremonies, emblems, correspondence, and so on. These include the Mam- 10k Sultans al-Nasir Muhammad and Qaytbay, major patrons of
public buildings in Cairo (D. Behrens-Abouseif). P. M. Holt's
article on Sultan al-Nasir ibn Qalawun's family (wives, concu-
bines, children) analyzes this Sultan's marriage patterns, as
well as those of his sons and daughters, in order to evaluate
their political consequences, but concludes they had few long
lasting effects on the rule of subsequent Qalawunids. One of the few articles that are concerned with other social
strata is the short contribution of F Bauden on the Tabariyya
family in Mecca, based on a little-known biographical dictio-
606 606
This content downloaded from 195.34.79.208 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:16:10 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
