Fatimids

Metropolises with hundreds of thousands inhabitants such as Constantinople, Baghdad or Chang´an in China were the Mega-Cities of the Middle Ages. How was it possible to supply them, how to prevent epidemics and blasts on the basis of medieval technology? The dimensions and solutions of these problems are presented also in comparison with modern Vienna. 

Presentation at the Volkshochschule Urania, 1010 Vienna,
June 4th, 19-20:30 Uhr: http://www.vhs.at/kurs-details/vhs-wien-kurse/Moloch-oder-Metropole%3F-Kurs/287287892.html

Antique terre nourricière de l'Arabie centrale, le Yémen étend son influence politique sur La Mecque à partir du XIe siècle, avec l'appui du califat fatimide. Soit quatre siècles d'âge d'or d'un pèlerinage aux routes essentiellement maritimes et côtières, et d'une pratique spécifique liée à l'incurie du pouvoir local : l'appel à des hommes de religion pour protéger les routes terrestres.

Nāṣir-i Khusraw (d. 481/1088), the renowned Ismāʿīlī philosopher, poet, travel writer, and missionary (dāʿī), took on the formidable challenge of showing the essential harmony between philosophy and Ismāʿīlī doctrine in his Jāmiʿ al-ḥikmatayn (“The Reconciliation of Philosophy and Religion”). After introducing his life and works, this chapter explores this text’s central themes, and examines the manner in which Nāṣir attempts to achieve this reconciliation. Fundamental to Nāṣir’s method is a form of spiritual hermeneutics or taʾwīl through which he demonstrates that the truths of philosophy serve as iconic representations of the truths of religion, thereby restoring philosophy to its original state of union with revealed, prophetic wisdom.

In June 2002, the Bodleian Library acquired an illustrated manuscript of a hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical treatise, the Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn, known as the Book of Curiosities. The manuscript is a copy, probably made in Egypt in the late 12th or early 13th century, of an anonymous work compiled in the first half of the 11th century in Egypt (most probably, between 1020 and 1050 CE).
The text contains several maps as well as chapters „On the Western Sea, that is the Syrian Sea, its harbours, islands and anchorages” and “On the depiction of inlets, i.e., bays, in particular the bays of Byzantium”, which include most important information on ports, anchorages and landmarks in the entire Mediterranean and especially also in the maritime sphere of Byzantium in this period.
I extracted the data on the Byzantine regions from the edition and commentary by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith, cf.
Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds.), The Book of Curiosities: A critical edition. World-Wide-Web publication. (www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/bookofcuriosities) (March 2007).
An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe: The "Book of Curiosities, edited with an annotated Translation by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith. Leiden 2013.
In addition,  I added the site of the 11th century ship wreck found in Serçe Limanı (SW-Turkey), which seems to be an artefact of the maritime trade between the Fatimid sphere in Egypt and Syria and Byzantium as also documented in the “Book of Curiosities” (cf. Serçe Limanı. An Eleventh-Century Shipwreck. Vol. 1, The Ship and Its Anchorage, Crew, and Passengers, by George F. Bass, Sheila Matthews, J. Richard Steffy,  and Frederick H. van Doorninck, Jr. Texas A&M University Press, 2004)
I integrated the spatial data into a digital map and used it also to create a “nearest neighbour”-network model of maritime connectivity in early 11th century Byzantium, which I will develop further into a comprehensive model of trade and traffic routes of the empire at this period. (On trade networks in this period cf. also most recently: Jessica L. Goldberg, Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean. The Geniza Merchants and their Business World. Cambridge 2012)
This research under progress was made possible with support of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit-Foundation during a stay at the Institute for Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens. It is also part of the project “Harbours and landing places on the Balkan coasts of the Byzantine Empire (4th to 12th centuries)” within the SPP-1630 funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (http://www.spp-haefen.de/en/home/).
Contact: Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at

"Özet: Bu çalışmada, ‘Abbâsî Halifesi el-Kâ’im bi-Emrillâh ve dönemi (1031-1075) incelenmektedir. el-Kâ’im bi-Emrillâh’ın dönemi ‘Abbâsî, Buveyhî, Selçuklu ve Fâtimî ilişkileri bakımından oldukça önemlidir. Dönemin ilk yirmi dört yılında Buveyhîlerin, sonrasında Selçukluların Bağdâd’a hâkim olduğu görülmektedir. ‘Abbâsî tarihinde el-Kâ’im bi-Emrillâh dönemi, ilk ‘Abbâsî-Selçuklu münasebetleri, ‘Irâk Buveyhîlerinin yıkılışı, Selçukluların ‘Irâk’a hâkim olması ve Arslan el-Besâsîrî hadisesi bakımından da önemli yere sahiptir. Özellikle Halife’nin el-Besâsîrî tarafından esir edilmesi ve sonrasında Tuğrul Bey’in el-Kâ’im bi-Emrillâh’ı kurtarmasıyla hilâfetin çöküşün eşiğinden dönmesi ‘Abbâsî tarihinin dönüm noktalarından biridir. Yine ‘Abbâsî ve Selçuklu hanedanları arasında yapılan evliliklerin de büyük bir önem taşıdığı görülmektedir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: el-Kâ’im bi-Emrillâh, ‘Abbâsîler, Buveyhîler, Selçuklular, Fâtimîler, Tuğrul Bey, Alp Arslan, İbrâhîm Yinâl, Arslan el-Besâsîrî.

Abstract: In this study, the ‘Abbāsid Caliph al-Qā’im bi-Amr Allāh and his period (1031-1075) were examined. The reign of al-Qā’im bi-Amr Allāh is a significant era for the ‘Abbāsid relations between the Buwayhids, the Fātimides, and The Great Saljuks. In the first twenty four years of his long reign, the Buwayhids controlled Baghdad which was followed by the Saljuks’ conquest and rule. Additionally, the reign of al-Qā’im has an importance in terms of the first ‘Abbāsid relationships with the Saljuks and the Saljuks’ domination in ‘Irāq. Moreover, fall of  the Buwayhids of Iraq and the incident of Arslan al-Basāsīrī are the other significant occurrences of his era. Particularly, the Caliph’s captivity by al-Basāsīrī and Toghrïl Beg’s successful attempt to rescue the Caliph marked a watershed in the ‘Abbāsid history. Nevertheless, the intermarriages between the ‘Abbāsid and the Saljuks dynasties played an important role in this period.
Keywords: al-Qā’im bi-Amr Allāh, ‘Abbāsid, Buwayhids, Saljuks, Fātimides, Toghrïl Beg, Alp Arslan, Ibrāhīm Yināl, Arslan al-Basāsīrī."