Speakers:
Prof. Marina Rustow (Princeton University)
Dr Benedikt Reier (University of Hamburg)
Dr Daisy Livingston (University of Hamburg)
Chair:
Dr Alessandro Silvestri (IMF-CSIC, Barcelona)
It is well known that writing was important in medieval Muslim societies and research is increasingly showing there to have also been considerable energy invested in the production and preservation of written documents. In a region whose history has been written disproportionately using narrative texts rather than original documents, the recognition of its archival history has major potential to reshape our understanding of this period and region. In this webinar we discuss archiving in the medieval Arabic-speaking Eastern Mediterranean, covering an extended period from the time of the Fatimid caliphs to the demise of the Mamluk sultans (10th to 16th centuries CE). We present three case-studies which showcase a diverse range of historical actors, exploring state record-keeping, the archival practices of religious scholars, and the preservation of legal documents, to illustrate the rich and complex archival history of this region.
Image: MS Riyad King Saud University Library, Majmūʿ Qāf1:34, fols 4b-5a.
