Medieval Middle east

Judaeo-Arabic manuscripts with complete vocalisation are rare, a problem which makes reconstructing the pronunciation of the medieval language challenging. This study presents an edition of a Judaeo-Arabic translation of Ecclesiastes from the Cairo Genizah with full Tiberian vocalisation. This manuscript exhibits noteworthy features of dialectal medieval Arabic and a palaeographic style which places it in twelfth-century Egypt-Palestine. The transcription system provides specific evidence for the pronunciation of a type of medieval Judaeo-Arabic, while the translation offers a window into the culture of popular Bible translations and scribal activity in the medieval Middle East.

The Arabic-script Qurʾān fragments of the Cairo genizah collections have not yet drawn much interest among Arabic and genizah scholars. This paper aims to bring them to the attention of a broader audience by presenting the palaeographic features (§3) and vocalisation systems (§4) of eleven Arabic-script Qurʾān fragments from the Cambridge University Library's Taylor-Schechter Arabic collection. While the focus of this paper is the physical appearance of these Qurʾān leaves, their presence in the Cairo genizah (§1.1) - a Jewish 'storeroom' for retired sacred texts - is also tentatively explored (§1.2, §5).

War and peace are deemed as inseparable and in pertinent interactivity in this multidisciplinary work, which brings together European, American and Arab historians and archaeologists. The papers published in this book show that this interactivity was particularly salient in the Arab and Muslim Middle East of the 10th-16th centuries, where a class of non-Arab warriors created new political regimes characterized by a strong militarization of power. These warriors used war and peace as means to manage territories and men in order to consolidate and entrench their power.
However, the activity of these warriors was not restricted to the military field. The papers collected in this book refute the idea, often still put forward by the specialists of the Arab and Muslim Middle East, that they formed a caste wholly detached from other social groups. Admittedly, they make up a singular body that takes charge of the fight against the Crusaders, who threatened Dār al-islām. Nevertheless, these warriors were not secluded from other social groups, with whom they share cultural values and practices. Their activity was multifaceted and not only limited to the political and military field. They were also involved in religious, economic and cultural activity. They gradually shaped the societies that they ruled with the support of the civil and religious elites on whom they relied to govern. This book shows that medieval Middle Eastern societies were neither socially segmented nor compartmentalized.

Dans cet ouvrage résolument pluridisciplinaire, qui associe des historiens et des archéologues européens, américains et arabes, la guerre et la paix sont envisagées comme un couple indissociable, en interactivité permanente. Les travaux ici réunis montrent que cette interactivité est particulièrement prégnante dans le Proche-Orient arabe et musulman des Xe - XVIe siècles, où une classe de guerriers non arabes crée de nouveaux régimes politiques marqués par une forte militarisation du pouvoir. Ces guerriers font de la guerre et de la paix des outils de gestion des hommes et des territoires, qu’ils utilisent selon leur bon gré, toujours afin de promouvoir et pérenniser leur pouvoir.
Pourtant, l’activité de ces guerriers ne se limite pas au champ militaire. Les contributions réunies dans ce livre permettent de réfuter l’idée, encore trop souvent mise en avant par les spécialistes du Proche-Orient arabe et musulman, selon laquelle ils forment une caste complètement déconnectée des autres groupes sociaux. Certes, ils constituent bien un groupe social singulier, qui prend en charge la lutte contre les Croisés et les Mongols, dont les attaques semblent, un temps, menacer l’existence même du Dār al-islām. Mais les guerriers ne sont pas isolés des autres groupes sociaux, avec lesquels ils partagent bien des valeurs et des pratiques culturelles. Leur activité est multiforme. Elle ne se limite pas au champ politique et militaire : ils investissent aussi les champs religieux, économique et culturel. Progressivement, avec le soutien des élites civiles et religieuses sur lesquelles ils s’appuient pour gouverner et auxquelles ils se mêlent, ils modèlent en profondeur les sociétés qu’ils dominent, dont il apparaît, à la lecture de ce livre, qu’elles ne sont pas socialement segmentées ni cloisonnées.

In high medieval Europe, conflict took a number of different forms, from large-scale battles, such as disputes over crowns, power and lands, to more local disputes over inheritance and property. In the absence of well-developed administrative structures which could limit conflict, cultural conventions, rituals and behavioural norms evolved to moderate violence within the elite community.

The exchange of hostages, ransom of defeated opponents, oath-taking and creation of new bonds of friendship, all helped to re-establish stable relations between former opponents. With peace came a change in the balance of power within a region. Relationships between adversaries were restructured and redefined as treaties were concluded and new agreements made. Peace rituals allowed the new status quo to be publicly proclaimed and understood. By studying the restraint of violence and the imposition of peace, we can examine both the long and short term implications of conflict, and improve our understanding of how violence shaped the elite community in medieval Europe.

From 22nd – 23rd February 2018, the Centre for Advanced Study in Oslo and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo will host a two-day conference on the practices and behaviours related to peacemaking and the restraint of violence in high medieval Europe. Participants will address a variety of diverse topics, from peace treaties and rituals, to the conventions which restrain violence during warfare.

War and peace are deemed as inseparable and in pertinent interactivity in this multidisciplinary work, which brings together European, American and Arab historians and archaeologists. The papers published in this book show that this interactivity was particularly salient in the Arab and Muslim Middle East of the 10th-16th centuries, where a class of non-Arab warriors created new political regimes characterized by a strong militarization of power. These warriors used war and peace as means to manage territories and men in order to consolidate and entrench their power. However, the activity of these warriors was not restricted to the military field. The papers collected in this book refute the idea, often still put forward by the specialists of the Arab and Muslim Middle East, that they formed a caste wholly detached from other social groups. Admittedly, they make up a singular body that takes charge of the fight against the Crusaders, who threatened Dār al-islām. Nevertheless, these warriors were not secluded from other social groups, with whom they share cultural values and practices. Their activity was multifaceted and not only limited to the political and military field. They were also involved in religious, economic and cultural activity. They gradually shaped the societies that they ruled with the support of the civil and religious elites on whom they relied to govern. This book shows that medieval Middle Eastern societies were neither socially segmented nor compartmentalized.