Leiden 2015 - The organization of the ḥajj in early Muslim Egypt

LUCISLeiden University Centre forthe Study of Islam and Society

EGYPT CONNECTED

THU 18- SAT 20 JUNE 2015 - LIPSIUS, ROOM 227 (CLEVERINGAPLAATS 1, LEIDEN)

C u l t u r a l , E c o n o m i c , P o l i t i c a l a n d M i l i t a r y I n t e r a c t i o n s (500-1000 CE)

Hayat Ahlili Leiden University | Gideon Avni Hebrew University | Lajos Berkes University of Heidelberg | Antoine Borrut University of Maryland | Sobhi Bouderbala University of Tunis | Jelle Bruning Leiden University | Sylvie Denoix University of Paris I | Janneke de Jong Leiden University | Hugh Kennedy University of London | Yaacov Lev Bar-Ilan University | Bernhard Palme University of Vienna | Vivien Prigent CNRS, Paris | Lucian Reinfandt | University of Vienna | Peter Sarris | University of Cambridge | Petra Sijpesteijn Leiden University | Irene Soto New York University | Mathieu Tillier University of Paris-Sorbonne | Joanita Vroom Leiden University | Khaled Younes Menoufia University Egypt

www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/lucis/activiteiten

Registration via [email protected]

Al-Iṣṭakhrī’s tenth-century world map Leiden University Library, MS Or. 3101

Dear participants,

Welcome to Leiden! The Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society(LUCIS) is very pleased to host the conference Egypt Connected: Cultural, Economic,Political and Military Interactions (500-1000 CE). This conference is the third in the program‘Provinces and Empires’, which is a cooperation between Leiden University, the Institutfrançais d’archéologie orientale in Cairo (IFAO), Sorbonne/Centre national de la recherchescientifique in Paris (CNRS), and the New York University’s Institute for the Study of theAncient World (ISAW). Earlier meetings in the framework of this research project took placein 2013 at the IFAO in Cairo (Fusṭāṭ et le controle des territoires) and in 2014 at ISAW inNew York (multilingualism). A final meeting entitled ‘Mémoires concurrentes’ is planned totake place in 2016 in Paris.

The aim of the Leiden conference is to bring together a group of scholars, who from their owndisciplinary expertise will provide input on the role of Egypt in its wider world in a periodthat was highly significant in world history – from Late Antiquity up to the first millenniumC.E. With this disciplinary richness clearly visible in the varied program, the conferencepromises to be an inspiring event.

This conference is made possible thanks to the financial support provided by variousinstitutions. We warmly thank the European Research Council (ERC), KoninklijkeNederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW), Leiden University’s profile area,Global Interactions, LUCIS, the Juynboll Stichting, Stichting Oosters Instituut, and LeidsUniversiteits Fonds for their generosity. We would like to thank LUCIS for the practicalorganisation.

We wish you a fruitful conference and a pleasant stay in Leiden!

Petra Sijpesteijn

Jelle Bruning

Janneke de Jong

Egypt Connected (Leiden, June 18-20, 2015) 1

PROGRAMME EGYPT CONNECTEDCULTURAL, ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND MILITARY INTERACTIONS

(500-1000 CE)

THURSDAY 18 JUNE

8.30-9.00 Welcome (with coffee)

9.00-9.30 Peter Sarris (Trinity College, University of Cambridge): Mediterraneanconnector or disconnector: Egypt in its world in the Roman empire

ECONOMIC EXCHANGE

Chair: Miguel John Versluys

9.30-10.15 Irene Soto (New York University): Beyond grain: Evidence for Egypt’s LateAntique production

10.15-10.45 Coffee

10.45-11.30 Joanita Vroom (Leiden University): Trade activities in the EasternMediterranean through ceramics

11.30-12.15 Gideon Avni (Israeli Antiquities Services): A tale of two cities - Ramla andFustat in the early Islamic period: Urban development and commercial contacts

12.30-14.30 Lunch at the Faculty Club for speakers and invitees (Rapenburg 73)

14.30-15.15 Vivien Prigent (CNRS, Paris): Les liens entre l’Égypte et les provincescentrales de la Méditerranée

MIGRATION

Chair: Sylvie Denoix

15.15-16.00 Yaacov Lev (Bar-Ilan University): Egypt as a gateway for North Africa:Geography, settlement and Islamization, 7th-10th centuries

16.00-16.30 Coffee

16.30-17.15 Lucian Reinfandt (University of Vienna): Persian presence in Egypt in the 9thcentury

17.15-18.00 Hayat Ahlili (Leiden University): Persian influences in Arabic amulets fromEgypt


FRIDAY 19 JUNE

ARTICULATION OF POWER - CENTER AND PROVINCE

Chair: Peter Hoppenbrouwers

9.30-10.15 Khaled Younes (Menoufia University): The organization of the ḥajj in earlyMuslim Egypt

10.15-11.00 Petra Sijpesteijn (Leiden University): The caliph in Egypt

11.00-11.30 Coffee

11.30-12.15 Sobhi Bouderbala (University of Tunis): Egypt and Syria in the Umayyadperiod: Military cooperation and power issues

12.30-14.30 Lunch at the Faculty Club for speakers and invitees (Rapenburg 73)

14.30-15.15 Antoine Borrut (University of Maryland): The cultural memory of earlyIslamic Egypt

MILITARY ENGAGEMENTS, ECONOMY OF CONQUEST/FUGITIVES

Chair: Jacques van der Vliet

15.15-16.00 Sylvie Denoix (CNRS, Paris): Nubia’s pacification: A narrative revisited

16.00-16.30 Coffee

16.30-17.15 Jelle Bruning (Leiden University): Jihad from Alexandria: Preliminaryconsiderations on its intellectual background

17.15-18.00 Janneke de Jong (Leiden University): The economy of conquest and control inEarly Islamic Egypt

18.00-19.30 Drinks at Pakhuis, open to all! (Doelensteeg 8)

SATURDAY 20 JUNE

LAW AND ADMINISTRATION

Chair: Petra Sijpesteijn

9.30-10.15 Mathieu Tillier (University of Paris-Sorbonne): Local tradition and imperiallaw in Umayyad Egypt

10.15-11.00 Lajos Berkes (University of Heidelberg): Village organization in Egypt andbeyond, 500-800

11:00-11:30 Coffee

11.30-12.15 Epilogue by Hugh Kennedy (University of London): Egyptian exceptionalism?A comparison of early Muslim administration in Egypt and Iraq

12.15 Discussion

13.00 Lunch at De Grote Beer for speakers and invitees (Rembrandtstraat 27)


ABSTRACTS

Hayat AHLILI, Leiden UniversityPersian influences in Arabic amulets from Egypt

{Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the daybreak. From the evil of what He hascreated. And from the evil of the darkening as it comes with its darkness. And from theevil of the blowers in knots. And from the evil of the envier when he envies.} Q. 2:255

This short chapter of the Qur’ān, together with al-Nās are known as al-Mu‘awwidhatān (the two sūrāt of taking refuge [from evil]). They are repeatedlyincluded in amulets for protection and even reports reveal their magical impact inspoken language. Protection, treatment and healing from the Qur’ān is the main themeof an amulet. These amulets are extremely rare for this early period in Islamic Egypt incomparison to other types of documents. In this paper, I will describe thecharacteristics of two amulets and provide an interesting view within the Arab Muslimculture, resulting into resemblance, close or distant, in Persian civilization, from whichIslam might have profited in this respect.

Gideon AVNI, Israeli Antiquities ServicesA tale of two cities - Ramla and Fustat in the early Islamic period: Urban development andcommercial contacts

The foundation of Fustat in Egypt and Ramla in Palestine marked a profound changein both regions, manifested in a new concept of urban landscape, the introduction ofinnovative industrial installations, and the establishment of commercial ties betweenthe two cities. Fustat, which was founded in 641 as a military encampment for theinvading Muslim troops, developed into the administrative and commercial center ofEgypt. An expansion of its urban area, the construction of elaborate residentialcompounds, and the development of a complex street system expressed the growth ofthe city, particularly during the eighth and ninth centuries. Ramla, which was foundedex-nihilo by Sulaymān b. Abd al-Malik in c. 715 as the new capital of Jund Filastin,became before long the administrative and commercial hub of Palestine. It covered avast area, accommodating a network of intersecting streets and pre-planned insulae. Both cities are known from historical written sources and extensive archaeologicalexcavations. The excavations of Fustat, conducted along the 20th century, revealedlarge sections of its residential quarters. Ramla was extensively explored since the1990s by hundreds of rescue excavations, which provided a basis for thereconstruction of the physical layout of the Early Islamic city. The abundant findsretrieved from excavations in both sites illuminated the wealth of the cities, theirresidential units and their industrial and commercial infrastructures. The study of thematerial culture of both cities reveals an interesting bilateral pattern of influences andinteractions, as well as flourishing commercial exchange.The presentation evaluates the excavations in both sites and focuses on theadministrative and commercial contacts between Ramla and Fustat as reflected in thearchaeological evidence.


Lajos BERKES, University of HeidelbergVillage organization in Egypt and beyond, 500-800

Thousands of Greek and Coptic (seldom Arabic) documents inform us about villagelife from Byzantine and Early Islamic Egypt. One of the central topics in thisdocumentation is local administration. Apart from the basic framework of villageorganization, no clear picture has emerged so far. One of the main obstacles is thecomplex terminology. However, a closer look at our sources reveals that the variety oflocal terms points to an officially set scheme. This paper will deal with theorganization of the village community in the context of rural society and local powernetworks. Comparisons with our sporadic sources from Asia Minor, Syria andPalestine suggest that the structure of the Egyptian villages can be regarded more orless typical for the whole Byzantine and early Islamic East.

Antoine BORRUT, University of MarylandThe cultural memory of early Islamic Egypt

It is notoriously difficult to write the history of Egypt with the so-called classicalAbbasid sources, best exemplified by the famous al-Ṭabarī (d. 301/923). Indeed, boththe pre-Islamic Egyptian past and the first centuries of Islam are usually poorlydocumented in non-Egyptian narrative sources (the conquest of the province being themost notable exception). Yet, the reasons behind this dearth of information have neverbeen properly addressed. Why is Egypt so absent from the grand narrative offered byMuslim chronicles? Does this reflect a lack of available material to work with or rathera deliberate attempt at silencing the past? This problem is all the more vexing if oneconsiders the central role of the province under the Umayyads and the early Abbasids,or if one looks at the abundant evidence offered by the documentary sources andchiefly the papyri. Such an investigation is important because this historiographicalsituation reinforces the notion of Egyptian exceptionalism. It thus prevents us fromadopting a less centralized view of the first Islamic Empire under the first twodynasties of Islam. My paper will suggest that a different approach to the sourcematerial, from a history of memory perspective, can help us make sense of the limitedplace devoted to Egypt in classical Abbasid-era historiography. It invites us to moveaway from the quest of historical “truth”, to rather focus on how Abbasid-era scholars(chiefly in the 3rd/9th and 4th/10th centuries) wished to remember their own past andthe new meanings they granted to it by putting it into new written contexts. Looking atMuslim and non-Muslim sources, my paper thus aims to investigate the circulation ofhistorical information and the construction of the past in early Islamic Egypt. Such aninvestigation forces us to consider memory and oblivion in the medieval sourcesthemselves, in order to shed light on the making of a “cultural memory of earlyIslam”.

Sobhi BOUDERBALA, University of TunisEgypt and Syria in the Umayyad period: Military cooperation and power issues

This paper aims to study the relationship between Egypt and Syria during theUmayyad period (40/661-132/750), by focusing on two main questions. First, the role


o f ǧund Miṣr in the great military conquests and campaigns (Constantinople,Mediterranean islands, North Africa and Spain), but also in supporting the Umayyadfamily in the struggles against its opponents (‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, ‘Abd Allāh b. al-Zubayr …). Second, a shape of independence in the management of the province andthe regions conquered by ǧund Miṣr, which leads to political tensions, especiallyduring the governorship of ‘Abd al-‘Azīz b. Marwān, the third civil war and the‘Abbāsid propaganda.

Jelle BRUNING, Leiden UniversityJihad from Alexandria: Preliminary considerations on its intellectual background

In the first centuries of Muslim rule over Egypt, Alexandria and Fusṭāṭ were Egypt’smain intellectual centers. Both cities attracted large numbers of international scholars.Alexandria’s appeal can partially be explained by the economic context of thesescholars’ journeys: Alexandria was an important node in national and internationalcommercial networks and the city’s markets allowed scholars to financially supporttheir journeys. By the mid-eighth century C.E., Fusṭāṭ’s commercial connections wereof comparative quality as those of Alexandria and Fusṭāṭ’s Muslim communityincluded the majority of Egypt’s Muslim scholars. Yet, medieval historical literaturerecords that Egyptian and non-Egyptian scholars continued to travel to Alexandria. Amajor reason that is implied in this literature is the possibility of conducting jihad fromAlexandria. This paper discusses this intellectual background to such scholars’residence in Alexandria and its reflection in medieval Arabic literature.

Janneke DE JONG, Leiden UniversityThe economy of conquest and control in Early Islamic Egypt

In the course of the Islamic expansion, Egypt was cut off from Byzantine control andcame to be ruled by Muslims. From hindsight one can easily label the Islamicconquest as a key moment in Egypt’s history. Although at the time an ‘Islamic state’did not yet exist, the Muslims community managed to develop into an empire. Thequestion of my contribution is how Egypt was embedded in this developing Islamicempire and how we can evaluate this process departing from a broad application of theterm economy, implying ‘management and (inter)action’. This will be done by lookingat the way the population and its mobility was controlled around the period ofconquest and up to the eighth century CE, mainly from a Greek papyrological point ofview.

Sylvie DENOIX, Universty of Paris INubia’s pacification: a narrative revisited

The history of the conquest follow divergent traditions, such as Egypt, whichproduced two narratives: those who say that it was conquered by force (ʿanwatan) andthose who say it was conquered by treaty (sulḥan or bi-sulḥ). In Nubia, traditions arealso plural. The ʿulamāʾ of Fusṭāṭ, especially Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, have written aversion where the jund suffered a severe defeat in Dongola during the governorate ofʿAbd Allah b. Saʿd in 31/652.


So, we understand that Muslims were not, at that time, successful warriors and therewas a truce (hudna) and a “pact” has been signed. This Byzantine word (pactum),written in Arabic (baqṭ), reports of another reality: as Nubia was not conquered,Muslims had to make an agreement with that kingdom.As they will enlighten the process of the implementation of the relationship betweenMuslim Egypt and Nubia, the terms of the relationship between these two countrieswill be discussed in this communication.

Yaacov LEV, Bar-Ilan UniversityEgypt as a gateway for North Africa: geography, settlement and Islamization, 7th-10thcenturies

Even though medieval people traversed the oceans and land masses making epicterrestrial journeys along the Silk Road and sailing the seas from Spain to India, therewere geographical constraints that not only dominated their lives and the way theytravelled, but also the way they conducted trade and waged wars. Geography madeEgypt a gateway to North Africa, its conquest and settlement and the links between thetwo were many and variegated. Egypt was the departure point for armies, oftenmobilized from the Arab population of Egypt, which raided and eventually conqueredNorth Africa. Occasionally, Egypt’s governors were sent to serve as the governors ofIfrīqiya (modern Tunisia) and, in times of need, Egypt’s revenues were allocated tocover expenses in Ifrīqiya. Egypt’s human resources were also used to maintain thenaval policies of the Umayyad caliphate in Ifrīqiya and, during the reign of al-Walid, athousand Coptic families were transferred to Tunisia to establish the arsenal of Tunisthere. As important as Egypt was for the Arab rule of North Africa, however, one mustnote that these two regions are very different in terms of geography and climate sinceNorth Africa is more akin to Syria in its complexities and regional diversity than it isto Egypt with its simple geography and minor climatic variations. The geography of North Africa is dominated by the Atlas Mountains, a chain that canbe divided into three distinct parts: the Coastal, High Atlas and Middle Atlasmountains. In Algiers the Tellian Atlas mountains consist of several coastal ranges,plateaux and plains, including the Great and Lesser Kabylia mountains stretchingbetween Algiers and Tunisia, while the High Atlas mountain chain stretches from theAtlantic Ocean (Agadir) to Cape Bon Peninsula in Tunisia and the Middle Atlasdominates the geography of Morocco, separating Atlantic Coast Morocco fromEastern Morocco and placing it outside the scope of the present paper. Rainfall is the key factor that forms North Africa’s climatic zones and the 400-mmisohyet is of crucial significance since it marks the boundary between the climates ofthe Mediterranean and the steppe regions. The 400-mm isohyet line, however,represents the statistical average and, within its range, the 200-mm isohyet line is ofparamount importance as cultivation without irrigation is impossible in areas below200-mm of rainfall while grain can still be grown in areas with an average annualrainfall of 300 mm. Writing in the late 1940s Daniel C. Dennett, Jr. made the point that geographicalvariations and patterns of Arab settlement must be taken into account in any study ofthe patterns of conversion to Islam and its driving forces be they taxation or any otherfactor. In the North African context, however, any attempt to correlate geography,climate, Arab settlement and Islamization is riddled with many difficulties because of


gaps in the historical records kept and the available literature. While the history of theArab conquest of North Africa is well-attested to by the available sources andliterature the pattern of Arab settlement is poorly dealt with by this literature andwhether this reflects a lack of adequate sources or a lack of interest by researchers isdifficult to say. The present paper, more than it deals with the history of theIslamization process per se and the political and socio-religious forces behind it,discusses the way it is depicted in the sources.On two occasions the sources provide information about Islamization in North Africa:the failure of the Kāhina rebellion and the policies of ʻUmar II (717-720). The Kāhinarebellion is still a mystery. It probably took place between 698 and 703 and involvedthe Berbers of the former Byzantine province of Numidia. The sources claim thatwhen Kāhina, the female leader of the uprising, realized that the rebellion had failedshe exhorted her sons to adopt Islam and thousands of others also converted in thewake of these events. There is no way to corroborate these accounts but they fit abroader conceptual framework of the Islamization process. For what it is worth, thetheme of "persecutions leading to Islamization" as an explanation is a trope commonlyused in Coptic historiography. When we turn to the literature we find that the idea thatIslamization is a result of the weakening and disruption of the social fabric of localMiddle Eastern societies following economic difficulties and fiscal persecutions hasbeen suggested in the context of the Islamization of the Samaritan community during830-860 by Milka Levy-Rubin. Thus, Islamization following the submission ofKāhina’s rebellion fits both medieval and modern perceptions of the process. Thisrather broad conceptualization of Kāhina’s rebellion, however, says nothing about thevalidity of the claim that Islamization followed the failure of the rebellion, and thisremains elusive. The sources offer yet another more surprising insight into the Islamization of Ifrīqiyaand link the process to ʻUmar II’s delegation of ten people sent to promulgate Islam inthe province. The accounts suggest that the mission was aimed at both enhancing theIslamic identity of the Muslim population of Ifrīqiya and winning new converts. Uponclose reading of the accounts one gets the impression that the first aspect was theprimary motive behind the mission and winning new converts was of secondaryimportance and may have even been an unintended by-product of the whole endeavor.It is difficult to put these accounts into a broader context since any missionary impulseto spread Islam is rarely attested to in the sources. It can be argued that these reportshighlight a totally new aspect of the Islamization process and the forces behind it. Any"missionary impulse" must be distinguished from a policy of forced conversion and, inthe North African context, the most infamous example of this would be thenullification of the dhimma protection granted to the non-Muslims by the Almohads in1147, and its far-reaching consequences.

Lucian REINFANDT, University of ViennaPersian presence in Egypt in the 9th century

Not long after assuming power, the Abbasid caliphs’ control over territories was put atstake by an increasing regionalisation. Important provinces became factuallyindependent from the centre of the empire. Political events were simply surfacephenomena symptomatic for deeper processes, among them repeated migrationmovements of considerable geographic reach. The administrative personnel in


provinces of the empire, here Egypt, is of special interest in this regard, because bothelites and middle-level technocrats had considerable influence on local politicaldecision making. Their migration, predominantly from eastern lands, brought along animport of specific forms of control over territorial resource extraction but couldchange from group to group and would have lasting effects on local conditions. Thestaff composition of the caliphal administration on a local level influenced adjacentsocial milieus and introduced technological innovations. In the long run it affected thepolitical fate of the empire itself. Taking Egypt as an example, I will analyse theadministrative personnel on lower hierarchical levels outside the capital on the basis oftheir own writings. The data will be categorised into ideal types of administrators anda comparison undertaken with the administrative situation in more central lands of theempire against the background of political events during the 9th century CE.

Peter SARRIS, Trinity College, University of CambridgeMediterranean Connector or Disconnector. Egypt in its world in the Roman empire

This introductory paper will examine the place of Egypt in the fiscal and commercialeconomy of the early Byzantine Empire from the 4th to 7th centuries. Drawing uponthe papyrological, legal, literary and archaeological evidence, it will be argued thatEgyptian economic development became increasingly self-contained and self-sustaining across the period, with the fiscal and social ties that bound it to the rest ofthe empire becoming progressively weakened.

Petra SIJPESTEIJN, Leiden UniversityThe caliph in Egypt

This paper examines the ways in which the caliph’s presence was experienced in earlyIslamic Egypt through the documentary material and what these references tell usabout the ambitions and engagement of the caliphate with the province. Fromreferences to the ruler family’s agricultural possessions in Egypt to demands forcontributions for the caliph’s employees, buildings or the ruler ‘himself’ I will discusshow the manifestation of the caliph in Egypt’s documentary record developed in thefirst three centuries of Arab rule and how this can be related to administrativestructures and institutions introduced by the Arabs in Egypt, changes in theadministrative-political organization of the Empire and the societal expressionsthereof.

Irene SOTO, New York UniversityBeyond grain: Evidence for Egypt’s Late Antique production

Vectigal ex Aegypto urbi Romae Aurelianus vitri, chartae, lini, stuppae, atqueanabolicas species aeternas constituit. Historia Augusta XLV, Divus Aurelianus

This passage from Historia Augusta is often used in the context of trying to understandEgypt’s economic role within the Roman Empire. Foremost, this text has stimulatedextensive scholarship on the nature and structure of the anabolikon tax in Egypt. Theanabolikon, a special tax on Egypt, is to be compared with the vestis militaris


requisition system, or rather a separate and ongoing tax meant to supply the growingcity of Rome with its essential needs, much like the annona tax.Notwithstanding the grammatical ambiguity of the passage, the economic importanceof the listed products cannot be denied. I wish to use this quote as a point of departurefor exploring production sectors of the Egyptian economy during Late Antiquity. Inthis paper, I intend to explore and present the different textual, archaeological andarchaeobotanical evidence for the main commodities produced and exported out ofEgypt in order to better understand the role of the province within the larger economyof the Roman Empire.

Mathieu TILLIER, Université Paris-SorbonneLocal tradition and imperial law in Umayyad Fusṭāṭ: The evolution of the early Egyptianschool of law

Joseph Schacht considers that Egypt did not develop any original school of law, andthat its jurists followed the Medinese tradition. However, in the early Abbasid period,the Egyptian jurist al-Layth b. Saʿd supported an autonomous Egyptian legal tradition,based on the jurisprudence of the Companions who had taken part in the conquest.This suggests that Egypt followed an original legal tradition during the Umayyad andthe early Abbasid periods, a tradition that was challenged, then replaced, by otherschools in the first half of the ninth century. The formation of an early Egyptian legalmilieu during the Umayyad period remains a mystery. In order to understand itspeculiarities and its evolution, I will first propose a preliminary study of therelationships between Egyptian jurists and other regional normative systems within theIslamic empire. Secondly, I will show that the evolution of the Egyptian “school” isrelated to imperial Umayyad policy, especially to the legal agenda of ʿUmar b. ʿAbdal-ʿAzīz (r. 717-720).

Joanita VROOM, Leiden UniversityTrade activities in the Eastern Mediterranean through ceramics

This paper aims to present a general overview of the manufacture and distribution ofLate Antique to Early Islamic ceramics in Egypt and beyond. The emphasis will be onlocally made amphorae (such as the LRA 7 and the bag-shaped amphorae) and finewares (ranging from Egyptian Red Slip Ware to Glazed Wares). Furthermore, it is theintention to compare excavated ceramics from production sites in Egypt (for example,from the Western Delta region and from Middle Egypt) with similar looking publishedpottery finds from sites in the eastern Mediterranean (amongst others, in Israel, Cyprusand South-western Turkey).

Khaled YOUNES, Menoufia UniversityThe organization of the ḥajj in early Muslim Egypt

The word ḥajj literally means to set out towards a certain place. In Islamic law, itsignifies the annual pilgrimage to Mecca to fulfill the last of the five pillars of theMuslim faith. According to Islamic law, pilgrimage is obligatory, at least once in alifetime, on all Muslims, both men and women, as long as they are physically andfinancially able to do so and as far as the roads are safe to undertake the journey (Q


3:97). The pilgrimage season always takes place during the first two weeks of the lastmonth of the Muslim calendar, Dhū al-Ḥijja. The religious, political and socialmeanings of the ritual of ḥajj have been widely discussed by both ancient and modernhistorians and jurists. On the other hand, the emotional dimension of this ritual hasbeen hardly discussed. This paper stresses the emotional aspects of the journey andrituals of the ḥajj on the basis of a number of published and unpublished papyri.


CONTACT INFORMATION

Speakers

H. Ahlili (Leiden University) | [email protected];

G. Avni (Israeli Antiquities Services) | [email protected];

L. Berkes (University of Heidelberg) | [email protected];

A. Borru (University of Maryland) | [email protected];

S. Denoix (CNRS, Paris) | [email protected];

H. Kennedy (University of London) | [email protected];

Y. Lev (Bar-Ilan University) | [email protected];

L. Reinfandt (University of Vienna) | [email protected];

M. Tillier (University of Paris-Sorbonne) | [email protected]

P. Sarris (University of Cambridge) | [email protected];

J. Vroom (Leiden University) | [email protected];

S. Bouderbala (University of Tunis) | [email protected]

Organizers

J. Bruning (Leiden University) | [email protected];

J. de Jong (Leiden University) | [email protected];

P.M. Sijpesteijn (Leiden University) | [email protected]


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Leiden 2015 - The organization of the ḥajj in early Muslim Egypt

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