Page 1. State & Society in Fatimid Egypt by Yaacov Lev Page 2. Pa... more Page 1. State & Society in Fatimid Egypt by Yaacov Lev Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Fatimid history is a chapter of both Mediter-ranean and Islamic history. In the period cov-ered by the book (io-i2th centuries), profound changes ...
ECENTLY published Ismacili sources provide new information on the course of the Fatimid campaigns... more ECENTLY published Ismacili sources provide new information on the course of the Fatimid campaigns against Egypt in the first decade of the tenth century as well as on their motivation. The fifth volume of cUyufn al-Akhbar by the late Isma'ili author, Idris cImad al-Din (795-873/1392-1468), is ...
... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAS Abu Shama (Beirut) AI BEO BIFAO BSOAS Crusaders and Muslims EI 2. E... more ... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAS Abu Shama (Beirut) AI BEO BIFAO BSOAS Crusaders and Muslims EI 2. Egypt and Syria JESHO The Jihad and its Time IJMES JAOS JARCE JNES JRAS JSAI JSS ... The celebra-tions of mawlid al-nabi, Muhammad's Nativity, exemplify this trend. ...
... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAS Abu Shama (Beirut) AI BEO BIFAO BSOAS Crusaders and Muslims EI 2. E... more ... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAS Abu Shama (Beirut) AI BEO BIFAO BSOAS Crusaders and Muslims EI 2. Egypt and Syria JESHO The Jihad and its Time IJMES JAOS JARCE JNES JRAS JSAI JSS ... The celebra-tions of mawlid al-nabi, Muhammad's Nativity, exemplify this trend. ...
socio-military composition of the army was especially important. The composition of the army was ... more socio-military composition of the army was especially important. The composition of the army was partly an outcome of deliberate policies of the regime, partly a consequence of local conditions, and partly a reflection of wider Islamic practices. In the case of the Fatimids, the local conditions of Ifriqiya (Tunisia) and Egypt and the military traditions of the deposed regimes of the Aghlabids and the Ikhshidids must be taken into consideration. Fatimid reliance on the Berbers of Kutama was not much a matter of a choice; they were the first adherents of the Fatimids and had helped bring them to power in IfrTqiya. However, from the earliest years of Fatimid rule the Aghlabid military traditions and local conditions were reflected in the composition of the Fatimid army and had an influence on Fatimid policies. Conditions in Egypt played a smaller role in shaping the Fatimid army. Certain elements of the defeated Egyptian army (the Ikhshidiyya and the Kafuriyya) were incorporated into ...
The Administration of Justice in Medieval Egypt, 2020
The chapter examines the notion that personal rather than territorial law prevailed in medieval I... more The chapter examines the notion that personal rather than territorial law prevailed in medieval Islam and discusses the tension between communal autonomy and governmental interference. The meaning and the limits of the so-called ‘dhimmi judicial autonomy’ are also discussed.
Leidschrift : Verraderlijke rijkdom. Economische crisis als historisch fenomeen, 2013
The typology of famines in medieval Egypt is rather simple since famines occurred either as a res... more The typology of famines in medieval Egypt is rather simple since famines occurred either as a result of speculative withholding of supplies, or as a result of the Nile not rising enough. As simple as this situation is, it determined what successive dynasties could or couldn't do, and any assessment of such actions must be directly related to the type of shortage that occurred. Furthermore, one must emphasize that in the case of shortages caused by insufficient inundation of the Nile, the situation in the year that the Nile failed ('the current year') was determined by the rise of the river in the preceding year, which could have been quite normal. The knowledge about a shortage in the next year created a buyers' market in 'the current year', leaving wide room for governmental intervention in both Cairo's grain market and the bread supply system. When in the year following 'the current year' the full impact of grain shortage hit Cairo, the ability of the government to intervene and its efforts to alleviate the situation, if taken at all, were quite limited. This paper will discuss three cases of famine in medieval Egypt: two caused by insufficient rise of the Nile (in 1024-1025 and in 1200-1202) and one caused by withholding of supplies in 'the current year' (the famine of 1263-1264). However, any discussion of these events must be preceded by a short description of the Nile's annual cycle and the structure of Cairo's bread market. The Nile's annual cycle The agricultural life of medieval Egypt was governed by the Nile and the Coptic calendar. The Nile's annual rise used to begin during the month of Baʼunah (8 June-7 July) and intensified during Abib (8 July-6 August), and came first in Upper Egypt. The Nile usually reached plentitude, i.e. sixteen cubits (1 cubit = 46.2 cm) as measured at the Cairo Nilometer, during Misra (7 August-5 September), while the new agricultural year began during Tut (11/12 September-9/10 October). During Tut the seeds needed for the planting of wheat and barly were delivered to the peasants, but the actual sowing began in Upper Egypt during Babah (11/12 October-9/10 November), and in other parts of the country during Kiyah (10/11 brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Leiden University Scholary Publications been collected, translated into French and annotated by Charles Pellat: C. Pellat, Cinq calendriers Égyptiens (Cairo 1986). 2 The basic distinction between the household grain economy of the regime and the commercial urban grain market has been put forward by: I.M. Lapidus, 'The Grain Economy of Mamluk Egypt', Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 12 (1969) 1-15: 12-14, and is applicable for the Fatimid period too. See A. Maqrizi, Musawwadat Kitab al-Mawaʻiz wa-l-Iʻtibar fi Dhikr al-Khitat wa-l-Athar [English translation], A.F. Sayyid ed. (London 1995) 246-248.
The Introduction examines the largely ignored question of to what extent Muslim law was applied i... more The Introduction examines the largely ignored question of to what extent Muslim law was applied in medieval Muslim states and whether its precepts indeed governed the life of individuals and the conduct of society. The Introduction also provides a unifying framework for the book and presents topics, which are directly relevant to the discussion of the administration of justice. The inquiry is also heavily influenced and informed by the progress that has been made in recent decades in the study of early Islam.
The chapter examine the nature of the hisba institution and early hisba manuals. Although the his... more The chapter examine the nature of the hisba institution and early hisba manuals. Although the hisba law belongs to the realm of customary law, the Islamic concept of ‘commanding right and forbidding wrong’ had been grafted onto the hisba law. This mechanism provided an Islamic aura for the market inspector’s actions. The chapter also examines the grain economy of Fustat-Cairo and how the famine of 1024-1025 was handled by the market inspector and the regime. They handled the crisis at the political level, irrespective of doctrines related to fixing of prices.
The mazalim institution was a complex institution which combined both judicial and administrative... more The mazalim institution was a complex institution which combined both judicial and administrative functions. The chapter examines how subjects approached the state and what they could realistically expect from the state. The chapter argues that in order to be successful, the petitioner had to create ‘common ground’ with the state. How ‘common ground’ was created and what it consisted of are extensively discussed.
The Administration of Justice in Medieval Egypt, 2020
The chapter examines the history of the cadi institution in Egypt between 868 and 969. During tha... more The chapter examines the history of the cadi institution in Egypt between 868 and 969. During that period, the cadis came to the forefront of political life under the Tulunids (868-905) and the Ikhshidids (935-969). The chapter also follows the spread of the cadi institution to Egypt’s provincial towns and the cadis’ involvement in the application of the law.
FAMINES AND THE CAIRO WHEAT MARKET THE NILE'S ANNUAL CYCLE The typology of famines in Muslim ... more FAMINES AND THE CAIRO WHEAT MARKET THE NILE'S ANNUAL CYCLE The typology of famines in Muslim Egypt is rather simple since famines occurred either as the result of speculation, meaning the withholding of supplies, or as a result of the Nile not rising enough. When the Nile failed to reach its plenitude the effect was twofold: on the year it occurred (the current year) and, of course, the next one. It must be emphasized that the price and availability of grain in the current year were determined by the flow of the Nile in the preceding year, which might have been normal. The shortages that were likely to occur in the current year came about as the result of buying for the future or hoarding in preparation for an impending shortage. In this case the famine took place because of a disturbance in the workings of the market mechanism, and not necessarily as a result of speculation or actual shortage. These observations become clear when one examines the annual flow-regime of the Nile and the resultant availability of grain in Cairo. The annual rise of the Nile used to begin during the Coptic month of Ba’u≠nah (8 June–7 July) and intensified during Ab|b (8 July–6 August). The beginning of the rise during Ba’u≠nah made it possible for boats loaded with grain to sail from both Upper and Lower Egypt toward Cairo. During Misra≠ (7 August–5 September, to which five to six extra days are added since Misra≠ is the twelfth Coptic month), the rising water of the Nile made the canal of Alexandria navigable and boats began sailing toward Cairo with grain and other agricultural products such as flax and sugar cane as well as timber and iron brought to Alexandria by Italian merchants for the government. The Nile usually reached plenitude, i.e., sixteen cubits as measured at the Cairo Nilometer, during Misra≠. The new agricultural year began during Tu≠ t (11/12 September–9/10 October) when the seeds needed for the planting of wheat and barley were delivered to the falla≠h ̋|n but the actual sowing only began in Upper Egypt during Ba≠bah (11/12 October–9/10 November). The annual rise and subsequent decrease in the level of the Nile came first in Upper Egypt
The Administration of Justice in Medieval Egypt, 2020
In Fatimid Fustat-Cairo the shurta was a police force responsible for fighting crime and its chie... more In Fatimid Fustat-Cairo the shurta was a police force responsible for fighting crime and its chiefs dispensed criminal justice. How the shurta and its chiefs operated in Fustat of the 1020s is discussed relying on Musabbih’s reports concerning 1024-1025. The shurta as an urban police force intended to fight crime was too small to maintain law and order in the capital and, in times of crisis, the task was delegated to the army.
This book discusses how justice was administrated and applied in medieval Egypt. The model that e... more This book discusses how justice was administrated and applied in medieval Egypt. The model that evolved during the early middle ages involved four judicial institutions: the cadi, the court of complaints (mazalim), the police (shurta), responsible for criminal justice, and the Islamised market law (hisba), administrated by the market supervisor (the muhtasib). Literary and non-literary sources are used to highlight how these institutions worked in real-time situations such as the famine of 1024-1025, which posed tremendous challenges to both the market supervisor and the ruling establishment. The inner workings of the court of complaint during the Fatimid period (10th-12th century) are also extensively discussed. The discussion is extended to include the way the courts of non-Muslim communities were perceived and functioned during the Fatimid period. The discussion also provides insights into the scope of non-Muslim self-rule/judicial autonomy in medieval Islam.
A simple, selective, rapid, precise and economical reversed-phase high performance liquid chromat... more A simple, selective, rapid, precise and economical reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method has been developed for simultaneous estimation of Hydrochlorothiazide (Hctz) and Amlodipine (Amlo) in tablet dosage forms. The method is carried out on C18 (25 cm x 4.6 mm i.d., 5μm) column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol (MeOH): Phosphate buffer 50 mmol (KH2PO4, 0.05M) (pH adjusted to 5.5 using o-phosphoric acid) in the ratio of 75:25 (v/v). The retention time of Hctz and Amlo is 3.2 and 5.1 min, respectively, with the flow rate of 1 mL/min with diode array detection at 236 nm. The linear regression analysis data from the linearity plot showed good linear relationship with a correlation coefficient (R2) value for Hctz and Amlo of 0.9969 and 0.9958 in the concentration range for Hctz is 10-35μg ml-1 and Amlo is 4-14 μg ml-1, the assay report of Hctz and Amlo is 98.4 and 99.6%. The relative standard deviation for intraday precision has been found to be <2.0%. The method is validated according to the ICH guidelines. The developed method is validated in terms limit of detection, limit of quantitation, robustness and solution stability. The proposed method can be used for simultaneous estimation of these drugs in marketed dosage forms.
Page 1. State &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Society in Fatimid Egypt by Yaacov Lev Page 2. Pa... more Page 1. State &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Society in Fatimid Egypt by Yaacov Lev Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Fatimid history is a chapter of both Mediter-ranean and Islamic history. In the period cov-ered by the book (io-i2th centuries), profound changes ...
ECENTLY published Ismacili sources provide new information on the course of the Fatimid campaigns... more ECENTLY published Ismacili sources provide new information on the course of the Fatimid campaigns against Egypt in the first decade of the tenth century as well as on their motivation. The fifth volume of cUyufn al-Akhbar by the late Isma&amp;#x27;ili author, Idris cImad al-Din (795-873/1392-1468), is ...
... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAS Abu Shama (Beirut) AI BEO BIFAO BSOAS Crusaders and Muslims EI 2. E... more ... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAS Abu Shama (Beirut) AI BEO BIFAO BSOAS Crusaders and Muslims EI 2. Egypt and Syria JESHO The Jihad and its Time IJMES JAOS JARCE JNES JRAS JSAI JSS ... The celebra-tions of mawlid al-nabi, Muhammad&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27;s Nativity, exemplify this trend. ...
... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAS Abu Shama (Beirut) AI BEO BIFAO BSOAS Crusaders and Muslims EI 2. E... more ... LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAS Abu Shama (Beirut) AI BEO BIFAO BSOAS Crusaders and Muslims EI 2. Egypt and Syria JESHO The Jihad and its Time IJMES JAOS JARCE JNES JRAS JSAI JSS ... The celebra-tions of mawlid al-nabi, Muhammad&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27;s Nativity, exemplify this trend. ...
socio-military composition of the army was especially important. The composition of the army was ... more socio-military composition of the army was especially important. The composition of the army was partly an outcome of deliberate policies of the regime, partly a consequence of local conditions, and partly a reflection of wider Islamic practices. In the case of the Fatimids, the local conditions of Ifriqiya (Tunisia) and Egypt and the military traditions of the deposed regimes of the Aghlabids and the Ikhshidids must be taken into consideration. Fatimid reliance on the Berbers of Kutama was not much a matter of a choice; they were the first adherents of the Fatimids and had helped bring them to power in IfrTqiya. However, from the earliest years of Fatimid rule the Aghlabid military traditions and local conditions were reflected in the composition of the Fatimid army and had an influence on Fatimid policies. Conditions in Egypt played a smaller role in shaping the Fatimid army. Certain elements of the defeated Egyptian army (the Ikhshidiyya and the Kafuriyya) were incorporated into ...
The Administration of Justice in Medieval Egypt, 2020
The chapter examines the notion that personal rather than territorial law prevailed in medieval I... more The chapter examines the notion that personal rather than territorial law prevailed in medieval Islam and discusses the tension between communal autonomy and governmental interference. The meaning and the limits of the so-called ‘dhimmi judicial autonomy’ are also discussed.
Leidschrift : Verraderlijke rijkdom. Economische crisis als historisch fenomeen, 2013
The typology of famines in medieval Egypt is rather simple since famines occurred either as a res... more The typology of famines in medieval Egypt is rather simple since famines occurred either as a result of speculative withholding of supplies, or as a result of the Nile not rising enough. As simple as this situation is, it determined what successive dynasties could or couldn't do, and any assessment of such actions must be directly related to the type of shortage that occurred. Furthermore, one must emphasize that in the case of shortages caused by insufficient inundation of the Nile, the situation in the year that the Nile failed ('the current year') was determined by the rise of the river in the preceding year, which could have been quite normal. The knowledge about a shortage in the next year created a buyers' market in 'the current year', leaving wide room for governmental intervention in both Cairo's grain market and the bread supply system. When in the year following 'the current year' the full impact of grain shortage hit Cairo, the ability of the government to intervene and its efforts to alleviate the situation, if taken at all, were quite limited. This paper will discuss three cases of famine in medieval Egypt: two caused by insufficient rise of the Nile (in 1024-1025 and in 1200-1202) and one caused by withholding of supplies in 'the current year' (the famine of 1263-1264). However, any discussion of these events must be preceded by a short description of the Nile's annual cycle and the structure of Cairo's bread market. The Nile's annual cycle The agricultural life of medieval Egypt was governed by the Nile and the Coptic calendar. The Nile's annual rise used to begin during the month of Baʼunah (8 June-7 July) and intensified during Abib (8 July-6 August), and came first in Upper Egypt. The Nile usually reached plentitude, i.e. sixteen cubits (1 cubit = 46.2 cm) as measured at the Cairo Nilometer, during Misra (7 August-5 September), while the new agricultural year began during Tut (11/12 September-9/10 October). During Tut the seeds needed for the planting of wheat and barly were delivered to the peasants, but the actual sowing began in Upper Egypt during Babah (11/12 October-9/10 November), and in other parts of the country during Kiyah (10/11 brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Leiden University Scholary Publications been collected, translated into French and annotated by Charles Pellat: C. Pellat, Cinq calendriers Égyptiens (Cairo 1986). 2 The basic distinction between the household grain economy of the regime and the commercial urban grain market has been put forward by: I.M. Lapidus, 'The Grain Economy of Mamluk Egypt', Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 12 (1969) 1-15: 12-14, and is applicable for the Fatimid period too. See A. Maqrizi, Musawwadat Kitab al-Mawaʻiz wa-l-Iʻtibar fi Dhikr al-Khitat wa-l-Athar [English translation], A.F. Sayyid ed. (London 1995) 246-248.
The Introduction examines the largely ignored question of to what extent Muslim law was applied i... more The Introduction examines the largely ignored question of to what extent Muslim law was applied in medieval Muslim states and whether its precepts indeed governed the life of individuals and the conduct of society. The Introduction also provides a unifying framework for the book and presents topics, which are directly relevant to the discussion of the administration of justice. The inquiry is also heavily influenced and informed by the progress that has been made in recent decades in the study of early Islam.
The chapter examine the nature of the hisba institution and early hisba manuals. Although the his... more The chapter examine the nature of the hisba institution and early hisba manuals. Although the hisba law belongs to the realm of customary law, the Islamic concept of ‘commanding right and forbidding wrong’ had been grafted onto the hisba law. This mechanism provided an Islamic aura for the market inspector’s actions. The chapter also examines the grain economy of Fustat-Cairo and how the famine of 1024-1025 was handled by the market inspector and the regime. They handled the crisis at the political level, irrespective of doctrines related to fixing of prices.
The mazalim institution was a complex institution which combined both judicial and administrative... more The mazalim institution was a complex institution which combined both judicial and administrative functions. The chapter examines how subjects approached the state and what they could realistically expect from the state. The chapter argues that in order to be successful, the petitioner had to create ‘common ground’ with the state. How ‘common ground’ was created and what it consisted of are extensively discussed.
The Administration of Justice in Medieval Egypt, 2020
The chapter examines the history of the cadi institution in Egypt between 868 and 969. During tha... more The chapter examines the history of the cadi institution in Egypt between 868 and 969. During that period, the cadis came to the forefront of political life under the Tulunids (868-905) and the Ikhshidids (935-969). The chapter also follows the spread of the cadi institution to Egypt’s provincial towns and the cadis’ involvement in the application of the law.
FAMINES AND THE CAIRO WHEAT MARKET THE NILE'S ANNUAL CYCLE The typology of famines in Muslim ... more FAMINES AND THE CAIRO WHEAT MARKET THE NILE'S ANNUAL CYCLE The typology of famines in Muslim Egypt is rather simple since famines occurred either as the result of speculation, meaning the withholding of supplies, or as a result of the Nile not rising enough. When the Nile failed to reach its plenitude the effect was twofold: on the year it occurred (the current year) and, of course, the next one. It must be emphasized that the price and availability of grain in the current year were determined by the flow of the Nile in the preceding year, which might have been normal. The shortages that were likely to occur in the current year came about as the result of buying for the future or hoarding in preparation for an impending shortage. In this case the famine took place because of a disturbance in the workings of the market mechanism, and not necessarily as a result of speculation or actual shortage. These observations become clear when one examines the annual flow-regime of the Nile and the resultant availability of grain in Cairo. The annual rise of the Nile used to begin during the Coptic month of Ba’u≠nah (8 June–7 July) and intensified during Ab|b (8 July–6 August). The beginning of the rise during Ba’u≠nah made it possible for boats loaded with grain to sail from both Upper and Lower Egypt toward Cairo. During Misra≠ (7 August–5 September, to which five to six extra days are added since Misra≠ is the twelfth Coptic month), the rising water of the Nile made the canal of Alexandria navigable and boats began sailing toward Cairo with grain and other agricultural products such as flax and sugar cane as well as timber and iron brought to Alexandria by Italian merchants for the government. The Nile usually reached plenitude, i.e., sixteen cubits as measured at the Cairo Nilometer, during Misra≠. The new agricultural year began during Tu≠ t (11/12 September–9/10 October) when the seeds needed for the planting of wheat and barley were delivered to the falla≠h ̋|n but the actual sowing only began in Upper Egypt during Ba≠bah (11/12 October–9/10 November). The annual rise and subsequent decrease in the level of the Nile came first in Upper Egypt
The Administration of Justice in Medieval Egypt, 2020
In Fatimid Fustat-Cairo the shurta was a police force responsible for fighting crime and its chie... more In Fatimid Fustat-Cairo the shurta was a police force responsible for fighting crime and its chiefs dispensed criminal justice. How the shurta and its chiefs operated in Fustat of the 1020s is discussed relying on Musabbih’s reports concerning 1024-1025. The shurta as an urban police force intended to fight crime was too small to maintain law and order in the capital and, in times of crisis, the task was delegated to the army.
This book discusses how justice was administrated and applied in medieval Egypt. The model that e... more This book discusses how justice was administrated and applied in medieval Egypt. The model that evolved during the early middle ages involved four judicial institutions: the cadi, the court of complaints (mazalim), the police (shurta), responsible for criminal justice, and the Islamised market law (hisba), administrated by the market supervisor (the muhtasib). Literary and non-literary sources are used to highlight how these institutions worked in real-time situations such as the famine of 1024-1025, which posed tremendous challenges to both the market supervisor and the ruling establishment. The inner workings of the court of complaint during the Fatimid period (10th-12th century) are also extensively discussed. The discussion is extended to include the way the courts of non-Muslim communities were perceived and functioned during the Fatimid period. The discussion also provides insights into the scope of non-Muslim self-rule/judicial autonomy in medieval Islam.
A simple, selective, rapid, precise and economical reversed-phase high performance liquid chromat... more A simple, selective, rapid, precise and economical reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method has been developed for simultaneous estimation of Hydrochlorothiazide (Hctz) and Amlodipine (Amlo) in tablet dosage forms. The method is carried out on C18 (25 cm x 4.6 mm i.d., 5μm) column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol (MeOH): Phosphate buffer 50 mmol (KH2PO4, 0.05M) (pH adjusted to 5.5 using o-phosphoric acid) in the ratio of 75:25 (v/v). The retention time of Hctz and Amlo is 3.2 and 5.1 min, respectively, with the flow rate of 1 mL/min with diode array detection at 236 nm. The linear regression analysis data from the linearity plot showed good linear relationship with a correlation coefficient (R2) value for Hctz and Amlo of 0.9969 and 0.9958 in the concentration range for Hctz is 10-35μg ml-1 and Amlo is 4-14 μg ml-1, the assay report of Hctz and Amlo is 98.4 and 99.6%. The relative standard deviation for intraday precision has been found to be <2.0%. The method is validated according to the ICH guidelines. The developed method is validated in terms limit of detection, limit of quantitation, robustness and solution stability. The proposed method can be used for simultaneous estimation of these drugs in marketed dosage forms.
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