Middle East Studies Lecture
The ties that bound early Islamicate society
- Date
- Tuesday 14 October 2025
- Time
- Serie
- Middle East Studies Lectures
- Address
-
Herta Mohr
Witte Singel 27A
2311 BG Leiden - Room
- 1.128 (Verbarium)
In this session on ongoing research in the department Edmund Hayes, Eline Scheerlinck and Petra Sijpesteijn discuss how the thematics of the book Mechanisms of Social Dependency in the Early Islamic Empire have impacted their work and understanding of history of the early Islamicate world. See below for a description of the book’s contents:
The success of Islamic imperialism in the period from the conquests to the Ayyubid dynasty has traditionally been explained as purely the result of military might. This book, however, adopts a bottom-up approach which puts social relationships and local power dynamics at the centre of the Islamic empire's cohesion. Its chapters draw on sources in diverse languages: not just Arabic, but also Greek, Coptic, Syriac, Hebrew, and Bactrian, showing how different linguistic communities intersected and contributed to a connected yet diverse empire. They highlight how not just literary and historical texts, but also physical documents and archaeological evidence should be incorporated into writing histories of the late antique and early medieval Middle East. Social institutions and relationships explored include oaths; petitions, decrees, and begging letters; and financial frameworks such as debt and taxation.