Three Arabic papyrus letters written by the same individual in the eighth CE or second AH century Fayyum oasis in Egypt now kept in the Austrian National Library describe the activities of a group... Show moreThree Arabic papyrus letters written by the same individual in the eighth CE or second AH century Fayyum oasis in Egypt now kept in the Austrian National Library describe the activities of a group of closely related Jewish merchants. The author of all three letters applies linguistic and calligraphic epistolary rhetoric to support his letters' messages as his financial and personal circumstances deteriorate. He makes use thereby of the expectations to offer help and sympathy that follow from interpersonal social interactions and relationships. Show less
Egypt’s position in the caliphate has generally been considered either as loosely tributary, with its governors running the province more or less as a personal possession, granting the caliph a... Show moreEgypt’s position in the caliphate has generally been considered either as loosely tributary, with its governors running the province more or less as a personal possession, granting the caliph a share of the province’s riches, as it pleased them, or as the outer rim of a radial system extending from the caliph’s capital and through which caliphal power was exercised by means of administrative control and military force. In this model – which looks from the center outwards – Egypt is located at the decision-making periphery of the Muslim empire, the recipient of directives and consumer of developments initiated at the imperial capital (first located in Medina, then Damascus, and finally Baghdad), where the sneezes that precipitated all of the caliphate’s colds occurred.This chapter takes a different view. By examining Egypt’s relationship to the imperial center between the Arab conquest and the establishment of the Fatimid caliphate in Cairo in 969 CE, and the complex, ambiguous, and shifting processes of interdependency, caliphal ambition, and local self-assertion as they appear in the sources, I will argue that at all times Egypt’s centrality to the caliphate was a two-way relationship, in which Egypt occupied a key place in caliphal strategic thinking, and in which Egyptians saw themselves as intrinsic to the Muslim imperial project. Show less
Using evidence from Arabic, Coptic and Greek papyri, this paper examines the role and organization of and individuals involved in mediation in the four centuries following the mid-7th-century... Show moreUsing evidence from Arabic, Coptic and Greek papyri, this paper examines the role and organization of and individuals involved in mediation in the four centuries following the mid-7th-century Muslim conquest of Egypt. Conflict resolution, the actors involved therein and whether the process took place in an institutional framework or in a more informal environment all inform us regarding changing power relations in the province. The effect of shifting power dynamics between members of the local Egyptian elite and the incoming Muslim rulers as well as the effect this had on social organization, the position of local elites and their relations with their indigenous constituencies and the authorities will be discussed. The paper also considers what this says about modifications in Egyptian elite composition and how these modifications relate to developments at the caliphal center. Finally, the question of how the role of local elites as arbitrators can be connected to their position vis-à-vis the Egyptian population on the one hand and the empire’s political center on the other is examined. Show less
