Shaping a Muslim state : the world of a mid-eighth-century Egyptian official / Petra M. Sijpesteijn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sijpesteijn, Petra, author.

Series:

Oxford studies in Byzantium

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civilization.

History.

Egypt--History--640-1250.

Egypt.

Egypt--History--640-1250--Sources.

Egypt--Civilization--638-1798.

Egypt--Civilization--638-1798--Sources.

Egypt--Religion--640-.

Religion.

Islam--Egypt--History.

Islam.

Genre:

Sources.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 524 pages, 39 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, facsimiles ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

Oxford Studies in Byzantium consists of scholarly monographs and editions on the history, literature, thought, and material culture of the Byzantine world. Shaping a Muslim State provides a synthetic study of the political, social, and economic processes which formed early Islamic Egypt. Looking at a corpus of previously unknown Arabic papyrus letters, dating from between AD 730 and 750, which were written to a Muslim administrator and merchant in the Fayyum oasis in Egypt, Sijpesteijn examines the reasons for the success of the early Arab conquests and the transition from the pre-Islamic Byzantine system and its Egyptian executors to an Arab/Muslim state. By examining the impact of Islam on the daily lives of those living under its rule, the volume highlights the striking newness of Islamic society while also acknowledging the influence of the ancient societies which preceded it. The book applies theoretical discussions about governance, historiography, (social) linguistics, and source criticism to understand the dynamics of early Islamic Egypt, as well as the larger process of state formation in the Islamic world. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Discussion

1 The Egyptian Context: Geography and History 15

1.1 One land 15

1.2 The Nile 17

1.3 Irrigation and water distribution 21

1.4 Flora and fauna 24

1.5 The Fayyum 26

1.6 The pre-Islamic political and administrative structure 33

1.6.1 Political and administrative developments 34

1.6.2 The economy 42

1.6.3 Arabia and Egypt 46

2 Arab Egypt: The First Fifty Years 49

2.1 The Arab conquest of Egypt 49

2.2 Continuous vigilance 58

2.3 Controlling Egypt's might 60

2.4 Post-conquest Muslim rule and government 64

2.5 Arab settlement in the Egyptian countryside 81

2.6 The administrative structure 85

2.7 The fifty-year about-turn 91

2.8 Conclusion 111

3 The Second Fifty Years: Consolidation and Reform 115

3.1 The administrative context 115

3.2 Dramatis personae 117

3.2.1 The Amir 117

3.2.2 Najid b. Muslim 124

3.2.3 'Abd Allah b.As'ad 136

3.2.4 Jarid b. As'ad 152

3.2.5 Local power: village headmen, estate-holders, and other local powerbrokers 152

3.2.6 Muslim taxpayers 163

3.3 Taxes and taxation 172

3.3.1 The system 173

3.3.2 Sadaqa and zakat 181

3.4 Conclusion: a changing model or changing the model? 199

4 Beyond Words 217

4.1 The power of writing 217

4.2 Technical aspects of the letters 220

4.3 Layout, orthography, and epistolary formulae 222

4.4 A community of literati? 229

4.5 The added value of the written word 238

4.6 Public writing: government communication and state consolidation 247

4.7 Conclusion 255

5 Conclusion 259

Part II The Texts

Note on the Orthography and Grammar of the Papyri 269

1 Concerning a letter from the amir 273

2 Request for taxes from 'Abd Allah's district 278

3 Request for deliveries in kind 284

4 Collecting taxes in kind 291

5 Order from the amir concerning the delivery of grapes 298

6 Concerning a forwarded letter 303

7 Returning a fugitive and mules 307

8 Instructions to collect sadaqa and zakat 313

9 Announcing a delivery 322

10 Letter related to administrative matters 324

11 Fragment of a letter from Najid b. Muslim 328

12 Concerning some urgent business 330

13 Standing guarantor 333

14 Deliveries of oil from some villages 336

15 Organization of the delivery of oil 343

16 Concerning an irrigation canal 347

17 Assigning water to Narmuda 352

18 Letter requesting several deliveries 357

19 Request to deliver some produce 361

20 Request to buy fifteen dinars worth of wheat 364

21 Concerning an injustice and the payment of taxes 369

22 About the collection of jizya 374

23 Organizing the tax collection 379

24 Concerning a loan 388

25 Request for a deposit 394

26 Concerning the repayment of a debt 398

27 An order for veils 404

28 Purchase of radish oil 408

29 Purchase of different commodities 415

30 Letter related to tax collection 421

31 Petition for a fugitive 424

32 Sheep trade with Alexandria 428

33 Beginning of a letter to 'Abd Allah b. As'ad 432

34 Letter from 'Abd Allah b. As ad 436

35 Restoring tax-collecting rights 439

36 Reporting on the completion of a tax collection 442

37 Letter from Najid b. Muslim to Sahl b. Habib 445

38 Letter to one of Najid's scribes 447

39 Letter from one of Najid's scribes 451.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9780199673902

019967390X

OCLC:

869526165