Papers by Ali Asgar H U S S A M U D D I N Alibhai
La corónica: A Journal of Medieval Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, 2008
As the impetus of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela grew throughoutthe Middle Ages, its sy... more As the impetus of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela grew throughoutthe Middle Ages, its symbolic significance to medieval Europe's Christians became widely recognized by Spain's Muslim population. The fourteenth-century North African and Spanish chronicler, Ibn Idhäri, describes the pilgrimage to Santiago, or Shánt Yaqüb as it is called in Arabic, in the following words: It is the greatest existing Christian shrine in the country of Al-Andalus and the vast lands connected to it. Santiago's cathedral carries the same significance to them as the Ka'bah does to us. They vow by it and make pilgrimages to it from the farthest parts of Rome (Christendom) and beyond. They believe that the tomb which is visited there is the grave of Yaqüb (James), one of the twelve disciples, may Allah have mercy on them. [They believe] that he was the most special of them to Essa (Jesus), may peace be upon him. They call him Essa's brother because of his companionship with him. Some of them believe that he is the son of Joseph the Carpenter. Santiago is the burial place of Yaqüb. The)' also call him "the brother of the Lord" (Allah is highly and largely exalted from what they say).
Convivium, 2023
A Tale of Two Port Cities. Al-Mahdiyya, Palermo, and the Timber Trade of the Medieval Mediterrane... more A Tale of Two Port Cities. Al-Mahdiyya, Palermo, and the Timber Trade of the Medieval Mediterranean Although the timber trade was essential in the tenth century to the global ambitions of the North African Fatimid Caliphate, environmental and political obstacles compelled the Fatimids to obtain most of their precious cargo from Sicily. This article discusses timber's essential importance to the Fatimids and how they procured this commodity, shedding light on the historical developments that occurred at the ports of al-Mahdiyya and Palermo under the Fatimids as a result of continuous trade between Ifrīqiya and Sicily. Applying a multidisciplinary analysis of Fatimid chancellery documents, historical texts, material culture, environmental history, and history of art, this article considers the role of the timber trade in the urban development of these two port cities. Specifically, it looks closely at the direct role of Ustādh Jūdhar, a tenth-century Fatimid official, in the procurement of timber. The result is a nuanced picture of the complexities of trade in the medieval Islamic Mediterranean world.
Convivium
A Tale of Two Port Cities. Al-Mahdiyya, Palermo, and the Timber Trade of the Medieval Mediterrane... more A Tale of Two Port Cities. Al-Mahdiyya, Palermo, and the Timber Trade of the Medieval Mediterranean Although the timber trade was essential in the tenth century to the global ambitions of the North African Fatimid Caliphate, environmental and political obstacles compelled the Fatimids to obtain most of their precious cargo from Sicily. This article discusses timber's essential importance to the Fatimids and how they procured this commodity, shedding light on the historical developments that occurred at the ports of al-Mahdiyya and Palermo under the Fatimids as a result of continuous trade between Ifrīqiya and Sicily. Applying a multidisciplinary analysis of Fatimid chancellery documents, historical texts, material culture, environmental history, and history of art, this article considers the role of the timber trade in the urban development of these two port cities. Specifically, it looks closely at the direct role of Ustādh Jūdhar, a tenth-century Fatimid official, in the procurement of timber. The result is a nuanced picture of the complexities of trade in the medieval Islamic Mediterranean world.
Convivium 10.1 The Architecture of Medieval Port Cities: Italy and the Mediterranean, 2023
A Tale of Two Port Cities. Al-Mahdiyya, Palermo, and the Timber Trade of the Medieval Mediterrane... more A Tale of Two Port Cities. Al-Mahdiyya, Palermo, and the Timber Trade of the Medieval Mediterranean Although the timber trade was essential in the tenth century to the global ambitions of the North African Fatimid Caliphate, environmental and political obstacles compelled the Fatimids to obtain most of their precious cargo from Sicily. This article discusses timber's essential importance to the Fatimids and how they procured this commodity, shedding light on the historical developments that occurred at the ports of al-Mahdiyya and Palermo under the Fatimids as a result of continuous trade between Ifrīqiya and Sicily. Applying a multidisciplinary analysis of Fatimid chancellery documents, historical texts, material culture, environmental history, and history of art, this article considers the role of the timber trade in the urban development of these two port cities. Specifically, it looks closely at the direct role of Ustādh Jūdhar, a tenth-century Fatimid official, in the procurement of timber. The result is a nuanced picture of the complexities of trade in the medieval Islamic Mediterranean world.
Throughout the Middle Ages, religious and political confrontation in frontier societies caused ma... more Throughout the Middle Ages, religious and political confrontation in frontier societies caused many cultures to create certain symbols through which they aimed to display their cultural dominance and superiority over opposing groups. In medieval Spain, the aural means by which the ...
La corónica: A Journal of Medieval Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, 2008
Throughout the Middle Ages, religious and political confrontation in frontier societies caused ma... more Throughout the Middle Ages, religious and political confrontation in frontier societies caused many cultures to create certain symbols through which they aimed to display their cultural dominance and superiority over opposing groups. In medieval Spain, the aural means by which the ...
Throughout the Middle Ages, religious and political confrontation in frontier societies caused ma... more Throughout the Middle Ages, religious and political confrontation in frontier societies caused many cultures to create certain symbols through which they aimed to display their cultural dominance and superiority over opposing groups. In medieval Spain, the aural means by which the ...
La corónica, Jan 1, 2008
... | Ayuda. The reverberations of Santiago's bells in reconquest Spain. Autores: Ali As... more ... | Ayuda. The reverberations of Santiago's bells in reconquest Spain. Autores: Ali AsgarAlibhai; Localización: La corónica: A Journal of Medieval Hispanic Languages, Literatures & Cultures, ISSN 0193-3892, Vol. 36, Nº 2, 2008 ...
Calls for Papers by Ali Asgar H U S S A M U D D I N Alibhai
Various pre-modern cultural traditions managed interactions between members of different social s... more Various pre-modern cultural traditions managed interactions between members of different social strata by prescribing performative displays of supplication and humility. Perceptible and formalized movements of the body, often performed publicly in courtly and religious settings, provided a symbolic visual vocabulary for interaction. They consisted of different extensions and contractions of joints and muscles, and often took the form of proskynesis, kowtow, genuflection, and bowing, as well as other gestures. These widely persistent social rituals represented the nature of the polarized relationship between master and slave, ruler and ruled, or superior and inferior in medieval cultures. They also served as forms of social currency; those acknowledging their superior's authority and power were rewarded with social recognition. Paradoxically, bowing rituals could also result in one's own exaltation through an elevation to a higher societal or spiritual ranking. Depictions and acts of genuflection or proskynesis were not limited to imperial contexts. Lowering the body as a means of elevating the soul was fundamental to monastic practice in Christian, Islamic, and many other cultures.
Conference Presentations by Ali Asgar H U S S A M U D D I N Alibhai
If you're coming to MESA this year, please join us on November 16th between 1:30 PM and 5:00 PM f... more If you're coming to MESA this year, please join us on November 16th between 1:30 PM and 5:00 PM for our discussion on the Dimensions of Sacred Sound and the Various Lives of the Islamic Call to Prayer (medieval and contemporary).
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Papers by Ali Asgar H U S S A M U D D I N Alibhai
Calls for Papers by Ali Asgar H U S S A M U D D I N Alibhai
Conference Presentations by Ali Asgar H U S S A M U D D I N Alibhai