Monographs by Johann Buessow
Bonner Islamstudien, Band 47 BIS 47, 2023
This study presents recent findings on the famous city wall of Bahla in Central Oman. A previousl... more This study presents recent findings on the famous city wall of Bahla in Central Oman. A previously unstudied register, housed under the title Al-Sūr al-Muḥīṭ (“The Encircling Wall”) in the Ministry of Heritage and Culture in Muscat, provides unique insight into the management and maintenance of the wall during the years 1967–1977, right on the eve of the rapid and pervasive process of state modernisation initiated under Sultan Qaboos.
From the Household to the Wider World, 2023
From the Household to the Wider World provides new insights into urban governance in different ci... more From the Household to the Wider World provides new insights into urban governance in different cities in Ottoman Palestine and Syria (Bilad al-Sham) during the late Ottoman period, c. 1800–1920. It enriches Ottoman urban studies by viewing cities (not only the major ones that are often discussed in the literature but also peripheral localities) as crucial spaces in which socio-political processes on various scales interact with localized material structures. This outlook addresses the challenges of bridging the divide between text-based studies and the study of material culture, and in so doing maps local cases onto larger historical processes, at the level of the region, the Empire, and global connections.
This collection of essays delves into specific case studies based on original research that take different perspectives to explore structure and agency, theory and practice, as well as textual and material evidence to reflect multiple ways to address these challenges.
This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and students of the Middle East in the fields of Urban Studies, History, as well as Ottoman and Islamic Studies. The inclusion of boxed texts listing key sources, instructive illustrations, as well as extensive glossary are all designed to provide students and non-specialists with robust tools to access this field.
Arguing for Political Legitimacy in a Late Ottoman City: A Fictional Literary Dialogue from Gaza, c. 1895, 2023
This annotated Dialogue provides a rare glimpse into political discourse during the reign of Sult... more This annotated Dialogue provides a rare glimpse into political discourse during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II and an introduction to the little-known genre of Arabic political fiction. The anonymous political pamphlet was written by supporters of the Husayni family in Gaza in the mid-1890s and sent to the imperial government in Istanbul. The bitter political struggle taking place between the Husayni camp and its opponents reached Istanbul at a time when Gaza's factionalist struggle and political unrest were coming to a head, and coincided with Ottoman-British tensions over neighboring Egypt. As a result, high-ranking officials in Jerusalem, Cairo, and Istanbul became enmeshed in Gaza's affairs. The text takes the form of a fictional dialogue between three Muslims: Wäiz ibn Nasuh, the narrator, a respected scholar from Gaza, and two young men from Gaza and Egypt he meets by chance on the beach outside the city. As shown in the analysis, most of the arguments presented in the text had been formulated in a petition sent earlier from Gaza to Istanbul. Through its fictional form and quotes from Arabic poetry, the anonymous Dialogue integrates individual complaints into an overarching narrative that reframes the local political conflict as a threat to the Empire at large and turns Gaza, in many respects a peripheral city, into a vital component of the Ottoman commonwealth.
Damascus Affairs: Egyptian Rule in Syria through the Eyes of an Anonymous Damascene Chronicler, 1831-1841, 2013
Hamidian Palestine, 2011
During the era of Sultan Abdülhamid II, modern state institutions were established in Palestine, ... more During the era of Sultan Abdülhamid II, modern state institutions were established in Palestine, while national identities had not yet developed. Hamidian Palestine explores how the inhabitants of the Ottoman District of Jerusalem interacted with each other and how they organised their interests in a historical moment before ‘Arabs’ and ‘Jews’ emerged as the central political categories in the country. Based on a wide range of Arabic, Turkish and Hebrew sources, the book examines the social and political relations of Palestinians from a wide variety of perspectives. By situating individual case studies within larger contexts such as modernisation, regionalisation and state-building, it allows Palestinian society to be compared with other local societies within the Ottoman Empire and beyond.
Brochure by Johann Buessow
Edited special issues and volumes by Johann Buessow
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 2015
Special issue, eds. Johann Buessow, Kurt Franz, and Stefan Leder
Der Islam, 2015
Special issue, eds. Kurt Franz, Johann Buessow, and Stefan Leder.
Nomadic Peoples, 2011
Special issue, eds. Johann Buessow, David Durand-Guédy, and Jürgen Paul.
Eurasian Studies, 2011
Special issue, eds. Johann Buessow, David Durand-Guédy, and Jürgen Paul.
Articles and book chapters by Johann Buessow
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 2020
This article takes the understudied Ottoman city of Gaza in southern Palestine at the end of the ... more This article takes the understudied Ottoman city of Gaza in southern Palestine at the end of the nineteenth century as a case study to illustrate the new possibilities available today to researchers of the Middle East by combining the study of historical sources with GIS and other digital technologies. It first surveys the main sources available for the study of this city, some of which have only become available to researchers in recent years. It then describes the construction of a comprehensive database based on these sources and ways to run statistical analyses based on it. Finally, it presents the research results on maps and aerial photos connected to a GIS system. The case of Gaza can thus serve as a model for studying other cities in Ottoman Greater Syria and the Ottoman Empire in general.
Slaves and Slave Agency in the Ottoman Empire, 2020
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verz... more Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über https://dnb.de abrufbar. Veröffentlichungen der Bonn University Press erscheinen bei V&R unipress.
Gaza Historical Database (GHD), 2019
The Gaza Historical Database (GHD) is a collection of primary sources and tabulated census data o... more The Gaza Historical Database (GHD) is a collection of primary sources and tabulated census data on the city of Gaza and its surrounding area during the late Ottoman period (c. 1850-1920). Some material is available publicly; some is available to registered users only. As of March 2019, the GHD has incorporated information on roughly 150 families, 3,000 households, 20,000 individuals and 3,000 locations mentioned in the sources. A web-based user interface allows researchers to insert and collaboratively edit historical data (Data Management section). GHD can also be used to generate interactive maps (Interactive Map section). Pictorial sources such as photographs and drawings can be classified/accessed thematically (Image Gallery section). A gazetteer provides access to maps and images of select locations (Gazetteer section).
Ways of Knowing Muslim Cultures and Societies, 2018
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 2018
During the late Ottoman period the city of Gaza was caught up in internal political strife. The c... more During the late Ottoman period the city of Gaza was caught up in internal political strife. The city’s elite families tended to operate within rival factions while trying to draw Istanbul into its internal conflicts. In this context, they formed complex relationships with the elite of Jerusalem that dominated Palestine’s politics, as well as with peasants and Bedouins in Gaza’s hinterland. The article presents the first systematic account of factional strife in Gaza during the period. In addition, it examines what caused the internal divisions in Gaza to be so severe and considers whether factionalism also played out in the urban space. It is argued that (1) the severity of this factionalism derived from the rising stakes resulting from imperial politics and economic benefits, and (2) factionalism and urban development interacted with each other, leading to a particular type of ‘spatialized factionalism’. We suggest that this perspective can lead to a better understanding of both urban politics and urban development in other towns and cities in the Ottoman Empire’s Arab provinces.
Religious Dynamics under the Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism: A Sourcebook, 2016
Irak und Syrien: Wegweiser zur Geschichte, 2016
Loretana de Libero Die Jahrhunderte nach Begründung des Islam waren geprägt von schnellen Eroberu... more Loretana de Libero Die Jahrhunderte nach Begründung des Islam waren geprägt von schnellen Eroberungszügen, raschem Zerfall entsprechender Reiche, heftigen Kämpfen, wechselnden Herrschaften, gleichzeitig aber auch dem Handeln glanzvoller und herausragender Gestalten, die bis heute der Machtlegitimation dienen. Das wohl bekannteste Beispiel bietet der kurdische General und Herrscher Saladin, der im Jahre 1187 Jerusalem von den Kreuzfahrern zurückeroberte und damit bis heute in der muslimischen Welt hohes Ansehen genießt-genauso wie der Begriff »Kreuzfahrer« als Ausdruck vehementer Feindschaft dient. Das Bild zeigt das 1993 von Hafiz al-Assad eingeweihte Saladin-Denkmal vor der Zitadelle in Damaskus. Damit versuchte der Assad-Clan, obwohl einer Minderheit zugehörig, den Anspruch als Verteidiger und Herrscher über die Muslime, egal welcher Herkunft, zu zementieren. In historischer Periode währte die Herrschaft Saladins und seiner Dynastie, der Ayyubiden, indes nicht sehr lange.
Irak und Syrien: Wegweiser zur Geschichte, 2016
Loretana de Libero Die Jahrhunderte nach Begründung des Islam waren geprägt von schnellen Eroberu... more Loretana de Libero Die Jahrhunderte nach Begründung des Islam waren geprägt von schnellen Eroberungszügen, raschem Zerfall entsprechender Reiche, heftigen Kämpfen, wechselnden Herrschaften, gleichzeitig aber auch dem Handeln glanzvoller und herausragender Gestalten, die bis heute der Machtlegitimation dienen. Das wohl bekannteste Beispiel bietet der kurdische General und Herrscher Saladin, der im Jahre 1187 Jerusalem von den Kreuzfahrern zurückeroberte und damit bis heute in der muslimischen Welt hohes Ansehen genießt-genauso wie der Begriff »Kreuzfahrer« als Ausdruck vehementer Feindschaft dient. Das Bild zeigt das 1993 von Hafiz al-Assad eingeweihte Saladin-Denkmal vor der Zitadelle in Damaskus. Damit versuchte der Assad-Clan, obwohl einer Minderheit zugehörig, den Anspruch als Verteidiger und Herrscher über die Muslime, egal welcher Herkunft, zu zementieren. In historischer Periode währte die Herrschaft Saladins und seiner Dynastie, der Ayyubiden, indes nicht sehr lange.
Jön Türklerin Filistin'i, 2016
(Turkish translation of "Children of the Revolution", 2011)
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 2015
In this paper we argue that historians of the eastern Arab lands (Ar. al-mashriq al-ʿarabī) shoul... more In this paper we argue that historians of the eastern Arab lands (Ar. al-mashriq al-ʿarabī) should turn their attention to the Bedouins for two main reasons. First, the societies in the Arab East cannot be adequately understood without a full evaluation of their Bedouin component, especially outside urban areas. Second, studying the Bedouins can open new perspectives on important debates in Middle Eastern historiography. The paper further contends that the arid lands of the Arab East still need to be explored as a historical region with its own distinct patterns of regional connectivity and political organisation. Finally, we highlight environmental history and the study of emic categories as promising avenues for future research on this region.
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Monographs by Johann Buessow
This collection of essays delves into specific case studies based on original research that take different perspectives to explore structure and agency, theory and practice, as well as textual and material evidence to reflect multiple ways to address these challenges.
This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and students of the Middle East in the fields of Urban Studies, History, as well as Ottoman and Islamic Studies. The inclusion of boxed texts listing key sources, instructive illustrations, as well as extensive glossary are all designed to provide students and non-specialists with robust tools to access this field.
Brochure by Johann Buessow
Edited special issues and volumes by Johann Buessow
Articles and book chapters by Johann Buessow
This collection of essays delves into specific case studies based on original research that take different perspectives to explore structure and agency, theory and practice, as well as textual and material evidence to reflect multiple ways to address these challenges.
This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and students of the Middle East in the fields of Urban Studies, History, as well as Ottoman and Islamic Studies. The inclusion of boxed texts listing key sources, instructive illustrations, as well as extensive glossary are all designed to provide students and non-specialists with robust tools to access this field.