Historical documentation and archaeological material have revealed that the听Fatimids听once presided over a diverse, multicultural state composed of Muslims, Christians, Jews and other religious traditions, as well as from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. This diversity contributed to the formation of a vibrant environment that stimulated intercultural contact and exchange across the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. These encounters would also profoundly influence Fatimid history, material culture, politics, and religion, among other areas.
The current trend in scholarship has been to discern interdependence among the peoples and cultures of the past in order to gain a better understanding of the context of these connections. This was reflected in scholarship at the 1998 ground-breaking conference听L鈥櫭塯ypte fatimide: son art et son histoire听held in Paris, where the focus was primarily on Fatimid artistic and historical associations in Egypt, rather than the entire span of Fatimid rule, and spheres of influence.
This international conference aims to progress the field of Fatimid studies by examining their political, cultural, artistic, social, economic and intellectual interactions. The conference encourages participation from established, as well as early career, scholars specialising in the Fatimid lands of Bil膩d听补濒-厂丑腻尘The mediaeval region of Syria, today comprising Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel., Egypt,听Ifr墨qiya, Sicily, and other areas across the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. The objective is to promote a broader and deeper understanding of how the cosmopolitan Fatimid milieu contributed to intercultural dialogue as well as to imperial contestations, and therefore impacted the history, material culture, politics, and religions of the region through these nine panels:
1) Fatimid Historiography and Mediaeval Narratives
2) Fatimid Encounters with Contemporary Cultures
3) 贵补迟颈尘颈诲听顿补士飞补听补苍诲听顿腻士墨鈥檚听– Part 1
4)听贵补迟颈尘颈诲听顿补士飞补听补苍诲听顿腻士墨鈥檚听– Part 2
5) Fatimid Decorative Arts and Archaeological Material – Part 1
6) Fatimid Decorative Arts and Archaeological Material – Part 2
7) The Fatimid State and Statecraft
8) Fatimid Architecture and the Ceremonial
9) The Fatimid Legacy
The participants include:听Dr Olly Akkerman, Freie Universit盲t Berlin;听Dr Miriam Al铆-de-Unzaga, independent scholar;听Dr Omar Al铆-de-Unzaga, 鸟大大影院;听Dr Ali Asgar H Alibhai, University of Texas at Dallas;听Dr Khalil Andani, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL;听Dr Dina Ishak Bakhoum, independent scholar;听Dr Mathew Barber,听Aga Khan听鲍苍颈惫别谤蝉颈迟测;听Dr Daniel Beben, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan;听Professor Doris Behrens-Abouseif, professor emerita;听Dr Gregory Bilotto, Saint Mary鈥檚 University, London;听Dr Fozia Bora, University of Leeds;听Professor Anna Contadini, SOAS;听Dr Delia Cortese, Middlesex University;听Dr Farhad Daftary, 鸟大大影院;听Dr Maria de Cillis, 鸟大大影院;听Dr Steven Gertz, Georgetown University;听Dr Val茅rie Gonzalez, SOAS;听Dr Shiraz Hajiani, Emerson College, Boston, MA;听Dr Sumaiya Hamdani, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA;听Dr Shainool Jiwa, 鸟大大影院;听Dr Hasan al-Khoee, 鸟大大影院;听Professor Dr Verena Klemm, University of Leipzig;听Dr Ayala Lester, curator emerita;听Professor Yaacov Lev, professor emeritus;听Dr Anna McSweeny, Trinity College, Dublin;听Professor Bernard O鈥橩ane, American University in Cairo;听Dr听Simon O鈥橫eara, SOAS;听Dr Marcus Pilz,听Veste Coburg Art Collections;听Dr Daryoush Mohammad Poor, 鸟大大影院;听Professor St茅phane Pradines,听Aga Khan听鲍苍颈惫别谤蝉颈迟测;听Dr Jennifer A Pruitt, University of Wisconsin-Madison;听Dr Aslisho Qurboniev,听Aga Khan听鲍苍颈惫别谤蝉颈迟测;听Professor Yossef Rapoport, Queen Mary University, London;听Professor Marina Rustow, Princeton University;听Professor Paula Sanders, Rice University, Houston, TX;听Professor Ayman Fuad听Sayyid(pl. s膩da/asy膩d) Arabic term for 鈥榣ord鈥 or 鈥榤aster鈥. It is a pre-Islamic term and refers to a person who possesses dignity or enjoys an exalted position among his people. Amongst…, professor emeritus;听Professor Avinoam Shalem, Columbia University;听Dr Fahmida Suleman, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto;听Dr Yasser Tabbaa, independent scholar;听Dr Jamel Velji, Claremont McKenna College, CA;听Professor Shafique N Virani, University of Toronto;听Professor Paul E Walker, University of Chicago;听Dr Gregory Williams, independent scholar.
Cover image:听听datable to the 11th-12th centuries, African elephant ivory.
Image courtesy of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Accession no: 71.562, used under a CC BY 2.0 license.
