http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk:80/handle/1810/224125 Sat, 18 May 2013 18:06:20 GMT 2013-05-18T18:06:20Z http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk:80/handle/1810/238300 Title: Impact of the Arab conquest on late Roman settlement in Egypt Authors: Gascoigne, Alison Lucy Abstract: The Arab conquest of Egypt in 642 AD affected the development of Egyptian towns in various ways. The actual military struggle, the subsequent settling of Arab tribes and changes in administration are discussed in chapter 1, with reference to specific sites and using local archaeological sequences. Chapter 2 assesses whether our understanding of the archaeological record of the seventh century is detailed enough to allow the accurate dating of settlement changes. The site of Zawyet al-Sultan in Middle Egypt was apparently abandoned and partly burned around the time of the Arab conquest. Analysis of surface remains at this site confirmed the difficulty of accurately dating this event on the basis of current information. Chapters 3 and 4 analyse the effect of two mechanisms of Arab colonisation on Egyptian towns. First, an investigation of the occupation by soldiers of threatened frontier towns (ribats) is based on the site of Tinnis. Examination of the archaeological remains indicates a significant expansion of Tinnis in the eighth and ninth centuries, which is confirmed by references in the historical sources to building programmes funded by the central government. Second, the practice of murtaba ` aljund, the seasonal exploitation of the town and its hinterland for the grazing of animals by specific tribal groups is examined with reference to Kharibta in the western Delta. Kharibta had apparently declined in size and prosperity by around the eleventh century. Chapter 5 considers the development of the important Pharaonic administrative centre of Edfu in Upper Egypt. Exposed archaeological sequences have clarified the movement of settlement in the town eastwards during the Islamic period. The final chapter proposes two factors that have hitherto not been given sufficient weight. First, the importance of military settlement in promoting settlement change; and second, the flawed nature of our understanding of the urban archaeological record for this important period. The thesis concludes with a suggested paradigm of urban transition, which will allow greater understanding of the changes in settlement in Roman and Islamic Egypt. Mon, 07 Oct 2002 23:00:00 GMT http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk:80/handle/1810/238300 2002-10-07T23:00:00Z http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk:80/handle/1810/237702 Title: Marriage and celibacy in mediaeval Islam : a study of Ghazali's Kitāb ādāb al-nikāḥ' Authors: Immenkamp, Beatrix Abstract: A STUDY OF AL-GIIAZALI'S KITAB ADAB AL-NIKAH This study of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's Kitab adab al-nikah identifies influences which shaped the book's form and content. The study uses literary sources in Arabic from the Islamic tradition, including Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), Sufi treatises, Arabic belles lettres (adab) and medical literature. Three main influences are addressed: a religious debate on the merits of marriage, the particular Muslim attitude to sexuality, and the Islamic legal view of marriage. The Kitab adab al-nikah was written in the context of a religious debate on the merits of marriage and celibacy, a debate which first emerged in Sufi circles. The Kitab adab al-nikah directly responded to this controversy, providing the probably fullest discussion about marriage in mediaeval Islam and the most comprehensive list of reasons why mediaeval Muslims would marry. The first to openly challenge the institution of marriage was Abu Talib al-Makki in his Sufi treatise, the Qut al-Qulub. The Kitab adab al-nikah directly responds to the discussion of marriage in the Qut al-Qulub, and a substantial part of this study is therefore devoted to analysing the relationship between the two texts. Ghazali's argument in favour of marriage in the Kitab adab al-nikah is informed by a pragmatic and positive attitude towards sexuality, according to which a healthy, balanced life included sex. This attitude to sexuality reflected the prevailing mediaeval Muslim view of the place of sexuality in human life. Ghazali's view of sexuality is analysed and placed in the context of other Muslim writings on the subject. In pre-modern times, the institution of marriage in Muslim societies was governed exclusively by religious law, the sari`a. In the Kitab adab al-nikah, Ghazali provided a concise but exhaustive list of the laws governing this central Muslim institution according to the Shafi'i school of law, to which he belonged. Ghazali's list of the laws of marriage and divorce is complemented by the laws of the other three Sunni schools of law, as well as Shi'i law. Thu, 06 Jul 1995 23:00:00 GMT http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk:80/handle/1810/237702 1995-07-06T23:00:00Z http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk:80/handle/1810/225445 Title: Anglo-Moroccan relations in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with particular reference to the role of Gibraltar Authors: Brown, James A O C Abstract: This dissertation presents new evidence about Anglo-Moroccan relations in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with particular reference to the development of the links between the Gharb region of Morocco and Gibraltar and the establishment of the Moroccan consulate there. This evidence is used to re-evaluate prevailing arguments about Moroccan isolationism, especially during the reign of Mawlay Sulaymān (r. 1792-1822), linking this to the nature of the Moroccan sultanate’s foreign and trade policy over the longer term. It is argued that the Sīdī Muḥammad b. ‘Abd Allāh’s (r. 1757-90) well-known ‘opening up’ of the country should be seen not just as a response to European expansion, but also as a continuation of the sultanate’s historical development as a state based partly on the control of trade. It is further argued that Mawlay Sulaymān and his successor Mawlay ‘Abd al-Raḥmān (r. 1822-59) essentially followed Sīdī Muḥammad’s policy. With reference to this context, the dissertation analyses the development of the Moroccan consulate in Gibraltar, including re-dating its initial establishment. The example of the consulate is also applied to reconsidering dominant assumptions about the role of religious discourse in limiting Morocco’s contact with the outside world by assessing the wider social and economic context in which it operated, specifically the growth of trade between Gibraltar and the Gharb and the related development of a group of both Jewish and Muslim Moroccan merchants who partly conducted it. The dissertation finally assesses the political importance of these trade links and commercial interests, and how they influenced the operation of power and authority in the Gharb. The overall case is presented in the context of a critique of civilisational or culturalist approaches to the study of reactions to European expansion and modernity that prioritise cultural difference between Western and, in this case, Muslim societies. It is argued that the Straits of Gibraltar – a ubiquitous symbol of the supposed dividing line between different civilisations – actually illustrate the importance of the interaction between different societies for accurately understanding their development and the agency of actors on both sides. Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:00:00 GMT http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk:80/handle/1810/225445 2009-10-12T23:00:00Z