Ritual, Politics, and the City in Fatimid CairoThis book provides an understanding of the complexities of political legitimacy in Islamic dynasties by examining Fatimid political culture in Egypt reconstructed from court rituals. The author approaches ritual as a dynamic process through which claims to political and religious authority in Islamic societies was articulated, and in which complex negotiations of power have taken place. |
Contents
Introduction FATIMID HISTORY AN OVERVIEW | 1 |
APPROACHING FATIMID RITUALS | 5 |
The Ceremonial Idiom PROTOCOLS OF RANK | 13 |
SYMBOLS OF AUTHORITY | 23 |
THE CALIPH AS CENTER | 32 |
The Ritual City | 39 |
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE RITUAL CITY | 40 |
THE ELABORATION OF THE RITUAL CITY UNDER ALAZIZ | 48 |
PERFUMING THE NILOMETER | 112 |
DATING THE NILOMETER CEREMONY | 114 |
THE URBAN RIVER | 117 |
Ceremonial as Polemic | 121 |
POPULAR CELEBRATIONS OF THE FESTIVAL OF GHADIR | 124 |
THE FESTIVAL OF GHADIR AND THE RITUAL LINGUA FRANCA | 127 |
CEREMONIAL AS POLEMIC | 129 |
Epilogue | 135 |
THE INTEGRATION OF FUSTAT INTO THE RITUAL CITY | 52 |
THE RESTORATION OF ALAMIR AND THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE RITUAL CITY | 67 |
Politics Power and Administration The New Years Ceremony | 83 |
IBN ALTUW AYRS DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW YEAR | 87 |
THE NEGOTIATION OF POWER IN THE NEW YEARS PROCESSION | 94 |
The Urban River THE HIGHWAYMAN OF EGYPT AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION | 99 |
NOTES | 139 |
| 203 | |
Tabbanin Gate | 213 |
| 217 | |
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Common terms and phrases
al-'Aziz al-Afḍal al-Amir al-Hafiz al-Hakim al-Maqrīzī al-Mu'izz al-mulk al-Musabbiḥī al-Qāḍī al-Zahir Allāh amirs arbāb army audience hall authority bāb Badr banquet Buyid Cairo and Fustat celebration chief qadi costume court dār dinars dismounted dynasty Egypt entourage eunuchs Fast Breaking Fatimid caliph Fatimid ceremonial Fatimid period Festival Gate Festival of Fast Festival of Ghadir Friday prayer Fustat Gate Ghadir Khumm Goitein gold Himma homage horses Ibid Ibn al-Ma'mun Ibn al-Ṭuwayr Ibn Ammar imam insignia of sovereignty Islamic Isma'ili Itti Itti'āz Khițat khutba kissed the ground kiswa Kitāb Kutāma late Fatimid Mamluk Medieval Mediterranean Society minbar Miṣr Mosque Mosque of Amr mounted Muḥammad muḥannak eunuchs muṣalla Muslim Nilometer Nizārī officials palace parade parasol political Prophet protocol qadi Ramaḍān rank reign religious ritual city robe of honor rode Rusum Sacrificial Festival ṣāḥib salute sermon Shi'i ṣibyān Sitt al-mulk Şubḥ sword symbols Tāj takbir Tayyibi tion troops turban wazir Year's procession