Historical documentation and archaeological material have revealed that the泭Fatimids泭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泭Lgypte fatimide: son art et son histoire泭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 Bild泭硃梭-釦堯櫻鳥The mediaeval region of Syria, today comprising Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel., Egypt,泭Ifr蘋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) 幛硃喧勳鳥勳餃泭嗨硃尪滄硃泭硃紳餃泭嗨櫻尪蘋s泭– Part 1
4)泭幛硃喧勳鳥勳餃泭嗨硃尪滄硃泭硃紳餃泭嗨櫻尪蘋s泭– 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:泭Dr Olly Akkerman, Freie Universit瓣t Berlin;泭Dr Miriam Al穩-de-Unzaga, independent scholar;泭Dr Omar Al穩-de-Unzaga, 敁珗曄部;泭Dr Ali Asgar H Alibhai, University of Texas at Dallas;泭Dr Khalil Andani, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL;泭Dr Dina Ishak Bakhoum, independent scholar;泭Dr Mathew Barber,泭Aga Khan泭惚紳勳措梗娶莽勳喧聆;泭Dr Daniel Beben, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan;泭Professor Doris Behrens-Abouseif, professor emerita;泭Dr Gregory Bilotto, Saint Marys University, London;泭Dr Fozia Bora, University of Leeds;泭Professor Anna Contadini, SOAS;泭Dr Delia Cortese, Middlesex University;泭Dr Farhad Daftary, 敁珗曄部;泭Dr Maria de Cillis, 敁珗曄部;泭Dr Steven Gertz, Georgetown University;泭Dr Val矇rie Gonzalez, SOAS;泭Dr Shiraz Hajiani, Emerson College, Boston, MA;泭Dr Sumaiya Hamdani, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA;泭Dr Shainool Jiwa, 敁珗曄部;泭Dr Hasan al-Khoee, 敁珗曄部;泭Professor Dr Verena Klemm, University of Leipzig;泭Dr Ayala Lester, curator emerita;泭Professor Yaacov Lev, professor emeritus;泭Dr Anna McSweeny, Trinity College, Dublin;泭Professor Bernard OKane, American University in Cairo;泭Dr泭Simon OMeara, SOAS;泭Dr Marcus Pilz,泭Veste Coburg Art Collections;泭Dr Daryoush Mohammad Poor, 敁珗曄部;泭Professor St矇phane Pradines,泭Aga Khan泭惚紳勳措梗娶莽勳喧聆;泭Dr Jennifer A Pruitt, University of Wisconsin-Madison;泭Dr Aslisho Qurboniev,泭Aga Khan泭惚紳勳措梗娶莽勳喧聆;泭Professor Yossef Rapoport, Queen Mary University, London;泭Professor Marina Rustow, Princeton University;泭Professor Paula Sanders, Rice University, Houston, TX;泭Professor Ayman Fuad泭Sayyid(pl. sda/asyd) Arabic term for lord or master. 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;泭Professor Avinoam Shalem, Columbia University;泭Dr Fahmida Suleman, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto;泭Dr Yasser Tabbaa, independent scholar;泭Dr Jamel Velji, Claremont McKenna College, CA;泭Professor Shafique N Virani, University of Toronto;泭Professor Paul E Walker, University of Chicago;泭Dr Gregory Williams, independent scholar.
Cover image:泭泭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.
