Admission requirements
Admission to (one of) the programme(s) listed under Part of in the information bar on the right.
If you are interested in taking this course, but NOT a student of (one of) the listed programme(s), please contact the Education coordinator.
Description
This course examines the daily life experience of Muslims during the first four centuries of Islamic history, when caliphs ruled from Medina, Damascus and Baghdad respectively over an area that stretched from the Atlantic coast in the west to the Hindu Kush in the east. The course focuses on Egypt, one of the Muslim empire’s most prosperous provinces. The course studies the social history of this province through the lense of a unique but largely neglected type of sources that gives unfiltered and unpolished insight into these Muslims’ society: their own private letters, administrative documents, legal deeds, and other texts written on papyrus that have been preserved today. Students will study these texts in detail (in their original language or in translation). The course has two thematic foci, each connected to a major corpus of papyrus documents. In the first block, we will start with studying Egypt as a province in the empires of the Rightly Guided caliphs, the Umayyads and the early Abbasids, discussing such themes as the Muslim conquest of Egypt, the province’s administrative organization, and taxation. In the second block, we will examine Egypt’s economic history during this period by exploring in great detail the archive of a mercantile family. This theme leads to the world of Islamic law and interregional trade networks, slavery and dependency, and poverty and charity.
The course has two connected goals: to deepen the student’s knowledge of and experience with the social and economic history of the medieval Islamicate world and to familiarise him/her with primary sources that are used for studying this history. These two academic goals are joined in the work with primary sources, such as documents, manuscripts and inscriptions, which is central to this course.
Course objectives
After completing this course, students should be able to:
conduct a small socio-historical study on a well-defined topic related to the medieval history of the Islamicate world;
find and access primary and secondary sources that are pertinent to the course’s main themes, by using specific digital tools and by other means;
mine primary sources (such as documents, coins and manuscripts) for information that is relevant for conducting a socio-historical study of the medieval Islamicate world, including by using digital tools;
critically reflect on current approaches to the subjects covered;
report on research findings orally (in-class presentation) and in writing, in accordance with the basic standards of historical scholarship.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar.
Assessment method
Assessment and weighing
The assessment consists of the following:
| Partial Assessment | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Oral presentation | 10% |
| Participation and assignments | 10% |
| Paper theme 1 (written; ca. 2,000 words) | 40% |
| Paper theme 2 (written; ca. 2,000 words) | 40% |
The papers are assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
Demonstration of knowledge and the use of primary and secondary literature;
Presentation and consistency of arguments;
Communication: number of words, language, lay-out.
The papers are written in two stages: a first version on which students will receive feedback, and a final version. Students who do not meet the deadline for the first version will lose the right to get feedback. The deadlines for submission of the first and final versions of the papers will be communicated by the convenor of the course through Brightspace.
Resit
Only if the total weighted average is insufficient (5.49 or lower) and the insufficient grade is the result of one or two insufficient papers, students are allowed to rewrite one or two papers (80%) in consultation with the convenor of the course. In that case the convener of the course will give a new deadline. A resit of the other partial assessments is not possible.
Reading list
Students should sign up before the first class on Brightspace for this course where the reading and assignment for the first class can be found. Students should bring their completed assignment to class.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory for:
MA Middle Eastern Studies students;
MA Middle Eastern Studies (research) students who opt for the Research MA version of the course.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Students from the other MA programmes listed under Part of in the information bar on the right, need to contact their study adviser for information on the enrolment procedure. After admission they will be registered by the Education Administration Office Vrieshof.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the information bar on the right.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr.
Remarks
Please note that the additional course information is an integral part of this course description.