The 23rd Arabic Papyrology Webclass: A Papyrological Circular Economy: Recycling Arabic Documents (Winter Term 2024/25)

Permanent link to the Arabic Papyrology Webclass: http://www.naher-osten.lmu.de/apw.

For the Arabic Papyrology Workshop in September 2024, have a look at http://www.naher-osten.lmu.de/apwork.

General Description

• Not infrequently, the life cycle of pre-modern documents did not end with their primary use. Quite on the contrary, old and discarded texts were often mined for scrap paper to be put to a variety of uses – ranging from writing material for new texts to toilet paper. The reuse of documents not only speaks to the economic considerations that accompanied the use of papyrus and other writing materials but also offers important clues for disclosing the wider social environment in which texts were produced, circulated and, eventually, recycled.
• Over the course of the webinar, participants will be introduced to the philological and methodological rudiments of Arabic Papyrology and will familiarize themselves with the relevant tools and Digital Humanities initiatives.
• Through selected case studies, this webinar examines the various ways in which Arabic documents were recycled both for writing purposes and for other ends. In addition to deciphering and interpreting original texts, we will explore the relation between the first and further uses of the examined documents as window into the ‘biography’ of Arabic papyri.

Mode

• This is an on-line webclass. Scans of documents will be made accessible in advance.
• Communication will be in English. 

Lecturer 

• Dr. Eugenio Garosi,Radboud University Nijmegen, Department of History, Art History and Classics.

Time

• Monday, 6:00 - 8:00 PM (Central European Time); time might be changed, if all participants agree.
• 21 October 2024 - 3 February 2025; no teaching on 30 December and 6 January.

Certificate

• A certificate of participation will be given if students have attended at least twelve meetings and if they have met the expectations as defined at the beginning of the semester.
• The Arabic Papyrology Webclass forms part of the Webinar Initiative in Islamic Material Culture (https://www.islamic-material-culture.uni-hamburg.de). 

Participants

• MA and PhD students in Arabic and in Near Eastern Studies; scholars interested in Arabic documents; persons in charge of Arabic manuscript and document collections, etc. 

Fees

• 250 Euro or an equivalent amount of working time.
• No fees for students of Near and Middle Eastern Studies at LMU Munich, Universität Bonn, Universität Hamburg, and New York University.

Technical Issues

• Technical problems arising during the semester that prevent students from attending the class are the students’ own responsibility; therefore, missed classes will not be substituted. However, if a technical event prevents all students from participating, the class will be substituted. Further information and registration

Further Information and Registration

• Please send an informal message to e.garosi91 at gmail.com, with name, academic affiliation, current position and interest.
• Register until 30 September 2024. The webclass usually fills up quickly.

Further Readings

• Bauden, Frédéric. “The Recovery of Mamluk Chancery Documents in an Unsuspected Place”. In The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society, ed. Winter, Michael and Levanoni, Amalia, Leiden: Brill, 2004, 59–76.
• Delattre, Alain. “La réutilisation des protocoles aux époques byzantine et arabe”. In Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Papyrology, Helsinki, 1‒7 August, 2004, ed. Jaakko Frösen, Tiina Purola, and Erja Salmenkivi, Helsinki: Societas Scientarum Fennica, 2007, 215‒220.
• Grohmann, Adolf, From the World of Arabic papyri. Cairo: Al-Maaref Press. 1952.
• Hirschler, Konrad. “Books Within Books: The Link Between Damascene Reuse Fragments and the Qubbat al-Khazna”. In The Damascus Fragments: Towards a History of the Qubbat al-khazna Corpus of Manuscripts and Documents, ed. Arianna D'Ottone, Konrad Hirschler, and Ronny Vollandt, Würzburg: Ergon, 2020, 439–473.
• Rustow, Marina. The Lost Archive: Traces of a Caliphate in a Cairo Synagogue. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020.
• Vandorpe, Katelijn. “Archives and Dossiers”, In The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology, ed. Roger S. Bagnall, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 216–255.

Former webclasses

• 1: Letters from Quṣayr, by Andreas Kaplony (Fall Term 2007)
• 2: Early Letters [from the Yale Collection], by Andreas Kaplony (Spring Term 2008)
• 3: Arabic Contracts of Renting and Buying Real Estate, by Andreas Kaplony(Fall Term 2008)
• 4: Bilingual Greek and Arabic Documents, by Andreas Kaplony and Raffaele Luiselli, Florence (Spring Term 2009)
• 5: Petitions to and Letters from Mamluk Officials, by Andreas Kaplony (Fall Term 2009)
• 6: Authentification Procedures on Arabic Coins, Seals and Letters from Mamluk Officials, by Andreas Kaplony and Lutz Ilisch, Tübingen (Spring Term 2010)
• 7: Documentary Evidence on Childhood, by Andreas Kaplony (Fall Term 2010)
• 8: Lists, Registers, Accounts, by Andreas Kaplony (Summer Term 2011)
• 9: Documents from al-Andalus, by Andreas Kaplony (Winter Term 2011/12)
• 10: Documents from Edfu, by Andreas Kaplony (Winter Term 2012/13)
• 11: Documents from the Berlin Collection, by Andreas Kaplony (Winter Term 2013/14)
• 12: Documents on Rural Egypt, by Andreas Kaplony (Summer Term)
• 13: Petitions on Paper, by Andreas Kaplony (Winter Term 2014/15)
• 14: Documents on Marriage and Divorce, by Andreas Kaplony (Winter Term/16)
• 15: Papyrus Letters from Umayyad and Abbasid Egypt, by Andreas Kaplony (Summer Term 2017)
• 16: Arabic Documents Referring to Jerusalem, by Andreas Kaplony (Summer Term 2018)
• 17: Merchants, Mules, and Misunderstandings: Commercial Letters on Papyrus and Paper, by Ursula Bsees (Summer Term 2020)
• 18: Formal Types and Paleographical Features of Arabic Documents, by Eugenio Garosi (Summer Term 2021)
• 19: A Society in Transition: Property and Law in Arabic Documents from Toledo (11th-14th Centuries), by Rocio Daga Portillo and Andreas Kaplony (Winter Term 2021/22)
• 20: Reading Documents from Rural Fayyūm, by Andreas Kaplony (Winter Term 2022/23)
• 21: Emotions and Legal Norms in Christian and Islamic Legal Documents: Women and Families Through the Prism of Legal Practice, by Rocio Daga Portillo (Summer Term 2023)
• 22: Lending and Borrowing in Fatimid Egypt, by Leonora Sonego (Winter Term 2023/24)