The Red Sea from Byzantium to the Caliphate

Timothy Power

Description

An analysis from archaeological evidence describing the vital role of the Red Sea in medieval trade networks and the development of political control throughout the region with the rise of Islam
This book examines the historic process traditionally referred to as the fall of Rome and rise of Islam from the perspective of the Red Sea, a strategic waterway linking the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and a distinct region incorporating Africa with Arabia. The transition from Byzantium to the Caliphate is contextualized in the contestation of regional hegemony between Aksumite Ethiopia, Sasanian Iran, and the Islamic Hijaz. The economic stimulus associated with Arab colonization is then considered, including the foundation of ports and roads linking new metropolises and facilitating commercial expansion, particularly gold mining and the slave trade. Finally, the economic inheritance of the Fatimids and the formation of the commercial networks glimpsed in the Cairo Geniza is contextualized in the diffusion of the Abbasid 'bourgeois revolution' and resumption of the 'India trade' under the Tulunids and Ziyadids. Tim Power's careful analysis reveals the complex cultural and economic factors that provided a fertile ground for the origins of the Islamic civilization to take root in the Red Sea region, offering a new perspective on a vital period of history.
Red Sea Studies
The Chronological Parameters of Investigation
The Geographical Parameters of Investigation
The Late Roman Erythra Thalassa (ca. 325-525)
Introduction
The Formation of Late Antiquity in the Red Sea
Northern Ports and Hinterlands
Emporia and Merchants
Southern Ports and Hinterlands
Development of Commerce and Communications
Contested Hegemony (ca. 525-685)
Persian Hegemony (ca. 570-630)
Arab Hegemony (ca. 630-85)
The 'Long' Eighth Century (ca. 685-830)
Hijazi Ports and Hinterlands
Yemeni Ports and Hinterlands
Sudanese Ports and Hinterlands
The Early Islamic Bahr al-Qulzum (ca. 830-970)
Sudanese Ports and Hinterlands
Southern Ports and Hinterlands
Conclusion: The 'Long' Late Antiquity from the
Perspective of the Red Sea
Muslim Conquests and the Caliphate in the Red Sea
Legacies: Creating the World of the Cairo Geniza
Gazetteer of Sites
Bibliography of Latin, Greek, Coptic, and Syriac Sources
Bibliography of Arabic and Persian Sources
Bibliography of Secondary Literature

Sujets

• Middle Est
• Histoire
• History

Informations

• Publié par: The American University in Cairo Press
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781617973505
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published in 2012 by
The American University in Cairo Press
113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt
420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018
www.aucpress.com

Copyright © 2012 Timothy Power

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Dar el Kutub No. 11771/11
eISBN 978-1-6179-7350-5

Dar el Kutub Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Power, Timothy
      The Red Sea from Byzantium to the Caliphate AD 500–1000/ Timothy Power.—Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2012
      p. cm.
      ISBN 978 977 416 544 3
      1. Egypt—History
      932

1 2 3 4 5 16 15 14 13 12
Designed by Adam el Sehemy
For my parents
And for Lejla
Sve od lani pa evo do sada
CONTENTS

List of Maps
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations of Journal Titles
INTRODUCTION: THE CONTEXT OF STUDY
Red Sea Studies
The Chronological Parameters of Investigation
The Geographical Parameters of Investigation
1. THE LATE ROMAN ERYTHRA THALASSA (CA. 325–525)
Introduction
The Formation of Late Antiquity in the Red Sea
Northern Ports and Hinterlands
Emporia and Merchants
Southern Ports and Hinterlands
Development of Commerce and Communications
2. CONTESTED HEGEMONY (CA. 525–685)
Introduction
Ethiopian Hegemony (ca. 525–70)
Persian Hegemony (ca. 570–630)
Arab Hegemony (ca. 630–85)
3. THE ‘LONG’ EIGHTH CENTURY (CA. 685–830)
Introduction
Sinaitic Ports and Hinterlands
Hijazi Ports and Hinterlands
Yemeni Ports and Hinterlands
Sudanese Ports and Hinterlands
4. THE EARLY ISLAMIC BAHR AL-QULZUM (CA. 830–970)
Introduction
Northern Ports and Hinterlands
Sudanese Ports and Hinterlands
Southern Ports and Hinterlands
CONCLUSION: THE ‘LONG’ LATE ANTIQUITY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE RED SEA
Introduction
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in the Red Sea
Muslim Conquests and the Caliphate in the Red Sea
Legacies: Creating the World of the Cairo Geniza

Gazetteer of Sites
Notes
Bibliography
Latin, Greek, Coptic, and Syriac Sources
Arabic and Persian Sources
Secondary Literature

Index
MAPS

Map 1. Red Sea, ca. 325–525
Map 2. Byzantine Egypt
Map 3. Red Sea, ca. 525–685
Map 4. Red Sea, ca. 685–830
Map 5. Wadi al-Qura
Map 6. Darb Zubayda
Map 7. al-‘Asir
Map 8. Red Sea, ca. 830–970

All maps created by the author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

M y interest in the Red Sea region began over Christmas 2002, working as a trench supervisor for Steven Sidebotham at the Greco-Roman sites of Marsa Nakari and Wadi Sikayt, on the Red Sea coast and interior of the Eastern Desert of Egypt respectively. This work subsequently inspired my dissertation for the MPhil in Islamic Art and Archaeology at Oxford (2003–2005), which examined the evidence for an Arab presence in the late Roman Eastern Desert. I was back in the Red Sea region for Christmas 2005, working for Ed Keall at the Islamic site of Zabid in the Yemeni Tihama, where I began to sketch out the idea for a synthetic study of the Red Sea in transition between Byzantium and the caliphate. A debt of thanks is due both Sidebotham and Keall for their conversation and encouragement in these early stages.
Whether in the Eastern Desert or Yemeni Tihama, I found exploring the landscape exciting and the company of the workmen engaging—particularly the ‘Ababda tribe of the Beja people indigenous to much of the eastern Red Sea hinterland. The present book is inspired as much by an attachment to place and people as it is by any intellectual curiosity or academic ambition.
This work represents an edited version of a doctoral dissertation in Islamic Art and Archaeology undertaken at the University of Oxford and completed in June 2010. DPhil research got under way in earnest in early summer 2006. The thesis was supervised by Jeremy Johns, whose critical reading of the various drafts and insightful comments at our meetings have proved invaluable. The section on the mineral exploitation of the Arabian–Nubian Shield was examined by Andrew Wilson and Luke Treadwell. The section on the conquest period and early caliphate was examined by Chase Robinson and Adam Silverstein. The feedback provided by my supervisor and examiners was at every stage pertinent and the present text is much stronger for it.
In 2009 I began working as an archaeological consultant for the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. This has naturally led to a greater understanding of the archaeology of the Persian Gulf, providing a useful counterfoil for my study of the Red Sea. I worked closely with Peter Sheehan in the UAE, and enjoyed conversing with him in his other capacity as director of the American Research Center in Egypt excavations at the site of Babylon-in-Egypt.
Thanks are due to the organizers of the various conferences I attended while researching and writing the thesis. I gave my first paper at the third Red Sea conference convened by the Seminar for Arabian Studies, hosted by the British Museum in 2006. Further papers were delivered at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)/Collège de France-sponsored L’Occupation du territoire au proche-Orient entre les périodes byzantine et abbasside (VII e —IX e siècles) in 2007; at the CNRS-funded Ports et réseaux de commerce en mer rouge (VIIe–XVe siècles) in 2008; at the fourth Arabian Studies Red Sea conference, held at the Centre for Maritime Archaeology of the University of Southampton in 2008; at the Peoples of the Eastern Desert from Prehistory to the Present conference convened by the Netherlands–Flemish Institute in Cairo in 2008; and at the fifth Arabian Studies Red Sea conference, held at the University of Exeter in 2010. At each conference, it was a great pleasure to discuss aspects of my research and debate Red Sea studies more generally.
I must also thank those scholars who sent me offprints of articles and allowed me to see unpublished work, or who took the time to meet for coffee or write with suggestions for reading material and useful references. These include Hans Barnard, Philip Booth, John Cooper, Patricia Crone, Fred Donner, Robert Hoyland, Jeremy Johns, Derek Kennet, Michael MacDonald, Arietta Papaconstantinou, Peter Sheehan, Steve Sidebotham, Petra Sijpesteijn, Adam Silverstein, Janet Starkey, Roberta Tomber, and Luke Treadwell. I have further benefited from enthusiastic e-mail exchanges with Kristoffer Damgaard of the University of Copenhagen International Islamic Aqaba Project. I also should mention chance meetings with George Scanlon in the Rose and Crown, Oxford, and with Yuris Zarins in Salala, Oman; I appreciated their patience and enjoyed their conversation in equal measure. Finally, I would like to thank my thesis examiners—Robert Hoyland and Roberta Tomber—for their careful reading of the text and recommended corrections. Any remaining errors are my own.
ABBREVIATIONS OF JOURNAL TITLES

AAE
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
AAS
Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes
ADAJ
Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
AdÉ
Annales d’Éthiopie
AI
Archéologie islamique
AJA
American Journal of Archaeology
ASAÉ
Annales du Service des antiquités d’Égypte
BASOR
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BGA
Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum
BIFAO
Bulletin de l’Institut français d’Archéologie orientale
BSAC
Bulletin de la Société d’archéologie copte
BSOAS
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
DdA
Dossiers d’Archéologie
DSHCE
Documents pour servir à l’histoire des civilisations éthiopiennes
EA
Egyptian Archaeology
EI
Encyclopaedia of Islam
GJ
Geographical Journal
GR
Geographical Review
IC
Islamic Culture
IEJ
Israel Exploration Journal
IJMES
International Journal of Middle East Studies
JAAS
Journal of Asian and African Studies
JAH
Journal of African History
JAOS
Journal of the American Oriental Society
JARCE
Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt
JdS
Journal des Savants
JEA
Journal of Egyptian Archaeology
JES
Journal of Ethiopian Studies
JESHO
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
JIOA
Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology
JJS
Journal of Jewish Studies
JNES
Journal of Near Eastern Studies
JOS
Journal of Oman Studies
JQR
Jewish Quarterly Review
JRA
Journal of Roman Archaeology
JRAS
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
JRS
Journal of Roman Studies
JSAI
Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
JSS
Journal of Semitic