Recently, our postdoctoral researcher, Noëmie Lucas, spent a few days in Paris for research, visiting the BULAC library and meeting with colleagues. Every researcher knows how isolating research can be—endless days in libraries sifting through sources, archives, and books, or hours spent staring at a computer screen reading and writing. Fortunately, funded projects, like those supported by the ERC, enable us to work as part of a team, sharing thoughts, doubts, and questions during daily or weekly group meetings. Moreover, these grants allow us to travel, meet fellow scholars, and access resources unavailable at our home institutions.
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Recently, our postdoctoral researcher Eline Scheerlinck dedicated a week to research at the library of the Papyrological Institute at Leiden University in the Netherlands. One of the primary objectives of the Caliphal Finances project is to examine all fiscal documents from the Abbasid period that have been previously edited by scholars, encompassing texts in Arabic, Greek, and Coptic. These papyrological editions are frequently published in highly specialised book series and journals, which are not always accessible, even in well-endowed university libraries such as the University of Edinburgh, where our project is based.
The sixteenth Conference of the School of Abbasid Studies (SAS) took place in Venice from July 9th to 13th. I (Noëmie Lucas) was among the participants. I presented my research on fiscal-related narratives with a focus on the case study of ʿUmar b. Mihrān.
On Monday, July 1st, Noëmie Lucas participated in the 2024 International Medieval Congress (IMC) held in Leeds, presenting her research on fiscal revolts in a double panel organized by the SCORE team. She also chaired the second panel, contributing to a highly productive afternoon of presentations and discussions on revolts and rebellions in the Islamic world and their connection to crises.
The University of Edinburgh hosted the 8th International Conference of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean (SMM) from June 24 to 27, 2024. The conference theme was “Being Human: Rhythms, Actions, Interactions in the Medieval Mediterranean.”
Earlier this week, team member Eline Scheerlinck spent three days in the Manuscripts Reading Room of Cambridge University Library, studying Coptic papyri that are part of the library’s collections. Eline will be editing the papyri together with Manchester-based Coptic papyrologist Jennifer Cromwell, who also founded the blog Papyrus Stories. The Coptic papyri in question were part of the working archive of Egyptologist Herbert Thompson (1859-1944) and entered Cambridge University Library in 2012 and 2014. Read the whole story below!
From May 26 to 28, the Caliphal Finances team had the pleasure of hosting Cecilia Palombo, Assistant Professor of Early Islamic History at the University of Chicago.
In April this year, two of our team members, PhD student Dalia Hussein and postdoctoral researcher Eline Scheerlinck, visited the papyrus collection of the Austrian National Library in Vienna. We spent a week studying dozens of Arabic, Coptic, and Greek papyrus and paper documents from the fiscal administration of Abbasid Egypt.
To share our ongoing work on the project, test hypotheses, learn more about the work of researchers on taxation and the history of the period we are studying, and compare our findings with other areas or periods, we regularly invite colleagues to join us for a few days of discussion and collaboration. Over the past years (2022-2023), we have had the great pleasure of welcoming the following scholars:
In March 2023, part of our team traveled to Egypt to participate in the Ninth international Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP) Conference, held at Fayyum University from March 6 to March 9. Our PI Marie Legendre, who was part of the Board of Directors (and is now President of ISAP) and Dalia Hussein presented a joint paper entitled “The taxation and ownership of land in the Abbasid countryside: simple questions?” in the panel devoted to Taxes chaired by Yossi Rapoport. To see the complete programme: Click Here
