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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010237299 | HQ1170 C78 2006 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
This first full-length study of women and the Fatimids is a groundbreaking work investigating an unexplored area in the field of Islamic and medieval studies.The authors have unearthed a wealth of references to women, thus re-inscribing their role in the history of one of the most fascinating Islamic dynasties, the only one to be named after a woman. At last some light is thrown on the erstwhile silent and shadowy figures of women under the Fatimids which gives them a presence in the history of women in medieval and pre-modern dynasties.Basing their research on a variety of sources from historical works to chronicles, official correspondence, documentary sources and archaeological findings, the authors have provided a richly informative analysis of the status and influence of women in this period. Their contribution is explored first within the context of Isma'ili and Fatimid genealogical history, and then within the courts in their roles as mothers, courtesans, wives and daughters, and as workers and servants. Throughout the book comparison is drawn with the status and roles of women in earlier, contemporary and subsequent Islamic as well as non-Islamic courts.
Author Notes
Delia Cortese is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at Middlesex University. Author of Arabic Ismaili Manuscripts (I. B. Tauris, 2002), Ismaili and Other Arabic Manuscripts (I. B. Tauris, 2000) and (with Simonetta Calderini) Mauritania (Clio Press, 1992).
Simonetta Calderini is Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Roehampton University, London, and is the author of several articles and chapters on medieval Ismaili and Islamic studies. She recently contributed to the volume by Petr Fiala, et al, Religious and political authority in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (CDK 2004) and to J. D. McAuliffe (ed.), Encyclopedia of the Qur'an (2003).
Reviews 1
Choice Review
In this excellent addition to the scholarship of both medieval Islamic history and gender history, Cortese (religious studies, Middlesex Univ.) and Calderini (Islamic studies, Roehampton Univ.) set out to "reinscribe" women into "the social history of the Fatimid era" (909-1171). Through a careful reading of primary source material, they present a convincing new picture of Ismaili and Fatimid history. The book discusses the role of women in pre-Fatimid Ismaili religious movements, their role in producing testimony, their life inside the Fatimid court, and their daily life in the major Fatimid cities, especially Cairo. Cortese and Calderini make an effort to address working women and slaves outside of the palace as well as the women of the court, although their source material limits them to some extent in this respect (their major focus is on aristocratic women such as Sitt al-Mulk, the sister of the imam-caliph al-Hakim.) Overall, however, their mapping of women's history onto "classical" Fatimid history is compelling. The one gap in their analysis is the absence of any explicit engagement with the larger fields of gender history or gender studies, apart from a brief mention in the introductory chapter. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. R. A. Miller University of Massachusetts Boston
