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

21 October 2024

Photo: Khaled Younes

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

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.
  Registration until 30 September 2024 or untill fill up. (Places are still available)

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.

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