Merchants, Mules, and Misunderstandings: Commercial Letters on Papyrus and Paper (summer term 2020)

Though basically dealing with the exchange of goods and sums of money, commercial letters record communication that touches on various aspects: complaints about insufficient quality, strategies for achieving a higher price at the market, as well as advice to deputy traders about business in the addressee’s absence all appear in documents from 8th-16th century Egypt. We will explore different issues merchants faced, as well as get acquainted with the goods most commonly traded according to Arabic documentary texts.

We will read unpublished documents and apply new ways to display their formal side best. And we will discuss recents scholarship.

Among the required readings are:

Diem, Werner: Arabische Geschäftsbriefe des 10. bis 14. Jahrhunderts aus der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien (Documenta Arabica antiqua 1) , Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 1995.

Guo, Li: Commerce, Culture, and Community in a Red Sea Port in the Thirteenth Century: The Arabic Documents from Quseir (Islamic History and Civilization 52) , Leiden: Brill 2004.

Reinfandt, Lucian: "Leinenhändler im Herakleopolites in arabischer Zeit: P.Vindob. A.P. 15021 (PERF 576)", BASP 44 (2007), 97-123.

Sijpesteijn, Petra M.: "Travel and Trade on the River", in: Sijpesteijn, Petra M. and Sundelin, Lennart (eds.), Papyrology and the History of Early Islamic Egypt (Islamic History and Civilization v. 55), Leiden 2004, 115-152.

Younes, Khaled M.: "Textile Trade between the Fayyūm and Fustāt in the IIIrd/IXthe Century According to the Banū'Abd al-Mu'min Archive", in: Regourd, Anne (ed.), Documents et histoire: Islam, VIIe - XVIe siècle ; actes des premières journées d'étude internationales École Pratique des Hautes Études, IVe Section Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts de l'Islam, Paris 16 et 17 mai 2008 (École Pratique des Hautes Études, IVe Section, Sciences Historiques et Philologiques / 2 5), Geneva 2013, 313-334.

The syllabus will be made available to the participants by the lecturer.

This webinar is open to MA and PhD students in Arabic and Near Eastern Studies, scholars interested in Arabic documents, persons in charge of Arabic manuscript collection, etc.

For further information and registration, please write an informal message to ursula.bsees"AT"lmu.de. Give name, academic affiliation, current position and interest. Register until April 6, 2020. 

Participants need a computer (download), internet access, and a headset. Technical problems showing up during the semester that prevent a student from attending the class are subject to his or her own responsibility; therefore, missed classes will not be substituted. However, if a technical event prevents all students from participating, the class will be substituted. New participants will have a personal preparatory meeting, to adjust technical assets.
Documents to be read and papers to be discussed will be made accessible in advance. Communication will be in English.

For this webinar, a fee of 250 Euro or equivalent amount of working time is charged. Fees are expected to be paid before the semester starts. No fees for students of Near and Middle Eastern Studies at LMU München, Universität Bonn, Universität Hamburg, and New York University.

A certificate of participation will be given if the student has attended at least ten meetings and if he or she has met the expectances as defined at the beginning of the semester.

For further information, please visit wesite of The Arabic Papyrology Webclass.