IFAO

What is interesting for us in this work is to understand the true meaning of the princely city through the Raqqāda model. In this context, we have conducted research using various Orientalist and Arab studies. It is clear from these studies that these royal or princely cities are divided into two categories, or possibly even three. Raqqāda, is one of the two princely cities that were founded in Ifrīqiya during the Aghlabid dynasty. The other is the city of al-ʿAbbāsiyya. The importance of Raqqāda lies in the fact that it constitutes a transitional point and a passage from the palace-villa to the palace-city, and from the open princely city to the closed princely city. This is what we have seen by navigating between historical texts and archaeological data. Raqqāda was not destroyed by the Normans, but by the severe vandalism of the Banū Hilāl. Nevertheless, there are still some archaeological traces that reflect the princely and royal character of this city, and show that its architecture has mixed the ancient heritage with the oriental influences.

إنّ الغاية التي نروم تحقيقها من خلال هذا العمل هو معرفة معنى المدينة الأميرية من خلال نموذج رقادة، ومن هذا المنطلق قمنا بالبحث عنه في مختلف البحوث والدراسات الاستشراقية والعربية. والواضح من خلال هذه الدراسات أنّ هذه المدن الملكية أو الأميرية هي على نوعين أو ثلاثة. ورقادة هي إحدى المدينتين الأميريتين اللّتين تأسّستا في إفريقية في العصر الأغلبي، والأخرى هي مدينة العبّاسيّة. إنّ أهمية رقادة تكمن في كونها تمثل نقطة عبور وتحوّل من القصر-فيلا (الضيعة) إلى القصر-المدينة، ومن المدينة الأميرية المفتوحة إلى المدينة الأميرية المغلقة. هذا ما توصلنا اليه من خلال المراوحة بين النصوص التاريخية والمعطيات الأثرية.

Documents from the Ḥaram Šarīf are considered to be among the most important historical sources from the Mamluk Jerusalem society because they provide much documentary evidence covering all aspects of life in this community during that era. Among the most important documents included in this collection; documents on the cases of marriage and divorce in the community of Jerusalem. The document being studied (No. 646) belongs to this group, and includes two marriage contracts and two divorce contracts for a former slave named Zumurrud, who lived in Jerusalem at the end of the 8th century of the Islamic calendar/14th century. Since the case of Zumurrud is one of the few cases of the lower classes that can trace a large part of its family history thanks to the existence of this document, which includes marriage and divorce contracts, in addition to another document registering a third marriage for her, this study attempts to discuss the case of Zumurrud through the publication and discussion of document 646, which appears to be rich in details revealing important aspects of the life of women in Jerusalem during the Mamluk era.

Ostrich eggs held great importance among the Arabs before Islam. Their importance also continued after the emergence of Islam, with various uses such as hanging them in religious establishments like mosques, mosuleums or civil buildings such as houses. The eggs were decorated in different ways: inscriptions, paintings and multi-level engravings on their surfaces. These decorations made them valuable gifts for Kings and Caliphs. In this paper, I am studying Ostrich eggs on different levels, from their functional uses to their religious aspects. I am relying on Egyptian museums’ collections which contain unpublished Ostrich eggs. I am also using historical sources which provide important information that has not yet been taken into account.

Le site de Douch n’avait jamais été fouillé lorsque Serge Sauneron, directeur de l’Ifao, y engagea des travaux en 1976, afin de désensabler le secteur du temple du Haut-Empire romain. Avant d’atteindre ses sols dallés, les fouilles ont mis au jour plusieurs niveaux d’occupation du Bas-Empire. Ces campagnes et les suivantes, jusqu’en 1994, ont révélé l’existence d’édifices antérieurs à l’époque romaine comme, sous le temple, un sanctuaire ptolémaïque en brique, ainsi que d’autres édifices encore plus anciens, remontant à l’époque perse ou même au-delà. L’historique des travaux archéologiques est suivi par six chapitres sur l’architecture des édifices du secteur : les enceintes et leurs portes, les cours et leurs aménagements, le temple et son porche à colonnes, la chapelle adossée liée à une faille du terrain, probablement lieu de culte primitif. Le texte est abondamment illustré par des relevés en plans, coupes et élévations. L’examen de détails de construction a permis d’établir la succession chronologique des édifices, d’expliquer des anomalies ou de restituer des parties détruites. La datation des principaux édifices en brique et de leurs remaniements est due à Michel Wuttmann qui, de 2007 à 2011, a fait prélever et analyser par radiocarbone des végétaux extraits des murs. Ces nouveaux repères chronologiques autorisent à proposer, dans le dernier chapitre, des restitutions en plan et en perspective des états successifs du sanctuaire, de l’époque perse au Bas-Empire romain.

The site of Douch had never been excavated at the time Serge Sauneron, director of the IFAO, began de-sanding the area of the temple of the early Roman Empire in 1976. Before reaching the paved floors, the excavations revealed several levels of occupation under the Late Roman Empire. These campaigns and those subsequent, up until 1994, revealed the existence of several buildings preceding Roman times, such as a Ptolemaic brick sanctuary beneath the temple and other even older buildings, at the least dating back to the Persian time. The history of the archaeological works is followed by six chapters on the architecture of the buildings in the area: the enclosures and their doors, the courtyards and their fittings, the temple and its column porch, the chapel attached to a fault in the ground, probably a place of primitive worship. The text is amply illustrated with maps, sections and elevations. Examination of the construction details enabled to determine the chronological succession of the buildings, and to explain some anomalies or to restitute some of the parts destroyed. The dating of the main brick buildings and their remodeling was possible thanks to Michel Wuttmann who, from 2007 to 2011, had plants extracted from the walls, which were then collected and analyzed by radiocarbon. These new chronological markers allow to propose, in the last chapter, some restitutions of the successive states of the sanctuary in plan and perspective, from the Persian period to the Late Roman Empire.

Le monnayage de l’Égypte ancienne est-il si original ? Après son adoption tardive au ve siècle av. J.-C., en argent d’abord, puis en or et en bronze, la monnaie s’est diffusée dans le pays alors que les Ptolémées instauraient un système monétaire fermé. Elle est rapidement devenue un objet de la vie quotidienne, utilisée aussi bien par les pauvres que par les riches, bien que dans des cadres différents. D’un côté, la production, l’iconographie et la circulation de ces pièces offrent de précieux éléments de compréhension sur leur rôle dans la société ; de l’autre, les textes fournissent de nombreuses données sur leur utilisation dans les banques, pour le prélèvement des taxes ou pour des prêts. Ce livre réunit ces informations pour produire une vision plus étendue de l’utilisation de la monnaie de l’époque perse aux premiers temps de l’Islam. Quelques incursions en dehors du pays permettent également de replacer les données égyptiennes dans le cadre plus général du bassin méditerranéen et de questionner ce qui a été décrit comme L’exception égyptienne.

What makes Egyptian coinage so special? After its late adoption in the 5th century BC, first silver, then gold and then bronze coins, spread over the country as the Ptolemies imposed a closed monetary system. It soon became an everyday life object, used by the poor and the wealthy, though for different purposes. On one side, the production, the iconography and the circulation of coins are precious to understand their status in the society; on the other side, texts give numerous data on its use in the banks, for tax, for loans. This book aims at reuniting this data to offer a broader view of the use of coinage from the Persian Period to the beginning of Islam. Some insights from outside Egypt enable comparison of this data with other places, to rethink the position of coinage in Egypt, and to question what has been described as L’exception égyptienne.

L’ouvrage présente l’édition commentée de quatre testaments écrits sur papyrus, datés du viie siècle apr. J.-C., et émanant des supérieurs d’un monastère de Haute Égypte, le monastère de Saint-Phoibammôn, situé sur la rive gauche de Thèbes. Utilisant la forme du testament de droit privé, les supérieurs lèguent à leur successeur la direction spirituelle du monastère en même temps que la propriété de ses biens et son administration. Les implications de ce dossier sont à la fois juridiques – dans quelle mesure ces documents sont-ils conformes au modèle offert par le droit byzantin ? –, historiques – les testaments apportent des éclairages nouveaux sur l’histoire du monastère de Saint-Phoibammôn, qui fut un important centre de vie ascétique au viie siècle et la résidence de l’évêque Abraham d’Hermonthis, son fondateur –, et linguistiques – il s’agit d’un dossier bilingue, le premier testament étant en grec et les trois suivants en copte, ce qui permet d’étudier les processus de traduction d’une langue à l’autre, et de s’interroger sur le statut du copte comme langue juridique. Cet ensemble est unique car il offre la possibilité d’étudier le même type de documents, provenant du même endroit, rédigés dans deux langues différentes, et condensés sur une période chronologique relativement courte (moins d’un siècle).

The present book contains the edition and commentary of four wills written on papyrus which date back to the 7th century CE, drawn up by the superiors of the monastery of Saint Phoibammon in Upper Egypt, located on the left bank in Thebes. By way of a private will, the superiors bequeath to their successor the spiritual leadership of the monastery as well as the property of its goods and its management. This dossier has implications of various sorts: legal – to what extent are these documents in accordance with the model of Byzantine law? –, historical – the wills bring new elements on the history of the Saint Phoibammon monastery which was an important centre of ascetic life in the 7th century and where its founder, the bishop Abraham of Hermonthis, lived –, linguistic – it is a bilingual dossier, as the first will is written in Greek and the following three in Coptic, thus allowing to study the translation process and to ponder on the legal status of the Coptic language. This is a unique collection of documents because it enables the study of the same kind of document, coming from the same place, written in two different languages, and dating from a relatively short period of time (less than a century).The present book contains the edition and commentary of four wills written on papyrus which date back to the 7th century CE, drawn up by the superiors of the monastery of Saint Phoibammon in Upper Egypt, located on the left bank in Thebes. By way of a private will, the superiors bequeath to their successor the spiritual leadership of the monastery as well as the property of its goods and its management. This dossier has implications of various sorts: legal – to what extent are these documents in accordance with the model of Byzantine law? –, historical – the wills bring new elements on the history of the Saint Phoibammon monastery which was an important centre of ascetic life in the 7th century and where its founder, the bishop Abraham of Hermonthis, lived –, linguistic – it is a bilingual dossier, as the first will is written in Greek and the following three in Coptic, thus allowing to study the translation process and to ponder on the legal status of the Coptic language. This is a unique collection of documents because it enables the study of the same kind of document, coming from the same place, written in two different languages, and dating from a relatively short period of time (less than a century).

Today, for anyone attempting to establish and update a list of available Arab music archives, the task would not only require the standard work in libraries and archives (both public and especially private) but also taking a fresh look at digital resources. Recently, the web has been used by new heritage preservation entrepreneurs who share common practices, even though they deal with different kinds of music (modern and classical Arab music). This paper traces the history of a set of websites that digitized and spread Arab music which was rarely listened to before the 2000s, except within certain limited circles (on both the social and national levels). Similarly, these websites made a substantial contribution to increasing the availability of well-known songs, since at that time they were almost impossible to find through legal or official channels. This paper aims at identifying this social space (as well as its inner divisions), but also at putting forward tools to analyze the daily practices around these archives, including a type of “bootleg heritage preservation” that they reveal.

On Western Assiut Mountain, the joint expedition of Sohag University, Egypt, Gutenberg University (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) and Berlin University (Freie Universität Berlin), Germany, discovered many kinds of Islamic earthenware and ­pottery, glazed and unglazed earthenware, painted, overlaid ceramics, uni-color glazed ­ceramics, ceramics imitating the art of the Tang Dynasty, Chinese porcelain and imitations thereof. A great deal of research has been conducted on the objects found. This study is part of a series by the author on the Islamic pottery objects discovered on Western Assiut Mountain. Twenty-five fine, Mamluk glazed earthenware objects discovered there are published in the study, indicating the existence of this kind of Mamluk glazed earthenware on Western Assiut Mountain and examining these objects as regards to where they were excavated, their material, their dimensions, their painting and decoration styles, their colors and the kind of decoration thereon, including plant and geometric designs as well as inscriptions. The study also compares these decorations to those found on other artistic pieces from the Mamluk period.

The main purpose of this paper is to edit and study a unique unknown decree of al-Ġūrī (1501‑1516 AD). The document is of great importance for the Diplomatics and History disciplines; especially the Mamluk Studies. This decree has special features that allow us to elaborate the minutes of drafting such documents, and how to use it in writing history. However, the diplomatical study (description of the document, its history at the host archive, and the detailed study of its form and context) showed significant aspects of its content and circumstances. On the other hand, the text sheds more light in al‑Ġūrī era, and the history of the churches, monasteries, and the Coptic community at whole.

Ce volume regroupe plusieurs études concernant le matériel le plus caractéristique découvert dans le secteur des galeries-magasins du site d’Ayn Soukhna (publié en 2016 dans le précédent ouvrage de cette série). Nous présentons successivement la totalité des inscriptions qui ont été relevées au cours de la fouille de cette zone en apportant des compléments à celles qui ont, en raison de leur importance historique, déjà été signalées, et en étudiant l’ensemble des petits objets inscrits de différentes périodes mis au jour. Une étude spécifique a également été consacrée à l’exceptionnel dépôt de couteaux de silex de l’Ancien Empire recueillis dans l’entrée de la galerie G1. L’analyse de près d’une centaine d’objets utilitaires en pierre (meules, polissoirs, aiguisoirs, enclumes) est ensuite proposée ici, avec la détermination de l’utilisation précise de l’ensemble de ce matériel. Un chapitre est par ailleurs consacré aux poulies sèches et tenons découverts à proximité des galeries, qui pourraient être des éléments de gréement des embarcations ayant été utilisées sur le site. Enfin, deux études sont consacrées l’une aux restes fauniques – qui donnent un aperçu de la consommation alimentaire au temps des expéditions pharaoniques – l’autre à des centaines de fragments de creusets découverts dans cette zone, qui correspondent à une activité métallurgique datée du début du Moyen Empire.

This volume gathers several studies concerning the most characteristic material discovered in the system of storage caves of the site of Ayn Soukhna (following the archeological report published in 2016 in a previous book). We present successively all the inscriptions which were found during the excavation of this sector, by adding complements to those which, because of their historical importance, have already been at least partially published, and by studying all the inscribed objects of various periods brought to light. A specific study was also devoted to the exceptional batch of Old Kingdom flint knives collected in the entrance to the G1 gallery. The analysis of nearly one hundred utilitary stone objects is then proposed here, with the determination of the precise use of all this material.

A chapter is also devoted to dry pulleys and tenons discovered near the galleries, which could be rigging elements of the boats that were used on the site. Finally, two studies are devoted one to faunal remains – which give an insight into food consumption by pharaonic teams during expeditions – the other to hundreds of fragments of crucibles found in this area, which correspond to a metallurgical activity dated to the early Middle Kingdom.