Scholars of the medieval Near East are sometimes heard to complain of the paucity of documentary and archival evidence available to them. Yet, for early Islamic Egypt (7th-10th centuries) this can hardly be said to be the case. Beginning with Silvestre de Sacy's publication of Arabic papyri in the first half of the 19th century, thousands of documents from this period have come to light. Found throughout Upper and Middle Egypt by farmers, archaeological excavators, and treasure hunters, these texts include Arabic, Coptic, and Greek documents written on papyrus, parchment, cloth, paper, bone, leather, and ostraca, not to mention the Cairo Geniza documents, the considerable epigraphic evidence from architectural contexts and funerary stelae, as well as coins, seals, and inscribed weights.
While a considerable number of these texts have been edited and published, including several important contributions in recent years, there have been few efforts on the part of historians to fully exploit this evidence in their reconstructions of the social, economic, and administrative history of early Islamic Egypt. Furthermore, as of yet there have been no opportunities for scholars from all the relevant disciplines to meet and collaborate. It is hoped that this conference will bring together those involved in the editing and conservation of texts in all three languages (Arabic, Coptic, and Greek), as well as historians using the documentary evidence in their own research on Egypt during the first four centuries after the Arab Conquest.
CONFERENCE FORMAT: The Conference will include 1) text workshops; 2) sessions for the presentation of 15-minute papers; and 3) evening lectures at local research institutes. Although the "official language" of the conference is English, papers and workshops may be given in English, French, German, or Arabic.
TEXT WORKSHOPS: These workshops will focus on a single text, or group of texts, to be circulated in advance. The texts used may be in any of the languages of the documentary sources relevant to the history of early Islamic Egypt (Greek, Coptic, or Arabic). A translation of the text should also be circulated to allow for the widest possible participation. The presenter will have the first thirty minutes to introduce the text and its problems, and then the remaining hour will be spent in discussion.
PAPER SESSIONS: These ninety-minute sessions will feature the reading of three or four 15-minute papers, to be followed by questions and discussion. While the topics addressed need not focus exclusively on documentary evidence, it is expected that documentary sources will be an integral and substantive part of the presentation.
EVENING LECTURES: Evening lectures followed by receptions will be held at the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) and at the Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale du Caire (IFAO). These lectures will need to be given in the language of the host institute (English or French) and should take into consideration the interests of the wider community of scholars attached to those institutes.
PROPOSALS: Proposals for papers and workshops should be no longer than 3 pages in length and should be sent before 1 November 2001 via email to sundelin@princeton.edu: . It would be helpful to also include a CV or a note about past and current research in this field. If your presentation will require audio-visual equipment of any kind, please describe what is needed. Notification regarding the acceptance of proposals will be made by 15 November 2001.
ABSTRACTS AND HANDOUTS: If your proposal is accepted for presentation at the Conference, please send a 500-word abstract to sundelin@princeton.edu by 15 February 2002. These abstracts will be included in a booklet given to those attending the Conference. Also, please send a copy of all texts and translations to be used in the text workshops by 15 February 2002. These will be made available to participants on the first day of the Conference.
TRAVEL SUBSIDIES: It is hoped that the Conference will be able to offer a few awards for scholars not able to get institutional subventions for travel to Cairo. Unfortunately, the funding for this will not be set until the fall, so we are not yet sure that these will be available. Further information will be posted at the Conference website www.princeton.edu/~petras/isap/Cairo.html in October:
CONFERENCE DETAILS: A tentative schedule along with information about transportation, accommodations, and sightseeing opportunities in Cairo will be available in the late autumn at the Conference website: www.princeton.edu/~petras/isap/Cairo.html.
PUBLICATION: It is anticipated that some of the texts, papers, and lectures from this Conference will be published together in a volume dedicated to its proceedings. If you would be interested in having your contribution considered for publication, please indicate this when submitting your proposal. Final decisions will be made after the Conference.
CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS: Lennart Sundelin sundelin@princeton.edu and Petra Sijpesteijn petras@princeton.edu
ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Abraham Udovitch (Princeton University) Johannes Den Heijer (NVIC) Peter Brown (Princeton University) Patricia Crone (Institute for Advanced Study)