Appel à communication : Panel on „New Trends in Fatimid History“, World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, Ankara, 18-22/08/2014 — LIMITE : 20/11/2013

The Fatimid empire (909-1171) arose from the heterogeneous movement of 7er Shiites, became a leading power in the Mediterranean and shaped the “Shiite century” of Islam. In historiography, it was often represented as a Shiite exception within a predominantly Sunni history of Islam. Its material heritage in monuments and objects offers a broad basis for historical research whereas the written sources that, for a long time, have been kept in secret within the Ismaili tradition or have been referred to in non-Ismaili writings on a fragmentary basis pose a specific challenge. Features like the dense urban space of Cairo or the establishment of the spiritual Shiite imamate as rule over Sunni Muslims, Christians and Jews make Fatimid history a fascinating object of historical studies. This panel will explore new case studies as well as broader trends in Fatimid history and ask how it was embedded in its time, notwithstanding its specific Ismaili side.

We organise this panel without any funding – participants will have to pay registration fees, travel and accommodation costs on their own. Please send your proposal for a paper (1-2 pages together with an abstract of 300 words) and a CV until November 20^th to Almut Höfert, University of Zurich (almut.hoefert@uzh.ch). We will give notice about the accepted papers until early December.