Art 231: The Islamic City: Urban Form and Society
Fall, 2001
Oberlin College
Prof. Yasser Tabbaa

SYLLABUS

Course Description

This course discusses city formation, urban form, and social structure in Middle Eastern cities from early Islam to the modern period. It investigates the transformation of ancient cities, the creation of new ones, and the fusion of these two types into what might be called the medieval Islamic city. It focuses in particular on these medieval cities, which it analyzes in terms of urban form, social structure, and cultural production. It investigates next the creation of new imperial cities and the modification of pre-existing ones under the Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals, in the 16th and 17th centuries. It outlines finally the decline of these cities and their subjugation to Western modes of urbanism and social planning, and the controversies and challenges elicited by this modern upheaval. The course looks primarily at Baghdad, Samarra, and Cordoba for the early period; Cairo, Damascus, and Aleppo for the middle period; Istanbul and Isfahan for the pre-modern period; and some of these cities during the modern transformation. Within this broad chronological framework the course discusses such central themes as the place of religion, the royal domain, the bazaar, institutions of education and public welfare, and the changing role of women.

NB: Some of the lectures closely follow the reading assignments; others complement them. Specifically, some lectures provide the visual and architectural components to readings in social history. For this and other more obvious reasons, it is imperative to attend all lectures.

Requirements:

-Take-home midterm Oct. 8 (25%),

-15 pp. Paper (30%),

-Final exam Dec. 18 (40%),

-Participation in discussion (5%)

Midterm and final exam are in the form of short and long guided essays.

Several paper topics will be recommended, along with basic bibliographies. But you are especially encouraged to think up your own writing project, which may or may not involve an element of design .

Readings:

There is no text book for this course. Ira Lapidus, Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages (Berkeley, 1987); and AndrŽ Raymond, Cairo (Harvard University Press, 2000) are however very useful. All material is on reserve at the Art Library.

Lectures

I. Theories of Urbanism and the Origin of Cities Wed.

Sept 5 Introduction and Approaches to Urbanism

Read: J. Rykwert, The Idea of a Town (MIT, 1988): Preface & 23-6. A. Rossi, The Architecture of the City (MIT, 1982): 46-61, 126-137.

Mon. Sep 10 The Rise of Cities in the Ancient Near East

Read: P. Lampl, Cities and Planning in the Ancient Near East (New York, 1968), 7-22; 113-120 and study plans. W. MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, Vol. II An Urban Appraisal (Yale U P, 1986): 248-273.

Wed. Sep 12 Pilgrimage and the Sacred City: Mecca and Jerusalem

Read: F. E. Peters, Jerusalem and Mecca: The Typology of the Holy City in the Near East (New York University Press, 1986): Ch. 3 "The Holy City," 60-79. Oleg Grabar, The Shape of the Holy (Harvard University Press, 1998), 44-51 (read), 52-116 (skim).

II. From Encampments to Royal Cities: Early Islamic Urbanism (700-1100)

Mon. Sep 17 From Garrison Towns to the City of Peace

Read: O. Grabar, The Formation of Islamic Art (New Haven, 1973), 19-74. J. Lassner, "The Caliph's Personal Domain: The City Plan of Baghdad Re-Examined," in Hourani and Stern, The Islamic City, 103-118. Wed.

Sep 19 The Place of Religion: The Mosque in Early Islamic Cities

Read: O. Grabar, "The Architecture of Middle Eastern Cities: The Case of the Mosque," in Middle Eastern Cities in Comparative Analysis, ed. Ira Lapidus (University of California Press, 1969): 26-46. Jerrilynn D. Dodds, "The Great Mosque of Cordoba," in Al-Andalus, ed. J. Dodds (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art), 11-25.

Mon. Sep 24 Kingship and the Royal Domain: Samarra and Fustat/Cairo

Read: J.M. Rogers, "Samarra: A Study in Medieval Town Planning," in Hourani and Stern, 119-156 (skim). AndrŽ Raymond, Cairo (Harvard University Press, 2000), 7-79.

III. Medieval Islamic Cities (1100-1500)

Wed. Sep 26 Theories of Medieval Islamic Urbanism

Read: Ibn Khaldun, al-Muqaddima, tr. Franz Rosenthal (New York: Pantheon Books, 1958), vol. I, 249-359 (selected passages). S. M. Stern, "The Constitution of the Islamic City," in Islamic City, 25-50.

Mon. Oct 1 A Military Society: Palaces, Citadels, and Fortifications

Read: Jere Bacharach, "Administrative Complexes, Palaces, and Citadels: Changes in the Loci of Medieval Rule," in The Ottoman City and its Parts: Urban Structure and Social Order , ed. I. Bierman et al (New York, 1991): 111-128. I. Lapidus, Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages, 1-8; 79-115;185-91.

Wed. Oct 3 Institutions of Education

Read: Jonathan Berkey, The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History of Islamic Education (Princeton University Press, 1992), 44-94 (skim). Yasser Tabbaa, Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo (Penn State University Press, 1997), 123-28 & 153-61.

Mon. Oct 8 Institutions of Charity and Public Welfare

Read: Adam Sabra, Poverty and Charity in Medieval Islam: Mamluk Egypt, 1250 -1517 (Cambridge University Press, 2000): 69-100. Yasser Tabbaa, "The Functional Aspects of Medieval Islamic Hospitals." In Poverty and Charity in Middle Eastern Contexts, ed. Michael Bonner and Amy Singer (forthcoming).

Take-home midterm given

Wed. Oct 10 Film: Cairo, the City Victorious

Take-home midterm due

Mon. Oct 15 House and Home: Residential Districts and Residential Architecture in Medieval and Pre-Modern Islamic Cities

Read: L. Ibrahim, "Residential Architecture in Mamluk Cairo," Muqarnas 2 (1984): 47-59. AndrŽ Raymond, "The Residential Districts of CairoÕs Elite in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods (Fourteenth to Eighteenth Centuries," in The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society, ed. T. Philipp and Ulrich Haarmann (Cambridge University Press, 1998), 207-23. G. Petherbridge, "Vernacular Architecture: the House and Society," in Michell, Architecture of the Islamic World. 176-208 (skim).

Paper Assigned

Wed. Oct 17 Women in Medieval Islamic Societies: The Private and Public Domains

Read: Judith Tucker, "Gender and Islamic History," in Islamic and European Expansion: The Forging of a Global Order, ed. M. Adas (Temple University Press, 1993), 37-73. Yasser Tabbaa, "Dayfa Khatun: Regent Queen and Architectural Patron," in Ruggles, Women, Patronage, and Self-Representation, 17-34. Stephen Blake, "Contributors to the Urban Landscape: Women Builders in Safavid Iran and Mughal Shahjahanabad," in Gavin Hambly, ed., Women in the Medieval Islamic World: Patronage, Power, and Piety (New York: St. MartinÕs Press, 1998), 407-28 (skim).

Wed. Oct 24 No Class Fall Recess (10/20-10/28)

IV. Cities in the Later Islamic Empires (1500-1800)

Mon. Oct 29 Constantinople/Istanbul: A Capital for the Ottoman Empire and Islam

Read: Excerpts from Narratives of Travels, by Evliya Celebi, I/ii, 103-128; 136-146. Halil Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300-1600 (London: Phoenix Press, 1973, 2000), 140-62.

Paper summary and outline due

*Tues. Oct 30 Midterm grades due

Wed. Oct 31 Ottoman Cairo

Read: AndrŽ Raymond, Cairo (Harvard University Press, 2000), 191-250.

Mon. Nov 5 Damascus and the Hajj

Read: Karl Barbir, Ottoman Rule in Damascus, 1705-1758 (Princeton University Press, 1980), 108-77 (The Pilgrimage: Centerpiece of Ottoman Rule in Damascus).

Wed. Nov 7 Commerce and Caravans in Ottoman Aleppo

Read: E. Sims, "Trade and Travel: Markets and Caravanserais," in Michell, 80-111 (skim) Bruce Masters, "Aleppo: The Ottoman EmpireÕs Caravan City," in E. Eldem, D. Goffman, and B. Masters, The Ottoman City between East and West: Aleppo, Izmir, and Istanbul (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 17-78 [also for next lecture].

Mon. Nov 12 Religious Minorities in Pre-Modern Islamic Cities: The Case of Aleppo in the Eighteenth Century

Read: Abraham Marcus, The Middle East on the Eve of Modernity (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989), 37-72. Norman Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979), 318-21.

Wed. Nov 14 Imperial Planning in Isfahan

Read: Excerpts from Travels in Persia, by Sir John Chardin, 6-11; 248-279 H. Gaube, Iranian Cities, 65-96

V. Transformations in the Nineteenth Century

Mon. Nov 19 Napoleon and the Discovery of the East

Read: AndrŽ Raymond, Cairo (Harvard University Press, 2000): 286-308. Description de lÕEgypte, readings TBA

Paper due

Wed. Nov 21 The Remaking of Cairo

Read: E. Lane, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (first published 1836), 11-35; 137-59. Musallam, B. "The Modern Vision of Ali Mubarak," in ed. Serjeant, Islamic City, 183-199. AndrŽ Raymond, Cairo (Harvard University Press, 2000): 309-338.

Thanksgiving 11/22-11-25

Mon. Nov 26 Representing the Orient

Read: Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt (University of California Press, 1991): 1-33 (Egypt at the Exhibition). Zeynep Celik, Displaying the Orient: Architecture of Islam at Nineteenth-Century WorldÕs Fairs (Berkeley, 1992): 17-93.

Wed. Nov 28 The Remaking of Istanbul

Read: Zeynep Celik, The Remaking of Istanbul (Seattle, 1986): 49-81; 104-125.

VI. The Twentieth Century and Contemporary Situation

Mon. Dec. 3 A New Urban Form and the Search for an Appropriate Architecture (1860-1920)

Read: Zeynep Celik, Displaying the Orient: Architecture of Islam at Nineteenth-Century WorldÕs Fairs (Berkeley, 1992): 153-79. Renata Holod and Ahmet Evin, Modern Turkish Architecture (Philadephia, 1984)

Wed. Dec. 5 The Nightmare of Unchecked Urban Expansion

Read: AndrŽ Raymond, Cairo (Harvard University Press, 2000): 338-74.

Mon. Dec. 10 The Afterlife of the Traditional Environment: Conservation and Revivalism

Read: Robert Powell, ed. Regionalism in Architecture (Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 1985): 8-16.

Wed. Dec. 13 Conclusion

Final Exam: December 18 at 2:00 (90 mins)