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Marginality As Lens: Abū Ḥāmid Al-Qudsī’S Writings And Mamluk Urbanism, Moaaz Lafi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis takes the life and works of Abū Ḥāmid al-Qudsī (also known as al-Maqdisī), a Shāfiʿī jurist and Cairene historian who died in the late ninth/fifteenth century, as a point of entry into a central question: how was knowledge about the city produced in Mamluk Cairo? Addressing this question requires engagement with the multiple contexts, political, social, and religious, that shaped and conditioned the production of knowledge in that period. Moreover, a critical engagement with the author’s own biography, through a careful reading of biographical dictionaries and historical chronicles, is essential for uncovering further dimensions of how such knowledge …

Building Artistic Identity, Visual Heritage, And Contemporaneity Of The Arab World: Case Studies Of The 1974 Arab Art Biennale And 'Calligraphy In Contemporary Arab Painting' At The 1989 Havana Biennial, Amanda Msallem

Theses and Dissertations

The 1974 Arab Art Biennale held in Baghdad, Iraq, and the exhibition Calligraphy in Contemporary Arab Painting of the 1989 Havana Biennial in Cuba are unique biennial initiatives that represent a decisive transitional period of modern art of the Arab world, during which Arab artists moved from the aspirations of the Pan-Arab collective and toward increasingly individualized, experimental practices with local cultural specificity.

Parallel Concepts Found In The Thousand And One Nights And Sufi Hagiography, Walaa Kamal Emam Kamel

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that The Thousand and One Nights functions as more than mere populist entertainment; rather, it constitutes a literary corpus imbued with Sufi mystical epistemologies that reflect the spiritual quests and Sufi concepts evident in hagiographical traditions. Through discourse and intertextual analysis of two Nights stories, “The City of Brass” and “The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad,” alongside Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār’s Tadhkirat al-awliyāʾ, this study demonstrates how shared rhetorical strategies—specifically David Pinault’s Leitwörter analysis and L.A. Paul’s Transformative Experience concept—reveal a narrative and rhetorical emphasis on the metamorphosis of the self from worldly attachment toward …

Crafting Power, Piety, And Memory: The Sabil-Maktab Of 'Abd Al-Rahman Katkhuda In Bayn Al-Qasrayn, Cairo (1157 Ah/ 1744 Ce), Nehal Hany Al-Shamy

Theses and Dissertations

Among hundreds of sabil-maktabs in Cairo, the one ʿAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda built in Bayn al-Qasrayn in 1157/1744 stands out as an iconic jewel, rising to be a symbol of the city itself. However, this sabil is more than just a beautiful building, for its beauty was only a means to channel political, commemorative, and spiritual connotations. This thesis is concerned with analyzing the raisons d’être of constructing the sabil through investigating the historical and political circumstances that influenced its patron at the time, and their reflections in the artistic choices he made. I argue that crafting the sabil as a …

Oral Religious Mediation And Transmission Of Islamic Discourse In The Kazakh Steppe: Case Of Syrdarya Poets, Nurzhan Darkulov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article investigates the role of Syr Darya poets as mediators of Islamic ethical and religious discourse in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Kazakh steppe. The analysis demonstrates that these poets occupied an intermediary position between broader Islamic traditions and local communities, translating ethical teachings, theological ideas, spiritual reflection, and social criticism into culturally accessible forms of oral expression. Their influence extended beyond literary activity, functioning as a socially recognized mode of religious mediation within a decentralized religious environment. The study argues that oral poetic performance constituted an important mechanism through which Islamic knowledge, moral norms, and religious values were …

Ottoman Wikālas In Cairo: Islamic Architecture Beyond The Mosque, Yumna Moussa

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis traces one of the largest architectural typologies in Cairo: the wikāla, a type of urban caravanserai unique to Egypt. Estimated to have reached more than five hundred buildings by the 18^th century, the wikāla was the building of choice for most patrons in Ottoman Cairo. This study initially investigates the evolution of commercial architecture within the Islamic city. It then explores the defining architectural features of Cairene wikālas built between the 16^th and 18^th centuries—their plans, decorative/iconographic programs, and urban distribution—based on waqfiyyas, chronicles, travelers’ accounts, and photographic archives. Since many of …

The Cultural Adaptation Of Abstract Expressionism In The Middle East, Solmaz Shoukohi

MA Theses

Abstract Expressionism emerged in post-WWII New York as both an artistic revolution and a tool of cultural diplomacy. This thesis examines how that ostensibly “American” art movement was adapted and transformed in the Middle East from the 1950s through the  1980s. Chapter 1 outlines the rise of Abstract Expressionism amid Cold War politics, highlighting how the style was promoted globally as a symbol of freedom. It discusses the role of U.S. institutions in exporting avant-garde art – famously described by Eva Cockcroft as a “weapon of the Cold War” – through touring exhibitions and covert sponsorship. Chapter 2 then traces …

The Representation Of Indonesian National Identity In Syuhada Mosque, Kotabaru, Yogyakarta, Muthia Zahri Mardhiyah, Ali Akbar

International Review of Humanities Studies

This article examines the concept of national identity as embodied by the Syuhada Mosque, located in Kotabaru, Yogyakarta. Completed in 1952, the mosque was established as a monument to the independence of the Republic of Indonesia. This research addresses whether Syuhada Mosque genuinely represents national identity. The study aims to describe the architectural form of Syuhada Mosque and elucidate the representations of national identity embedded within its structure. The research methodology aligns with the framework proposed by Sharer and Ashmore, encompassing formulation, implementation, data collection, data processing, analysis, interpretation, and publication. Based on its historical background, the foundational ideas and …

Moiré And Its Ineffable Liquidity: A Study Of Pictorial Watered Silk In The Works Of Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Bellini And Raphael, Olivia Birkelund

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores pictorial moiré in Renaissance Italian paintings, arguing that its liquid appearance held spiritual and humanist resonances beyond luxury. Through dissemblant facture, artists Giovanni Bellini, Mantegna and Raphael rendered a moiré with overtones of the Incarnation, sacred fluidity, and fertility, creating meditative sites of theological and cultural meaning.

The Principles Of Islamic Moral Philosophy And The Possibility Of Re-Conceptualizing Classical Islamic Aesthetics Of Architecture, Muhammad Feteha

Theses and Dissertations

This study is primarily concerned with the intersection of the moral and aesthetic theories of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 1111). Al-Ghazālī’s theory of aesthetics has been the subject of thorough scholarly investigations and diverse interpretations in the field of Islamic art history since the 1940s. This thesis critiques the premises upon which the use of al-Ghazālī’s writings in studies of Islamic art and architecture were built. It suggests that they lead to what could be described as “the contradiction of unethical beauty.” To overcome this contradiction, it offers a comprehensive interpretation of al-Ghazālī’s aesthetics through analyzing the concept ḥusn in …

The Flint Assemblage From Ashqelon Afridar, Area N (Pp. 29–33), Maya Oron

'Atiqot

The flint assemblage recovered from the excavation at Ashqelon Afridar, Area N, is limited in size. The main diagnostic tools are the Canaanean and sickle blades, characteristic of Early Bronze Age assemblages, with very few exceptions dating to the Chalcolithic period. The appearance of Egyptian items in an early context at Ashqelon may indicate the beginning of the Egyptian influence or presence in the region during the Early Bronze Age period.

The Early Bronze Age Site Of Ashqelon Afridar, Area N (Pp. 1–27), Amir Golani

'Atiqot

The excavation in Area N exposed two occupation strata (Strata III and II) dating from Early EB I, which were heavily damaged by later Byzantine-period and modern intrusions (Stratum I). The pottery assemblage comprises three main types: bowls, holemouth jars and storage jars. The vessels are handmade, probably locally produced. Also found were a small assemblage of groundstone artifacts, one small copper-alloy awl, flint artifacts, fauna remains and molluscs. These findings are an important contribution to our understanding of the early stages of the EB I occupation at Ashqelon Afridar, also termed the ‘lost horizon’ or ‘missing link,’ in southern …

Gat-Govrin (Naḥal Qomem): A Late Chalcolithic Site In The Northern Negev (Pp. 1–25), Hamoudi Khalaily, Sorin Hermon

'Atiqot

A salvage excavation at Gat-Govrin, located in the southern coastal plain, exposed an archaeological layer subdivided into two sedimentological levels. At the base of the archaeological layer were pits—some shallow and wide, others deep and bell-shaped. Ten pits were excavated; all contained potsherds, stone vessels and flint artifacts. The homogeneous pottery assemblage, manufactured from local material, is characteristic of the Chalcolithic repertoire. The flint artifacts include Canaanean blades, some retouched and with gloss. It appears that the Gat-Govrin site was a seasonal settlement, occupied by small groups toward the end of the Chalcolithic period (last quarter of the fourth millennium …

Picturing Consumer Culture, Cultural Hybridity, And Womanhood: Farah Al Qasimi’S Photographs From 2012 To 2020, Minji Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Farah Al Qasimi’s 2012-2020 color photographs, arguing that this work presents a distinctive and salient critique of domesticity, material culture, and womanhood in the UAE. Through her lens as a woman and a culturally hybrid subject, Al Qasimi explores the tensions of modernization, globalization, consumerism, and gender.

Lost & Found (Game Series) [Book Chapter], Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Description of game series for use in the classroom with best practices.

Scattered Fragments: Art, Architecture, And Archives In Revolutionary Urban Cairo, Mounira M. Makar

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes how revolutions impact urban Cairo and its communities, specifically within artistic, architectural and archival practice while acknowledging the central role of public spaces in giving way to such revolutionary practices. Fundamentally, this paper highlights the foundational nature of such practices in developing urban communities.

Casar Public Lecture: The Gaza War: Implications For The United States And Egypt, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Director of CASAR Professor Mark W. Deets, also a current member of the History department of AUC specialist in African Studies acted as moderator for this Event. CASARs two guest panelists in this discussion were visiting scholar Professor David Dumke and Professor Karim Hagag. Dumke is the Executive Director of the Office of Global Perspectives & International Initiatives at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He teaches Middle East history, U.S. foreign policy, and American politics, and “has written extensively on these subjects.” He also is host and executive producer of WUCF-TV’s award-winning Global Perspectives (Public Broadcasting Service). Dumke spent …

Soul Furnace / فرن الأرواح, Isa Ghanayem

Masters Theses

“This is the good washing, this is (the washing) which separates the dirty body from the pure body. This is like silver mixed with lead, it is separated from it by this (process): one makes for it a cupel of bones, which is what is called the “head of the dog” and of which the common name is kūja-which is the crucible—and this must be made of burnt bones. One melts the silver in it, one gives it a strong fire: the cupel will absorb and receive the lead, the fire will make its subtle (part) fly away and extirpate …

القدس: مشروع بناء ضخم في فترة المفوضين الرومان / Monumental Building Project In Jerusalem In The Time Of The Roman Governors, Nahshon Szanton, Moran Hagbi, Joe Uziel, Donald T. Ariel

Cornerstone: Journal of Archaeological Sites (حجر الزاوية)

For over a century and a half, segments of Jerusalem’s Early Roman-period street network have been uncovered in excavations in the city, particularly the street that wended its way from the southernmost gate of the city, near Siloam Pool, to the Temple Mount. The importance of this street is evident from its dimensions, as well as from the quality of its construction, which undoubtedly required expansive workforce and skilled laborers and craftsmen. Based on archaeological and historical data, the establishment of the street has variously been attributed to the Herodian period, the reign of Herod the Great, or the days …

القدس: مشروع بناء ضخم في فترة المفوضين الرومان / Monumental Building Project In Jerusalem In The Time Of The Roman Governors, Nahshon Szanton, Moran Hagbi, Joe Uziel, Donald T. Ariel

Cornerstone: Journal of Archaeological Sites (حجر الزاوية)

For over a century and a half, segments of Jerusalem’s Early Roman-period street network have been uncovered in excavations in the city, particularly the street that wended its way from the southernmost gate of the city, near Siloam Pool, to the Temple Mount. The importance of this street is evident from its dimensions, as well as from the quality of its construction, which undoubtedly required expansive workforce and skilled laborers and craftsmen. Based on archaeological and historical data, the establishment of the street has variously been attributed to the Herodian period, the reign of Herod the Great, or the days …

Indian Mughal Turban Boxes As Cultural Indicators: Civilizational And Artistic Study, Hamada Thabet

Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists

(Ar)
صناديق حفظ العمامة في العصر المغولي الهندية كمؤشرات ثقافية دراسة حضارية فنية
تعبر التحف التطبيقية في عصر أباطرة مغول الهند عن حضارة المغول وإبداعتهم، وتعتبر صناديق حفظ العمامات مثالا رائعا لتلك التحف التي تعبر عن حضارة المغول، وتهدف الورقة البحثية لدراسة فنية لهذه الصناديق وكذلك ومسمي جعبة دستار وعلاقة المسمى بأداء الوظيفة التي من أجلها صنعت هذه الصناديق، ولقد كان لفلسة المغول بالهند سواء الأباطرة والأمراء في الاهتمام بالعمامة ومكانتها لديهم دور كبير في ظهور صناديق مخصصة للعمامة، وكانت العمامات تزين بالأحجار الكريمة والجواهر الغالية الامر الذي أدي أيضا إلى ظهور هذه الصناديق، وتعدد طرز صناديق حفظ العمامات في …

Kufesque Between Pilgrimage And Polemic: Representations Of Arabic In Italian Altarpieces, 13th-15th Centuries, Kathryn Blair Moore

Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Tackling The Technical History Of The Textiles Of El-Deir, Kharga Oasis, The Western Desert Of Egypt, Fleur Letellier-Willemin

Egyptian Textiles and Their Production: ‘Word’ and ‘Object’

The site of El-Deir is situated north of Kharga in the “Great Oasis” of the Egyptian Western Desert (fig. 1). The site was occupied between the 6th century BC and the 6th century AD. A complex history emerged with the influence of many cultures: Persian, Greek, Roman and early Christian. Archaeological finds in both El-Deir and the oasis itself (the site of Dush and the temple of Darius in Hibis, a city north of Kharga) confirm that the Great Oasis was a wealthy region. This is also substantiated by texts from Ain Manawir and Dakhleh. The presence of an artesian …

Lost & Found: New Harvest, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Presentations and other scholarship

Lost & Found is a strategy card-to-mobile game series that teaches medieval religious legal systems with attention to period accuracy and cultural and historical context.

Set in Fustat (Old Cairo) in the 12th century, a great crossroads of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The Lost & Found games project seeks to expand the discourse around religious legal systems, to enrich public conversations in a variety of communities, and to promote greater understanding of the religious traditions that build the fabric of the United States. Comparative religious literacy can build bridges between and within communities and prepare learners to be responsible citizens …

Apocalypse Lakardowo: Ecocritical Analysis In The Film Lakardowo Mencari Keadilan, Aulia Maulida, Abdul Basid

International Review of Humanities Studies

Human-nature interaction today enters a worrying stage. Film as a literary work begins to record this interaction. The film Lakardowo Mencari Keadilan to be one of them. This research uses the content analysis method with an ecocritical approach. This film is a research primary data source supported by various related references. The analysis emphasizes the study of environmental literature which focuses on apocalyptic reading with pastoral views that surround it through Creswell spiral analysis methods: data management, reading, and note-taking, classification and interpretation, then data visualization. In this research, Lakardowo's environment in the film Lakardowo Mencari Keadilan reflects the impact …

Haa 372 World Cities: Cairo, Mother Of The World, Mark Delancey

Course Website Archive

This course will examine the urban development and architectural heritage of Greater Cairo, Egypt since the reconstruction of the fortress of Babylon in the Roman period, through the establishment of Cairo itself in 969, and until the present. Cairo has always been a crossroads of cultures, set between Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. It has been home to significant Jewish, Christian and Muslim populations who have been impacted by the various ruling dynasties who have held sway there, including the Byzantines, early Islamic rulers, Tulunids, Shi'i Fatimids, and later Sunni Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans. In the 20th century, rapid …

Horizon Of Possibilities: Artists And The City In Postwar Beirut, Tatiana Mouarbes

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis narrates a history of postwar cultural production framed by urban redevelopment in Beirut, Lebanon (1989-Present). Focusing on artists engagements with the city, this thesis demonstrates how artists thought through the legacies of war inflicted upon the beleaguered city of Beirut in order to construct livable futures.

Shipped But Not Sold: Material Culture And The Social Protocols Of Trade During Yemen’S Age Of Coffee, Perspectives On The Global Past Series. Honolulu: University Of Hawai’I Press, 2017., Nancy Um

Art History Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Statecraft: Vandalism And Iconoclasm In The Digital Age, Connell Vaughan

Conference papers

Not only is vandalism increasingly subject to digital documentation, but the aesthetic nature of vandalism itself is different as a result of the digital. No longer is vandalism a local destructive act, it has become an act performed primarily for broadcast to global markets. This paper uses the example of Islamic State (IS) iconoclasm to explore the way in which digital media is strategically used by vandals and considers the responses of the heritage industry to respond to such destruction. It illustrates how the deliberate digital documentation and subsequent global broadcasting of the destruction of cultural heritage by Islamic State …

Reconsidering The Influence Of Islam On Yoruba Cultural Heritage, 1930-1987, Akeem Abiodun Oladiti

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Previous studies on the activities of Islam have focused on the contribution of the religion to state building (Last, 1967, p. 4 ), the nineteenth century jihad (Smith, 1961, p. 45) and the phenomenal growth of Islam during the colonial period (Gbadamosi, 1978, p. 77). However, no specific attention has been paid to how Islam affected Yoruba culture negatively with specific focus on the area of religion education and language. This study intends to fill this obvious gap in the historiography of influential cultural invasion of Islam from 1930, when colonial political structures allowed the Muslims to maintain a physical …