Week Ten
March 22-24
Post Abbasid Egypt, North Africa, Umayyad Spain
Al Ahzar
al-Azhar mosque, Cairo, ca. 970 c.e.
MIT, Aga Khan Trust photo
Read:  Menocal, pp. 53-129; Kennedy, pp. 307-342.

Read both of the following.  Submit one form only, due Sunday, March 20.

  • Jonathan Berkey.  "Instruction" from his The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History of Islamic Education.  Study Guide for Berkey.
  • Yacov Lev, "The Ruling Circles" from his State and Society in Fatimid Egypt. Study Guide for Lev.
  • Optional extra reading: Desmond Stewart, "Ibn Tulun: First Independent Ruler of Egypt since Cleopatra," from his Great Cairo: Mother of the World.
    Additional Readings for Week Ten.