Projecting a New Empire: Formats, Social Meaning, and Mediality of Imperial Arabic in the Umayyad and Early Abbasid Periods

Eugenio Garosi

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Projecting a New Empire

Formats, Social Meaning, and Mediality of Imperial Arabic in the Umayyad and Early Abbasid Periods

Eugenio Garosi

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2022

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This book is in the series

Volume 42 | Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East

About this book

Seventh and eighth-century papyri, inscriptions, and coins constitute the main evidence for the rise of Arabic as a hegemonic language emerging from the complex fabric of Graeco-Roman-Iranian Late Antiquity. This volume examines these sources in order to gauge the social ecology of Arabic writing within the broader late antique continuum.

Starting from the functional interplay of Arabic with other languages in multilingual archives as well as the mediality of practices of public Arabic writing, the study correlates the rise of Arabic as an imperial language to social interactions: the negotiation between the Arab-Muslim imperial elite and non-Arabicized regional elites of the early Islamic empire. Using layout, formulae and technical terminology to trace common patterns and disruptions across sources from the Atlantic to Central Asia, the volume illuminates the distinctive formal varieties of official Umayyad and early Abbasid imperial documents compared to informal Arabic writings as well as to neighboring scribal traditions in other languages.

The volume connects documentary practices to broader imperial policies, opening an unprecedented window into the strategies of governance that lay at the core of the early Islamic empire.

Author / Editor information

Eugenio Garosi, University of Munich, Germany.

Topics

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Frontmatter
I

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Acknowledgements
V

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Contents
VII

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List of Illustrations
XIII

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Note on Conventions
XV

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Maps
XIX

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Introduction
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Becoming Empire
1

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Semantics of Empire
5

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Empires and Arab History
8

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Views on Early Islamic History
11

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A Review of the Documentary Evidence and Coping with its Limitations
14

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Previous Studies
22

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Approach and Methodology: Form over Substance
24

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The Definitional Trap: A Note on Terminology and Anachronism
29

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Timeframe
33

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Organization of this Study
35

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I Towards an Ecology of Documentary Arabic
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Introduction
37

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A Sudden Language: Pre-Islamic Arabic Writing and the Epigraphical Habit
42

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The Rise and Dissolution of “Imperial Arabic” (From Reichssprache to Lingua Franca)
47

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Concluding Remarks
109

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II Imperial Arabic: Between Text and Visual Text
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Introduction
111

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Images of the Word
115

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The Word and the Image: An Arab Late Antiquity
131

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From Image to Word
142

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The Eye of the Beholders
163

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Conclusion
166

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III Shaping Official Umayyad Arabic
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Introduction: Reichsarabisch or Early Islamic Official Arabic?
169

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If the Mountain Will Come: Arabic Letters
174

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If the Mountain Will Not Come: Official Inscriptions
192

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Umayyad Official Documentary Standard as Early Islamic Documentary Standard
199

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Conclusion
212

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IV A Culture of Ambivalence
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Negotiating “Arab Style”
215

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Shifting Boundaries between Scribal Cultures in the Umayyad Empire
239

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Parallel Scribal Traditions: Numismatics
242

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Parallel Scribal Traditions: Independent Arab-Style Scribal Practices
254

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Conclusion
259

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V An Empire of Words
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Regional Idiolects in the Use of Administrative Loanwords in Documentary Arabic
261

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The Loanwords in Imperial Arabic (640–800)
266

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Regional Diversity in the Use of Administrative Loanwords in Early Islamic Documentary Arabic
310

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Terminology and Regional Settings: The Role of Umayyad Syria and the Looming Shadow of Abbasid Iraq
314

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Conclusion
322

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Summary and Conclusions
324

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Appendices
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Appendix 1: Formal and Layout Structure of Early Islamic Arabic Official Letters
337

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Appendix 2: Formal and Layout Structure of Early Islamic Official Inscriptions
339

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Appendix 3: Comparative Table of Early Islamic Arab-style Letters
345

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Bibliography
353

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Indices
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General Index
415

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Index Locorum I: Papyri
427

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Index Locorum II: Inscriptions
441

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

April 4, 2022

eBook ISBN:

9783110740820

Hardcover published on:

April 18, 2022

Hardcover ISBN:

9783110740721

Paperback published on:

June 17, 2024

Paperback ISBN:

9783111543864

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

21

Main content:

443

Illustrations:

14

Coloured Illustrations:

7

Coloured Maps:

3

Tables:

4

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110740820

eBook ISBN: 9783110740820

Hardcover ISBN: 9783110740721

Paperback ISBN: 9783111543864

Keywords for this book

Early Islamic Empire; Arabic papyrology; Cultural liminality and multiglossia; Representation of authority

Audience(s) for this book

Scholars of Late Antique/Early Islamic History, Papyrology, Empire Studies, Social History, Middle Eastern Studies.

Safety & product resources

Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com

Projecting a New Empire

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Acknowledgements

Contents

List of Illustrations

Note on Conventions

Maps

Becoming Empire

Semantics of Empire

Empires and Arab History

Views on Early Islamic History

A Review of the Documentary Evidence and Coping with its Limitations

Previous Studies

Approach and Methodology: Form over Substance

The Definitional Trap: A Note on Terminology and Anachronism

Timeframe

Organization of this Study

Introduction

A Sudden Language: Pre-Islamic Arabic Writing and the Epigraphical Habit

The Rise and Dissolution of “Imperial Arabic” (From Reichssprache to Lingua Franca)

Concluding Remarks

Introduction

Images of the Word

The Word and the Image: An Arab Late Antiquity

From Image to Word

The Eye of the Beholders

Conclusion

Introduction: Reichsarabisch or Early Islamic Official Arabic?

If the Mountain Will Come: Arabic Letters

If the Mountain Will Not Come: Official Inscriptions

Umayyad Official Documentary Standard as Early Islamic Documentary Standard

Conclusion

Negotiating “Arab Style”

Shifting Boundaries between Scribal Cultures in the Umayyad Empire

Parallel Scribal Traditions: Numismatics

Parallel Scribal Traditions: Independent Arab-Style Scribal Practices

Conclusion

Regional Idiolects in the Use of Administrative Loanwords in Documentary Arabic

The Loanwords in Imperial Arabic (640–800)

Regional Diversity in the Use of Administrative Loanwords in Early Islamic Documentary Arabic

Terminology and Regional Settings: The Role of Umayyad Syria and the Looming Shadow of Abbasid Iraq

Conclusion

Summary and Conclusions

Appendix 1: Formal and Layout Structure of Early Islamic Arabic Official Letters

Appendix 2: Formal and Layout Structure of Early Islamic Official Inscriptions

Appendix 3: Comparative Table of Early Islamic Arab-style Letters

Bibliography

General Index

Index Locorum I: Papyri

Index Locorum II: Inscriptions

Bibliographic data