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IMC 2013: Sessions

Session 1506: Search for the Umayyad Caliph, I: Among the Tambourines and Lutes

Thursday 4 July 2013, 09.00-10.30

Organiser:Ann R. Christys, Independent Scholar, Leeds
Moderator/Chair:Ann R. Christys, Independent Scholar, Leeds
Paper 1506-a'He made all the Muslims' wealth that was pleasant [...] into something for his [own] glory': Pleasure, Wealth, and the Image of the Umayyads
(Language: English)
Andrew Marsham, School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures, University of Edinburgh
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Islamic and Arabic Studies
Paper 1506-bCalculated Offence?: The Pilgrimage to Mecca of the Heir-Apparent al-Walid b. Yazid in 116/735
(Language: English)
Harry Munt, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Islamic and Arabic Studies
Paper 1506-cSlaves for Mothers: A Quantitative Approach to the Status of the Concubine's Children amongst the Early Islamic Elites
(Language: English)
Majied John Robinson, Department of Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh
Index terms: Genealogy and Prosopography, Historiography - Medieval, Islamic and Arabic Studies
Abstract

The Umayyad dynasty in Syria (661-750) and Spain (756-1013) was associated with La Dolce Vita lived in palaces and gardens. But it was just this devotion to pleasure that, in the eyes of some medieval historians, made them unfit to lead the Islamic community. This is the first of two sessions on the historiography of the Umayyads, focussing on the topics of pleasure and memory. The first paper addresses the question of pleasure directly. Later speakers consider various aspects of the Umayyads' reputation, which is contrasted with what may be deduced about the reality of the Umayyad world.