Objective
The seventh and eighth centuries constitute a pivotal period in the history of the Middle East and, indeed, the world. These years see not only the emergence of Islam as a geopolitical and religious force, but also the fall of the Sasanian empire, and the incorporation of the lands that had for centuries formed its core territories—Mesopotamia and the western Iranian plateau—into the nascent caliphate. As the thinkers who lived through these events understood well, history is not only a matter of the decisions taken by rulers and other powerful individuals, even if such figures take the fore in many of our sources (and modern studies) regarding the late antique and early Islamic Middle East. Rather, as laid out in the “circle of justice” motif, ubiquitous in this Sasanian and early Islamic context, rulers’ authority depends on their ability to employ an army, which depends on their ability to collect taxes and rents from agricultural producers, which in turn depends on the extent to which landowners and tax collectors deal with these producers justly. No source furnishes a more direct witness to each of these fundamental domains—the military, agriculture, taxation, and law—during this critical period than the 1700-odd Middle Persian documents produced in Sasanian-occupied Egypt and early Islamic Iran. Nevertheless, these sources have barely figured into modern studies of the seventh and eighth centuries, which continue to rely largely on historical accounts written hundreds of years after the events they purport to describe. In the CIRCLE OF JUSTICE project we will write a new history of this tumultuous and profoundly formative period, relocating Middle Persian documents from the margins to their rightful place in the center, and taking the kind of interdisciplinary approach to these texts that is a necessity if we are to use them to their full potential as historical sources.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion religions islam history of islam
- humanities history and archaeology history
- social sciences sociology governance taxation
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2026-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
72074 Tuebingen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.