Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Goods of the Earth (All the Goods of the Earth: Making and Marketing in the Pre-Mongol Islamic World)
Reporting period: 2021-02-01 to 2023-01-31
Goods of the Earth has studied the production of complex fabrics (taqueté, lampas), ceramics, and metal objects in the medieval Islamic marketplace. The production of these objects and the organization of marketplaces is not known until today. For example, we do not know with certainty what the medieval drawloom looked like and how the textile patterns were read in (or programmed in other words). In addition to the production of these objects, the project was also devoted to the social position of craftsmen within the medieval Islamic world. Although we find signatures of craftsmen on numerous metal objects, ceramics as well as complex fabrics, they are not explicitly mentioned in biographical works or elsewhere. Their function in the manufacturing process of signed artifacts is also unclear. Do the signatures refer to the commissioner, to the designer of the design, or to the person who actually brings the design to the object? These questions lead us back to the organization of the marketplace and the organization of the various steps in the making of these objects. As we learn more about how the craftsmen were organized, it becomes possible to understand these signatures in more detail. In addition to the unfamiliarity of the artisans, it is also unclear what their legal status was - were they free or enslaved?
To get to the bottom of these questions, I worked with an Islamic legal source. It is the Ḥisba of the market overseer (muḥtasib) al-Saqaṭī, who lived in Malaga during the 12th century. His most important task was to prevent illegal activities in the marketplace of Malaga. He describes these for various trades that were carried out in the marketplace, and in some places he describes the quality of objects in great detail. His work is therefore interesting not only for legal historians but also for art historians.
Knowing and learning more about the making of objects in medieval Islamic marketplaces, the organization and division of labor, and the social and legal status of artisans, allows us in some places to have a more nuanced view and understanding of how objects are made today. For example, by studying al-Saqaṭī's source, I became aware that people in textile manufacturing were treated poorly and had a low social status even in the Middle Ages. The question arises to what extent the prestige of certain professions in our society has grown historically.
Objectives of this project are to learn more about the organization of a medieval marketplace through the Ḥisba of al-Saqaṭī and the production of complex fabrics, ceramics and metal objects. Further, the social and legal status of artisans, especially weavers, in the medieval Islamic world will be studied. Finally, objects mentioned in the Ḥisba but which have received little attention within previous art historical discourse (for example, weaving weights or bread seals).
Furthermore, the results of this project will strengthen the position of textiles, but also other objects of applied art, within (Islamic) art history.
To get to the bottom of these questions, I worked with an Islamic legal source. It is the Ḥisba of the market overseer (muḥtasib) al-Saqaṭī, who lived in Malaga during the 12th century. His most important task was to prevent illegal activities in the marketplace of Malaga. He describes these for various trades that were carried out in the marketplace, and in some places he describes the quality of objects in great detail. His work is therefore interesting not only for legal historians but also for art historians.
Knowing and learning more about the making of objects in medieval Islamic marketplaces, the organization and division of labor, and the social and legal status of artisans, allows us in some places to have a more nuanced view and understanding of how objects are made today. For example, by studying al-Saqaṭī's source, I became aware that people in textile manufacturing were treated poorly and had a low social status even in the Middle Ages. The question arises to what extent the prestige of certain professions in our society has grown historically.
Objectives of this project are to learn more about the organization of a medieval marketplace through the Ḥisba of al-Saqaṭī and the production of complex fabrics, ceramics and metal objects. Further, the social and legal status of artisans, especially weavers, in the medieval Islamic world will be studied. Finally, objects mentioned in the Ḥisba but which have received little attention within previous art historical discourse (for example, weaving weights or bread seals).
Furthermore, the results of this project will strengthen the position of textiles, but also other objects of applied art, within (Islamic) art history.
I have been able to translate the chapters (chapters 7 and 8) of al-Saqaṭī's Ḥisba that are relevant to my research question and use them fruitfully for my research. Below I list the most interesting results of this translation and how I have used and will continue to use them.
1) The social status of the textile artisans: They are by far the most commonly accused of fraud and illegal activities. al-Saqaṭī gives textile artisans a lot of space in his Ḥisba. He gives a very detailed account of the quality of woven fabrics (how many threads they must contain, what quality they should be, etc.).
2) Al-Saqaṭī uses two interesting terms relevant to previous research on medieval textiles. Once the term rasm. With some certainty, he uses it to refer to horizontal bands of a fabric panel running in the direction of the weft, which differ in pattern from that of the fabric panel. Rasm could thus be a synonym of the often used term ṭirāz.
The second term is bayt. The term actually refers to a house or a verse within a poem. However, in the way al-Saqaṭī uses it, it is clear that it refers to a part of the drawloom. Namely, it is a so-called tooth of the comb, which on the one hand ensures that the warp threads run parallel to each other and on the other hand is used for beating up the wefts. By evaluating these terms, I was able to contribute significantly to the knowledge of the drawloom. It is now clear that this had a comb and also that the number of warp threads that ran through the teeth of the comb was relevant to the quality of the fabric.
Furthermore, the term bayt allows me to deal with its shared terminology. The fact that bayt is also used in Arabic poetry allows me to examine the concept of rhythm more closely in relation to the production of complex fabrics. I was able to discover analogies between looms, rhythm in poetry as well as music in the works of Ibn Khaldun (Muqaddima) as well as the Great Book of Music by al-Farabi. These analogies allow me to examine rhythm more closely in the production of complex fabrics as well as other objects made at the marketplace.
For the results of my project, please see my published articles mentioned in the final report.
1) The social status of the textile artisans: They are by far the most commonly accused of fraud and illegal activities. al-Saqaṭī gives textile artisans a lot of space in his Ḥisba. He gives a very detailed account of the quality of woven fabrics (how many threads they must contain, what quality they should be, etc.).
2) Al-Saqaṭī uses two interesting terms relevant to previous research on medieval textiles. Once the term rasm. With some certainty, he uses it to refer to horizontal bands of a fabric panel running in the direction of the weft, which differ in pattern from that of the fabric panel. Rasm could thus be a synonym of the often used term ṭirāz.
The second term is bayt. The term actually refers to a house or a verse within a poem. However, in the way al-Saqaṭī uses it, it is clear that it refers to a part of the drawloom. Namely, it is a so-called tooth of the comb, which on the one hand ensures that the warp threads run parallel to each other and on the other hand is used for beating up the wefts. By evaluating these terms, I was able to contribute significantly to the knowledge of the drawloom. It is now clear that this had a comb and also that the number of warp threads that ran through the teeth of the comb was relevant to the quality of the fabric.
Furthermore, the term bayt allows me to deal with its shared terminology. The fact that bayt is also used in Arabic poetry allows me to examine the concept of rhythm more closely in relation to the production of complex fabrics. I was able to discover analogies between looms, rhythm in poetry as well as music in the works of Ibn Khaldun (Muqaddima) as well as the Great Book of Music by al-Farabi. These analogies allow me to examine rhythm more closely in the production of complex fabrics as well as other objects made at the marketplace.
For the results of my project, please see my published articles mentioned in the final report.
The interdisciplinary Goods of the Earth project explores the process of making of textiles, ceramics and metalwork within the pre-Mongol marketplace in the Islamic world (750 – 1258 CE). This study, the first of its kind, analyses and compares written Islamic legal sources like the Hisba-manuals together with extant artifacts to highlight the transfer of technical craft knowledge and information between Baghdad – the capital of the Abbasid Empire – and al-Andalus – the cultural omphalos within the western Islamic world – as well as the social role of the artisan-craftsman and the organisation and division of labour within the pre-Mongol marketplaces. Exploring the pre-Mongol marketplace, its products and artisan-craftsmen will gather new information concerning the transfer of knowledge and will enable new discussion of art and craft in the field of Art History, Islamic Art History, Arab philological Studies, political and social history, the History of Science and Textile History. Furthermore, this project will show the importance of the applied Arts for the field of Art History.
Since I am focusing on Islamic artifacts, I will communicate my research in order to do counteract the Islamophobia Europe currently is experiencing. For example, there is and has never been a Bilderverbot in Islamic Art, yet media across Europe still propagate prohibition of images in Islam. The Bilderverbot has been used as a political propaganda as for example the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2001 shows. More knowledge is the only way to alleviate the fear of Islam in European society. I am able to show that in Al-Andalus, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived, worked and created beautiful art together
Since I am focusing on Islamic artifacts, I will communicate my research in order to do counteract the Islamophobia Europe currently is experiencing. For example, there is and has never been a Bilderverbot in Islamic Art, yet media across Europe still propagate prohibition of images in Islam. The Bilderverbot has been used as a political propaganda as for example the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2001 shows. More knowledge is the only way to alleviate the fear of Islam in European society. I am able to show that in Al-Andalus, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived, worked and created beautiful art together