Eighth Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies - 2022
Download Conference Poster Here Download Conference Program Here Download Intensive Course Program Here
Eighth Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies
Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany 4-9th July 2022
Download Conference Poster Here Download Conference Program Here Download Intensive Course Program Here
The EGYLandscape Project alongside the department of Islamic Studies of the University of Marburg hosted the Eighth Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies. The conference is held at a different location each year and features both an intensive course for graduate students as well as a three-day conference on Mamluk Studies. EGYLandscape Project leader and coordinator Albrecht Fuess and Anthony Quickel helped to plan and organize the intensive course and the conference’s themed day around the topic of “Environment and Nature in the Mamluk Sultanate”.
The intensive course ran for three days from 4-6 July 2023. Day one of the intensive course was on the topic of “Reconstructing the Landscape from Cadastral Surveys and Historical Maps: the Fayyum as an Example”. This day’s training was led by project leader Nicolas Michel (Aix-Marseille University) and project member Yossef Rapoport (Queen Mary, University of London). The session showed students how to use both historical texts alongside maps in constructing a regional history. Day two of the training allowed students to get their hands dirty and explore “Archaeological Approaches to Landscape and Environment” and was led by Alison Gascoigne (University of Southampton). Students were given an overview of archaeological methods, so that they could think about and apply archaeology and its findings in their own research as historians. Everyone had a great time playing with dirt and clay! The final day of the training session was all about maps. EGYLandscape Project leader Nicolas Michel and the project’s research engineer Fabrice Dubertret (CNRS) helped students to see all of the ways that maps and mapping tools could be useful for their research. In particular, the session featured an introduction into GIS, satellite imagery, and map archives. The EGYLandscape Project was pleased to be able to offer scholarships to some of the intensive course’s students, which facilitated their travel to and accomodations in Marburg for the training.
The following three days of the School of Mamluk Studies was the annual Mamluk School conference. This year’s theme was environment and nature and featured papers on the topics of: sources and historiography; farming, water, and the Nile; disease and plague; as well as other environmental issues. EGYLandscape was pleased to be able to help host the conference’s opening reception. The proceedings of the themed day will be published as a volume, edited by Albrecht Fuess and Anthony Quickel, to be published in early 2024.