Mamluk Studies Resources

The Middle East Documentation Center at The University of Chicago

Eighth Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies
University of Marburg
July 4-9, 2022

 

SMS 2022, Marburg

We are very happy to share an updated schedule of the Eighth Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies, which will be hosted by the University of Marburg. With this schedule, the first-day thematic talks and the organized panels of days two and three are now finalized. We are excited to have an assorted array of talks and panels for all three days. On the first evening, the group will be taking a tour of Marburg’s Castle, which overlooks the town and surrounding valley. The walk up to the castle is on cobblestone and a bit steep, everyone is encouraged to wear appropriate footwear.

Download this information as a PDF: SMS8_2022_Circular2.pdf
Download the conference schedule as a PDF: SMS8_Marburg2022_ConferenceProgram.pdf

Conference Registration and Fees

Register at the following link: https://forms.gle/rZfbUQH3ifmDHnfc6

The registration deadline is 31 May 2022. Following your registration, you will be contacted with an invoice of your fees, based on your registration responses. The invoice will also provide instructions on how to make the payment, either by bank transfer (IBAN/BIC) or by credit card. Invoices will be sent out on a rolling basis, but you should receive your invoice no later than 15 June, and we’d ask that you make your fee payment by 30 June.

In the registration form, you will be asked whether you are attending the Intensive Course (4-6 July), the Conference (7-9 July), or both. The fees for the intensive course are 200 euros and includes the conference fee. Attending the conference only is 50 euros.

Additionally, we are happy to offer this year’s conference dinner at Zur Sonne, a restaurant located in a 16th-century building on Marburg’s historic marketplace. As always, the dinner is optional and the cost is 45 euros. The meal includes bread with dips, salad, main course, and desert; water and a drink of choice is included. You have a choice of a vegan or non-vegan meal.

All participants are asked to indicate their dietary requirements in the registration form, regardless of whether you choose to attend the conference dinner, so we may prepare the conference lunch options accordingly.

We still have space for several more participants, graduate students and early post-docs, who would like to attend the Intensive Course. This year’s theme is “A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Environmental Studies in Pre-Modern Egypt”. If you would like to attend or would like more information, please contact us directly.

We are especially eager to welcome you to Marburg as it celebrates its 800th anniversary this year. Marburg is a Universitätsstadt – a literal university town – located in the scenic Lahn River Valley. The historic upper town features great restaurants and bars, and the entire area is watched over by the Marburg Castle. In the lower city is the Elisabeth Church, the oldest Gothic church north of the Alps, a main stop along multiple pilgrimage routes, and the center of an important chapter of the Teutonic Knights. The town is conveniently located just over an hour north of Frankfurt and is easily reachable by train.

As Marburg is a smaller-sized town, we highly encourage everyone to begin to make arrangements for their visit in order to ensure accommodation.

Hotels:

Inns and Hostels (May range widely in offered amenities, but several are quite historic/unique):

There are also a large number of AirBnB accomodations and Ferienwohnungen within the city and its immediate surroundings.

Traveling to Marburg

By Train: Coming to Marburg by train, you should arrive at the Marburg (Lahn) station. This is the main station for Marburg. From there, you can walk (10-20 min. to the city-center) or take a taxi (roughly 10-20 euros), depending on your accommodations’ location. There are also city buses centrally departing from in front of the main train station, and these regularly stop throughout the town center as well.

By Air (Frankfurt International Airport): Follow signs for the regional trains. Here there is a Travel Center (Reisezentrum), where you can buy train tickets to Marburg. You will need to tell them Marburg (Lahn) station – as there are multiple stops in Marburg. If you choose to purchase your tickets on your own, you may use one of the green RMV machines. Choose place names, type in Marburg, and choose Marburg (CITY). This ticket is around 16 euros and will cover the costs from the airport to Marburg. From Frankfurt Airport, take the S8 or S9 train to Frankfurt HbF (Hauptbahnhof). It is four stops from the airport to the main station (Gateway Gardens, Stadion, Niederrad, Frankfurt HbF). Upon arriving in the Frankfurt HbF, you will find the regional trains to Marburg upstairs in the main hall. There are usually two trains every hour. Some of these trains split before arriving in Marburg, so make sure that you are sitting in the section that goes all the way to Marburg.

 

Download the conference schedule HERE

 

SCHEDULE

7 July 2022: Themed Day: Environment and Nature in the Mamluk Sultanate

8:30 Registration and Coffee

 

9:50 Welcome Remarks – Albrecht Fuess (University of Marburg)

 

9:00 Group 1: SOURCES AND HISTORIOGRAPHY

 

10:00 Group 2: FARMING AND LAND TENURE

 

11:00 Coffee Break

 

11:30 Group 3: WATER AND THE NILE

 

13:00 Lunch

 

14:00 Group 4: DISEASE AND PLAGUE

 

15:00 Group 5: OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

 

16:00 End of Day – Closing Remarks – Albrecht Fuess (University of Marburg)

 

16:10 Walk to Marburg Schloss

 

16:30 Tour of the Marburg Schloss

 

18:00 Reception

 

8 July 2022: Organized Panels

9:00 Panel 1: ANIMALS (AND MEN) IN MAMLUK TEXTUAL CULTURE(S)
Panel Organizers: Antonella Ghersetti (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice; Italy) and Mirella Cassarino (University of Catania; Italy)
Panel Chairperson: Antonella Ghersetti

 

11:00 Coffee Break

 

11:30 Panel 2: THE ḤIǦĀZ, A CENTRAL HUB OF 8TH-9TH/14TH-15TH CENTURIES CULTURAL PRODUCTION? ḤIǦĀZĪ HISTORIANS, LOCAL CONTEXTS AND THE PRODUCTION OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE
Panel Organizer and Chairperson: Zacharie Mochtari de Pierrepont (University of Liege; Belgium)

 

13:00 Lunch

 

Panel 3: THE TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE WITHIN MAMLUK-ERA HISTORIOGRAPHY AND BEYOND
Panel Organizer: Alexander Mallett (Waseda University, Japan)
Panel Chairperson: Tetsuya Ohtoshi

 

16:00 Coffee Break

 

16:30 Panel 4: BETWEEN PRESERVATION AND MOBILITY: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON MAMLUK DOCUMENTS ACROSS GENRES
Panel Organizer: Daisy Livingston (University of Hamburg; Germany)
Panel Chairperson: Jo Van Steenbergen

 

18:00 End of Day – Closing Remarks

 

9 July 2022: Organized Panels, continued

9:00 Panel 5: MAMLUK THEOLOGIANS AND THE WORLD AROUND THEM: CONSTRUCTING, NEGOTIATING AND OVERCOMING BOUNDARIES IN THEOLOGY DURING THE MAMLUK PERIOD
Panel Organizer and Chairperson: Christian Mauder (University of Bergen)

 

11:00 Coffee Break

 

11:30 Panel 6: NOTIONS OF SOVEREIGNTY IN LATE MEDIEVAL EGYPT AND SYRIA
Panel Organizer: Bogdan Smarandache (University of Toronto)
Panel Chairperson: Daisy Livingston

 

13:30 Lunch

 

15:00 Panel 7: EGYLANDSCAPE Panel

17:00 Closing Remarks and School of Mamluk Studies Roundtable
Albrecht Fuess (University of Marburg; Germany)
Frédéric Bauden (Université de Liège; Belgium)
Antonella Ghersetti (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice; Italy)
Marlis Saleh (University of Chicago, USA)

 

19:00 Farewell Dinner
Zur Sonne - Markt 14

 

Download the conference schedule HERE

 

Local Organizers of Eighth Conference:
Albrecht Fuess, University of Marburg
Anthony T. Quickel, University of Marburg

Supported by:
Islamic Studies Department, Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg
and
The EGYLandscape Project, Land and Landscapes in Mamluk and Ottoman Egypt (13th-18th Centuries)

Albrecht Fuess and Anthony Quickel (local organizers) sms2022marburg@gmail.com


School of Mamluk Studies Organizing Committee:
Frédéric Bauden, Université de Liège
Antonella Ghersetti, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice
Marlis Saleh, University of Chicago

© Middle East Documentation Center. The SMS logo is based on the lion emblem used by Sultan Baybars.