iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

as always, you don't need to be a member of Middle East Medievalists to read/submit to al-ʿUsur al-wusta. however, membership dues help keep the journal running. please consider becoming a MEMber today. while you’re at it, check out all the other stuff MEM is up to!

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

030

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

New article alert! Let’s start w/ a personal manuscript from 9/15th cent., including a letter from Cairo’s chief judge & a list of books for sale from Mamluk Baalbek. This article challenges the divide btw documentary & manuscript studies through a fresh look at texts, material & social practice

Arabic manuscript. Letter from Taqī al-Dīn al-Akhnāʾī to ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Akhnāʾī in Damascus. Damascus, National Library of Syria, MS 2969, fol. 163r.

196

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

021

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

New article alert! How did theorists in the medieval Middle East standardize techniques for connecting texts composed in different languages? Join us in examining the long history of comparative literary theory through the premodern lens of ‘approximation’.

166

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

011

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

New article alert! Were we to leap back centuries & ask a madrasa student in Mostar or a storyteller in Dhaka, we would find that their idea of the Persian poet ʿAṭṭār differs starkly from the ʿAṭṭār on English-language bookshelves. This article explains why by tracing the fates of his Pandnama:

journals.library.columbia.edu

Cheap Perfume? | Al-ʿUsur al-Wusta

154

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

0102

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

New article alert! Humans use numbers to think about other humans in many contexts: demography, taxes, votes, and historically, slavery. Our latest article shows how early Islamic narratives about the Saharan frontier use the number 360 to represent the relationship between race, space, and time.

journals.library.columbia.edu

A Slave per Day in Perpetuity | Al-ʿUsur al-Wusta

11911

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

040

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

New article alert! If you were to list important Arabic poets, who would you include? Abū Nuwās, Abū Tammām, al-Buḥturī, al-Mutanabbī…? In the 14th cent, Ibn Nubāta included all of them & more. He also included himself. Check out this new article about how self-citation worked in Mamluk texts.

journals.library.columbia.edu

Thus Spoke the Author | Al-ʿUsur al-Wusta

21410

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

030

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Have you ever wondered what a Sasanian city sounded like? We can imagine the sounds of the past if we pay close attention to material, historical, & archaeological sources. Check out this new article on the soundscapes of Eranshahr-- & be sure to download the sound file for an immersive experience

12614

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

as always, you don't need to be a member of @mideastmedieval.bsky.social to read/submit to al-ʿUsur al-Wusta. however, membership dues help keep the journal running. please consider becoming a MEMber today. while you’re at it, check out all the other stuff MEM is up to!

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

031

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

The 2025 issue also includes a pedagogy file by Sylvia Wu on mosque architecture in China, aimed at helping to diversify the types of sources available in the undergraduate classroom.

121

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

We also published an Arabic edition of Kitāb al-Safar, a book on the management of travel by a Yemeni Rasulid Sultan. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Jāzim w/ forward by Danuel Varisco.

120

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

The 2025 issue includes UW’s second-ever roundtable! “A Sea of Sorcery” asks historians to consider what we gain by thinking of the past alongside works of fiction, focusing on Shannon Chakraborty’s Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. The roundtable is also on Ottoman History Podcast!

ottomanhistorypodcast.com

A Sea of Sorcery: Roundtable with Shannon Chakraborty

produced by Shireen Hamza and featuring Fahad Bishara, KD Thompson, Liana Saif, Mahmood Kooria, Rebecca Hankins, and Samantha Pellegr...

141

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

The thematic dossier on the Indian Ocean was guest edited by Jyoti Balachandaran. It includes peer-reviewed research articles on Blackness in Arabic & Chinese sources; engagements btw Mamluk Cairo & Sultanates of India; an Indian jurist in Mamluk Cairo; and the idea of an Indian Ocean “world”

120

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Thanks to all authors, reviewers, & readers as we close out issue 33! We published 550 pages in 2025: 7 articles; a thematic dossier w/ 4 more articles; a roundtable; an Arabic edition; a pedagogy file; 7 book reviews; & some short communications. Here’s a thread to gather some highlights! 🧵

journals.library.columbia.edu

Al-ʿUsur al-Wusta

Middle East Medievalists (MEM) is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the Islamic lands of the Middle East during the medieval period (defined r...

1118

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

as always, you don't need to be a member of @mideastmedieval.bsky.social to read/submit to al-ʿUsur al-wusta. however, membership dues help keep the journal running. please consider becoming a MEMber today. while you’re at it, check out all the other stuff MEM is up to!

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

031

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Imperial Islam is Moon-worshiping—but Sun-worshiping too, straining algorithmically for the stars. Symbolized by 'Ali and Jesus, early modern Persianate Selenocentrism and Heliocentrism are Hermetically useful global-comparative categories for decolonizing the historiography of science and empire.

161

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

063

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

New article alert! Join us in exploring a phrase from Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s 13th-c. geography. He refers to the Damādim of northeast Africa as “Tatars of the Sūdān.” Hannah Barker interrogates the racializing discourses at play in such comparative claims. [image: British Library Or 1524]

12013

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

010

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

New article alert! The exploits of the ʿudhrī lovers Jamīl and Buthayna are well known, full of potential for romance and scandal and violence. This article asks how such celebrated stories read differently when read with an eye to Buthayna’s experiences instead of Jamīl’s performances

143

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

middleeastmedievalists.com

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

020

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

New article alert! How can we rethink word stress in Classical Arabic? This article looks to an unexpected source: the traditional recitation of metra in Persian metrics. This evidence clarifies controversial patterning in Classical Arabic, with implications for Proto-Arabic word stress, as well

153

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

We affirm that our use of Columbia Libraries open-access publishing is in solidarity with students, faculty, and staff protesting genocide and calling for justice in Palestine.

020

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

The Editors of @alusuralwusta.bsky.social endorse @mesa1966.bsky.social's March 13 Statement on the repression of academic freedom and March 28 Joint Statement regarding Columbia.

mesana.org

Letters from The Board

163

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

middleeastmedievalists.com

Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

040

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

New article alert! Explore the history of 15th-century Diyarbakır with us today! This new article relies on literary & epigraphic sources to tell a story of Aqquyunlu rulers & their relationship to the famous Armenian bishop, painter, & poet Mkrtičʻ Nałaš [shown here: remains at nearby Ergani]

193

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

middleeastmedievalists.com

Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

010

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

New article alert! We invite you to explore a text composed in the northern reaches of the Caliphate in 744: the Armenian martyrology of Vahan of Gołtʻn. This article includes a translation and intro that analyzes the text’s construction of the Umayyad world and Armenian experiences within it

map of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Armenia including Gołtʻn along the Araxes

2115

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

middleeastmedievalists.com

Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

020

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

New article alert! Ibn Khaldūn’s Muqaddima offers the most extended reading of a series of maps known from medieval literature. In this article, Alfred Hiatt parses Ibn Khaldūn’s text alongside manuscripts of al-Idrīsī’s 12th-cent. geography, prompting questions about Ibn Khaldūn’s art of history

manuscript showing a sectional map from al-Idrisi. It is worn in the middle with some water damage near the top. The map has a gold border with notes in Arabic in red and black ink around the margins. Within the border are two bodies of water in blue with light blue waves. Rivers cross the land in lines of blue. Land is not colored except mountains, in green, burnt orange, pink, & red. Arabic text in red identifies seas and regions; cities are noted in black. The map shows the south and east of France from Toulouse (top right) to Burgundy (bottom right), separated by the Alps from northern and central Italy, located between the Mediterranean (top) and Adriatic (bottom) Seas.

33417

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

as always, you don't need to be a member of @mideastmedieval.bsky.social to read & submit! however, membership dues help keep the journal running. please consider becoming a MEMber today. while you’re at it, check out all the other stuff MEM is up to! www.middleeastmedievalists.com

middleeastmedievalists.com

Middle East Medievalists

MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

010

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

The 2024 issue includes 3 conference reports on Sasanian studies, an interdisciplinary study of Baghdad, and comparative empires. And 3 book reviews on Ibāḍi texts, a translation of Ibn al-Muʿtazz, & Berber Empires

131

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

We published an extensive pedagogy file on medieval Georgian coinage

130

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

UW had its first round table in 2024! It was on the Global Middle Ages with nine thought-provoking contributions

110

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists @alusuralwusta.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

In 2024, we published ten peer-reviewed research articles on wide-reaching topics such as the miḥna, an Ibāḍī khuṭba, Middle Armenian, divinatory lots, ḥadīth transmissions, tile revetments, poetry, & emotion. Here is the compilatory thread!

110