Beyond words: Requests in Arabic papyrus letters

A hybrid lecture by Prof Petra Sijpesteijn (Professor of Arabic, Leiden University) organised by the Centre for Middle and Near Eastern Studies.

To attend online please see here.

Life in medieval Egypt was full of challenges from natural circumstances or as a result of human actions. How did those affected deal with these challenges? In this paper I will use Arabic papyrus letters to examine how people tried to solve a problem with the aid of others – family members, acquaintances, government officials, figures of authority. As it turns out the letters show us the importance of the language and expressions used to address and convince others to offer help. The letters also show that the rhetoric of request took place on other levels, namely via the material used and through visual markers such as the lay-out of the text, the use of different scripts, execution of the writing etc. In this way, the Arabic papyrus letters offer us an alternative view on medieval Egyptian history in two ways: by allowing us to see the social safety net that helped people to deal with daily life challenges and by offering us a view beyond the words written in the letters to see how messages were conveyed through material and non-lexical scribal markers as well.

Please indicate if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: abeds@tcd.ie