
The Medieval Nile
Route, Navigation, and Landscape in Islamic Egypt
John P. Cooper(Author)
The American University in Cairo Press
Published on 17. October 2014
Book
Hardback
392 pages
978-977-416-614-3 (ISBN)
Description
This ground-breaking view of the navigational landscape of the Nile in medieval Egypt draws on a broad range of sources: medieval Arabic geographies; traveler accounts; archaeology; and meteorological, hydrological, and geological studies. John Cooper first charts the changing geography of the Nile waterways, particularly in the Delta, from the eve of Islam to the early modern period, and logs the "rise and fall" of these waterways for natural and/or anthropogenic reasons. He then presents a new perspective on the Nile, drawing on traveler accounts and environmental data to portray the river as a uniquely challenging and sometimes dangerous navigational environment requiring extensive local knowledge by skilled and hard-working Nile navigators. Finally, he looks at how the main Delta and Red Sea ports of medieval Egypt fitted into the navigational landscape described, explaining how these ports were affected by changes occurring to the navigational landscape, and how they reflected the navigational conditions of the Nile and surrounding seas.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cairo
Egypt
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
15 bw integrated, 5 tables, 80 bw & colour line
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
885 gr
ISBN-13
978-977-416-614-3 (9789774166143)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
John P. Cooper is an Arabist and maritime archaeologist specializing in the maritime landscapes of the medieval Islamic world. He is currently a lecturer at the Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies of the University of Exeter.
Content
Part 1: Geography
1. Imagining the Nile
2. The Pre-Islamic Nile Delta
3. The Western Delta in the Islamic Era
4. The Eastern Delta in the Islamic Era
5. The Bahr Yusuf
Part 2: Navigation
6. The Nile Flood Cycle
7. Propulsion: Wind, Current, and Human Labor
8. Local Hazards: Mouths, Cataracts, and Mountains
9. Nile Journey Times
10. Onward Connections: The Mediterranean and Red Seas
Part 3: Ports and the Navigational Landscape
11. The Ports of Fustat and Cairo
12. Ports of the Western Delta
13. Ports of the Eastern Delta
14. Ports of the Red Sea
1. Imagining the Nile
2. The Pre-Islamic Nile Delta
3. The Western Delta in the Islamic Era
4. The Eastern Delta in the Islamic Era
5. The Bahr Yusuf
Part 2: Navigation
6. The Nile Flood Cycle
7. Propulsion: Wind, Current, and Human Labor
8. Local Hazards: Mouths, Cataracts, and Mountains
9. Nile Journey Times
10. Onward Connections: The Mediterranean and Red Seas
Part 3: Ports and the Navigational Landscape
11. The Ports of Fustat and Cairo
12. Ports of the Western Delta
13. Ports of the Eastern Delta
14. Ports of the Red Sea