The Sultan's Fountain
The Sultan's Fountain

Author: Agnieszka Dobrowolska

Publisher: American University in Cairo Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 9774165233

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The small sabil-kuttab (a charitable foundation particular to Cairo that combines a public water dispensary with a Quranic school) built in 1760 opposite the venerated Sayyida Zeinab Mosque is almost unique in Cairo: it is one of only two dedicated by a reigning Ottoman sultan, and--astonishingly--it is decorated inside with blue-and-white tiles from Amsterdam depicting happy scenes from the Dutch countryside. Why did the sultan, Mustafa III, cloistered in his Istanbul palace, decide to build a sabil in Cairo? Why did he choose this site for it? How did it come to be adorned with Dutch tiles? What were the connections between Cairo, Istanbul, and Amsterdam in the middle of the eighteenth century? The authors answer these questions and many more in this entertaining and beautifully illustrated history of an extraordinary building, describing also the recent conservation efforts to preserve it for posterity.

The Ottoman House
The Ottoman House

Author: S. Ireland

Publisher: British Institute at Ankara

Published: 1998-12-01

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1912090619

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Seemingly contradictory ideas of privacy and community dominate Ottoman cities. While houses are internally divided to guard female modesty behind a frontage studded with peep-holes, streets in cities like Amasya are often bridged by first-floor passageways between different houses. This book contains 17 papers by architects and archaeologists looking at how the Ottoman house was structured, how it has varied over time and space, and how surviving examples are faring in a world of breeze-block construction. Although the examples discussed are all Near Eastern, and mostly from Turkey, the revelations this book contains about structuring principles will make it a valuable companion to understanding architectural relics from all over the Ottoman Empire.

Merchants in the Ottoman Empire
Merchants in the Ottoman Empire

Author: Suraiya Faroqhi

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13:

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To a large extent the present volume deals with merchants established on Ottoman territory for a long time. Whether they were subjects of the sultans or not will be considered of secondary importance; but many if not most of them probably fell into that category. 'Hard to pin down' traders also occur; in particular we have included a number of studies discussing people who started their lives as Ottoman subjects but whose business activities took them to Venice or the Habsburg territories, where some of them struck roots. Such situations after all form part of the life stories of merchants anywhere; and given the broad expanses of sea and land that many Mediterranean traders traversed, it makes sense to adopt as broad a perspective as possible.

Urban Notables and Arab Nationalism
Urban Notables and Arab Nationalism

Author: Philip S. Khoury

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2003-12-11

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9780521533232

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This study attempts to correct the imbalance and, in the process, provides a fascinating interpretation of the rise of the ideology of nationalism within the Arab world. The book focuses on the social and political life of the great notable families of Ottoman Damascus, who, before World War I, played a crucial part in translating the idea into political action.