1 SICKNESS, SCOUNDRELS AND SAINTS: TANTA IN THE WORLD AND THE WORLD IN TANTA 1856-1907 by Stephanie Anne Boyle to The Department of History In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of History Northeastern University Boston, MA August 2012 2 SICKNESS, SCOUNDRELS AND SAINTS: TANTA IN THE WORLD AND THE WORLD IN TANTA 1856-1907 by Stephanie Anne Boyle ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate School of Northeastern University, August 2012 3 Sickness, Scoundrels and Saints: Tanta in the World and the World in Tanta 1856-1907 My dissertation is an investigation of the Egyptian Delta city of Tanta during its period of rapid urbanization, modernization and development (1856-1907). It determines that in an effort to modernize Tanta-along with Cairo and Alexandria-the Cairo-based state authorities exponentially increased Tanta’s bureaucracy and physically transformed Tanta through public work and building projects. Local elites collaborated in this endeavor by joining the new administrative and judicial bureaucracies. Reforms to institutions that focused on physical and spiritual health (new forms of Sunni orthodoxy) became a vehicle to incorporate the governed classes into the project. Specifically, this project underlines the idea that the result of this undertaking was a form of modernity that was created by individuals and affected by local particularities, global forces and the Egyptian state’s reform. This work emphasizes that modernization was a process and shows the interchange between local, global and regional forces. I argue that unlike other urban histories of Egypt that have focused on Cairo and Alexandria, a study of Tanta, (the Delta’s most prominent city) illustrates the national, regional and global character of modernization and urbanization between1856 and 1907. It shows that modernization was a site of collaboration where members of civil society negotiated in three areas: the public health system, the administrative and judicial bureaucracy and religious institutions. These arenas illustrate that modernity was a space where a wide array of individuals (Egyptian, Western European, Greek, Syrian, American and others) participated and shaped cultural practices and modern institutions during the second half of the nineteenth-century. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It takes an army to get a PhD. An army of people pushing you forward telling you every step along the way that you can finish, you will finish, and that you deserve to finish. When I think back to the many ways that my friends and family have helped me, I am overwhelmed by my gratitude. This PhD has been an intellectual transformation and journey that has taken me around the world and back again. It has been more than just a project, but a major part of my life for the last seven years. It has defined how I think about things and how I understand my place in the world. It has been the most transformative period in my life to date and there are a number of people who have been responsible for helping me get through this difficult process. I want to begin as this dissertation did by thanking the people who have become my friends and lifelong companions in Boston. First and foremost, I would like to thank my fellow graduate students at Northeastern who have helped me laugh through this difficult process. Zach Scarlett and Sam Christiansen have always been available to discuss, dissertate and complain about graduate school. They helped me work through the early days and have always been there to talk. Burleigh Hendrickson has also become a good friend at Northeastern who has helped me immensely by reading my junky drafts and giving me good advice. Zach, Sam, James Bradford and he have always been there for me to blow off steam and have a good time. I thank Rachel Gillett for so many good times and all of her assistance with reading my chapters and listening to my undeveloped ideas. I also want to thank the staff of the history department: Nancy Borromey and Jennifer Mocarski. Particularly, Jennifer has always been willing to give me a pep talk and make life a little more pleasant. I also want to thank a number of people in Cairo. After the three years I spent there conducting research, I now think of Egypt as my second home. In Tanta, I want to thank Hany 5 Helmy. His patience and hospitality during my time in Tanta made my experience there truly enjoyable. I also want to thank the staff of the Fulbright Commission and ARCE for their assistance with this project. I also want to thank the staff of Dar al-Watha’iq and Dar al- Mahfuzat for their endless patience with me. I want to thank the great friends that I made in Cairo who made my life so much better while I lived there. I want to thank Syonara Tomoum and her husband Russell who helped me translate and make sense of some of the most poorly written Arabic that anyone has ever seen. Syonara has always been willing to help me and has greatly aided in this project. I also want to thank Erin Snider, Matt Axelrod, Anne Peters, and Hildagard Kiel for their friendship and companionship during our Fulbright year. I also greatly benefitted from my time with Sara Nimis and Matt Ellis who both taught me ways to enjoy life in Cairo. Sara Nimis has always been there for me and for her and her two children Aliya and Zayn I am very grateful. I want to especially thank David Faris and Jeff Culang who have both become very good friends. David’s uncanny ability to make me laugh coupled with his caring personality has made him an important friend. Jeff’s willingness to read drafts has made my journey so much easier and I am eternally grateful for his friendship. As long as I live, I will always remember my research time in Cairo as one of the greatest periods in my life. I want to also take this opportunity to thank my wonderful advisor, Ilham Khuri-Makdisi who has been a source of inspiration and always able to make me push through. Her frankness coupled with sincere kindness has made my process one that will always be remembered. I also want to thank Philip Khoury was willing to take me on as an advisee even in the midst of his very busy schedule. I want to thank Laura Frader for all of her help during my early days of graduate school. I want to thank Peter Gran for all of his help over the course of my graduate career. His advice and help have really helped my project, but also helped me navigate through 6 academia. I also want to thank Tim Brown for his help with grant writing and the job market, Clay McShane for all of his help and both Bill Fowler and Tony Penna for their wise words. I also want to thank the late Chris Gilmartin who was both a role model and mentor and taught me how to be a woman and mother in academia. She will be greatly missed. While this dissertation has brought many new people into my life who have enriched the project and me, my longtime friends and family are largely the responsible for my success in completing this project and maintaining my sanity through these last seven years. I want to thank Mary, Audrey and Carrie for their longtime friendships. Individually they have held me up along the way and have been inspirational women whom I admire. I also want to thank Joel Zea. Words cannot express the amount of time and energy that he has spent with me. His wit and lightheartedness have carried me through many a difficult situation and the greatest of all conversations on porches from Boston to Cairo will always be remembered. I want to also thank my father Robin Jones and his partner Eddie for all of their help with my son. It would have been a very difficult year without them. I also want to thank my sister-in-law Nancy Setrakian for always bringing things back to reality and teaching me about popular culture. My brothers Oscar and Chris Martinez and my nieces Emily, Abby and nephew Milo have all helped me to laugh and stay in touch with reality. To my mother, there are not words enough in this whole document to express my gratitude. She has put up with my bad attitude, my lack of funds at times and my erratic mood swings over the years and has always been there to help me finish. Thank you mom for all that you do. To my husband Hany Botros, I thank for all of his love and support and making my life in Egypt amazing. Lastly, to my beautiful son Karim, you are the best thing that happened to me 7 while I was writing my dissertation. You make me laugh and make me crazy every day. I am so grateful for you and your life. I am grateful to everyone who helped me on this journey. 8 To Karim 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Dedication 8 Table of Contents 9 A Note on Transliteration 10 Glossary of Terms 11 Introduction: Tanta: A Growing Modern City 1854-1907 12 Chapter 1: Something in the Water Up There 38 Chapter 2: Doing God’s Work: The Transformation of Tanta’s Health Care 75 System from 1884-1907 Chapter 3: Cracks in the Veneer of the Modern City of Tanta: Representations 110 of Greeks and the Poor in Tanta in Print in the Newspaper al-Ahram and the Journal al-Manar Chapter 4: Bandar Bureaucracy: Social Class, Modernity and The 148 Bureaucratic Integration of Elites into the National Egyptian Government Chapter 5: Crafting Collaboration, Consent and Consensus: The Ahmadiyya 181 Brotherhood and the Absorption of the Badawi Complex into the National Orbit Conclusion: Tanta, the World and the Middle East 214 Bibliography 219 10 NOTES ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION This dissertation will use the simplified version of the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (IJMES) and omit all diacritical markings.