Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Cortese, Delia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5507-9332 (2017) Upper Egypt: a Shi’i ‘powerhouse’ in the Fatimid period? Studi Magrebini, 12-13 (1) . pp. 153-168. ISSN 0585-4954 [Article] Published version (with publisher’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/23236/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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Centro di Studi Mag·rebini UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI “L’ORIENTALE” DIPARTIMENTO ASIA, AFRICA E MEDITERRANEO Centro di Studi Magrebini· STUDI MAG‚REBINI Nuova Serie Volumi XII - XIII Napoli 2014 - 2015 REBINI ‚ LABOR LIMAE Atti in onore di CARMELA BAFFIONI Prefazione di STUDI MAG STUDI Wilferd MADELUNG A cura di Antonella STRAFACE - Carlo DE ANGELO - Andrea MANZO Nuova Serie Vol. XII - XIII Tomo I Tomo I Napoli ISSN: 0585-4954 2014 - 2015 UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI “L’ORIENTALE” DIPARTIMENTO ASIA, AFRICA E MEDITERRANEO Centro di Studi Magrebini· STUDI MAGREBINI‚ Nuova Serie Volumi XII - XIII Napoli 2014 - 2015 LABOR LIMAE Atti in onore di CARMELA BAFFIONI Prefazione di Wilferd MADELUNG A cura di Antonella STRAFACE - Carlo DE ANGELO - Andrea MANZO Tomo I UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI “L’ORIENTALE” DIPARTIMENTO ASIA, AFRICA E MEDITERRANEO CENTRO DI STUDI MAG‚REBINI Presidente: Sergio BALDI Direttore della rivista: Agostino CILARDO ✝ Consiglio Scientifico: Sergio BALDI, Anna Maria DI TOLLA, Moha ENNAJ, Ersilia FRANCESCA, Ahmed HABOUSS, El Houssain EL MOUJAHID, Abdallah EL MOUNTASSIR, Ouahmi OULD- BRAHAM, Nina PAWLAK, Fatima SADIQI Consiglio Editoriale: Flavia AIELLO, Orianna CAPEZIO, Carlo DE ANGELO, Roberta DENARO Piazza S. Domenico Maggiore , 12 Palazzo Corigliano 80134 NAPOLI Direttore Responsabile: Agostino Cilardo ✝ Autorizzazione del Tribunale di Napoli n. 97 del 26/10/2004 ISSN 0585-4954 INDICE Historica – Philosophica - Scientifica Foreword (W. Madelung) I Presentazione (A. Straface) V Pubblicazioni di Carmela Baffioni (a cura di A. Straface) VII AMIR-MOEZZI M.A., ‘Al† et le Coran (Aspects de l’imamologie 1 duodécimaine XIV) ARFÉ P., Le dimore delle stelle nel Prologus super Artem geomantiae di 41 Ugo di Santalla BIANCHI L., Maometto II nel Dictionnaire historique et critique di Pierre 73 Bayle BUTTERWORTH C. E., Alfarabi’s Political Teaching: Theoretical Premises 91 and Practical Consequences CARPENTIERI L., Antecedenti greci nell’atomismo di Ab™ Bakr al-R…z† 103 CARUSI P., Al-¦uÐr…’† vs. Ibn S†n…: la risposta di un alchimista allo 123 sciant artifices CORTESE D., Upper Egypt: a ‘Shia’ powerhouse in the Fatimid period? 153 DAFTARY F., The Early Niz…r† Ismailis and their Spiritual Resurrection 169 DAIBER H., Ambiguity (tashk†k) of being in Mull… Ÿadr…. A Common 183 Philosophical Problem between Cordoba and I¡fah…n D’ANCONA C., “Porfirio” cita “Aristotele”, al-Kind†, la pseudo-Teologia e il 195 De Caelo DE CALLATAӰ G., From Ibn Masarra to Ibn ‘Arab†: references, 217 shibboleths and other subtle allusions to the Ras…’il Ikhw…n al- Ÿaf…’ in the literature of al-Andalus DE SMET D., La Ris…la al-J…mi‘a attribuée aux Ikhw…n al-Ÿaf…’ : un 269 précurseur de l’ismaélisme ¥ayyibite ? EL-BIZRI N., Defining Place with or against Aristotle: The case of the 299 Brethren of Purity and Alhazen HAMDANI A. - SOUFAN A., The Im…m Speaks about His Sh†‘a in an 319 Epistle of the Ras…’il Ikhw…n al-Ÿaf…’ HUGONNARD-ROCHE H., L’Épître de Sévère Sebokht à Aitilaha sur le 337 Peri Hermeneias. A propos des propositions métathétiques et privatives, et de l'existence du possible JANSSENS J., The Latin Translation of the Epistle on Geography of the 367 Ikhw…n a¡-Ÿaf…’: A Few Preliminary Remarks in View of a Critical Edition LORCA A.M., Crítica y renovación en tres pensadores árabes contemporáneos 381 MADELUNG W., Maslama al-Qur¥ub†’s Contribution to the Shaping of 403 the Encyclopedia of the Ikhw…n al-Ÿaf…’ MARÓTH M., An Unknown Source of al-Khw…rizm†’s Kit…b ¡™rat al-arÿ 419 MARTINI BONADEO C., A reference to al-F…r…b†’s Kit…b al-|ur™f in 433 Averroes’ critique of Avicenna (Tah…fut al-Tah…fut, 371,5-372,12 Bouyges) ROSELLI A., L’Ippocrate di Apollonio di Cizio 453 SANNINO A., Oro te, o spiritus qui lates in illo corpore: Guglielmo 475 d’Alvernia e il Liber de quattuor confectionibus SCARCIA AMORETTI B., La questione della genealogia fatimi- 495 da nell’opera del nass…ba Ibn ‘Inaba (m 1424): una notarella SCOTTI M., Tra apologia e polemica: il dibattito teologico-filosofico nel 507 Mu²ta¡ar al-u¡™l di ‘Al† ibn Mu|ammad ibn al-Wal†d (m. 612/1215) STRAFACE A., Profeti e profezie in contesto ismailita: la storia “misteriosa” 527 di ‘‡s… ibn Maryam ZONTA M., Shakh¡ “person, individual” in Arabic logic. A comparative 549 history of the term and its meanings found in other languages of culture in the Near, Middle and Far East Upper Egypt: a “Shia” powerhouse in the Fatimid period?* Delia CORTESE When arriving in Aswan, the visitor’s attention cannot help being captured by the sighting of the most enchanting landmark to adorn the western bank of the Nile. At the top of a hill, a solemn yet simple domed mausoleum towers over the hustle and bustle of life on the riv- er below. The landmark is the resting place of His Highness Muham- mad Shah Aga Khan III (d. 1957), the 48th Ismaili Imam. Opposite to the mausoleum, on the east side of the Nile, another burial site re- minds the visitor of the age-long association of Egypt with Ismaili his- tory: the so-called “Fatimid cemetery”, disfigured by a century-long toxic combination of misguided archaeological practices and adven- turous urban planning. That the Ismaili Imam chose Aswan as the place where to return to “the land of his fathers,”1 opposite the Fatimid necropolis - thus reinforcing through architecture - a sense of continui- ty between past and recent Ismaili history in Egypt is -at first sight- somewhat intriguing. What role did Upper Egypt play in Ismaili histo- ry that was so significant as to merit its choice as the Imam’s resting place? Why is it that we find in Aswan -of all places- a necropolis that is the only landmark in the whole of Egypt that today formally fea- tures the term “Fatimid” in its nomenclature? It is generally accepted that before, during and after the Fatimid rule in Egypt, the people in that country were and continued to remain pre- * Parts of this paper were presented at the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association of America, held in New Orleans in October 2013, within a panel kindly sponsored by The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. I wish to thank Dr Horváth Máté, Budapest University, for his suggestions and comments. I am solely responsible for any shortcomings that might be featured in this paper. 1 As stated in the epitaph on his tomb inside the mausoleum. 154 Delia CORTESE dominantly Sunni and that the Fatimids never actively or forcefully pursued a policy of mass conversion to Ismailism. Consequently, the impact of Shiism on Egypt’s religious, cultural and social life has been assumed -with two notable exceptions- to have been negligible and therefore not worthy of in-depth investigation. Yaacov Lev was the first to challenge this assumption commenting on the Ismaili tenor and character of religious life in Fatimid Egypt and to draw our attention to aspects of Shii activism in the Fatimid capital. More recently Devin J. Stewart has provided a nuanced picture of the Shii presence in Egypt, by combining linguistic and historical evidence, which brings him to conclude that the extent of Shii influence in medieval Egypt has been under-estimated.2 The limited attention paid so far to Shiism in Fatimid Egypt is partly due to a predominantly Cairo-centred schol- arly approach to the study of Fatimid history.3 If we consider instead tackling the history of this period as a “history of Egypt under the Fat- imids” and thus looking at the “provinces” rather than the centre of government, one unlocks a complex picture in which “Shiism” -used broadly here to cover a spectrum identities ranging from varied forms of ‘Alid affiliations to Ismaili adherence- emerges as having played a significant part in shaping the life of Egypt and the destiny of the dyn- asty.