Did Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Destroy the Fatimids' Books? An Historiographical Enquiry

Bibliographic Data

ID9274165
AuthorsFOZIA BORA (University of Leeds, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume25
Issue1
Pages21-39
Publication date2015-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0035-869X • E-ISSN: 2051-2066
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1356186314000443
OpenAlexW2146898259
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited27

A persistent myth featuring in some modern accounts of the transition from Fatimid to Ayyubid rule (1169–71) is that one of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn's (r. 1171–93) first actions upon attaining sovereignty over Egypt was to destroy the Fatimids’ book collections in their entirety. Medieval sources present a different, more nuanced depiction of books sold and dispersed over a decade or more, rather than extirpated and put out of circulation altogether. This article collects and examines medieval Arabic accounts of the episode, and finds further indications of the robust survival of Fatimid-era works in the composition of later chronicles, where native Fatimid-era accounts, which clearly did endure beyond the Fatimid age, are well-represented. The article also looks at the tendentious aspects of medieval accounts of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn's policies, and the difficulties they pose to a modern appraisal of the sultan's character and intellectual-ideological tendencies

Ancient history · Arabic · Archaeology · Art · Astrology · Character (mathematics) · Depiction · Historiography · Ideology · Literature · Monarchy · Mythology · Political science · Politics · Sovereignty · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Classics · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy

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