Table of Contents

List of Illustrations, Preface; Acknowledgements; Note on the Text; Abbreviations; Introduction; Chapter 1: Working the Propaganda Spindle; Chapter 2: Family Ties: Women and Genealogy in Fatimid Dynastic History; Chapter 3: Inside the Palace Walls: Life at Court; Chapter 4: Battleaxes and Formidable Aunties; Chapter 5: Women of Substance at the Fatimid Court; Chapter 6: Outside the Palace Walls: The Daily Life; Appendix 1: The Fatimid Imam-Caliphs and their Mothers; Appendix 2: Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author

Delia Cortese is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at Middlesex University. Author of Arabic Ismaili Manuscripts (I. B. Tauris, 2002), Ismaili and Other Arabic Manuscripts (I. B. Tauris, 2000) and (with Simonetta Calderini) Mauritania (Clio Press, 1992). Simonetta Calderini is Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Roehampton University, London, and is the author of several articles and chapters on medieval Ismaili and Islamic studies. She recently contributed to the volume by Petr Fiala, et al, Religious and political authority in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (CDK 2004) and to J. D. McAuliffe (ed.), Encyclopedia of the Qur'an (2003).

Reviews

This book reflects a major contribution to the field of Ismaili studies, dealing with a hitherto neglected area! [the authors] write in a highly accessible style without compromising academic standards. -- Dr Farhad Daftary, London It is the best and fullest treatment of women of any Muslim dynasty. -- Professor Yaacov Lev, Israel ... highly informative on the Fatimid state and society and the position of women in it ... -- Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg Muslim World Book Review ... to be welcomed as [a] very valuable contribution to the study of the period considered and, moreover, can be highly recommended to anyone interested in Middle Eastern or general history, be it social, religious or cultural. Bibliotheca Orientalis 'In this excellent addition to the scholarship of both medieval Islamic history and gender history, Cortese ... and Calderini ... set out to 'reinscribe' women into the 'social history of the Fatimid era'. Through a careful reading of primary source material, they present a convincing new picture of Ismaili and Fatimid history ... their mapping of women's history onto 'classical' Fatimid history is compelling ... Highly recommended.' This book reflects a major contribution to the field of Ismaili studies, dealing with a hitherto neglected area! [the authors] write in a highly accessible style without compromising academic standards. It is the best and fullest treatment of women of any Muslim dynasty. ... highly informative on the Fatimid state and society and the position of women in it ... ... to be welcomed as [a] very valuable contribution to the study of the period considered and, moreover, can be highly recommended to anyone interested in Middle Eastern or general history, be it social, religious or cultural.