Egypt Connected: Cultural, Economic, Political and Military Interactions (500–1000 CE), Leiden University, June 18–20, 2015
This conference addresses from different disciplinary and chronological perspectives the political, economic, and cultural networks of which Egypt was part in the late Roman and early Islamic period (c. 500–1000 C.E.). Although often considered as marginal to the history of the Roman, Byzantine or Islamic empires, Egypt played an important role in the maintenance of imperia and in processes of social and cultural transformation. Bringing together an international group of archaeologists, papyrologists, historians, numismatists and philologists, the conference will shed light on Egypt’s role in the fundamental historical changes of this period that led to new political, social and cultural constellations in the region.
How did commercial, diplomatic and military engagement with the world around Egypt effect developments in the province and how did Egypt impact the world around it including the geographically remotely located centers of power? To what extent, in other words, was Egypt integrated in larger imperial structures and trans-regional networks? Another important question therefore will be whether Egypt’s conditions and position was exceptional and whether Egypt’s experience can be used to explain empire wide developments.