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" 'Licit Magic': The Touch And Sight Of Islamic Talismanic Scrolls "
Yasmine F. Al-Saleh
Roxburgh, David J.; Necipoglu-Kafadar, Gulru
Document Type
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Latin Dissertation
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Language of Document
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English
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Record Number
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803041
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Doc. No
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TL47814
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Call number
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1557748316; 3626350
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Main Entry
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Al-Saleh, Yasmine F.
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Title & Author
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'Licit Magic': The Touch And Sight Of Islamic Talismanic Scrolls\ Yasmine F. Al-SalehRoxburgh, David J.; Necipoglu-Kafadar, Gulru
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College
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Harvard University
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Date
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2014
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Degree
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Ph.D.
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field of study
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History of Art and Architecture
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student score
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2014
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Page No
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408
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Note
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Committee members: Caton, Steve
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Note
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Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-01284-2
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Abstract
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The following study traces the production and history of the talismanic scroll as a medium through a Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk historical periods. My dissertation understands the protocol of manufacturing and utilizing talismanic scrolls. The dissertation is a study of the Qur'an, prayers and illustrations of these talismanic works. I begin by investigating a theory of the occult the medieval primary sources of the Neo-platonic tenth century Ikhwān al-Safā' and al-Bunī (d.1225). I establish that talismans are generally categorized as science (`<i>ilm</i>). Next, a dynastic spotlight of talismanic scrolls creates a chronological framework for the dissertation. The Fatimid talismanic scrolls and the Ayyubid pilgrimage scrolls are both block-printed and are placed within the larger conceptual framework of pilgrimage and devotion. The two unpublished Mamluk scrolls from Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah are long beautiful handwritten scrolls that provide a perspective on how the occult is part of the daily life of the practitioner in the medieval Islamic culture. Through an in depth analysis of the written word and images, I establish that textually and visually there is a template for the creation of these sophisticated scrolls. Lastly, I discuss the efficacy of these scrolls, I use theories of linguistic anthropology and return to the Islamic primary sources to establish that there is a language of the occult and there are people that practiced the occult. The word of God and the Qur'ān empower the scrolls I studied. As for the people who practiced the occult, I turn to the tenth century Ibn al-Nadim and Ibn al-Khaldun (d.1406), the people of the occult are understood. Yet, keeping in mind, that there is always a tension with the theologians that condoned practices of Islamic magic.
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Subject
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Art history; Middle Eastern Studies
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Descriptor
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Social sciences;Communication and the arts;Islamic art;Magic;Manuscripts;Religion;Science;Talismans
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Added Entry
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Roxburgh, David J.; Necipoglu-Kafadar, Gulru
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Added Entry
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History of Art and ArchitectureHarvard University
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