The Poetics of Arabian Suqs A Hermeneutic Reading of the Development of Arabian Suqs from the Pre-Islamic Era to Present

This book investigates the history of Arabian suqs from their pre-Islamic beginnings to the present. Collecting evidence from archaeological ruins, Islamic towns, modern cities, Arabic poetry, philosophical debates, political conflicts, puppet shows and the insights of modern-day market-goers, the book presents new and unforeseen interpretations of the Arabian suq’s meaning and its transformation through time and place. The finding that such meaning is tied to ancient trade rituals, where temple and market presented a holistic socio-urban unit, re-questions some instrumental assumptions regarding the value of suq-ness in Arabia’s everyday practices. Such a finding, which locates the fadaa/tareeq duality as a central theme in Arabia’s socio-urban discourse, emphasizes the importance of lived experiences and poetics as key sources for understanding socio-urban phenomena.

List of Illustrations Preface Introduction: A Personal Impression, A Problem, A Method The Suq: A Personal Impression The Suq: An Epistemological Problem? Towards a Hermeneutic Understanding of Arabian Space Concluding Notes: Limitations and Delimitations Chapter 1: Arab-ness in between Prejudice and Prehension What is Arabia and Who are the Arabs? Pre-Islamic Arabia and its many Arabs Islamic Arabia: An Expanding Social Geography Post-Islamic Arabia: A Reinvented Identity Concluding Notes: Decolonizing Arabian Studies Chapter 2: The Arabian Suq in Contemporary Discourse What is a Suq? The Suq as a Political Space The Suq as a Religious Space The Suq as a Social Space Concluding Notes: The Suq an Urban Franchise? Chapter 3: Pre-Islamic Arabia in-between fadaa and tareeq The Pre-Islamic Situation: A Historical Overview Pre-Islamic Arabia: An Archaeological Overview Arabia Felix: Saba (4th BC – 275AD) Arabia Petraea: Petra (c. 4th BC – 2ndAD) Arabia Petraea: Hatra, or al-Hadar (c. 2nd BC - 241 AD) Arabia Desertae: Qaryat al-Fau (c. 1st – 4th AD) Arabia Desertae: Medina (c. 6th – 7thAD) Language: Arabic in-between the Desert and the Trade Route The Desert in Pre-Islamic Poetry The Trade Route in Pre-Islamic Poetry Lived Experience: Suq-ness as ‘being-in-the-world’ Pre-Islamic Suq-ness, Myth and Rituals Concluding Notes: Pre-Islamic Suqs in-between fadaa and tareeq Chapter 4: Islamic Arabia in-between tajalli and wahm Historical Context: Arabia of the 7th century Arabic Language and the Islamic Situation Islamic Suqs: An Urban Overview The Umayyads’ Kairouan, Tunisia (670AD) The Abbasids’ Baghdad, Iraq (762AD) The Fatimids’ Qahira, Egypt (969AD) Language: Poetics of the Islamic City Lived Experience: Islamic Suqs in-between tajalli and al-wahm The Islamic Suq as a Sufist Journey The Islamic Suq as a Political Playground Concluding Notes: The Islamic City in-between Horizons Chapter 5: Post-Islamic Arabia in-between Tradition and Progress Historical Context: Pan-Arabism vs. Pan-Islamism Post-Islamic Urban Developments: Case Studies Baron Empain’s Heliopolis, Cairo King Faisal II’s Plan of Greater Baghdad Al Maktoum’s Dubai The Poetics of Suq-ness in Post-Islamic Arabia Lived Experience: Post-Islamic Suq-ness and its Variations Dubai’s Social Perception: A Surveyand Visual Study Suq Rituals in-between the Festive and the Ordinary Post-Islamic Suq-ness in-between Tradition and Modernity Concluding Notes: Post-Islamic Suq-ness and the Predicament of Progress Chapter 6: The Arabian Suq’s Past, Present and Future The Arabian Space and the Problem of Method The Arabian Suq and the fadaa/tareeq Duality Poetics, Identity and Nostalgia in Arabian Suqs The Suq as a Passageway Bibliography Index

Jasmine Shahin is a Dubai-based interior architect and university professor, teaching interior design and architectural history/theory in several institutions. In 2000, Shahin graduated from the American University in Dubai, after which she trained with one of the largest local firms in the Middle East. In 2007, she joined De Montfort University in Leicester, UK, where she received both her MPhil (2010) and PhD (2020) in Architectural and Urban Theory. Shahin has producedseveral publications and has presented many papers at international conferences. Her academic publications focus on the importance of hermeneutics for understanding the development of historical places in relation to contingent social experiences. She founded NU Design Bureau in 2020, complementing her academic experience with a strong pool of successful projects.