Illinois Global Institute

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Welcome to the calendar of the Illinois Global Institute. We are home to 10 longstanding international area studies centers and thematic programs. Bringing the units together as part of the IGI will improve organizational support, raise visibility, and foster additional cross-campus collaboration on essential international programs

CSAMES Lecture: "The sight that I offer is the fairest of sights’: Ivory, Concubines, and Transcultural Exchange in Umayyad Cordoba.” Abigail Balbale

Event Type
Lecture
Sponsor
Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Location
1080 LCLB- Lucy Ellis Lounge & Conference Center 707 Mathew Ave Urbana
Date
Mar 25, 2025   4:00 pm  
Views
22
Originating Calendar
CSAMES events

Abstract: Of the many beautiful objects associated with Madinat al-Zahra and the Cordoban Umayyad caliphate, perhaps none are as celebrated as a series of ivory pyxides and caskets produced for members of the royal family. Several of them were made for royal mothers, formerly enslaved concubines who earned their freedom by bearing the caliph's children. Caliphal concubines arrived in Cordoba after being captured in Christian kingdoms or through diplomatic exchange. These ivory objects then ended up surviving in Christian contexts, frequently used as containers for relics in northern cathedrals. The mechanisms of exchange that brought women to the caliph's court and ivory objects to the Christian north are ultimately unknowable, but a close reading of the objects and their long lives offers insight into the transcultural connections among Islamic and Christian kingdoms in the Middle Ages.

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