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PRODID:-//360 Alumni//The Institute of Ismaili Studies//EN
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DTSTAMP:20241018T150000Z
DTSTART:20241018T150000Z
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LOCATION:online event
SUMMARY: Ismaili Fortresses in Syria
DESCRIPTION: Ismaili Fortresses in SyriaArabic and Islamic Thought Lecture Series (AITLS)This Arabic-language lecture will be held at 4pm BSTIn 1141, upon the order of Ḥasan al-Ṣabbāḥ, members of the Nizārī Ismaili daʿwa based at the fortress of Alamūt in Iran seized the fortress of Maṣyāf and made it the capital of a statelet in Syria. This was a period of violent political and religious dispute with neighbouring powers — the Crusaders to the west and the Muslims to the east — but it was also a period when the Nizārī Ismailis were able to consolidate cities and fortresses, which they either bought or seized, starting with the Citadel of Aleppo, and the fortresses at Sarmīn, Apamea, Shayzar, Damascus, and Bāniyās al-Junūb in the Jawlān district. During this time, the Nizārī Ismailis also built several new, impregnable fortresses which helped to secure their presence and enable them to spread the daʿwa. Historians disagree over the number of these fortresses, with some counting seven and others ten. The most important fortresses today are those of Maṣyāf, Qadmūs, al-Kahf, Khawābī, al-ʿAlīqa, al-Manīqa, al-Ruṣāfa, al-Qāhir and al-Qalīʿa. Most of these were originally built as fortresses, but the Ismailis updated them according to the style of military construction prevalent among the Franks and the Muslims in neighbouring fortresses. However, the strength of the fortresses lay more in their rugged geographic locations than in the strength of their fortifications or their structural durability.It should be mentioned that it is because of the archaeological findings at the fortress of Maṣyāf between 2000 and 2012 that we have been able to study certain aspects of the architecture, fortification and socio-religious life of the Nizārī Ismaili community in Syria in the mid-twelfth and thirteenth centuries CE.SpeakersHaytham HasanDr Haytham Hasan is the Director of the project for the Development of the Heritage of the City of Maṣyāf and its Fortress (Syria), which is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation (Germany). Previously, Dr Hasan worked as a Post-doctorate Researcher at the École Pratique des Hautes Études on a project titled “The Epigraphic Inscriptions of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs in the Town and Citadel of Maṣyāf in the 12th and 13th Centuries”. He also served as a Consultant for the Ismaili Heritage Project at the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London). Additionally, he held the position of Director of Scientific Research and Archaeological Training at the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria (DGAMS). He has published several book chapters and articles on the castle of Maṣyāf, and on Syrian heritage. Dr Nuha al-Sha‘arAssociate ProfessorDr Nuha al-Sha‘ar has a PhD in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Cambridge, MPhil in Educational Research from the University of Cambridge and an MA in African and Asian History the School of African and Asian Studies, SOAS. She has taught at various academic institutions in the UK, and the Arab world. Find out more on Dr Nuha al-Sha‘ar's research and publications. Register for the event: https://iis-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FP_5qO-3TwSPyN3aDsZ8VA#/registration 
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