David Bramoullé's monograph is an addition to the growing number of publications devoted to medieval Islamic and Ottoman maritime history (see, for example, John L. Meloy, Imperial Power and Maritime Trade: Mecca and Cairo in the Later Middle Ages, Chicago, 2010; Giancarlo Casale, The Ottoman Age of Exploration, New York, 2010; Christophe Picard, La mer des califes: une histoire de la Méditerranée musulmane, VIIe–XIIe siècles, Paris, 2015 [English trans. Boston, 2018]; Hassan S. Khalilieh, Islamic Law of the Sea: Freedom of Navigation and Passage Rights in Islamic Thought, Cambridge, 2019). Bramoullé's book is a very significant contribution to both medieval Islamic naval history and Mediterranean trade. It takes a broad view of maritime history in all its aspects. Bramoullé works with a wide range of Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic sources and literature in European languages, Arabic, and Hebrew.
The book is divided into three parts: the first explores the two maritime settings (Mediterranean and Red Sea) that dominated Fatimid naval activities. Its two chapters discuss the geo-climatic characteristics of these two maritime settings and their repercussions on naval activity, and the changing fortunes of the Fatimid navy when fighting adversaries. Part 2 consists of four chapters and is devoted to the organizational aspects of the Fatimid navy. A wide range of topics is discussed, among them the role of the coastal towns, arsenals and the construction of ships, the recruitment of crews, the ideological context of Fatimid naval power and its representation in Fatimid poetry and sources. Part three is devoted to Fatimid maritime trade and provides a meaningful integration between Arabic sources, especially al-Makhzῡmī's Kitāb al-Minhāj fī ʻIlm Kharāj Miṣr, and Geniza documents. The author (d. 1189) and the text (partial edition by Claude Cahen and Yῡsuf Rāġib, Cairo, 1986) are relatively well known but, except for Cahen's study of the text (Makhzῡmiyyāt, Leiden, 1997), little referred to (see, however, Michael Brett's important contribution: “The origins of the Mamluk military system in the Fatimid period”, in U. Vermeulen and D. De Smet (eds), Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras, Leuven, 1995, pp. 39–53). The bringing together of different types of sources is reflected, for example, in Table 8 (pp. 492–4) which summarizes the commercial traffic (exports and imports) that went through the Mediterranean ports of Alexandria, Damietta, and Tinnīs.
Al-Makhzῡmī's Kitāb al-Minhāj is a difficult text, rich in obscure administrative terminology. Building on Cahen's work, and utilizing sources that were not available to him, Bramoullé guides the reader through the intricacies of terminology and explains the basic terms needed for understanding the text (pp. 496, 588–9, 611–4). The administrative structure and personnel of the Custom House of Alexandria are depicted in Figure 41 (p. 670), and the taxes collected there are listed in Table 10 (pp. 615–6).
As significant as al-Makhzῡmī's text is, other important topics are also discussed in part 3. Bramoullé brings the Red Sea to the fore of the discussion of the Fatimid maritime trade and economy, and makes effective use of the recently published anonymous geographical text written in Egypt during the first half of the eleventh century (pp. 530–2). The Red Sea was a very important internal maritime artery for the medieval Muslim rulers of Egypt since it served for the shipment of Egyptian grain to the holy cities of Arabia. The Fatimids continued these shipments and, with the expansion of the Indian Ocean trade, the Red Sea became of paramount importance for Fatimid rulers. Bramoullé also discusses extensively Fatimid relations with the Sulayhid rulers of Yemen with whom the Fatimids maintained religious and political relations during the eleventh century. The author points out that the Fatimids were able to send military aid to the Sulayhid rulers, demonstrating the naval resources available to them on the Red Sea (pp. 529–87, esp. pp. 566–8).
The final two chapters of part 3 are devoted to the question of the Fatimid state and maritime trade. The discussion begins with the observation that the Fatimid state was the biggest buyer and seller of goods capable of influencing the markets (p. 589). State involvement in commerce was through taxation (pp. 603–26) and direct participation in trade. Bramoullé asks whether there was a Fatimid merchant fleet and draws attention to a Geniza document, referring to mutawallī ʿīmārat marākib al-dīwān while an Arabic source refers to marākib al-dīwāniyya (p. 645). A partial answer to this question is offered by Ibn al-Ṭuwayr (1130–1220), who refers to a small state-operated flotilla of Nile sailing ships delivering textiles produced in the ṭirāz workshops to the court (see A.F. Sayyid (ed.), Nuzhat al-Muqlatayn fī Akhbār al-Dawlatayn, Cairo, 1992, pp. 102–3).
A less controversial subject is the ownership of merchant ships by the Fatimid rulers, members of the royal family, and people of the ruling establishment. These ships, referred to as the ship of the sulṭan, the amīr, the qāḍī and the sayyida, are widely attested in Arabic sources and Geniza documents, and also known outside the Fatimid context (see Simonetta Calderini, “Women and trade during the Fatimids”, in Il Fatimidi e il Mediterraneo, Palermo, 2008, pp. 71–80) The book ends with the question of the relationship between the state and local and foreign merchants, especially the Italians. Obviously, it was a situation of interdependence, and political events such as the internal disarray during the civil war of the 1070s, and the wars of the Crusade, must be taken into consideration. Bramoullé's contribution lays the foundations for a comprehensive discussion of the Fatimid economy that, it must be remembered, was primarily agricultural but with surprisingly large commercial and industrial sectors. The industrial sectors (textiles and sugar production) were, however, dependent on the agriculture of the Nile.
The book is nicely produced and accompanied by high quality colour maps and diagrams.
