Agenda

• Upcoming Events •

06.-08.04.2026Conference: ‘From the Ground Up: The Politics of Burial and Memory in the Early Islamic World (650-1500 CE)’, organised by the LSP project members Katarína Mokránová and Kyle Longworth. Location: Cairo, Egypt.

14-16.09.2026 Conference ‘Ruins and Memory in the Muslim World: Typologies and Motifs 622-1800CE’ Organised by Prof Petra Sijpesteijn, Dr Peter Webb, and Finn Lindo-Dunn. Location: Leiden

• Past Events •

12.02.2026Presentation: Lecture by Mohamed Benabbès: ‘Expressions of “war” and “peace” in medieval Arabic North African conquest narratives’ –  Leiden Lectures on Arabic Language & Culture. Location: Leiden, NL.

29.-30.01.2026 – Seminar: Babtain Research Fellow visit by José C. Carvajal López (Spanish National Research Council), who will present his current work and lead a seminar discussion on the topic of Exploring Islamicisation through​ landscape and material culture. Location: Leiden, NL.

08.12.2025 – Seminar: Discussion of the main LSP project goals and PhD sub-projects with Prof Ahmed El Shamsy, The University of Chicago. Location: Leiden, NL

28.11.2025 – Seminar: Discussion of the main LSP project goals and PhD sub-projects with Prof Ahmad Al-Jallad, The Ohio State University. Location: Leiden, NL.

25.11.2025 – Presentation: Research Discussion by Finn Lindo-Dunn – ‘From Cordoba to Damascus: Reconstructing the Final Lost Chapter of the Arabic Orosius’ – Middle East Studies Lectures. Location: Leiden, NL.

20.11.2025 – Presentation: Academic lecture by Katarína Mokránová – ‘Rural Matters: Exploring Material Entanglements at Tell Abu Sarbut, Jordan (7th-11th century CE)’, for Explorations in Islamic Archaeology Book Launch at Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Location: Leiden, NL.

27.-29.10.2025 Presentation: LSP team members (Petra Sijpesteijn, Finn Lindo-Dunn, Kyle Longworth) will present at the ‘The Materiality of Ziyāra in the Early Islamic World Tombs, Shrines, Practices and Politics (ca. 650-1300 CE)‘ conference at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, Italy. [Read Conference Summary by Katarína Mokránová HERE]

25.09.2025 – Presentation: Academic lecture by Petra Sijpesteijn as part of the University of Notre Dame Conway lecture Series ‘The 2025 Conway Lectures: Petra Sijpesteijn, “Running the early Islamic Empire: the papyrological evidence”. Location: USA.

15.09.2025 – Presentation: Academic lecture by Petra Sijpesteijn at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden – ‘Arabic in Disguise: From East to North Africa’ (15.09.2025). Location: Leiden, NL.

09.09.2025 – Presentation: Kyle Longworth “Public Infrastructure and Private Property: The Proximity of Early Islamic Milestones to Religious, Royal, and Commercial Properties (ca. 661-750 C.E.) at 35th Deutscher Orientalistentag. Location: Erlangen, Germany.

12.-13.06.2025 – Presentation: Academic lecture by Petra Sijpesteijn – ‘Letters and more: Arabic papyrus letters of request’ for Lettercraft in Early Medieval Europe, 476–751 CE | Workshop Processes of Epistolary Communication in the Middle Ages. Location: Utrecht, NL.

04.06.2025 – Presentation: Academic lecture by Petra Sijpesteijn – ‘Labelling the dead: epitaphs identifying ‘umahat al-walad’ Motherhood and unfreedom in the Islamicate world 700-1000’, for Motherhood and Unfreedom in the Islamicate World Workshop (04.06.2025), Allard Pierson Museum. Location: Amsterdam, NL.

28.05.2025 – Seminar: Discussion of the main LSP project goals and PhD sub-projects with Prof. dr. Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Oxford. Prof Qutbuddin visited Leiden Lectures on Arabic Language & Culture titled Between ‘This World and the Next: Moving Reflections on Mortality and Morality in the Orations of Ali ibn Abi Talib‘. Location: Leiden, NL.

21.-22.05.2025 – Presentation: Academic lecture by Petra Sijpesteijn – ‘Prisons and prisoners in early Islamic Egypt: Materiality of Incarceration in Mediterranean Antiquity’, for a workshop on the Materiality of Incarceration in Mediterranean Antiquity, Copenhagen. Location: Copenhagen, DK.

12.05.2025 – Seminar: Discussion of the main LSP project goals and PhD sub-projects with Dr. Antonia Bosanquet, Prof. dr. Christian Lange and Prof. dr. Leonard Rutgers, Utrecht University, followed by academic feedback and discussion. Location: Utrecht, NL.