A cultural history of the Ottomans: the imperial elite and its artefacts

Abstract

The Ottoman Empire was more than a center of military and economic activity; it was a vivid and fl ourishing cultural realm. The artefacts and objects remaining from all corners of this vast empire tell us a great deal about the everyday concerns of the Ottomans. In this book, Suraiya Faroqhi, Professor of History at Ibn Haldun University and a leading historian on the Ottoman Empire, has selected the most revealing, surprising essential reading for all students of the Ottoman Empire and its material culture. Christine Woodhead, from the University of Durham, thinks that “Suraiya Faroqhi takes the reader on a journey of discovery: whether in the shape of a crown, a tent, a rosewater bottle, a pistol, or a coff ee cup, artefacts are here used to narrate a new cultural history of the Ottoman empire. With unique erudition and fl air, Faroqhi combines bold interpretations and intimate and littleknown stories. The Ottoman elites, as if by magic, become alive.”