publication: The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire

William Armstrong - william.armstrong@hdn.com.tr

‘The Black Eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire: Networks of Power in the Court of the Sultan’ by George Junne (I.B. Tauris, 336 pages, £64)

 


A eunuch of the Ottoman sultan. Photograph by Pascal Sebah, 1870s.
 There are few more exotic subjects than the eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire. But despite being key centers of power for over three centuries, Ottoman court eunuchs remain something of an enigma. “The Black Eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire” by University of Northern Colorado professor George Junne is pioneering work that casts light on a fascinating but shady subject. It includes plenty of stomach-churning descriptions of the castration process, but also addresses broader issues of slavery, Ottoman power dynamics and cultural inheritance. Reading about this strange world of black and white eunuchs, court mutes, dwarf eunuchs, and dwarf concubine mutes is also a good reminder of what a bizarrely different world it was at the heart of Istanbul until just 100 years ago.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-black-eunuchs-of-the-ottoman-empire.aspx?pageID=238&nID=105388&NewsCatID=474 

When the day started in the evening

Niki GAMM ISTANBUL

he last observatory in the Islamic world, which was also the first and only observatory in the Ottoman Empire, was constructed by Takiyuddin Mehmed bin Maruf, who had been invited to Istanbul from Egypt on the order of Sultan Murat III (1574-1595).

What is time? It is how we segment our days, years, centuries and millennia – to give a bare-bones definition of it. We’ve just passed into a new year based on how years are calculated in today’s society. But what about the past? And how is it that almost 100 percent of the world has accepted a calendar based on European/Christian calculations? And what if you lived in an Islamic culture instead?

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/when-the-day-started-in-the-evening.aspx?pageID=238&nID=60531&NewsCatID=438

'Visions of the Ottoman World in Renaissance Europe'

William Armstrong - william.armstrong@hdn.com.tr

'Visions of the Ottoman World in Renaissance Europe' by Andrei Pippidi (Oxford University Press, $50, 288 pages)


During the Renaissance, Europe regained self-confidence and underwent rapid social changes, despite of course being wracked with division and discord. It was also during the 16th century that the Ottoman Empire was at the pinnacle of its power, and lurked as a constant hostile presence on Europe’s eastern frontiers. Andrei Pippidi’s “Visions of the Ottoman World in Renaissance Europe” isn’t a political history of relations between the Ottomans and Western European states, but rather a history of the image of “the Turk” in Europe during the first stages of its evolution. Nevertheless, the vicissitudes of political fortune naturally had a big impact on the ideas that gained currency at the time. With the Ottoman expansion, the moral and religious challenge that Islam has presented to European culture since the 9th century became a serious menace, and the effects were felt both intellectually and emotionally.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/visions-of-the-ottoman-world-in-renaissance-europe.aspx?pageID=238&nID=60363&NewsCatID=474

İznik tile artists briefly paint the town red

NIKI GAMM

Blue might be the color that comes to mind most when one thinks of İznik tiles, but there was a brief period of effervescence in the 16th century when red was the color of the day. The period lasted no longer than 30 years before dropping out of fashion

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Not only did İznik tiles decorate architectural works in Istanbul, ceramic wares for daily use also found their way into the palace kitchen for such occasions as births, circumcisions and enthronement ceremonies and decorated the dining tables of the wealthy. Hürriyet photo

In the second half of the sixteenth century, there was a brief window of opportunity during which the ceramic workshops in İznik produced an extraordinary red color on their wares. The time frame was 1550 to 1580, at a point when the Ottoman Empire was at its peak, during its classical period. İznik as well as Kütahya had long been centers of tile-making because the clay soil in their vicinity was particularly suited to the production of ceramic wares. Wood was readily obtainable from the woods in the area. Neither of the two cities was very far from Istanbul and both were on commercial routes. Tile production was carried out in İznik in the Roman, Byzantine, Anatolian Seljuk and Beylik eras.


read more on : http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/iznik-tile-artists-briefly-paint-the-town-red.aspx?pageID=238&nID=57207&NewsCatID=438