Positioned at the crossroads of the maritime routes linking the Indian
Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the Yemeni port of Aden grew to be one
of the medieval world's greatest commercial hubs. Approaching Aden's
history between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries through the prism
of overseas trade and commercial culture, Roxani Eleni Margariti
examines the ways in which physical space and urban institutions
developed to serve and harness the commercial potential presented by the
city's strategic location.
Utilizing historical and archaeological methods, Margariti draws
together a rich variety of sources far beyond the normative and
relatively accessible legal rulings issued by Islamic courts of the
time. She explores environmental, material, and textual data, including
merchants' testimonies from the medieval documentary repository known as
the Cairo Geniza. Her analysis brings the port city to life, detailing
its fortifications, water supply, harbor, customs house, marketplaces,
and ship-building facilities. She also provides a broader picture of the
history of the city and the ways merchants and administrators regulated
and fostered trade. Margariti ultimately demonstrates how port cities,
as nodes of exchange, communication, and interconnectedness, are crucial
in Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern history as well as Islamic and Jewish
history.