Under Osman’s Tree: The Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and Environmental History

351 Pages·2017·3.04 MB·English

by  Alan Mikhail

Under Osman’s Tree

Under Osman’s Tree: The Ottoman Empire, Egypt,
and Environmental History
Alan Mikhail
The University of Chicago Press :: Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2017 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2017.
Printed in the United States of America
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 42717- 1 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 42720- 1 (e- book)
doi: 10.7208/chicago/9780226427201.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mikhail, Alan, 1979– author.
Title: Under Osman’s tree : the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and
environmental history / Alan Mikhail.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: lccn 2016035740 | isbn 9780226427171 (cloth : alk. paper) |
isbn 9780226427201 (e-book)
Subjects: lcsh: Human ecology—Egypt. | Egypt—History—1517–1882. |
Turkey—History—Ottoman Empire, 1288–1918. | Human ecology—
History. | Human ecology—Middle East.
Classifi cation: lcc gf13.3.e3 m55 2017 | ddc 333.70956/0903—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016035740
This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1 992
(Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Preface: Osman’s Tree xi
Introduction: The Global Environmental History
of the Middle East 1
Part One: Water
1 Irrigation Works 19
2 History from Below 34
3 Silt and Empire 51
Part Two: Work
4 Rural Muscle 73
5 Expert Measures 93
Part Three: Animal
6 Animal Capital 111
7 Brute Force 131
Part Four: Elemental
8 Food and Wood 153
9 Plague Ecologies 169
10 Egypt, Iceland, SO 184
2
Conclusion: Empire as Ecosystem 199
Acknowledgments 205
Notes 209
Bibliography 293
Index 327
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