Islamic Occultism in Theory and Practice

Islamic Occultism in Theory & Practice Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Headley Lecture Theatre 6–8 January 2017

An International Conference Organized by Liana Saif Université catholique de Louvain/University of Oxford Matthew Melvin-Koushki University of South Carolina Francesca Leoni Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Farouk Yahya Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Sponsored by University of Oxford Ashmolean Museum The Barakat Trust In tandem with the Ashmolean exhibition Power & Protection: Islamic Art & the Supernatural 20 October 2016 – 15 January 2017 Image credit: Kristen Alvanson, “Abjad Diagram from Nonad,” Maskh series (www.kristenalvanson.com)

Friday, 6 January 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Registration 12:00 – 12:15 p.m. Welcome and Introduction 12:15 – 1:15 p.m. Keynote Charles Burnett (The Warburg Institute) Title TBA 1:15 – 2:30 p.m. Lunch Panel 1: Hermetism and Sabianism in Islamic Magic Chair: Francesca Leoni 2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Liana Saif (Université catholique de Louvain/University of Oxford) Evaluating the Pseudo-Aristotelian Hermetica and Its Impact on Magic in Medieval Islam 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. Michael Noble (The Warburg Institute) Sabian Occult Ritual as an Alternative Path to Human Perfection 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. Tea Break Panel 2: Islamic Talismans—Arabic and Turkish, Sunni and Shiʿi Chair: Liana Saif 4:00 – 4:30 p.m. Francesca Leoni (Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford) Wasila/Wasita: A Turkish Talisman 4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Maryam Ekhtiar (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) Islamic Talismans on the Battlefield: The Sunni/Shiʿi Divide 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Exhibition Visit 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Drink Reception 7:00 p.m. Dinner for Speakers

Saturday, 7 January Panel 3: Magic Squares and Indian Mages in Arabic Manuscripts Chair: Francesca Leoni 9:30 – 10:00 a.m. Bink Hallum (British Library) Magic Squares in the Renaissance of Islam: New Light on Early Arabic awfāq Literature 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. Jean-Charles Coulon (Paris-Sorbonne University) The Kitāb Sharāsīm al-Hindiyya and Medieval Islamic Occult Sciences 10:30 – 11:00 a.m Coffee Break Panel 4: The Brethren of Purity, Old and New Chair: Noah Gardiner 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Godefroid de Callataÿ (Université catholique de Louvain) and Liana Saif The Epistle on Magic in the Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ Matthew Melvin-Koushki (University of South Carolina) Astronomers, Lettrists and Sultan-Scientists Mathematize the Cosmos: Neopythagorean Occultism at the Samarkand Observatory of Ulugh Beg Lunch Panel 5: Occult Libraries and Their Contents Chair: Matthew Melvin-Koushki 1:30 – 2:00 p.m. Noah Gardiner (University of South Carolina) The Occult Library of the Mamlūk Sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Barqūq 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. Yasmine Al-Saleh (Dār al-Āthār al-Islāmiyya, Kuwait) The Purple Talismanic Scroll 2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Tea Break Panel 6: Amulets and Magic Bowls, Past and Present Chair: Farouk Yahya

3:00 – 3:30 p.m. Roberta Giunta and Michele Bernardini (University of Naples “L’Orientale”) Islamic Magic Bowls: Towards a Comprehensive Investigation 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. Christiane Gruber (University of Michigan) Bereket Bargains: Islamic Amulets in Today’s Turkey 4:00 p.m. Closing Remarks

Sunday, 8 January Panel 7: Alchemy, Astrology and Astrological Alchemy Chair: Nicholas Harris 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. Tuna Artun (Rutgers University) My Companions Are Like the Stars: Astrological Concepts in the Alchemical Kashf al-asrār fī hatk al-astār 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. Ahmet Tunç Şen (Leiden University) In Defense of Astrology: Muʾayyadzāda ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’s (d. 1516) Rebuttal of Anti-Astrology Arguments 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. Coffee Break Panel 8: Ciphers and Symbols in Islamic Occult Science Chair: Liana Saif 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Nicholas Harris (University of Pennsylvania) Ciphers and Secrecy: Alchemy, Cryptography, and the Occult 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. Blanca Villuendas (University of Barcelona) The Dilemmas of an Editorial Project: Ibn al-Maḥfūf’s Book on the Triplets in Geomancy 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. Lunch Panel 9: Occult Calligraphy in Islamic Southeast Asia Chair: Michael Noble 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. Farouk Yahya (Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford) Calligrams of the Lion of ʿAli in Southeast Asia 2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Fiona Kerlogue (Horniman Museum, London) Calligraphic Batiks 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Roundtable Emilie Savage-Smith (University of Oxford), Venetia Porter (British Museum, London), Azfar Moin (University of Texas at Austin) Closing Remarks