Ottoman Century

Dror Ze'evi is Lecturer at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

"This is a truly outstanding book; it is very interesting, in fact, fascinating. The author effectively weaves theory with evidence from the District of Jerusalem into a smooth, convincing, and very readable narrative. The debate over the nature of the 'Islamic city' is innovative and brings the data from Jerusalem to bear on the general picture, favoring a middle-of-the-road interpretation between the 'localist' and the 'universal Islamic' views. Ze'evi's discussion of the emergence of an Ottoman-Palestinian power elite (he prefers military-governing elite) is enlightening with regard to processes that took place during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The examination of the desert-sown ecology which emerged in seventeenth-century Palestine, and the discussion of the transformation of the timar system are highly insightful and original. Another of the book's contributions is the author's review of the economic position which is very useful for debate over the peripheralization of the Ottoman Empire in the period preceding the nineteenth century." — Ehud R. Toledano, Tel-Aviv University"Ze'evi's book is a very readable, important contribution not only to the history of Ottoman Palestine, but [also] to the understanding of the Ottoman Empire as a whole." — Mediterranean Historical Review

• Note on Transliteration Preface Introduction Chapter 1 Zooming InThe City and Its SurroundingsChapter 2 The Rise and Fall of Local DynastiesChapter 3 The Sufi ConnectionJerusalem Notables in the Seventeenth CenturyChapter 4 Desert, Village and TownA Unified Social StructureChapter 5 Layers of OwnershipLand and Agrarian RelationsChapter 6 An Economy in TransitionCommerce, Crafts and TaxationChapter 7 Worlds ApartWomen in a Men's WorldConclusion Notes Bibliography Index