ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Marwān (d. 86/705), brother of the famed state-building caliph, ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān (d. 86/705), reigned as the amīr of Egypt and heir apparent to the Umayyad caliphate for over twenty years. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, however, died just a few months before his brother ʿAbd al-Malik, and thus never ascended to the caliphate. The combination of his early death, the limited treatment of Egypt in the early Arabic historical sources, and the illustrious history of ʿAbd al-Malik have left ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz a largely unknown figure in western scholarship. This study seeks to revive the career of this largely forgotten amīr and demonstrate the critical role he played in the formation of the Marwānid dynasty, as well as the great autonomy he exercised within Egypt.
'A virtue of Mabra’s book is his keen sense of Umayyad politics: he is a close reader of his sources, Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, al-Kindī, and al-Ṭabarī among the Arabic writers. Mabra knows, in other words, how to build an argument.'
Professor Matthew S. Gordon, Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā.
'The book is thought provoking and should interest all concerned with the earliest period of Islamic history.'
Professor Gerald Hawting, Journal of Islamic Studies
Table of Contents (v)
Acknowledgments (vii)
List of Tables and Images (ix)
Abbreviations (xi)
Chapter 1. Introduction: Egypt and the Early Umayyads (1)
Chapter 2. The Coalition of Kalb and Umayya (13)
Chapter 3. Al-Ḥasham: Building a Provincial Power Base in the Nile Valley (33)
Chapter 4. The Poetic Battle for Succession (55)
Chapter 5. The Independent Polity of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Marwān (83)
Chapter 6. Into the Egyptian Holy Land: The Amīr, the Patriarch and the City of Ḥulwān (119)
Chapter 7. Conclusion: The Legacy of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Marwān (161)
Excursus: Beyond Egypt: The Legitimation of Bishr ibn Marwān (d. 75/694) (167)
Conclusion (182)
Select Bibliography (189)
Index (203)
