- Some data from the history of Islam: The 13th century was the beginning of a great crisis. Mongolian hordes penetrated from Asia, defeating Persia in the first onslaught, the Baghdad Caliphate in the 2nd. The threat of the Franks hung over Syria, Palestine and Egypt. In Spain, the Reconquista defeats Almoravides and Muslim rule is confined to Granada and its surroundings. Arabs leave the scene for the next six centuries, while the Turks take over. Egypt partly recovers under the Mamelukes in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, after the Mongols had been driven out from Syria and the Crusades from Palestine. In the domain of culture, there are less and less original works and true literature and poetry; what prevail are encyclopedias, collections, compilations – only repetitions, typical signs of decline.
- One detail from Tabari’s vast collection of historical material. The Book of News on Prophets and Kings, gives some indications about the position (and role) of the woman in the early period of Islam.
A detailed description of the battle of Kadesi that was to decide the destiny of the Persian Empire includes the following lines:
”The sun rose on the third morning, all troops were in their positions, both Arabs and Persians. The muslims had already lost two thousand soldiers, severely wounded or killed, while the pagans had lost ten thousand of theirs. Saad said: You can bathe the killed, or bury them with their blood on. Gatherers carried bodies to the graves, while the wounded were committed to the woman’s care. Majid ebu Zaid supervised the work. Women and children were digging graves during the two days of Agwat and Armat, on both coasts of Mushariq; two and a half thousand soldiers who were killed on Kadesi were buried there” (Gabrielle, ibid, pp 198-199).
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