The Contribution of Nile Water-Level Fluctuation–Based Famine to the Decline of Food Security during the Fatimid Period in Egypt

golmakani, vajihe; Firoozi, Nematollah

[Home ] [Archive]

[ فارسی ]

Quartely Research Journal of Islamic History

پژوهش نامه تاریخ اسلام (فصلنامه انجمن ایرانی تاریخ اسلام)

Main Menu

Home

Journal Information

Articles archive

For Authors

For Reviewers

Registration

Contact us

Site Facilities

Search in website

The Iranian Society of Islamic History

index

isc
noormags
magiran
sid
google scholar
virascience
academia
linked in

Volume 1, Issue 58 (summer 2025)

islamhistory 2025, 1(58): 1-4

Back to browse issues page

The Contribution of Nile Water-Level Fluctuation–Based Famine to the Decline of Food Security during the Fatimid Period in Egypt

Vajihe Golmakani

, Nematollah Firoozi ^*

Abstract: (22 Views)

Analyzing the extent to which fluctuations in the water level of the Nile River influenced food security crises in Egypt during the Fatimid period (10th–11th centuries CE) is one of the significant topics in the history of the Fatimid era. The principal question of this study is whether a decline in the Nile’s water level alone was sufficient to trigger famines during this period, or whether human factors such as the quality of governance, the effectiveness of economic institutions, and political stability played a more decisive role. Using a historical-analytical framework and a descriptive-quantitative method, this study examines the relationship between Nile water-level data and famines associated with drought occurrences. Data were extracted from primary sources (such as al-Maqrizi, Ibn al-Athir, and al-Musabbihi) as well as later historical accounts and were evaluated through chronological tables and trend analysis. The findings indicate that although reductions in the Nile water level (below 16 cubits) were directly correlated with the occurrence of famine and rising food prices during periods such as 998, 1007–1009, 1023–1024, and 1052 CE, the severity and prolonged nature of food crises were not primarily determined by drought conditions alone. During periods such as the reign of Caliph al-Aziz, despite droughts associated with declining Nile levels, relative price stability was maintained through effective governance, extensive trade networks, and strategic reserves. In contrast, during the reigns of al-Hakim, al-Zahir, and especially al-Mustansir, administrative inefficiency, corruption, hoarding, inappropriate monetary policies, and disruptions in grain imports intensified the effects of drought and transformed them into prolonged and catastrophic crises, such as the “Mustansirian Famine.” This study highlights the necessity of adopting a multifactorial understanding of historical crises and avoiding environmentally deterministic interpretations.

Keywords: Food security, Egyptian economic history, drought, Nile River, Fatimid.

Full-Text [PDF 839 kb] (11 Downloads)

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2025/03/27 | Accepted: 2025/06/15

References

1. al-‘Aydarūs, Muhammad Hasan (2010). Al-Dawla al-Islāmiyya al-Khāmisa: Al-Khilāfa al-Fātimiyya, Usrat al-Imām Muhammad al-Maktūm b. Ismā‘īl al-‘Alawiyya. Cairo: Dār al-Kitāb al-Hadīth. [In Arabic]

2. al-Sanhājī, Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad (2008). Tārīkh-e Fātimiyān. Trans. Hojjatollah Judaki. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr. [In Persian]

3. al-Sayyid al-Sāwī, Ahmad (1988). Majā‘āt Misr al-Fātimiyya: Asbāb wa Natā’ij. Beirut: Dār al-Tadāmun. [In Arabic]

4. al-Shūrjī, Amīna Ahmad Imām (1994). Ru’yat al-Rahhāla al-Muslimīn lil-Ahwāl al-Māliyya wa al-Iqtisādiyya li-Misr fī al-‘Asr al-Fātimī. Cairo: al-Hay’a al-Misriyya al-‘Āmma lil-Kitāb. [In Arabic]

5. Antākī, Yahyā b. Sa‘īd (1990). Tārīkh al-Antākī al-Ma‘rūf bi-Silat Tārīkh Utīkhā. Tripoli: Jarrūs Press. [In Arabic]

6. Bakrī, Abi ‘Ubayd ‘Abd Allāh (2013). Al-Masālik wa al-Mamālik. Trans. Hossein Qarchanlu. Tehran: Pazhuheshkadeh-ye Tārīkh-e Islām. [In Persian]

7. Bianquis, Thierry (1980). "Une crise frumentaire dans l'Egypte fatimide". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol23. No1/2. April. p67-101.

8. Cronin, Stephanie (2020). “Nān va ‘Edālat dar Īrān-e Rūzgār-e Qājār”. Pazhuhesh dar Tārīkh. Trans. Alireza Ali-Sufi and Farshid Nowruzi. 10 (29). p47-102. [In Persian]

9. Daftary, Farhad (1996). Tārīkh va ‘Aqāyid-e Ismā‘īliyye. Trans. Fereydoun Badrehi. Tehran: Sahand. [In Persian]

10. Gholami Dehghi (Fereydani), Ali (2010). Eghtesād, Jāme‘e va Modiriyat dar Tārīkhnegarī-ye Maghrizī. Qom: Pazhuheshgāh-e Howzeh va Dāneshgāh. [In Persian]

11. Ibn al-Athīr, ‘Izz al-Dīn ‘Alī (1992). Al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh. Trans. Abolghasem Halat and Abbas Khalili. Tehran: Mo’asseseh-ye Matbū‘ātī-ye ‘Elmī. [In Persian]

12. Ibn al-Tuwayr, ‘Abd al-Salam b. al-Hasan (2009). Nuzhat al-Muqlatayn fī Akhbār al-Dawlatayn. Beirut: al-Ma‘had al-Almānī lil-Abhāth al-Sharqiyya. [In Arabic]

13. Ibn Ḥawqal, Muhammad b. Ḥawqal (1938). Sūrat al-Ard. Beirut: Dār Sādir. [In Arabic]

14. Ibn Jubayr, Muhammad b. Ahmad (1982). The Travels of Ibn Jubayr. Trans. Parviz Atabaki. Mashhad: Astan Quds Razavi. [In Persian]

15. Ibn Mammātī, As‘ad b. Muhadhdhab and ‘Azīz Sūryāl ‘Atiyya (1991). Qawānīn al-Dawāwīn. Cairo: Maktabat Madbūlī. [In Arabic]

16. Ibn Muyassar, Muhammad b. ‘Alī (1981). Al-Muntaqā min Akhbār Misr li-Ibn Muyassar Tāj al-Dīn Muhammad b. ‘Alī b. Yūsuf b. Jalab Rāghib. Cairo: al-Ma‘had al-‘Ilmī al-Faransī lil-Āthār al-Sharqiyya. [In Arabic]

17. Ibn Taghrībirdī, Yūsuf b. Taghrībirdī al-Atābkī (1972). Al-Nujūm al-Zāhira fī Mulūk Misr wa al-Qāhira. Cairo: al-Mu’assasa al-Misriyya al-‘Āmma. [In Arabic]

18. Idrīs, Muhammad (1986). Tārīkh al-Hadāra al-Islāmiyya: al-‘Asr al-Fātimī. Cairo: n.p. [In Arabic]

19. Lombard, Maurice (2011). Joghrāfiyā-ye Tārīkhī-ye Jahān-e Islām dar Chahār Qarn-e Nokhostīn. Trans. Abdollah Naseri Taheri and Somayyeh-Sadat Tabatabaei. Tehran: Pazhuheshkadeh-ye Tārīkh-e Islām. [In Persian]

20. Maqdasī, Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad b. Ahmad (1982). Ahsan al-Taqāsīm fī Ma‘rifat al-Aqālīm. Trans. Ali Naghi Monzavi. Tehran: Sherkat-e Mo‘allefān va Motarjemān-e Īrān. [In Persian]

21. Maqrīzī, Ahmad b. ‘Alī (1997). Al-Mawā‘iz wa al-I‘tibār bi-Dhikr al-Khitat wa al-Āthār al-Ma‘rūf bi-al-Khitat al-Maqrīziyya. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya. [In Arabic]

22. Maqrīzī, Taqī al-Dīn (2008). Ighāthat al-Umma bi-Kashf al-Ghumma aw Tārīkh al-Majā‘āt fī Misr. Beirut: al-Maktaba al-‘Asriyya, Sharikat Abnā’ al-Sharīf al-Ansārī lil-Tab‘ wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzī‘. [In Arabic]

23. Maqrīzī, Taqī al-Dīn (2018). Pand-hā va ‘Ebrat-hā az Banā-hā va Āthār-e Tārīkhī-ye Misr. Trans. Parviz Atabaki. Mashhad: Bonyād-e Pazhuhesh-hā-ye Islāmī-ye Āstān-e Qods-e Razavī. [In Persian]

24. Maqrīzī, Taqī al-Dīn Ahmad (1996). Itti‘āz al-Hunafā bi-Akhbār al-A’imma al-Fātimiyyīn al-Khulafā. Cairo: al-Majlis al-A‘lā lil-Shu’ūn al-Islāmiyya – Lajnat Ihyā’ al-Turāth al-Islāmī. [In Arabic]

25. Metz, Adam (2009). Tamaddon-e Islāmī dar Qarn-e Chahārom-e Hejrī. Trans. Alireza Zekavati Gharagozlu. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr. [In Persian]

26. Musabbihī, al-Amīr Mukhtār ‘Izz al-Mulk (2015). Al-Juz’ al-Arba‘ūn min Akhbār Misr. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub wa al-Wathā’iq al-Qawmiyya. [In Arabic]

27. Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī, Abū Mu‘īn Hamīd al-Dīn (1956). Safarnāma. Tehran: Sepehr. [In Persian]

28. Qalqashandī, Ahmad b. ‘Alī (1914-1922). Subh al-A‘shā fī Sinā‘at al-Inshā. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Misriyya. [In Arabic]

29. Qazwīnī, Zakariyyā b. Muhammad (1994). Āthār al-Bilād wa Akhbār al-‘Ibād. Trans. Mirza Jahangir Qajar. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr. [In Persian]

30. Sayed, Sahar (n.d.). “Al-Azamāt al-Iqtisādiyya wa Atharuhā ‘alā al-Mujtama‘ al-Misrī fī al-‘Asr al-Fātimī”. https://cairo.academia.edu/SaharSayed. [In Arabic]

31. Sayyid, Ayman Fu’ād (2021). Dawlat-e Fātimiyān dar Misr, Tahlīlī Jadīd. Trans. Ismail Baghestani. Tehran: Ney. [In Persian]

32. Shoshan, Boaz (1981). “Fatimid grain policy and the post of the Muhtaseb”. International Journal of Middle East Studies. Volume13. Issue2. May. p181–189.

33. Vardi, Hamidreza (2017). “Tashkīlāt-e Eghtesādī-ye Fātimiyān dar Misr”. Pazhuheshnāme-ye Tārīkh. 12 (46). p135-152. [In Persian]

34. Walters Dols, Michael (2016). Tā‘ūn va Ofūl-e Tamaddon-e Islāmī. Trans. Dr. Ghorban Behzadiannejad. Tehran: Pazhuheshkadeh-ye Tārīkh-e Islām. [In Persian]

35. Ya‘qūbī, Ahmad b. Ishāq (1977). Al-Buldān. Trans. Mohammad Ebrahim Ayati. Tehran: Bongāh-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketāb. [In Persian]

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

golmakani V, Firoozi N. The Contribution of Nile Water-Level Fluctuation–Based Famine to the Decline of Food Security during the Fatimid Period in Egypt. islamhistory 2025; 1 (58) :1-4
URL: http://journal.isihistory.ir/article-1-1565-en.html

Rights and permissions
	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Volume 1, Issue 58 (summer 2025)

Back to browse issues page

Persian site map - English site map - Created in 0.13 seconds with 40 queries by YEKTAWEB 4745