Presented By: Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS)
FORMS: Etiquette and Piety in Safavid Marriage
Glenn Ellis (Middle East Studies)
Please join The Forum for Research in Medieval Studies (FoRMS) on Monday, March 23rd, in 1014 Tisch for a presentation from Glenn Ellis (Middle East Studies) titled "Etiquette and Piety in Safavid Marriage". This presentation will explore the etiquette of marriage as seen in a Safavid Shī’ī compendium of hadith, Ḥilyat al-Mottaqīn or The Adornment of the Pious, written by Moḥammad-Bāqir Majlisī, a significant scholar. Published in 1671 in Persian, Majlisī’s book was intended for an everyday audience and describes quotidian customs in great detail. One of the most striking hadith in the chapter on marriage notes prohibited and exhorted times of day for sexual intercourse, and it further reveals medical ideas of generation and ways to ensure the morality of one’s offspring and thus society as a whole. This chapter is a useful case study on the expectations held of marriage, and indicates the specificity of religious instruction for one who wanted to be an exemplary Muslim. By studying this text, we can gain a richer picture of the expectations, ideals, and boundaries of Safavid marriage as well as ideals of reproduction.
Glenn Ellis is a first year PhD student in Middle Eastern Studies. They graduated from Hampshire College in 2022 with a concentration in Medieval Middle Eastern History, and their thesis focused on race and race-making in Persian mirrors for princes and epic poems. Interested in Persian literature very broadly, they also Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Arabic, and Arabic, and use these languages to better contextualize Persian poetry. Their interests include race and race-making, romance and epic, and comparative poetics. In their spare time they enjoy cooking, baking without a recipe, and fiber arts.
Glenn Ellis is a first year PhD student in Middle Eastern Studies. They graduated from Hampshire College in 2022 with a concentration in Medieval Middle Eastern History, and their thesis focused on race and race-making in Persian mirrors for princes and epic poems. Interested in Persian literature very broadly, they also Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Arabic, and Arabic, and use these languages to better contextualize Persian poetry. Their interests include race and race-making, romance and epic, and comparative poetics. In their spare time they enjoy cooking, baking without a recipe, and fiber arts.