Asyut in Modern Times: The Problem of Invisibility. (February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gran, Peter
• Is Part Of: International journal of Middle East studies. Volume 53:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 113
• Page End: 117
• Publication Date: 2021-02
• Subjects: Middle East -- Periodicals; 915.603305
• DOI: 10.1017/S0020743821000106
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0020-7438

Abstract

Abstract : If a major city, the major administrative capital of the south and an integral part of how the system reproduces itself, is invisible beyond an occasional passing reference in the familiar narrative of the history of a country, something has gone amiss. Such is the situation of Asyut, a city so invisible that even the English spelling of its name is elusive—variably Asyut, Assuit, Assiut, Siout, or even Essiout—sometimes appearing to be a deliberate attempt to retain an ancient pharaonic or biblical rendering. So why is there this invisibility and how can it be overcome?