Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem

Amy Singer

SUNY Press, May 9, 2002 - Social Science - 240 pages

Ottoman charitable endowments (waqf) constituted an enduring monument to imperial beneficence and were important instruments of policy. One type of endowment, the public soup kitchen (>imaret) served travelers, scholars, pious mystics, and local indigents alike. Constructing Ottoman Beneficence examines the political, social, and cultural context for founding these public kitchens. It challenges long-held notions about the nature of endowments and explores for the first time how Ottoman modes of beneficence provide an important paradigm for understanding universal questions about the nature of charitable giving.

A typical and well-documented example was the >imaret of Has|s|eki Hurrem Sultan, wife of Sultan Su¬leyman I, in Jerusalem. The >imaret operated at the confluence of imperial endowment practices and Ottoman food supply policies, while also exemplifying the role of imperial women as benefactors. Through its operations, the >imaret linked imperial Ottoman and local Palestinian interests, integrating urban and rural economies.

Contents

• Devote the fruits to pious purposes: 15
• What is a waqf?: 17
• The roots of waqf?: 22
• Why found a waqf?: 25
• The Ottomans: 32
• A Bowl of Soup and a Loaf of Bread: 39
• The written record: 44
• Institutions of the endowment: 46
• Endowed properties: 48
• Personnel: 54
• Soup: 58
• Why Jerusalem?: 65
• Ladies Bountiful: 71
• HurremHelena: 73
• Beneficence and women in Islamic history: 81
• The Byzantine factor: 83
• TurcoMongol heritage: 86
• The Ottomans: 88
• The Gender of Beneficence: 93
• Serving Soup in Jerusalem: 99
• On management: 104
• Getting started: 105
• Tax arrears and firewood: 108
• Food for all: 112
• Building a bath: 117
• Dealing in grain: 121
• Adding to the endowment: 125
• Feeding Power: 131
• Provisioning: 132
• Istanbul and Topkapi Palace: 133
• Provincial towns: 136
• The army on campaign: 138
• Janissaries: 140
• On the word imaret: 143
• PreOttoman precedents: 145
• An Ottoman institution: 152
• Practicing Beneficence: 159
• Notes: 171
• Bibliography: 207
• Index: 229

Popular passages

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About the author

Amy Singer teaches in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University. She is the author of Palestinian Peasants and Ottoman Officials: Rural Administration Around Sixteenth-Century Jerusalem.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem; SUNY series in Near Eastern Studies
• Author: Amy Singer
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: SUNY Press, 2002
• ISBN: 0791453510, 9780791453513
• Length: 240 pages
• Subjects: History / Middle East / General; History / Middle East / Israel & Palestine; Religion / Islam / General; Social Science / Philanthropy & Charity