Josephine van den Bent is assistant professor of medieval history at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include ethnicity and ethnic stereotyping, urban organisation, and in general the social and cultural history of the premodern Islamicate world. She previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the NWO Vici-project "Source of Life" at Radboud University. Maaike van Berkel is professor of medieval history at Radboud University, Nijmegen. She is a social and cultural historian of the Middle East, with a particular interest in court culture and urban history. Her current research project investigates water management in the premodern Middle Eastern city.Edmund Hayes is a lecturer at Leiden University. His research focus is the social history of early Shiʿa Islam, which gave rise to his 2022 monograph, Agents of the Hidden Imam: Forging Twelver Shiʿism, 850-950 CE, and a 2024–2028 ERC project "Embodied Imamate: Mapping the Development of the Early Shiʿi Community 700–900 CE."

• Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter One. Introduction - Water Management in the Premodern Middle East: Forces from "Above" and "Below" - Josephine van den Bent, Maaike van Berkel, Edmund Hayes Chapter Two. Water, Wealth, and Inequality in the Roman World. Forces from "Above" and "Below" - Nathalie de Haan Chapter Three. Water Management in Early Islamic Medina: Infrastructure, Labour and Politics - Harry Munt; Chapter Four. An Environmental History of the Darb Zubayda: Towards a First Approximation - Peter J. Brown Chapter Five. The Infrastructure of Purity: Plumbing Advice from Hadith and Early Fiqh - Edmund Hayes Chapter Six. Baghdad's System of Water Provision: Infrastructure, Maintenance, and Decline in the City's First Two Centuries - Josephine van den Bent Chapter Seven. Fighting over Water: Everyday Water Issues in Late Buyid and Early Seljuq Baghdad (5th/11th Centuries) - Vanessa Van Renterghem Chapter Eight. Urban Crafts Associated with the Provision of Water in Islamic Syria - Marcus Milwright Chapter Nine. Traditional Water Harvesting in Mamluk and Early Ottoman Bilād al-Shām: The Family Cistern - Bethany J. Walker Chapter Ten. "From a Spring Where Allah's Servants Will Drink": Reassessing the Social Significance of Sabīls in Mamlūk-Era Cairo - Angela Isoldi Chapter Eleven. Cairo's Sabīls during Egypt's Modern Period - Dina Ishak Bakhoum Chapter Twelve. Afterword - Alan Mikhail About the Authors

Josephine van den Bent is assistant professor of medieval history at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include ethnicity and ethnic stereotyping, urban organisation, and in general the social and cultural history of the premodern Islamicate world. She previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the NWO Vici-project "Source of Life" at Radboud University. Maaike van Berkel is professor of medieval history at Radboud University, Nijmegen. She is a social and cultural historian of the Middle East, with a particular interest in court culture and urban history. Her current research project investigates water management in the premodern Middle Eastern city.Edmund Hayes is a lecturer at Leiden University. His research focus is the social history of early Shiʿa Islam, which gave rise to his 2022 monograph, Agents of the Hidden Imam: Forging Twelver Shiʿism, 850-950 CE, and a 2024–2028 ERC project "Embodied Imamate: Mapping the Development of the Early Shiʿi Community 700–900 CE."

• Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter One. Introduction - Water Management in the Premodern Middle East: Forces from "Above" and "Below" - Josephine van den Bent, Maaike van Berkel, Edmund Hayes Chapter Two. Water, Wealth, and Inequality in the Roman World. Forces from "Above" and "Below" - Nathalie de Haan Chapter Three. Water Management in Early Islamic Medina: Infrastructure, Labour and Politics - Harry Munt; Chapter Four. An Environmental History of the Darb Zubayda: Towards a First Approximation - Peter J. Brown Chapter Five. The Infrastructure of Purity: Plumbing Advice from Hadith and Early Fiqh - Edmund Hayes Chapter Six. Baghdad's System of Water Provision: Infrastructure, Maintenance, and Decline in the City's First Two Centuries - Josephine van den Bent Chapter Seven. Fighting over Water: Everyday Water Issues in Late Buyid and Early Seljuq Baghdad (5th/11th Centuries) - Vanessa Van Renterghem Chapter Eight. Urban Crafts Associated with the Provision of Water in Islamic Syria - Marcus Milwright Chapter Nine. Traditional Water Harvesting in Mamluk and Early Ottoman Bilād al-Shām: The Family Cistern - Bethany J. Walker Chapter Ten. "From a Spring Where Allah's Servants Will Drink": Reassessing the Social Significance of Sabīls in Mamlūk-Era Cairo - Angela Isoldi Chapter Eleven. Cairo's Sabīls during Egypt's Modern Period - Dina Ishak Bakhoum Chapter Twelve. Afterword - Alan Mikhail About the Authors

Josephine van den Bent is assistant professor of medieval history at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include ethnicity and ethnic stereotyping, urban organisation, and in general the social and cultural history of the premodern Islamicate world. She previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the NWO Vici-project "Source of Life" at Radboud University. Maaike van Berkel is professor of medieval history at Radboud University, Nijmegen. She is a social and cultural historian of the Middle East, with a particular interest in court culture and urban history. Her current research project investigates water management in the premodern Middle Eastern city.Edmund Hayes is a lecturer at Leiden University. His research focus is the social history of early Shiʿa Islam, which gave rise to his 2022 monograph, Agents of the Hidden Imam: Forging Twelver Shiʿism, 850-950 CE, and a 2024–2028 ERC project "Embodied Imamate: Mapping the Development of the Early Shiʿi Community 700–900 CE."

• Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter One. Introduction - Water Management in the Premodern Middle East: Forces from "Above" and "Below" - Josephine van den Bent, Maaike van Berkel, Edmund Hayes Chapter Two. Water, Wealth, and Inequality in the Roman World. Forces from "Above" and "Below" - Nathalie de Haan Chapter Three. Water Management in Early Islamic Medina: Infrastructure, Labour and Politics - Harry Munt; Chapter Four. An Environmental History of the Darb Zubayda: Towards a First Approximation - Peter J. Brown Chapter Five. The Infrastructure of Purity: Plumbing Advice from Hadith and Early Fiqh - Edmund Hayes Chapter Six. Baghdad's System of Water Provision: Infrastructure, Maintenance, and Decline in the City's First Two Centuries - Josephine van den Bent Chapter Seven. Fighting over Water: Everyday Water Issues in Late Buyid and Early Seljuq Baghdad (5th/11th Centuries) - Vanessa Van Renterghem Chapter Eight. Urban Crafts Associated with the Provision of Water in Islamic Syria - Marcus Milwright Chapter Nine. Traditional Water Harvesting in Mamluk and Early Ottoman Bilād al-Shām: The Family Cistern - Bethany J. Walker Chapter Ten. "From a Spring Where Allah's Servants Will Drink": Reassessing the Social Significance of Sabīls in Mamlūk-Era Cairo - Angela Isoldi Chapter Eleven. Cairo's Sabīls during Egypt's Modern Period - Dina Ishak Bakhoum Chapter Twelve. Afterword - Alan Mikhail About the Authors