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CLOSEPolitics and Diplomacy: Constantinople and the Courts of the Umayyads and Abbasids
Maria Leontsini
The project “Politics and Diplomacy: Constantinople and the Courts of the Umayyads and Abbasids” investigates the politics of rapprochement between Byzantium and the major political centers of the Muslim world through cultural diplomacy and the deployment of soft power. The research focuses on assessing the narratives concerning Byzantine officials who undertook diplomatic missions, while also critically examining the reliability of the sources that attest to exchanges of knowledge and technology within this context. The study continues and further develops the research undertaken as part of the funded project Byzantine Literary Sources on Arab History and Culture. As part of its current activities, preparations are underway for a roundtable entitled “Byzantium and the Muslim World Beyond Conflict: Tracing Aspects of Exchange in Science with a Focus on Technology, Crafts, and Expertise”, which will be held at the 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies in Vienna, 24-29 August 2026.
- M. Leontsini, “Narrating the Arab Muslim Conquest and Power: A Review of the Byzantine Historical Sources”, in: Μ. Leontsini, N. Livanos (eds.), Arabs and Arabia in the Byzantine Sources: People, Places, Mentalities, Ιnstitute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation, King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (DARAH), forthcoming 2026.
- M. Leontsini, I. Anagnostakis, “Food Μobilities between the Byzantine and the Islamic Worlds: High-Value Materials, Concepts and Trends, 7th to 12th Centuries CE”, in: N. Necipoğlu, K. Durak (eds.), Mobility Volume, forthcoming 2026.
- M. Leontsini, “A Dangerous Era: An Introduction to the Byzantine 7th Century”, in: I. Baldini, A. L. Morelli (eds.), Un mondo pericoloso. Tesori del VII secolo d.C. attraverso il Mediterraneo, Ornamenta. Ante Quem Ornamenta 8, Ante Quem, Bologna 2024, 7-17.
- M. Leontsini, “The Byzantine and Arab Navies in South Aegean and Crete: Shipping, Mobility and Transport (7th-9th C.)”, Graeco-Arabica 12 (2017), 171-234.
- Byzantine Literary Sources for the History and Civilization of Arabs and Arabia, https://arabyzlis.eie.gr/databaserecords/. Open access database, designed and implemented by the TBE Project team, in collaboration with the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), within the framework of the homonymous Project. It has been carried out a) the indexing of sources on the history, the prosopography, and various aspects of the relations between Byzantium and Arabs (politics, diplomacy, war, society, economy, daily life, material culture), and b) the recording and annotation of information in a special thematic field of the database. The editing of the database and its bibliographic updating are under finalization.
The Byzantine Literary Sources for the History and Civilization of Arabs and Arabia Project has as its deliverable the creation of an open-access database, which was designed and implemented by the TBE Project Team. The Project received funding of 117,000 euros from the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). The database is currently under finalization (https://arabyzlis.eie.gr/databaserecords/). An international scientific working meeting was held within the framework of the Project on 8 and 9 October 2021. The Meeting Proceedings are in the preparation stage for publication: M. Leontsini, N. Livanos (eds.), Arabs and Arabia in the Byzantine Sources: People, Places, Mentalities, Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation, King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (DARAH).