In April-May 2003, at the invitation of the Director of the ISAA at Moscow State University, M. S. Meyer, a prominent orientalist historian, founder and director (1985-1989), and now honorary Professor of the Institut d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Arabe et Musulman visited Moscow (IREMAM, Aix-en-Provence), Professor at the University of Provence Andre Raymond ¹ .

A. Raymond is one of the brightest representatives of the French school of Oriental studies, a fundamental expert on Arabic and Western archives. Among the priority research interests of the researcher are the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire (Egypt, Syria, etc.). The works of A. Raymond filled in many existing gaps, enriched historical science and became the basis for studying both Ottoman Egypt of the XVIII-XIX centuries and the Middle East region as a whole. ²

During his stay in Moscow, A. Raimon met with leading Russian Arabists who study the Ottoman period in the history of Arab countries and explore a wide range of problems in the Arab-Muslim world. A broad exchange of views took place on a number of issues of mutual scientific and research interest.

For example, Professor of the Department of History of the Near and Middle East of the ISAA at Moscow State University S. A. Kirillina touched upon such historical and cultural topics as intellectual and spiritual interchange within the Ottoman space and the Arab - Muslim world, and the interaction of the cultural centers of the Ottoman world with the Arab periphery (Tunisian, Egyptian, Syrian, etc.).

In a discussion on the ethno-confessional organization of the urban space of the Arab and Muslim cities in general in the Ottoman period, opened by T. Y. Kobishchanov (ISAA), A. Raimon shared his views on the ethno-confessional structure in the cities of the Middle East and considered the question: to what extent can this phenomenon be called "quasi-segregation" (i.e., the separate development of communities within the same same city). In his opinion, the trend towards self-isolation of ethno-confessional communities was dominant and coincided with the interests of the Muslim authorities.

¹ A. Raymond-Professor at the University of Provence - l'Universite de Provence (1977-1988); Visiting Professor, Harvard (1981); Princeton (1988 and 1990); Director of CRESM (1984 - 1988); founder and Director of the Institute for the Study and Research of the Arab and Muslim World - l'Institut d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Arabe et Musulman (IREMAM) (1985-1989); Vice-President of l'Institut du Monde Arabe (1987-1990); founder and President of 1'Association Francaise pour 1'Etude du Monde Arabe et Musulman (AFEMAM) (1987-1991); Professor Emeritus University of Provence - l'Universite de Provence (since 1988).

² Main scientific works: La Tunisie. Paris: PUF, 1961; Artisans et commecants au Caire au XVIIIeme siecle. Damas: IFD, 1974; Les marches du Caire, avec G.Wiet. Le Caire: IFAO, 1979; The Great Arab Cities. An Introduction. New-York: NY U Press, 1984; Grandes villes arabes & l'epoque ottomane. Paris: Sindbad, 1985; Le Caire. Paris: Fayard, 1993; Ibn Abi l-Dhiaf. Chronique des Pois de Tunis. Tunis: Alif, 1994; Le Caire des janissaries. Paris: CNRS, 1995; Balis II, avec J.L.Paillet. Damas: IFD, 1995; Egyptiens et Francais du Caire, 1798 - 1801. Le Caire: IFAO, 1998; La ville arabe, Alep, a l'epoque ottomane. Damas: IFD, 1998; Le Caire. Paris: Mazenod, 2001 (ed.), Arab Cities in the Ottoman jurist, various, 2002.

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The discussion also focused on specific Middle Eastern "megacities". Associate Professor of the Department of History of the Near and Middle East Countries of the ISAA K. A. Panchenko touched upon the topic of the Christian population ,in particular in Aleppo/Aleppo: its size, dynamics, composition and historical destinies in the Ottoman period.

At the Department of Political Science of the Near and Middle East Countries of the ISAA at Moscow State University, one of the main points of the conversation was made on the discussion of innovative scientific positions reflected in the lectures of the French colleague. In particular, the head of the Department of Political Science of the Near and Middle East, M. F. Vidyasova, was interested in fundamentally new estimates of the demographic processes that took place in the Ottoman Empire in general and in Egypt in particular. A. Raimon refuted the previously established ideas about the sharp decline in the population of Egypt by the end of the XVIII century. The data of the historical topography of the city analyzed by him prove the fallacy of the conclusion based on the results of the population census conducted by the French during the Egyptian expedition of Napoleon. A. Raymond showed a completely different picture of the development of demographic processes in the Arab world on the example of Egypt before the beginning of colonial penetration.

A. Raimon also visited the Institute of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences. At the meeting held in the V. A. Gordlevsky memorial office, the Russian side was represented by prominent Russian Ottomans, Turkologists and Arabists-I. M. Smilyanskaya, S. F. Oreshkova, R. G. Landa, S. N. Uturgauri, V. O. Bobrovnikov and others. The discussion covered a wide range of topics. These include the current state of Oriental studies in Russia and France, the organization of scientific conferences, publishing activities, the structure of academic research centers in France, research funding, and international scientific relations. Russian colleagues expressed regret that the fundamental works of Russian researchers, both classic works and new developments, are completely unknown in the West, including in the French professional Oriental community. A. Raymond expressed a similar regret about the insufficient degree of study of the works of French Orientalists in the United States. where he frequently visits, using his lectures to introduce American academic audiences to the French Oriental tradition.

The lectures delivered by A. Raymond from April 22 to 25, 2003 at the Institute of Asian and African Countries aroused great interest. His chosen themes ("Islamic City-Arab City"/''Muslim city-Arab city", "The Structure of the Arab City during the Ottoman Times" / "The Structure of the Arab city during the Ottoman rule"; "The Evolution of Great Arab Cities during the Ottoman Period" / "The Evolution of great Arab cities during the Ottoman period"; "Ottoman Cairo" / " Cairo in the era of Ottoman rule") - allowed Russian colleagues and students to get acquainted with the range of priority interests of the scientist.

The lecture "Muslim city - Arab city" was devoted to the conceptual definition of the concept of "city" in modern orientalism. Convincingly justifying the impossibility of adopting the definition of "Muslim" city, A. Raymond proves the need for scientific limitation of the term "Arab-Mediterranean city".

The lecture "The structure of the Arab city in the period of Ottoman rule" was devoted to the spatial and zonal organization of the traditional Arab city, which was characterized by a rigid zonal division against the background of the obvious presence of segregative phenomena.

In the lecture "The evolution of great Arab cities in the Ottoman period", A. Raimon explained the powerful economic growth of Arab cities (Tunis, Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo), unprecedented in their entire centuries-old history, by the vast territories of the Ottoman Empire, which had a specific Mediterranean character, and the peculiarities of the development of trade relations within it.

Dedicated to the Ottoman-era Cairo, the final lecture showed the splendor and power of the empire's second city with a population of 250,000. Aspects of its economic, political and cultural life were comprehensively analyzed.

Associate Professor of the Department of History of the Near and Middle East ISAA D. R. Zhantiev noted that the volume and variety of sources processed by the scientist during his long scientific activity, the depth of information analysis, and the persuasiveness of argumentation are striking in A. Raimon's lectures. The brilliant presentation of the material left almost no room for questions, although A. Raymond answered them with constant enthusiasm.

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M. S. Meyer, Head of the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Director of the ISAA at Moscow State University, noted that 2003 marked the beginning of the establishment of relations between the ISAA and the largest center for Arab studies in France, the University of Aix-en-Provence, which was represented in Moscow by A. Raymond. As a result, an agreement was reached not only on the visits of professors, undergraduates and postgraduates to the main center for Arab-Muslim studies, the University of Aix-en-Provence, to study its rich archives, but also on the regular exchange of scientific literature, which is extremely important in the light of the limited range of periodicals available to Russian orientalists that are currently published on the Article ³. A. Raimon, M. S. Meyer further noted, shared his creative plans.

Among them is a study of new facts and details of the history of the famous Assembly (Divan), established in Cairo by Napoleon since the beginning of the occupation of Egypt in July 1798 and supported by his successors Kleber and Menou. The subject of the monograph is a set of documents studied by A. Raimon and Muhammad al-Afifi. Among the most significant materials here, in particular, are the testimonies of the Egyptian historian al - Jabarti, who was part of the Divan in 1800-1801, about the activities of this institution. The same applies to the numerous documents found in Les Archives de Vincennes. Another valuable source is a document kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris, which tells about the final stage of the Divan's existence (June-July 1801).

An Arabic manuscript recently found by J.-F. Clement in a city in eastern France, says Professor A. Raymond, presents an account of the Diwan meetings in November-December 1800. This text is an authentic work of the Egyptian historian Ismail al-Hashshab Hashshab, secretary of the Diwan, and contains accurate information about the relations between France and Egypt during the French occupation (1798-1801). Thus, we are talking about the most important source on the history of Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt.

This study will include texts of protocols, reports and reports in Arabic, as well as their annotated analysis in French. L'Institut d'Archeologie Orientale du Caire (IFAO) plans to publish this work.

A. Raymond's book on Muradid Tunisia (17th century) is being prepared for publication.

A paper on the Algerian waqf document of the 17th and 18th centuries will soon be published. Based on a number of archival sources stored in "Les Archives d'Outre-Mer a Aix-en-Provence", A. Raymond showed its connection with a unique register compiled a little later than 1830. The extensive documentary material studied (a set of records totaling 2,437) makes it possible to get an objective idea of the Waqfs in Algeria.

A. Raymond's visit to Moscow significantly enriched the understanding of Russian scientists about the development of modern Oriental studies in France, and, above all, about the subject of research in the field of Arab and Muslim history. This" mutual discovery", according to M. S. Meyer, is the main result of A. Raimon's visit to Moscow.

³ This includes La Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Mediterranee (REMMM), an authoritative journal of Arab studies in the Mediterranean region, published by the University of Aix-en-Provence for 40 years. The magazine is published 4 times a year. (For the first 20 years of its existence, the magazine was published under the title "La Revue de l'occident Musulman et de la Mediterranee").

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