changing religious identity. Perhaps one of the most fascinating features of this survey is that, in 1245, the vast majority of the population was Muslim, with only a small Coptic Christian minority. Rapoport highlights the importance of this, noting that during the early Fātimid era, by contrast, the population had been overwhelmingly Coptic Christian. This then raises the question of how, why and when the population converted or changed. This is another major debate and the solution offered here is that the conversion of the Fayyum was brought about for the most part by a hike in the poll tax levied on non-Muslims. This rise took place in the 1130s under the Fātimids, who implemented a high, but variable rate of tax (with different levels for rich and poor). Under the Ayyūbids, this poll tax was then levied at a flat rate of 2 dinars per person. Such a sum was well beyond the means of the poorest families, thereby compelling them to convert to Islam. Rapoport concludes that this was the major driver for wide-scale conversion. He then builds upon this to show that many of the families/villages that converted did so through patronage relationships with existing Arab families/tribes. Families seem to have sought admission to these tribal groups, which would then offer then a degree of protection and collective identity. This in turn suggests that much of Egypt’s Bedouin population consisted of converted Coptic farming families, rather than pre-existing Bedouin groups who had migrated into Egypt from elsewhere. Overall this is an exceptionally illuminating study/primary source and it represents a major advance in our knowledge on the rural human topography both of the Near East in general and Egypt in particular. It is scrupulously researched and plausible in its conclusions. Moreover, the nature of the thirteenth-century register lends itself to the creation of important statistical data relevant to a range of important debates.

中文翻译：

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法蒂玛帝国

改变宗教身份。也许这项调查最吸引人的特点之一是，在 1245 年，绝大多数人口是穆斯林，只有一小部分科普特基督教徒。Rapoport 强调了这一点的重要性，并指出在早期的 Fātimid 时代，相比之下，人口绝大多数是科普特基督徒。这就提出了人口如何、为什么以及何时转变或改变的问题。这是另一场主要辩论，这里提供的解决方案是，法尤姆的皈依在很大程度上是通过提高对非穆斯林征收的人头税来实现的。这种上升发生在 1130 年代的 Fātimids 统治下，他们实施了高但可变的税率（富人和穷人的税率不同）。在阿尤比德统治下，这种人头税按每人 2 第纳尔的统一税率征收。这笔钱远远超出了最贫困家庭的承受能力，从而迫使他们皈依伊斯兰教。Rapoport 得出结论，这是大规模转换的主要驱动力。然后，他以此为基础表明，许多皈依的家庭/村庄是通过与现有阿拉伯家庭/部落的赞助关系实现的。家庭似乎已经寻求加入这些部落群体，然后他们将提供一定程度的保护和集体认同。这反过来表明，埃及的大部分贝都因人人口由皈依的科普特农民家庭组成，而不是从其他地方迁移到埃及的先前存在的贝都因人群体。总的来说，这是一个非常有启发性的研究/主要来源，它代表了我们对近东地区，特别是埃及的农村人类地形知识的重大进步。它经过仔细研究，得出的结论是合理的。此外，13 世纪登记册的性质有助于创建与一系列重要辩论相关的重要统计数据。