ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 turns to economic matters, taking the Arab cities as the engines of commerce. It begins by examining the components of an Ottoman Arab city, noting the location of markets in relation to mosques, military structures, and residential neighborhoods. It then considers market regulation, including price controls and the thorny questions of whether craft guilds existed under Ottoman rule and whether the Ottomans pursued a “provisionist” economic policy. The perspective then expands to interregional and international trade, exploring the major overland and overseas routes and their hazards. A transformative commodity of the Ottoman era was coffee, which reshaped urban life in the Arab provinces.
