ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the subject of the sūq as perceived, analyzed and theorized in various studies, both historical and contemporary. Yet, this chapter will not investigate what contributes to sūq-ness as a phenomenological concept but will review, using available sources, the physical development of the sūq and its role in consolidating certain political, social and religious functions. Through this literature review, the chapter attempts to reveal gaps in our current knowledge about sūqs and prejudices related to the space’s accumulated understanding over time, arguing that, while paintings and photographs by 18th- and 19th-century Orientalist scholars have indeed affected the sūq’s image in contemporary discourses, such an image is comparably influenced by a local imaginary narrative that associates it not with some Western ideals of ‘market morality’ but with an Islamic platform of legalities and taboos.
