Reserved Abundance:

Abstract

Preindustrial public and state granaries were utilitarian buildings, but they were also instruments of food security regimes, representing a government's promise of abundance for its people. In the early modern period such granaries became widespread across Asia, Europe, and European colonies, ranging from territorial storehouse networks to monumental civic buildings near city centers. In Reserved Abundance: State Granaries of Early Modern Istanbul, Namık Erkal discusses Ottoman Istanbul's state granaries, using primary textual and visual sources to trace the type's evolution from modified, repurposed buildings (e.g., shipsheds and bathhouses) to purpose-built storehouses. He also evaluates the forms and importance of storage systems such as encased single-layer and double-stacked wooden grain bins. Erkal defines the capacities, dimensions, and variations of Istanbul's granaries, maps their locations in relation to major urban functions and locales, and compares them with similar buildings within and outside Ottoman domains.