Peter Webb
University Lecturer Arabic Literature and Culture
- Name
- Dr. P.A. Webb
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 1689
- p.a.webb@hum.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-6861-0767
Peter Webb is University Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Arabic Literature and Culture at Leiden University. He specialises in early Arabic poetry and prose, combining philology, literary analysis, and anthropological approaches to examine how poetic, narrative, and historiographical traditions shaped notions of Arab and Muslim identity. Peter Webb is Principal Investigator (PI) of the ERC-funded research project Geo-Poetic Analysis of Pre-Islamic Arabia (2026-2031).
More information about Peter Webb
News
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Peter Webb Awarded ERC Consolidator Grant for groundbreaking research on Pre-Islamic Arabia -
Call for papers: Ruins and Memory in the Muslim World: Typologies and Motifs (622-1800 CE) -
Visit ambassadors to the University Library Special Collections -
Coming this fall: Al-Babtain visiting professor Geert Jan van Gelder -
New MOOC: The Cosmopolitan Medieval Arabic World -
Al-Babtain Leiden University Centre for Arabic Culture opens its doors -
Coming this fall: Al-Babtain visiting professor Wadad Kadi -
LUCIS launches Passion in Profession video series -
Peter Webb’s EPIC PASTS explores how Muslims viewed their pre-history -
Veni awards for four Leiden Humanities researchers -
Veni awards for seventeen young Leiden researches
PhD candidates
Curriculum Vitae
Peter Webb studied Arabic at SOAS, University of London and at the University of Damascus, and obtained an MA in Islamic Studies at SOAS, University of London. He then qualified as a solicitor in the insolvency and restructuring practice at Clifford Chance LLP in London. He completed his PhD at SOAS in 2014 under the supervision of Professor Hugh Kennedy. His dissertation, Creating Arab Origins: Muslim Constructions of al-Jāhiliyya and Arab History, examined how early Muslims conceptualized the pre-Islamic past and Arab identity, and was published as a monograph, Imagining the Arabs (Edinburgh University Press, 2016).
Following his doctoral studies, Peter Webb was awarded the Art Histories and Aesthetic Practices Fellowship (2014-2015) by the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin, and a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2015, hosted at SOAS. He joined Leiden University in 2017 as University Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Arabic Literature and Culture. He was Principal Investigator of the NWO Veni project Epic Pasts: Pre-Islam Through Muslim Eyes (2018-2021).
His current research focuses on the potentials of close and contextualized reading of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry and its reception across the Muslim era. In 2024 he conducted fieldwork in Saudi Arabia, following the footsteps of pre-Islamic poets, tracing their homelands and discovering (in many cases for the first time) the locations which they name in their poetry.
In December 2025, Peter Webb was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant (€2,000,000) for the project Geo-Poetic Analysis of Pre-Islamic Arabia (2026–2031). The project will continue fieldwork in Saudi Arabia and study how pre-Islamic poetry can be used as a source to reconstruct the history of central Arabia at the dawn of Islam.
Research
Peter Webb’s research focuses on the intersections of literature, memory, and identity in pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabia. His first monograph, Imagining the Arabs: Arab Identity and the Rise of Islam offered the first critical examination of Arab ethnogenesis and integrated anthropological theory with early Arabic literature, reshaping debates on Arab identity and its historical construction. In The Arab Thieves: al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabarʿan al-bašar, Luṣūṣ al-ʿArab (Brill, 2019), he studied pre-Islamic Arabian outlaws and raiders whose exploits were memorialized in poetry, combining textual analysis with pilot fieldwork south of Mecca. His recent critical editions and translations include The Excellence of the Arabs (2017), Ibn Qutaybah’s forceful defence of Arab heritage in ninth-century Baghdad, and The Genius of Invective (2025), a commentary that unpacks the historical and literary allusions in Ibn Zaydūn’s celebrated 11th-century letter.
Peter Webb’s NWO-funded project Epic Pasts: Pre-Islam Through Muslim Eyes (2018-2021) explored how early Muslims remembered and reconstructed the history of pre-Islam. His ERC-funded project Geo-Poetic Analysis of Pre-Islamic Arabia (2026-2031) combines philological analysis of pre-Islamic poetry with ethnographic fieldwork and geographic mapping. The project aims to unlock the rich, untapped corpus of central Arabian verse, reconstructing tribal, social, and spatial structures to provide a more empirically grounded understanding of the world into which Muhammad introduced Islam.
Teaching
Peter Webb teaches courses at the BA, MA, and Research MA levels in the following fields:
- Comparative Literatures of the Middle East (BA3)
- Reading pre-modern Arabic texts (BA2)
- Themes in Arabic Literature: Bandits and Outlaws (MA and ResMA)
- History through the lens of Poetry (ResMA and PhD Seminar)
He also supervises BA, MA, and Research MA theses as well as PhD dissertations on a wide range of topics, including Arabic literature, the history of the Middle East, and topics in Islamic architecture from Egypt to India.
Grants and awards
- 2026-2031 | European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant: GeoPo: Geo-Poetic Analysis of Pre-Islamic Arabia (Host institution: Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Leiden University)
- 2018-2021 | Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Veni Grant: Epic Pasts: Pre-Islam Through Muslim Eyes (Host Institution: Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Leiden University)
- 2015-2018 | British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship: The Origin of Arabs: Ethnogenesis and Mythmaking in Early Islam (Host Institution: SOAS, University of London)
- 2014-2015 | Art Histories and Aesthetic Practices Fellowship: Text, Image and Idea in Islamic Architecture: Buildings and Books (Host Institution: Forum Transregionale Studies/Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin)
Ancillary activities
- Scientific Consultant for the Darb Zubaydah UNESCO World Heritage Nomination, The Heritage Commission, Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia
University Lecturer Arabic Literature and Culture
- Faculty of Humanities
- Leiden Institute for Area Studies
- SMES APT
- Webb P.A. (2025), Power and money on the Ḥajj: connections between caliphate and pilgrimage in early Islam. In: Kennedy H. & Bessard F. (Eds.), Land and trade in early Islam: the economy of the Islamic Middle East 750-1050. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 100-139.
- Ibn Nubātah (2025), The genius of invective: Ibn Zaydun’s letter explained [ The Genius of Invective] (translation: Webb P.A. & Nubātah I.). New York: New York University Press.
- Webb P.A. (2025), Abbasid Baghdad. In: Paskaleva E & Turner M. (Eds.), Architecture, Monuments and Urbanism: Part II: Cities on the overland Silk Roads. Paris: UNESCO/WHCCE. 117-139.
- Webb P.A. (2025), Sohar to Dhofar: Urbanization in Oman. In: Paskaleva E. & Turner M. (Eds.), Architecture, monuments and urbanism: Part III: Cultural networks and sea ports on the maritime Silk Routes. Paris: UNESCO/WHCCE. 167-192.
- Webb P.A. (2024), The History and Significance of the Meccan Hajj : from Pre-Islam to the Rise of the Abbasids. In: Khan Q.M. (Ed.), Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage : Essays in Honour of Nasser David Khalili. London: Gingko. 28-46.
- Webb P.A. (2024), Al cuore dell’Islam. Gli Arabi: religione, legge e struttura sociale [At the Heart of Islam. The Arabs: Religion, Language and Society]. In: Bernardini M. & Tottoli R. (Eds.), Mondi Islamici. Torino: Giulio Einaudi editore. 139-176.
- Webb P.A. (2024), The Camel. In: Fleet K, Krämer G, Matringe D, Nawas J & Stewart D.J. (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of Islam Three. Leiden: Brill. 12-26.
- Webb P.A. (2024), al-Azraqī, Abū l-Walīd Muḥammad. In: Fleet K., Krämer G, Matringe D., Nawas J. & Stewart D. (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of Islam Three. Leiden: Brill.
- Webb P.A. (2024), Desert perception: representations of Pre-Islamic Arabian Space in Classical Arabic Literature, Quaderni di Studi Arabi 19(1): 12-49.
- Webb P.A. (2023), Making war ethnic: Arab-Persian identities and conflict on the Euphrates frontier. In: Stouraitis Y. (Ed.), War and collective identities in the Middle Ages: east, west, and beyond. Yorkshire: ARC Humanities Press. 33-63.
- Webb P.A. (2023), The Hajj before Muhammad: the early evidence in poetry and hadith, Millennium 20(1): 33-63.
- Webb P.A. (2022), Light in the tunnel: Arab stories of endurance through suffering Review of: Bray J. Stories of piety and prayer, Library of Arabic Literature, TLS: The Times Literary Supplement (6198): .
- Webb P.A. (2022), Bedouin, bandits and caliphal disappearance: a reappraisal of the Qaramita and their success in Arabia. In: Berkel M. van & Osti L. (Eds.), The historian of Islam at work. Leiden: Brill. 254-282.
- Webb P.A. (2021), From the sublime to the ridiculous: Yemeni Arab identity in Abbasid Iraq. In: Pohl W. & Kramer R. (Eds.), Empires and Community in the Post-Roman and Islamic World, C. 400-1000 CE. Oxford Studies in Early Empires. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 283-328.
- Webb P.A. (2021), Fragmentation and integration: a response to the contributions of Hugh Kennedy and Walter Pohl. In: Pohl W. & Kramer R. (Eds.), Empires and Community in the Post-Roman and Islamic World, c. 400-1000 CE. Oxford Studies in Early Empires. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 76-88.
- Webb P.A. (2021), Protection granted by women: between law and literature, Annales Islamologiques 54: 31-56.
- Webb P.A. (2021), Review of: Ramzi Rouighi (2019), Inventing the Berbers: History and Ideology in the Maghrib: University of Pennsylvania Press. International Journal of Middle East Studies 53(4): 714-716.
- Webb P.A. (2021), Continuity and change: elite responses to the founding of the caliphate. In: Bent J. van den, Eijnde F. van den & Weststeijn J. (Eds.), Late antique responses to the Arab conquests. Cultural Interactions in the Mediterranean no. 5. Leiden: Brill. 120-170.
- Webb P.A. (2020) The hand’s tongue: The emotional significance of artistry and writing in Islam. Review of: Blair Sheila, Bloom Jonathan, Osborne J.R. & Mozzati Luca, By the Pen and What They Write | Letters of Light | Islamic Art. TLS: The Times Literary Supplement (6106): 28-29.
- Webb P.A. (2020), Cry me a Jāhiliyya: muslim reconstructions of pre-Islamic Arabian culture - a case study. In: Sijpesteijn P. & Adang C. (Eds.), Islam at 250: Studies in Memory of G.H.A. Juynboll. Leiden: Brill. 235-280.
- Webb P.A. (2020), al-Azd. In: , Encyclopaedia of Islam 3: Brill. 1-5.
- Webb P.A. (2020), Bakr b. Wā'il. In: , Encyclopaedia of Islam 3: Brill. 6-9.
- Webb P.A. (2020), Ka'b ibn Mālik. In: , Encyclopaedia of Islam 3: Brill. 73-74.
- Webb P.A. (2020), Kalb ibn Wabara. In: , Encyclopaedia of Islam 3: Brill. 75-76.
- Webb P.A (2020), Review of: Ulrich Brian (2019), Arabs in the Early Islamic Empire: Exploring al-Azd Tribal Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 83(2): 345-347.
- Webb P.A. (2020), Ethnicity, power and Umayyad Society: the rise and fall of the people of Maʿadd. In: Marsham A. (Ed.), The Umayyad World. London: Routledge. 65-102.
- Webb P.A. (2020), "The Spread of Islam in Arabia: expressing conversion in poetry". In: Hurvitz N., Sahner C., Simonsohn U. & Yarbrough L. (Eds.), Conversion to Islam in the Pre-Modern Age. Oakland: University of California Press. 63-68.
- Webb P.A. (2020), Desert places: toponyms in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, Semitica et Classica 13: 251-265.
- Webb P.A. (2019), The Arab Thieves: Al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar, Vol. V, Sections 1-2 no. 6. Leiden: Brill.
- Webb P.A. (2019), Arabia: the land of Frankincense and myrrh. In: Whitfield S. (Ed.), Silk Roads: Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes. London: Thames and Hudson. 232-235.
- Webb P.A. (2019), Islam: a new faith on the Silk Roads. In: Whitfield S. (Ed.), Silk Roads: Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes. London: Thames and Hudson. 256-267.
- Webb P.A. (2019), Iram. In: Fleet K., Krämer G., Matringe D., Nawas J. & Rowson E. (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of Islam 3: Brill. 117-121.
- Webb P.A. (2018), Review of: Shahab Ahmed (2017), Before Orthodoxy: the Satanic Verses in Early Islam: Harvard. Journal of Arabic Literature 49: 162-167.
- Qutaybah Ibn (2017), The Excellence of the Arabs [Fadl al-'Arab wa-l-tanbih 'ala 'ulumiha] (translation: Montgomery J., Savant S. & Webb P.A.). Library of Arabic Literature. New York and Abu Dhabi: New York University Press.
- Webb P.A. (2017), Identity and Social Formation in the Early Caliphate. In: Berg H. (Ed.), Routledge Handbook on Early Islam. London: Routledge. 129-158.
- Webb P.A. (2017), Review of: Munt Harry (2014), The Holy City of Medina: Sacred Space in Early Islamic Arabia. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. The British Foundation for the Study of Arabia Bulletin 22: 43-45.
- Webb P.A. (2016), Review of: Fisher Greg, Arabs and Empires before Islam. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 79(3): 640-642.
- Webb P.A. (2016), The origin of Arabs: Middle Eastern ethnicity and myth-making, British Academy Review 27(1): 34-39.
- Webb P.A. (2016), Imagining the Arabs: Arab Identity and the Rise of Islam. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Webb Peter (2016), Review of: Hirschler Konrad, Medieval Damascus: Plurality and Diversity in an Arabic Library. TLS: The Times Literary Supplement .
- Webb P.A. (2016), Muḥammad und die gāhiliyya: Die vorislamische Zeit im prophetischen ḥadīt. In: Schmidt Nora, Schmid Nora K. & Neuwirth A. (Eds.), Denkraum Spätantike. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 447-466.
- Webb P.A. (2015), Pre-Islamic al-Shām in Classical Arabic Literature: Spatial narratives and history-telling, Studia Islamika 110(2): 1-30.
- Webb P.A. (2015), Review of: al-Azmeh Aziz (2014), The Emergence of Islam in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 23: 149-153.
- Webb P.A. (2015), Review of: Hoyland Robert (2015), In God's Path: Oxford University Press. TLS: The Times Literary Supplement .
- Webb P.A. (2014), Al-Jāhiliyya: Uncertain Times of Uncertain Meanings, Der Islam: journal of the history and culture of the middle east 91(1): 69-94.
- Webb P.A. (2013), Review of: Gelder Geert Jan van (2012), Classical Arabic Literature. New York: New York University Press. TLS: The Times Literary Supplement .
- Webb P.A. (2013), The Hajj before Muhammad: Journeys to Mecca in Muslim Narratives of Pre-Islamic History. In: Saif Liana & Porter Venetia (Eds.), The Hajj: Collected Papers. London: British Museum Press. 6-14.
- Webb P.A. (2013), Poetry and the Early Islamic Historical Tradition: Poetry and narratives of the Battle of Ṣiffīn. In: Kennedy Hugh (Ed.), Poetry and Warfare in Middle Eastern Literatures. London: IB Tauris. 119-141.
- Webb P.A. (2012), Review of: Malcolm Lyons (2012), The Man of Wiles in Popular Arabic Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. TLS: The Times Literary Supplement .
- Webb P.A. (2012), ‘Foreign Books’ in Arabic Literature: discourses on books, knowlegde and ethnicity in the writings of al-Jahiz, Arabica 12(1): 16-55.
- Webb P.A. (2012), Muhammad’s ascension to the Heavenly Spheres: ‘Utopian Travel’: Fact and Fiction in making Utopias, Middle Eastern Literatures 15(3): 240-256.
- Webb P.A. (2012), Review of: Holland Tom, In the Shadow of the Sword. Evening Standard .