From the refined Geisha of the Imperial Court to the learned hetaerae of Ancient Greece, the captivating history of courtesans and slave girls transcends countless cultural boundaries and fields of academic study. The Slave Girls of Baghdad explores the origins, education and art of the ""qiyan"" -- indentured girls and women who entertained and entranced the caliphs and aristocrats who worked the labyrinths of power within ninth-century Baghdad and throughout the Abbasid Empire. Through a detailed analysis of Islamic law, historical sources and poetry, F. Matthew Caswell examines the...