Souq level of municipal administration. The Muhtasib was responsible for supervising business practices and collecting taxes for a given souq while the Arif are the overseers for a specific trade. Shopping at a souq or market place is part of daily life throughout much of the Middle East. Prices are commonly set by bargaining, also known as haggling, between buyers and sellers. In the 18th and 19th centuries, as Europeans began to conquer parts of North Africa and the Levant, an interest in Middle Eastern culture and architecture began to flourish. This interest spawned a genre of literary works and paintings
Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) is an American learned society, dedicated to promoting research and teaching in Middle Eastern and African studies, and related fields. It was founded on October 24, 2007 by Bernard Lewis (Princeton University) and Fouad Ajami (Hoover Institution) as a rival to the learned society Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) as it was regarded to have become "dominated by academics who have been critical of Israel and of America's role in the Middle East." ASMEA states