Islamic Archaeology Session

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Beginning in 2000 with 2ICAANE in Copenhagen, papers dealing with the rapidly expanding field of Islamic archaeology have now become an established part of the ICAANE series. Firmly integrated into the meetings with the second Rome congress in 2008 (with sincere thanks to the International Scientific Committee), 7ICAANE will take the process one step further by incorporating papers on Islamic archaeology into the five main congress themes. Nevertheless, papers that do not fit into the themes will be collected together into a general session on Islamic archaeology, which we hope will demonstrate the strengths and considerable diversity of Islamic archaeology today.

Geographically, the Islamic sessions will cover the same areas as does the main conference: from the Eastern Mediterranean to Iran and from Anatolia to Arabia; it will also include Egypt. Historically, papers may investigate periods as late as the Ottoman era.

We look forward to another fruitful and enjoyable event in the ICAANE series, and are grateful for the continuing support of the organisers for our participation.

For further information please contact A.L.Gascoigne@soton.ac.uk or the 7ICAANE administrator admin@7icaane.org

Islamic Session Organising Committee

Dr Alison Gascoigne – Lecturer, University of Southampton

Dr Cristina Tonghini – Lecturer, Università Ca' Foscari, Venezia

Dr Alan Walmsley – Associate Professor, Islamic Archaeology and Art, University of Copenhagen

Dr Donald Whitcomb – Associate Professor, The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago

Islamic Session Abstracts

"....An impregnable fortress guards it and well populated suburbs are protected by the fortress. The drinking water of the inhabitants is from wells and cisterns..."(Al Muqaddasi) From 1992 to 1997 year- round excavations were carried out in Caesarea Maritima, conducted by the Combined Caesarea Expeditions (CCE) and the Israel Antiquity Authorities (IAA). The picture that emerges from these excavations fits Muqaddasĩ's famous description of the town" ...there is not on the Romaean Sea a city more beautiful or with more bounty.." These excavations revealed a thriving and flourishing city providing its inhabitants with a high quality of urban life, beginning in the late 9th or early 10th century and reaching its peak during the Fatimid regime. The city's water supply as described by Muqaddasĩ came from wells and cistern and a strong wall protected the dwelling quarters. Not less important were the various solutions that maintained the settlement's sanitation system. This indicates that the community consciousness and the individual's awareness of the urban society in which he resided, were well developed in Islamic Caesarea.

Dr Gideon Avni "A delightful and well-built city" - Early Islamic Ramla in the light of recent archaeological excavations.

The City of Ramla, which was founded ex-nihilo by Sulaymān b. `Abd al-Malik in c. 715 CE as the capital of Jund Filastin, is known mostly from historical sources as a thriving commercial and administrative center. In spite of its central position in Early Islamic Palestine, the ancient city was almost unexplored by archaeologists up to the early 1990s. The archaeological research of Ramla included only a preliminary survey of existing monuments, and a few small-scale excavations conducted near the White Mosque and in the western outskirts of the modern city. This situation was dramatically changed in the last 20 years when, following the accelerated development of modern Ramla, more than 130 rescue excavations were conducted in various parts of the town, providing substantial archaeological data and allowing a preliminary reconstruction of its topographical layout and chronological sequence. A number of large scale excavations were carried out in areas north and west of the Old City and to the north and south of the White Mosque. The aqueduct carrying water into Ramla from the springs at Tel Gezer was also located and examined. The presentation will present the results of the major excavations in Ramla, suggesting a reconstruction of the city's urban layout and expansion processes between the 8th and 11th centuries.

Among the archaeological works carried on the Islamic settlement on Raja Gira mountain (11th -13th centuries) at Udegram (Swat, NWFP, Pakistan) by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan of IsIAO (Rome), the excavation of a small Muslim cemetery revealed many interesting items. Between them, good chances to single out some possible new elements outlining both history and features of the early Islamization of Swat can be enumerated. Made up of 55 graves, the graveyard most probably grew up around the tomb of a pious Muslim buried in a small oratory with a square-plan mihrab, noteworthy standing behind the qibli wall of a gami" mosque. The foundation of this latter was presumably the first act following the Ghaznavid conquest of this area by Mahmud b. Sebüktigin's army during the first decade of the 11th century. The excavation of all the tombs - a rare opportunity of funeral archaeology in a still very Muslim country - has shown the existence, an un-incomplete respect of the canonical funeral customs of Islam alongside of some rather singular episodes related to both the graves inside the oratory and those in the cemetery itself. All the collected data are now under revision in the frame of the present IsIAO Archaeological Project concerning ’Islamic Udegram“, directed by the present writer. Although the study of both stratigraphy and findings is at an initial stage, new information to define graveyard chronology can be inferred. Some aspects of Muslim burial rite will be discussed in the light of what is archaeologically known from dar al-Islam, and some clues will be used to compare the ’irregularities“ registered at Udegram with some burial practices still existing among the ’Kafirs“ of North-western Pakistan. Moreover, further observations seem to be possible comparing some Central-Asian Muslim funeral contexts recently published.

Recent excavations in Yafa (Heb. Yafo, Eng. Jaffa) undertaken by the Israel Antiquities Authority have yielded an abundance of ceramic remains, the study of which is beginning to shed light on the early Islamic and crusader occupations of this important Mediterranean port. The sparse remains found to date of the Byzantine-Early Islamic transition demonstrate no dramatic changes in the city. The early Islamic assemblage as it is understood so far reveals close contacts with its near neighbor and regional capital, Ramla, as is to be expected, but also farther-flung contacts northwards up the Levantine coast to Lebanon, and south to Egypt. An even greater abundance of eleventh and twelfth century pottery shows promise for illuminating the city's transition from Fatimid to crusader rule. Study of the twelfth and thirteenth century ceramics hints at significant differences between the crusader assemblages from Jaffa and Acre. These differences, when properly understood, will help to illuminate the complicated commercial and political interactions among Byzantium, the Italian trading cities, the Latin states, and the Ayyubid principalities. As the descriptive textual evidence is rather slim for Jaffa in both the Early Islamic and Crusader periods, attention to the material culture illuminates the social, commercial, and political interactions, as well as the vitality of the city in both peaceful and tumultuous times, which is crucial for understanding this important port.

The favoured routes connecting the Egyptian Nile with the Red Sea changed radically during the early centuries of Islam. From the Arab conquest to the Fatimid period, the Red Sea port of al-Qulzum (modern Suez) was the chief state-sponsored port of the Red Sea, connected to al-Fustat (modern Cairo) on the Nile and to al-Farama (ancient Pelusium) on the Mediterranean by a three-day land journey in each case. By the twelfth century AD the situation was entirely transformed. Al-Qulzum was formally abandoned, and new connections through the Eastern Desert to "Aydhab, some 900km down the coast in what is today the modern Hailab Triangle between Egypt and Sudan. That change effectively diverted maritime traffic from the northern Red Sea to the Nile Valley, entailing a substantially longer desert journey of around three weeks in the process. Later still, in the Mamluk period, "Aydhab was abandoned in favour of al-Quseir, this time 450km back up the coast, and requiring a shorter, six-day land connection. To what extent can these changes be explained by the practical and logistical demands of navigation, and to what extent where they driven by geopolitical considerations? This paper seeks to understand and compare the navigational dimensions of these three routes. In doing so it finds that the optimal route, in terms of logistics, was not always the route adopted. Rather, the maritime landscape of Nile-Red Sea connections cannot be understood without reference to the geopolitical context in which it took place. It concludes that the maritime cultural landscape of medieval Egypt was as much a configuration and manifestation of political power as it was a consequence of the technological constraints and capacities of medieval seafaring.

Tiberias/Tabariya, capital of Jund al-Urdunn, is located at the western side of the Sea of Galilee, "cramped," as Muqaddasi wrote in the tenth century, "between the mountains and the lake." It has been excavated since the 1930s, though most of the works were undertaken as salvage excavations. These digs allowed for limited glimpses into Tiberias' past, right back to the beginning of the first century CE, when it was first founded by Herod Antipas. Excavations throughout the years revealed rich Islamic layers, but interest - academic and popular - mainly focused on the Roman-Byzantine periods. This focus seems also to be the reason for a long-standing interpretation of the remains of a large three-aisled building, c. 78 x 26 m, as a Byzantine marketplace. Recently, study and excavations have proved that this building is in fact a monumental mosque, apparently the Masjid al-Jamic of Tiberias. It is located between the cardo and a pre-Islamic basilical building, and was erected over the foundations of a Roman structure, perhaps an unfinished temple dedicated to Hadrian. The mosque seems to follow the architectural prototype set by the Great Mosque of Damascus, while remains in situ, as well as finds collected during the various archaeological expeditions, also point to a similar decorative scheme. Most of Tiberias was abandoned in the eleventh century, though now it becomes clear that the strong earthquake of 1068 which struck the city was not the main reason for its decay. Apparently it was a combination of a weakened administration and a wave of military attacks - by the Bedouin, the Seljuks, and finally by the Crusaders - that sentenced Tiberias to ruin. By reinterpreting the function of this monumental building it is now possible to start studying the patterns of Islamization of this classical town into an Islamic district capital.

In the Early Islamic centuries the Balikh Valley in Syria witnessed a period of growth. Under political sponsorship the city of Raqqa/al-Rafikah developed into an important provincial center and, at times, a secondary capital. This rise of Raqqa stimulated settlement growth and possibly agricultural intensification in its hinterland, the Balikh Valley. Furthermore, the valley now formed a main route of communication with the enemy border in the North and became a place of military importance. Compared to previous centuries, when the valley had been located on the marginal edge of the Late Roman and Byzantine world, in the Early Islamic period the Balikh Valley moved to the military, political, and economic center. This paper presents the preliminary results of new research on the Balikh Valley. In the past decades, excavations at sites such as Kharab Sayyar, Medinat al-Far, and Tell Sheikh Hasan have added to the picture already formed by the Balikh Valley Survey and excavations at Resafa, Raqqa, and other sites. In this paper, I synthesize these results, focusing on the material evidence from the early Islamic centuries (Umayyad - Ayyubid) and the comparison with the pre-Islamic material remains. Through the discussion of settlement patterns, building activity, urban planning, farming and water management practices, and regional trade, I situate the Balikh valley and its inhabitants in the new social, economic, and political context of the Early Islamic world.

The results of the archaeological investigations carried out on the fortifications of the Great Syria (Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan) contributed to highlight the settlement and building history of the sites. The fortifications present important settling and building sequences, generally characterised by construction and re-construction phases operated by both Crusader and Muslim hands. In Islamic period, the different undertakings are often attested by a rich epigraphic documentation preserved in situ, giving important information that allows the reconstruction of patronages, chronology and nature of building works. Epigraphic investigations have brought to assemble a rich corpus of inscriptions (147) preserved at a number of urban and sub-urban fortifications. The documents are entirely ascribable to the 11th-14th centuries (particularly Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties). The texts, principally construction and re-construction texts (93, 18), are only partially published (monumental inscriptions), and they have not hitherto been subject of any epigraphic study (analysis of texts, formulas and protocols). This paper aims to present the preliminary results of our research in order to highlight the whole published and unpublished epigraphic documents at our disposal, and contribute to the reconstruction of the settlement and building history of the sites.

Dr Véronique Francois Céramiques d'Vépoque ottomane au Bilâ al-Châm : le matVériel des citadelles de Dams et d'Alep

Les fouilles archéologiques relatives à l‘Empire ottoman, empire qui s‘étendit des Balkans à l‘Afrique du Nord du XIVe au XXe, sont encore rares et il n‘existe pas, à proprement parler, d‘archéologie ottomane en tant que discipline constituée. Quatre causes principales expliquent ce retard : 1) la période ottomane a été négligée dans ces pays car les processus de construction nationale se sont faits au nom d‘un rejet de ce passé ottoman ; 2) depuis le milieu du XIXe s., les fouilles ouvertes dans les Balkans, en Grèce, en Anatolie, en Syrie-Palestine, en Mésopotamie et en Egypte sont essentiellement destinées à documenter des civilisations préhistoriques et antiques, négligeant les vestiges d‘occupation postérieurs ; 3) les niveaux ottomans, les plus récents dans la succession des strates, plus sensibles aux perturbations contemporaines, ont été moins bien préservés ; 4) le bâti (monumental et domestique) ayant bien résisté au temps, la nécessité des fouilles ne s‘est pas imposée. Dans ce contexte, les connaissances sur la vaisselle, fabriquée et commercialisée dans l‘Empire ottoman, sont partielles et lacunaires. Les typologies de référence permettant de distinguer, par périodes chronologiques et par centres de fabrication, les céramiques qui répondaient aux nécessités domestiques, que ce soit la vaisselle culinaire, de service et de table ou les pots et les jarres de stockage, restent à élaborer. Au Bilâd al-Châm, rarement prise en compte sur les chantiers archéologiques, la céramique d‘époque ottomane est encore méconnue. Cependant les travaux récents, publiés ou en cours, que j‘ai menés offrent un cadre typologique nouveau pour ce matériel. Je présenterai donc la vaisselle de terre (productions locales et importations) en usage dans deux grands sites urbains syriens - les citadelles de Damas et d‘Alep - entre le XVIe et le début du XXe siècle.

Dr Roberta Giunta Archaeological investigation on the funerary monument of Mahmud the Ghaznavid at Ghazni (Afghanistan)

In 1962 the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan (IsIAO, Rome) obtained the permission to dismantle the cenotaph of Mahmud b. Sebuktigin (d. 1030): an archaeological investigation was thus carried out, which resulted in the uncovering of the skeleton of the sovereign. This investigation, documented by an exceptional and unpublished photographic sequence - now at disposal of the IsIAO 'Islamic Ghazni project' directed by the author - confirmed the authenticity of the monument, for a long time believed as having been built only to commemorate Mahmud, one of the greatest Islamic rulers, in a later date than that of his death. This assumption had been mainly based on the peculiar morphology of its elements, on the use of alabaster and on the presence of the sophisticated cursive inscription - a writing style which is not attested as being employed in monumental epigraphy before the mid 11th century. In fact the about fifty tombs of the Ghaznavid period documented by the Mission between 1957 and 1968 in the cemeterial areas of Ghazni are all carved in marble and show a slightly different morphology, whose prototype is to be tracked down to the tomb of Sebuktigin (d. 997), founder of the dynasty.

Mr Amir Gorzalczany A New Type of Cemeteries from the Late Mamluk and Early Ottoman Periods from Central Israel

A rare feature was discovered in a series of cemeteries from the Mamluk Period excavated in Israel. Some of the tombs, otherwise rather similar to regular Islamic graves, are sealed by whole ceramic vessels intentionally located on the tomb. The vessels were placed on their bases, rims or bodies. They belong to three reiterative forms, all of which dated to the Mamluk period: bag -shaped storage jars, scoop vessels and beehives. To date, seven cemeteries of this kind were discovered, but not all of them were published or even identified as such by the excavators. These cemeteries are located at Ge'alya (close to Yavne), Kafr 'Ana (modern Or Yehuda), Azor, el-Haddariya (modern Haddar Yossef), Ramla (two cases) and perhaps Sarafand el-Khareb (modern Nes Ziyyona). All of the cemeteries are located in a well-defined area, namely between the basins of Nahal Yarqon in the north and Nahal Soreq in the south. Interestingly, in other cemeteries of the Mamluk period excavated in the same area, such as in Bet Dagan, these features are conspicuously absent. An important anthropological observation was made for the cemetery at Kafr 'Ana. The remains of residents of foreign provenance were unearthed in two excavations at that site, carried out by Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority. The osteological remains were characterized by cranial vaults that exhibit a particular morphology, a feature identified as representative of Turcoman tribes, which are known to have been present in the southern Levant mainly as an aftermath of the Mongol invasions. To this day, no exact parallels for this burial style are known in the Levant. The evident typological similarity between the cemeteries, the constricted ceramic vessels choices, coupled with a well defined and narrow geographical distribution in which at least one foreign ethnical entity was recognized pose the intriguing questions, on which this paper is focused.

Prof Dr Claus-Peter Haase Small bath and toilet rooms in the early Islamic architecture of Madinat al-Far

Apart from the large cistern, three small baths and three toilet rooms had been uncovered in the main excavation areas at the site. Two of them belong to small houses of a later occupation subperiod in the square compound set into or on top of earlier constructions, one is a combination of a small hammam type bath with a toilet in the same area, and two 'wetrooms' were found in the Northern part of the double mansion opposite the square compound. A typical toilet with slit in a bench and small basin at its feet was found close to it. The water supply could not as yet be followed extensively, but there are indications that it came from small canals and a well respectively. Interesting are the beautiful materials used in the double mansion for these rooms - the 'wetrooms' have floors with polished white slabs of soft limestone and white chalk mortar which is water resistant, and the toilet showed the greyish waterproof mortar of very fine quality spread from the floor and up the walls so as to allow extensive water cleaning of the whole room. These rooms were integrated into the square shape of the mansions, whereas the baths in the square compound appear to be additional or on a different level than the main structures. The small hammam there belongs to the central building of the city. They all tell us about the changed attitude towards sanitary habits in the Islamic period and about the importance of baths also in private houses.

Dr Basema Hamarneh City - village economic interaction in late antique and early Islamic Arabia and Palaestina. Archaeological evidence.

This paper approaches the aspects of city - village interaction the territory of modern Jordan especially in the area of former Provincia Arabia and Palaestina Tertia during the VII-IX centuries on the bases of new archaeological data. The analysis will compare terms of land legislation connected to private enterprise, administrative and fiscal reorganization of the two provinces in order to identify the economic profile of the area in late antiquity and early Islam. The unquestionable prosperity of the country side associated to demographic growth since the early Byzantine period, as revealed by excavations, surveys and regional studies rises several questions on the aspects of economic interaction between urban and rural realities prior and after the Arab conquest of the region. The coexistence of newly established Omayyad agricultural settlements with Byzantine villages in the second half of the VII century marks a drastic transformation in the economic assessment of the countryside that had reversed its affects also on urban life. The impact of these changes featured a remodelling of the topographical shape of the village habitat in terms of space reorganization (physical expansion), emplacement of industrial implants, especially olive oil and wine production (economic expansion) marking the establishment of new centres and market areas. Cultural expansion can be marked by the employment and diffusion of new manufacture (as painted/glazed pottery vessels), metalwork, ivory, sculpture, mosaics etc. (cultural expansion) decreeing the establishment of a new class of euergetes (Omayyad elite) besides that of the already existent Byzantine Ecclesiastical and civil euergetism in Urban and Rural contexts.

Dr Mahmoud Hawari Pilot Archaeological Survey of Khirbat al-Mafjar region, Jericho, Jordan Valley.

The Khirbat al-Mafjar palace, commonly known as 'Hisham's Palace', in the Jordan Valley, north of Jericho, remains unidentified in the historical sources, but it has been attributed by the excavators to the Umayyad period (8th century). It is typical of the so called 'desert castles or palaces' in the Levant, which have been the subject of scholarly publications more than any comparable structures from any periods of Islamic history. There has been no consensus among scholars on their patrons among the Umayyad dynasty, nor on their role and function, and hypotheses are ranging from residential compounds, to agricultural estates, palaces, castles or stations on trade and pilgrimage routes. Significant advances have been made during the last two decades in our understanding of the role of these structures in the Levant and the material culture associated with them, particularly the ceramics. Technical methods of archaeological survey and excavations have improved remarkably and which will be employed. It is imperative that the results of the archaeological excavations at Khirbat al-Mafjar be examined, and the site to be re-interpreted within its regional landscape context. The ongoing landscape-based survey will record surviving archaeological features related to the palace, especially the complex water system various which includes two aqueducts which brought water from two springs at the foot hills to the west, two bridges and three water mills. It will lead to a better understanding and interpretation of Khirbat al-Mafjar site within the context of its historic environment as a complete entity. Targeted excavations will be carried out in order to provide clear answers to numerous historical and archaeological issues, which will contribute to the interpretation and presentation of the site.

Sugar cane was probably the most important of the many crops that the Islamic world introduced to the West before the tenth century AD. Whereas our understanding of the cultivation of sugar cane in the Levant is very limited, at least some of the processes involved in the manufacture of sugar products are known from either the excavation of a few sugar-making installations in Palestine and Jordan of the 11th-15th centuries, or, more commonly, the surface finds at many locations of sugar pots and molasses jars. In an effort to gain a more holistic view of the sugar industry at this time, we investigated the structures and finds arising from excavation of part of the 11th - 13th century sugar refinery at the Tawahin es-Sukkar, adjacent to Khirbat Shaykh 'Isa, the probable site of Byzantine-Early Islamic Zughar/Zoara, at the southern end of the Dead Sea in Jordan. This was followed by laboratory-based investigation of materials constituting waste from the refinery, including ash, plant/charcoal remains, calcareous sediments and construction waste.1 In this paper we integrate the results of that investigation with the excavation record, as well as typological study of the sugar vessels. This allows us to shed light on all stages of the industry, from the water supply to the mill and the sugar plantations, the refining sequence, in particular the clarification step, to the despatch and export of the sugar products.

Mr Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki Sassanian Pottery of Northeastern Iran: Classification, Comparison, and Interpretation based on Attributes of Form

Sassanian Pottery of Northeastern Iran: Classification, Comparison, and Interpretation based on Attributes of Form Studying the pottery of Sassanian Iran provides possibilities for archaeologists to challenge the local tradition in ceramic production, in one hand and understanding the stylistic interplay between regional ceramic complexes in other hand. Moreover, it helps archaeologist via interpreting the type and style of pottery to recognize socio-economic interactions between cultural spheres. Nevertheless, the Sassanian pottery from Northeastern Iran has been studied in few researches limited to some interim reports of archaeological excavations or surveys. In this paper, after describing the indicative attributes of ceramics of Northeastern Iran and classification of Sassanian ceramics, I suggest some indications for Sassanian pottery and review the local traditions in ceramic production. Ceramic sherds obtained from the four major late- Sassanian sites including Nishapur, Bandian, Tape Hisar, and Toreng Tape construct the foundation of the interpretation and comparison with other assemblages initiate pottery tradition of Iran during late-Sassanian period. Aforementioned sites belong to second half of Sassanian period and understanding the late-Sassanian pottery helps us to solve crucial problem of recognition differences between early Islamic and late Sassanian pottery.

Historical profiles of the Islamic past of Syria have given little voice to rural life. Islamic archaeology in Syria has tended to rely on overly rigid chronological models when creating taxonomies of material culture, and this has impacted upon how we interpret of the settlement history of the non-urban environment. The importance of its archaeological investigation is amplified by the rapid disappearance over the last three decades of a large number of sites and landscape features in many parts of the Middle East. Targeted survey in September 2009 has provided new understandings of settlement patterns in Islamic periods in central western Syria. This builds on the large corpus of site data identified in a 600 square kilometre area by the University of Durham Survey of the Homs Region using a combination of satellite imagery and ground survey, and on work undertaken by the author establishing ceramic typologies. The current project aims to provide new insights into the changing nature of human presence in the Upper Orontes valley, a key location at the juncture of inland, coastal and desert zones of Syria through the Islamic centuries. By combining new comparative data with our developing understanding of the landscape history of the Homs region we can work towards new understandings of settlement history for western Syria. This suggests continuity of occupation into the Abbasid period at sites in the W"ar basalt plateau west of Homs, and an expansion of habitation away from an apparent concentration along the river course and lakeshore into the hinterland from the twelfth century which persists well into the Ottoman era in the marl landscapes further south.

Ms Eva Mol The archaeology of space: a configurational approach to Islamic and Crusader architecture.

This paper examines the social and cultural aspects of Crusader and Islamic architecture (castles in particular) in the Levantine region with an interdisciplinary approach that considers built space a reflection of society rather than as mere functional architecture. The main method applied is space syntax, which adds an original perspective to our existing knowledge of architecture by shedding a new light on their function, meaning and use. The methodological approach of space syntax, originally designed by Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson in the 1980's, ignores form and aesthetics of architecture, placing the emphasis purely on spatial configuration and the dynamics of movement within buildings. This allows for a comparison between different areas, periods, and between different Crusader and Islamic structures. Space is in this respect considered an artefact that can be scrutinized in the same way as material culture because space, like all other archaeological artefacts, reflects, creates, and orders society. With applying space syntax as a research tool, invariants in spatial patterning of Crusader and Islamic architecture will be explored. Following this, we will return to the historical context to see whether these invariants can be translated into patterns of human interaction in order to get more intelligibility on the social and cultural behaviour of its inhabitants. This paper will analyse the spatial organisation of rooms, the circulation patterns within Crusader and Islamic architecture relating the wider social and cultural landscapes of settlement in the Near East, and illuminate the ideological and social structures within medieval architecture. In this way we might receive a more profound knowledge of the cultural differences hidden in the structure of space between Islamic and Frankish elite within the Latin East.

Ms Mandy Mottram Settlers, Hermits, Nomads and Monks: Evolving Landscapes at the Dawn of the Islamic Era

Recent surveys within the Euphrates hinterland near Menbij in northern Syria are revealing a richly layered archaeological landscape in which the most numerous, yet least well documented remains belong to the Late Antique and Early Islamic eras (4th-10th centuries AD). It is already possible to gain a broad sense of the main demographic trends. Although at all stages an essentially agrarian landscape, this developed from a pattern of dispersed, relatively prosperous villa estates and farmsteads, to a more densely settled patchwork of farmsteads, villages and small towns. Initially, it was also a largely Christian landscape, as attested by the existence of two major monastic settlements, one of which began as an eremitic retreat. The onset of Islamic rule seems to have had little immediate impact on either these or on broader settlement patterns, although historical records attest to the arrival of political refugees from towns and villages further south. By the 8th century, however, the monasteries were no more and there was a dramatic increase in new settlements, possibly boosted by an influx of Arab settlers, but almost certainly facilitated by the considerable investments in agricultural infrastructure made by members of first the Umayyad, and then the Abbasid ruling families. Interwoven with these developments, there is also evidence for nomadic groups, who were clearly present by the Early Islamic period. Communities were therefore involved in a complex set of interacting economies reflecting a changing mix of localised sedentary cultivation, pastoral production and cash-cropping, with its links to a wider framework of economic exchange. This paper will examine in greater detail the evidence for settlement and landscape development in this section of the Euphrates valley during the transition to Islamic rule as well as the ways in which this contrasts with patterns observed for the same period in adjacent regions.

The northern Syrian city Resafa was one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in the Eastern Mediterranean region during the 5th and 6th centuries, the southern surroundings are known to be the site of the residence of caliph Hisham b. Abd al-Malik (rgn. 724-743) , which covers an area of approx. 3 km2. The settlement was abandoned ensuing the Mongolian invasion in the middle of the 13th century. Both the Late Antique city and Umayyad residence have been subject of separate examinations since the 1950s. Since 2006 a new project "Resafa-Sergiupolis/ Rusafat Hisham, Syria. Pilgrimage city and caliph residence – intra and extra muros" has been initiated, to be presented here in short. Central to the project, directed by Dorothée Sack (DAI/TU Berlin), is its global view of Resafa as an interconnected settlement area of the city and its surroundings. Goal of the project, which comprises five subprojects (SP), are the compilation of an "Archaeological map" for the whole site (SP 1), the realisation of archaeological excavations, the recording of traces of building structures at the surface, geophysical prospections and the evaluation of ceramics and small finds in the environs of the city (SP 2). Further subprojects are the examination of the city wall (SP 3), the maintenance and consolidation of the ruins (SP 4) and the touristic development of the archaeological site (SP 5).

Another topic of this paper is the resurvey of the archaeological structures in the surroundings of Resafa, which have been first classified by M. Mackensen (1977) und D. Sack (since 1983). A first analysis of the ongoing resurvey shows a significantly more differentiated picture of the development of the settlement and the usage phases than was previously assumed. Important insights into the possible functional allocation of the findsites represent a further result of the surveys. The related analysis of the pottery finds from the resurvey and the ongoing excavations of the Umayyad findsites (FS 220, 142, 143) offers the possibility to identify specific form types and create form type catalogues for several types of pottery, which are not yet available in this form for northern Syria.

Prof Alastair Northedge The contents of the first Muslim houses: assemblages from the Amman Citadel

It is a notorious problem that in Early Islam Muslims were not the majority, and it is difficult to detect whether an excavated house was occupied by Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, or others. Here an argument is offered to identify an early Muslim assemblage, as early as any known. Once identified, is it possible to say that Muslims lived differently from others? A brief functional analysis of the material will be made, in order to make a tentative portrayal of life-style.

Excavations on the mound of Gözlükule in Tarsus in the 1930s and 1940s and more recently since 2007 have yielded significant quantities of glazed ceramics of the Abbasid period (9th-10th century). These finds include, but are not limited to, luster- and cobalt-painted white wares which together epitomize the remarkable innovations in ceramic decoration in Abbasid Iraq. Finds of high-quality imported Iraqi ceramics (as well as high-quality luster-painted glass) in Tarsus testify to the presence of a local community that availed itself of the best of Abbasid material culture. While the means of ceramic importation into Tarsus (by sea or land) cannot as yet be determined, the presence of high-quality wares at this frontier town helps us to qualify the prevailing perception of a predominantly militaristic settlement essentially geared towards ghaza (raiding) activity into Byzantine territory. Indeed, medieval accounts of Abbasid Tarsus do mention the settlement of numerous Muslim scholars in the town but these are usually thought to have provided the ideological and propagandist backbone of a pious militarized society not typically associated with such fragile refinements of material culture as imported luxury ceramics. The significant quantities of inscribed ceramics in Tarsus modify this notion by pointing to a society that was both learned and sophisticated in its particular engagement with luxury imported wares. Furthermore, the numerous instances of drilled repair holes which can be encountered in the fine ceramic record of Abbasid Tarsus allow us to gauge the local appreciation for goods imported from Iraq even after fated incidences of breakage.

Dr Marie-Odile Rousset Chalcis / Qinnasrin : from the Byzantine city to the jund capital of North Syria.

The archaeological program on Qinnasrin (Syria) is managed since 2003 in collaboration with the Direction of Syrian Antiquities and Museums and the Archeological Museum of Aleppo. The site of Chalcis / Qinnasrin lays under the modern village of al-"Iss, 25 km south-west from Aleppo. The aim is to study one of the first Islamic cities in Northern Syria which was the capital of the jund from VIIth until Xth Century. The site is located on the piedmont of the eastermost part of the Calcareous Massif of Northern Syria. The first campaign in 2008 allowed us to determine the extension of settlement in the different periods and to identify the main elements of the city: rampart and doors, tell / acropolis, residential quarters, necropolis, quarries, artisanal areas.. Above the city, the top of the mountain is a remarkable point of observation between ploughed areas and steppish lands: a fortification was built here between the VIth and IXth Century. During the byzantine period, the city reaches to its maximal extent, with a fortress on the tell, domestic dwellings at the bottom of the tell surrounded by the city wall and suburbs outside for artisanal and commercial purposes. The walls of the byzantine city still survive and an inscription on the lintel of the door attests a restoration by Justnian in 550 AD. During the omeyyad period, occupation of the city reduced to the tell and its immediate vicinity, inside the previous byzantine city wall. The fortification of the top of the mountain could have been built during this period. With the Abassid period, the settlement extended in the northern area outside the city wall and on the mountain which certainly became a refuge during the military campaigns between Byzantines and Muslims. We also know from texts that Qinnasrin was in the first half of the Xth century a a prosperous city in a rich agricultural region.

R. Noui Shadmahani Explaining The Position of Moshkuyeh (Moshkin Tepe )In Producing Pottery Process In Iran

Moshkin T epe (the historical city of Moshkouye) with the average area of 20 acres is located in 42 Km North East of Saveh and 85 Km South West of Rey. This Tepe is very important in Iran's Islamic period especially in the industry of pottery. It is considered one of Iran's Islamic period cities which was active in making pottery. On the basis of some preliminary investigations, it was guessed that this city just like other cities located near the Silk Road was mostly established and flourished by agriculture and commerce. But recent excavations showed that pottery was the most important product made in this city, and was used in the local and regional areas, and even beyond the region. Pieces of evidence like several pieces of pottery, pottery cylinders for setting the kiln temperature, kiln remains, parts of pottery workshop, dried glaze, fusion (melted) pottery, deformed pottery, moulds all show the important place of this city in pottery. In previous excavations, always these questions came to mind that how and out of what these pieces of pottery were made, or how they were used and distributed in the regional areas or beyond the region. Meanwhile, several pieces of pottery were ascribed to the big cities of Rey and Saveh. But the recent excavations in the city of Moshkouye in 2008 answered these questions clearly. It was found that Moshkouye had a special and outstanding place in the production and distribution of pottery. It even provided big cities like Rey with the needed pottery.

Analysis of historical, aerial and satellite images has allowed the entire expanse and layout of the racecourse that belongs to the residence of Harun ar-Rashid in ar-Raqqa/ar-Rafiqa to be determined. Prior to this, only the starting point of the racecourse has been known. Furthermore, it represents the oldest currently known example of an early Islamic racecourse. Based on these new results, this paper will analyse the concept of the racecourse and draw comparisons with the racecourses of Samarra for the first time, in addition to examining our changed interpretations of the residence of Harun ar-Rashid at ar-Raqqa.

Mr Ian Simpson Pearls along a Shoreline: Globalisation, Neoliberalism, and Heritage Interventions in the Persian Gulf

This paper is concerned with the impact of globalisation and capitalism in Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman as seen through the lens of cultural heritage. Arabic debate poems of the early twentieth century illustrate how British imperial powers policing this commercial maritime highway wreaked social upheaval and cultural transformation, such as under the labour relations of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Further developments have swept through the Persian Gulf under neoliberal market capitalism, producing vastly different places along the shores of the Gulf, from abandoned pearling villages to the heterotopias of Dubai. Within this social and economic setting, Gulf states have attached much importance to 'managing' cultural heritage, including the designation and promotion of cultural landscapes', archaeological sites and intangible heritage, plans for abandoned pearling villages, and establishment of new museums. This paper problematizes a debate about heritage in the Persian Gulf and examines how the tourism industry and the state seek to construct and promote certain identities through heritage interventions that are counterpoint with globalisation in the way they engage with the past.

Dr Ross Thomas People and connections across the Red Sea and Eastern Desert

This paper will outline how the transition from late Antiquity to the medieval period impacted upon the populations of the Nile, Eastern Desert and north-western Red Sea regions. Drawing upon my research in the fourth cataract of the Nile, the Eastern Desert and Red Sea region of Egypt and at Aqaba, Jordan, this paper will highlight the changing connections between populations visible in the archaeological record. The Red Sea and the Eastern Desert were both bridge and barrier to different groups over time and how these landscapes were used and navigated were key to the success of enterprises leading to the formation of the Nubian kingdoms, the growth of Byzantine and Early Islamic Aqaba, the decline in Roman-Byzantine Red Sea ports and the mining of the Eastern Desert.

Pottery finds shed light on Medieval landscape of the East Plain Cilicia. Footsteps of armies of Islam can be followed in the region by examining remaining material culture of them as the region was once part of al-thughur- the Arab-Byzantine frontier. Pottery sherds of Medieval period collected during the Osmaniye Archaeological Survey in years 2005-2009 are subject to present study. Among the pottery sherds collected in the survey sherds of the Islamic period are mostly Abbasid productions and they are grouped in numerous types of ware, while most of the green glazed ware is production of al- Mina/Port Symeon. The presentation aims to introduce a preliminary evaluation of the Medieval pottery sherds of the ongoing survey.

Ms Rosalind Wade Haddon Zangid/Ayyubid Finewares from the German Excavations on the Aleppo Citadel

Further to Dr Julia Gonnella's study and identification of a new ceramic group for this period, there remains a considerable body of material to be studied and catalogued from subsequent excavation seasons. This study is based on five weeks' of processing a considerable quantity of fragments during April 2009 and is work in progress for the projected next two study seasons. A sufficient proportion of this material was found in stratified contexts, and can be shown to be closely related to comparable finds from other North Syrian sites such as Hama, Balis Meskeneh and al-Rahba. There are striking similarities with the corpus established at Hama and the subsequent article on 'Tell Minis' wares published in 1987 by Porter and Watson on a commercial hoard purchased by the V&A and the David Collection in Copenhagen. It is probably that the Aleppo finds are even more varied and it is evident that colour played an important role in the choice of wares. As with the finds at Hama many of these fragments have been affected by discoloration and degradation in the soil and few pieces match the quality of numerous museum pieces. A subsequent close analysis of the finds studied this season will shed more light on this aspect.

Dr Donald Whitcomb Formation of the Islamic City: A Second archaeological period of urban transition

This paper will explore archaeological patterns of Islamic urbanism in what might be termed a second phase of the formation of the Islamic city. This approach builds on the outline suggested by Bacharach (1991) and the conceptualization discussed as the "palatine complex" in Wheatley (2001). In striking similarities, urban developments of the 9th through 11th centuries parallel features of the earliest amsar. This second phase has been described for the cities of Baghdad, Raqqa and Samarra; it is most clear in the succession of foundations in Egypt leading up to that of al-Qahira. Recent excavations on cities of southern Bilad al-Sham may be analyzed in light of the "palatine complex" development. The examples of Qaysarea (Caesarea), Ramla, and Tabariya (Tiberias) illustrate this phase in their urban history, in this case from the late Abbasid/Tulunid and Fatimid periods. Recognition of this urban pattern allows a new approach to what Bacharach describes as "the transformation of urban centers into Muslim cities, that is, places where the overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim." This appreciation should allow more detailed understandings of the Middle Islamic city.

Dr Julian Whitewright Waves, Winds and Sailing Technology in the late antique and early Islamic Near East

Late Antiquity witnessed an unprecedented period of maritime technological change in the Near East. The Mediterranean square-sail was replaced by the lateen rig and the characteristic Mediterranean form of hull construction was also abandoned. In each case, the driving motive for change seems to have been an on-going simplification of technology, coupled with an increased desire to reduce the cost of construction. These trends, observable in the archaeological record, compliment the acknowledged increase in the commercialisation of the Mediterranean economy during this period. Despite the visible nature of this technological change, little work has been done to document their effect on the day to day operation of the sailing ships which underpinned Mediterranean trade and communication. A generally expressed assumption is that the adoption of the lateen sail resulted in an increase in the windward performance of sailing vessels and that changes to hull construction techniques led to the development of faster, smaller sailing ships. This paper addresses these general concepts on the basis of a wide range of maritime archaeological evidence from the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean. A fuller understanding of the performance and use of sailing vessels during this period is developed and the consequences for our understanding of maritime technology and its role in the near eastern economy elucidated.