- Universität Hamburg,
Asien-Afrika-Institut
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, Ost
D-20146 Hamburg
Germany - +49 (40) 42838 3181
Stefan Heidemann
University of Hamburg, Asia and Africa Institute, Faculty Member
- Languages and Linguistics, Medieval Studies, Archaeology, Art History, History, Visual Studies, and 16 moreIslamic Numismatics, Islamic Art, Middle East (Visual Studies), Islamic History, Numismatics, Islamic Archaeology, Coin Hoards, Umayyads (Islamic History), Sasanian Archaeology, Medieval Islamic Numismatics, Medieval Islamic History, Ancient numismatics (Archaeology), Sasanian History, Sasanian numismatics, CRUSADER KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM, and Sasanian Empireedit
- Over the past years I became known as a historian of the Middle East who has an equal command in the study of literar... moreOver the past years I became known as a historian of the Middle East who has an equal command in the study of literary and legal sources, material culture, epigraphy, numismatics, and archaeological evidence. I focus mainly on periods of transition and economic and cultural change in Islamic societies. Most prominent figure among my studies the formation of the early Islamic empire, the apogee of the Abbasid Empire and the formation of the Middle Islamic civilization in the 12th and 13th century. I work with archaeological missions from Portugal to Mongolia, yet most of them excavate in Syria.
Five major research projects emerged from this interest:
• Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity – Transcultural Processes on the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa
(DFG funded) [LINK SETZEN]
• The Early Islamic Empire at Work – The View from the Regions Toward the Center (ERC funded)
• The Middle Islamic Period: Social, Economic and Cultural Transformations in Syria and Northern Mesopotamia
• Coinage, Commerce and Taxation in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Late Middle Ages. (GIF funded)
• Al-Raqqa at the Euphrates: Urbanity, Economy and Settlement Pattern in the Early Islamic Period
In addition, I pursue a number of specific interests, the Abbasid technological revolution, Syriac and Arabic lead seals of the eleventh century, and the use of medieval history in modern visual political discourse as specific form of cultural memory, and the history of Oriental studies.
The interest in material culture, as source for the societies creating it, lead me to be member of a number of collaborative research projects, and working groups, among them
• DFG Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ – Research field B ‘Inscribing Spaces’
• The Balkh Art and Cultural Heritage Project
• KENOM - Co-operative Indexing of Object Data of Coin Collections
In order to foster dissemination of knowledge in these fields especially Islamic material culture I initiated in 2012 together with a group of colleagues from the US and Germany.
• Webinarinitiative in Islamic Material Culture
As a teacher in Islamic Studies, coming from modern development economics and working on Early and Middle Islamic civilizations, I offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses on language, religion, culture, history, and politics of the 19th and 20th centuries. An important aspect in all of my classes whether they are about the development of Islamic thought, law, cultural practice and institutions, is the understanding of their historical, geographical, and economic contexts.edit
Transregional and regional elites of various backgrounds were essential for the integration of diverse regions into the early Islamic Empire, from Central Asia to North Africa. The papers in this volume analyze elite groups together with... more
Transregional and regional elites of various backgrounds were essential
for the integration of diverse regions into the early Islamic Empire, from
Central Asia to North Africa. The papers in this volume analyze elite groups together with their structures and networks, within selected regions across geographical, religious and social boundaries. Although each region appears unique at first glance, the studies show that they shared certain patterns of governance and interaction, and that this was an important factor for the success of the largest empire of Late Antiquity.
for the integration of diverse regions into the early Islamic Empire, from
Central Asia to North Africa. The papers in this volume analyze elite groups together with their structures and networks, within selected regions across geographical, religious and social boundaries. Although each region appears unique at first glance, the studies show that they shared certain patterns of governance and interaction, and that this was an important factor for the success of the largest empire of Late Antiquity.
Research Interests:
In July 1914 the excavation of one of the most significant capitals in human history, Assur, ended successfully. After a division of finds, the objects were dispatched to Berlin on the eve of WWI. Assur is currently the most important... more
In July 1914 the excavation of one of the most significant capitals in human history, Assur, ended successfully. After a division of finds, the objects were dispatched to Berlin on the eve of WWI.
Assur is currently the most important reference site for coin finds in northern Iraq. They constitute an independent source for the history of the settlement, the Tigris region, and for the coin circulation after fall of the Assyrian empire in 614 BC, from the Achaemenid to the late Ottoman empire. They fill an important gap in the history of Assur, whose name in the post-Assyrian period is hardly attested to. For the Arsacid period, the coin finds highlight the surprising permeability of the border from the Roman provinces to Arsacid north-eastern Mesopotamia.
With the Sāsānian conquest in about 240/1, life in Assur apparently stopped. For the following 1,600 hundred years we can distinguish at least three separate settlement phases, and almost each phase correspond to changing names for the city. While we do not know what the settlement between the 7th and 8th century was called, in the 12th and 14th centuries it was referred to as al-ʿAqr. For this period, we have more literary references to its history, at least compared with the preceding 1,800 years. The coin finds, together with the textual references, allow for an insight into the political and economic development of “a large village”. For the 17th and 18th centuries, the coins point to a revived settlement, now under the name of Qalʿat Shirqāt.
Assur is currently the most important reference site for coin finds in northern Iraq. They constitute an independent source for the history of the settlement, the Tigris region, and for the coin circulation after fall of the Assyrian empire in 614 BC, from the Achaemenid to the late Ottoman empire. They fill an important gap in the history of Assur, whose name in the post-Assyrian period is hardly attested to. For the Arsacid period, the coin finds highlight the surprising permeability of the border from the Roman provinces to Arsacid north-eastern Mesopotamia.
With the Sāsānian conquest in about 240/1, life in Assur apparently stopped. For the following 1,600 hundred years we can distinguish at least three separate settlement phases, and almost each phase correspond to changing names for the city. While we do not know what the settlement between the 7th and 8th century was called, in the 12th and 14th centuries it was referred to as al-ʿAqr. For this period, we have more literary references to its history, at least compared with the preceding 1,800 years. The coin finds, together with the textual references, allow for an insight into the political and economic development of “a large village”. For the 17th and 18th centuries, the coins point to a revived settlement, now under the name of Qalʿat Shirqāt.
Research Interests: Iraqi History, Islamic History, Assyrian Empire, Ottoman Arab Provinces, Parthian Kingdoms, and 15 moreRoman numismatics, Late Ottoman History, Sasanian Empire, Ancient Parthian Numismatics, Achaemenids, Islamic Numismatic, Iranian Studies, Elamite Studies, Assyriology, Sasanian numismatics, Arsacid and Sasanian Iran, Antioch, Zangids, Early Islamic Numismatics, Arsacid Coinage, Assyriologie, and Arsacid History
"The period between 950 and 1150 C.E. is regarded as "turning point in the history of the Islamic Culture" from the Early Islamic to the Late Medieval civilization. What led to the urban decline in between and the later recovery? Ḥ̣arrān... more
"The period between 950 and 1150 C.E. is regarded as "turning point in the history of the Islamic Culture" from the Early Islamic to the Late Medieval civilization. What led to the urban decline in between and the later recovery? Ḥ̣arrān and al-Raqqa serve as paradigma for the development in Northern Syria and Northern Mesopotamia.
The collapse of the cAbbasid state left the region cornered between Buyids, Fatimids and Byzantines to the nomadic tribes not acquainted with urban culture. After 1086 A.D., measures undertaken by the Seljuqs in order to safeguard their hegemony led to a renaissance of cities inspite of permanent power struggles and the crusades. They based their rule on fortified places. The financing of the army led to the distribution of land as fiefs (iqtac) and subsequently to a dislodgement of nomads and a recultivation of former agricultural land. Cash money for the treasury was generated by skimming long distance trade; this in turn required public security on the roads. An analysis of the monetary circulation according to archaeological and literal evidence serves as measure for the economic recovery. A corpus of the coin production in al-Raqqa, ḥarrān and al-Ruha'/Edessa supplements the textual sources.
(250 MB)"
The collapse of the cAbbasid state left the region cornered between Buyids, Fatimids and Byzantines to the nomadic tribes not acquainted with urban culture. After 1086 A.D., measures undertaken by the Seljuqs in order to safeguard their hegemony led to a renaissance of cities inspite of permanent power struggles and the crusades. They based their rule on fortified places. The financing of the army led to the distribution of land as fiefs (iqtac) and subsequently to a dislodgement of nomads and a recultivation of former agricultural land. Cash money for the treasury was generated by skimming long distance trade; this in turn required public security on the roads. An analysis of the monetary circulation according to archaeological and literal evidence serves as measure for the economic recovery. A corpus of the coin production in al-Raqqa, ḥarrān and al-Ruha'/Edessa supplements the textual sources.
(250 MB)"
Research Interests: Eurasian Nomads, Medieval Archaeology, Islamic Numismatics, Islamic History, Medieval Islamic History, and 12 moreMedieval Islamic Numismatics, Bedouins, Aleppo Halab coins coinage history Islamic Muslim Umayyad Abbasid Tulunid Ayyubid Mamluk, Mosul, Harranian Sabeans, Kerboga od Mosula, Raqqa, Artuqid Dynasty, Numayrids, al-Raqqa, Harran, and Saljuqid/Turkmen history
The end of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad during the Mongol wars of the 13th century was one of the decisive events of Islamic history. Das Aleppiner Kalifat (AD 1261) deals with the fate of the institution from the Mongol sack of... more
The end of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad during the Mongol wars of the 13th century was one of the decisive events of Islamic history. Das Aleppiner Kalifat (AD 1261) deals with the fate of the institution from the Mongol sack of Baghdad through the short-lived Aleppine caliphate to its restoration, in Mamluk Cairo.
The often parallel developments and motivations of the historical figures are analyzed step-by-step. The author explores the relations between the events, revealing the contingent character of the restoration. The key for the new interpretation is the Aleppine caliphate. Emphasis is given to the changing patterns of legitimization and of representation of political power. An extensive political chronography and a detailed numismatic corpus for all major towns in the regions (Egypt, Syria, Northern Mesopotamia, Iraq) and period concerned (1257-1262) serve as reference.
The often parallel developments and motivations of the historical figures are analyzed step-by-step. The author explores the relations between the events, revealing the contingent character of the restoration. The key for the new interpretation is the Aleppine caliphate. Emphasis is given to the changing patterns of legitimization and of representation of political power. An extensive political chronography and a detailed numismatic corpus for all major towns in the regions (Egypt, Syria, Northern Mesopotamia, Iraq) and period concerned (1257-1262) serve as reference.
Research Interests: Mamluk Studies, Islamic Studies, Islamic Numismatics, Islamic History, Medieval Islamic History, and 11 moreAyyubids (Islamic History), Turco-Iranian World, Medieval Islamic Numismatics, Mongol, Frontier, Medieval Islamic, post-Mongol, Mongol world empire Seljuk, Ottoman Turkish historical writing, Ottoman Anatolia (1200-1500) Comparative empire, and political culture Persian
Research Interests: Philosophy and Der Islam
Abstract: Fix-Masseau was one of the rising stars among the symbolist sculptors of the 1890s and 1900s, but today his name is mostly reduced to paragraphs in surveys on 19th century sculptures and footnotes. His works so prominently... more
Abstract: Fix-Masseau was one of the rising stars among the symbolist sculptors of the 1890s and 1900s, but today his name is mostly reduced to paragraphs in surveys on 19th century sculptures and footnotes. His works so prominently displayed in the Musée d’Orsay and the Petit Palais deserve a closer look. He is almost unknown as medallist, despite being among the most innovative avant-garde of his time. His medallic work addresses four issues. He transgresses the definition of the medal, working in wax, terracotta, glass-paste, plaster, and cast and struck bronze. Secondly, his early work reflects the impressionist principles under the influence of Alexandre Charpentier, and thirdly, some of his works demonstrate a close entanglement between sculpture and medal. Fourthly, his late commissioned works for the medical doctors of Paris allow an insight into the gift rituals among this class.
Key Words: Fix-Masseau, Alexandre Charpentier, Henri Cros, Alexandre Bigot, Louis Renault, medal, Symbolism, Impressionism, Art Nouveau, medicina-in-nummis.
Résumé : Fix-Masseau a été l'une des étoiles montantes parmi les sculpteurs symbolistes des années 1890 et 1900, mais aujourd'hui son nom est largement réduit à des paragraphes dans des enquêtes sur les sculptures du XIXe siècle et à des notes de bas de page. Ses œuvres, conservées au musée d'Orsay et au Petit Palais, méritent pourtant qu'on s'y attarde. Il est presque inconnu en tant que médailleur, bien qu'il fasse partie de l'avant-garde la plus innovante de son temps. Son œuvre médallique répond à quatre problématiques. Il transgresse la définition de la médaille, travaillant la cire, la terre cuite, la pâte de verre, le plâtre, le bronze coulé et frappé. Deuxièmement, ses premières œuvres reflètent les principes impressionnistes sous l'influence d'Alexandre Charpentier, et troisièmement, certaines de ses œuvres démontrent une étroite imbrication entre la sculpture et la médaille. Quatrièmement, ses œuvres tardives pour les médecins de Paris permettent de comprendre les rituels du don au sein de cette classe.
Mots clés : Fix-Masseau, Alexandre Charpentier, Henri Cros, Alexandre Bigot, Louis Renault, médaille, Symbolisme, Impressionisme, Art Nouveau, medicina-in-nummis.
Key Words: Fix-Masseau, Alexandre Charpentier, Henri Cros, Alexandre Bigot, Louis Renault, medal, Symbolism, Impressionism, Art Nouveau, medicina-in-nummis.
Résumé : Fix-Masseau a été l'une des étoiles montantes parmi les sculpteurs symbolistes des années 1890 et 1900, mais aujourd'hui son nom est largement réduit à des paragraphes dans des enquêtes sur les sculptures du XIXe siècle et à des notes de bas de page. Ses œuvres, conservées au musée d'Orsay et au Petit Palais, méritent pourtant qu'on s'y attarde. Il est presque inconnu en tant que médailleur, bien qu'il fasse partie de l'avant-garde la plus innovante de son temps. Son œuvre médallique répond à quatre problématiques. Il transgresse la définition de la médaille, travaillant la cire, la terre cuite, la pâte de verre, le plâtre, le bronze coulé et frappé. Deuxièmement, ses premières œuvres reflètent les principes impressionnistes sous l'influence d'Alexandre Charpentier, et troisièmement, certaines de ses œuvres démontrent une étroite imbrication entre la sculpture et la médaille. Quatrièmement, ses œuvres tardives pour les médecins de Paris permettent de comprendre les rituels du don au sein de cette classe.
Mots clés : Fix-Masseau, Alexandre Charpentier, Henri Cros, Alexandre Bigot, Louis Renault, médaille, Symbolisme, Impressionisme, Art Nouveau, medicina-in-nummis.
Research Interests:
Abstract: Currency historians have paid little attention to the long range movement of low value coins which became current in their country of destination. In such cases countermarking was often used to control the circulation of the... more
Abstract: Currency historians have paid little attention to the long range movement of low value coins which became current in their country of destination. In such cases countermarking was often used to control the circulation of the imported coins. This article looks briefly at a few past instances of this and then concentrates on the countermarking of Ottoman coins in al-Ḥijāz between 1921/2 and 1924. Key Words: al-Ḥijāz, Ottoman coins, Jeddah, Countermarks
Research Interests:
Historians have often transposed the information provided by al-Ṭabarī and others regarding this economic, agricultural, and political heartland to the empire as a whole. It became the governing paradigm for the narrative of the empire.... more
Historians have often transposed the information provided by al-Ṭabarī and others regarding this economic, agricultural, and political heartland to the empire as a whole. It became the governing paradigm for the
narrative of the empire. The questioning of this assumption was the starting point of the European Research Council project ‘The Early Islamic Empire at Work’. In investigating how the vast and diverse Islamic Empire was governed, the project critiques the reigning ‘top-down’ conceptualization.
A key factor in understanding governance with regard to the early Islamic Empire are the various elites who were essential for the processes of regional integration and imperial cohesion.When acts of imperial governance are contextualized within the stream of regional and transregional events, against a backdrop of the movements of elites and individuals, the functioning of the empire within its legal and institutional framework becomes apparent, embedded in a network of reciprocal relations, dependencies, and permeations. These layers of imperial
government, regional, and transregional activity, can then be synthesized into a comprehensive imperial history.
narrative of the empire. The questioning of this assumption was the starting point of the European Research Council project ‘The Early Islamic Empire at Work’. In investigating how the vast and diverse Islamic Empire was governed, the project critiques the reigning ‘top-down’ conceptualization.
A key factor in understanding governance with regard to the early Islamic Empire are the various elites who were essential for the processes of regional integration and imperial cohesion.When acts of imperial governance are contextualized within the stream of regional and transregional events, against a backdrop of the movements of elites and individuals, the functioning of the empire within its legal and institutional framework becomes apparent, embedded in a network of reciprocal relations, dependencies, and permeations. These layers of imperial
government, regional, and transregional activity, can then be synthesized into a comprehensive imperial history.
Research Interests:
On October 11, 2019, Axel Havemann passed away in Burgas, Bulgaria, at the Black Sea. For more than four decades, he was a steadfast presence at the Institut für Islamwissenschaft in Berlin. He introduced generations of students in Berlin... more
On October 11, 2019, Axel Havemann passed away in Burgas, Bulgaria, at the Black Sea. For more than four decades, he was a steadfast presence at the Institut für Islamwissenschaft in Berlin. He introduced generations of students in Berlin and at other universities where he taught the history of Lebanon since the 19th century and the social and economic history of the Early and Middle Islamic periods, the fields where he was well known as leading researcher.
Research Interests:
The 12th and 13th centuries were a period of rapid economic growth in Western Europe and the Middle East. The impact of this economic boom in the Middle East found expression, not only in the numerous buildings, fortresses, mosques and... more
The 12th and 13th centuries were a period of rapid economic growth in Western Europe and the Middle East. The impact of this economic boom in the Middle East found expression, not only in the numerous buildings, fortresses, mosques and universities, but ultimately also culminated in the costly military defeat of the crusaders in 1291. The reasons for this economic upturn were manifold. I intend to explore one of these in the following: the import of precious metals from Europe to the Levant. In
the first half of the 12th century Genoa established trade routes to Mali and the Gold Coast and began to export gold in significant amounts to the Middle East. In the second half of the 12th century rich new silver deposits were found in Saxony, Carinthia and Styria. Trade in this precious metal with the Middle East was conducted via the Northern Italian cities.
the first half of the 12th century Genoa established trade routes to Mali and the Gold Coast and began to export gold in significant amounts to the Middle East. In the second half of the 12th century rich new silver deposits were found in Saxony, Carinthia and Styria. Trade in this precious metal with the Middle East was conducted via the Northern Italian cities.
Research Interests:
This article discusses an inscribed large crystal rock gem (2.70 x 2.15 x 1.65 cm), retrieved during the excavations at Apollonia-Arsūf. It bears a two-line magical inscription written in linear Kūfic script. It is the first magical rock... more
This article discusses an inscribed large crystal rock gem (2.70 x 2.15 x 1.65 cm), retrieved during the excavations at Apollonia-Arsūf. It bears a two-line magical inscription written in linear Kūfic script. It is the first magical rock crystal ever found in a proper archaeological context. Based on its appearance, it can only be vaguely dated between the eighth to the twelfth centuries. A late date would make it contemporary to the associated ceramics in that layer. The relative proximity of the find place to Egypt makes an origin of the talisman from Fāṭimid Egypt likely, as may also be suggested in our analytical appendix.
Research Interests:
Abstracts: The empire of the Ghaznavids (977-1186) was at its second political and cultural peak when the marble panel for the palace of Masʿūd III ibn Ibrāhīm (r. 1099-1115). The marble panel was accidentally acquired by the Museum für... more
Abstracts: The empire of the Ghaznavids (977-1186) was at its second political and cultural peak when the marble panel for the palace of Masʿūd III ibn Ibrāhīm (r. 1099-1115). The marble panel was accidentally acquired by the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, and an exhibition at the Museum highlighted that fact in the course of the repatriation process to the National Museum in Kabul.
Masʿūd III ruled over an Indo-Iranian empire with a far-reaching cultural impact. While the first period of the blossoming of Ghazna is well known by the chronicles of al-ʿUtbī, Baiḥaqī und Gardīzī, we have less literary sources for the second period. Material cultures gains in such periods a much more important role as sources for that period.
The article deals with the two phases of Ghaznavid history and the development of its capital in these period.
Key words: Ghaznā, Ghaznī, Masʿūd III, marble panel, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe.
Masʿūd III ruled over an Indo-Iranian empire with a far-reaching cultural impact. While the first period of the blossoming of Ghazna is well known by the chronicles of al-ʿUtbī, Baiḥaqī und Gardīzī, we have less literary sources for the second period. Material cultures gains in such periods a much more important role as sources for that period.
The article deals with the two phases of Ghaznavid history and the development of its capital in these period.
Key words: Ghaznā, Ghaznī, Masʿūd III, marble panel, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe.
Research Interests:
A seal of Ikhtiyār al-Dīn al-Ḥasan ibn Ghafras, a member of a noble Byzantine family serving at the court of sultan Qilijǧ Arslān, is witness of a brief moment of historical opportunities in the history of the Rūm-Saljūqs. Al-Ḥasan... more
A seal of Ikhtiyār al-Dīn al-Ḥasan ibn Ghafras, a member of a noble Byzantine family serving at the court of sultan Qilijǧ Arslān, is witness of a brief moment of historical opportunities in the history of the Rūm-Saljūqs. Al-Ḥasan assumed the title of al-sulṭān, indicating that he claimed the sultanate for himself, presumably after the death of Qilij Arslān in 588/1192. No literary source corroborates his usurpation. While the sources on the political turmoil at the end of Qilij Arslān's reign are few and contradictory, an anonymous chronicle, Tārīkh-i Āl-i Saljūq, opens a possible window onto al-Ḥasan's ascension to the sultanate. Based on this narrative his only legitimation would have been the 'law of the Turks' on regicide, namely that he who kills the ruler, becomes ruler himself. According to the Tārīkh-i Āl-i Saljūq he poisoned Qilij Arslān.
Research Interests:
Monedas del litoral marítimo. Un tesoro Emiral compuesto por de monedas de plata procedente de un asentamiento portuario del Cerro da Vila (Vilamoura, Algarve,Portugal) Stefan Heidemann (Hamburg), Thomas Schierl (Mühlhausen), Felix... more
Monedas del litoral marítimo. Un tesoro Emiral compuesto por de monedas de plata procedente de un asentamiento portuario del Cerro da Vila (Vilamoura, Algarve,Portugal)
Stefan Heidemann (Hamburg), Thomas Schierl (Mühlhausen), Felix Teichner (Marburg)
Abstract: Cerro da Vila was founded as a Roman production and harbour settlement («agglomeracion secundaire») at the end of the Republican Age. It developed into a small seaside settlement (“aldeia do mar”), largely based on the exploitation of maritime resources, although it is unlikely that this exploitation exceededsubsistence level. The abandonment of the settlement probably resulted from violent attack and destruction at the end of the 11th / beginning of the 12th century AD. A hoard of 239 silver coins and fragments were discovered at the bottom of an Islamic storage pit dug into the ground in an area of the former Roman site, where several remains of buildings and layers confirm settlement activity in the Visigothic and Islamic period. The latest coin is dated 270/883-4, but the hoard might have been buried some years later. It is likely that the hoard represents a small random sample of the coin circulation in Gharb al-Andalus. Most of the coins are fragmented. As is typical for that period, a number are slotted and slashed coins; some of them are plugged with tiny pieces of silver. With the exception of two Carolingian deniers all the identifiable coins are from Cordoba, proving a tight control of the circulation of coins in al-Andalus. The hoard belongs to a horizon of similar hoards from southern and south-western al-Andalus which were buried in the 260s/870s and 270s/880s. Their composition is discussed in the article. They belong to the period of the uprising of the muwallad landowner ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣūn between 267/880-1 and 303/915-6, against the Emirate of Cordoba.
Resumen
El Cerro da Vila se fundó como asentamiento romano de producción y puerto («aglomeración secundaria») al final de la época republicana. Con el tiempo, se convirtió en un pequeño asentamiento costero ("aldeia do mar"), con una actividad basada en gran medida en la explotación de los recursos marítimos, aunque es poco probable que su explotación excediera el nivel de subsistencia. El abandono del asentamiento fue probablemente resultado de un ataque violento y destrucción a finales del siglo XI / comienzos del siglo XII. Un tesoro de 239 monedas de plata y fragmentos fue descubierto en el fondo de un silo de almacenamiento de época islámica, excavado en el suelo en una zona del antiguo emplazamiento romano, donde los restos de edificios y la estratigrafía confirman la actividad de asentamiento en los periodos visigodo e islámico. La cronología de la última moneda encontrada data de 270 / 883-4, pero el tesoro podría haber sido enterrado algunos años después. Es probable que el tesoro represente una pequeña muestra aleatoria de la circulación de monedas en Gharb al-Andalus. La mayoría de las monedas están fragmentadas. Como es típico de este período, un gran número de las monedas son cortadas y ranuradas; y algunas de éstas están conectadas con pequeñas piezas de plata. Con la excepción de dos denarios carolingios, todas las monedas identificables proceden de Córdoba, lo que demuestra un estricto control de la circulación de monedas en al-Andalus. El tesoro pertenece a una zona del sur y el sudoeste de al-Andalus en la que se han encontrado tesoros similares que fueron enterrados en los años 260, 270, 870 y 880. Este artículo discute la composición de las monedas. Estas pertenecen al período de la sublevación del terrateniente muwallad Umar ibn Ḥafṣūn entre los años 267 / 880-1 y 303 / 915-6, contra el Emirato de Córdoba.
Key words: Cerro da Vila, Umayyads, Carolingians, ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣūn, Dirhams, slashing coins, fragmented coins.
Palabras claves: Cerro da Vila, Omeyas, carolingios, ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣūn, Dirhams, monedas cortadas y ranuradas.
Stefan Heidemann (Hamburg), Thomas Schierl (Mühlhausen), Felix Teichner (Marburg)
Abstract: Cerro da Vila was founded as a Roman production and harbour settlement («agglomeracion secundaire») at the end of the Republican Age. It developed into a small seaside settlement (“aldeia do mar”), largely based on the exploitation of maritime resources, although it is unlikely that this exploitation exceededsubsistence level. The abandonment of the settlement probably resulted from violent attack and destruction at the end of the 11th / beginning of the 12th century AD. A hoard of 239 silver coins and fragments were discovered at the bottom of an Islamic storage pit dug into the ground in an area of the former Roman site, where several remains of buildings and layers confirm settlement activity in the Visigothic and Islamic period. The latest coin is dated 270/883-4, but the hoard might have been buried some years later. It is likely that the hoard represents a small random sample of the coin circulation in Gharb al-Andalus. Most of the coins are fragmented. As is typical for that period, a number are slotted and slashed coins; some of them are plugged with tiny pieces of silver. With the exception of two Carolingian deniers all the identifiable coins are from Cordoba, proving a tight control of the circulation of coins in al-Andalus. The hoard belongs to a horizon of similar hoards from southern and south-western al-Andalus which were buried in the 260s/870s and 270s/880s. Their composition is discussed in the article. They belong to the period of the uprising of the muwallad landowner ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣūn between 267/880-1 and 303/915-6, against the Emirate of Cordoba.
Resumen
El Cerro da Vila se fundó como asentamiento romano de producción y puerto («aglomeración secundaria») al final de la época republicana. Con el tiempo, se convirtió en un pequeño asentamiento costero ("aldeia do mar"), con una actividad basada en gran medida en la explotación de los recursos marítimos, aunque es poco probable que su explotación excediera el nivel de subsistencia. El abandono del asentamiento fue probablemente resultado de un ataque violento y destrucción a finales del siglo XI / comienzos del siglo XII. Un tesoro de 239 monedas de plata y fragmentos fue descubierto en el fondo de un silo de almacenamiento de época islámica, excavado en el suelo en una zona del antiguo emplazamiento romano, donde los restos de edificios y la estratigrafía confirman la actividad de asentamiento en los periodos visigodo e islámico. La cronología de la última moneda encontrada data de 270 / 883-4, pero el tesoro podría haber sido enterrado algunos años después. Es probable que el tesoro represente una pequeña muestra aleatoria de la circulación de monedas en Gharb al-Andalus. La mayoría de las monedas están fragmentadas. Como es típico de este período, un gran número de las monedas son cortadas y ranuradas; y algunas de éstas están conectadas con pequeñas piezas de plata. Con la excepción de dos denarios carolingios, todas las monedas identificables proceden de Córdoba, lo que demuestra un estricto control de la circulación de monedas en al-Andalus. El tesoro pertenece a una zona del sur y el sudoeste de al-Andalus en la que se han encontrado tesoros similares que fueron enterrados en los años 260, 270, 870 y 880. Este artículo discute la composición de las monedas. Estas pertenecen al período de la sublevación del terrateniente muwallad Umar ibn Ḥafṣūn entre los años 267 / 880-1 y 303 / 915-6, contra el Emirato de Córdoba.
Key words: Cerro da Vila, Umayyads, Carolingians, ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣūn, Dirhams, slashing coins, fragmented coins.
Palabras claves: Cerro da Vila, Omeyas, carolingios, ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣūn, Dirhams, monedas cortadas y ranuradas.
Research Interests:
Coins are a historical source parallel to the literary tradition. They are particularly meaningful for those periods and regions of Islamic history that lack or have scarcely survived archival documents, chronicles, and other written... more
Coins are a historical source parallel to the literary tradition. They are particularly meaningful for those periods and regions of Islamic history that lack or have scarcely survived archival documents, chronicles, and other written sources on political, economic, and social history. This is the case in Iran until the early modern period of the Safavids (1501-1722). In contrast to chronicles, for example, which were written after the events by authors pursuing specific agendas, coins represent primary documents generated in the course of the historical process. Until the Mongo period, Islamic coins in Iran represent usually, the entire hierarchy of power from the local ruler to the caliph, as well as the place and date of their origin.
Research Interests:
Foreword to Susan Tyler-Smith's new book "The Coinage Reforms (600-603) of Khusru II and the Revolt of Vistahm"", dealing with the history of the project of the so-called Shiraz hoard of late Sasanian drahms.
Research Interests:
Conference report of the ERC Advanced Grant Project, “The Early Islamic Empire at Work – The View from the Regions Toward the Center,” It has now entered its second phase, looking at the conceptualization and functioning of transregional... more
Conference report of the ERC Advanced Grant Project, “The Early Islamic Empire at Work – The View from the Regions Toward the Center,” It has now entered its second phase, looking at the conceptualization and functioning of transregional and regional elites.
Research Interests: Iraqi History, Iranian Studies, History of Elites, Armenian History, Syria, and 16 moreIslamic History, Umayyads (Islamic History), Central Asia, Courts and Elites (History), Umayyad History, Armenia, Abbasids (Islamic History), Samanids, Khurasan, al-Jazira, Khurasanis in Abbasid armies, Medieval Armenian History, Ibadites, Tulunid Studies, Islamic empire, and History of al-Jazira
Three short articles in an exhibition catalogue from Hamburg. The first article deals with a newly discovered manuscript by Jacob Christian Adler (1756-1834) shedding light on the one strand of origin of Islamic Numismatics. The second... more
Three short articles in an exhibition catalogue from Hamburg. The first article deals with a newly discovered manuscript by Jacob Christian Adler (1756-1834) shedding light on the one strand of origin of Islamic Numismatics.
The second deals with a sabre donated by the notorious Enver Pasha to his friend the German admiral Souchon on the occasion of his birthday, the third concerns some ideas of calligraphy on 18th century Ottoman coinage.
The second deals with a sabre donated by the notorious Enver Pasha to his friend the German admiral Souchon on the occasion of his birthday, the third concerns some ideas of calligraphy on 18th century Ottoman coinage.
Research Interests:
The fifth century AH/eleventh century CE in Shām and the Jazīra was a period of a receding monetary economy, and drastically shrinking number of produced coins. Contemporary legal texts supported by archaeologically provenanced coin... more
The fifth century AH/eleventh century CE in Shām and the Jazīra was a period of a receding monetary economy, and drastically shrinking number of produced coins. Contemporary legal texts supported by archaeologically provenanced coin finds suggested that the reduced highly alloyed black dirhams were only circulating in a narrow region of origin. It came therefore as
a surprise to find the earliest Numayrid dirham far from its supposed mint in Ḥarrān (modern Altınbaşak, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey) in an excavation in Tiberias. The coin also establishes a terminus post quem for a disputed dating of the particular site.
a surprise to find the earliest Numayrid dirham far from its supposed mint in Ḥarrān (modern Altınbaşak, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey) in an excavation in Tiberias. The coin also establishes a terminus post quem for a disputed dating of the particular site.
Research Interests:
This contribution studies aspects of coin production in Balkh for the period between the Hephthalite victory over Peroz probably in AD 474 and the destruction of the Hephthalite realm in a co-ordinated effort by the Western Turks and the... more
This contribution studies aspects of coin production in Balkh for the period between the Hephthalite victory over Peroz probably in AD 474 and the destruction of the Hephthalite realm in a co-ordinated effort by the Western Turks and the Sasanian empire in 560s.
In May 1992 a parcel of 27 coins including hoard material was brought to the attention of the author. The core of the parcel is a homogenous group of 22 Hephthalite imitations of coins of Peroz (457–84) struck in Balkh (Göbl Type 287). It offers also new reading of Göbl Type 288, and tries to bring the coins in a sequence.
In May 1992 a parcel of 27 coins including hoard material was brought to the attention of the author. The core of the parcel is a homogenous group of 22 Hephthalite imitations of coins of Peroz (457–84) struck in Balkh (Göbl Type 287). It offers also new reading of Göbl Type 288, and tries to bring the coins in a sequence.
Research Interests:
Münzen und ihre Gestaltung spiegeln als physische Objekte, als Träger bildlicher und textlicher Botschaften und als Objekte rechtlicher und sozialer Beziehungen, sehr verschiedene soziale, wirtschaftliche, politische und kulturelle... more
Münzen und ihre Gestaltung spiegeln als physische Objekte, als Träger bildlicher und textlicher Botschaften und als Objekte rechtlicher und sozialer Beziehungen, sehr verschiedene soziale, wirtschaftliche, politische und kulturelle Vorgänge. Im Folgenden wird hier versucht, Kontinuitäten der Spätantike in der frühislamischen Kultur anhand der umlaufenden Münzen zu skizzieren, sowie die Phasen eines erneuten Interesses an den Errungenschaften der eigenen vorislamischen Vergangenheit sowie dessen organische Weiterentwicklung aufzuzeigen.
Supplement Volume to an Exhibition in Duisburg Sept. 20, 2015 to March 20, 2016.
Supplement Volume to an Exhibition in Duisburg Sept. 20, 2015 to March 20, 2016.
Research Interests:
Survey of Numismatic Research:
Islamic Section: the Mediterranean, Western Eurasia, Central Asia and Later South Asia
Islamic Section: the Mediterranean, Western Eurasia, Central Asia and Later South Asia
Research Interests:
How can one best measure economic growth in the Middle Islamic period, and especially in the tenth and eleventh centuries? For the period prior to the fifteenth century, historians researching Islamic societies have almost no primary... more
How can one best measure economic growth in the Middle Islamic period, and especially in the tenth and eleventh centuries? For the period prior to the fifteenth century, historians researching Islamic societies have almost no primary documents or archives they may call to hand. In contrast to the scarcity of primary documents, secondary sources—namely, literary and historical accounts written after the events—are abundant. The situation is the reverse of that of the European Middle Ages, for which there is a comparatively rich body of archival material available but few chronicles. Archaeology and knowledge of medieval material culture is more developed for Europe than for the contemporaneous era in the Middle East due in part to the prevalence throughout Europe of national archaeological services and a centuries-old tradition of antiquarianism and museology, whereas archaeology in the Middle East, excepting Israel, is still largely comprised of various joint missions by Western institutions, with little or no overarching authority to guide research efforts. This difference in the nature of the sources has led scholars of economic history in Europe and the Middle East to ask different questions. Many such questions, however, are of mutual and common interest, such as those that seek to investigate and define the economic and cultural relations between the Islamic world and Europe, or, from studies that have taken a more comparative perspective, what are the pre-conditions for economic growth and decline within and across different societies?
Research Interests:
In the previous issue of the Numismatic Chronicle a parcel 66 coins of a seemingly much larger hoard was presented. A second parcel of 176 coins includes 169 coins of Ardashīr III (r. AD 628-630), 5 of Yazdgard III (r. AD 632-651), and 2... more
In the previous issue of the Numismatic Chronicle a parcel 66 coins of a seemingly much larger hoard was presented. A second parcel of 176 coins includes 169 coins of Ardashīr III (r. AD 628-630), 5 of Yazdgard III (r. AD 632-651), and 2 apparently unrelated ones of Hormizd V (r. AD 632-633). The closing coin of the second parcel is again from the reign Yazdgard III of his seventh regnal year (AD 638-9) struck Kirmān (NAL). The main reason for recording lies the scarcity of post-battle of al-Qādisiyya (AD 636) evidence; secondly, the Ardashīr-coins alone make up the largest group of his coins ever recorded and studied. Not only their quantity but also in the number of dies encountered allows preliminary hypotheses on relative mint output; thirdly, alterations of some of these dies and erasures of mints on the coins itself allow preliminary hypotheses about the mint organisation; and finally it is recorded to preserve the numismatic context for the phenomenon of ink dipinti and grafitti in the late Sasanian period. It also contains a coin of the scarce mint W/N-A/S-A/S.
Research Interests:
The analysis of a hoard from the time of the collapse of the Sasanian Empire offers new insights into the administrative situation within the realm of Yazdgard III during his presence in Kirmān. Interpreting die chains using old or newly... more
The analysis of a hoard from the time of the collapse of the Sasanian Empire offers new insights into the administrative situation within the realm of Yazdgard III during his presence in Kirmān. Interpreting die chains using old or newly engraved dies with the then anachronistic name of the previous shāhānshāh Khusrō II, and finding an unlikely variety of mint abbreviations and dates within one workshop, allows us to infer the processing of huge amounts of silver in an unregulated way, compared with the orderly mint administration before the battle of al-Qādisiyya. A rigorous numismatic conclusion makes the change to a centralised minting in Kirmān likely where coins, rather than the dies, were sent to the districts. The key dates of the hoard coincide with the battle of Nihāvand 642 and the beginning of the invasion of Kirmān. Many of the coins bear dipinti with legible Pahlavī inscriptions, highlighting a cultural way of marking coins at the end of the Sasanian Empire.
Research Interests:
A pair of almost life-sized polychrome stucco sculptures attributed to the Seljuq period in Iran was closely-examined prior to the reinstallation of the Islamic galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011. Iconographical analysis... more
A pair of almost life-sized polychrome stucco sculptures attributed to the Seljuq period in Iran was closely-examined prior to the reinstallation of the Islamic galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011. Iconographical analysis of their crowns and other accoutrements suggests that they represent a pair of royal figures that were once part of a larger decorative program dated to 1050-1150 C.E. Given the itinerant nature of the Seljuq court, it is proposed that this stucco decoration was created for a temporary reception structure, or kushk, probably in Western Iran. While scientific analyses have indicated that much if not all of the polychromy is modern, technical examination of the plaster used to create these figures and related examples in other collections is ongoing.
Research Interests:
The 12th century saw a revival of Sunni Islam in the cities of Syria and northern Mesopotamia. It is also the period of muqarnas and geometrical star-pattern in Islamic art. Seemingly contradictory at the same time, ruling families from... more
The 12th century saw a revival of Sunni Islam in the cities of Syria and northern Mesopotamia. It is also the period of muqarnas and geometrical star-pattern in Islamic art. Seemingly contradictory at the same time, ruling families from the nobility of the Seljūq empire adopted classical decorative forms in northern Mesopotamia and Syria; we find Greek, Roman, and Byzantine figural images on coins and decorative arts. Do we have a 'Classical Revival' (Terry Allen) or a proto-Renaissance comparable to Southern Italy and Sicily? What role do these images play in the cultural me¬mory (Jan Assmann) and who is addressed?
Research Interests:
In March 2012 a parcel of 66 Sasanian silver drachms was brought to the author’s attention. All the coins were of Ardashīr III (628–30) with the exception of one coin of Yazdgard III (632–51). They formed a coherent parcel. The latest... more
In March 2012 a parcel of 66 Sasanian silver drachms was brought to the author’s attention. All the coins were of Ardashīr III (628–30) with the exception of one coin of Yazdgard III (632–51). They formed a coherent parcel. The latest coin was dated year seven of Yazdgard III (638/9). It is worth recording this parcel because it dates from the years of the collapse of the Sasanian empire, after the battle of Qadisiyya (636), and also because about half the coins show ink dipinti (black ink marks), some of which are legible. The reading of the dipinti will be discussed elsewhere. The mint abbreviation WLC is discussed.
Research Interests:
Since the Middle Ages, Saladin has been one of the most influential figures of historical memory in Eurasia. He was used as a symbol of the noble enemy, of war with the West and Israel, and of peace. In various incarnations he was also a... more
Since the Middle Ages, Saladin has been one of the most influential figures of historical memory in Eurasia. He was used as a symbol of the noble enemy, of war with the West and Israel, and of peace. In various incarnations he was also a national hero. According to Assmann, any collective memory of a symbol or figure creates orientation within a group and identity for the individual. Cultural memory is reconstructive,
as knowledge of the past is aligned anew with contemporary
needs.
as knowledge of the past is aligned anew with contemporary
needs.
Research Interests:
The central lands of the Abbasid empire suffered a severe decline in the 10th and 11th century due to the collapse of its political, fiscal and military structures. In the 11th century, the relief came with the Seljuqs who subsequently... more
The central lands of the Abbasid empire suffered a severe decline in the 10th and 11th century due to the collapse of its political, fiscal and military structures. In the 11th century, the relief came with the Seljuqs who subsequently laid the political foundation for a new economic prosperity.
The Seljuqs relied, however, on taxes and dues illegitimate according to Islamic law to build up their state, including tolls on long-distance trade, mukus, and intra-urban market dues, haqq al-bay<, dara>ib, or rusum; the coinage in circulation was also far from being in compliance with Islamic law either. Gold and silver coins of various alloys were in circulation and coin fragments (qurada) were valued differently than the same amount of gold within a complete coin (sahih). This monetary situation allowed for illicit riba profit gained from exchanges of the same amount of precious metal at different prices.
Most prominently al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111), head of the Nizamiyya School in Baghdad, protested against the tax and monetary systems of his time, and the famous ascetic and mystic al-Wa<iz al-<Abbadi (d. 496/1102-3) preached against riba and the use of fragments of gold coins.
The Seljuq authorities were in a dilemma: on the one hand they propagated the Sunni revival and on the other hand they had to rely on a tax system and a currency which was not compliant with Islamic law.
Key words:
Seljuqs, al-Ghazali, economic history, monetary system, Baghdad, taxes, coins, Islamic law.
The Seljuqs relied, however, on taxes and dues illegitimate according to Islamic law to build up their state, including tolls on long-distance trade, mukus, and intra-urban market dues, haqq al-bay<, dara>ib, or rusum; the coinage in circulation was also far from being in compliance with Islamic law either. Gold and silver coins of various alloys were in circulation and coin fragments (qurada) were valued differently than the same amount of gold within a complete coin (sahih). This monetary situation allowed for illicit riba profit gained from exchanges of the same amount of precious metal at different prices.
Most prominently al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111), head of the Nizamiyya School in Baghdad, protested against the tax and monetary systems of his time, and the famous ascetic and mystic al-Wa<iz al-<Abbadi (d. 496/1102-3) preached against riba and the use of fragments of gold coins.
The Seljuq authorities were in a dilemma: on the one hand they propagated the Sunni revival and on the other hand they had to rely on a tax system and a currency which was not compliant with Islamic law.
Key words:
Seljuqs, al-Ghazali, economic history, monetary system, Baghdad, taxes, coins, Islamic law.
Research Interests:
During the 6th century several fortified cities, Edessa/al-Ruhāʾ, Carrhae/Ḥarrān and Kallinikos/al-Raqqa, marked the Byzantine border with the Sāsānian empire. Edessa remained the capital of the Osrhoene and its military headquarters... more
During the 6th century several fortified cities, Edessa/al-Ruhāʾ, Carrhae/Ḥarrān and Kallinikos/al-Raqqa, marked the Byzantine border with the Sāsānian empire. Edessa remained the capital of the Osrhoene and its military headquarters during the Sāsānian occupation and afterwards. Numerous monasteries were built and prospered during that period.
The first phase, spanning from Byzantine rule to the early ʿAbbāsids, is that of steady agricultural investment and development: Life went on during the transition period, through the Sāsānian occupation and the Arab conquests in the first half of the seventh century, without any disruption detectable so far. In the early Umayyad period in the northern plain the two cities, al-Ruhāʾ and Ḥarrān, remained the dominant economic and administrative centres. Ḥarrān took over from al-Ruhāʾ as the provincial centre and capital of the Umayyad northern super province and later even as the residence of an Umayyad caliph. During the Umayyad period the ruling family had acquired land in the Diyār Muḍar and invested in its cultivation and irrigation, thus further stimulating the prosperous agriculture, as witnessed by the numerous estates, among them were Ḥiṣn Maslama and Bājaddā. In the early ʿAbbāsid period Ḥiṣn Maslama may have changed its character from a self sufficient rural estate, owned by a leading member of the Umayyad family, to a small rural town with a local market using petty coinage for day-to-day transactions.
The second phase saw the economic impacts from the demand of large metropolises such as Baghdād founded 145/762 and al-Rāfiqa founded 155/772. In 180/796-7 the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd transferred his court and government to al-Raqqa. This shifted the centre of economic growth from the fertile northern plain to the delta of the Balīkh in the south. The demand of the new metropolises for services and industrial products thus stimulated industry and provided a growing population with income. Their need to be fed, in turn, fostered the growth of agricultural settlements. Even after the return of the court in 193/809 to Baghdād, al-Raqqa remained the capital of the western half of the empire and a garrison city. In 221/836 the foundation of Sāmarrāʾ on the banks of the Tigris and the new even increasing demand of this urban agglomeration for foodstuffs gave the northern plain around Ḥarrān and the Wādī Ḥamar with the rural centres al-Jārūd and Ḥiṣn Maslama an economic advantage and made agricultural production there highly profitable. Sāmarrāʾ-style stuccos from al-Jārūd, Ḥiṣn Maslama, al-Rāfiqa and al-Raqqa al-Muḥtariqa are witnesses for a flourishing region in the middle of the 3rd/9th century.
The last dated coins from Ḥiṣn Maslama and al-Jārūd from the last third of the 3rd/9th century indicate a decline beginning with the decreasing demand of Sāmarrāʾ and the suffering of the region from the Tūlūnid and Qarmaṭian wars. The final blow for the smaller rural towns and villages may have occurred during the devastating rule of the Ḥamdānids and the immigration of superficially Islamicised Arab nomads, namely the Banū Numayr, in the middle of the 4th/10th century. From being one of the richest agricultural areas of the empire, with a system of irrigation canals, nomadic pastoral life now prevailed.
The first phase, spanning from Byzantine rule to the early ʿAbbāsids, is that of steady agricultural investment and development: Life went on during the transition period, through the Sāsānian occupation and the Arab conquests in the first half of the seventh century, without any disruption detectable so far. In the early Umayyad period in the northern plain the two cities, al-Ruhāʾ and Ḥarrān, remained the dominant economic and administrative centres. Ḥarrān took over from al-Ruhāʾ as the provincial centre and capital of the Umayyad northern super province and later even as the residence of an Umayyad caliph. During the Umayyad period the ruling family had acquired land in the Diyār Muḍar and invested in its cultivation and irrigation, thus further stimulating the prosperous agriculture, as witnessed by the numerous estates, among them were Ḥiṣn Maslama and Bājaddā. In the early ʿAbbāsid period Ḥiṣn Maslama may have changed its character from a self sufficient rural estate, owned by a leading member of the Umayyad family, to a small rural town with a local market using petty coinage for day-to-day transactions.
The second phase saw the economic impacts from the demand of large metropolises such as Baghdād founded 145/762 and al-Rāfiqa founded 155/772. In 180/796-7 the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd transferred his court and government to al-Raqqa. This shifted the centre of economic growth from the fertile northern plain to the delta of the Balīkh in the south. The demand of the new metropolises for services and industrial products thus stimulated industry and provided a growing population with income. Their need to be fed, in turn, fostered the growth of agricultural settlements. Even after the return of the court in 193/809 to Baghdād, al-Raqqa remained the capital of the western half of the empire and a garrison city. In 221/836 the foundation of Sāmarrāʾ on the banks of the Tigris and the new even increasing demand of this urban agglomeration for foodstuffs gave the northern plain around Ḥarrān and the Wādī Ḥamar with the rural centres al-Jārūd and Ḥiṣn Maslama an economic advantage and made agricultural production there highly profitable. Sāmarrāʾ-style stuccos from al-Jārūd, Ḥiṣn Maslama, al-Rāfiqa and al-Raqqa al-Muḥtariqa are witnesses for a flourishing region in the middle of the 3rd/9th century.
The last dated coins from Ḥiṣn Maslama and al-Jārūd from the last third of the 3rd/9th century indicate a decline beginning with the decreasing demand of Sāmarrāʾ and the suffering of the region from the Tūlūnid and Qarmaṭian wars. The final blow for the smaller rural towns and villages may have occurred during the devastating rule of the Ḥamdānids and the immigration of superficially Islamicised Arab nomads, namely the Banū Numayr, in the middle of the 4th/10th century. From being one of the richest agricultural areas of the empire, with a system of irrigation canals, nomadic pastoral life now prevailed.
Research Interests:
The Tall al-Bīʿa hoard of ten silver dirhams and one copper coin (t.p.q. 186) probably constitutes a cash deposit drawn from circulation in the urban market of al-Raqqa. It seems to be a negative selection. The hoard reflects the... more
The Tall al-Bīʿa hoard of ten silver dirhams and one copper coin (t.p.q. 186) probably constitutes a cash deposit drawn from circulation in the urban market of al-Raqqa. It seems to be a negative selection. The hoard reflects the preponderance of the North African dirhams in circulation at the time of Hārūn al-Rashīd. New silver from North African mines and the trade network of the Ibāḍī movement provided for cheap supply whereas a shortage of silver coins in the central lands created a huge demand. The lesser weight and presumably slightly lesser amount of intrinsic silver led to a discrimination of North African dirhams in circulation, especially in saving hoards. The overvaluation allowed the application of Gresham’s law and suggests the acceleration of velocity of circulation. These forces allowed for a rapid movement of North African dirhams to the central lands of Islam.
Research Interests:
The coinage with the standing Caliph stands between those coin types without any recognisable imperial iconography and those with the Word of God as iconic symbol of the Islamic empire and religion on the reformed epigraphic coinage of... more
The coinage with the standing Caliph stands between those coin types without any recognisable imperial iconography and those with the Word of God as iconic symbol of the Islamic empire and religion on the reformed epigraphic coinage of the years 77/696-7 to 78/697-8. Although the standing caliph was not the definite answer to the question of an appropriate representation of the new empire and its state religion, he represents for the first time the power of this empire like the Byzantine basileos or the Sasanian shahanshah on their coins before him.
The iconographic symbols on the opposite sides of the standing - or in the case of the dirham half-figure - caliph vary: a ‘globe on a pole on steps’, a ‘portrait of the shahanshah’, a ‘lance under an arch’, or a phi-shaped object on steps. While the meaning of the standing figure is sufficiently confirmed by inscriptions as the representation of ‘Abd al-Malik; the related enigmatic objects on the reverse of the gold and copper coins are barely treated in the literature.
The iconographic symbols on the opposite sides of the standing - or in the case of the dirham half-figure - caliph vary: a ‘globe on a pole on steps’, a ‘portrait of the shahanshah’, a ‘lance under an arch’, or a phi-shaped object on steps. While the meaning of the standing figure is sufficiently confirmed by inscriptions as the representation of ‘Abd al-Malik; the related enigmatic objects on the reverse of the gold and copper coins are barely treated in the literature.
Research Interests:
Money as a means of coordinating human decisions and economic exchange is a complex social invention. It must always adjust to the prevailing economic, political and juridical conditions. Seen from another angle, its design and evolution... more
Money as a means of coordinating human decisions and economic exchange is a complex social invention. It must always adjust to the prevailing economic, political and juridical conditions. Seen from another angle, its design and evolution reveal much about the societies creating it.
The history of coinages within the Islamic Empire is outlined from the 7th to the 11th century.
Keywords; Numismatics, Economic History, Umayyads, Abbasids, Buyids, Samanids
The history of coinages within the Islamic Empire is outlined from the 7th to the 11th century.
Keywords; Numismatics, Economic History, Umayyads, Abbasids, Buyids, Samanids
Research Interests: Economic History, Islamic Numismatics, Umayyads (Islamic History), Buyids (Islamic History), Turco-Iranian World, and 10 moreAbbasids (Islamic History), Samanids, Mongol, Frontier, Medieval Islamic, post-Mongol, Mongol world empire Seljuk, Ottoman Turkish historical writing, Ottoman Anatolia (1200-1500) Comparative empire, and political culture Persian
How did the theology of Islam and its idea of an empire evolve, based on the Hellenistic Romano-Iranian foundation, in the face of Christianity, Judaism, Neo-Platonism and Zoroastrianism? This much debated question has once again raised... more
How did the theology of Islam and its idea of an empire evolve, based on the Hellenistic Romano-Iranian foundation, in the face of Christianity, Judaism, Neo-Platonism and Zoroastrianism? This much debated question has once again raised much scepticism and polemic against ‘established’ knowledge and its sources. The extreme points of view taken in this controversy at large are possible to maintain because there are few undisputed Arabic sources on the first decades of Islam. In this discourse, imagery and text messages on coins became more important than ever, because the knowledge of these coinages has grown tremendously since the 1990s. Coins offer the only continuous and contemporary independent and primary source for the period of the genesis of the new religion and its empire from Spain to Central Asia. Frequently interpretations of the Islamic coin imagery by political and art historians disregard the proper numismatic context of the seventh century AD. The present contribution attempts to provide a brief overview on the development of the coin imagery, as it is discussed today.
Research Interests:
Western coinages in the Hellenistic tradition are praised for the beauty of their images complementing perfectly the circular space. Since the Renaissance, Greek and Roman coins are understood in the antiquarian mind as objects of art... more
Western coinages in the Hellenistic tradition are praised for the beauty of their images complementing perfectly the circular space. Since the Renaissance, Greek and Roman coins are understood in the antiquarian mind as objects of art parallel to sculpture or painting. Numismatics became part of art history. Since the beginning of the artistic modernity, art history learned to appreciate aesthetical concepts others than those measured by the Greek and Roman ideal.
Islamic culture developed a different aesthetic in the design of coinages than Western Europe. It praised the art of writing with most outstanding numismatic artefacts. In the late 7th century Islamic authorities created coins as text documents in the first place. The art of writing on coins established itself at the moment when the Qurʾānic message became an iconic symbol for Islam and its empire. The art of the coin in the Islamic World focussed on the beauty of the designed characters and a proportionate distribution of text on the available limited, mostly circular space.
The brief survey on calligraphy on coins explored a field of Islamic art which is hardly known although quite occasionally admired. The small form set certain limits; coins as documents required certain formulae, and their production as absolute medium of exchange, meaning money, necessitated techniques of mass production. As miniature official inscriptions of the Islamic Empire and its successor states calligraphy on coins is always orientated towards the current forms of the representation of these states, be it the art of Qurʾānic calligraphy, the style of monumental architecture, or the fine art of courtly poetry transferred into calligraphy or finally the Sultan’s name in calligraphic device.
Islamic culture developed a different aesthetic in the design of coinages than Western Europe. It praised the art of writing with most outstanding numismatic artefacts. In the late 7th century Islamic authorities created coins as text documents in the first place. The art of writing on coins established itself at the moment when the Qurʾānic message became an iconic symbol for Islam and its empire. The art of the coin in the Islamic World focussed on the beauty of the designed characters and a proportionate distribution of text on the available limited, mostly circular space.
The brief survey on calligraphy on coins explored a field of Islamic art which is hardly known although quite occasionally admired. The small form set certain limits; coins as documents required certain formulae, and their production as absolute medium of exchange, meaning money, necessitated techniques of mass production. As miniature official inscriptions of the Islamic Empire and its successor states calligraphy on coins is always orientated towards the current forms of the representation of these states, be it the art of Qurʾānic calligraphy, the style of monumental architecture, or the fine art of courtly poetry transferred into calligraphy or finally the Sultan’s name in calligraphic device.
Research Interests:
"One could describe the 6th/12th century in Syria and northern Mesopotamia as anything but static. It was a time of renewal and of the final Islamization of the cityscapes. A vast building program finally transformed the late Roman/early... more
"One could describe the 6th/12th century in Syria and northern Mesopotamia as anything but static. It was a time of renewal and of the final Islamization of the cityscapes. A vast building program finally transformed the late Roman/early Islamic city of the sixth to the tenth centuries followed by almost two centuries of decline to the prosperous medieval city of the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries which can be still seen in the old towns of modern cities in the Middle East. The majority of the urban populations had become Muslim by now, and the appearance of the cities was dominated by Islamic buildings and institutions. While the urban decline prior to the Seljuq conquest, the beginning of the urban, political, and economic renaissance , and the extensive Zangid building programs are all comparatively well-known, less familiar are the economic structures behind this blossoming.
Which legal and political instruments for this economic growth were at the disposal of the Zangids? This contribution will study the phenomenon of the waqf system as one important element that led to the final Islamization of the cities and to their economic revival."
Which legal and political instruments for this economic growth were at the disposal of the Zangids? This contribution will study the phenomenon of the waqf system as one important element that led to the final Islamization of the cities and to their economic revival."
Research Interests:
The Levant connected European and Western Asian economic developments during the Zangid and Ayyubid periods. The region is a key for an understanding of the political and economic recovery of the core lands of the much fragmented Islamic... more
The Levant connected European and Western Asian economic developments during the Zangid and Ayyubid periods. The region is a key for an understanding of the political and economic recovery of the core lands of the much fragmented Islamic empire. Economic growth was supported by the development of coinages. In a nutshell, the circulation of coins in Palestine and Jerusalem reflects not only the transformation of the currencies during the 6th/12th and 7th/13th century in western Asia, but also the encounter of different monetary traditions - those of Europe and the Islamic empire. The Zangid and Ayyubid periods saw the re-emergence of an urban monetary economy.
Research Interests:
"The historian of early Islamic Bilād al-Shām has almost no primary source material; legal or political documents are lacking. Most historical information derived from later medieval but secondary sources such as chronicles, biographical... more
"The historian of early Islamic Bilād al-Shām has almost no primary source material; legal or political documents are lacking. Most historical information derived from later medieval but secondary sources such as chronicles, biographical dictionaries and poetry written from the perspective of a major capital, a ruler, a ruling house, or one of the different Islamic communities.
Archaeology in general and legends on coins in particular, as well as coin finds from archaeological contexts can provide further independent information about the settlements.
First, a brief overview is given about the current state of numismatic research in both the Syrian Arab Republic and adjacent regions historically connected to it. Secondly, this study examines the archaeology of the Diyār Mudar or Osrhoene on a regional level. Coins as texts and archaeological coin finds are presented as a parallel independent source for settlement patterns from the 6th to the 10th century AD.
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Archaeology in general and legends on coins in particular, as well as coin finds from archaeological contexts can provide further independent information about the settlements.
First, a brief overview is given about the current state of numismatic research in both the Syrian Arab Republic and adjacent regions historically connected to it. Secondly, this study examines the archaeology of the Diyār Mudar or Osrhoene on a regional level. Coins as texts and archaeological coin finds are presented as a parallel independent source for settlement patterns from the 6th to the 10th century AD.
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Research Interests:
"Der Aufstieg der philologisch-kritischen Orientalistik innerhalb der Theologie der Aufklärung und der Paradigmenwechsel zu einer Philologie eigenen Rechts läßt sich an der Geschichte der Orientalistik an der Universität Jena verfolgen.... more
"Der Aufstieg der philologisch-kritischen Orientalistik innerhalb der Theologie der Aufklärung und der Paradigmenwechsel zu einer Philologie eigenen Rechts läßt sich an der Geschichte der Orientalistik an der Universität Jena verfolgen. Berührungspunkte zwischen literarischem und akademischem Interesse am Orient waren durchaus gegeben, doch vergleichsweise gering und häufig nur indirekt. Der wissenschaftliche Paradigmenwechsel in der Forschung von einer theologischen Hilfswissenschaft zu einer philologisch-historischen Orientalistik hatte unabhängig von Paris auch in Deutschland stattgefunden. Jedoch war die neue Richtung im Gegensatz zur École spéciale in Paris noch für längere Zeit nicht durch eigene Lehrstühle und Institute institutionell abgesichert, sondern in den Philosophischen Fakultäten jeweils mit der Lehre des Alten Testamentes verbunden.
Gleich in seiner Antrittsvorlesung für Theologie und morgenländische Literatur 1776 stellte Johann Gottfried EICHHORN die historische und philologische Textanalyse in den Mittelpunkt seiner Arbeit.
GOETHE verhalf in der Zeit seiner intensiven Auseinandersetzung mit orientalischer Literatur der neuen von A. I. SILVESTRE DE SACY geprägten philologisch ausgericheten Orientalistik in Deutschland zum ersten Lehrstuhl. Im Jahr 1817 wurde dessen Schüler und Greifswalder Gelehrte Johann Gottfried KOSEGARTEN auf eine Professur in Jena berufen. Nach dem Weggang von KOSEGARTEN 1824 fehlte jedoch fünfzehn Jahre lang eine Orientalistik an der Philosophischen Fakultät.
Trotz einer soliden theologischen Ausbildung in Jena gehörte Johann Gustav STICKEL jener neuen Generation von Orientalisten an, die in Paris bei SILVESTRE DE SACY studierten und dort ihre wesentlichen Anregungen fanden. Diese Generation machte sich die Quellenerfassung und -edition unabhängig von theologischen Fragestellungen zur Aufgabe. STICKEL versuchte die Orientalistik zwischen den unausgesetzten Anforderungen theologischer Lehre und den Ansprüchen der neuen philologisch-historischen Richtung gegen institutionelle Widerstände in Jena zu durchzusetzen.
Im Jahr 1839 wurde eine sprachlich breit gefächerte konkurrenzfähige Orientalistik als historische Sprach- und Quellenwissenschaft vom Staatsministerium eingerichtet. STICKEL war für die semitischen Sprachen und Hermann BROCKHAUS für die indogermanischen Sprachen zuständig.
Jedoch der Weggang des Sanskritisten Hermann BROCKHAUS nach Leipzig schon 1842 stellte für die Orientalistik in Jena einen entscheidenden Verlust dar. Die Nachbaruniversitäten Halle und Leipzig waren nun durch ihr institutionalisiertes Lehrangebot von Persisch und Sanskrit für angehende Orientalisten interessanter und der orientalistische Lehrstuhl in Jena blieb in die Ausbildung der Theologen eingebunden. Über das Quellencorpus des Orientalischen Münzkabinetts gewann jedoch die Orientalistik in Jena im 19. Jahrhundert in der Forschung ein eigenes international anerkanntes Profil.
Die Entwicklung an der Universität Jena macht deutlich, dass in Deutschland die traditionelle Fächerstruktur nur mühsam verändert werden konnte. Verglichen mit der Situation in Frankreich und England lässt sich das Argument auch umdrehen. Da es keine ernsthaft verfolgten kolonialen politischen Interessen der deutschen Staaten im Orient—mit Ausnahme Österreichs—gab, die die Orientstudien politisch förderten, konnte sich die Orientalische Philologie in Deutschland nur aus dem Zusammenhang der protestantischen Theologie der Aufklärung und begleitet von einer am literarischen Orient interessierten Öffentlichkeit entwickeln.
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Gleich in seiner Antrittsvorlesung für Theologie und morgenländische Literatur 1776 stellte Johann Gottfried EICHHORN die historische und philologische Textanalyse in den Mittelpunkt seiner Arbeit.
GOETHE verhalf in der Zeit seiner intensiven Auseinandersetzung mit orientalischer Literatur der neuen von A. I. SILVESTRE DE SACY geprägten philologisch ausgericheten Orientalistik in Deutschland zum ersten Lehrstuhl. Im Jahr 1817 wurde dessen Schüler und Greifswalder Gelehrte Johann Gottfried KOSEGARTEN auf eine Professur in Jena berufen. Nach dem Weggang von KOSEGARTEN 1824 fehlte jedoch fünfzehn Jahre lang eine Orientalistik an der Philosophischen Fakultät.
Trotz einer soliden theologischen Ausbildung in Jena gehörte Johann Gustav STICKEL jener neuen Generation von Orientalisten an, die in Paris bei SILVESTRE DE SACY studierten und dort ihre wesentlichen Anregungen fanden. Diese Generation machte sich die Quellenerfassung und -edition unabhängig von theologischen Fragestellungen zur Aufgabe. STICKEL versuchte die Orientalistik zwischen den unausgesetzten Anforderungen theologischer Lehre und den Ansprüchen der neuen philologisch-historischen Richtung gegen institutionelle Widerstände in Jena zu durchzusetzen.
Im Jahr 1839 wurde eine sprachlich breit gefächerte konkurrenzfähige Orientalistik als historische Sprach- und Quellenwissenschaft vom Staatsministerium eingerichtet. STICKEL war für die semitischen Sprachen und Hermann BROCKHAUS für die indogermanischen Sprachen zuständig.
Jedoch der Weggang des Sanskritisten Hermann BROCKHAUS nach Leipzig schon 1842 stellte für die Orientalistik in Jena einen entscheidenden Verlust dar. Die Nachbaruniversitäten Halle und Leipzig waren nun durch ihr institutionalisiertes Lehrangebot von Persisch und Sanskrit für angehende Orientalisten interessanter und der orientalistische Lehrstuhl in Jena blieb in die Ausbildung der Theologen eingebunden. Über das Quellencorpus des Orientalischen Münzkabinetts gewann jedoch die Orientalistik in Jena im 19. Jahrhundert in der Forschung ein eigenes international anerkanntes Profil.
Die Entwicklung an der Universität Jena macht deutlich, dass in Deutschland die traditionelle Fächerstruktur nur mühsam verändert werden konnte. Verglichen mit der Situation in Frankreich und England lässt sich das Argument auch umdrehen. Da es keine ernsthaft verfolgten kolonialen politischen Interessen der deutschen Staaten im Orient—mit Ausnahme Österreichs—gab, die die Orientstudien politisch förderten, konnte sich die Orientalische Philologie in Deutschland nur aus dem Zusammenhang der protestantischen Theologie der Aufklärung und begleitet von einer am literarischen Orient interessierten Öffentlichkeit entwickeln.
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Research Interests:
"The new economic dynamics in the Zangid period finds its expression not only in an increased building activity but also in an increased number of fiscal instruments and terminology. The systematic lexicographic glossary of all the... more
"The new economic dynamics in the Zangid period finds its expression not only in an increased building activity but also in an increased number of fiscal instruments and terminology. The systematic lexicographic glossary of all the different kinds of dues – illegitimate according to the shari'a – in the period of the Saljuqs, Zangids and Ayyubids can not be derived from the rich indigenous lexicographic tradition or medieval handbooks on Islamic law.
One new term for fiscal matters is dealt with here. After a brief introduction to legal taxation and Saljuq fiscal policy, the philological problems in the definition of a specific due, al-fissa, illegitimate according to the shari'a, will be addressed along with its political function and history. This due was levied in Damascus for the tribute to the Kingdom of Jerusalem."
One new term for fiscal matters is dealt with here. After a brief introduction to legal taxation and Saljuq fiscal policy, the philological problems in the definition of a specific due, al-fissa, illegitimate according to the shari'a, will be addressed along with its political function and history. This due was levied in Damascus for the tribute to the Kingdom of Jerusalem."
Research Interests:
In der Eroberungsphase im 7. Jahrhundert wurden wenige tribal gegliederte Lagerstädte mit Verwaltungspalast und einer Versammlungsmoschee im Zentrum errichtet. Sie entwickelten sich zu den ersten rein muslimischen Städten außerhalb des... more
In der Eroberungsphase im 7. Jahrhundert wurden wenige tribal gegliederte Lagerstädte mit Verwaltungspalast und einer Versammlungsmoschee im Zentrum errichtet. Sie entwickelten sich zu den ersten rein muslimischen Städten außerhalb des Hijaz. In den alten Städten, in denen die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung des Islamischen Reiches lebte, setzten sich die Entwicklungen der byzantinischen Zeit fort: von einem rechtwinkligen Straßenraster zu einem Sackgassensystem. Die Städte erlebten - durchaus mit regionalen Unterschieden - eine neue Prosperität. In den neu geplanten Residenz- und Garnisonsstädten der Umayyaden- und Abbasidenzeit im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert wurden schachbrettartige Straßenraster angelegt.
Nach einer Phase des Niedergangs kam es am Ende des 11. Jahrhunderts zu einer Renaissance der Städte. Die Seldschuken errichteten eine auf Städte und Festungen gestützte Militärherrschaft. Die Institution des waqfs, der Stiftung nach Islamischem Recht, wurde zur wichtigsten Institution beim Aufbau von dem Gemeinwohl dienenden Einrichtungen.
Nach einer Phase des Niedergangs kam es am Ende des 11. Jahrhunderts zu einer Renaissance der Städte. Die Seldschuken errichteten eine auf Städte und Festungen gestützte Militärherrschaft. Die Institution des waqfs, der Stiftung nach Islamischem Recht, wurde zur wichtigsten Institution beim Aufbau von dem Gemeinwohl dienenden Einrichtungen.
Research Interests:
A taste for Mamluk revival existed already in Egypt in the 1840s. The Jazira palace in Cairo from the year 1863 designed by the Austrian Architect Julius Franz, was the first Mamluk revival structure. The Rifa'i mosque in Cairo was begun... more
A taste for Mamluk revival existed already in Egypt in the 1840s. The Jazira palace in Cairo from the year 1863 designed by the Austrian Architect Julius Franz, was the first Mamluk revival structure. The Rifa'i mosque in Cairo was begun in 1869. The monumental illustrated work by Prisse d'Avennes 1877 on Mamluk Art was then one of the main catalyst of this revival style. The question remains, as to how far Mamluk revival was rooted in the contemporary development of arts and crafts in Egypt and Syria. When did this new style spread to Syria? Were the 19th century revival objects an innovation and only stimulated by the demand of European and Egyptian collectors? Or is there any kind of continuity of tradition and taste? Or had the almost forgotten heritage of the Mamluks perhaps always served as a model? Until these questions are explored further, this study of late Ottoman door knockers from Syria must be seen as preliminary.
Research Interests: History of Ottoman Art and Architecture, Ottoman art and architecture, Ottoman Archaeology, Ottoman Palaeography and Diplomatics, Ottoman Warfare, Navy, Economy, and Black Sea Studies, Islamic Architecture, History of Archaeology in Ottoman Lands, Corrosion and Conservation of Ancient Metals, Archeometry, Islamic Metalwork technology, and Islamic Metalwork Technology
"One of the almost forgotten and least known buildings in mediaeval al-Raqqa is its citadel. In the 1950s the citadel was completely removed. A citadel however, constitutes an important space defining complex for the historical... more
"One of the almost forgotten and least known buildings in mediaeval al-Raqqa is its citadel. In the 1950s the citadel was completely removed. A citadel however, constitutes an important space defining complex for the historical development of a city. The citadel of al-Raqqa was located on a promontory of an elevated terrace formed by the Euphrates, situated at the southwestern corner of the citywall of al-Râfiqa.
Firstly, I will give a brief outline of the history of exploration of the citadel; secondly, some early references to a hisn al-Râfiqa; thirdly, some general remarks about the historical development of fortifications within northern Mesopotamia, the Jazîra, and fourthly, I follow the history of the citadel of al-Raqqa especially during the Ayyubid period according to the literary and photographic sources. The last and fifth point will be the exploration of the possible function of the citadel within the spatial organisation of the city. This point takes the position of the Bâb Baghdad at the southeastern corner of the city wall into consideration."
Firstly, I will give a brief outline of the history of exploration of the citadel; secondly, some early references to a hisn al-Râfiqa; thirdly, some general remarks about the historical development of fortifications within northern Mesopotamia, the Jazîra, and fourthly, I follow the history of the citadel of al-Raqqa especially during the Ayyubid period according to the literary and photographic sources. The last and fifth point will be the exploration of the possible function of the citadel within the spatial organisation of the city. This point takes the position of the Bâb Baghdad at the southeastern corner of the city wall into consideration."
Research Interests:
The history of the industrial and commercial district between al-Raqqa and al-Rafiqa is reconstructed on the base of literary sources, numismatic finds and aerial views from the early twentieth century. It came probably into being during... more
The history of the industrial and commercial district between al-Raqqa and al-Rafiqa is reconstructed on the base of literary sources, numismatic finds and aerial views from the early twentieth century. It came probably into being during the 160s/780s when the „old market of the caliph Hisham„ were transferred from within al-Raqqa into the free land between the two cities. The decision of Harun al-Rashid to reside in al-Raqqa created a new demand. In turn glass furnaces and pottery kilns were set up for mass production. A road running from the east-gate of al-Rafiqa connected this area. After 198/213 the governor of the west, Tahir ibn al-Husain, erected a wall north of the area in order to protect from Bedouin raids. At the latest during the 3rd/9th century the area developed into a third urban entity. Al-Muqaddasi mentions an al-Raqqa al-Muhtariqa. The identification with the commercial and industrial area is proposed. The decline of al-Raqqa al-Muhtariqa began at last at the 270s/880s and 280s/890s. Probably the devastating rule of the Hamdanids marks its end.
Research Interests:
During the 10th and the 12th centuries the relation between the successive military states and the Arab nomads chnaged. The strength and political organisation of the tribal groups were direct reflections of the military and economical... more
During the 10th and the 12th centuries the relation between the successive military states and the Arab nomads chnaged. The strength and political organisation of the tribal groups were direct reflections of the military and economical strength of the sedentary powers.
The first period is characterised by a new wave of tribal immigration and their domination of the region, which is linked to the surrounding political situation. They grew in power and developed a kind of „dimorphic state“ - a Bedouin ruler who presented himself as urban but had his men in the pasture - whenever they were under special support of one of the surrounding sedentary powers.
In the second phase, the Saljuq period, the tribes competed in land use with the Saljuq military state. The Sal¡uqs needed land in order to distribute it to the army and to develop it as iqta'. The power struggles of the various Saljuq pretenders which began in this period ended with the tribal groups being ousted or exterminated as further result. Only some amirs with tribal background survived this situation owing to their neutral political position and the possession of fortified locations.
The third phase witnessed the formal integration of newly arrived nomadic groups into the framework of the Zangid-Ayyubid state. Operating at a much higher economic and military level the Zangids were able to tax the nomads, while the Ayyubids were in a position to nominate the amir al-'arab, the chief of the Bedouins.
The first period is characterised by a new wave of tribal immigration and their domination of the region, which is linked to the surrounding political situation. They grew in power and developed a kind of „dimorphic state“ - a Bedouin ruler who presented himself as urban but had his men in the pasture - whenever they were under special support of one of the surrounding sedentary powers.
In the second phase, the Saljuq period, the tribes competed in land use with the Saljuq military state. The Sal¡uqs needed land in order to distribute it to the army and to develop it as iqta'. The power struggles of the various Saljuq pretenders which began in this period ended with the tribal groups being ousted or exterminated as further result. Only some amirs with tribal background survived this situation owing to their neutral political position and the possession of fortified locations.
The third phase witnessed the formal integration of newly arrived nomadic groups into the framework of the Zangid-Ayyubid state. Operating at a much higher economic and military level the Zangids were able to tax the nomads, while the Ayyubids were in a position to nominate the amir al-'arab, the chief of the Bedouins.
Research Interests:
Summary During the 1940s and 1950s D. Storm Rice and Seton Lloyd, together with the Turkish Antiquity Authority, undertook archaeological excavations in Harran. Of the Islamic monuments they concentrated on the area of the citadel and its... more
Summary During the 1940s and 1950s D. Storm Rice and Seton Lloyd, together with the Turkish Antiquity Authority, undertook archaeological excavations in Harran. Of the Islamic monuments they concentrated on the area of the citadel and its Numairid past, the Great Mosque and and the shrine of Shaikh Hayat outside the city walls. With the exception of two preliminary reports and a few articles on individual monuments and finds, the results of the excavations remain largely unpublished. The 264 coins discovered there constitute an independent source on the regional, political and economic history of Harran. Furthermore they supplement the existing picture we have of the circulation of petty coinages in the Diyar Mudar in comparison with other archaeological sites in the region. For the Umayyad and early Abbasid period, those coins, which originated in distant cities and which do not belong to the immediate coin circulation in Harran, offer a picture of the city's regional integration. Harran was much better connected, via Saru:j and Manbij, with the cities in Northern Syria than
with al-Raqqa in the south of the Balikh valley. After 163/779–80 large numbers of copper coins were imported into the Jazı:ra and northern Syria from southern Iraqi mints, most important among them are those from al-Kufa. Later, in order to supplement the circulating stock, imitations of those coins were manufactured in the region. Coins belonging to the enormous output of al-Rafiqa from the period of
Harun al-Rashid, especially those minted in the year 189/804–5, were found much
less frequently than expected, showing that these issues were produced mainly to
serve the needs of the new Caliphal residence and its immediate surroundings.
Following the reign of Har:n al-Rashıd the coins in circulation were supplemented by many different forms of coins, suggesting an unofficial origin. The circulation, at least in the first half of the third/ninth century, was dominated by cast copper coins whose models are barely, if at all, recognizable. It is not known when these forms of coins ceased to circulate. A comparison of different archaeological sites suggests that these forms of petty coinage were in circulation at least until the 270s/880s. At the end of the third/ninth century, silver coin fragments were increasingly used to serve as small change, and by the end of the fourth century, the silver content of the dirhams had declined considerably from technical purity to very low levels. These dirhams were called dirham aswad or Black Dirhams. Three of them were found: one from the Numairid dynasty in which Rice was more interested and, notably, two black Dirhams of the Saljuq prince al-Malik Mas'ud.
In the late 5th/11th century, with the new rise of the old Urban centres in Northern Syria and the Jazıra, imported Byzantine anonymous folles became the dominant means of daily exchange. They were subsequently found among the coins, although there were fewer than expected. No coins from the neighbouring Crusader county of Edessa/al-Ruha' were found, which suggests an economic separation of the two territories. Two-thirds of the coins date from the Ayyubid period. The circulation is characterized by a diversity of coins of different origins. First, those which were struck for the political entities to which Harran belonged. For some time Harran and neighbouring al-Ruha' served as mints in the region. Second, imports of Anatolian copper coins, i.e. beginning with the Byzantine copper coins mentioned above, and later coins of Ru:m-Salju:q origin. The third strong element are copper coins from northern Syria despite the fact that the Diyar Mudar and northern Syria belong to different branches of the Ayyubid dynasty. Life in Harran ceased abruptly with the destruction of this great city by the Mongols in 670/1272. Later coins are regarded as accidental losses.
with al-Raqqa in the south of the Balikh valley. After 163/779–80 large numbers of copper coins were imported into the Jazı:ra and northern Syria from southern Iraqi mints, most important among them are those from al-Kufa. Later, in order to supplement the circulating stock, imitations of those coins were manufactured in the region. Coins belonging to the enormous output of al-Rafiqa from the period of
Harun al-Rashid, especially those minted in the year 189/804–5, were found much
less frequently than expected, showing that these issues were produced mainly to
serve the needs of the new Caliphal residence and its immediate surroundings.
Following the reign of Har:n al-Rashıd the coins in circulation were supplemented by many different forms of coins, suggesting an unofficial origin. The circulation, at least in the first half of the third/ninth century, was dominated by cast copper coins whose models are barely, if at all, recognizable. It is not known when these forms of coins ceased to circulate. A comparison of different archaeological sites suggests that these forms of petty coinage were in circulation at least until the 270s/880s. At the end of the third/ninth century, silver coin fragments were increasingly used to serve as small change, and by the end of the fourth century, the silver content of the dirhams had declined considerably from technical purity to very low levels. These dirhams were called dirham aswad or Black Dirhams. Three of them were found: one from the Numairid dynasty in which Rice was more interested and, notably, two black Dirhams of the Saljuq prince al-Malik Mas'ud.
In the late 5th/11th century, with the new rise of the old Urban centres in Northern Syria and the Jazıra, imported Byzantine anonymous folles became the dominant means of daily exchange. They were subsequently found among the coins, although there were fewer than expected. No coins from the neighbouring Crusader county of Edessa/al-Ruha' were found, which suggests an economic separation of the two territories. Two-thirds of the coins date from the Ayyubid period. The circulation is characterized by a diversity of coins of different origins. First, those which were struck for the political entities to which Harran belonged. For some time Harran and neighbouring al-Ruha' served as mints in the region. Second, imports of Anatolian copper coins, i.e. beginning with the Byzantine copper coins mentioned above, and later coins of Ru:m-Salju:q origin. The third strong element are copper coins from northern Syria despite the fact that the Diyar Mudar and northern Syria belong to different branches of the Ayyubid dynasty. Life in Harran ceased abruptly with the destruction of this great city by the Mongols in 670/1272. Later coins are regarded as accidental losses.
Research Interests:
The methodological problems of the period of the „settlement gap (Siedlungslücke)“ have become more evident. This period is best approached with the help of different disciplines. During the 4th/10th century the Banu Numayr moved into... more
The methodological problems of the period of the „settlement gap (Siedlungslücke)“ have become more evident. This period is best approached with the help of different disciplines. During the 4th/10th century the Banu Numayr moved into northern Mesopotamia as part of the second great migration of Arab tribes. The cultivated land of settled people diminished and the routes between the villages, towns and cities became endangered.
During the period of Bedouin domination the seat of rulership was transferred from the city to the tribal camp (hilla). The interest of the Bedouins lay in the fiscal exploitation of the cities. The emirate of Mani' ibn Shabib constitutes a brief interlude in the development of the Banu Numayr. During the time of the rebellion of al-Basasiri in Iraq, the Fatimids integrated Mani' into an alliance. Thus, the Fatiimids created political stability among the hostile tribes from northern Syria to the Euphrates valley. Then Mani' ibn Shabib began to represent himself as an urban ruler: he built the citadel in Harran. As proof of rulership he had coins struck not only in Harran, as his predecessors had done, but established a mint in ar-Raqqa as well. The evidence marshalled here also suggests that he undertook the restoration of the most representative urban building in ar-Raqqa, the congregational mosque. He extended his territory into the Khabur valley. Manî' ibn Shabib’s rule corresponds to that type of nomadic authority which Michael Rowton calls a ‘dimorphic state’. This constitutes a state led by a nomadic ruler accommodating himself to urban forms of rulership, or at least to urban forms of projecting sovereignty but who simultaneously maintains his power base within the pasture: a ruler who has to balance between the interests of the settled people and the demands of the nomads. These favourable conditions for the revival of urban life in the Diyar Mudar ended soon after the rebellion of al-Basâsîrî in the year 451/1060.
During the period of Bedouin domination the seat of rulership was transferred from the city to the tribal camp (hilla). The interest of the Bedouins lay in the fiscal exploitation of the cities. The emirate of Mani' ibn Shabib constitutes a brief interlude in the development of the Banu Numayr. During the time of the rebellion of al-Basasiri in Iraq, the Fatimids integrated Mani' into an alliance. Thus, the Fatiimids created political stability among the hostile tribes from northern Syria to the Euphrates valley. Then Mani' ibn Shabib began to represent himself as an urban ruler: he built the citadel in Harran. As proof of rulership he had coins struck not only in Harran, as his predecessors had done, but established a mint in ar-Raqqa as well. The evidence marshalled here also suggests that he undertook the restoration of the most representative urban building in ar-Raqqa, the congregational mosque. He extended his territory into the Khabur valley. Manî' ibn Shabib’s rule corresponds to that type of nomadic authority which Michael Rowton calls a ‘dimorphic state’. This constitutes a state led by a nomadic ruler accommodating himself to urban forms of rulership, or at least to urban forms of projecting sovereignty but who simultaneously maintains his power base within the pasture: a ruler who has to balance between the interests of the settled people and the demands of the nomads. These favourable conditions for the revival of urban life in the Diyar Mudar ended soon after the rebellion of al-Basâsîrî in the year 451/1060.
Research Interests:
The history of the foundation of Qara Qorum is clouded by contradicting evidence. All information came either from later memorial inscriptions or from chronicles written at least decades after the events at different places. The joint... more
The history of the foundation of Qara Qorum is clouded by contradicting evidence. All information came either from later memorial inscriptions or from chronicles written at least decades after the events at different places. The joint excavation of the Mongolian Academy of Science and the Bonn University yielded the earliest dated primary documentary evi¬dence of Qara Qorum, a coin, struck in the year (6)35 H./1237-8 A.D., about two years after the supposed construction of the palace of Ögedai in 1235. The coin was presuma¬bly struck within the palace compound, in a workshop under the control of the Muslim community. It was found within a coppersmiths workshop located in the Chinese commercial area of the city.
Research Interests: Yuan Dynasty, Islamic Numismatics, Central Asia, Mongols, Medieval Islamic Numismatics, and 16 moreMongolia, Chinese Coins, Excavation, Cengiz Khan, Qara Qorum, Karakorum, slamic NumismaticsI, Mongolian Coins, Tamagha, China, Mongol Conquests, Ögedai, Ogedai, Bonn University, Mongolian Capital. Mongolian Coins, Tamgha, and Ödegdai
"The Oriental Coin Cabinet Jena has the third largest collection of Oriental lead seals with Christian images and Arabic, Syriac, and Armenian inscriptions. Most of these seals came from the spoils of an excavation at the construction... more
"The Oriental Coin Cabinet Jena has the third largest collection of Oriental lead seals with Christian images and Arabic, Syriac, and Armenian inscriptions.
Most of these seals came from the spoils of an excavation at the construction site of the Ottoman ministry of war (Seriaskerat) at the Eski Sarai in Istanbul after 1869. The Byzantine archives might have stood there. These seals are mostly from the 12th century, none of it is younger than 1204.
These seals are presumably from dignitaries in Syria and northern Mesopotamia exchanging letters with the imperial center and revealing the multi-cultural environment at the fringes of the empire.
The article discovers the origings of these 'seal hoard' and reviews the history of scholarship on these seals. An edition of the letters between A. D. Mordtmann, Istanbul, and J. G. Stickel, Jena, is provided, along with a catalogue and commentary of the seals. "
Most of these seals came from the spoils of an excavation at the construction site of the Ottoman ministry of war (Seriaskerat) at the Eski Sarai in Istanbul after 1869. The Byzantine archives might have stood there. These seals are mostly from the 12th century, none of it is younger than 1204.
These seals are presumably from dignitaries in Syria and northern Mesopotamia exchanging letters with the imperial center and revealing the multi-cultural environment at the fringes of the empire.
The article discovers the origings of these 'seal hoard' and reviews the history of scholarship on these seals. An edition of the letters between A. D. Mordtmann, Istanbul, and J. G. Stickel, Jena, is provided, along with a catalogue and commentary of the seals. "
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The conquest of Damascus by Timur in 803/1401 belongs to the best documented sieges of Timur and the Middle Islamic period as such. It may serve as a model for the extortion of a city by him. The siege is related to us by a number of... more
The conquest of Damascus by Timur in 803/1401 belongs to the best documented sieges of Timur and the Middle Islamic period as such. It may serve as a model for the extortion of a city by him. The siege is related to us by a number of contemporary sources. I focuss on the monetary aspects of the siege, the role of Timur’s campmint and finally provide some arguments about the reasons for the introduction of the tanka coinage in Timur’s realm.
First, Damascus provides an example of a very efficient and sophisticated way of extorting money during a siege with the collaboration of the city’s financial administration. Their tools to spread the burden were a poll-tax, a real-estate-tax and contributions of religious endowments.
Secondly, The campmint had different functions. a) to refine the silver and convert the loot into a distributable form, b) to earn revenue for Timur’s treasury from the plunder through seignorage, c) to be used as a kind of propaganda tool by issuing donative-coins which spread the information of Tîmûr’s new conquest with proof of his rulership.
Thirdly: The campmint with the name of Damascus contradicts several suppositions usually made by numismatists. The coins did not circulate in the region where the mint was located or were not intended to circulate in the region, where they were minted and struck. They were struck to be carried away to distant places. The campmint used the name of the conquered city. The products of the very same mobile mint can bear as many mint-names as many cities Tîmûr’s army approached.
First, Damascus provides an example of a very efficient and sophisticated way of extorting money during a siege with the collaboration of the city’s financial administration. Their tools to spread the burden were a poll-tax, a real-estate-tax and contributions of religious endowments.
Secondly, The campmint had different functions. a) to refine the silver and convert the loot into a distributable form, b) to earn revenue for Timur’s treasury from the plunder through seignorage, c) to be used as a kind of propaganda tool by issuing donative-coins which spread the information of Tîmûr’s new conquest with proof of his rulership.
Thirdly: The campmint with the name of Damascus contradicts several suppositions usually made by numismatists. The coins did not circulate in the region where the mint was located or were not intended to circulate in the region, where they were minted and struck. They were struck to be carried away to distant places. The campmint used the name of the conquered city. The products of the very same mobile mint can bear as many mint-names as many cities Tîmûr’s army approached.
Research Interests: Numismatics, Islamic Numismatics, Syrian History, Islamic History, Timurids (Islamic History), and 9 moreCentral Asia, Medieval Islamic History, Medieval Islamic Numismatics, Damascus, Manuscripts, John of Damascus, Mongol and Timurid period in the history of Iran, Central Asia, Mongol and Timurid Period In the History of Iran, and Persian Documents
On the basis of a coin-document a new ruler of the Marwanid emirate, Sharwin ibn Muhammad, can be identified and thus added to the list of rulers given by C. E. Bosworth, New Islamic Dynasties. The circumstances of his accession to the... more
On the basis of a coin-document a new ruler of the Marwanid emirate, Sharwin ibn Muhammad, can be identified and thus added to the list of rulers given by C. E. Bosworth, New Islamic Dynasties. The circumstances of his accession to the throne shed some new light on the application and spread of regicide as a principle for legitimizing sovereign power of ruler, brought forward in an article by U. Haarmann in 1990.
Research Interests:
Edition of a decree by al-Malik al-'Adil dated 571/1176 concerning the monks of Mount Sinai. The document housed in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, provides additional information about the monastery and its relation to the Ayyubid sultan.
Research Interests:
In the first decades after the Islamic conquest until Umayyad rule, the region of Syria and northern Mesopotamia remained in regard to its monetary organization mainly a dependent Byzantine province. Copper coins were provided from... more
In the first decades after the Islamic conquest until Umayyad rule, the region of Syria and northern Mesopotamia remained in regard to its monetary organization mainly a dependent Byzantine province. Copper coins were provided from Constantinople until 655-658. On the basis of the gold hoards only a diminishing number of post-Heraclius solidi are observed. On logical reasons might be assumed that the treasury in Constantinople was able to draw (through unknown intermediaries) gold from the Arab-occupied, former Byzantine territories in exchange for imperial copper coins in order to balance the trade. Perhaps with the rise of Umayyad rule in Syria, imitation of Byzantine copper coins occurred. It can be regarded as an indicator of a shortage of copper coins. We do not know exactly the measures applied, but they led step by step to a monetary independence of Syria and northern Mesopotamia from the Byzantine money supply.
The demand for small change was met by a multitude of mints. First they produced mere imitations but their iconography and their inscriptions more and more abandon the Byzantine models. Finally Abd al-Malik’s reforms - beginning with silver and gold around 72/691-2 - separated both currencies through the introduction of an indigenous Islamic coin type. The gold was struck only in one imperial mint, except for the far western parts of the empire. The organization of the gold and copper coinage in Syria did not follow the Byzantine pattern. Although the stock of Byzantine gold circulating in Syria was very efficiently reminted, there are thus far no traces of a continuous reminting of the coinage as in Byzantium. But it can be assumed that the reminting of the entire existing gold stock in Syria was somehow connected with the taxation system.
In Byzantium the copper coinage was part of the central imperial fiscal system, but for the Islamic Empire that does not seem to have been the case. cAbd al-Malik tried to regulate the copper coinage at least in Syria and northern Mesopotamia. He introduced a fixed pattern - the standing caliph - but the details of the coins show, that the organization of the minting was on the level of the military district (jund).
There are no hints in the literature that silver in Syria and northern Mesopotamia was part of the early Islamic fiscal system there. But the various silver hoards examined, reveal that there had been a massive influx of silver coinage in the region. It probably reached Damascus as tax payments in Sasanian drahms. These coins, which originally weighed 4.00g, were temporarily selected and clipped according to the prevailing weight standards, first to 3.90g then to the dirham weight of 2.90g. The standardization of the silver coinage in circulation was not enforced to the same degree as it was done in the case of the dinars.
The demand for small change was met by a multitude of mints. First they produced mere imitations but their iconography and their inscriptions more and more abandon the Byzantine models. Finally Abd al-Malik’s reforms - beginning with silver and gold around 72/691-2 - separated both currencies through the introduction of an indigenous Islamic coin type. The gold was struck only in one imperial mint, except for the far western parts of the empire. The organization of the gold and copper coinage in Syria did not follow the Byzantine pattern. Although the stock of Byzantine gold circulating in Syria was very efficiently reminted, there are thus far no traces of a continuous reminting of the coinage as in Byzantium. But it can be assumed that the reminting of the entire existing gold stock in Syria was somehow connected with the taxation system.
In Byzantium the copper coinage was part of the central imperial fiscal system, but for the Islamic Empire that does not seem to have been the case. cAbd al-Malik tried to regulate the copper coinage at least in Syria and northern Mesopotamia. He introduced a fixed pattern - the standing caliph - but the details of the coins show, that the organization of the minting was on the level of the military district (jund).
There are no hints in the literature that silver in Syria and northern Mesopotamia was part of the early Islamic fiscal system there. But the various silver hoards examined, reveal that there had been a massive influx of silver coinage in the region. It probably reached Damascus as tax payments in Sasanian drahms. These coins, which originally weighed 4.00g, were temporarily selected and clipped according to the prevailing weight standards, first to 3.90g then to the dirham weight of 2.90g. The standardization of the silver coinage in circulation was not enforced to the same degree as it was done in the case of the dinars.
Research Interests:
The new Sylloge catalogue is an addition to a scholarly series and marks an important step forward in mapping Sasanian monetary history and its numismatic documents. It is dedicated to an important private collection, assembled by Robert... more
The new Sylloge catalogue is an addition to a scholarly series and marks an important step forward in mapping Sasanian monetary history and its numismatic documents. It is dedicated to an important private collection, assembled by
Robert Schaaf. The collection of Robert Schaaf is rightly called in the foreword «one of the most important collections of Sasanian coins in private hands.» «Diversity in rarity» could have been his guiding principle covering the entire Sasanian period, judging by the wealth of different groups of rare pieces in the collection. The strength of this collection lies in its
being complementary to the systematic general collections at the core of the project.
Robert Schaaf. The collection of Robert Schaaf is rightly called in the foreword «one of the most important collections of Sasanian coins in private hands.» «Diversity in rarity» could have been his guiding principle covering the entire Sasanian period, judging by the wealth of different groups of rare pieces in the collection. The strength of this collection lies in its
being complementary to the systematic general collections at the core of the project.
Research Interests:
Review of Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, M. Elahé Askari, Elizabeth J. Pendleton with Richard Hodges, Ali-Akbar Safi (authors) Vol. 1, Ardashir I–Hormizd IV, Special Publication (Royal Numismatic Society [GB]) 47, London: Royal Numismatic... more
Review of
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, M. Elahé Askari, Elizabeth J. Pendleton with Richard Hodges, Ali-Akbar Safi (authors)
Vol. 1, Ardashir I–Hormizd IV, Special Publication (Royal Numismatic Society [GB]) 47,
London: Royal Numismatic Society in assoc. with the British Institute of Persian Studies, 2010,
216 pp (unpaginated), illus., ISSN 0080 4487; ISBN 0 901405 44 2.
Vol. 2, Khusrau II–Yazdgard III, Special Publication (Royal Numismatic Society [GB]) 49,
London: Royal Numismatic Society in assoc. with the British Institute of Persian Studies, 2012,
511 pp (unpaginated), illus., ISSN 0080 4487; ISBN 0 901405 64 7.
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, M. Elahé Askari, Elizabeth J. Pendleton with Richard Hodges, Ali-Akbar Safi (authors)
Vol. 1, Ardashir I–Hormizd IV, Special Publication (Royal Numismatic Society [GB]) 47,
London: Royal Numismatic Society in assoc. with the British Institute of Persian Studies, 2010,
216 pp (unpaginated), illus., ISSN 0080 4487; ISBN 0 901405 44 2.
Vol. 2, Khusrau II–Yazdgard III, Special Publication (Royal Numismatic Society [GB]) 49,
London: Royal Numismatic Society in assoc. with the British Institute of Persian Studies, 2012,
511 pp (unpaginated), illus., ISSN 0080 4487; ISBN 0 901405 64 7.
Research Interests:
Brief history of the cultural memory of Saladin in literature and folk tales
Research Interests:
Lecture Series in the summer semester 2020 about the ongoing historical projects at the Middle East Department of the Asien Afrika Institut at the Universität Hamburg.
Research Interests:
Online conference at: https://conecta.csic.es/b/ang-gfu-wyn Organized by: dr Angelo Castrorao Barba (CSIC, EEA) In the last decades within the big-narrative of the end of the roman empire the phenomena of transformations on Ancient... more
Online conference at:
https://conecta.csic.es/b/ang-gfu-wyn
Organized by: dr Angelo Castrorao Barba (CSIC, EEA)
In the last decades within the big-narrative of the end of the roman empire the phenomena of transformations on Ancient cities and countryside have been deeply investigate by the archaeological research. During the long Late Antiquity, between trends of continuity and discontinuity, occurred many changes such as the increase of insecurity, the growing role of the Church or the collapse of the villa system. Nevertheless, in some regions a strong historical turning point was related to another macro-phenomenon: the rise of Islam. Once again, urban contexts and landscapes ware invested by new socioeconomic and cultural shifts. How was the relationship between Islamic societies and the local communities? In which way a late antique city became an Islamic city? What did the foundation of new proper Islamic mean? What was the effect in rural settlement patterns? What technological knowledge, in architecture or in agriculture, produced innovations and what was the interaction with the Roman and Late roman past? How is possible to approach with the archaeological methods the complex concept of Islamization? This conference aims to discuss from an archaeological perspective this impact of Islam in different area of Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus during the 7th-11th century AD.
https://conecta.csic.es/b/ang-gfu-wyn
Organized by: dr Angelo Castrorao Barba (CSIC, EEA)
In the last decades within the big-narrative of the end of the roman empire the phenomena of transformations on Ancient cities and countryside have been deeply investigate by the archaeological research. During the long Late Antiquity, between trends of continuity and discontinuity, occurred many changes such as the increase of insecurity, the growing role of the Church or the collapse of the villa system. Nevertheless, in some regions a strong historical turning point was related to another macro-phenomenon: the rise of Islam. Once again, urban contexts and landscapes ware invested by new socioeconomic and cultural shifts. How was the relationship between Islamic societies and the local communities? In which way a late antique city became an Islamic city? What did the foundation of new proper Islamic mean? What was the effect in rural settlement patterns? What technological knowledge, in architecture or in agriculture, produced innovations and what was the interaction with the Roman and Late roman past? How is possible to approach with the archaeological methods the complex concept of Islamization? This conference aims to discuss from an archaeological perspective this impact of Islam in different area of Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus during the 7th-11th century AD.