The construction of an Islamic city in Palestine. The case of Umayyad al-Ramla

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

Volumn 7, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 27-54

  Luz, Nimrod ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0142222220     PISSN: 13561863     EISSN: 14740591     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S1356186300008300     Document Type: Article

References (141)

1. M.A. Shaban, Islamic History A.D. 600-750 (A.H. 132), A New Interpretation (Cambridge, 1971), p. 41. He places it at A.H. 17/A.D. 38.
2. See also P.M. Holt et al. (eds.), The Cambridge History of Islam, i, p. 62 for a slightly different date, A.H. 636.
3. G. R. Hawting, The First Dynasty of Islam (Beckenham, 1987),pp. 1-11.
4. B. Lewis, The Arabs in History (London, 1977), p. 83.
5. Sourdel was the first to analyze the inception of al-Ramla as part of a comprehensive Umayyad administrative policy, D. Sourdel, "La fondation Umayyade d'al-Ramla en Palestine", in H. R. Romer and A. Noth (eds.), Studien zur Geschichte und kultur des Vorderen Orients (Leiden, 1981), pp. 387-95.
6. Ahmad b. Yahyā al-Balādhurī, Futūh al-Buldān, ed. M.J. De Goeje (Leiden, 1866), p. 143:
7. Ahmad b. Muhammad ibn al-Faqīh al-Hamadhanī, Kitāb al-Buldān, ed. M.J. De Goeje (Leiden, 1885), p. 102.
8. But see also, 'Ubayd Allā h ibn Khuradadhbih, Kitāb al-masālik w-al-Mamālik, ed. M.J. De Goeje (Leiden, 1889), p. 79 where he ascribes this description to Jerusalem.
9. See also a parallel copy, Yāqūt b. 'Abdallah al-Hamawī, Mu'jam Buldan, ed. F. Wūstenfeld, ii (Leipzig, 1866), p. 818.
10. 'Alīb. al-Husayn al-Mas'ūdī, Kitāb al-Tanbih wa-'l-Ashrāf ed. M.J. De Goeje, (Leiden, 1893),p. 359;
11. Ahmad b. 'Abdallāh al-Qalqashandī, Subh al- A'shāfī Sinā'at al-'Inshā', iv, (Beirut, 1984), p. 99.
12. See for example, M. Ish Shalom, "On the setdement of Shfela and Sharon during the Middle-Ages (the inception of al-Ramla)", in Y. Aharoni (ed.), Excavations and Researches (Tel-Aviv, 1973), pp. 194-203 (in Hebrew).
13. Mujīr al-Dīn al-Hanbalī al-'Ulaymī, Al-Uns al-Jalīl bi-Ta'rikh al-Qūds wa-l-Khalīl (Cairo, A.H. 1283), pp. 416-17.
14. On the region of Lod, see F. M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine (Paris, 1923), p. 673, and map ix;
15. M. Avi Yona, Historical Geography of Palestine from the End of the Babylonian Exile up to the Arab Conquest (Jerusalem (1949), 1984), pp. 106-8 and map, p. 76 (in Hebrew);
16. Z. Safray, Borders and Rule in Palestine during the Period of Mishna and Talmud (Tel-Aviv, 1980), pp. 113-15 (in Hebrew).
17. Summation of the archaeological evidence from al-Ramla: see below in the paragraph that deals with the physical layout of al-Ramla, p. 8, fig. 2; see also notes 37-8.
18. Archaeological News, XXI (1967), Ministry of Education, Antiquities Division and Israel Antiquities Authority, pp. 8-9 (in Hebrew).
19. See, Y. Kaplan, "Excavation at the White Mosque in al-Ramla", 'Atiqot, II (1959), pp. 106-15;
20. M. Rosen Ayalon and A. Eitan, "Excavation in al-Ramla", Qadmoniot, IV (1969), pp. 138-40 (in Hebrew);
21. "al-Ramla's excavation - findings from the eighth century A.D.", Israel Museum cat. 66 (Jerusalem, 1969);
22. E. Stern (ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (Jerusalem, 1993), s.v. "al-Ramla" (M. Rosen Ayalon), pp. 1267-71.
23. The existence of the Umayyad living stratum upon the virgin soil is noted in several places for example, Rosen-Ayalon, and Eitan, "Excavation".
24. This impression is based on several conversations with a number of archaeologists who excavated in al-Ramla: A. Eitan, (9.8.93). A. Shavit, (7.7.93). A. Rosenberger, (10.8.93). E. Ayalon (16.3.94) believes that part of the findings belong to the late Byzantine era, but agrees that such findings are sporadic and cannot support a belief in the existence of a town, perhaps only a smaller settlement. There is no specific finding to support this assumption.
25. M. Sharon, "Processes in destruction and nomadisation in Palestine under Islamic rule", in idem, (ed.) Chapters in the History of Palestine under Islamic Rule (Jerusalem, 1986), pp. 21-3 (in Hebrew).
26. Hawting, The First Dynasty, pp. 61-6.
27. On Caesarea at that period see, for example, L. I. Levine and E. Netzer, "Excavation at Caesarea Maritima, 1975. 1976, 1979 - Final Report", Qedem XXI (Jerusalem, 1986);
28. K.G. Holum, R.L. Hohlfelder, R.J. Bull and A. Raban, King Herod's Dream, Caesarea on the Sea (New York, 1988).
29. Shams al-Dīn Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Muqaddasī, Ahsan al-Taqāsīm fī Ma'rifāt al-Aqālīm (Leiden, 1906), p. 176.
30. On qasaba, see E.W. Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon (Cambridge, 1984), p. 2530.
31. For further comments on other possible explanations for this term, see, M.J. De Goeje, Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum, iv, (Glossarium et Addenda et Emendanda) (Leiden, 1879), p. 326.
32. See also al-Muqaddasī, Ahsan, pp. 54-5, where he clearly defines qasaba as the capital town.
33. G. Le Strange, Palestine Under the Moslems (London, 1890), p. 203;
34. M. Gil, A History of Palestine, 634-1099, (Translated from the Hebrew [First vol.] by E. Broido), (Cambridge, 1992), p. 105;
35. N. Hamāsh, "al-Ajnād wa Īdāratihā ", in M. 'A. Al-Bakhīt (ed.), Al-Mu'tamar al-duwalī al-rābi' li-Ta'rīkh Bilād al-Shām, Bilād al-Shām fī al-'Asr al-'Umayyī, i (Amman, 1989), p. 286.
36. S.D. Goitein, "Jerusalem during the Arab period (638-1099)", in idem, Palestinian Jewry in Early Islamic and Crusader Times, ed. Y. Hacker (Jerusalem, 1980), p. 3 (in Hebrew).
37. A. Elad, Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship, Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage (Leiden, 1995), pp. 160-1.
38. Abū Ja'far, Muhammad b. Jarīr al-Tabarī, Ta'ri9 kh al-rusul wa-'l-Mulūk, i, New ed. (Leiden, 1964), p. 2403.
39. Ahmad b. Yahyā al-Balādhurī, Ansāb al-Ashrāf, iv/1, ed. M. Schloessinger and M.J. Kister (Jerusalem, 1971), p. 211;
40. M. G. Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest (Princeton, 1984), pp. 91, 142, 162-3.
41. Ibn al-Fāqih, Kitāb al-Buldān, p. 102.
42. D. Nir, Geomorphoiogy of Palestine (Jerusalem, 1970), p. 83 (in Hebrew).
43. Y. Peleg and T. Raz, The Rivers of Israel and their Basins (Ministry of Agriculture, Soil Preservation Division, Survey and Mapping Department, 1975), (in Hebrew).
44. N. Karmon and others (eds.) Atlas of Israel, Cartography, Physical Geography, Human and Economic Geography, Hitory (Survey of Israel, Ministry of Labour, Jerusalem, and Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1970), Map ii/3 (soil map).
45. D. 'Amiran, "The seismic centre of Lod and the sea-shore bend of Jaffa", Eretz-Israel, I (Sefer Schwabe), pp.173-7. See also Map, p. 176 (in Hebrew).
46. The field survey I conducted in the al-Ramla region revealed some six springs; nowadays their flow is too modest for any practical use. However it is possible that before the modern intensive use of the coastal aquifer, their flow was more copious. See for example, R. Kark and T. Shiloni, "The resettlement of Gezer", in E. Shiler (ed.), Sefer Ze'v Vilnay (in Hebrew) p. 339, and in a field survey conducted in 1943 the spring of Gezer is described as a powerful source of water. (A report from the "Hagana" intelligence records).
47. Al-Muqaddasī, Ahsan, p. 164.
48. On roads to Lod, see I. Roll, "The Roman road system in Judaea", in L.I. Levine (ed.), The Jerusalem Cathedra, iii (Jerusalem, 1983), p. 139 (map).
49. See also, Avi Yona, Historical Geography, p. 84 (map).
50. On new Muslim cities built juxtaposed to older ones, see N. Alsayyad, Cities and Calīphs (New York, 1991), P 3.
51. Ibn Khuradādhbih, Kitāb al-Masālik, pp. 154-5.
52. On the Rādhānites, see M. Gil, "The Rādhā nite merchants and the land of Rādhān", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, XVII, (1974), pp. 299-328;
53. E. Ashton, "Aperçus sur les Rādhānites", Studies on the Levantine Trade in the Middle Ages (London, 1978), pp. 245-65.
54. On the road system in Filastīn and Palestine as a whole see G. Welmsley, The Administrative Structure and Urban Geography of the Jund of Filastīn and the Jund al-Urdunn, (Ph.D. Dissertation, Sydney, 1987), pp. 192-252.
55. J.J. Schwartz, Led (Lydda), Israel from its Origins through the Byzantine Period 5600 B.C.E.-640 C.E., BAR International Series 571 (Oxford, 1991), pp. 163-9.
56. See also map, p. 186.
57. Record Files I 57 and The al-Ramla File. The perusal of these files by courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority.
58. Notes on Fig. 2. a) The dating of strata by different excavators is not unequivocal. At times it is too general e.g. "Early Arab Period': at other times it is more precise such as "Umayyad" or "al-Mafjari". In map I are included all sites described as "Early Arab Period", "Umayyad" or "al-Mafjari". b) The list of sites and excavations has been updated to June 1994. c) It should be noted that no excavation yielded any material described by the researchers as Late Byzantine. d) Sites no. 22, 23 were taken from the Survey of Western Palestine, 1878, Sheet 13, 16. Survey of Western Palestine, 1930, Palestine 1:20,000, sheet 13/14 al-Ramla.
59. AbūMu'īn, Nasir-ī Khusraw b. Hārith, Safar Nāme, ed. C. Schefer (Paris, 1881),p. 19.
60. See, for example, K. A.C. Cresswell, Early Muslim Architecture (Oxford, 1969), pp. 381-9 (Kh' al-Minya), pp. 545-77 (Kh' al-Mafjar), pp. 506-18 (Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbī), pp. 578-606 (Mshatta).
61. See also, D. Whitcomb, "Evidence of the Umayyad period from the Aqaba excavation", in M.A. Bakhit and Robert Schick (eds.), The Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilad al-Sham During The Umayyad Period, ii (Amman, 1989), p. 175.
62. M. Chehab, "The Umayyad palace at 'Anjar", Ars Orientalis, V (1963), pp. 17-25;
63. K.A.C. Cresswell, Early Muslim Architecture, pp. 471-8;
64. 2, s.v. '"Anjar" (J. Sourdel-Thomin);
65. H.K. Chehab, "On the identification of 'Anjar ('Ayn Al-jarr) as an Umayyad foundation", Muqamas, X (1993), pp. 42-8. Oxford
66. The idea that al-Ramla and 'Anjar have a similar origin and were built for the same functions was first suggested by Sourdel: see Sourdel, "La fondation umayyade d'al-Ramla en Palestine".
67. Mujīr al-Din, Al-Uns al-Jalil, p. 417.
68. Chehab, "The Umayyad palace".
69. Rosenberger (personal communication). The excavations were held in 1991; the report has not yet been published.
70. Ibn 'Abd Mun'am al-Himyarī, Kitāb al-Rawd al-Mi'tār fī Khabar al-Aqtār, ed. A. "Abbās (Beirut, 1975), p. 268.
71. Mujīr al-Dīn mentions the term Sūq al- Habbābīn, namely the grain-sellers' market, while al-Himyarī uses the term Sūq al-Hashshabīn i.e. the wood-sellers' market. I preferred al-Himyarī's version;
72. see also H. Sauvaire, Histoire de Jerusalem et Hebron (Paris, 1876), p. 205.
73. According to al-Himyarī it was the water sellers' market: al-Himyarī, Kitāb al-Rawd, p. 268.
74. Mujīr al-Dīn, Al-Uns al-JaliI, p. 417.
75. The reconstruction of the area of the White Mosque is based on Kaplan, "Excavation", E. Yanai, "Excavation at the area of the White Mosque", al-Ramla files, Israel Antiquities Authority, Rosenberger (personal communication). I wish to thank A. Rosenberger for presenting me with findings as yet unpublished.
76. On those tanks see H. Soreq, and E. Ayalon (eds.), (Eretz-Israel Museum Catalog), Color from Nature, on Natural Colors in History (Tel-Aviv, 1993), pp. 33-4 and 36. The existence of dyeing installations in the centre of the city would have been a nuisance due to the strong smells. In a new site recently excavated in al-Ramla, the archaeologist on site, Mr D. Glick, was kind enough to show me an industrial facility also linked to dyeing. Its location, some 800 m. from the White Mosque, makes it a much more logical site. The lack of definite dating and data prevents us from reaching a conclusion.
77. Al-Balādhurī, Futūh, p. 143.
78. M. Rosen-Ayalon, "The first mosaic discovered in al-Ramla", Israel Exploration Journal, XXVI (1976), p. 109-19.
79. Al-Balādhurī, Futūh, p. 143;
80. al-Mas'udī Kitāb al-Tanbīh, p. 359;
81. Ibn al-Fāqīh, Kitāb al-Buldān, p. 102;
82. Yāqūt, Mu'jam, p. 818.
83. Survey of Western Palestine (SWP), sheets 13,16 (1874).
84. M. Gil, "The sixty year war (969-1029)", Shalem, Studies in the History of the Jews in Eretz Israel, III (1981), p.15 (in Hebrew).
85. M. Sharon, "Palestine cities under the rule of Islam", Cathedra, XL (1987), p. 113 (in Hebrew), where he states that it is not clear whether the aqueduct started in Rosh ha-'Ayin or al-Ramla;
86. S. A. D. Jawda, Madīnat al-Ramla mundhu Nashā'iha hattā 'Ām 4Q2 H-1099 A.D. (Beirut, 1986), p. 197.
87. Thabit b. Sinān, Ta'rīh Akhbār al-Qāramita, ed. S. Zakār (Beirut, 1961), p. 67. I wish to thank Dr A. Elad for bringing this source to my attention.
88. See Z. Vilnay, Ramla Past and Present (Jerusalem, 1982), p. 35 (in Hebrew) reports a remnant of the aqueduct in the vicinity of Tel Gezer. I wish to thank Mr T. Tsuk for bringing to my attention the existence of a photo of the aqueduct (taken in the fifties by Prof. R. Gofna), probably of the same site referred to by Vilnay.
89. See Kaplan, "Excavation", p. 110. where he describes the channelling of a section of the aqueduct to the reservoirs of the White Mosque.
90. also W. Hinz, Islamische Masse und Gewichte, i (Leiden, 1955), p. 63.
91. On an inn dated to the tenth century, M. Sharon, "A waqf inscription from al-Ramlah", Arabca, XXIII, 1 (1966), pp. 77-84.
92. See, S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, ii (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1971), pp. 243-4.
93. On the location of the Pool of the Arches in relation to the White Mosque, see fig. 2.
94. Mujīral-Dīn, Al-Uns al-Jalīl, p. 417.
95. Sourdel, "Umayyade al-Ramla", p. 391.
96. idem, "Medieval Aqaba: a brief report on the 1986 and 1987 seasons", in Syria, Revue d'Art Oriental et d'Archéologie, LXV (Paris, 1988), pp. 423-5;
97. idem, "A Fâtimid residence at 'Aqaba, Jordan", Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, XXXII (1988), pp. 207-23.
98. Idem, "The misr of Ayla: settlement at al-'Aqaba in the early Islamic period", in G.R.D. King and A.Cameron (eds.), The Byzantine and Early Isamic Near East: Land Use and Settlement Patterns (Princeton, 1994), p. 168.
99. Idem, p. 168.
100. See also Northedge's remark concerning the non-military character of some of the Amsār, A. Northedge, "Archaeology and new urban settlement in early Islamic Syria and Iraq", in G. R. D. King and A. Cameron (eds.), The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East: Land Use and Settlement Patterns (Princeton, 1994), p.232.
101. AI-Ya'qubī, Kitāb al-Buldān, ed. M.J. De Goeje, p. 328.
102. On Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqī see, O. Grabar et al, City in the Desert. Qasr al-Hary East (Cambridge, 1978), two volumes.
103. Kennedy has already demonstrated that despite urban decline in Late Antiquity the Muslims were very strict in preserving the Roman guidelines of urban planning, H. Kennedy, "From polis to madina: urban change in late antique and early Islamic Syria", Past and Present, CVI (1985), p. 17.
104. Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Hajjāj, Yūsuf al-Mizzī, Tahdhib al-Kamāl fī Asma' al-Rijāl, ix, ed. 'A. Ma'rūf (Beirut, 1987), p. 172;
105. Gil, Palestine, p. 100.
106. 'Abd al-Karīm b. Muhamad al-Sam'anī, al-Ansāb, iii, ed. al-Bārūdī (Beirut, 1408/1988), pp. 91, 170.
107. Ibn Hajar, Ahmad b. 'Alī al-'Asqalānī, Thahīb al-Tahdhīb, xi (Haydarabad, 1326), pp. 230-1.
108. Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Dhahabī, Siyar A'lām al-NubnIā', x, ed. Sh. al-Āmu'ut (Beirut, 1981-8), pp. 423-4.
109. Rosen, Ayalon and Eitan, Excavations at al-Ramla - Findings from the Eighth Century.
110. E.g. al-Walīd b. Talaha who is also called al-'Attār, meaning a scent merchant: al-Dhahabī, Siyar, ix, p. 325.
111. I write this at the risk of being considered dogmatic. So much has been written lately concerning the origin and character of the Islamic city that I make a point here of going back and concentrating on these simple characteristics of what seem to me the natural and basic features of an Islamic city in the eighth century. See also Alsayyad, Cities and Caliphs, pp. 52, 63, 122. Alsayyad sketches models of early Islamic cities where the focal point of the city is taken by the Friday mosque.
112. Lapidus sees in the market area (bāzār) not only the economic centre but a political one as well, I. M. Lapidus, "Traditional Muslim cities", in C.L. Brown (ed.). From Madina to Metropolis (New Jersey, 1973), p. 63.
113. On the linkage between the religious and commercial life in the Islamic city see N. Levtzion, Comparative Study In Islamization (New York, 1970), p. 15.
114. On the rise of the bourgeoisie in the eighth-ninth centuries see S.D. Goitein, "The rise of the Middle-Eastern bourgeoisie in early Islamic times", in idem. Studies in Islamic History and Institutions (Leiden, 1966).
115. Yāqūt, Mu'jam, ii, p. 818.
116. Sharon, "Palestine cities", p. 114.
117. Al-Sam'anī, al-Ansāb, iii, pp. 91-2.
118. Mujīr al-Dīn, Al-Uns al-Jalīl, p.418-19.
119. Abū Nu'aym, Ahmadb. 'Abd Allāh al-Isbahānī, Hilyat al-Awliyā' wa-Tabaqātal-Asfiyā', vi (Cairo, 1936), p. 367.
120. Muhammad b. Sa'd, Kitāb al-Tabaqāt al-Kubrā, vii/2, ed. A. Sakhaf (Leiden, 1928), p. 147.
121. For more traditions that support this, see Gil, Palestine, pp. 88-9, n. 141.
122. See also, Abū al-Qāsim . . . Ibn Asakir, Ta'rīkh Madinat Dimashq, i, ed. S. al-Munajjid (Damascus, 1371/1951), p. 38, who relates a tradition cited by Damara b. Rabī'a and Rajā' b. Abī Salama, who locate the grave in Jerusalem.
123. See there also a tradition related by Rajā' Ibn Haywa who says that he saw 'Ubāda's grave next to the eastern wall of Jerusalem. See also the opinion of the tenth-century Jerusalemite al-Muqaddasī who says he saw the grave in Jerusalem, al-Muqaddasī, Ahsan, pp. 181-2.
124. Maybe it should be translated as "connecting". The verb s.i.l. can also refer to the flow of water, Lisān al-Arāb, s.v., s.i.l.
125. Abū Yūsuf, Ya'qūb b. Sufyān al-Basawī, Kitāb al-Ma'rifa wa-'l-Ta'rikh, ii, ed. A.S. al-'Umarī (Medina, 1410), p. 298. Ibn 'Asākir also relates this tradition, adding a number of slightly differing versions: when interpreting Qur'ānic verses, the smallest textual change is considered a different tradition; therefore Ibn 'Asākir punctiliously indicates who transmitted each version.
126. On the different versions, see, Ibn 'Asākir, Ta'rīkh Madīnat Dimashq, i, pp. 198-9. Those traditions are part of a general discussion regarding the Rabwa.
127. Al-Basawī, Kitāb al-Ma'rifa, ii, p. 298;
128. Al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, xxvi, pp. 11-12;
129. A. Elad, "Arsūf in the early Arab period (appendix 6)", in I. Roll and E. Ayalon (eds.), Apollonia and Southem Sharon, a Model of a Coastal City and its Hinterland (Tel-Aviv, 1989), pp. 299.
130. Al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, xiv, pp. 174-6.
131. See also Elad, "Arsūf", p. 298.
132. Muhammad b. 'Abdus al-Jahshiyārī, Kitāb al-Wuzarā' wa-'l-Kuttāb (Cairo, 1938), p. 48.
133. Yāqūt, Mu'jam, ii, p. 818. This information reached us only through Yāqūt and is not found in al-Muqaddasī's chronicle.
134. C.E. Bosworth, "Rajā' ibn Haywa al-Kindy and the Umayyad Caliphs", Islamic Quarterly, XVI, 3-4 (1972), pp. 36-80.
135. Rajā' ibn Haywa was one of the two appointed by 'Abd al-Malik to supervise the building of the Dome of the Rock.
136. These speculations are discussed in R. Eisener, Zwischen Faktum und Fiktion (Wiesbaden, 1987). pp.19-22.
137. The distances were measured on a road map as presented in Welmsley, The Administrative Structure, map. no. 8.
138. The Temple Mount had been left unoccupied in Byzantine times because the Christians wanted to realize Jesus's prophecy about its destruction. The situation is strikingly shown in the Madaba map, where the area is indicated by an empty square. See, M. Avi Yona, "The Madaba - translation and commentary", Eretz-Israel,III (Sefer Lif) (1963), pp. 7, 148.
139. C. Mango, "The Temple Mount, A.D. 614-638", in J. Raby and J. Johns (eds.), Bayt Al-Maqdis, 'Abd al-Malik's Jerusalem, i (Oxford, 1992), pp. 1-16.
140. On the amān ofjerusalem, see al-Tabarī, Ta'rīkh al-Rusul, i, pp. 2405-6.
141. A similar consideration directed the different rulers of al-Fustāt and its princely quarters. On the urban evolution of al-Fustāt see J. L. Abu-Lughod, Cairo - 1001 Years of the City Victorious (New Jersey, 1971), pp. 6-19.