The rise of Islamic archaeology

Muqarnas

Volumn 14, Issue , 1997, Pages 1-10

  Vernoit, Stephen ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 17044436124     PISSN: 07322992     EISSN: 09210326     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/1523232     Document Type: Review

References (129)

1. One of the first organized excavations of an Islamic site occurred in 1885 at Samarqand: J.M. Rogers, "From Antiquarianism to Islamic Archaeology," Quaderni dell'Istituto Italiano di Cultura per la R.A.E., n.s. 2 (1974): 51
2. In addition to Rogers' article, two other essays are invaluable for introducing some of the themes behind the study of Islamic archaeology: Richard Ettinghausen, "Islamic Art and Archaeology," in Near Eastern Culture and Society, ed. T. Cuyler Young (Princeton, N.J., 1951), pp. 17-47
3. Oleg Grabar, "Islamic Art and Archaeology," in The Study of the Middle East: Research and Scholarship in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, ed. L. Binder (New York, 1976), pp. 229-63
4. In the late eighteenth century, the term "Orientalism," and orientaliste in France, had entered common usage. See Maxime Rodinson, "The Western Image and Western Studies of Islam," in The Legacy of Islam, ed. J. Schacht and C.E. Bosworth (Oxford, 1974)
5. See Albert Hourani, "Islam and the Philosophers of History," Middle Eastern Studies 3, no. 3 (1967); esp. pp. 246-48
6. James Fergusson, An Essay on the Ancient Topography of Jerusalem (London, 1847), p. 110
7. James Fergusson, The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture (London, 1855), 1: liii
8. A.C.T.E. Prisse d'Avennes, Arab Art, trans. J.I. Erythraspis (London and Paris, 1983), p. 228
9. Max Herz, La mosquée du Sultan Hassan au Caire (Cairo, 1899)
10. For the nature of Central European scholarship in the early twentieth century, see Robert Hillenbrand, "Creswell and Contemporary European Scholarship," Muqarnas 8 (1991): 23-35
11. See N.P. Chakravarti, "The Story of Indian Archaeology," in Archaeology in India, Bureau of Education, India, Publication no. 66 (Delhi, 1950), pp. 1-15
12. Sourindranath Roy, "Indian Archaeology from Jones to Marshall 1784-1902," Ancient India 9 (1953): 4-28
13. A. Ghosh, "Fifty Years of the Archaeological Survey of India," Ancient India 9 (1953): 29-52
14. K. Rose, "Lord Curzon and the Preservation of Indian Monuments," Apollo 92 (1970): 144-45
15. Dilip K. Chakrabarti, A History of Indian Archaeology from the Beginning to 1947 (Delhi, 1988)
16. Mehmet Önder, The Museums in Turkey and Examples of the Masterpieces in the Museums, trans. P.M. Butler (Ankara, 1977), p. 8
17. S.J. Shaw and E.K. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1976-77), 2: 111
18. For Osman Hamdi, the painter, museum director, and archaeologist, see Mustafa Cezar, Sanatta Batiya açiliş ve Osman Hamdi (Istanbul, 1971)
19. Müzed ve ressam Osman Hamdi Bey (Istanbul, 1987)
20. Georges Marye, "L'exposition d'art musulman," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 10 (1893): 490
21. Max van Berchem persuaded the French Academy to sponsor a series on Arabic inscriptions, the Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum, which was published from 1896 onwards. For Max van Berchem, see K.A.C. Creswell, "In Memoriam - Max van Berchem," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1963): 117-18
22. Max van Berchem, Opera Minora, 2 vols. (Geneva, 1978)
23. For Friedrich Sarre, see J.H. Schmidt, ed., Friedrich Sarre Schriften zum 22. Juni 1935 (Berlin, 1935)
24. Ernst Herzfeld, Obituary, Ars Islamica 11-12 (1946): 210-12
25. Arthur Upham Pope, ed., A Survey of Persian Art, 14 vols. (London, 1964-67), 14: 0/i-ii
26. See Rogers, "From Antiquarianism to Islamic Archaeology," pp. 50-55
27. For an overview of Islamic archaeology in Central Asia, see G.A. Pugachenkova and E.V. Rtveladze, "Archeology, 7," Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 2 (London and New York, 1987), pp. 322-26
28. See Paul Blanchet, "Rapport sur les travaux exécutés à la Kalaa des Beni Hammad," Recueil des Notices et Mémoires de la Société Archéologique de Constantine 32 (1898): 97-116
29. "Description des monuments de la Kalaa des Beni Hammad ... avec notes de H. Saladin," Nouvelles Archives des Missions Scientifiques 17, no. 1 (1908)
30. Léon M.E. de Beylié, La Kalaa des Beni Hammad (Paris, 1909)
31. ca des Benî Hammad (XIe siècle) (Constantine, 1913)
32. De Beylié, La Kalaa des Beni Hammad, p. 1
33. See Ricardo Velásquez Bosco, Arte del Califato de Córdoba: Medina Azzahra y Alamiriya (Madrid, 1912)
34. For the growth of Islamic archaeology in Spain, see Margarita Díaz-Andreu, "Islamic Archaeology and the Origin of the Spanish Nation," in Nationalism and Archaeology in Europe, ed. M. Díaz-Andreu and T. Champion (London, 1996), pp. 68-89
35. Maybelle K. Chapman, Great Britain and the Bagdad Railway 1888-1914 (Northampton, Mass., 1948), p. 43
36. See Louis Massignon, Mission en Mésopotamie, 2 vols. (Cairo, 1910-12). For the work of Léon de Beylié and Henri Viollet, see n. 26 below
37. See Friedrich Sarre and Ernst Herzfeld, Archäologische Reise im Euphrat- und Tigris-Gebiet, 4 vols. (Berlin, 1911-20)
38. See Conrad Preusser, Nordmesopotamische Baudenkmäler altchristlicher und islamischer Zeit (Leipzig, 1911)
39. Oskar Reuther, Ocheïdir, nach Aufnahmen von Mitgliedern der Babylon-Expedition der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft (Leipzig, 1912)
40. See Alois Musil, The Middle Euphrates: A Topographical Itinerary (New York, 1927)
41. See Gertrude L. Bell, Amurath to Amurath (London, 1911)
42. Palace and Mosque at Ukhaidir: A Study in Early Mohammadan Architecture (Oxford, 1914)
43. For Ernst Herzfeld, see George C. Miles, "The Writings of Ernst Herzfeld," Ars Islamica 7 (1940): 82-92 (with supplement in Ars Islamica 15-16 (1951): 266-67
44. Richard Ettinghausen, "Ernst Herzfeld 1879-1948," Ars Islamica 15-16 (1951): 261-66
45. Archaeologica Orientalia in Memoriam Ernst Herzfeld, ed. George C. Miles (Locust Valley, N.Y., 1952)
46. Other remains from Samarra went to Istanbul. The reports of Herzfeld and Sarre's excavations were published as Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra (Berlin, Hamburg, 1923-48)
47. See also Léon M.E. de Beylié: Prome et Samara: Voyage archéologique en Birmanie et en Mésopotamie (Paris, 1907)
48. Henri Viollet, Description du palais de Al-Moutasim, fils d'Haroun-al-Raschid à Samara (Paris, 1909)
49. Fouilles à Samara en Mésopotamie: Un palais musulman du IXe siècle (Paris, 1911)
50. London, British Museum, Original Letters and Papers, 1896: copy of the despatch from Mortimer Durand to Lord Salisbury, dated Tehran, 12 February 1896
51. See P.O. Harper, J. Aruz, and F. Talion, eds., The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre (New York, 1992), pp. 16-22
52. T.C. Young, "Archeology, 1," Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 2 (London and New York, 1987), p. 286
53. Glyn Daniel, A Short History of Archaeology (London, 1981), p. 134
54. See Raphael Pumpelly, ed., Explorations in Turkestan, Expedition of 1904. Prehistoric Civilizations of Anau: Origins, Growth and Influence of Environment, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1908)
55. Dikran Khan Kelekian, The Kelekian Collection of Persian and Analogous Potteries 1885-1910 (Paris, 1910), Preface
56. Gertrude L. Bell, Amurath to Amurath, 2nd ed. (London, 1924), pp. 59-60
57. Fredrik R. Martin, The Persian Lustre Vase in the Imperial Hermitage at St. Petersburg and Some Fragments of Lustre Found near Cairo at Fostât (Stockholm, 1899), pp.4-5
58. Wladyslaw B. Kubiak, Al-Fustat: Its Foundation and Early Urban Development (Cairo, 1987), pp. 29-30
59. cAli Bahgat)
60. cAli Bahgat and Albert Gabriel, Fouilles d'al-Foustât (Paris, 1921)
61. cAli Bahgat and F. Massoul, La céramique musulmane de l'Égypte (Cairo, 1930)
62. Charles Vignier and Roger Fry, "The New Excavations at Rhages," Burlington Magazine 25 (1914): 211-18
63. Kelekian, The Kelekian Collection of Persian and Analogous Potteries, Preface
64. A.S. Melikian-Chirvani, "The Aesthetics of Islam," in Treasures of Islam, ed. Toby Falk (London, 1985), p. 20, n.4
65. See Gaston Wiet, Soieries persanes (Cairo, 1948)
66. M.Y Kiani, The Islamic City of Gurgan (Berlin, 1984), p.9
67. For Rayy, see the articles by Erich F. Schmidt in the Bulletin of the University of Pennsylvania Museum 5-6 (1935-36)
68. and "Excavations at Rayy," Ars Islamica 2 (1935): 139-41
69. A.R. Hall, "The Persian Expedition 1934," Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 33 (1935): 55-59
70. Reports of the excavations at Nishapur appeared in the Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 31 (1936): 176-80
71. Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 32 (1937): 3-36
72. Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 33 (1938): 3-25
73. Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 37 (1942): 83-104
74. This project commenced with Charles K. Wilkinson, Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period (New York, [1973])
75. followed by James Allan, Nishapur: Metalwork of the Early Islamic Period (New York, 1982)
76. and Charles K. Wilkinson, Nishapur: Some Early Islamic Buildings and Their Decoration (New York, 1986)
77. For K.A.C. Creswell, see Studies in Islamic Architecture in Honour of Professor K.A.C. Creswell (Cairo, 1965)
78. the obituary by Klaus Brisch in Kunst des Orients 9 (1973-74): 176-82
79. and by Robert W. Hamilton in Proceedings of the British Academy 60 (1974): 3-20
80. the latter reprinted in Muqarnas 8 (1991): 128-36 (issue entitled K.A.C. Creswell and His Legacy)
81. K.A.C. Creswell, A Short Account of Early Muslim Architecture (Harmondsworth, 1958), p. 186
82. Erich F. Schmidt, Flights over Ancient Cities of Iran (Chicago, 1940), pp. 3-6 and plates 30, 34
83. See Robert W. Hamilton, Khirbat al-Mafjar: An Arabian Mansion in the Jordan Valley (Oxford, 1959)
84. Walid and His Friends: An Umayyad Tragedy (Oxford, 1988)
85. A further aspect of Hamilton's archaeological investigations was his seminal study of a single monument, The Structural History of the Aqsa Mosque: A Record of Archaeological Gleanings from the Repairs of 1938-1942 (Jerusalem, 1949)
86. See Daniel Schlumberger, "Les fouilles de Qasr el-Hair el-Gharbi," Syria 20 (1939): 195-238, 324-73
87. "Deux fresques omeyyades," Syria 25 (1946-48): 86-102
88. Qasr el-Hair el-Gharbi (Paris, 1986)
89. See Oleg Grabar, Renata Holod, James Knustad, and William Trousdale, City in the Desert: Qasr al-Hayr East, 2 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1978)
90. For Albert Gabriel, see the obituary in Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: Comptes Rendus des Séances (January 1973), pp. 1-2
91. See also Albert Gabriel, Monuments turcs d'Anatolie, 2 vols. (Paris, 1931-34)
92. Voyages archéologiques dans la Turquie orientale, 2 vols. (Paris, 1940)
93. Une capitale turque: Brousse, Bursa, 2 vols. (Paris, 1958)
94. See Seton Lloyd and David Storm Rice, Alanya ('Alā'iyya) (London, 1958)
95. For David Storm Rice, see J.B. Segal's obituary in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 25 (1962): 666-71
96. and Ralph H. Pinder-Wilson's in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1963): 121-23
97. Seton Lloyd, The Interval: A Life in Near Eastern Archaeology (Faringdon, Oxon, 1986), pp. 145-47
98. Seton Lloyd, Foundations in the Dust: A Story of Mesopotamian Exploration (London, 1947), pp. 205-6
99. See C. Leonard Woolley, "Antiquities Law, Iraq," Antiquity 9 (1935): 84-88
100. Creswell, A Short Account of Early Muslim Architecture, p. 41
101. See Excavations at Samarra 1936-1939, pt.1: Architecture and Mural Decoration, Government of Iraq, Department of Antiquities (Baghdad, 1940)
102. See Fuad Safar, Wasit: The Sixth Season's Excavations (Cairo, 1945). Safar was a graduate of the Oriental Institute in Chicago
103. Lloyd, The Interval, pp. 75-76, 176
104. See also David Oates and Joan Oates, "The Near East: A Personal View," in Antiquity and Man: Essays in Honour of Glyn Daniel, ed. John D. Evans, Barry Cunliffe and Colin Renfrew (London, 1981), pp.30-31
105. For André Godard, see Henri Massé's obituary, Journal Asiatique 252 (1965): 415-17
106. Young, "Archeology, 1," p.284
107. For an overview of Islamic archaeology in Iran, see Robert Hillenbrand, "Archeology, 6," Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 2 (London and New York, 1987), pp. 317-22
108. See also idem, "Islamic Glazed Pottery in Iraq and the Persian Gulf," Annali: AION 39 (1979): 45-61
109. Siraf III: The Congregational Mosque and Other Mosques from the Ninth to the Twelfth Centuries (London, 1980)
110. N.M. Lowick, Siraf XV: The Coins and Monumental Inscriptions (London, 1985)
111. cAbbasid Glazed Wares of Siraf and the Basra Connection: Petrographic Analysis," Iran 29 (1991): 51-66
112. Sec E.J. Keall, "The Topography and Architecture of Medieval Rayy," in Akten des VII. Internationalen Kongresses für Iranische Kunst und Archäologie [1976] (Berlin, 1979), pp.537-44
113. E.g. see P. Thomassey and R. Manny, "Campagne de fouilles à Koumbi Saleh," Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire (1951): 438-62
114. E.g. see James Kirkman, The Arab City of Gedi: Excavations at the Great Mosque (Oxford, 1954)
115. Neville Chittick, "An Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Southern Somali Coast," Azania 4 (1969): 115-30
116. Kilwa: An Islamic Trading City on the East African Coast, 2 vols. (Nairobi, 1974)
117. "An Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Horn: The British-Somali Expedition, 1975," Azania 11 (1976): 117-33
118. Manda: Excavations at an Island Port on the Kenya Coast (Nairobi, 1984)
119. "They have generally gone East as class-room or museum orientalists, with the bare knowledge of an ancient language or of more-or-less classified exhibits and disjecta but without practical experience of the field-problem. And, once there, they are generally lost. An excavator may work for years on a remote Asiatic site without being able to discuss his methods and results on the spot with competent critics. In the second place, Eastern excavation has in the past tended to attract relatively liberal endowment, either through the natural lure of a Biblical context, or of association with famous and impressive civilizations, or of the general 'romance' of the Orient, or even of the East as a winter-tourist objective to wealthy Western benefactors. This liberal endowment, coupled with the relatively cheap cost of native labour, has encouraged wholesale mass-excavation, rewarded by extensive building-plans and ample finds which gratify the patron but are far beyond the capacity of anything approaching exact record." Mortimer Wheeler also commented on the nature of the sites: "... the common use of mud-brick for building and the impact of extreme weather-conditions have often (though not always) combined to deepen the strata of an Eastern site, so that their over-all depth may be at least five times as great as on a closely inter-leaved British site. It is understandable that these deep strata encourage proportionately drastic methods of excavation which tend to outpace supervision. A ruined mud-brick building will dissolve into several feet of almost uniform deposit; desert winds will cover it with a thick mantle of undifferentiated sand; torrential rains will transfer material in bulk and may artificially intermix and level it" (Mortimer Wheeler, Archaeology from the Earth [Harmondsworth, 1964], pp.35-36)
120. Grabar, "Islamic Art and Archaeology," p. 238
121. For restoration projects with a more successful outcome for scholarship, see Robert W. Hamilton, The Structural History of the Aqsa Mosque (Jerusalem, 1949)
122. G. Zander, Travaux de restauration de monuments historiques en Iran: Rapports et études préliminaires (Rome, 1968)
123. E. Galdieri, Iscombining dot belowfahān: Masǧid-i Ǧum'a, 2 vols. (Rome, 1972-74)
124. See Robert M. Adams, Land Behind Baghdad: A History of Settlement on the Diyala Plains (Chicago and London, 1965)
125. Maurice Lombard, Études d'économie médiévale, 3 vols. (1971-78)
126. see Andrew Sherratt, "What Can Archaeologists Learn from Annalistes?," in Archaeology, Annales, and Ethnohistory, ed. A. Bernard Knapp (Cambridge, 1992), p. 138
127. E.g., see Richard W. Bulliet, "Pottery Styles and Social Status in Medieval Khurasan," in Archaeology, Annales, and Ethnohistory, ed. A. Bernard Knapp (Cambridge, 1992), pp. 75-82
128. E.g., see Charles L. Redman, "Archeology in a Medieval City of Islam," Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 14, no. 2 (1980): 1-22
129. This issue, for example, affects Islamic archaeology in Jordan: see Donald Whitcomb, "Reassessing the Archaeology of Jordan of the Abbasid Period," Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 4 (Amman, 1992) : 385-90