Islamic Archaeology & Anthropology

Disgusted with ISIS, some Kurds turned away from Islam following the fall of Mosul in 2014. Many became atheists, while others sought comfort in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism, according to converts, was the “original” religion of the Kurds before they embraced Islam. In 2015, two Zoroastrian centers opened in Sulaimani, both of which are recognized by the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq. Notably, neither has tried to recreate Zoroastrianism the way it is currently and has been historically practiced in Iran and South Asia. Instead, they have created their own versions of Zoroastrianism, which is nationalist, postmodern, and liberal. Kurdish Zoroastrians argue that the reason Kurds are “backward” is Islam. They seek to rectify the present situation through a Kurdish “authenticated” and “original” form of Zoroastrianism. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at these two centers, the present article examines this new religious movement in Sulaimani, an important city in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. It analyses the rise and distinctiveness of Kurdish Zoroastrianism looking at how Zoroastrian Kurds articulate their views on Islam, women’s rights, human rights, and Kurdish independence.

At first glance the typical medieval Islamic map of ‘the West’—Surat al-Maghrib— strikes us as nothing more than a quaint abstraction of circles, triangles, and oblong shapes ornately adorned with vivid pigments. Closer study presents a more complex image, however, of passion and conflict; of attraction and revulsion; of love and hate. Indeed the Maghrib map is by far the most dissonant image in the extant collection of medieval Arabic and Persian maps and, as such, one of the most engaging. Whereas all the other images have a veneer of harmony and balance, this one is—by deliberate design—passionately conflicted. It is the discord of desire inlaid within the Muslim pictographs of the Maghrib that is the focus of this chapter, the over-arching question being how did medieval Islamic cartographers settle on such a strange looking image as a representation of the Western Mediterranean— in particular, North Africa, Islamic Spain, and Sicily? Answering this question requires immersing ourselves in the map-image itself, and takes us through a series of subliminal messages ranging from intra-Islamic imperial ambitions to erotic and nostalgic Andalusian poetry.

This article contains the first published evidence of two different lead seals from the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. Material evidence previously unknown for this period and area.
The description of the first seal under nº1 Precintos p.706-7 a serious error was made by the author in the second word of the first area which was read alternatively as tayib “good”, طيب , or  saliḥ “valid”, صلح , instead of sulh “peace treaty”, صلح. This significant misreading was later corrected by the same author in: Nuevos documentos sobre la conquista Omeya de Hispania: los precintos de plomo, published in:  711 ARQUELOGIA E HISTORIA ENTRE DOS MUNDOS. Vol1 pg.151.2 & fig.6. This same seal was in this article attributed to governor al-Samḥ ibn Malik al Jawlaí, see at: https://www.academia.edu/2324901/

For more on Umayyad lead seals: http://www.andalustonegawa.50g.com/Seals.html

🎉 𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 🥳

𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 has finally lifted the paywall from our study the famous '𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡'-finger ring from the Viking Age town of Birka! (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sca.21189). Back in the day, our study sparked a world wide media echo.

Özet: İslam Antropolojisi dendiğinde muhatapların bir kısmı bu mefhumu Batı-dışı modernite iddialarının sonuçları arasında görüp, bu alandaki çalışmaların din antropolojisi alanına dâhil olduğunu düşünürken, diğer bir kısmı da bunu farklı bir örüntüyle örülmüş yeni ve başka bir antropolojik düşünce sistemi olarak değerlendirmektedir. İkinci kısımdakilere göre İslam antropolojisi antropolojinin alt birimlerinden bir birim olarak ya da din antropolojisinin ilgi alanlarından bir alan olarak ele alınabilecek bir bilgi üretim alanı değildir. İslam Antropolojisi daha çok Batı'nın yayılmacı politikaları sonucu batı Avrupa'da kök salmış bilimsel bilgi üretim şekline alternatif, onun araçlarının dışında başka araçlarla yeni ve farklı bir bilgi üretim alanı olarak nitelenebilir. Bu bildirinin amacı, böyle bir " alternatif, yeni ve farklı " bir bilgi üretim alanının imkânı ve bu iddianın dayandığı temel argümanların muhteviyatı üzerine değerlendirmelerde bulunmaktır.

We analized in this work a group of Islamic ceramics, the matted painted scratched ware, which have their origin in the Almohad period and reach great development under Merinid. Our study will focus on Ceuta but it will be referred to the whole area of the Strait of Gibraltar. After the characterization of these ceramics, we define two production phases (Almohad and Merinid) identifying its main typological and decorative features. It also provides a distribution map in the Straits of Gibraltar, highlighting similarities and differences of the ceramics of this class compared to other areas that are represented and their possible relationship to the Merinid material culture.
Se analiza en este trabajo un grupo de cerámicas islámicas, las esgrafiadas y pintadas con óxido de manganeso, que tienen su origen en el periodo almohade y alcanzan gran desarrollo bajo los mariníes. Nuestro estudio se centrará en Ceuta pero en él se hará referencia al conjunto del ámbito del Estrecho de Gibraltar. Tras la caracterización de estas cerámicas, se definen dos fases (almohade y mariní) en la producción identificando sus principales características tipológicas y decorativas. Se establece además un mapa de distribución en el área del Estrecho de Gibraltar, destacando las similitudes y diferencias de las cerámicas de esta clase respecto a otras áreas en las que están representadas y su posible vinculación con la cultura material mariní.

The mosque occupies a central position in the social as well as religious life of Muslims. It is not only a place of worship where rituals are performed, but also serves as a social space where Muslims take part in welfare activities. The design and architecture of the mosque have local as well as global influences, representing religious, economic, and esthetic dimensions of Muslim social organization. Therefore, Muslims' association with the mosque has much significance from social, political, and economic perspectives. Based on an ethnographic example, this report aims to highlight the use of mosque space in the cultural context of rural Pakistan. In addition to discussing the sociospatial relationships around the mosque, I discuss how Muslims' beliefs about the world and the afterlife shape these relationships.

This paper explores the impact of changing religious political rule on subsistence within a single city through time using stable isotope analysis of human and animal bone collagen. The diet and economy of the medieval city of Valencia (Spain) are examined over a 1000-year period during successive periods of Visigothic, Muslim and Christian rule. Bulk stable isotope analysis of carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) was carried out on 67 humans and 47 animals sampled from several archaeological sites dating between the fifth and fifteenth centuries AD. Terrestrial C 3 resources dominated the diet in all periods. However, an increase in consumption of C 4 plants (e.g. millet, sorghum) and/or marine resources is detected among individuals dating to the Islamic period. Differences in the isotopic values of humans and animals between the three periods indicate a significant dietary diversity during the Islamic phases (eleventh to thirteenth century), compared with the earlier Visigothic phase (fifth-seventh century) and the later Christian phase (fourteenth and fifteenth century). Observed diachronic changes in isotopic results provide evidence for a shift in diet and subsistence, particularly during the Muslim and later Christian periods. This is linked with change in population and economic focus. Dietary diversity among Muslim individuals is hypothesised to indicate the polyculture that was reflected in varied Islamic agricultural practices and the presence of potential migrants from elsewhere in the Islamic world.

Toplumun içine düştüğü kapatılmışlık hissi gün geçtikçe dayanılmaz bir hal almakta. Büyük bir ontolojik çakışma yaşamaktayız. Bu çakışmanın içimizde doğurduğu dayanılmaz sancılar, bitmek tükenmez bilmez bir kavgacı hali ortaya çıkarmakta. Bu okumakta olduğunuz yazı dizisi, toplumun kapatılmışlık hissinin geçmişe ve bugüne yönelik belli analizlerini yapmayı hedeflemektedir.

These metallic (bronze) payment seals of the Caliphate of al-Andalus stand in clear contrast with the early lead seals of the conquest and governors period. With the evidence we have up to now, it seems that the lead seal method was not used past the very early part of the Emirate period.

Archaeological investigations of al-Andalus has become increasingly important in medieval studies, but it has traditionally been left out of the research agenda of European medieval archaeology. This is due to its exoticism and not fitting in well with the construction of a European identity and Spanish national history based on Christian expansion and the "Reconquest" process. At the same time, due to the geographical location and geopolitical position of the Iberian Peninsula within the "West", scholars working on Islamic archaeology have dedicated less attention to al-Andalus than to other territories. Several factors pose a challenge for current research: the possibility of confrontation with feudal societies; the increasing importance given to technological transfer all along al-Andalus; religious, economic and institutional differences within Christian territories; the importance given in recent years to the identity construction of alterity; and the strong impact that the Andalusi period had on the creation of current landscapes, especially due to irrigated agriculture. This paper tries to reflect on and analyze the historiographical marginality of al-Andalus in both European medieval archaeology and Islamic archaeology. The aim is to understand how we have built an international narrative of the marginality of a territory that is theoretically outside Europe and outside the environment in which classical Islam developed, based mainly on literature produced in English on this matter. In short, this paper poses the question of whether post-colonial theory is a valid category of analysis for al-Andalus.

Resumen El estudio arqueológico de al-Andalus se revela con una importancia creciente en las investiga-ciones medievales, pero ha sido tradicionalmen-te dejado de lado en la agenda de investigación de la arqueología medieval europea. Esto es debido a su exotismo y a no casar bien con la construcción de la identidad europea ni de la nación española basadas en la expansión del cristianismo y en el proceso de "Reconquista". Al mismo tiempo, debido a la posición geográ-fica y geopolítica de la península ibérica dentro del "Occidente", los académicos trabajando con la arqueología islámica han dedicado menos atención a al-Andalus que a otros territorios. Va-rios factores plantean un desafío para la inves-tigación actual: la posibilidad de confrontación con las sociedades feudales, la creciente im-portancia dada a la transferencia tecnológica a través de al-Andalus, las diferencias religiosas, económicas e institucionales con los territorios cristianos, la importancia dada en los últimos años a la construcción identitaria de la alteridad o el fuerte impacto que tuvo el periodo andalusí en la creación de los paisajes actuales, espe-cialmente debido a la agricultura de regadío. Este trabajo trata de reflejar y analizar la cierta marginalidad historiográfica de al-Andalus tanto en la arqueología medieval europea como en los estudios de arqueología islámica. El obje-tivo es comprender cómo hemos construído la narrativa de la marginalidad de un territorio que está teóricamente fuera de Europa y fuera del escenario en el que se desarrolló el Islam clási-co, principalmente desde los estudios en Inglés sobre esta materia. En definitiva, este artículo se pregunta si la teoría poscolonial es una cate-goría válida de análisis para al-Andalus.

This special issue of Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy is the result of the conference ‘Archaeological Failaka, Recent and Ongoing Investigations’ organised at the National Library of Kuwait by the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters (NCCAL) of the State of Kuwait and the French Research Center of the Arabian Peninsula (CEFREPA, formerly known as CEFAS) between 26 and 28 November 2019. Not less than 13 articles on the archaeology of Failaka offer an overview of the most recent works on sites dating from its first occupation in the Bronze Age to the late Islamic period. It provides a new insight into the rich history of Failaka – an island explored by Kuwaiti and international teams since the 1950’s and that was connected with Mesopotamia, Iran, the Near East and India – and begin to fill in some gaps, in particular concerning the late Islamic period, the pottery studies, the long-distance trade and the geomorphology of the island.

The Indonesian concept of budaya and its derivatives such as budi, budidaya, budiman, budi pekerti, as well as budayawan were sacred concepts a long time ago. However, with the emergence of and the development of Cultural Anthropology by Indonesian anthropologists graduating from Western universities from the 1960s onwards, the concept of budayaturned profane and desacralized. Its desacralization started when budaya was construed as culture by Indonesian cultural anthropologists, and Ilmu-Ilmu Budaya was similarized to Humanities. This paper explores historically the sacred concept of budaya as comprehended by Indonesian sages prior to the emergence of the Western Cultural Anthropology, then elaborates on the desacralization of the concept of budaya throughout Indonesian history of Cultural Anthropology and finally attempts to offer a re-sacralization and an Islamization of the concept of budaya by re-meaning and re-signifying and revitalizing the concept of budaya with the original, primordial sacred meanings as understood by the Muslim scholarship. The Islamization of the Indonesian concept of budaya will give pathway to the emergence of an Islamic Cultural Anthropology which counteracts the Western secularized Cultural Anthropology.