¹û¶³Ó°Ôº

In the late first millennium CE, the powerful Abbasid Empire waned and was replaced by new Islamic empires such as the Fatimids, the Mamluks, the Samanids, and the Seljuks, who vied with each other for power across large parts of Africa and Asia. Into this divided world came new invaders from the East and the West: the Crusaders and the Mongols. This module explores the transformation of the Islamic world between 900-1400 and critically considers core debates about the archaeology of this period such as conquest, urbanism and nomads, architectural innovation, trade and material consumption, and environmental change.

Aims of the module

• To provide students with a thorough grounding in the archaeology of the countries where Islam was the dominant religion between 900-1400 (including Western, Central, and Southern Asia, North Africa, parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of southern Europe).
• To introduce students to the most important current research questions and main interpretative paradigms in Islamic archaeology, including the impact of multiple conquests (e.g. Crusades, Mongol Conquest), epidemic disease (e.g. Black Death) and climatic pressures on medieval societies, as well as key themes such as state formation, urbanism, technological innovation, global exchange.
• To consider the nature and interpretation of different sources (archaeological, visual, textual) in approaching the late Islamic world.
• To develop critical faculties in the written evaluation of current research (problems, method and theory, quality of evidence).

Ìý