Intensive Course on Islamic Archaeology

Thanks to a number of generous grants from the David A. Gardner '69 Magic Project, the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University has organized a series of short, intensive courses for graduate students on a variety of subjects in the broad field of Islamic studies not normally covered in the Princeton curriculum. In each case, an internationally-recognized expert has been brought in to teach the course over a period of five weekdays.

This year, we plan to offer such a course on Islamic Archaeology, which is intended primarily for graduate students, both from Princeton and from other universities.

The instructor will be Dr. Denis Genequand, a leading expert in the study of Islamic Archaeology. The objective of the program is to present the field of Islamic archaeology, which has witnessed a considerable evolution over the past 40 years. The main focus of the course will be on the early Islamic Near East, with a brief excursus into other regions of the Islamicate world.

The program will have three objectives:

1. Give students a comprehensive picture of the archaeology of Syria-Palestine and Iraq between the 7th and the 10th century (Late Antique context, Islamic conquest, Umayyad and Abbasid periods). This will encompass the archaeology of the main cities, the new urban settlements and the different types of rural settlements, as well as land use and settlement patterns.

2. Introduce students, using a number of case studies, to different categories of archaeological sources (architectural remains, pottery, faunal or botanical remains, etc.) and their potential for investigating economic and social aspects of early Islamic society.

3. Give students a wider perspective on Islamic archaeology, with some insights into research conducted in other regions of the Islamicate world (Central Asia, Indian Ocean, North and West Africa).