Muslim Military Architecture in Greater Syria from the Coming of Islam to the Ottoman Period. Edited by Hugh Kennedy (History of Warfare 35). pp. xix, 323. Leiden and … (original) (raw)

The Contribution of “Light” Archaeology to theStudy of Fortified Sites in Northern Syria

2016

A new archaeological project has been recently started by a joint team from the University of Florence and the University of London, entitled Islamic Syria and Latin Kingdoms: a Mediaeval frontier. Settlements and interaction in the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. 1 This project aims at analysing settlements, territories and fortified systems on both sides of the frontier in the coastal plain of Syria and in the Orontes valley. In this context, the frontier acquires the significance of an "observatory" on the interaction (for example, in relation to settlement modes, control of territory, exploitation of natural sources, and exchange of technology) between west European feudal society and Islamic society in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (Figure 1). 2 In the Near East, research topics such as the transformation of settlement in the period under consideration and the origin of fortifications do not seem to have been adequately developed. To date, the archaeological study of this period has mainly concerned standing 1. The Italian team was funded by grants from the Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica and from the Ministero degli Affari Esteri. The Italian Embassy in Damascus provided in many ways advice, help and assistance, in particular H. E. the Ambassador Antonio Romano Napolitano. The Syrian Embassy in Rome kindly gave the team complimentary entry visas. The team wishes to thank the Directorate General of Antiquities for providing the assistance of Architect Asmahan al-Wazza during this phase of fieldwork. The team also wishes to thank the Institut Français d'Etudes Arabes de Damas and its Director, Professor Mallet, for the hospitality they provided. The results presented here relate to the campaign conducted in May 1999. The team consisted of the two authors, Professor Guido Vannini (GV) and Dr Cristina Tonghini (CT); Dr. Eugenio Donato, who also played a very important role in the analysis of the wall typology; Architect Asmahan al-Wazza, from the Department of the Antiquities. A first preliminary survey had also been conducted in November 1998. During that campaign the team also included, together with the present writers, Professor Hugo Blake (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Professor Franco Niccolucci (Università di Firenze). 2. Islamic culture can be considered the heir of Late Antique urban Mediterranean society in terms of social and territorial organization, although with well-known variations. In this setting, especially in the case of marginal areas (part of or close to the original desert environment), there are occasional swings towards the re-emergence of the nomadic or seminomadic way of life. This situation seems to characterize the Islamic side of the frontier in the two regions considered by our Mission: in southern Transjordan, and in the current project in Syria between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. See, in general, Lombard 1980; Lapidus 1993.

From the Ribats to the Fortresses, the Fāṭimid Period of Transition in Muslim Military Architecture

International Journal of Islamic Research, 2020

This article focuses on the origins and the similarities between the Aghlabid, Fāṭimid and Spanish Umayyad military architectures from the 9 th to the early 11 th century. The main characteristic of these early Islamic fortifications was the use of small square counterforts or plain buttresses towers built close together and forming a line of defence very similar to those used during the late Antiquity in North Africa. We will try to explain the origins and the similarities between the Aghlabid, Fāṭimid and Umayyad military architectures in Ifriqiyya. These observations lead us to other questions; what differentiates the Egyptian military architecture from the Tunisi-an ribats in the scholarly literature? Our predecessors have interpreted the Aghlabid ribat according to the historical sources, where the words "ribat and murabitun" frequently appeared. Researchers first focused on the religious meaning instead of looking at the secular function. Other than the role of garrison forts, these buildings served as stations and stopover points for travelers, merchants and pilgrims. In Persia, the caravanserais or khans were also called ribats. They were fortified stopovers for caravans isolated in remote areas. In Central Asia, the cities on the Silk Road were called ribats. In fact, the Tunisians ribats were simply forts and caravanserais used to protect the port cities and the coast.