From a word of God to archaeological monuments: A historical-archaeological study of the Umayyad ribats of Palestine. PhD dissertation, Princeton University, 2006. (original) (raw)
Related papers
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.
Ribāt in the Furthermost Coasts of Early Al-Andalus
Religions, 2023
In recent decades, the concept of ribāṭ and its practice have been the subject of intense debate. Recent summary papers on the eastern Mediterranean, Ifrīqiya, al-Maghrib al-Aqṣà, and al-Andalus, among others, have made it possible to compare different realities that express strong links with their local historical contexts. In this paper, we present the results of a new study that analyses the specific case of Northern Sharq al-Andalus, where the practice and institutionalisation of ribāṭ took shape from the early 9th century. There are three elements that lead us to corroborate this hypothesis: the documented presence of numerous individuals and groups voluntarily involved in the active and passive defence of the furthermost frontier of al-Andalus; the confirmation of a construction programme with homogeneous characteristics aimed at building fortified enclosures along the coast, and, lastly, the founding, in the early 9th century, of the Ribāṭ Kashkī centre at the mouth of the Ebro, a building were these practices would become centralised. In conclusion, we propose a much more complex scenario than that proposed previously, which enables us to characterise local forms of armed spirituality and sacralisation of the land that globally enriches the historical reading of ribāṭ.
The Ribat of Arsuf and the Coastal Defence System in Early Islamic Palestine
Journal of Islamic Studies, 2008
... 723. For futher details on the establishment of the maqām, its historical phases and architectural structure and design, consult Hana Taragan, 'The Tomb of Sayyidnā ʿAlī in Arsūf: The Story of a Holy Place', Journal of the Royal Asiastic Society [3rd series] 14 (2004): 83102. ...
2020
The ribat in Bouna (present day Annaba), also called the Fusula Ribat, dominates the promontory of the hill with the same name and overlooks the port of the town. This defensive structure, whose typology dates from the Fatimid period, belonged to a chain of ribats marking Islamic territory along the length of the Mediterranean coast. It was concealed under the Sidi Boumerouane Mosque. Thus, through a series of transformations, the site became a veritable military-religious complex. The recent process of patrimonialization, as well as the restoration project at the complex, has revealed the structure of the ribat, leaning against the wall and essentially forming the foundations of the first mosque of the town. The aim of this article is, on the one hand, to bring new knowledge, as much technical as historical, about this fortified structure, which has largely been ignored by historical research until now, and on the other, to carry out the restoration project of this edifice, which h...
The article analyses the elements in military architecture of Roman and Byzantine times that possibly have influenced early Islamic civil architecture in Jordan. It has special attention for the misr military camp and its structural influence on early Islamic urban development. It also copes with the qusur, the so-called desert castles, and with the khans, a semi-fortified building meant to protect pilgrims and traders. The excavations of the famous "castle" at Aqaba form the archeo-historical starting point for this research. Dit artikel analyseert elementen uit de militaire architectuur van de Romeinse en Byzantijnse periode en hun eventuele invloed op de vroeg-Islamitische civiele architectuur in Jordanië. Het heeft speciale aandacht voor de misr, een militair kamp, en zijn invloed op de vroegste Islamitische stadsontwikkeling. Tevens richt het zich op de qusur, de zogenaamde woestijnkastelen, en op de khans, een semi-versterkt herberggebouw opgetrokken ten behoeve van pelgrims en handelaars. De opgravingen van het bekende "kasteel" van Aqaba vormen het uitgangspunt van deze studie.
Ribāt in Palestine: life on the frontier
Contemporary Levant, 2023
This article examines the meaning of ribāṭ in the Palestinian context. The term ribāṭ has been attributed meanings that vary according to period and place. It has often been studied in relation to medieval structures around the Mediterranean coastline and is generally defined as connected to the defence of Muslim lands. However, my research, conducted in Israel-Palestine, indicates that the term also has a very contemporary existence and constitutes an intrinsic part of the Palestinian repertoire of resistance. By scrutinising the Palestinian ribāṭ, in this article I seek to contribute to the wider debate around the meanings attributed to the term, both by tracing its historical continuity and by demonstrating its regional specificity, as a practice imbued with a fundamental territorial dimension. While Palestinians include many elements of the traditional meaning in their use of ribāṭ, such as the idea of defending the land, they have also adapted it to the regional context. For the Palestinians, ribāṭ is by definition linked to three embedded holy spaces – al-Aqsa, Jerusalem and Palestine – considered sacred for both religious and political reasons. This article engages with the dual process of territorialisation and bordering implied by the concept of ribāṭ in the Palestinian context, revealing how it brings together the idea of a life on the frontier.