Islamic Archaeology in Global Perspective

Islamic archaeology is expanding rapidly and Islamic Archaeology in Global Perspective provides the first critical overview of the subject. No book has ever provided such a comprehensive review of Islamic Archaeology and it will set the research agenda for years to come.

The book is divided into three sections with the first section, Origins and Dynasties, providing a chronological discussion of research on Islamic archaeological material from the origins of Islam in the early 7th century to the end of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, and primarily focuses on the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt. The second section, Conduits and Agents of Islamisation and Trade, examines the archaeology of Indian Ocean and land-based trade and pilgrimage routes. The third section, Regions, adopts a geographical approach in exploring North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily, the sub-Saharan African regions of the West African Sahel and Sudan, and Ethiopia, South and Southeast Asia, and Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.

With extensive use of illustrations and box texts throughout to consider particular themes, technologies, and archaeological materials, such as types of ceramics, coins, and glass, this book will be indispensable for all students and researchers of Islamic Archaeology and Islamic Studies.

Professor Timothy Insoll is Al-Qasimi Professor of African and Islamic Archaeology, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, where he is also Founding Director of the Centre for Islamic Archaeology. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and has over a 35 year period directed or co-directed 35 fieldwork expeditions in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Mali, Ghana, India, Spain, and Uganda. Professor Insoll is the author of 12 monographs and has edited a further 15 books and special issues of journals. His notable works include “Material Explorations in African Archaeology” (2015) and the influential studies, “Archaeology, Ritual, Religion” (Routledge, 2004), and "The Archaeology of Islam" (1999).