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Experiment and innovation: early Islamic industry at al-Raqqa, Syria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2015

Julian Henderson ,
Keith Challis ,
Sarah O’Hara ,
Sean McLoughlin ,
Adam Gardner  and
Gary Priestnall
Julian Henderson
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, School of Humanities, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK (Email: [email protected])
Keith Challis
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B1S 2TT, UK
Sarah O’Hara
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Sean McLoughlin
Affiliation:
Department of Materials, Imperial College of Science and Technology, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, UK
Adam Gardner
Affiliation:
John Rylands University Library of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PP, UK
Gary Priestnall
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
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Abstract

The city of al-Raqqa in north central Syria rivalled early Baghdad in scale, and was briefly during the ‘Abbasid caliphate the imperial capital of an empire stretching from North Africa to Central Asia. Now largely levelled the multifaceted Islamic cityscape is revealed by aerial and satellite imagery. It is at this site that the evidence of innovative Islamic industries has been revealed by excavations undertaken by the Raqqa Ancient Industry project since 1994. Here they discuss the production models for glass and ceramics in their socio-economic contexts.

Keywords

IslamicSyriaRaggaindustryglassceramicstechnology
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 79 , Issue 303 , March 2005 , pp. 130 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2005

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