Egypt

Gascoigne, Alison L. (2020) Egypt. In, Walker, Bethany J., Insoll, Timothy and Fenwick, Corisande (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Islamic Archaeology. Oxford, GB. Oxford University Press.

Abstract

This chapter situates Egypt within wider debates arising from the field of Islamic archaeology, and provides an overview of the current state of our knowledge based on diverse categories of archaeological evidence. Its overall aim is to argue for more diverse intellectual approaches – socially and scientifically aware, and theoretically embedded– to be incorporated into archaeological activity in the country, in place of those more closely related to the discipline of art history. The chapter starts with a consideration of the evidence from a chronological perspective, noting the relative lack of focus to date on the Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottoman periods. An inevitably brief digression follows on rural archaeology, for which minimal evidence has been uncovered; this section emphasises the need for more consistent incorporation of techniques from environmental archaeology into project methodologies, given recent valuable work in this area. The evidence for domestic activity, trade and production, and funerary practices is outlined with a particular focus on artefactual material. The chapter then turns to a more detailed consideration of the growth and development of urban centres, both capital and provincial, under Islamic rule. Historical approaches to urbanism are outlined from the perspective of previous research on the site of al-Fustat/Cairo, before it turns to cities of the Mediterranean coast, in particular the port of Tinnis in Lake Manzala, where the results of recent fieldwork are summarised. Tinnis is contrasted with a number of Red Sea sites, with a focus on changing urban status and maritime infrastructure from Roman times to the Islamic era. Inland, the ongoing excavations at the frontier town of Aswan are producing important new insights into provincial town life in Egypt, and represent a model of urban archaeological monitoring that is much needed in other sites in the Nile Valley and Delta, where a relative lack of detailed archaeological data obstructs our understanding of many key questions. In conclusion, the chapter highlights a need for a more sustained focus on Egypt’s Islamic-era/medieval archaeology for its own sake, rather than as either the inheritance of the classical world, or the foundations of the early modern state.

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Contributors

Author: Alison L. Gascoigne

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