The Byzantine-Islamic transition in Palestine : an archaeological approach PDF
Preview The Byzantine-Islamic transition in Palestine : an archaeological approach
OXFORD STUDIES IN BYZANTIUM EditorialBoard jameshoward-johnston elizabethjeffreys marclauxtermann paulmagdalino henrymaguire cyrilmango marliamango jean-pierresodini jonathanshepard OXFORD STUDIES IN BYZANTIUM OxfordStudiesinByzantiumconsistsofscholarlymonographsandeditions onthehistory,literature,thought,andmaterialculture oftheByzantineworld. Byzantines,Latins,andTurksintheEasternMediterraneanWorldafter1150 EditedbyJonathanHarris,CatherineHolmes,andEugeniaRussell DebatingtheSaints’CultintheAgeofGregorytheGreat MatthewDalSanto TheEmbodiedIcon LiturgicalVestmentsandSacramentalPowerinByzantium WarrenT.Woodfin ‘WehaveNoKingButChrist’ ChristianPoliticalThoughtinGreaterSyriaontheEveofthe ArabConquest(c.400–585) PhilipWood TillingtheHatefulEarth AgriculturalProductionandTradeintheLateAntiqueEast MichaelDecker TheChronicleofMorea HistoriographyinCrusaderGreece TeresaShawcross TheTrophiesoftheMartyrs AnArtHistoricalStudyofEarlyChristianSilverReliquaries GalitNoga-Banai AByzantineEncyclopaediaofHorseMedicine TheSources,Compilation,andTransmissionoftheHippiatrica AnneMcCabe GeorgeAkropolites:TheHistory Introduction,Translation,andCommentary RuthMacrides HolyFoolsinByzantiumandBeyond SergeyA.Ivanov SimonFranklin BasilIIandtheGovernanceofEmpire(976–1025) CatherineHolmes – The Byzantine Islamic Transition in Palestine An Archaeological Approach GIDEON AVNI 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries ©GideonAvni2014 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2014 Impression:1 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016,UnitedStatesofAmerica BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013947237 ISBN 978–0–19–968433–5 Asprintedandboundby CPIGroup(UK)Ltd,Croydon,CR04YY LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork. For my parents—Esther and Haim Preface Eversincemyfirstfieldworkexperienceinarchaeologicalsurveysandexcav- ationsintheNegevHighlandsbackintheearly1980s,Ihavebeenintriguedby the apparently unbridgeable gap between the traditional historical narratives on the Arab conquest of the Near East in the 630s, which influenced the acceptedarchaeologicalconventionsononehand,andthe‘factsontheground’, whichwerebeingrevealedbythoseofusworkinginthisremotecornerofthe settledlandsontheother.Documentingwhatwasthenbelievedtobesettlement sitesfromtheByzantineperiod,wehaverealizedthattheArabconquestleftno traceinthearchaeologicalrecordofmanysurveyedandexcavatedsites. These early studies were followed by three decades of exhaustive research, during which I was privileged to conduct research and excavations in several majorurbansitesofthesettledcountry,amongwhichwerethecitiesofJerusalem andRamla,andthenecropolisofBethGuvrin-Eleutheropolis.Theresultsofour researchescoincidedwithaplethoraofdatafromexcavatedsitesinneighbouring regions, many of which addressed questions on the political, religious, and cultural transformation in the Near East during the second half of the first millennium, enhancing the development of a new approach to the Byzantine– Islamic transformation. With the progress of pottery-dating methodologies, the longue durée approach for the existence of these settlements was inevitably adopted, and the seeds of a new insight on the transformation of settlement and society were planted, consequently treating the the traditional historical narrativesandarchaeologicalconventionsbeingviewedwithagrainofsalt. Likeahugejigsawpuzzle,thearchaeologicaldataslowlybegantoproducea fascinating picture of a Mediterranean society gradually transformed. In contradiction of the harsh scenario of ‘smoke and fire’ that emphasizes a violent conquest followed by rapid change, archaeological findings paint a muchmilderpicture,inwhichpoliticalandreligioustolerancesetthetonefor therelationshipsbetweenvariousethniccommunitiesinPalestine. Whileaddressingoneofthemostsignificantpoliticalandreligiouschanges in the history of the Near East, in which a new reality was gradually created, one cannot avoid the analogy with recent events in this turbulent region, longingforpoliticalandreligioustolerancethatwillreplacethesmokeandfire thathasbeenspreadingthroughoutitinmoderntimes. IwouldliketothanktheIsraelAntiquitiesAuthorityforprovidingmewith itsresourcesonsurveysandexcavationsthroughoutthecountry.Partofthis research was supported by a generous grant from the Israel Science Founda- tion, which enabled me to conduct, in partnership with Amikam Elad, Katia Cytryn-Silverman, and Ofer Efrati, a detailed study of the urban centres of viii Preface PalestineduringtheEarlyIslamicperiod.Largepartsofthisbookwerewritten during my 2008–9 fellowship at the Institute of Advanced Studies in the HebrewUniversityofJerusalem.Iamgratefultobothinstitutionsforallowing me the time and space to pursue the research in inspirational scholarly surroundings. I am deeply indebted to my colleagues and friends Ronnie Ellenblum, AmikamElad,andKatiaCytryn-Silvermanfortheirinsights,andfordiscuss- ing many topics that stimulated my research. I am also grateful to Donald Whitcomb,AlanWalmsley,RobertSchick,JodiMagness,andMarliaMango forsharingwithmetheirvastknowledgeontheperiod,itssites,andfinds. Many colleagues and friends provided me with details from their excav- ationsandresearches,andIamindebtedtothemall:ShlomitWeksler-Bdolah, Alexander Onn, Eli Yannai, Uzi Dahari, Gabi Mazor, Walid Atrash, Rachel Bar-Nathan,MosheHartal,JonSeligman,MiriamAvissar,TaliErickson-Gini, Peter Fabian, Yigal Israel, Dov Nahlieli, Ofer Sion, Uzi ‘Ad, Motti Haiman, Uzi Avner, Yuval Baruch, Amir Gorzalczany, Eli Haddad, Haim Barbe, Alla Nagorsky, Yehiel Zelinger, Yael Gorin-Rosen, Peter Gendelman, Edna Stern, RinaAvner,DannySyon,DavidAmit,ShimonGibson,AmosKloner,Yitshak Magen, Haim Ben David, Yoram Tsafrir, Oren Gutfeld, Benny Arubas, Ken- neth Holum, Vasilios Tzaferis, Alan Walmsley, Katia Cytryn-Silverman, Donald Whitcomb, Oren Tal, Ignacio Arce, Daniel Master, Tracy Hoffman, JohnPeterOleson,andRebeccaFoote. ManythanksareduetothelibrariansoftheIAAlibraryattheRockefeller Museum in Jerusalem for their most helpful assistance in my endless search forobscurebibliographicalitems,andtoNataliaZak,whopatientlyproduced the maps for the book, as well as to Gila Brand for her meticulous editing of largesectionsofthemanuscript. This book is dedicated with love to my wife, Orli, my children, Yuval and Ya‘ara,andespeciallytomyparents,HaimandEstherAvni,whoaccompan- ieditscreationwithgreatinterestandsoundadvice,frommyearlyyearsinthe fieldtothefinalstagesofwriting. GideonAvni IsraelAntiquitiesAuthorityand theHebrewUniversityofJerusalem Contents ListofFigures xi ANoteonTerminologyandChronology xiv Abbreviations xv Prologue:FourEyewitnessAccountsversus‘ArgumentsinStone’ 1 1. ShiftingParadigmsfortheByzantine–IslamicTransition 11 2. FromPolistoMadina:TheEvolutionofLarge UrbanCommunities 40 3. ATaleofTwoCities:JerusalemandRamlaintheEarly IslamicPeriod 107 4. TheChangingLand:SettlementPatternsandEthnicIdentities 191 5. TheTransformationofSettlementandSociety:ASynthesis 300 6. Conclusion 344 AppendixI:CitiesinByzantinePalestine,Phoenice,andArabia 354 AppendixII:EarlyIslamicSettlementsinPalestineandJordan 356 AppendixIII:RegionalSurveys:ByzantineandEarlyIslamicsites 363 Bibliography 365 Index 415
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