The Islamic-Byzantine Frontier: Interaction and Exchange Among Muslim and Christian Communities

215 Pages·2015·41.39 MB·English

by  A. Asa Eger

A.Asa isAssociate Professorin the DepartmentofHistory
at the University ofNorth Carolina,Greensboro. He holds aPhD
in IslamicArchaeology from the University ofChicago.
Purchasedfrom the
Barbara & [ames Craig Fund
11.1111~1111111111111I111111111.111111111
'Thisisalong-awaitedand much-neededcontributiontothe studyof
the Byzantine-Islamic frontier that will force a step-change in
approaches to the study of the region as well as to the study of I L MIC
medieval frontier societies and theirarchaeology.The authoris to be
congratulatedon aclear,conciseand well-arguedanalysisofcomplex
NTIN
textual and archaeological data.'
John Haldon, Shelby Cullom Davis '30
Professor ofEuropean History, and Professor of tsvzantme
NTI
History and Hellenic Studies, Princeton University
'Dr Eger's The Islamic-Byzantine Frontier is a well-constructed,
Interaction and Exchange Among Muslim
original, and convincing book that challenges conventional opinions
on the Islamic-Byzantine frontier, and in doing so raisesimportant and Christian Communities
theoretical and methodological questions on understanding the
dynamics of frontier zones in general. His study further weakens
the conventional viewoffrontiers assparselypopulated, marginal, and
disconnected peripheries. The "core and periphery" model for
explaining the geopolitical patterningofsettlementshasneverseemed
so outdated, given the compelling argumentation presented in A. ASA
EGER
Dr Eger'sground-breaking study.'
Alan Walmsley, Professor ofIslamic Archaeology and
University ofCopenhagen
To myparents
Youshouldknowthatanareadoesnotbecomeillustriousbythenembe«ofits
settlements, butrather bytheimportance ofitsruraldistricts
Paperbackeditionpublishedin 2017 by
Muqaddasi, Aksanal-taqasfmffma'rifa:al-iqltm, 1906, p. 228.
LB.Tauris& Co.Ltd
Translation byBasil Collins, TheBest DivisionsfortheKnowledge of
London • New York
Regions, 2001, p. 189.
www.ibrauris.corn
Hardbackeditionfirstpublishedin 201Sby
LB.Tauris& Co,Lrd
Copyright© 2015 A.AsaEger
The rightofA.Ass Ager tobeidentifiedasthe authorofthis work hasbeenasserted
bythe authorinaccordance withthe Copyright,Designsand PatentsAct 1988.
All rightsreserved. Except forbriefquotationsinareview,this book, oranypart
thereof, maynot bereproduced,storedinorintroducedinto aretrievalsystem,
ortransmitted, inanyform orbyanymeans, electronic,mechanical,photocopying,
recordingorotherwise,withoutthe priorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
Everyattempthasbeenmade togainpermissionforthe useofthe images inthis book.
Anyomissionswill berectified in futureeditions
References towebsites werecorrect at the timeofwriting.
ISBN: 978 178453 919 1
eISBN: 9780 674 1
ePDF: 978085772685 8
Afull CIP record forthis book isavailable from the BritishLibrary
Afull CIP record isavailable from the Library ofCongress
Library ofCongress Caralog Card Number:available
Typeset inGaramondThreebyOKS Prepress Services,Chennai,India
Printedand boundbyCPI Group(UK) Ltd, Croydon,CRO4YY
CONTENTS
List ofFigures andTables IX
Acknowledgements Xll
List ofAbbreviations xv
Introduction Islamic Frontiers, Real and Imagined 1
Part 1. The Syro-Anatolian Thughur 23
1. The Central Tbugbiir: The TwoAmuqs 33
2. The Central Thughilr: The Steppe and the River 69
3. The Eastern Thughilr 102
4. The JazIra (Balikh and Khabiir River Valleys) 127
5. The Western Thughilr: Crossroads ofCilicia 158
Part 2 Hydraulic Villages and Fortified Castles:
A Narrative ofSettlement 183
6. Prologue: Upland Settlements in the Late Roman
Period (Fourth to Seventh Centuries) 187
7. Hydraulic Villages in the Early Islamic Period
(Seventh to Tenth Centuries) 198
8. The Byzantine Frontier(Seventh to Tenth Centuries) 246
VIII THE ISLAMIC-BYZANTINE FRONTIER
9. Epilogue: Fortified Castles of the Middle Islamic/Middle
Byzantine Period (Tenth to Fourteenth Centuries) 264
10. Frontier or Frontiers? Interaction and Exchange in
Frontier Societies 277
Conclusions Dismantling and Rebuilding the Frontier 310
F
Notes 315
Bibliography 371
Index 400
Figure 1:The thughilr and (awa~im 7
2: Tribes on the thughur
3:The thughur with natural features represented
4: The Central thttghilr
Figure 5: The Amuq Plain 37
Figure 6: The Amuq Plain, Late Roman through
Middle Islamic sites
7: The Kahrarnanmaras Plain, Early Islamic through
Middle Islamic sites
8: the Late Roman and Early Islamic
excavated building (photo courtesy of S.Campbell)
9: Nahr Sajur Survey,Late Roman and Islamic sites
10:jabbul Survey,Late Roman through Middle
Islamic sites (based on Yukich 2012) 46
Figure 11: Birecik-Carchernish Survey (Tigris-Euphrates
Archaeological Reconaissance Project) and jerablus Tahtani
Survey (Land ofCarchemish Project), Late Roman through
x THE ISLAMiC-BYZANTINE FRONTIER LIST OF FIGURESAND TABLES XI
Middle Islamic sites (based on Wilkinson 2004, Figures 7.8, Figure 25: Cilicia Survey (based on Seton-Williams 1954) 164
7.9,7.10,9.1; Wilkinson 2007, Figure 1; Algaze et al.
Figure 26: Yumurtalik-Iskenderun Survey,Late Roman
1994, Figure 17) 80
through Middle Islamic sites 166
Figure 12: Tell Rifa'ar Survey, Late Roman through
Figure 27: Tupras Field/Hisn al-Tinat, eastern gate and
Middle Islamic sites (based on Matthers 1981) 86
internal rooms (courtesy of M.-H. Gates) 172
Figure 13: Sweyhat Survey, Late Roman through Middle
Figure 28: Comparative Early Islamic way stations. From
Islamic sites 90
top left, clockwise: Hisn Maslarna sketch adapted from
Figure 14: The eastern thughilr 103 Haase 2006; Tell Brak; Kurban Hoytik from Algaze 1990,
Figure 124; Hisn al-Tinar by the author 227
Figure 15: Adiyaman Survey,Late Roman and Islamic sites
(based on Blaylock et al., 1980, Figure 30) 111 Figure 29: Caliphal renovations, and bar graph 235
Figure 16: Group Il, Karababa Basin Surveys, Late Roman Figure 30: The Byzantine frontier 247
through Middle Islamic sites (based on Wilkinson 1990:
Figures 5.4 and 5.7; Redford 1998, Figure 7.2; Algaze et al. Tables
1992, Figure 14; Gerber 1994, pp. 327 and 331) 113
Table 1:Surveys on the thughilr, late period settlement 29
Figure 17: A§vanand Alnnova Surveys, Byzantine and
Islamic sites (based on WhaIlon 1979, Figure 3) 120 Table 2: Settlement patterns on the thughilr 185
Figure 18: TheJazlra 132
Figure 19: Harran Survey, Late Roman and Islamic sites
(based on Yardimci 2004, 393 and 394) 133
Figure 20: Group I, Khabur Survey sites, Late Roman
and Islamic sites 137
Figure 21: Balikh Survey, Late Roman through Middle
Islamic sites (based on 1996, pp. 345 and 348) 149
Figure 22: Group Il, Khabur Survey sites, Late
Rornan/Sasanian through Middle Islamic sites 150
Figure 23: Middle Euphrates Survey,Late Roman through
Middle Islamic sites (based on Berthier 2001, Map D) 151
Figure 24: The western thughilr 163
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS XLII
together formed the perfect team. I would also like to thank Adam
Smith, who, as an outside reader, provided an important
anthropological perspective on the research. In the field, my list of
colleagues to whom I owe great debts ofgratitude is happily long,
and to name but aselect few:Tony Wilkinson,Jesse Casana,Aslihan
Yener, David Schloen, Fokke Gerritsen, Rana Ozbal, Tasha
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Vorderstrasse, Timothy Harrison, Steve Batiuk and Arnir Surnak'ai
Fink for the Amuqsurvey; LizCarter, StuartCampbell, LizMullane,
Mhairi Campbell, Claire Heywood, Ben Gearey, Will Fletcher and
Kate Grossman for the Maras Survey; and Marie-Henriette Gates,
Fran Cole, Salima Ikrarn, Ben Claasz Coockson, Rado Kabatiarova,
Tim Beach, Canan Cakirlar, Carolyn Swan and the tireless Turkish
Ifone looks hard enough, one can see just about anything. Apatch and American undergraduates for the Tupras Field survey and
ofgrass, when stared at for hours, isstill an unremarkable patch of excavations. Many peoplewho haveprovided me along the waywith
grass. Yet when one gets down on hands and knees, an entire useful insighrs and comments great and small must be thanked:
microcosm unfolds, a multitude of creatures moving around and Hugh Kennedy, McGuire Gibson, Gil Stein, Scott Branring, Seth
interacting with one another, and with the growing world around Richardson,JohnWoods, Carrie Hritz,Linda Wheatley-Irving,Rana
them. This book first began as an unnamed, unremarkable low Mikati, and DerekKrueger; and mysupportgroupwhile at Chicago:
mounded patch ofland, AS 257, that I surveyed along with other AlyssaGabbay, Pat Wing, Mayte Green, Adriande Gins, Vanessade
members of my team in 2001 in the Amuq Valley. The site soon Gins, Jonathan Brown, Yuval ben Bassat, Nukhet Varhk and
turned out to be quite revealing. It wasone of three, evenly spaced Noha Forster.
along a canal and newly founded in the seventh century. The canal This book was largely written during my stay as a Fellow at
wasamong several channels irrigating the Amuq Valley and in one Dumbarton Oaks in the spring of 2012. My fellow Byzantine
of many lowland plains settled, irrigated and cultivated on the Fellows, lovingly strengthened by Margaret Mullett and the larger
Islamic-Byzantine frontier. So my interest expanded and took Dumbarton Oaks community, provided stimulating conversations.
shape, initially as a dissertation and finally into a study of the The libraryand gardensformed aperfect settingin whichtowriteon
landscapeofthe entiretyofthefrontier and its neighbouring lands. landscapes. In particular, this book could not have been completed
Not a microcosm. without the meticulous comments ofJohn Haldon and the second
Theentireprocess isthe productofmuch wonderful collaboration anonymous reviewer throughout. Andrea de Giorgi, Lynn Swartz
and could not have been done without the inspiration, motivation, Dodd, Ian Straughn,]asonUr, GunderVannlioglu,Michael Decker,
assistance and cooperation of a large and significant group of Charles Gates, Stephen McPhillips, Bethany Walker and Alyssa
individuals. From the onset, I would like to thank my incredible Gabbay all provided comments, corrections, citations and clarity to
University of Chicago dissertation committee: my advisor Donald individual chapters. Many thanks are also due to Ad Lukas, Luke
Whitcomb, Fred Dormer and Waiter Kaegi, all three ofwhom have Kaiser,Claire Ebertand Reed Goodwinforassistancewithproducing
returned to the thttghurmany times throughout theirscholarshipand the geographicinformationsystem-basedmaps and to Kyle Brunner,
Ian McDonald, Maria Marsh, and Allison Walkerforall theirhelpin
XIV THE ISLAMIC-BYZANTINE FRONTIER
editing. A last note ofgratitude is for my family and friends, whose
persistentsupportand encouragementwasboundlessand enabledme
to traverse this frontier wilderness, this excellent country, these
beautiful lands, with their parts untamed and parts organized,
teeming with activity.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AST Arajttrma Sonuclart Toplanttss,
Borders Barriers Borders, Barriers, andEtbnogenesis: Frontiers
inLateAntiquityandtheMiddleAges,edited
by F. Curta (Turnhout: Brepols, 2005).
ByzantineTrade ByzantineTrade, 4th-12th Centuries: The
Archaeology of Local, Regional and Inter
national Exchange. Papers of the thirty
eighth Spring Symposium of Byzantine
Studies, St. John's College, University of
Oxford, March 2004. Edited by Marlia
MundellMango(Burlingron,VT:Ashgate
Variorum, 2009).
Castrurn 3 Guerre, fortification ethabitatdam lemonde
mediterraneen au Moyen Age, edited by
A. Bazzana (Madrid: Casa de Velazquez,
1988).
Castrum 7 Zones cotteres littorales dam lemonde
mediterraneen au Moyen Age: difense, jJetiple
ment, miseen valeur, edited byJ.-M. Martin
(Madrid: Casa de Velazquez, 2001).
XVI THE ISLAMIC-BYZANTINE FRONTIER LISTOFABBREVIATIONS XVI[
Continuityand Change ContinuityandChange in Northern Mesopo Residences, Castles, Residences, Castles, Settlements. Transform
tamiafrom theHellenistictotheEarlyIslamic Settlements ation Processes from Late Antiquity to Early
Period: ProceedingsofaColloquiumHeldatthe Islam in Bi/ad al-Sbam. Proceedings of the
Seminar fur VorderasiattJe-he Altertumskunde, International Conference held at Damascus,
Freie Uniuersitdt Berlin, 6th-9th April, 5- 9 November 2006, edited by K. Bartl
1994, edited by K. Bard and S. Hauser and A.-R. Moaz (Rahden/Westfalen: Ver
(Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1996). lag Marie LeidorfGmbH).
Countryside Anhaeology oftheCountryside in Medieval ShiftingFrontiers Shifting Frontiers in LateAntiquity: Papers
Anatolia, edited by T. Vorderstrasse and fromtheFirstInterdisciplinary Conference on
J. Roodenberg (Leiden: Nederlands Insti Late Antiquity, The University of Kansas,
tuut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2009). March 1995,edited byR. W.Mathisenand
EI2 EncyclopediaofIslam: NewEdition,editedby H. S. Sivan (Brookfield, VT: Variorurn,
P.Bearman,Th. Bianquis,C.E.Bosworth, 1996).
E. van Donzel, and W. P. Heinrichs TA~DAAf Ilzs« veKarkanu; BarajGol/eri Altmda
(Leiden: Brill, 1960-). Kalacak Arkeolojik ve Kultur Varltklartnt
Frontiers in Qt.testion Frontiers in Question: Eurasian Borderlands, Projesi (SalvageProject of the Archaeologi
700-1700, edited by D. Powers and cal Heritage of the Ilisu and Carchemish
N. Standen (New York: St. Martin's Press, Dam Reservoirs Activities), edited by
1999). T. Numan, ]. Ozrurk, and]. Velibeyoglu,
KST Kazt Sonuclart Toplantsst, 4 vols (Ankara: METU, 1999-2002).
Medieval Frontiers Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices, Ta'rrkh(English) Tabart, Ts'rteb al-rusulwa-al-muluk (The
edited by D. Abulafia and N. Berend History of al-Tabarl: an annotated trans
(Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2002). lation), general editor: Ehsan Yar-Sharer
Medieval Frontier Medieval FrontierSocieties, edited by R. (Albany: State University of New York
Societies Bartlett and A. MacKay (New York: Press, 1985-2007).
Oxford University Press, 1989). Ta'rrkh(Arabic) Tabari, Ta'rrkhal-rusulwa-al-muluk
Mu'jam (1955-7) Yaql1t,lHu'jamal-buldan(Beirut: Dar (Leiden: Brill, 1901).
Sadir, 1955- 7). Upper SyrianEuphrates ArchaeologyoftheUpperSyrian Euphrates: The
Mu'jam (1990) Yaqur, Mu'jamal-bulcliin (Beirut: Dar Tisbrin Dam Area. Proceedings of the Inter
al-Kutub al-Tlrniya, 1990). nationalSymposiumHeldatBarcelona,January
28th-30th 1998, edited by G. del Olmo
Lete and ].-1. Montero Fenno1l6s (Barce
lona: Sabadell, 1999).