Lichtenberger, A. & Raja, R. (eds) 2018. Middle Islamic Jerash (9th century - 15th century). Archaeology and History of an Ayyubid-Mamluk settlement. Jerash Papers 3. Turnhout: Brepols. 

This new publication, originating from the collective research project Ceramics in Context funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project, considers the understudied Ayyubid-Mamluk period in the light of continuity and change with its point of departure in one of the most important sites in this area of the Middle East.

Jerash, located in Northern Jordan, was a well-established settlement throughout Antiquity, and it continued to thrive into the early Islamic period, before being largely destroyed by the earthquake of 749 CE. During the Middle Islamic period, especially in the Ayyubid-Mamluk period (twelfth to fifteenth centuries), the site and its surrounding was, however, resettled. The nature of this resettlement has remained understudied, although it is crucial to understand the economic and political factors that shaped the region in the ninth to fifteenth centuries.

This volume explores Middle Islamic Jerash through an analysis of previously unpublished material revealed during recent excavations at the settlement by the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project. The articles collected here examine archaeological evidence from the site, with a particular emphasis on pottery finds, as well as discussing literary sources and the wider historical context of these items. In doing so, the volume offers new perspectives on key developments within Jerash in the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, and the way in which these relate to the overall evolution of the Levant during this understudied period.

Although the third volume in the new series Jerash Papers by Rubina Raja and Achim Lichtenberger, Middle Islamic Jerash is the first volume published. Volume 1 (The Archaeology and History of Jerash: 110 Years of Excavations) will be published later in 2018 and Volume 2 (On the golden river: Gerasa through the eyes of 19th and 20th century visitors) in 2019. 

UrbNet related contributions:

Lichtenberger, A. and Raja, R. (2018): “The Middle Islamic Period in Northern Jordan and Its Pottery: Ceramics in Context”, in: A. Lichtenberger & R. Raja (eds) Middle Islamic Jerash (9th century - 15th century). Archaeology and History of an Ayyubid-Mamluk settlement. Jerash Papers 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 1-4.

Lichtenberger, A. and Raja, R. (2018): ” Middle Islamic Jerash through the lens of the Longue Dureé”, in: A. Lichtenberger & R. Raja (eds) Middle Islamic Jerash (9th century - 15th century). Archaeology and History of an Ayyubid-Mamluk settlement. Jerash Papers 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 5-36.

Peterson, A. (2018): "A Commentary and Analysis of Two Ottoman Tax Records: Settlement History of Late Islamic Jerash", in: A. Lichtenberger & R. Raja (eds) Middle Islamic Jerash (9th century - 15th century). Archaeology and History of an Ayyubid-Mamluk settlement. Jerash Papers 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 37-44.

Lichtenberger, A., Raja, R. and Peterson, A. (2018): ”New evidence for pottery chronology and dietary habits from a Middle Islamic Hamlet in the Northwest Quarter of Jerash”, in: A. Lichtenberger & R. Raja (eds) Middle Islamic Jerash (9th century - 15th century). Archaeology and History of an Ayyubid-Mamluk settlement. Jerash Papers 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 159-190.