Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2014: Regions and Empires in Islamic Archaeology

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

The module will be based on lectures (9 x 2 hours), a full day Museum visit and gallery analysis in the Victoria and Albert and British Museums in London, and seminars centred on individual student presentations on agreed topics  (1 x 2 hours). Lectures will be occasionally followed by students’ individual discussions of reading assignments. Where relevant, Islamic archaeological handling artifacts and material culture will be used in lectures and seminars, and short films on Islamic material culture and heritage shown and discussed. The following themes may be covered.

  1. The time of the Prophet Muhammad and the Umayyads
  2. The Abbasids
  3. The Fatimids and Mamluks
  4. Ottomans
  5. Merchants and sailors of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean
  6. Sub-Saharan Africa
  7. North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula
  8. South, Central, and Southeast Asia
  9. Museum fieldtrip and Gallery analysis (British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museums)

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
281220

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity189x2 hour classes You will need to complete all readings prior to class and be ready to participate. On some occasions you will be asked to present material you have prepared yourself.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity42x2 hour seminars. You will need to complete all readings prior to class and be ready to participate. On some occasions you will be asked to present material you have prepared yourself.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity6Islamic museum visit This study event will be held in the Islamic gallery of a major UK museum (e.g. British Museum, V&A).
Guided Independent Study62Reading and research.
Guided Independent Study30Completing assignments.
Guided Independent Study30Preparing for assessments.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Agius, D.A.. 2008. Classic ships of Islam: from Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean. Leiden: Brill.

Bennison,  A.K. 2009. The Great Caliphs: The Golden Age of the 'Abbasid Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Brett, M, 2017. The Fatimid Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Donner, F. M. 2010. Muhammad and the Believers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Cooper, J.P. 2014. The Medieval Nile: Route, Landscape and Navigation in Islamic Egypt. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

Crone, P. 1987. Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Glassé, C. 2001. The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam. London: Stacey International.

Hourani, A. H. 1991. A history of the Arab peoples. Imprint London : Faber.

Insoll, T. 1999. The Archaeology of Islam. Oxford: Blackwell.

Insoll, T. 2003. The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kennedy, H. 2007. The great Arab conquests: how the spread of Islam changed the world we live in. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Lev, Y. 1991. State and Society in Fatimid Egypt. Leiden: Brill.

Milwright, M. 2010. An Introduction to Islamic Archaeology. New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys.

Power, T, 2012. The Red Sea from Byzantium to the Caliphate. Cairo: American University of Cairo Press.

Ruthven, M. with Nanji, A. 2004. Historical Atlas of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Woodhead, C. 2013. The Ottoman World: London: Routledge.