Casa Árabe and the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation, with the cooperation of the Sísifo Research Group of the Archeology Department at the University of Cordoba, have organized this conference given by Hugh Kennedy, SOAS - University of London.

The conference will focus on the history and topography of Damascus from the Byzantine period to the twelfth century. It will mainly deal with the importance of this city as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, the uprise of the Abbasid government and its negative effect on the city’s prosperity, as well as the later role played by the Seleucid dynasty. The changes in the urban street layout, the Umayyad mosque and the reconstruction of the first fortress will all be discussed. Last of all, it will deal with this historical city’s reality within the context of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Conference information sheet 

Hugh Kennedy is a professor in the Near and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Department at the University of London.  He is one of the most prestigious specialists in the medieval Islamic history of Europe and Asia. He is a member of the Center for Iranian Studies and the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He currently co-directs the project “Economic Integration and Social Change in the Islamic World System, 800-1000 CE” and has published a wide range of historical studies which mainly revolve around the ancient territories of Syria and Iraq. 

Casa Árabe and the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation, with the cooperation of the Sísifo Research Group of the Archeology Department at the University of Cordoba, have organized this conference given by Hugh Kennedy, SOAS - University of London.

This conference will focus on the history and topography of Damascus from the Byzantine period to the twelfth century. It will mainly deal with the importance of this city as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, the uprise of the Abbasid government and its negative effect on the city’s prosperity, as well as the later role played by the Seleucid dynasty. The changes in the urban street layout, the Umayyad mosque and the reconstruction of the first fortress will all be discussed. Last of all, it will deal with this historical city’s reality within the context of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. 

Conference information sheet 

Hugh Kennedy is a professor in the Near and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Department at the University of London. He is one of the most prestigious specialists in the medieval Islamic history of Europe and Asia. He is a member of the Center for Iranian Studies and the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He currently co-directs the project “Economic Integration and Social Change in the Islamic World System, 800-1000 CE” and has published a diverse range of historical studies which mainly revolve around the ancient territories of Syria and Iraq.

About six years after the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the ruler al-Hurr established the capital of Al-Andalus in Cordoba. In the mid-eighth century, Abd al-Rahman I managed to escape the massacre of his dynasty in the East and chose this city as the capital of an independent emirate, culminating with the proclamation of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba by Abd al-Rahman III in 929. In 936, this first caliphate would create a new city to its west: Madinat al-Zahra’. Later that same year, Almanzor would create another to the east, Madinat al-Zahira. 

Extensive neighborhoods containing palaces, vegetable gardens, orchards, homes, mosques, baths, cemeteries and more were developed around these three settlements, to a great extent unburied after hundreds of excavations completed over the last few decades. By studying these sites, we can now create a detailed overview of Umayyad Cordoba (in the eighth and ninth centuries), a city beyond compare for centuries in Europe and the Islamic West.

This conference will also deal with the complex co-existence between these important vestiges of the medieval metropolis and today’s city. Since the 1980’s, it has been difficult to find a good fit between past and present, often causing different conflicts over heritage sites.

The capital of Al-Andalus during the centuries of Umayyad power is a necessary point of reference in any studies on the city’s Islamic past. However, the focus of attention has revolved mainly around the most monumental remains and the testimonials found in documentary sources, including sites like the Aljama Mosque, or elements more greatly distorted by historiographical stereotypes, as is the case with the winding layout of the city’s old historical neighborhood. Beyond just these clichés, today’s city houses information of incomparable historical value about the evolution of urban society in Al-Andalus.

Many questions still remain unstudied, and many different viewpoints may be used to examine them. For instance, there is the decisive role played by the capital in the development of a fully Islamic urban landscape, sponsored by the milieus of Umayyad power, but with a notable role also played by private initiative. Then there is the change undergone in the city after the Umayyad caliphate fell. Answers can be found to many of these questions in currently existing, visible forms of evidence, provided that we look at them with the proper interest and use the information appropriately. 

The capital of Al-Andalus during the centuries of Umayyad power is a necessary point of reference in any studies on the city’s Islamic past. However, the focus of attention has revolved mainly around the most monumental remains and the testimonials found in documentary sources, including sites like the Aljama Mosque, or elements more greatly distorted by historiographical stereotypes, as is the case with the winding layout of the city’s old historical neighborhood. Beyond just these clichés, today’s city houses information of incomparable historical value about the evolution of urban society in Al-Andalus.

Many questions still remain unstudied, and many different viewpoints may be used to examine them. For instance, there is the decisive role played by the capital in the development of a fully Islamic urban landscape, sponsored by the milieus of Umayyad power, but with a notable role also played by private initiative. Then there is the change undergone in the city after the Umayyad caliphate fell. Answers can be found to many of these questions in currently existing, visible forms of evidence, provided that we look at them with the proper interest and use the information appropriately. 

About six years after the Muslim conquest of Al-Andalus, the ruler al-Hurr set up his capital in Qurtuba. It underwent its greatest expansion in the tenth century, by then the seat of the new Umayyad Caliphate of the West, creating a vast conurbation with the cities of al-Zahra’ to the west and al-Zahira to the east, which would last until the “fitna” or civil war in the early eleventh century.

The memory of this Umayyad Cordoba remained present in the collective mindset for centuries, with its ancient Aljama Mosque as an obvious icon for the city’s splendid past. However, the notable urban growth experienced by the city in recent decades –perhaps only comparable to that which occurred in “Qurtuba” itself during the tenth century– has also gradually revealed numerous interesting layers within that great megalopolis of Al-Andalus, generally unseen by tourists and unheard of by the people of Cordoba themselves, whose main point of reference continues to be the Mosque-Cathedral.

Finding a way to fit such extensive, important archeological heritage into today’s city has been a very complex task, above all since the 1980’s, often leading to conflicts over heritage sites, a topic that will be dealt with at this conference. 

About six years after the Muslim conquest of Al-Andalus, the ruler al-Hurr set up his capital in Qurtuba. It underwent its greatest expansion in the tenth century, by then the seat of the new Umayyad Caliphate of the West, creating a vast conurbation with the cities of al-Zahra’ to the west and al-Zahira to the east, which would last until the “fitna” or civil war in the early eleventh century.

The memory of this Umayyad Cordoba remained present in the collective mindset for centuries, with its ancient Aljama Mosque as an obvious icon for the city’s splendid past. However, the notable urban growth experienced by the city in recent decades –perhaps only comparable to that which occurred in “Qurtuba” itself during the tenth century– has also gradually revealed numerous interesting layers within that great megalopolis of Al-Andalus, generally unseen by tourists and unheard of by the people of Cordoba themselves, whose main point of reference continues to be the Mosque-Cathedral.

Finding a way to fit such extensive, important archeological heritage into today’s city has been a very complex task, above all since the 1980’s, often leading to conflicts over heritage sites, a topic that will be dealt with at this conference. 

While the history of Cairo has been well-known in Arab and Latin sources, the archeology of Cairo has remained practically terra incognita. We have no archeological evidence form the Abbasid cities of al-Askar and al-Qatai, and our knowledge about the urbanization and layout planning of the Fatimid city has essentially been handed down to us by historians on the basis of the writings of Maqrizi. If to this we add a theoretical model developed by historians, we end up with a biased archeological viewpoint of the city, limited to just the excavations in the ancient city of Misr-Fustat. Therefore, the excavations by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the French Institute of Archeology have provided an incipient, innovative body of knowledge on medieval Cairo that may be destroyed at any time by modern construction and corrupt businessmen. 

Sabra al-Mansuriya is a paradigmatic example of how the caliphal dynasty founded a city, in this case designed to house both the State apparatus and all of the economic and social activities which fell under its control. Built in 947 by the third Fatimid caliph, Al-Mansur, it was this Shia dynasty’s second capital, erected across from Kairouan –the ancient metropolis of Ifriqiya– in a situation comparable to that of Madinat al-Zahra’ and Cordoba. When the court left it behind to take up residence in Cairo (founded in 972), the city was left under the command of the Zirid governors, who ushered in its era of greatest splendor. Nevertheless, this city lasted little more than a century, having been destroyed by the Banu Hilal in 1057. We shall attempt to recreate its brief history on the basis of written sources and the most recent excavations. A highlight will be placed on the complex relationship that existed with its neighboring city of Kairouan, concluding with the problems which have arisen in the city’s preservation today, in what constitutes a typical environment of twenty-first century urban development. 

After the founding of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750, a new capital became necessary: Baghdad (762), near the Sassanid city of Ctesifonte. This city is extensively described in texts, but nothing from the original city has been preserved. The earliest monuments preserved date back to the thirteenth century, including the Madrasa Mustansiriyya and other similar buildings. Its initial layout was based on a circular design of the governmental city, an innovation for the era, surrounded by large unfortified suburbs. Though we know little about early Baghdad’s architecture and urban planning, it can be understood through the well-preserved vestiges of the second Abbasid capital: Samarra (836-892). The ruins there maintain practically the full city layout, the arrangement of which can be seen, as can the wonderful architecture of the Al-Mutawakkil Mosque, with its famous spiral minaret. Today, these remains have suffered the effects of war and economic development, but a good portion of the site in Samarra endures.

Alastair Northedge is an archeologist and Islamic art historian of British origin. He is a professor of Islamic Archeology at the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne and a member of the Orient and Mediterranean Laboratory (UMR 8167): Medieval Islam. He was the director of the Council for British Research in the Levant. He is the main specialist in the study of the Archeological Site of Samarra in Iraq, one of the most extensive archeological sites in the world, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with regard to which he has co-directed the project “The Samarra Archaeological Survey.”

Including the Almoravids, the city’s founders, four of the six great dynasties that have ruled Morocco made Marrakesh their capital, either permanently or temporarily. Although it was the southernmost of the places known as the “Imperial Cities,” neither its architecture nor its urbanism can be defined as Saharan, contrary to the commonly purported clichés. However, despite lying amid natural surroundings that are quite unfavorable, in principle, it has ended up becoming a privileged place in which the tribal Berber substrate has been enriched with contributions from Al-Andalus and the Middle East, giving the city its own unique personality. In this brief review of Marrakesh’s urban history, we will be concentrating on the time when the city was founded and the first two stages within its growth, the Almoravid and Almohad periods (11th-12th centuries). We will also examine under what conditions this wealthy historical heritage has been preserved and to what extent it has been integrated into the city’s current promotion of tourism, and therefore into the city’s economic life.

In the late eighth century, Idris bin Abd Allah created Madinat Fas, on the right bank of a river bearing the same name. At the beginning of the ninth century, his son strengthened this city as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty, creating another town on the left bank of the river (809). 

For two centuries, Fez preserved both centers of population, one facing the other in constant rivalry. In the late eleventh century, the Almoravid emir, Yusuf ben Tashufin, did away with this duality, uniting both areas behind one single city wall and building a citadel at the top. Years later, the Almohads besieged Fez for a long period of time, until in 1145 they managed to enter it, harshly punishing the city, then destroying its citadel and walls, which the Almohad caliph al-Nasir would have rebuilt in 1212. 

In the middle of the same century, the Merinid dynasty conquered Fez, making it their capital city while creating a new duality by founding the “new Fez,” Fez Al-Jadid, an area dedicated mainly to the court and government, whereas the old Fez concentrated on handicrafts and trade. 

Today Fez is a lively city of great importance in religious and cultural affairs. It is the third largest city in Morocco and one of those most visited by tourists. It is a UN World Heritage site with a rich historical past forced to live side-by-side with its intense modern life.

This conference, to be held at the Casa Árabe headquarters in Madrid, closes the series dedicated to the great capitals of the Islamic world. 

In the late eighth century, Idris bin Abd Allah created Madinat Fas, on the right bank of a river bearing the same name. At the beginning of the ninth century, his son strengthened this city as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty, creating another town on the left bank of the river (809). 

For two centuries, Fez preserved both centers of population, one facing the other in constant rivalry. In the late eleventh century, the Almoravid emir, Yusuf ben Tashufin, did away with this duality, uniting both areas behind one single city wall and building a citadel at the top. Years later, the Almohads besieged Fez for a long period of time, until in 1145 they managed to enter it, harshly punishing the city, then destroying its citadel and walls, which the Almohad caliph al-Nasir would have rebuilt in 1212. 

In the middle of the same century, the Merinid dynasty conquered Fez, making it their capital city while creating a new duality by founding the “new Fez,” Fez Al-Jadid, an area dedicated mainly to the court and government, whereas the old Fez concentrated on handicrafts and trade. 

Today Fez is a lively city of great importance in religious and cultural affairs. It is the third largest city in Morocco and one of those most visited by tourists. It is a UN World Heritage site with a rich historical past forced to live side-by-side with its intense modern life.

In the late eighth century, Idris bin Abd Allah created Madinat Fas, on the right bank of a river bearing the same name. At the beginning of the ninth century, his son strengthened this city as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty, creating another town on the left bank of the river (809). 

For two centuries, Fez preserved both centers of population, one facing the other in constant rivalry. In the late eleventh century, the Almoravid emir, Yusuf ben Tashufin, did away with this duality, uniting both areas behind one single city wall and building a citadel at the top. Years later, the Almohads besieged Fez for a long period of time, until in 1145 they managed to enter it, harshly punishing the city, then destroying its citadel and walls, which the Almohad caliph al-Nasir would have rebuilt in 1212. 

In the middle of the same century, the Merinid dynasty conquered Fez, making it their capital city while creating a new duality by founding the “new Fez,” Fez Al-Jadid, an area dedicated mainly to the court and government, whereas the old Fez concentrated on handicrafts and trade. 

Today Fez is a lively city of great importance in religious and cultural affairs. It is the third largest city in Morocco and one of those most visited by tourists. It is a UN World Heritage site with a rich historical past forced to live side-by-side with its intense modern life.