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Index / Activities / Conferences and debates / Between Desert and Oasis: Climate and water in medieval Darʿa
Between Desert and Oasis: Climate and water in medieval Darʿa
March 26, 20267:00 p.m.
CORDOBA
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9).
7:00 p.m.
Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish.
On Thursday, March 26 in Cordoba, Claudia Patarnello and Alba San Juan Pérez will be giving a new conference in the “Amazigh Spaces” event series, allowing us to understanding the transformation of the natural and human landscapes in this strategic location. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.
The Darʿa Valley, located in southern Morocco and crossed by the river of the same name, was a key region in the Middle Ages due to its strategic location, acting as a transit zone along trade routes, thanks to the fertility of its oases. The study of the urban layout and natural landscape of the Darʿa Valley in the Middle Ages and early Modern Age provides insight into the timelines of changes in its settlements—from the time when they were founded, through their agricultural development, to their decline.
By performing an analysis of medieval Arabic geographical sources, it is possible to understand the changes which this ecosystem has undergone from a the perspectives of climate and environment, as well as comprehending the human dynamics that have taken shape in this environment in terms of water management, agriculture and migration.
Moreover, we can observe how, in certain areas, persistent aridity and human activity have played a significant role in the transformation of the landscape, where both biodiversity loss and the onset of desertification have been detected.
This scientific outreach activity has resulted from the coordinated research project MAGNA II: “Transits and transformations in Maghreb space and population” (TRAMAGHIS. PID2021-122872NB-C21 and DIANA. PID2021-122872NB-C22), funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF. A Way to Make Europe.
Claudia Patarnello holds a Ph.D. from the University of Salamanca in the field of Arabic and Islamic Studies, with an international distinction and an outstanding achievement award. Her research focuses on studying climate and environmental changes in the Islamic West from a diachronic perspective. She has authored several articles, some of the most recent of which are: “Resilience and Adaptation of the Maṣmūda to a Challenging Climate: The case of Sūs al-Aqṣà,” published in Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos’s Arab-Islam section, 74 (2025: pp. 85-101); “Maghreb al-Aqṣà and Al-Andalus: A shared history of climate, famine and epidemics,” published in Arqueología y Territorio medieval (accepted for publication) and her doctoral thesis, which is currently being evaluated, Morocco Memory of climate and earth.
She is currently a member of the research team for the project “Transformations of the Maghreb Region from a Historical Perspective” (TRAMAGHIS) and a member of the research project “Transits and Migrations in North Africa: Diachronic Analysis of the Population and Its Environment (DIANA),” which forms part of the coordinated research project “Transitions and Transformations in Maghreb Space and Population” (MAGNA II).
Alba San Juan Pérez is a professor and researcher at the University of Salamanca’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies. Her research has focused on Arab-Islamic historiography and the history of the medieval Islamic West; among her major contributions, she has addressed the issue of water in the medieval Maghreb and the Sahara from a historiographical perspective. She has authored several works, which include her doctoral dissertation titled “Water in the Maghreb al-Aqṣà (eighth-fourteenth centuries): The configuration of inhabited and transit spaces.”
She is currently a member of the research team for the project “Transformations of the Maghreb Region from a Historical Perspective” (TRAMAGHIS) and a member of the research project “Transits and Migrations in North Africa: Diachronic Analysis of the Population and Its Environment (DIANA),” which forms part of the coordinated research project “Transitions and Transformations in Maghreb Space and Population” (MAGNA II).
By performing an analysis of medieval Arabic geographical sources, it is possible to understand the changes which this ecosystem has undergone from a the perspectives of climate and environment, as well as comprehending the human dynamics that have taken shape in this environment in terms of water management, agriculture and migration.
Moreover, we can observe how, in certain areas, persistent aridity and human activity have played a significant role in the transformation of the landscape, where both biodiversity loss and the onset of desertification have been detected.
This scientific outreach activity has resulted from the coordinated research project MAGNA II: “Transits and transformations in Maghreb space and population” (TRAMAGHIS. PID2021-122872NB-C21 and DIANA. PID2021-122872NB-C22), funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF. A Way to Make Europe.
Claudia Patarnello holds a Ph.D. from the University of Salamanca in the field of Arabic and Islamic Studies, with an international distinction and an outstanding achievement award. Her research focuses on studying climate and environmental changes in the Islamic West from a diachronic perspective. She has authored several articles, some of the most recent of which are: “Resilience and Adaptation of the Maṣmūda to a Challenging Climate: The case of Sūs al-Aqṣà,” published in Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos’s Arab-Islam section, 74 (2025: pp. 85-101); “Maghreb al-Aqṣà and Al-Andalus: A shared history of climate, famine and epidemics,” published in Arqueología y Territorio medieval (accepted for publication) and her doctoral thesis, which is currently being evaluated, Morocco Memory of climate and earth.
She is currently a member of the research team for the project “Transformations of the Maghreb Region from a Historical Perspective” (TRAMAGHIS) and a member of the research project “Transits and Migrations in North Africa: Diachronic Analysis of the Population and Its Environment (DIANA),” which forms part of the coordinated research project “Transitions and Transformations in Maghreb Space and Population” (MAGNA II).
Alba San Juan Pérez is a professor and researcher at the University of Salamanca’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies. Her research has focused on Arab-Islamic historiography and the history of the medieval Islamic West; among her major contributions, she has addressed the issue of water in the medieval Maghreb and the Sahara from a historiographical perspective. She has authored several works, which include her doctoral dissertation titled “Water in the Maghreb al-Aqṣà (eighth-fourteenth centuries): The configuration of inhabited and transit spaces.”
She is currently a member of the research team for the project “Transformations of the Maghreb Region from a Historical Perspective” (TRAMAGHIS) and a member of the research project “Transits and Migrations in North Africa: Diachronic Analysis of the Population and Its Environment (DIANA),” which forms part of the coordinated research project “Transitions and Transformations in Maghreb Space and Population” (MAGNA II).
© Nacho Rubiera.