Archéologie - Fondation Max van Berchem

ARCHEOLOGIE / ARCHAEOLOGY

PRADINES Stéphane / BALESTRA Fabien

Abstract

This report presents the results of an archaeological mission done in the Maldives archipelago located to the south-west of India, in the Indian Ocean. Thanks to a grant from Max van Berchem Foundation in November 2017, we carried out archaeological excavations and surveys as well as collected oral traditions on two Maldivian sites, the Fandiyaaru Mosque and Koagannu Cemetery in Hulhumeeddhoo town on Addu Atoll and the Friday Mosque of Fenfushi on Alifu Dhaalu Atoll. Two outcomes were expected from our mission: first, to provide new scientific data on the coral mosques of the Maldives in order to improve the chances of success of nomination of the mosques on the World Heritage List of UNESCO; then to support the conservation project of the Maldivian government and international organisations such as UNESCO and the World Monuments Fund (WMF). One major question during our excavation was the continuity of the settlements from pre-Islamic cultures and influences from Buddhist architecture on local Islamic architecture.

Introduction

This report presents an area totally ignored by Islamic archaeology, the Maldives. The Maldives archipelago is located to the south-west of India, in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is made up of atolls, or groups of 1,196 islands, 200 of which are inhabited (Fig. 1). The Maldives has between 180 and 200 khuṭba (Friday) mosques, which equates to practically one mosque per island (Forbes, 1983: 67–8; Reynolds, 1984). The Maldivian mosques differ greatly from their Indian counterparts. Except for two or three examples (including the one in Malé, the capital city) the Maldivian mosques do not have minarets. The mosques are not oriented strictly towards Mecca as per the norms of Islam and the orientation of the qibla wall at 12.5° north-west is incorrect. Maldivian mosques do not have a niche for the miḥrāb and sometimes not even a miḥrāb, something that is very unusual for a mosque. However, the uniqueness and best feature of Maldivian mosques is probably their building material, the sea coral.

Figure 1 Map of the Maldives and the six monuments selected for the current UNESCO listing, plus one site unlisted and excavated © Stéphane Pradines 2017

The first settlers in the Maldives were migrants who came from Kerala in the fifth or fourth century BC. These migrants were followed by people from Sri Lanka. Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka circa 250 BC and probably in the Maldives circa 200 BC. The first phases of settlement ended at the beginning of the first millennium (Forbes, 1983: 43–4). Buddhism was firmly established in the Maldives between the first and second centuries. Islam was introduced to the Maldives by merchants coming from the Malabar Coast between the seventh and eighth centuries (Forbes, 1983: 47). The Maldives has been integrated into the Muslim trading system since the ninth century and it was influenced architecturally by cultures all around the Indian Ocean, such as Yemen, Hormuz, Oman, Persia and India, as well as Gujarat and the Deccan Plateau. It was not until the twelfth century that Islam became the main religion of the Maldives. According to tradition, most of Maldivians converted to Islam in 1153. The people broke the idols, razed the temples to the ground and adopted Islam (Bell, 1940: 16–18, 203–4).

In January 2017, as an expert in Islamic architecture in the Indian Ocean, I (Pradines) was invited by UNESCO, the Department of Heritage of the Maldives and the World Monuments Fund (WMF) to participate in a workshop on the coral mosques of the Maldives. During the UNESCO workshop, one major question emerged about the date and chronology of Maldivian coral mosques, but also their relationships, continuity or influences with Buddhist architecture, the predominant religion before Islam in the region. Today, all the Maldivians are Muslims and there is no more Buddhist community.

In November 2017, we started an archaeological project in the Maldives, with the Aga Khan University (AKU) in partnership with the Heritage Department of the Maldives and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), with the support of the Max van Berchem Foundation and UNESCO New Delhi. Our main objective was to fill the lack of data related to the Maldivian coral mosques history by carrying out archaeological excavations and surveys as well as collecting oral traditions. Our scientific work was important to create a corpus that could serve the needs of the Maldivian government, UNESCO and the WMF for conservation purposes and to add the Maldivian mosques to the World Heritage List.

Two sites have been selected for our first mission. The first site was the Fandiyaaru Mosque and Koagannu Cemetery in Hulhumeedhoo town on Addu Atoll. This major archaeological site of the Maldives is very well known for its tombs and mosques. Unfortunately, in 2017, this site was not yet part of the list of proposed sites nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List. According to local tradition, the Fandiyaaru Mosque was founded in 1586 and the monument is believed to be the earliest coral stone building in the country. The cemetery compound is the largest of the Maldives, comprising three other small mosques, 15 mausoleums and 500 coral tombstones. This important Maldivian site, located in the southern atoll, was the perfect place to explore the uniqueness of the ancient Maldivian mosques. The second site was the Friday Mosque of Fenfushi on Alifu Dhaalu Atoll, which was renovated between 1692^[1] and 1701 during the reign of Sultan Mohamed of Dhevvadhu on the site of an earlier mosque built by Kalhukamanaa and which is still in use today. According to very long-standing oral tradition, the mosque is surrounded by a pre-Islamic structure with a huge Buddhist bathing tank. The traditions of the lacquer work and woodturning Maldivian crafts originate in this island too. Our mission in Fenfushi was also to implement the previously created map and to survey the relationship between the Buddhist pre-Islamic settlement and the Islamic settlement.

Two outcomes were expected from our mission. We aimed first to provide new scientific data on the coral mosques of the Maldives in order to improve the chances of success of nomination of the mosques on the World Heritage List; then to support the conservation project of the Maldivian government and international organisations such as UNESCO and the WMF. We organised archaeological test pits to provide a chronology for the Maldivian mosques that were never previously scientifically investigated and to see if some structures predated the mosques and Muslim cemeteries. One major question was the continuity of the settlements from pre-Islamic cultures and influences from Buddhist architecture on local Islamic architecture. Secondly, we introduced and created the first field school of Islamic archaeology of the Maldives, to train the staff of the Heritage Department in this specific discipline.

Koagannu Cemetery, Hulhumeedhoo Island (Addu Atoll)

Our first fieldwork took place 3–13 November 2017 on Hulhumeedhoo Island, Addu Atoll, which is located in the most southern part of the Maldives (Figs. 1 and 2). Our excavations were conducted in Meedhoo City within the Koagannu Cemetery’s enclosure. Hulhumeedhoo is not on the UNESCO Tentative Heritage List despite the fact that this site is considered to be the oldest and largest cemetery in the Maldives with 500 coral tombstones and 15 mausoleums.

Figure 2 Plans of Addu Atoll and Hulhumeedhoo Island © Stéphane Pradines 2017

The cemetery is surrounded by a modern cement wall and located next to the beach to the north of the island (Fig. 3). The current enclosure is much larger than the old cemetery as can be seen on our plan. The orientations of the contemporary enclosure wall and the graves of the cemetery are also different – this point is significant to understand the restructuration of the site during the twentieth century. During our survey we did the first inventory of the visible burials by counting the tombstones (Figs. 4 and 5). The cemetery is divided by clusters of large parallel rectangles of small vertical stones. In these clusters there are individual tombs simply made of two tombstones, one above the head and one above the feet of the buried individual. Others are family enclosures with several graves. Three groups of tombs can be distinguished according to three spatial patterns including complex funerary enclosures and individual graves. A minimum of 650 graves has been recorded, with 223 belonging to the first cluster, 282 to the second and 145 to the third. Many tombstones are located along the same alignment as the walls delimiting the compounds and these tombstones might not be in situ but may have been reused. Numerous walls and mausoleum podiums have been reused either to partially or entirely build new graves. This reutilisation of tombstones and mausoleums demonstrates the use of the cemetery on the longue durée until the present day. Some tombs to the east of the Fandiyaaru Mosque are surrounded by large blocks with very fine mouldings but it is difficult to say if they originate from Buddhist monuments or if they were created later. The largest tombstones are located to the north-east of this mosque, which forms the centre of the funerary compound. According to local traditions, the biggest tomb in the cemetery was, apparently, the oldest. Another important funerary enclosure stands near the Fandiyaaru Mosque and, according to local tradition, the tombs in the enclosure are the graves of Hassan Didi and his wife, Khadija Manika, and date from the eighteenth century. The enclosure is made of spolia from an old mosque or an old tomb. The enclosure n^o3 protects two tombs with openwork stele of a regional type known only to the south of the Maldives. Some funerary enclosures are more characteristic than the others, such as the enclosure n^o7 with a large grave; the enclosure n^o14 with a beautiful carved podium; the enclosure n^o15 surrounded by high walls; the enclosure n^o24 with large stelae; and, of exceptional quality, the enclosure n^o59 with large carved mouldings and five or six tombstones within the enclosure.

Figure 3 Compound of Koagannu Cemetery in Hulhumeedhoo Island © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 4 Plan of the compound of Koagannu Cemetery in Hulhumeedhoo Island © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 5 Plan and elevation of the great tomb, Koagannu Cemetery © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Originally, six small mosques were built in the funerary compound, but only four remain (Fig. 4): Koagannu Mosque (1397), Boadha Mosque (1403), Athara Mosque (1417) and Fandiyaaru Mosque (1586). Each mosque has its own ablution well. The mosques of the cemetery are oriented to the west, and not strictly oriented towards Mecca and their qibla walls face west 30°4’. According to the inhabitants there were originally six mosques; however, fifty years ago, two mosques were destroyed, and their wells backfilled. The cemetery is still used today, and a funeral took place during our excavations; when people dug the grave, they found a sill of a coral mosque not far from a depression corresponding to a well, which allowed us to locate one of the missing mosques.

Only the mosque n^o2 is still in use today, probably because of the Sheikh Yusuf Gadir al-Yamani Saniany mausoleum next to it. According to his nisba, Sheikh Yusuf could have been from Sanʿaʾ in Yemen. Other traditions (Carswell, 1975–7, 1976) indicate that he was more likely of Moroccan origin or even Shirazi. Apparently, he arrived in the Maldives in the twelfth century. Near the mosque n^o2 and the tomb of the saint, a long metal pole is standing, and it had been used to weigh babies that were weak or ill. The weights of the babies were then exchanged in food offerings such as bananas and other fruits for Sheikh Yusuf’s blessing and protection.

After a survey of the site, we decided to do three test pits on two of the four mosques (n^o1 and n^o3). A first test pit was set up on the north-west corner of the qibla wall of Boadha Mosque (mosque n^o3) and a modern extension of the mosque. The trench’s location was thought to provide relative chronology between the two structures. The excavations were finally stopped after the discovery of some stones indicating a burial pit behind the qibla wall. The layer 4 contained Chinese ceramics sherds for the European market.

According to oral tradition, the Fandiyaaru Mosque is the oldest mosque of the compound. So far it is the best-preserved mosque of the cemetery (Figs. 6 and 7), with no restoration; no modern rendering or cement was added to the primitive structure except for a modern veranda built all around the mosque by the end of the twentieth century. The presence of the still-preserved fine plaster on the lower mouldings of the podium demonstrates that Maldivian mosques were all covered with a fine, white gypsum rendering, which allowed the coral to retain all its freshness and original whitish colour.

Figure 6 Fandiyaaru Mosque, Koagannu Cemetery © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 7 Elevation of the western façade of Fandiyaaru Mosque, Koagannu Cemetery © Stéphane Pradines 2017

A small minaret or minār is located next to the mosque (Figs. 8 and 9). In the Maldives, the minaret is not connected to the mosque. This is a small tower with seven steps plus a small platform for the muezzin (72 × 69 cm). The staircase measures 2.64 × 1.1 × 1.64 m. A rectangular socket in the last step indicates most likely the presence of an original wooden balustrade. The minaret was also used as an outdoor minbar, because of the size of the prayer room, which is too small to accommodate more than a dozen people. The outdoor prayer space is confirmed by the presence of a large open area to the east of the Fandiyaaru Mosque; the rest of the cemetery being densely occupied with tombs located all around the other mosques.

Figure 8 Minaret of Fandiyaaru Mosque, Koagannu Cemetery © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 9 Plan and north section of test pit 2 showing its relationship with the Fandiyaaru Mosque © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Our second test pit was by far our largest and deepest excavation on the site, and it was in front of the main entrance of the Fandiyaaru Mosque (mosque n°3) where a large empty prayer space was available to support an open area’s archaeological investigation. The 5 × 3 m excavation reached a depth of 1.32 m and possibly descending to as far as 1.42 m in the south-east corner up to the water table. The pit was parallel to the eastern side of the modern veranda up to a step to the north and encompassing, to the south, a coral stone partially visible on the surface. Our third test pit was a 1.6 × 1.2 m rectangle located in the north-west corner of Fandiyaaru Mosque to the junction with the modern veranda extension (202) towards the east; incorporating a small part of the western side of the mosque (Figs. 10 and 11). The purpose of this test pit was to confirm the stratigraphy from the test pit n°2 and to locate the varuaa kan, a pot with offerings traditionally buried to the north-west corner of the Maldivian mosques (“varuaa” meaning spiritual gift and “kan” meaning corner).

Figure 10 Plan of the Fandiyaaru Mosque and location of test pit 3 © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 11 Test pit 3, Fandiyaaru Mosque © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Five phases of occupation from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries have been identified on the site of Koagannu Cemetery (Fig. 12).

Figure 12 Stratigraphic diagram of Koagannu Cemetery © Stéphane Pradines 2017

First, the site was occupied before the construction of Fandiyaaru Mosque. The 30 cm thick organic layers (SU 210=308^[2]) reveal an important human activity and occupation through the presence of large amounts of very tiny charcoal inclusions, the occurrence of four seashell species with cooking fire marks and a possible coral structure (AU 307). Although we cannot be sure whether this phase was definitely related to a Buddhist or a pre-Islamic period or even an early Islamic period, a generic denomination was adopted when referring to phase 1, that is, the pre-mosque period. There is no evidence that this phase was a Buddhist occupation layer, or even a religious site. However, there is no doubt that, whoever those people were and wherever they came from, they arrived on a virgin land without any earlier human occupation, as they settled directly on the natural sandy substratum (SU 211).

The second phase (SU 209=306) is almost sterile of anthropic material. This level could have been a temporary abandonment of the site, a natural disaster (tsunami), a change in human activity and use of the land, or simply a backfilling and levelling of the area before the construction of the mosque. The presence of one Indian carinated rim piece of pottery suggests that phase 2 dates back to the fifteenth century. The second phase ends with the layer SU 205 in front of the main entrance of Fandiyaaru Mosque and the layer 303 in its north-western corner. Finally, the three subcircular pits (SU 206, 207 and 208) were the last activity recorded for phase 2.

Phase 3a corresponds to the construction of Fandiyaaru Mosque during the sixteenth century. The foundations AU 305 (4.04 × 3.68 × 0.2 m) were made of one single course of sandstone blocs (Fig. 13). The whole structure rests on a stepped platform. This 19 cm high rectangular coral podium has four moulding steps: the lowest and largest one forms a 3.83 × 3.34 × 0.08 m rectangle, whereas the uppermost and smallest one measures 3.21 × 2.7 × 0.03 m. Above it, the first course of the wall measures 3.21 × 2.7 × 0.09 m and has only 29 cm of its height visible from the ground surface. The façade walls of the mosque were built with five courses in dry masonry, without any binding agent, nor lime mortar, and the walls have an elevation of 1.78 m. The upper part of the structure is made up of wooden intertwined elements and so carpentry supports a modern tin roof. In the past, Maldivian mosques were covered with palm leaves roofing. Moreover, the presence of a well and a pathway are linked to the construction of the mosque, but it is difficult to tell whether the footpath was used to connect the mosque up to the door entrance. Phase 3b shows that people needed to increase the prayer area to accommodate as many worshippers as possible. The two parallel walls (AU 204), 10.08 m apart and 1.28 m away from the eastern side of the mosque, cut the layer 205 that is dated to the sixteenth century. It is possible that the construction of the minaret belongs to either this phase or to phase 3a. Our study of the building construction phases shows that at least two of the Koagannu mosques were most probably built in a single phase during the sixteenth century.

Figure 13 South section of test pit 3 and its relationship with Fandiyaaru Mosque’s basement © Stéphane Pradines 2017

The grave 107 behind the qibla of Boadha Mosque seems to be a good marker of the fourth phase. The burial site may date to the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries based on the materials found in the layer 105, and three fragments of a Chinese porcelain dish made for British market. A similar complete dish is stored in the archaeological museum’s collection in Malé. Although the excavation did not provide any further insight into this phase, most of the tombs in the cemetery must be dated from phase 4 based on the stratigraphy. And, therefore, the mosques predate the cemetery and most of the tombs were built during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Most of the old mosques in the Maldives were renovated between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with new roofs, lacquer works and qibla extensions. The Koagannu mosques were not renovated, maybe because they were too far south of Malé, the political centre of the sultanate. Perhaps it is because the Koagannu mosques were not renovated in the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries that they have been seen as the oldest of the Maldives. It is their simplicity and their small size that encouraged previous specialists to consider them as “older” (Jameel, 2016: 98, 120–31).

Phase 5 is well characterised by the construction of a modern veranda AU 202 built around three sides of Fandiyaaru Mosque. The cement verandas with metallic tin roofs were only added to the four Koagannu mosques in the late twentieth century. The mosques remain a religious attraction nowadays, fuelled by the local traditions surrounding them. The mosque n°2 is still in use today, mainly for prayers and worship directly linked to the mausoleum of a saint, that of Sheikh Yusuf.

To conclude our mission in Hulhumeedhoo, we organised a survey of the island on 9 November 2017. Three ancient mosques, which are still in use, have been inventoried on our map and they are perfectly aligned on an east–west axis, south behind the site of Koagannu Cemetery (Fig. 2). This axis is particularly interesting; it seems that the mosques delineate the size of the old settlement and it is also in this area that all the old houses of the island are located. The Friday Mosque of Meedhoo, Meedhoo Hukuru, is located in the middle of the village to the south of Koagannu Cemetery. To the east stands the Stadium Mosque or Arube Mosque and to the west a small mosque called Londi Kede Mosque. Three old tombstones were found during some works that were carried out in the street next to the Londi Kede Mosque on 4 November 2017. Finally, the most important discovery of our survey was to inventory a very old mosque located to the south of the island in Hulhudhoo village and probably contemporaneous with the mosques of the Fandiyaaru Cemetery. This small, ruined mosque is located in a cemetery adjoining the Hulhudhoo Hukuru Mosque (0° 35’ 43.3” S, 73° 13’ 37.0” E). It is also in this area that Bell (1940: 138–55) discovered the Buddhist stones that were reused to make the new pier in the harbour. The ancient Hulhudhoo Mosque confirmed that the whole island was densely occupied and the two villages, Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo, had their own separate great mosques that date back to the beginning of the Islamisation in Addu Atoll.

Aasaary Mosque, Fenfushi Island (Ari Atoll)

The second site that we surveyed and excavated was Fenfushi Island in Ari Atoll (Fig. 14). During our mission from 16 to 23 November 2017, we were able to dig two test pits on the Friday Mosque, known as Aasaary Mosque.^[3] We were able to do an open-area excavation in an area that was not occupied by graves to provide information regarding the relationship between the Friday Mosque and the so-called Buddhist bathing tank (Figs. 15 and 16). This tank was said to have been built during the Buddhist era of the Maldives.

Figure 14 Plan of Alifu Dhaalu Atoll and Fenfushi Island © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 15 Aasaary Mosque compound on Fenfushi Island © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 16 So-called Buddhist bathing tank on Fenfushi Island © Stéphane Pradines 2017

The large rectangular area excavated was located between the south-western side of the mosque, to the north of the well and the bathing tank’s entrance. Just above the ground surface we noticed some lines of stones that indicated a buried structure. The structure followed the same orientation as the mosque, and it was composed of two architectural elements (Fig. 17). The first one was a circular wall 30 cm thick (AU 102). The internal diameter of the structure was 2.85 m and the external diameter was 3.34 m. The wall was covered internally by two thick renders of 9 cm and 21 cm, respectively; this brownish hydraulic mortar was very strong, a mixture of lime made of fresh coral and charcoal. The excavation revealed a small staircase attached to the circular structure with a flight of seven steps leading to a modern brass tap at 82 cm beneath the ground surface. The water table started to emerge at the base of the stairs. The circular construction 102 was indeed a water tank used to store fresh water for the community. It is well known that the islanders of Fenfushi had water supply issues in the past, and at least two traditional water supply rain-fed cisterns were constructed.

Figure 17 Modern and ancient water tanks near Aasaary Mosque © Stéphane Pradines 2017

All the layers that we excavated were dated from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries due to the occurrence of modern rubbish, in particular fabric, plastic and aluminium, including a coke can. These evidences, and the presence of a modern brass tap, suggested that the building was built and used during the end of the twentieth century. This was confirmed by one of the eldest islanders who told us that the water tank was built in the 1980s to compensate for the lack of fresh water on the island. At the request of the Antiquity Department, we backfilled the old water tank for safety reasons.

The second excavation was a trench measuring 2 m long and 1.4 m wide located to the south-eastern side of the mosque, near the main entrance. This test pit was done in a corner, between the main podium supporting the mosque and the foundations of the main entrance of the mosque (Figs. 17 and 18). The upper layer excavated showed some fishing evidence: hooks, weights for fishing nets, fish bones in the layers SU 203 and 205. These hard, brownish sand layers contained fish bones, five fishing lead weights, three cowries and one piece of Chinese blue and white porcelain. Furthermore, eight identical lead fishing weights and one cowry were found within the layer 206 just below the SU 204. These occupation levels were not linked to the construction of the mosque and are all posteriors to the building. Under a level of soft, greyish-brown, fine sand covering the whole area of the test pit, we exhumed a destruction layer over a dark, blackish-brown sand layer 208 with many charcoals of large size. Three charcoal fragments were sent to Beta Analytic laboratory for a radiocarbon dating.^[4] The stratigraphic unit 208 is dated from circa 1538 to 1635, ± 30 years (Fig. 19). None of the earliest layers were disturbed because the layer 208 sealed all the previous archaeological levels.

Figure 18 Stratigraphic sections, test pit 2, Aasaary Mosque © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 19 Stratigraphic diagram of Aasaary Mosque, Fenfushi Island © Stéphane Pradines 2017

The foundation walls, with seven courses supporting the main podium and four courses supporting the staircase entrance, were built during the same period over one single course of sandstone beach-rock of a different size, 4–5 cm long and 2–8 cm thick. According to Jameel (2016: 50–3), the veligaa or beach-rock was always used as foundations on one course for all the Maldivian mosques. But the sandstones that we found in Fenfushi did not correspond to the layout of the actual mosque. The old building is not positioned under the main entrance of the modern mosque. The mosque of Fenfushi was built on a previous building made of sandstone. This older building had been built on the current mosque’s location. The existence of this previous building was proved after the excavation of the layers SU 208, 210 and 211, revealing another architectural structure (AU 209) upon which the foundations of the present mosque (202) were established. This older structure was composed of four well-cut white beach-rock (Fig. 20) and then covered by the modern mosque’s central podium’s basement. Under the levels SU 212 and 213, we exposed another course of this foundation wall (AU 214). The second course of the first building’s substructure, composed of five white, thin beach slabs, was excavated up to a level where the earliest and the deepest stones (three in total) had been found in the layers 217 and 218 at a depth of 82 cm. We stopped our excavations at the water table.

Figure 20 Aasaary Mosque compound and extended archaeological area with Kuda Mosque © Stéphane Pradines 2017

During our stay in Fenfushi, we interviewed several elderly people of the island, according to whom the ancient bathing tank was given to the community by Sultan Mohamed Dhevvadhu (r. 1692–1701) as a royal gift to support the community and provide fresh water to the inhabitants of Fenfushi. This information suggests, first, that the tank was not linked to a Buddhist phase and, second, that the tank was not linked to the construction of the mosque. The “rediscovery” of a very similar modern structure, a rainwater tank built in the 1980s, to store and provide fresh water for the islanders supports the idea of an Islamic water tank and not a Buddhist bathing tank. Subsequently, the so-called old Buddhist bathing tank should be interpretated as the first large water tank ever built on the island. Thus, the groundwater and rainfall enabled both water tanks to be filled even though there were also some wells located around the mosque.

Furthermore, the oral tradition mentions that the current mosque was also built during the reign of Sultan Mohamed Dhevvadhu above an earlier mosque which, it was said, had been constructed by one of the former royal couples of the region, Kalhukamanafaanu and her husband. Our second test pit revealed the foundations of a previous building under the actual mosque. Although it was not possible to give a date to this building due to the lack of datable material, this first mosque was destroyed circa 1538–1635, in other words about a century and a half before Mohamed Dhevvadhu’s reign. This information supports the hypothesis that the sultan did not demolish the first mosque but rather he wanted to rebuild this sacred place for the community. The sultan also cared about the well-being of his community, with the construction of a large water tank.

Nevertheless, the sultan might have had some political agenda behind his public generosity.

He might have wished to reconnect his family with the large tombs built on the southern side of the old Friday Mosque. These tombs belong to Al-Wazeerul Haaju Hassan and his wife who was the King of Malé’s daughter. Again, according to tradition, Al-Wazeerul Haaju Hassan might also have built Kuda Mosque, which is located to the north-west of the Aasaary Cemetery in another funerary compound where, according to an official document, Faiykolhu, Kalhukamanaa’s son, Mohamed Mathukkalaa, was buried next to the Kuda Mosque. Our survey and our new plan reveal that the archaeological zone in Fenfushi needs to be extended to the north-west to include the graves next to the beach and the two mosques behind the football ground (Figs. 21 and 22). To the north-east of the modern mosque, which was built seventy-five years ago, seven rows of old tombstones were recorded. The old houses of the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, to the east of the Aasaary Mosque, also need to be added to the management and conservation plan.

Figure 21 Plan and section of the “old mosque,” Kuda Mosque site, Fenfushi Island © Stéphane Pradines 2017

Figure 22 Old sandstone mosque near Kuda Mosque © Stéphane Pradines 2017

In conclusion, our excavations and survey in Fenfushi enabled us to understand the true function of the so-called Buddhist bathing tank with the excavation of a similar modern structure. We were able to establish a relative chronology of the Aasaary Mosque’s construction and the existence of an earlier building underneath. Our investigation showed that both structures were separated by a destruction/reconstruction layer that was possible to date precisely. Thus, the Aasaary site has a long history with six main occupation phases:

(i) the building of a first mosque;

(ii) its destruction circa 1538–1635;

(iii) the rebuilding of the mosque around the time of Mohamed’s reign;

(iv) the building of the huge water tank contemporary to the second mosque or posterior;

(v) the construction of the modern water tank circa 1980, and its destruction a few years later;

(vi) the old water tank and the mosque were protected by modern cement walls all around them in the late twentieth century. The walls surrounding the mosque and the bathing tank were built on 22 September 1997 according to an inscription engraved in the cement.

Conclusion

Our main objectives were to fill the lack of knowledge of historical data related to the Maldivian coral stone mosques by carrying out archaeological excavations, surveys, as well as recording local oral traditions.

Our major question was the relationship between the Buddhist monuments and the mosques by verifying the information published by Bell (1940: 198–204) and, later on, by Jameel (2016: 78–9) regarding the continuity or the influences of Buddhist architecture on local Islamic architecture. Our results served not only the scientific community but also the needs of the Maldivian government, UNESCO and the WMF for conservation projects and to add the coral mosques to the World Heritage List.

The site of Fandiyaaru in Meedhoo is a major archaeological site of the Maldives, well known for its large cemetery. The Fandiyaaru mosques were chosen first to add the southern Maldivian atolls and sites to the World Heritage List, and to document the relationship between the Buddhist and the Islamic occupation periods. In Hulhumeedhoo (Fandiyaaru Mosque) we created the first plan of the cemetery compound including the four mosques and the whole cemetery. Three test pits were dug around two mosques within the compound. Our major discovery was to contradict the stated fact that the site was built on a previous Buddhist site. We did not find any evidence of this, despite the indisputable fact that there was a Buddhist occupation on the island; instead, our excavations revealed that the Islamic site (mosques and cemetery) was not built on previous pre-Islamic buildings. Our excavations also revealed that the site was not as old as it was described by the oral tradition. The site does not date from the twelfth century but more likely from the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries. During our survey of Hulhumeedhoo Island, we discovered another old and small mosque to the south of the island. This ruined mosque was located in a cemetery adjoining the Hukuru Mosque in Hulhudhoo village. This mosque is extremely similar to the mosques in Fandiyaaru and it should be also protected by international and local authorities.

In Fenfushi, we implemented the map previously created by the Maldivian authorities. We added on the archaeological map another old mosque and a further modern mosque, including another ancient cemetery. Our plan will be extremely important in the future as it considerably enlarges the zone that needs to be protected. During our excavation of the Aasaary Mosque, we discovered the architectural remains of a previous mosque. This mosque was built before the sixteenth century according to radiocarbon dating on the charcoals in the destruction layer of the first building and prior to the construction of the second mosque. This date ties in well with local tradition and the epigraphic study of the cemetery tombstones (Kalus and Guillot, 2005) and the calligraphy used to decorate the second mosque. Our test pits also confirmed that there were no pre-Islamic settlements or Buddhist structures under the old mosque. This mosque was very similar to the old mosque found in the bush to the north-west of the main site. We excavated a modern cistern and this excavation enabled us to reinterpret the so-called old Buddhist bathing tank. No evidence was found to corroborate the interpretation of a pre-Islamic Buddhist bathing tank. In fact, our investigations suggest that the bathing tank was a water tank built by the sultan for the local community. Our archaeological excavations and surveys provided details of a complex history of the Fenfushi village probably with one or two old mosques made of sandstone between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries and then a second phase, after the sixteenth century, with a new mosque and a large water tank for the community; the cemetery enclosure wall was built later on.

Finally, our excavations to the north and the south of the Maldivian atolls produced very similar observations. We did not find any pre-Islamic structures under the old Maldivian mosques as expected. On the two sites that we investigated, the mosques were not built on Buddhist temples. Some test pits were dug in the Great Mosque in Malé by our colleague Mauroof Jameel and he did not find any evidence of previous pre-Islamic buildings. Our “non-discovery” helps us to gain a better understanding of the relationship between oral tradition, history, architecture and archaeology, which allows us to propose a new chronology of the Maldivian monuments and their relationship with previous religions and cultures. The Maldivian mosques have been strongly influenced by Buddhist architecture; however, according to our excavations, even though some of them might have reused some building material from previous pre-Islamic structures, the Maldivian mosques were not built on Buddhist temples. The coral stone mosques of the Maldives simply demonstrate a strong influence and continuity of Buddhist architecture on the local Islamic architecture.

^[1] All dates are AD/CE.

^[2] Archaeological layers are labelled “SU” for stratigraphic units, walls and built structures are labelled “AU” for architectural units.

^[3] Ari_Fenfu_M1 (Aasaary Mosque or Mosque n°1) S2‑208; Sector 1 (water tank) or Sector 2 (Mosque entrance).

^[4] Beta number‑484790, site reference Ari_Fenfu_M1_ S2_US208

Institutional partners

Aga Khan University (AKU)

Department of Heritage of the Maldives

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF)

UNESCO New Delhi

Max van Berchem Foundation

World Monuments Fund (WMF)

Acknowledgements

Maryam Azra Ahmed, Minister of State, Ministry of Education

Hawwa Nazla Zubair, Director General, Department of Heritage

Zaha Ahmed, Head Sector, Department of Heritage

Shaya Mohamed, Project Officer, Department of Heritage

Moe Chiba, UNESCO New Dehli

Major General Ahmed Shiyaam, Chief of National Defence Force

Major Ahmed Sharim, Commanding Officer

Mauroof Jameel, Architect

Team members

Stéphane Pradines, Professor of Islamic Archaeology (Aga Khan University)

Fabien Balestra, Self-contractor Archaeologist, Lab CG 94

Ibrahim Mujah, Department of Heritage

Mohamed Hassan, Department of Heritage

Ismail Ashraf, Department of Heritage

Mohamed Ushan, Warrant Officer, Military Engineer, MNDF

Shuaib Abdulla Didi, Corporal, Military Engineer, MNDF

Mohamed Ibrahim Aguu, Corporal, Military Engineer, MNDF

About the authors

Stéphane Pradines is an archaeologist and Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC), London. He was the director of the excavations of the Walls of Cairo (Egypt), the Fort of Lahore (Pakistan) and many other excavations in the Indian Ocean (Maldives) and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Comoros). He worked for more than twenty years on trading networks in the Indian Ocean, especially on the Swahili coast. He was involved in many conservation and heritage projects with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) and UNESCO.

Fabien Balestra received his MA from the University of Montpellier III and his MPhil in Commercial Archaeology from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. He is currently working as a junior archaeologist at the Department of Val-de-Marne (France). His research interest focuses on the Islamic world as well as the Aegean and the Egyptian Bronze Ages. He has contributed to many excavations in France, Egypt, Turkey, the Maldives, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia.

Bibliography

Bell, H. (1940). The Maldives Islands: Monograph on the History, Archaeology, and Epigraphy. 1st ed. Colombo: Ceylon Government Press; reprint (2002) Malé: Novelty.

Carswell, J. (1975–7). China and Islam in the Maldives Islands. Transactions Oriental Ceramic Society 41, pp. 119–98.

Carswell, J. (1976). Mosques and Tombs in the Maldives Islands. Art and Archaeology Research Papers 9, pp. 26–30.

Forbes, A. (1983). The Mosque in the Maldive Islands: A Preliminary Historical Survey. Archipel 26, pp. 43–74.

Jameel, M. (2016). Coral Stone Mosques of Maldives: The Vanishing Legacy of the Indian Ocean. Los Angeles: Gulf Pacific Press.

Kalus, L., and Guillot, C. (2005). Inscriptions islamiques en arabe de l'archipel des Maldives. Archipel 70, pp. 15–52.

Reynolds, C. (1984). The Mosques in the Maldives Islands: Further Notes. Archipel 28, pp. 61–4.

ARCHEOLOGIE / ARCHAEOLOGY

Summary
Madīnat az-Zahrāʾ was the capital of the 10th century Umayyad caliphate in al-Andalus and is today one of the most important sites of Islamic culture in the west. A five-year project is dedicated to the investigation of the Plaza de Armas, the main public square of the caliphal city. The aim of the field season 2017/2018 was the documentation and investigation of the Great Portico, which delimits the Plaza de Armas in the west and forms the façade of the caliphal palace. Seven phases of construction, use and destruction could identified, spanning the time from the foundation of the city in 936 or 940 to its destruction at the beginning of the 11th century and its subsequent demolition. Of particular interest are sediments from a period in which the portico was used a marble workshop. The documentation of the architectural fragments found during the excavation of the portico in 1975 was completed, furnishing further information on the original appearance of the portico, particularly the pavilion above the central arch. In addition, a geomagnetic survey was conducted in the area to the east of the Plaza de Armas, in order to study the eastern limit of the plaza. The dimension and structure of several buildings could be determined, including a second great portico.

Report of the second season of work at Madīnat al-Zahrā’
Madīnat al-Zahrā’ was founded in 325 AH/936 AD by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III as the capital of the western Umayyad caliphate. The city with its palaces, gardens, mosques and workshops quickly became the cultural center of the West, rivaling cities like Bagdad and Cairo in the East. Inhabited for less than a century, Madīnat al-Zahrā’ is today among the most important archaeological sites of the Islamic culture and is currently a candidate to be inscribed in the World Heritage list, placing it on the same level as Samarra’ and Historic Cairo.
Archaeological work has been conducted at the site for more than a century. Ricardo Velázquez Bosco (from 1911 to 1923), Félix Hernández Jiménez (from 1923 to 1975) and others brought to light the central area of the caliphal palace, including the famous Salón Rico. Comprehensive restauration work was carried out thereafter by Rafael Manzano Martos from 1975 to 1985. Antonio Vallejo Triano, director of the site from 1985 to 2013, lead a thorough reinvestigation and restauration of several building complexes, oversaw the construction of a well-equipped site museum and published a monumental book on the site.
Unlike the central palace area, little is known so far of the city and the subsidiary palaces of Madīnat al-Zahrā’. The aim of a new project is the study of the so called Plaza de Armas, a large public square to the east of the zone excavated to date. The plaza served as the main intersection between the palace and the city. To the west of the square lies the palace, to the south the congregational mosque of the city, to the east a so-far unknown building, possibly a secondary palace. The investigation of the plaza and its surrounding buildings offers new insights on how the caliph interacted with society and how this interaction developed over time.

Arnold photo 1 18

Fig. 1: Work at the Great Portico of Madīnat al-Zahrā’ in 2017 (photo F. Arnold).

Work at Madīnat al-Zahrā’ is currently conducted within the framework of an agreement signed between the Junta de Andalucía and the German Archaeological Institute in 2015. In May 2017 a five-year project (“Proyecto General de Investigación”) was approved by the Junta de Andalucía, with the aim of investigating the Plaza de Armas. The first season of field work was carried out in June and July of 2017, in collaboration with Alberto Canto García of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Geophysical work was conducted in October 2017, and additional work in the magazines of the museum was carried out in the spring of 2018. Participants were Felix Arnold, Alberto Montejo Córdoba (director of Madīnat al-Zahrā’), Alberto Canto García, Richard Colman and Ana Zamorano Arenas (archaeology), Klara Czarnitzki (topography), Heike Lehmann and Yoshifumi Yosuoka (architecture), Anja Heidenreich and Esther Engel (pottery), Tomasz Herbich and Robert Ryndziewicz (geomagnetic survey), as well as the students Christoph Fahrion, Wioleta Jablonska, Desiré Pérez Navazo, Tyler Perkins, Reinhard Stolle and Alejandro Ugolini Sánchez-Barroso.

Arnold plan 2 18

Fig. 2: Location of excavation trenches (drawing F. Arnold).

Documentation and excavation work in the Great Portico
The main objective of the second season of the project was the archaeological investigation of the western façade of the Plaza de Armas, which is occupied by a monumental portico. All architectural remains visible today were documented in detail and a total of 10 trenches were undertaken to investigate the original appearance of the portico and study its development over time (Fig. 1-2). Among the main results of the work is a further clarification of the building phases of the area, with implications for the site as a whole (Fig. 3). In addition important information was gained on the use of the portico, including sediments of a marble workshop.

Arnold plan 3 18

Fig. 3: Development of the palace façade (drawing F. Arnold).

Phase 1
From the time of the foundation of the site remains of an enclosure wall are preserved. The wall is only 1 m thick and built of ashlar masonry, in some parts combined with segments made of rubble masonry using volcanic rock. At this time Madīnat al-Zahrā’ covered an area of only 600 x 650 m, and comprised for the most part a large plantation. Historical sources suggest that al-Zahrā’ was at first designed as a recreational summer palace (al-munya) for the caliph, comparable to other such palaces in the area surrounding Córdoba. Some sources indicate 325/936 as the year of foundation, others the year 329/940.

Phase 2
The initial enclosure wall was intermittently reinforced by buttresses. Two large towers might indicate the location of an original entrance gate. A trench conducted this season to verify whether a gate actually existed here did not yield any results, however, since the original masonry is not preserved in the segment between the towers. Subsequently a gate was added further north and reinforced with additional masonry. Over time this secondary gate came to function as the principal entrance to the palace complex, probably to be identified as the “Bāb al-Sudda” mentioned in historical sources.

Phase 3
Only a few years later – certainly before the reforms begun in 339/950 – the original enclosure wall was reinforced in the north and east. The wall was now about 2.25 m thick and supplied on the outside in regular intervals with buttresses or small towers. To the north the enclosure was extended by 7 m and given a slightly divergent orientation. The reason was probably the construction of a new palace complex within the enclosure, possible in the area later occupied by the so called Salón Basilical. This building may have been roofed by the glazed tiles, which have been found in the debris below the floors of the subsequent Phase 4. The tiles were glazed in different colors (green, yellow, white and manganese) and probably formed a design on the roof. The identification with the famous cupola hall of Madīnat al-Zahrā’ is possible, which is said to have been constructed early on and dismantled after 949 on the advice of the scholar and judge Munḏir ibn Saʾīd.
On the eastern side the buttresses of the enclosure wall are not of equal size and placed at irregular intervals. To the north and south the buttresses are larger, comparable to those on the northern side of the enclosure. In the central segment – flanking the preexisting palace gate – the buttresses are smaller and spaced more closely. The intervals correspond to the walls of a building placed on the inside of the enclosure wall. The ground plan of the building resembles that of a palace hall, with a broad central hall flanked at either end by square side chambers. The ground floor appears to have served from the start as an entrance passage to the palace, however. Possibly a reception hall was located on the second floor, a motive found in many early Islamic palaces including several Umayyad “desert castles”, the round city of Bagdad and the Alcázar of Córdoba. The design of the outer façade of the hall, possibly with a central arcade and two flanking windows may have predetermined the location of the buttresses on the outside of the enclosure wall.
The reinforcement of the enclosure wall with buttresses and the refurbishment of the palace gate indicate a growing importance of Madīnat al-Zahrā’ as a caliphal residence. According to historic sources the mint and the caliphal workshops were moved to the site in 336/947-948, a clear sign that Madīnat al-Zahrā’ was now considered to be the capital of the caliphate. A congregational mosque had been constructed in 333/944-945, a prerequisite for Madīnat al-Zahrā’ to be considered a city (madīnat) apart from nearby Córdoba.

Arnold reconstitution 4 18

Fig. 4: Reconstruction of the central arch of the portico with the pavilion above (drawing F. Arnold).

Phase 4

Starting about 339/950 the palace buildings of Madīnat al-Zahrā’ were replaced by monumental structures including the Salón Basilical and in 342–345/953–957 the famous Salón Rico. At the same time a city wall was constructed, enclosing not only the palace area (qaṣr, Spanish Alcázar) but also the urban area, 750 x 1500 m in total. At this time the space in front of the existing palace gate (Bāb al-Sudda) was enclosed to form a monumental plaza of 114 x 150 m. To this end a more than 10 m high terrace wall was constructed to the south, facing the congregational mosque located on a lower level. The buttressed palace façade now functioned as the western side of this plaza. To open the façade of the palace to the plaza a huge pillared portico was constructed. Among the prototypes of the portico may have been the palace façade of Khirbat al-Mafjar near Jericho (West Bank).
This season the southern end of the portico was clarified. The façade of the portico turns out to have been asymmetrical, with a central arch marking the location of the preexisting palace gate, seven arches to the north and six arches in the south. The placement of the pillars appears to have taken into account the location of the buttresses of the existing palace façade, quite possibly because of the existing second story. Only in the north and the south additional buttresses needed to be added to support the cross arches of the new portico. Architectural elements found during the excavation in 1975 indicate the existence of a second story above the central arch in the form of a columned pavilion. The pavilion may have functioned as a mirador-like extension to the hall on the second floor of the existing palace (Fig. 4).
The portico now served as a reception area to the main palace of Madīnat al-Zahrā’ and as the starting point of an inclined passage leading to the new Salón Basilical. Along the back wall of the portico a high bench was constructed. Holes along the front edge of the bench indicate that the bench was used to dismount and fix horses, by visitors proceeding into the palace on foot rather than on horseback. For these visitors a side entrance was created to the north of the main gate. To the south a second side entrance gave access to a passage leading to the lower terrace of the palace, including the Salón Rico.
An excavation to the south of the portico brought to light a massive stone foundation (Fig. 6). The huge masonry probably served as the substructure for a ramp leading up to the portico from the level of the city. Whether this was the only access at this time to the plaza will have to be verified in a coming season.

Arnold photo 5 18

Fig. 5: Foundations discovered at the southern end of the portico (photo F. Arnold).

Phase 5
The bench built in Phase 4 along the back wall of the portico was enlarged in Phase 6. In the northern half of the portico this enlargement of the bench was placed on top of a sequence of sediments which had accumulated on the pavement of the portico and must therefore date from the time between the construction of the portico in Phase 4 and the extension of the bench in Phase 6. A test trench excavated this season indicates that the sediments consist exclusively of refuse from cutting of stone (Fig. 6). A rapid sequence of fine layers may be observed, each composed exclusively of one kind of stone – white marble, pink breccia, gray limestone and yellow breccia. The layers must originate from cutting these materials into shape to create architectural building elements such as column bases, shafts and capitals. Among the stone chippings remains of tools were found including polishing stones of hard stone (Fig. 7) and the tip of a metal pick. Bones of sheep may originate from the breakfast of the craftsmen.
In Phase 5 the portico thus appears to have been utilized as a workshop for high quality building elements. The restricted space within the palace and the high price of the materials used may explain the location of the workshop just outside the palace gate and in plain view of visitors. The portico furthermore provided shade for the craftsmen. For which building the elements created here were intended is not known. The Salón Rico comes to mind, which is the closest building in which all mentioned materials were used.

Arnold photo 6 18

Fig. 6: Sediments of a marble workshop on the floor of the portico (photo M. Pijuán).

Arnold photo 7 18

Fig. 7: Tools used in the workshop to polish marble (photo A. Ugolini).

Phase 6
Later – possibly during the reign of al-Ḥakam II (350–365/961–976) – some of the arches of the portico were closed. One reason appears to have been the construction of a new gate which provided directed access to the plaza from the north – important for visitors and possibly soldiers wishing to bypass the busy market street of Madīnat al-Zahrā’ to the south of the plaza and gain direct access to the palace gate from the outside. A ramp needed to be built in front the portico to connect the level of the plaza to the street outside the northern city wall. For this reason the three northern arches of the portico were blocked.
The documentation work carried out this season clearly shows that the southernmost arches of the portico were closed as well at this time. The objective appears to have been to create closed spaces inside the portico. The northernmost space appears to have been used as a stable, the one next to it as a latrine. Others appear to have been used as offices, however, and the creation of these offices may have been one of the main reasons for blocking the arches.
At least two such offices are preserved. To the north of the main gate lies a square chamber with benches along three sides. Visitors needed to dismount first, before entering the chamber. The second office was located inside the palace walls, at the southern end of the entrance passage. The square chamber communicated both to the entrance passage to the north and the portico to the east and thus served as a kind of intermediary zone between plaza and palace. A staircase outside the office allowed visitors to dismount more easily. On top of the staircase holes indicate that a wooden balustrade was constructed here along the front edge of the bench, and access to the bench could be closed by a wooden door.
Historical sources mention that both the chief of police (ṣāhib al-šurta) and the prefect (ṣāhib al-madīna) of the city had a seat (kursi) near the main gate of the palace (Bāb al-Sudda). The two preserved offices may be identified as the seats of these two officials – one to oversee the protection of this vulnerable point of access to the caliphal palace, the other to control the flow of visitors, and possibly to accept petitions addressed to the caliph.

Phase 7
In the northern half of the portico remains of a destruction layer of the portico are preserved. Aside from fallen stones, bricks and roof tiles parts of the burnt wooden roof construction were recovered. Some wood fragments found this season might originate from the boards of a flat ceiling, resembling those of the mosque of Córdoba. Large fragments of a thick concrete pavement indicate that the portico had a flat roof. The destruction layer probably dates from the time of the fitna, when Madīnat al-Zahrā’ was sacked in 399/1009 and 401/1010. Trenches originating from the subsequent dismantling of the stone masonry date from subsequent centuries.

Documentation of materials from the excavation of the portico in 1975
Another focus of this season was to complete the documentation and study of the materials recovered during the excavation of the Great Portico by Félix Hernández in 1975. More than 1.200 pieces of architecture have now been registered, photographed and described: Many have also been drawn to scale. The architectural elements provide essential information on the buildings on the second floor of the portico, including the pavilion above the central arch. Among these are 3 bases, 8 column shafts, 7 capitals (2 of Corinthian type, 3 of composite type and 2 of uncertain type), 19 imposts of different types, 7 voussoirs, 2 corbels and 4 merlons. The pavilion can now be reconstructed in detail (Fig. 4) and appears to have resembled the design of the gates of the mosque of Córdoba, with an arcade of 3 arches placed above a central gate. A comprehensive catalogue of all pieces related to the portico will be published together with the architecture of the portico.

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Fig. 8: Remains of door fittings found in 1975 (photo A. Ugolini).

In addition, 9 boxes of metal remains, 9 boxes of glass and 86 boxes of pottery have been registered and photographed. Interesting are remains from door fittings, which might derive from the gates of the portico. These include nails, some up to 40 cm long, as well as metal bands with large rivets which were used to hold the boards of the wooden doors together (Fig. 8). Most were found in the proximity of the southern side entrance and may derive from this door. The pottery dates for the most part to the second half of the 10th century, as would be expected. Some date to the Almohad period, however, and indicate a period of re-use for which no other evidence has been found so far.

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Fig. 9: Geomagnetic survey conducted in 2017 (photo Th. Herbich).

Geomagnetic survey
The aim of the coming season will be to investigate the building to the east of the Plaza de Armas. Areal images and previous surveys have pointed to the existence of a subsidiary palace in this area. An understanding of the character of this building is essential to interpret the nature of the plaza – whether it was a space located between two palaces – like the Bayn al-Qaṣrayn in Fatimid Cairo – or whether it was a public square outside the single main palace – like the mašwar of later capital cities.
In preparation of the excavation work to be conducted in the area in June and July 2018 a geomagnetic survey was conducted by Tomasz Herbich of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, supplementing the geoelectric survey conducted last season by David Jordan (Fig. 9). The geomagnetic image clearly shows the location a huge linear structure which delimits the plaza to the east (Fig. 10). The size and spacing of the walls are very similar to the great portico to the west, and it is very likely that these are the remains of a second great portico. The orientation differs slightly, however, and appears to follow that of the adjacent area of the city. The internal walls of the supposed palace to the east are less clearly visible on the geomagnetic image, possibly because the walls are covered by a thick destruction level. Only the excavations planned for next season can yield further information on this building.

Dr. Felix Arnold
German Archaeological Institute, Madrid

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Fig. 10: Geomagnetic image of the structures located east of the Plaza de Armas (Th. Herbich).

ARCHEOLOGIE / ARCHAEOLOGY

INSOLL Timothy

Summary

Excavations were continued at the Harlaa site near Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia in October 2016. Unfortunately, these had to be abruptly suspended because of the declaration of a State of Emergency by the Ethiopian Government. Prior to this, archaeological survey recorded an area of stone tombs, a cemetery, and a new area of Harlaa (medieval) housing. The stone tombs were formed of slabs of coralline limestone, potentially indicating Red Sea and/or East African coastal influences. The excavation unit begun in 2015 was expanded exposing sections of wall, a possible furnace, and an earth floor inset with a stone anvil or working platform. A wide range of bead types were recovered from this structural complex along with cowry and other shells, crucibles, mould fragments, local ceramics, and imported Chinese Celadon and glazed Middle Eastern pottery including Yemeni Mustard wares. The interpretation that this was a series of craft workshops, probably associated with jewellery production, was developed, and this was confirmed by further fieldwork completed at Harlaa in January to March 2017 funded by an ERC Advanced Grant.

The 2016 results have to be considered in conjunction with those from 2017 to indicate what has been achieved in totality. Five primary results that are of fundamental importance to understanding Islamic archaeology and medieval Islamic history in eastern Ethiopia (and the wider region) were achieved:

The occupation chronology at Harlaa, previously unknown, has been partially reconstructed based on secure AMS dates as covering the period from the third quarter of the first millennium AD to the late 13th-early 15th centuries AD.
The first date of Islamisation, based on the archaeological and epigraphic evidence, can be placed in perhaps the mid-11th, but more likely the mid-12th centuries AD.
The importance of long distance trade in the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean for the inhabitants of Harlaa was profound as attested by imported ceramics, glass, coins, beads, shells, and fish bones.
The transfer of ideas, beyond religious ones, appears also to have been equally significant (e.g. architecture, beadmaking), but whether this also involved the transfer of foreign craftspeople is as yet unclear.
The relationship between Harlaa and Harar, the pre-eminent Islamic centre in East Africa, is better understood. Based on the available AMS dates, Harar was established after Harlaa. Harlaa was apparently established during the latter half of the first millennium AD, and Harar by the mid-15^th century AD.

Detailed report

Introduction.

Following successful completion of excavations, surveys, and associated C14 dating in Harlaa in 2015 (Insoll 2015; Insoll, MacLean, and Engda 2016) a second field season was planned at the site between 28^th September and 27^th October 2016. This took place but, unfortunately, this fieldwork had to be interrupted because of the declaration of a State of Emergency by the Ethiopian Government on 12^th October 2016. Subsequently, although the State of Emergency remained in place, the normalisation of conditions in Ethiopia, meant that fieldwork in Ethiopia, including excavations in Harlaa, was again completed between 25^th January and 8^th March 2017. The latter was funded by a 4-year Advanced Research Grant received by Professor Insoll from the European Research Council (694254 ERC-2015-AdG BM).

This report describes the results achieved during the curtailed field season in October 2016 that was funded by the van Berchem Foundation. A short summary of the further results from early 2017 is appended to indicate what has been subsequently achieved and how the van Berchem Foundation funding has facilitated this. Significant data in relation to understanding settlement chronology, Islamisation, and international trade was obtained cumulatively from both the 2016 and 2017 fieldwork.

Harlaa – Background and 2016 Survey. (N09.48870˚ E041.90938˚).

Harlaa is a large ruined settlement located approximately 35 km northwest of Harar and 15 km southeast of Dire Dawa (Figure 1). Excavations in 2015 funded by the van Berchem Foundation, the first at the site, indicated its potential. These exposed part of a stone built mosque and a settlement area AMS dated to between the mid-12th to mid-13th centuries AD. Architectural parallels with the Red Sea and East African coast were apparent and trade goods recovered included Chinese porcelains, Islamic glazed wares and glass fragments, beads in various materials, and cowry shells (Insoll 2015; Insoll, MacLean, and Engda 2016).

Insoll plan 1

Figure 1. The location of Harlaa (map by N. Khalaf)

In 2016, archaeological survey allowed further delimitation of the extent of the Harlaa site and its various components (Figure 2). A new area of medieval ‘Harlaa’ housing was recorded (N09.48658º E041.90999º), formed of the corner of a house built of stone blocks laid in regular courses.

Insoll plan site 2

Figure 2. Plan of Harlaa (drawn by N. Khalaf)

The second result of survey was the identification of an area of stone tombs (N09.49078º E041.91149º) and a cemetery (N09.49060º E041.91092º) situated on the opposite eastern side of the main Dire Dawa road (Figure 2). These were first noted in 2015 but the co-ordinates and details of the sites were then unrecorded. The stone structures were formed of shaped coralline limestone slabs laid to form rectangular enclosures within a massive stone building constructed from partially shaped boulders. The use of coralline limestone is of interest as it was also recorded used in a precise context, the mihrab of a mosque previously excavated at Harlaa in 2015 (HAR 15 [A]) (Insoll 2015; Insoll, MacLean, and Engda 2016). The selective utilization of this material is further indicative of possible Red Sea and/or East African coastal influences where parallels for its use have been found in mosque contexts (cf. Fauvelle-Aymar et al 2011; Pradines and Blanchard 2016).

Harlaa – 2016 Excavations.

The unit begun in 2015, HAR 15 (B) was expanded in 2016 and given the code HAR 16 (A). The previous HAR 15 (B) unit boundaries of 2m x 2.5cm formed the northeast corner of HAR 16 (A) and the unit was extended to cover an area of 5m on the eastern axis, 5m on the southern, 3m on the western, and 4m on the northern axis. The available feasible area for excavation in the landowner’s garden dictated this unusual shape. Initially, the backfill of HAR 15 (B) was removed down to the level of the plastic sheeting inserted in August 2015 to protect the remaining archaeological layers (see Insoll 2015).

Attention was then focused on excavating the remainder of the area in the unit down to the same level as the base of HAR 15 (B). Arbitrary levels were used, as it was generally impossible to define the stratigraphy. All deposits were sieved through a 3mm sieve mesh, and soil samples were taken from each level. After clearing the surface plant cover, stones, and modern detritus, excavation began with the removal of the top 20cm of mid-brown soil (HAR 16 [A] 1). This was contaminated with some modern rubbish. The next 20cm of the same mid brown soil (HAR 16 [A] 2) again contained some modern material and exposed part of a stone built wall running diagonally northeast to southwest across the unit (*1). An area of rubble was exposed in the next 20cm layer (HAR 16 [A] 3). It was also evident that the modern contaminated garden soil had ended and there was a difference in the deposits north and south of the diagonal wall seemingly correlating with the respective interior and exterior of the building, with a lighter brown sandy matrix constituting the latter, and a mid to dark brown soil the former.

20cm of the mid-brown internal deposits were then excavated (HAR 16 [A] 4) which were significantly dustier in consistency than the previous level. The finds frequency increased with, for example, whole cowry shells, many backs from cowry shells, Chinese Celadon sherds, part of a mould, a crucible fragment, and carnelian and wound glass beads recovered (Table 1). The rubble noted in the previous level continued and was found to be a stone structure associated with a small area of burnt charcoal, possibly a furnace. Two small lengths of wall (*2, 3), one L-shaped were also recorded in the southwest of the unit running northwest to southeast (Figure 3), and another section of wall (4) running adjacent to *1.

Removal of 20cm of the exterior deposit (HAR 16 [A] 5) indicated this differed with a yellow sandy matrix revealed. This continued down in a second 20cm level excavated in the same area (HAR 16 [A] 6) and a distinct lens of charcoal was encountered and sampled for C14 dating. A short section of stone wall (*5) was also found running north south and continuing into the eastern trench wall. Excavation was then continued inside the building with a further 20cm of mid brown dusty matrix removed (HAR 16 [A] 7). Large quantities of faunal remains were present in this context, a characteristic also noted in HAR 15 (B) 6, a comparable stratigraphic layer recorded in 2015 (see Insoll 2015). The rubble comprising the putative furnace was removed and a C14 charcoal sample was taken from directly below this feature. Another small length of stone wall (*6) running on the same northwest to southeast orientation as *2 and *3 was found.

The space between walls *2, *3, and *6 was then excavated with 20cm of a different yellow grey sandy soil removed (HAR 16 [A] 8). Wall *6 was found to continue for approximately 200cm across the unit. The final layer removed before the excavations had to be suspended was of the same yellow grey sandy deposits in the same area (HAR 16 [A] 9). Fragments of a floor formed of more compacted earth deposits and largely visible in the section was found at the top of this layer at approximately 103cm from surface level. A charcoal sample for C14 dating was taken from below the floor. A stone anvil or working platform was also found set into this floor (Figure 3), and a bronze coin, identification pending cleaning, was recovered from this level. The excavation was then suspended for reasons already described.

Insoll fouilles 3

Figure 3. HAR 16 (A) with numbered and/or named structural features

Archaeological Material from HAR 16 (A)

The quantities of archaeological material recovered from HAR 16 (A) are listed in Table 1.

Material	Quantity
Glass fragments	68
Beads	310
Slag pieces	4
Glazed pottery sherds	27
Modified potsherds	2
Shells (whole and pieces)	146
Cowry shell backs	278
Shell ring	1
Metal fragments	24
Bronze/copper coins	1
Crucible fragments	12
Lithic artifacts	11
Grinding stones	7
Obsidian flakes	31
Stone vessel fragments	1
Worked bone	1
Glass bracelet fragments	2
Mould fragments	1
Plaster fragments	1
Yellow ochre pieces	7
Human tooth	1
Unidentified objects	2
Bone	28 bags
Locally made pottery sherds	2530

Table 1. Archaeological material from HAR 16 (A)

The range of archaeological material recovered is significant. A wide range of bead types is present in both stone and glass and there is evidence for bead making through, for example, a piece of glass rod (raw material) and a mis-shapen black glass sphere (HAR 16 [A] 4), and partly worked quartz pebbles (HAR 16 [A] 9). Shell working is also attested though whole and half cowries and numerous cowry backs that have been cut off to allow the cowry shell to be sewn, strung, or otherwise attached to an object (Figure 4). Other as yet unidentified marine shells and shell fragments were also recovered which, along with part of a shell ring with a flat bezel, further indicate on site shell working. Whilst metal artifacts were not numerous, the slag, mould fragments and crucibles, including an almost complete example in coarse grey clay (Figure 4), along with charcoal deposits and the possible furnace structure suggest metalworking on a small scale perhaps in relation to fine detailed work connected with jewellery production.

Insoll objets 4

Figure 4. Crucible, cowry shells, and modified Celadon sherd from HAR 16 (A)

The glazed ceramics, glass vessel fragments and some of the beads (for example faceted red carnelians of probable Gujarati provenance) indicate participation in international trade through Red Sea and Indian Ocean routes, as also evident in 2015 (Insoll 2015; Insoll, MacLean, and Engda 2016). Glazed ceramics include both Chinese Celadon and Yemeni Mustard wares and other as yet unidentified Islamic glazed wares. Some of the Celadon sherds appear to have been repurposed, as with an example from HAR 16 (A) 3 where a sherd was seemingly intentionally squared, perhaps to make a bead or ring inset (Figure 4). A piece of long bone with a circular section cut from it (HAR 16 [A] 3) indicates another industrial or craft activity. The quantity of faunal remains recovered, some burnt, particularly from HAR 16 (A) 7, may also link to industrial or craft processes as an source of fuel. At Al-Basra in Morocco unmodified bone was used as a forging fuel in medieval Islamic contexts (Benco et al 2002: 455).

Harlaa 2016 in Context: Harlaa 2017 Excavation Summary and Update

The 2016 results have to be considered in conjunction with those from 2017 to indicate what has been achieved in totality. Building upon the curtailed 2016 fieldwork, comprehensive survey was completed and excavation was focused on 2 sites in 2017; the HAR 15 (B)/HAR 16 (A) structural complex and the area of tombs identified in 2016.

Topographic Survey.

Dr Nadia Khalaf completed a full topographic survey of Harlaa using a differential GPS (Figure 2).

Excavation of Structural Complex.

The excavations were extended to encompass an area of c.7 x 6 x 8 x 4m. New features that were exposed including a stone floor, further stone walls, a deep pit where excavation was terminated for safety reasons at 2.5m below ground level (with additional archaeological deposits remaining that will be excavated in 2018), and post holes and hearths (Figure 5). The function of the complex was confirmed as a series of craft workshops, almost certainly associated with jewellery production, which were superimposed one upon another. Five further AMS dates were obtained from this unit ranging between the third quarter of the first millennium AD through to the mid-13^th century AD. A significant assemblage of material was again recovered.

Insoll excavations 5

Figure 5. View of the HAR 17 (B) excavations.

Excavation of Tombs and Cemetery.

A double burial in the tomb complex identified in 2016 was excavated. This was formed of two skeletons buried one above the other within a rectangular structure made of slabs of coralline limestone (Figure 6). Both burials, based on the absence of grave goods, their position, lying on their sides, and orientation, east to west, were Muslim. The lower burial predated the upper with their respective AMS dates being the mid-13^th century AD (lower) and mid-14^th to mid-15^th centuries AD (upper). A third burial was excavated in a cemetery that was suffering from erosion, leading to the exposure of the human remains. This was oriented in the same way and was AMS dated to the mid-12^th to mid-13^th centuries AD. Objective 2 was achieved.

Figure 6. The double burial (HAR 17 [C])

Post-Excavation Analysis.

The recording of the 2017 ceramics is complete, and the analysis of the 2015/2016 ceramics is in progress as part of a PhD project by Mr Nicholas Tait. The faunal and archaeobotanical remains have been transferred to their respective analytical specialists, Dr Veerle Linseele and Dr Alemseged Beldados. Dr Linseele will be completing further analysis of the faunal remains at the ARCCH laboratories in Addis Ababa in late 2017. Professor Insoll has inventoried all small finds in an Excel database and analysis of these is proceeding. Objectives 5 and 6 were achieved.

Conclusions

Although the 2016 fieldwork had to be terminated abruptly due to unforeseen circumstances, the results achieved have contributed significantly to the cumulative total of knowledge. Since research began at Harlaa in August 2015, five primary results have been achieved that are of fundamental importance to understanding Islamic archaeology and medieval Islamic history in eastern Ethiopia (and the wider region):

The occupation chronology at Harlaa, previously unknown, has been reconstructed based on secure AMS dates as covering the period from from the third quarter of the first millennium AD to the late 13th-early 15th centuries AD. A chronology apparently encompassing both the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods.
The first date of Islamisation, or at least the presence of Muslims at Harlaa, based on the AMS dates of the mosque (mid-12th to mid-13th centuries AD), the AMS dates of the Muslim burials (mid-12th to mid-15th centuries AD), and one previously recorded dated funerary inscription, possibly bearing a date equivalent to c.AD 1048-57 (Schneider 1969: 340; Zekaria 2003: 21; Chekroun 2011: 79 ; Bauden 2011) can be placed in perhaps the mid-11th, but more likely the mid-12th centuries AD.
The importance of long distance trade in the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean for the inhabitants of Harlaa was profound. This is attested by imported ceramics, glass, coins, beads, shells, and fish bones.
The transfer of ideas, beyond religious ones, appears also to have been equally significant. Technological transfer is manifest by aspects of architecture, notably the use of coralline limestone in the mihrab and tombs, and heat-altered carnelian, rock crystal, and glass bead-making. Whether this also involved the transfer of foreign craftspeople will be an aspect of future research through isotopic analysis of samples of human remains recovered.
The relationship between Harlaa and Harar, the pre-eminent Islamic centre in East Africa is better understood. The chronological differences between the two sites suggest that Harar was established after Harlaa. Harlaa was Harlaa was apparently established during the latter half of the first millennium AD, and Harar by the mid-15^th century AD as indicated by the earliest of the AMS dates (PAL 14 [A] 7) previously obtained from the city (Insoll, Tesfaye, and Mahmoud 2014).

References

Bauden, F. 2011. Inscriptions Arabes d’Éthiopie. Annales Islamologiques 45: 285-306.

Benco, N.L. et al. 2002. Worked Bone Tools: Linking Metal Artisans and Animal Processors in Medieval Islamic Morocco. Antiquity 76: 447-57.

Chekroun, A., Fauvelle-Aymar, F-X., Hirsch, B., Ayenachew, D., Zeleke, H., Onezime, O., and Shewangizaw, A. 2011. Les Harla: Archéologie de Mémoire des Géants d’Ethiopie. (In), Fauvelle-Aymar, F-X., and Hirsch, B., (eds.), Espaces Musulmans de la Corne de l’Afrique au Moyen Âge. Paris: De Boccard, pp. 75-102.

Fauvelle-Aymar, F-X., Hirsch, B., Bernard, R., and Champagne, F. 2011. Le Port de Zeyla et son Arrière-pays au Moyen Âge. (In), Fauvelle-Aymar, F-X., and Hirsch, B., (eds.), Espaces Musulmans de la Corne de l’Afrique au Moyen Âge. Paris: De Boccard, pp. 27-74.

Insoll, T. 2015. Archaeological Survey and Test Excavations, Harlaa, Dire Dawa, and Sofi, Harari Regional State, Ethiopia, August 2015. Fieldwork Report. University of Manchester (for the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Ethiopia).

Insoll, T., MacLean, R., and Engda, B. 2016. Archaeological Survey and Test Excavations, Harlaa, Dire Dawa, and Sofi, Harari Regional State, Ethiopia. A Preliminary Fieldwork Report. Nyame Akuma 85: 23-32.

Insoll, T. Tesfaye, H., and Mahmoud, M. S. 2014. Archaeological Survey and Test Excavations, Harari Regional State, Ethiopia, July-August 2014. A Preliminary Fieldwork Report. Nyame Akuma 82: 100-109.

Pradines, S., and Blanchard, P. 2016. Songo Mnara. Étude Architecturale d’une Ville Swahilie Médiévale. Taarifa 5: 9-33.

Schneider, M. 1969. Stèles Funéraires de la Région de Harar et Dahlak (Éthiopie). Revue des Études Islamiques 37: 339-43.

Zekaria, A. 2003. Some Remarks on the Shrines of Harar. (In), Hirsch, B., and Krupp, M. (eds.), Saints, Biographies and History in Africa. Frankfurt AM: Peter Lang, pp. 19-29.

ARCHEOLOGIE / ARCHAEOLOGY

ISLAMIC CERAMICS FROM AL-BALĪD (OMAN), AN INTERNATIONAL TRADING PORT ALONG THE INDIAN OCEAN

Introduction

The archaeological site of al-Balīd/al-Baleed, UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000, is located in the Dhofar region, southern Oman, 5 km east of Salalah. It most probably corresponds to the ancient city port Ẓafār and played a major role in the Indian Ocean long-distance trade network during the Islamic period (at least from the 13th until the 17th-18th century CE).

It consists of an impressive walled settlement (1600 x 400 m) on the Ocean littoral; extensive suburbs existed north and west (Fig. 1). The Husn is among the most prominent and important buildings (Fig. 2). It is a large fortified structure, roughly square in plan (ca 60 x 60 m), located in the western part of the walled site, very close to the congregational mosque. It has been interpreted as the residence of the local ruler, his family, and staff. From 2015 new archaeological research work and excavations, led by Dr Alexia Pavan (Omani Office of the Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs), concentrate on it. The study of the ceramic material so far collected is the focus of the proposed project, started in 2017 with two field campaigns (October-November 2017, March-April 2018). A total amount of 12.605 specimens were already classified and analysed. The research project has a multidisciplinary approach: besides the archaeological study of the pottery corpus, archaeometric analyses and an ethnoarchaeological work are carried out in parallel.

Fusaro fig 1

Fig. 1. The site of al-Balīd in the year 2012 (Newton, Zarins 2014: fig.1), with the location of the Husn.

Methodology

The work in the field consisted in collecting data through the direct examination and the classification of the ceramic material. The main features of the items were carefully described and reported on forms, specifically created for this project: forms for the macroscopic description of the Fabrics, examined with the naked eye and a 20X magnifying lens; forms for counting and describing sherds within each stratigraphic unit. An inventory of items has been created to represent all the ceramic wares identified within the corpus: they are numbered (“SU,inv.no.”) and described. Non-diagnostic items, i.e., those specimens exclusively belonging to the local wares which do not give sufficient information on form, decoration or surface treatments, are counted for a statistical analysis of the main fabric groups of the local pottery.

A system of codes providing convenient labels has been developed for the wares and related features (shaping and decorative techniques, colours, coatings, surface treatments); the labels, keywords or abbreviations, are combined to have an almost complete description within a unique code. A parallel system of key names has been improved for the fabrics, offering a simple but precise idea of their main features. Both systems highly simplify the data entry.

A complete graphic and photographic documentation of all the assemblages, smaller groups and inventoried items has been produced. The drawings on paper are processed and digitalised through the Adobe Illustrator software. The morphological typology is still under construction.

All the data so far collected will be transferred in an online relational database (see below). A comparative analysis with ceramic corpora from other archaeological sites is ongoing.

Archaeological contexts and stratigraphic/chronological sequence

Several activities occurred in the Husn in the two past centuries – previous archaeological investigations since 1930 (Albright 1982: 59) and related restoration works, the collection and appropriation of building material by local people in modern times –; they had inevitably changed and disturbed the original stratigraphy of some areas. For this reason, a careful selection of archaeological contexts within the fortified structure has been undertaken: the research work has focused on the ceramic material coming from the most reliable areas and rooms which remained untouched, sealed, and whose stratigraphic sequence can be followed deeply.

The selected contexts are located in many areas throughout the building. In this way, it will be possible to compare the stratigraphic sequences, and the phases of construction, occupation, and transformation of the contexts, in order to recognise different uses of the space and different periods in which areas and rooms were constructed, used and eventually transformed.

The selected areas are (Fig. 2):

rooms A31-A33, and the larger room underneath, located in the north-western portion of the building; rooms A31 and A33 are divided by a transversal wall.
room A2, located in the south-eastern portion of the building, just behind the large monumental staircase related to the southern entrance; it consists of an upper room whose mortar floor, lying on wooden pillars related to the roof of a lower room, completely collapsed and disappeared in ancient time.
room A5, just behind the south-eastern perimeter wall and the related corner tower
the central-eastern area, which remains untouched by previous activities; SU 83 and 100 are two accumulation layers, just under the top surface, whose abundant ceramic assemblages appear homogeneous and undisturbed.
a trench in the central-southern area, just north of room A47: SU 101 is a layer mainly composed of plaster fragments and pieces of broken bricks and mud bricks; it is covered and sealed by a mortar floor, possibly interpreted as the floor of a central inner courtyard.
a sequence of rooms lean just against the eastern wall of the perimeter of the Husn. The function of the rooms is still unclear; however, a possible use as stables has been proposed. In the northernmost rooms A52 and A57, a longer stratigraphy has been brought to light. An eastern gate probably existed in this part of the perimeter walls.

Fusaro fig 2

Fig. 2. The Husn (© Bill Eisenberger, 2012), with the indication of the areas considered in this project (elaboration A. Fusaro)

The analysis of the ceramic assemblages within each stratigraphic unit and context and the comparative analysis of the assemblages are allowing establish a comprehensive sequence for the Husn, identifying archaeological phases and proposing chronological attributions.

The most useful chronological markers are the imported items. Nonetheless, well-defined assemblages of local pottery associated with these imports are being outlined, thus helping to reconstruct the chronological sequence.

Even if a more in-depth analysis is ongoing, the preliminary pottery study suggests a sequence of at least five archaeological phases, from the 14th until the 17th/18th century (Table 1):

room under A31/A33, room A2 and room A5 existed and were occupied before or at least during the 14th-15th century: indeed, the ceramic material from the related fillings (see below) gives a terminus ante quem for the use of these rooms and the movement within the first floor of the palace; an eastern entrance of the palace was still in use at that time, as well as the rooms (stables?) located outside the Husn, along the eastern wall (A52-A57).
The larger room under A31/A33, rooms A2 and A5, related to the first floor of the building, were all intentionally filled; moreover, a large opening in the eastern perimeter wall, probably one of the main entrances of the palace, was intentionally closed with a stone wall (M96) obstructing the passage. The study of the ceramic material from the fillings found in each room (SU 43=61, 22=19=18 and 10 respectively) as well as from the filling just below wall M96 (SU 125) suggests a same chronological phase for these important architectural transformation activities. The intentional filling of the rooms, at least in the western and southern parts of the palace, and the obstruction of the eastern entrance were probably made to prevent the movement in the first floor of the palace, to raise the level of the building, and probably to create a more solid defensive system. As the pottery associated is dated to the 14th-15th centuries, this important change occurred not before the 15th century.
The fillings SU 106, 105 and 112 (and also possibly the abundant deposit/debris above them, SU 73) excavated in the exterior rooms (stables?) A52 and A57 have very similar ceramic assemblages to those found in the above-mentioned layers. They suggest that the obstruction of these exterior rooms occurred not before the 15th century. As SU 106 and 112 just lay above two good-quality mortar floors (106, 112), they mark the end of these rooms, which were in use probably before or during the 14th-15th century.
• Room A33 was probably used for the production of gunpowder and other weapons; the filling layer found inside the room (SU 56) suggests a dating for the use of the room around the 15th-16th century.
SU 83, 100, 101: they have very similar ceramic assemblages dated at least to the 17th century and represent the latest occupation phases of the Husn. Especially the stratigraphic context of SU 101 gives several interesting information. First, at least some of the latest structures were built from bricks and mudbricks walls, covered with plaster; these construction technique and materials differ from the most common ones used throughout the Husn, i.e., cut stones; second, also after the collapse of those structures, the area was still occupied, as a mortar floor was made above the debris of the brick walls.
The collapses of stone walls (SU 48 and 17=3), excavated in rooms A31/A33 and A2 respectively, testify one of the latest phases of the Husn, probably connected to its abandonment: the related ceramic material suggests a dating after the 17th-18th century.

Table 1. Archaeological contexts and suggested chronological phases based on the pottery study

The pottery corpus: an overview

The pottery corpus from the Husn analysed in this first year totals 12.605 sherds and more complete items, attributed to a timespan between the 14 th and the 17 th /18 th centuries.

Most of the items collected during the excavations belong to local productions. We have also found a small number of sherds possibly related to regional manufactures. A considerable amount of imported items has been collected.

Local Wares

The local production is the best represented within the corpus. All specimens are unglazed and hand-made; most of the vessels seem to be fired using an open fire.

With the label 'local', we suggest that they could have been produced in an area around al-Balīd, possibly the Salalah plain. Indeed, even if no pottery kilns or proper wasters have been found until now, the massive amount of these ceramics leaves no doubt to the existence of production in the area, as also suggested by information collected with the ethnoarchaeological investigation.

To guarantee continuity with previous preliminary studies on ceramics from al-Balīd (Yule and Muhammed 2006, Franke-Vogt 2002, Zarins and Newton 2012), the terms used by the other scholars for the local pottery have been maintained. In addition, these groups and the related fabrics have been better defined, and associated with specific functional categories; sub-groups have been created according to the quality and thickness of the specimens.

Shell temper ware: mainly cooking pots and jars; it comprises two sub-groups. Shell 1: coarser fabric, almost exclusively cooking vessels; Shell 2: finer fabric and thinner body walls than Shell1, it also comprises small storage containers, other kitchenware and tableware.
Grit temper ware: Two sub-groups are included. Grit 1: kitchen vessels related to food preparation, cooking, and storage (bowls, pots, a few jars, large thick trays); very coarse fabric, the surfaces are often left unfinished. Grit 2: less coarse fabric, better finished and decorated surfaces; possibly used for preparing and serving food, and for storage (bowls, pots, jars; Fig. 3).
Red ware: tableware and small storage jars; fine fabric; bowls and small bowls, dishes, jugs and jars, a few pots; well-finished and frequently decorated surfaces (Figs. 4-5).
Dot-and-circle ware: Its name derives from the principal motif stamped or rouletted on the vessels: a dot in a circle. The motif is common in objects of different materials spread in the Arabian peninsula and the Gulf area, and its use is related to a wide time span. Only in Dhofar, the motif started to be used on pottery. The morphology mainly comprises globular pots and inturned bowls, but also small and medium jars (Fig. 6). The preliminary stratigraphic analysis suggests that this ware circulated at al-Balīd until the 14th/15th century. A typology is starting to be outlined, according to the decorative, morphological, surface, and fabric features of the specimens.

Fusaro fig 3

Fig. 3. Local ware. Hemispherical bowl, Grit temper ware 2, inv.no. 105,3; red painted decoration

Fusaro fig4 5

Fig. 4. Local ware. Inturned bowl, Red ware, inv.no. 22,455; red slip, polished surfaces Fig. 5. Local ware. Jar, high neck, Red ware, inv.no. 83,8; burnished surfaces, red painted decoration

Fusaro fig 6

Fig. 6. Local ware. Globular pot and jar with handles, Dot-and-Circle ware, inv.nos. 43,59 (a) and 73,48 (b); dot-and-circle motifs, incised lines, shell impressed segments

From the preliminary stratigraphic analysis, evolution and change in technology, morphology and fashion have been detected for each local group, with at least two main stages within the chronological range considered. Moreover, it emerges that even in the latest stages the local manufacture was still very active, especially in producing fine tableware.

It is worth noting that a preliminary comparative analysis testifies some similarities between local vessels of the Grit ware and items from Sharma and Yadhghat, southern Yemen (Rougeulle 2007).

Regional productions

A distinct small group of vessels has been recovered: they are interpreted as regional manufactures, possibly produced in Dhofar (Fig. 7). They resemble the local wares in many aspects, thus suggesting similar tradition, but they are made of different fabrics, whose raw materials could come from other supply areas, and whose recipes (mixing and proportion of clay and temper) change.

The regional productions so far identified are three: the ‘reg-grit’ fabric ware, closely resembling the red ware; the ‘grit-angular’ temper ware, a local or regional manufacture exclusively recovered in the uppermost and latest levels; the mica/steatite temper ware, possibly produced in the Taqah-Mirbat area or alternatively Southern Arabia (Pavan 2017: 30-31).

The archaeometric and ethnoarchaeological works will lead to specifying their production centres.

Fusaro fig 7

Fig. 7. Regional ware, imported items. Fabrics related to the regional productions: from left, ‘Reg-Grit’ ware, Mica/Steatite temper ware, ‘Grit-angular’ temper ware

Imported Items

A remarkable quantity of imported items was collected in all the layers examined, thus testifying that al-Balīd was a very active port until the 17th-18th centuries. Imports are more abundant in the earlier layers; nonetheless, the presence in the latest levels of painted porcelain from China and fine stonepaste vessels from Iran testifies that the population still demanded high-quality products.

The imports are associated with 38 fabrics identified so far, along with four whose provenance is still uncertain. According to the preliminary analysis of their most prominent features and a preliminary comparative analysis with other ceramic corpora, it has been possible to suggest the provenance areas for many of them. High-quality items mostly come from China, Iran, and Egypt.

Northern Oman?: Bahla/Khunj monochrome green-brown glazed ware, possibly from the centres of Bahla (Oman) or Khunj (Iran); suggested dating for al-Balīd: 15th/16th-18th centuries (Fig. 8).
Yemen: A large number of Yemeni imports, of a modest/medium quality, circulated at al-Balīd throughout the timespan considered. They are glazed wares (Yemeni Yellow, Tihama, turquoise monochrome, turquoise and yellow bichrome wares, Haysi coffee cups and pipes, possibly some underglaze painted bowls) but there are also unglazed vessels (some shows close resemblance with pots, jars, and jugs from the Zabid area, Ciuk Keall 1996: pl. 95/12, 14,17, 41) (Fig. 9).

Fusaro fig8 9

Fig. 8. Regional ware. Fragments of monochrome glazed large bowls, Bahla/Khunj ware; SU 100
Fig. 9. Regional ware. Small pot, inv.no. 73,61; unglazed, white slip, incised decoration; probably from Yemen

Arabian Peninsula: two Julfar closed vessels (U.A.E.) from latest layers; a few hand-made coarse vessels with abundant vegetal/chaff temper possibly from southern Arabia (Whitcomb 1988: 186).
Gulf area: A few unglazed large pots and jars made of dark red compact coarse fabrics, some showing ribbed surfaces; monochrome green-turquoise glazed conical bowls (Persian blue speckled ware?) (Fig. 10). Some evidence point to a possible Iranian origin for these wares.

Fusaro fig 10

Fig. 10. Regional ware, imported items. Conical bowl, monochrome turquoise ware, inv.no. 18,22; tripod mark on the interior; possibly from the Gulf area, or the Iranian regions

Iranian and/or Iraqi regions: Unglazed buff, light grey or white cream fine jugs and pilgrim flasks (Fig. 11); underglaze painted stonepaste bowls (Fig. 12) and dishes, a unique stonepaste piece imitating Chinese celadon, buff earthenware bowls with underglaze black and/or turquoise painting, of the Timurid and Safavid periods; late ‘Red-Yellow’ ware (Kennet 2004: 56, Power 2015: fig. 7).

Fusaro fig 11

Fig. 11. Regional ware, imported items. Jug or pilgrim flask, buff fabric, inv.no. 22,447; unglazed vessel, comb impressed, pierced and incised decoration; probably from Iranian or Iraqi regions

Fusaro fig12 13

Fig. 12. Imported items. Hemispherical bowl, glazed stonepaste ware, inv.no. 18,2; underglaze blue painted motifs under whitish glaze; Persian production, probably 15th c.
Fig. 13. Imported items, conical bowl, glazed stonepaste ware, inv.no. 22,245; underglaze blue painted motifs under transparent colourless glaze; probably Egyptian production, 14th-15th century

Egypt: coarse stonepaste bowls and small bowls with underglaze blue painted motifs (Fig. 13), dated to the 14th-15th century (Watson 2004: 418-423); unglazed fine grey jugs with incised decoration, dated to the 17th-18th century (Smiths et al. 2012: 180-181).
East Africa?: a unique vessel, the high neck of a large jar, shows similarities with African products (Chittick 1974: type 33, fig. 136 (b), p. 329; Rougeulle 2015: fig. 179.8).
Indian Subcontinent: Indian imports are among the most abundant within the pottery corpus. They mainly consist of coarse and medium-coarse red and grey pots and jars (Fig. 14). From a preliminary comparative analysis, a provenance from southern India, as Kerala, and north-western regions, as Gujarat and Sindh, can be suggested. Most of them have soot marks, suggesting their use as cooking vessels. There are a few higher quality unglazed wheel-thrown fine bowls with polished and painted decoration.

Fusaro fig14 15

Fig. 14. Imported items. Carinated pot, inv.no. 61,47; unglazed, red painted decoration; soot marks; imported from the Indian subcontinent
Fig. 15. Imported items. Dish, blue and white porcelain, inv.no. 43,6; Chinese product, probably 15th century

China and South-East Asia: The most common Chinese imports circulating at al-Balīd are blue and white porcelain bowls and celadons (Figs. 15, 16). Most are very high-quality products . Some stonewares and earthenwares could come from South-East Asia, as the so-called Martaban jars. The Far Eastern imports are currently studied by Dr Chiara Visconti, from University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’, to give them a more precise chronological and geographical attribution.

Fusaro fig 16

Fig. 16. Imported items. Jar, Green glazed celadon, inv.no. 61,31; ribbed decoration; Chinese product, Yuan period

The ethnoarchaeological work

During the past two campaigns, a research on the modern traditional pottery production in Dhofar has been started: interviews to local women and visits to several workshops in Salalah, Taqah, and Mirbat have beeN conducted, taking information on the whole manufacturing process and documenting it with photographs and videos. Moreover, clay and fired and unfired vessels have been sampled in each workshop. This research allows collecting interesting information on several aspects of the manufacturing process, such as sources of raw materials, timing, tools, motifs, forms, techniques. All the collected data are useful to understand better the ancient local and regional wares, to clarify questions concerning the whole ancient manufacturing process, and finally to examine continuity and changes of the handicraft tradition, as well as the transmission of knowledge, throughout the centuries up to the modern era.

Two women were thoroughly interviewed: Fatima made pottery in the past, within a household production; Amina is still producing ceramics in the Salalah Handicraft Center, visited in both field campaigns. We also visited the Women Association in Taqah: they actually use gypsum moulds to produce items in an 'industrial' way; nonetheless, we had the chance to talk with the eldest women, thus gathering information on some aspects of the traditional manufacturing process (especially clay sources, traditional pigments used and traditional vessel forms, still preserved in their small collection). Finally, we visited the Omani Women Association of Mirbat: the women added brand new information on the techniques used for producing rouletted and incised motifs.

The archaeometric study: starting from the sampling

During the last field campaign (March-April 2018), the first stage of the archaeometric study has been conducted, with the sampling of ceramic items. An official request was submitted to the Director of the Museum of Frankincense Land Ali al-Kathiri in order to obtain the permission to export the selected samples. The research work will be conducted with the scientific support of Dr. Veronica Martínez Ferreras, researcher member of the ERAAUB team, at the Laboratories of the University of Barcelona (CCiTUB).

Selected sherds represent different groups according to their stylistic appearance, technological and body features. Specifically, the sampling has concentrated on all the local wares, on the three possible regional productions, and on the glazed Bahla/Khunj ware.

The main purpose of the study is to give for the first time an exhaustive characterization of the ceramics circulating at al-Balīd, with detailed technological information (clay procurement areas, nature of clay and temper and their processing, shaping techniques, firing process). The study will also lead to propose a more precise provenance for the wares analysed. The latter aim particularly concerns the Bahla/Khunj ware, for whom different manufacturing areas (Northern Oman, southern Iran) have been suggested.

58 samples have been selected among the pottery collected from the excavations at the Husn, along with 14 samples from other sites and sources, for comparison with the items from al-Balīd:

six sherds of the Bahla/Khunj ware found at Salut (Northern Oman, courtesy of IMTO);
two sherds of the local unglazed ware from al-Ḥamr al-Sharqiya (Taqah, courtesy of IMTO);
six items collected during the ethnoarchaeological investigations, including clay from a procurement area in the Dhofar hinterland behind Taqah, processed clay already mixed with water (ready for the modelling of vessels), from the Salalah pottery workshop, unfired and fired vessels from three different visited workshops (Salalah, Taqah, Mirbat).

Analysis of socio-economic aspects

The collected data and the ongoing research work allow gathering many information concerning economic and social aspects of the site of al-Balīd.

For example, the study of the imports is leading to a reconstruction of the trade relationships established between al-Balīd and other lands along the Indian Ocean, the Gulf and the Red sea throughout the centuries. It is also clarifying how the city role as a port changes, the trade patterns change in different periods, for which reasons, and which were the most active commercial routes. The analysis of the imports could also give insights into the wealth of the city and more specifically of its ruler and his entourage; this is associated with the purchasing power of high-quality products and is also indirectly related to the political influence of the rulers. Furthermore, the collected data will show how these aspects change over the centuries, also in connection with political and historical reasons.

Within the social aspects that can be further investigated, the presence and the contribution of the community of people from the Indian subcontinent in the site are among the most interesting ones. This topic was already addressed by Newton and Zarins (2014). The in-depth study of wares coming from the Indian subcontinent will offer fresh new data on further aspects. For example, the variation in quantity and quality of Indian objects could give some insight into the composition of the Indian community and its possible change over the centuries; the provenance of the vessels could suggest the areas from which the people came and settled at al-Balīd or with which this port was in contact.

Other social aspects are emerging from the examination of the pottery corpus from the Husn, for example concerning the religious communities living at al-Balīd. Indeed, several vessels locally produced bear a cross-motif painted in red (Fig. 5). An examination of the related forms, the different kinds of cross representation and statistical analysis of these specimens throughout the stratigraphic sequence are ongoing, in order to recognise which objects are associated explicitly with this motif, how the latter changes or evolves and the chronological phases of production and circulation of these products. A collection of historical information dealing with this topic, to be matched with archaeological data, will be started. Following the preliminary suggestions by Zarins and Newton (2016), but focusing exclusively on al-Balīd and necessarily revising their proposed chronology, this work could finally lead to recognize and better understand the presence of Christians at al-Balīd during certain historical periods.

Dr. Agnese Fusaro
iERAAUB
Equip de Recerca Arqueològica i Arqueomètrica de la Universitat de Barcelona

References

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ALMAMARI, B.M. 2017. Imported Traditional Pottery: methods of Overcoming the Challenges for Traditional Ceramics Industries in Oman. Humanities and Social Sciences 5(1): 1-4.

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FRANKE-VOGT, U. 2002. Remarks on the Classification of the Pottery from Al-Balid, Dhofar (Oman).Unpublished ms., Bonn.

HALLETT, J., KEALL, E.J., VITALI, V., HANCOCK, R.G.V. 1987. Chemical Analysis of Yemeni Archaeological Ceramics and the Egyptian Enigma. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Articles 110 (1): 293-302.

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KENNET D. 2004. Sasanian and Islamic Pottery from Ras al-Khaimah: classification, chronology, and analysis of trade in the Western Indian Ocean, (BAR International Series, 1248; Society for Arabian Studies Monographs, 1). Oxford: Archaeopress.

KERVRAN, M. 1994. Indian Ceramics in Southern Iran and Eastern Arabia: Repertory, Classification and Chronology, in H.P. Ray, J.-F. Salles (eds.), Tradition and Archaeology. Early Maritime Contacts in the Indian Ocean. Proceedings of the International Seminar Techno-Archaeological Perspectives of Seafaring in the Indian Ocean 4th cent. B. C. – 15th cent. A. D., Delhi: 37–58.

MARIOTTI LIPPI, M., GONNELLI, T., PALLECCHI, P. 2011. Rice chaff in ceramics from the archaeological site of Sumhuram (Dhofar, Southern Oman). Journal of Archaeological Science 38: 1173-1179.

MASON, R.B., KEALL, E. J. 1988. Provenance of local ceramic industry and the characterization of imports: petrography of pottery from medieval Yemen, Antiquity 62: 452-463.

MASON, R.B., KEALL, E.J. 1989. Islamic ceramics: petrography and provenance. In: R.M. Farquhar, V. Hancock, L.A. Pavlish (eds) 26th International Archaeometry Symposium Proceedings [Toronto 1988], Toronto.

MASON, R.B., HALLETT, J.R., KEALL, E.J. 1989. Provenance studies of Islamic pottery from Yemen: INAA and petrographic analysis. In: Y. Maniatis (ed.) Archaeometry [Proceedings of the 25th International Symposium, Athens, 1986], Athens: 543-550.

NEWTON, L.S., ZARINS, J. 2014. A possible Indian quarter at al-Baleed in the fourteenth-seventeenth centuries AD?. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 44: 257-276.

NEWTON, L.S., ZARINS, J. 2017. Dhofar through the Ages. An Ecological, Archaeological and Historical Landscape. The Archaeological Heritage of Oman Series. Muscat.

PAVAN, A. 2017. A Cosmopolitan City on the Arabian Coast. The imported and local pottery from Khor Rori. Khor Rori Report 3, Arabia Antica 12. Rome.

POWER, T. 2015. A First Ceramic Chronology for the Late Islamic Arabian Gulf. Journal of Islamic Archaeology 2.1: 1-33.

REDDY, A. 2013. Looking from Arabia to India: analysis of the early Roman “India Trade” in the Indian Ocean during the late pre-Islamic period (3rd century BC – 6th century AD). (2 Volumes). PhD Thesis, Pune: Deccan College.

REDDY, A. 2015. Sourcing Indian ceramics in Arabia: actual imports and local imitations. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 45: 253-272.

REDDY, A.L. 2016. Archaeology of Indo-Gulf Relations in te Early Historic Period: The Ceramic Evidence. In: Himanshu Prabha Ray (ed.), Bridging the Gulf. Maritime Cultural Heritage of the Western Indian Ocean. New Delhi: 53-78.

REDDY, A., ATTAELMANAN, A.G., MOUTON, M. 2012. Pots, plates and provenance: sourcing Indian coarse wares from Mleiha using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry analysis. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 37: 1-8.

ROUGEULLE, A. 2007. Ceramic production in medieval Yemen: the Yadhghat kiln site. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 37: 239-252.

ROUGEULLE, A. 2008. A medieval Trade Entrepôt at Khor Rori? The Study of the Islamic Ceramics from al-Ḥamr al-Sharqiya. In: A. Avanzini (ed.) Khor Rori Report 2. Roma: 645-667.

ROUGEULLE, A. (ed.) 2015. Sharma. Un entrepôt de commerce médiéval sur la côte du Ḥaḍramawt (Yémen, ca 980-1180). Oxford

ROUGEULLE, A., RENEL, H., SIMSEK, G., COLOMBAN, P. 2014. Medieval ceramic production at Qalhāt, Oman, a multidisciplinary approach. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 44: 299-316.

SMITHS, L.M.V., MALLINSON, M.D.S., PHILLIPS, J.S., ADAM, A.H., SAID, A.I., BARNARD, H., BREEN, C.P., BRITTON, D., FORSYTHE, W., JANSEN van RENSBURG, J., McERLEAN, T. PORTER, S. 2012. Archaeology and the Archaeological and Historical Evidence for the Trade of Suakin, Sudan. In: D.A. Agius, J.P. Cooper, A. Trakadas, C. Zazzaro (eds), Navigated spaces, connected places: Proceedings of Red Sea Project V, held at the University of Exeter, 16-19 September 2010. BAR International Series 2346. Oxford: 173-186.

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WATSON, O. 2004. Ceramics from Islamic Lands. The al-Sabah Collection. London.

WHITCOMB, D.S. 1988. Islamic Archaeology in Aden and the Hadhramaut. In: D.T. Potts (ed.), Araby the Blest. Studies in Arabian Archaeology. Copenhagen:177-263.

YULE, P., KERVRAN, M. 1993. More than Samad in Oman: Iron Age Pottery from Suhar and Khor Rori. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 4(2): 69-106.

YULE, P., MOHAMMAD, K.K. 2006 (first ed. 1998). Report on Al-Baleed Pottery: Reference Collection.

RWtH Aachen University. Office of the Advisor to HM the Sultan for Cultural Affairs. Muscat.

ZARINS, J. 1997. Persia and Dhofar: Aspects of Iron Age International Politics and Trade. In: G.H. Young, M.W. Chavalas and R.E. Averbeck (eds), Crossing Boundaries and Linking Horizons. Bethesda: 615-689.

ZARINS, J. 2001. The Land of Incense. Archaeological Work in the Governorate of Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman, 1990-1995. Muscat.

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ZARINS, Y., NEWTON, L. 2016. Islamic Period maritime trade and travel along the Southern Arabian Coasts of the Indian Ocean: The case for Socotra, Hallaniyat, Masirab and Mahut Islands. In: A. Al-Salimi and E. Staples (eds), The Ports of Oman. Hildesheim – Zürich – New York: 89-116.

ARCHEOLOGIE / ARCHAEOLOGY

VIGOUROUX Elodie et ELTER René

Rapport 2016

Khirbat al-Dūsaq s’élève à 5km à l’est de la forteresse de Shawbak (fig. 1) dans le sud de la Jordanie, à 1270 m d’altitude, il surplombe le cours du Wadi Nijil. Dans la seconde moitié du XIX^e siècle déjà, le complexe de Dūsaq fut décrit et photographié par les voyageurs (Hill 1897, Vaihlé 1898) et, en 1898, Rudolf Brunnow et Alfred von Domaszewski en établirent un plan général. Les vestiges furent encore mentionnés ou photographiés par quelques savants au début du XX^e siècle (Musil 1907, Meistermann 1909, Savignac 1935), mais leur nature et leur fonction demeuraient floues. En 1968, le Dr. Bisheh en offrait une courte description dans un rapport de prospection conduite dans la région de Shawbak par le Département des Antiquités de Jordanie. Ce dernier proposait d’y reconnaître un palais, mais aucune fouille archéologique n’y fut alors engagée. Il y a quelques années encore, la base de données archéologique JADIS indiquait pour ce site de période indéterminée (n°2099024), ne posséder aucune information et bibliographie, mentionnant seulement des structures de murs. Plusieurs publications récentes évoquaient l’existence du complexe mais elles ne permettaient ni d’en identifier la fonction avec certitude, ni d’en connaître la datation[1].

Vigouroux Elter plan1

En 2008 une équipe de l’Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo) a pu réaliser le plan du site, où l’on supposait alors l’existence d’un bain grâce à la présence d’une brèche ouverte dans un parement laissant entrevoir les pillettes d’un possible hypocauste (March & Pascual 2015). Le site se compose de trois bâtiments visibles disposés en L (fig. 2 et 5) entourés d’un mur d’enceinte arasé dont on devine encore le tracé. Au sud, un édifice (A) ouvert par un arc dont la voûte s’est effondrée, est identifiable à un iwān, jouxté par un bassin quadrangulaire aujourd’hui comblé. Au nord de cette structure se dresse un important édifice quadrangulaire (B) -anciennement doté d’un étage voûté- auquel était accolée au nord une tour faisant la liaison avec troisième bâtiment de plan allongé (C) qui abritait un riche bain, fouillé en 2009 et 2015.

Vigouroux Elter vue generale 2

Vigouroux Elter plan 5

L’opération de 2009 (AnR Balnéorient) menée sous la direction de Jean-Paul Pascual (Ifpo) s’était concentrée sur la salle chaude avant que des pillards ne la détruisent à l’aide d’un bulldozer. L’urgence nous a conduits à effectuer une mission de diagnostic en 2014 afin d’identifier les dégâts et d’établir les priorités du nouveau projet. Ainsi, Élodie Vigouroux (Ifpo) et René Elter (Université de Lorraine) ont pu reprendre le dossier en 2015 et effectuer une première campagne de fouilles (Ifpo-Cnrs) centrée sur le bain, partie la plus menacée du site.

En 2015, un escalier maçonné fut mis au jour, il menait au bain, situé en contrebas de la cour du site. Il conduisait à la salle de déshabillage de plan quadrangulaire, équipée d’une banquette maçonnée en U, disposée autour d’un bassin carré alimenté en eau par une canalisation provenant vraisemblablement des citernes fouillées en 2009, situées dans la partie occidentale du bain (fig. 3 et 11). Dans les niveaux d’effondrement de cette salle, autrefois couverte d’une coupole, une conque sculptée en calcaire a été découverte (fig. 4), venant compléter les éléments mis au jour en 2009 qui nous avaient permis d’attribuer ce site à la période médiévale (Vigouroux et alli 2015). Par ailleurs, ce qui restait en place de la salle chaude, à savoir quelques pillettes épargnées par le bulldozer, ont permis de connaître le niveau inférieur de l’hypocauste et d’identifier les traces de l’ancienne suspensura aujourd’hui disparue.

Vigouroux Elter plan 3

Vigouroux Elter conque 4

Le dégagement des structures du bain nous a ainsi révélé un plan qui, comme nous l’avions supposé est assez proche des modèles urbains médiévaux et notamment des modèles damascènes du XIII^e siècle (Ecochard & le Cœur 1942 et 1943). Le baigneur quittait ses vêtements dans le mašlaḥ, revêtait une pièce de tissu, la futa, puis il se rendait dans une salle plus réduite, le wasṭānī (pièce 4) dont l’accès se faisait en chicane pour conserver la chaleur. Il trouvait là une arrivée d’eau chaude et froide et une vasque, il pouvait s’y laver, y être massé ou épilé. Ensuite, il se dirigeait vers la pièce chaude le ǧuwwānī, construite sur un hypocauste, où régnait une chaleur importante du fait du chauffage par le sol mais aussi de la vapeur d’eau créée par le débordement de la vasque située immédiatement en contrebas de la cuve d’eau chauffée par la fournaise. Après y avoir transpiré et ses ablutions achevées, le baigneur suivait un parcours rétrograde, revenant dans le mašlaḥ afin de s’y sécher, s’y détendre et s’y restaurer. Ainsi grâce aux résultats de la campagne 2015, le plan du bain nous était connu, qui, associé aux éléments de décor et au matériel céramique étudié par Julie Monchamp (Ifao) nous avait permis d’affiner la datation du bain et de l’attribuer au XIII^e (Vigouroux & Elter à paraître).

Campagne 2016

En 2016, le projet a obtenu le soutien de la Fondation Max van Berchem[2] que nous remercions vivement. Nous avons ainsi pu poursuivre la fouille des pièces de service du bain et entamer le dégagement du bâtiment B[3].

Immédiatement à l’est du four du bain, dans la pièce 7, un espace quadrangulaire situé en contrebas de la cour fut mis au jour, au niveau de l’hypocauste, limité à l’est par la bouche du four servant à son alimentation. Cette pièce de service, désignée dans les bains de Damas par le terme aqmīm est située à l’arrière du four, elle était ici aménagée en partie dans une cavité naturelle du rocher et accueillait la personne qui alimentait le foyer ainsi que le combustible, apporté par le nord. Par ailleurs, nous avons poursuivi l’investigation à l’ouest de la fournaise du bain et mis au jour la pièce 8, accolée au mur nord du bâtiment B. Cette pièce abritait une latrine (fig. 6), dotée d’un sol dallé, incliné pour faciliter l’évacuation des déchets vers la fournaise. Dans un second temps, nous avons ouvert un sondage dans le bâtiment B et dégagé la cage d’escalier logée dans le mur sud, puis l’espace intérieur de la porte orientale. À cet endroit, le linteau de la porte principale du hammam du bâtiment C, réutilisé dans une banquette sommaire (fig. 7) a été découvert. Il portait une inscription de fondation, actuellement en cours d’étude par F. Imbert (Ifpo) : le nom du commanditaire et la date qui y sont mentionnés vont nous permettre d’affiner nos recherches dans les sources historiques arabes afin d’éclairer le contexte de construction du complexe.

Vigouroux Elter batiment 6

Vigouroux Elter batimentB 7

Parallèlement à la fouille, Emmanuel Alby (Insa Strasbourg) a réalisé une couverture photogrammétrique du site (fig. 8), prenant plusieurs milliers de clichés, à la perche et au sol qui, combinés, fournissent après traitement informatique (fig. 9), une image complète de l’état des édifices. Il a accompagné sa démarche d’un relevé topographique permettant de situer les prises de vue dans l’espace. Ce travail est un apport considérable dans notre étude car, à partir des vues photogrammétriques redressées, un modèle virtuel fidèle a été construit (fig. 10). De plus, ces éléments ont été utilisés par Maxime Santiago (Ensa Nancy), afin de proposer une restitution 3D du site (fig. 11).

Vigouroux Elter photogrammetrie 8

Vigouroux Elter photogrammetrie 9

Vigouroux Elter photogrammetrie 10

Vigouroux Elter restitution 11

Fig. 11 : Restitution hypothétique, coupe E-O du bain, projet en cours (Mission Dusaq 2017/© Avril 2017, Maxime Santiago)

En parallèle de la fouille des bâtiments B et A, nous souhaitons à l’avenir appréhender les modalités d’alimentation en eau du site. En effet, en 2013, la prise de vues aériennes (fig. 12) avait permis de repérer à Khirbat al-Dūsaq un vaste enclos (environ 200 m x 100 m), associé au complexe et ainsi de proposer d’y reconnaître alors un ensemble architectural de plaisance, lié à un jardin ou un verger. La présence d’un enclos agricole et d’un bain luxueux dans cette zone semi-aride soulève nombre de questions relatives à l’approvisionnement en eau. Par conséquent, nous prévoyons la réalisation d’une carte géophysique à l’échelle du site permettant de localiser les infrastructures souterraines, d’une part, et d’autre part, nous envisageons une étude géomorphologique visant à reconstituer le paysage environnant et identifier les techniques d’exploitation des ressources en eau disponibles dans la région au Moyen Âge.

Dr. Elodie Vigouroux et M. René Elter
Institut Français du Proche-Orient, Beyrouth

Vigouroux Elter vue aerienne 12

Bibliographie

Ecochard & le Cœur 1942 et 1943 : Michel Ecochard et Claude Le Cœur, Les bains de Damas, 2 vol., Institut français de Damas.

Gray 1897: Gray Hill, « A Journey to Petra », Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1897, p. 34-44, 135-144.

March & Pascual 2015: March Chrystelle, Pascual Jean-Paul, « Le complexe de Khirbat al-Dūsaq (Shawbak) : mission préliminaire (2008) », Syria 92, p. 169-188.

Mc Quitty 2001, Mc Quitty Alison, “The Ottoman period”, in Mac Donald Adams éd., Archeology of Jordan, Sheffield University Press, 2001, p. 561-593.

Meistermann 1909 : Meistermann, François J., Guide du Nil au Jourdain par le Sinaï et Petra, A. Picard et fils éditeurs, Paris, 1909.

Milwright 2008: Milwright Marcus, The Fortress of the Raven, Karak in the Middle Islamic Period (1100-1650), Brill, Leiden, 2008.

Musil 1907: Musil Alois, Arabia Petraea, II, Edom, Topographischer Reisebericht, vol. I, Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienne, 1907.

Petersen 2012 : Petersen Andrew, The Medieval and Ottoman Hajj Route in Jordan, an Archaeological an Historical Study, Levant Supplementary 13, Oxbow books, Oxford, 2012.

Vannini 2009: Vannini Guido (dir.), Da Petra a Shawbak: Archeologia di una Frontiera, Guinto, Florence, 2009.

Vigouroux et alii: Vigouroux, Élodie, Elter René, Pascual Jean-Paul, « Le complexe de Khirbat al-Dūsaq (Shawbak) : résultats de la première campagne de fouilles », Syria 92, p. 189-211.

Vigouroux & Elter : Vigouroux, Élodie, Elter René “The Medieval Hammam of Khirbat al-Dusaq:

an Archaeological and Historical Investigation”, Studies in History and Archeology of Jordan, à paraître

[1] D’après ces ouvrages, il pouvait s’agir d’un caravansérail (McQuitty 2001, Vannini 2009) ou d’un relai datant peut-être de la période ottomane (McQuitty 2001, Milwright 2008). Dans son ouvrage consacré à la route du hajj, Andrew Petersen indiquait encore en 2012 que Dūsaq demeurait un site énigmatique

[2] Cette mission était aussi soutenue par l’Institut français du Proche-Orient et le Cnrs français. Le travail de terrain sur le site de Khirbat al-Dūsaq s’est déroulé du 4 au 21 avril 2016. Ont pris part à cette mission Élodie Vigouroux (archéologue et historienne-Ifpo), René Elter (archéologue et architecte-Université de Lorraine), Julie Monchamp (céramologue-Ifao), Emmanuel Alby (spécialiste en photogrammétrie et topographie, Insa Strasbourg), Frédéric Imbert (épigraphiste-Ifpo), Deeb Marahmeh (étudiant en archéologie et arts, Université de Jordanie) et Ugo Elter (étudiant en architecture, Nancy), Une équipe constituée de huit ouvriers avait été recrutée dans les villages de Shawbak et Husayniyya.

[3] Nous tenons à remercier le Département des Antiquités de Jordanie et en particulier son représentant sur le site, Muhammad Abdalziz al-Marahleh, pour son aide précieuse.

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