Islamic Archaeology Research Unit Bonn

01/04/2026

The AIA is inviting you all to view Prof Bethany Walker’s interview with the Old North Caucasus podcast on YouTube and Spotify. The Old North Caucasus is an academic podcast that focuses on the history and culture of the peoples of the North Caucasus. In this interview, Prof Walker discusses the origin of the Mamluk system, their ethnic backgrounds, economics, and material culture. With much interesting information and references to scholarly publications, this episode is a highly valuable source, as well as a very good introduction to the Mamluk world and Islamic Archaeology. Also featured are interviews with Prof Albrecht Fuess of Marburg University and Dr Koby Yosef of Bar-Ilan University. We would be thankful if you shared the links and promoted the Old North Caucasus podcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCJvzsWpp5E

https://open.spotify.com/show/60MtUuBfD07yIcIsDy6roH?si=da788e2fbc3b425d

In this 2.5-hour discussion, three leading scholars of Middle Eastern history - Bethany Walker, Albrecht Fuess, and Koby Yosef explore the history, society,...

18/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1364195322405173&id=100064441548973 #

28/01/2026

Our PhD candidate, Nikolaus Cox, has recently given a talk titled ‘Material Afterlives: The Hijaz Railway in the Post-Ottoman Landscape’ at the Palestine Exploration Fund in London. In this talk, Nikolaus Cox examines the afterlife of the Hijaz Railway in the Arab Lands after its destruction in the latter years of the Great War. Drawing on historical documents, photographic archives, and first-hand ethnographic data, he offers a penetrating interpretation of the material culture of the Ottoman railway and its reuse in the Mandate-era vernacular architecture in Jordan. Masterfully prepared and delivered, this lecture is of great value to anyone interested in spoliation, imperial-native relations, Hajj material culture, post-Great-War demographic change in hinterlands of the Ottoman Empire, and Ottoman/Mandate archaeology.

Material Afterlives: The Hijaz Railway in the Post-Ottoman Landscape.Nikolaus Cox, University of Bonn.Nik Cox explores the use and reuse of Ottoman railway s...

21/01/2026

The Islamic Archaeology Research Unit is happy to announce that it is now the new home of the former Mamluk Studies library. Located at Brühler Str. 7 on the 2nd floor, the library holds an exceptional collection of primary and secondary sources related to the medieval and pre-modern Islamic World. This library is an essential source for anyone interested in Islamic history, jurisprudence, literature, and archaeology.

16/12/2025

The Islamic Archaeology Research Unit wishes you all happy holidays!

02/12/2025

The Islamic Archaeology Research Unit, keen as always on contributing to the latest developments in the field of archaeology, maintains an annual presence at ASOR. This year, the Unit contributed two noteworthy papers to the Archaeology of Islamic Society session. The first is “Socializing Terraces: Tall Hisban and its Agricultural Fields in the Islamic Era”, written by Prof Bethany Walker in collaboration with Catreena Hamarneh, and the second is “Trikala Under Ottoman Rule: Urban Change, Ceramic Production, and Historical Insights”, authored by Anastasia Thamnopoulou.

Access to presentations through ASOR’s online library (registration required):
https://www.asor.org/resources/online-library

For abstracts, click the following link:
https://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/AM2025-Abstract-Book_2025_11_18-Post-Print-Version.pdf

24/11/2025

Life on the Farm in Late Medieval Jerusalem is now in print after countless hours of concerted effort, encompassing archaeological fieldwork, laboratory research, examination of historical documents, visual design, and manuscript editing. This rich and dense volume examines the socio-economic development of Jerusalem in the Mamluk and Ottoman periods through the lens of a single rural household and its agricultural setting. This leading study is now available from Equinox Publishing (link below). A copy will be on the shelves of the library of the Islamic Archaeology Research Unit in the near future.

https://www.equinoxpub.com/projects/life-on-the-farm-in-late-medieval-jerusalem

23/10/2025

We warmly congratulate Mr. Ahmad Alghizawat on defending his doctoral thesis! He successfully passed the oral examination on Tuesday, October 21, in a hybrid format. Well done, Dr. des.!

07/10/2025

The Islamic Archaeology Research Unit congratulates Ms Salama Kassem on passing her oral examination on 30 September. Ms Kassem successfully defended her dissertation, titled “Social and Economic Networks in Late Medieval Rural, Southern Greater Syria: An Archaeometrical Study of Mamluk Pottery (13th-16th CE)” and became qualified for the doctoral title upon publication.

Congratulations, Dr. des. Salama!

07/10/2025

26 September was the last day of ICHAJ 16 (The International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan) in Athens. The Islamic Archaeology Research Unit had a very strong presence with 6 papers distributed among 5 Speakers: Prof Dr Bethany Walker, Dr Raffaele Ranieri, Giacomo Ponticelli, Nikolaus Cox, and Ahmad Alghizawat. The Unit also thanks Sherihan Inalo, Britta Wagner, Anastasia Thamnopoulou, and Lauren Erker for being present and lending their support.

For more information on ICHAJ 16 and its program, see the link below:

http://www.ichaj.org/en/page/1/About-ICHAJ16

03/09/2025

Dr. Anthony Quickle and Dr. Mannat Johal, from the Max Planck Institute (of the History of Science) in Berlin have been visiting us today. Prof. Bethany Walker gave them a tour in our Lab and Library, then they went to the Mineralology Museum and the Steinmann Institute.