Dr Andrew Petersen MA, M.Phil, PhD
Contact Details
School of Archaeology, History and AnthropologyTel: 01570 424794 (294)
E-mail: a.petersen@trinitysaintdavid.ac.uk
Campus
Lampeter CampusJob Title
Lecturer in ArchaeologyRole in the University
Director of Research Islamic ArchaeologyMember of
Member of the Institute for Archaeologists
Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Academic Interests
Principal Research Interests
Archaeology of Islamic Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula has a central place in the formation of the Muslim religion and culture however research on Islamic archaeology in this area is l in it infancy and there are still important issues which have not been discussed in any detail. I am currently addressing some of these issues in a book on the Islamic Archaeology of Arabia due for publication in 2011. This book draws on my field projects in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman as well as research trips to other parts of the Arabian peninsula. Current field work in Arabia includes a research project on Islamic coastal settlement in the Arabian Gulf focussing on the sites of Ruwayda and Rubayqa in Northern Qatar. These are Late Islamic (seventeenth to nineteenth century) pearl fishing and trading settlements with evidence for trading contacts with China, India, Iran and Europe. Both projects are part of the Qatar Islamic Archaeology and Heritage project in collaboration with Copenhagen University and supported by the Qatar Museums Authority. I am also working on an investigation of the Buraimi oasis in Oman. This project is concerned with the Arabian contribution to Islamic urbanism, urban topography and defining the nature of the settlement within the Islamic period. A preliminary report on this work has been published in the Seminar for Arabian Studies (see Publications).
Muslim Pilgrimage
My research can be divided into two main strands one concerned with the Hajj and another focussing on shrines in Palestine. In the future I will integrate these two aspects of my research on pilgrimage into a wider study of Muslim sacred landscapes.
1) The Hajj. Whilst much is known of the rituals and religious duties associated with pilgrimage to Mecca from the beginning of Islam to the present day the study of the material culture of the Hajj is less well developed. My research is based on an architectural documentation of the Syrian Hajj route Darb al-Hajj al-Shami in Jordan and Syria. The final report of this work is in press and will be published in 2011.
2) Muslim Shrines in Palestine. My interest in Muslim shrines in Palestine focuses on how they are used to define a sacred Islamic landscape which complements the holy city of Jerusalem. In particular I am interested in shrines associated with Biblical and Quranic figures. The results of this work have been published in various journals and are incorporated into a course which I teach at Lampeter.
Muslim Heritage of Britain and Europe
The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship of the Islamic world with Europe (specifically Britain) through archaeology and heritage. Specific research includes an investigation of Islamic finds in archaeological excavations in Britain (see Publications) as well as tracing connections through architecture and design.
Muslim Palestine
Between 1992 and 1998 I directed the Medieval and Ottoman Survey on behalf of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (Now CBRL). This involved survey of the surviving medieval and Ottoman Islamic architecture of Palestine and archive research at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. Part 1 of this project was published in 2001 and the second part covering the West Bank and Gaza is in preparation.
My PhD thesis examined the archaeology of towns in Palestine from the Arab conquest of the seventh century until the Ottoman conquest in the sixteenth century and has been published by BAR Archaeopress. I am also working with Denys Pringle (Cardiff University) on publication of a project on the city of Ramla which will result in a monograph based on architectural and historical research on this former capital of Palestine. Other ongoing research interests in Palestine include documentation of the architecture associated with Zahir al-‘Umar the Bedouin ruler of Galilee in northern Palestine during the eighteenth century.
Publications
Selected Publications
Books
The Archaeology of the Syrian Hajj Route in the Medieval and Ottoman Periods Route British Academy/ Oxbow, Oxford (in press for October 2011)
The Archaeology of Towns in Muslim Palestine BAR, Archaeopress Oxford. 2005
Gazetteer of Medieval and Ottoman Buildings in Muslim Palestine. Part 1. British Academy Monographs in Archaeology No 12. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. (Part 2 is in preparation)
A Dictionary of Islamic Architecture Routledge, London and New York 1995 (paperback edition 1998 also available on ‘archnet@mit.edu’ from June 2002 ).
Edited Series
6) Special Section of fifteen papers on ‘Islamic Archaeology’ for Antiquity 2005
Articles (published)
8)‘Excavations and survey at Qal ‘at Ruwaydha in Qatar’ in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 40 (2010), 35-48.
9)‘Islamic Urbanism in Eastern Arabia, the case of the al-Ayn-Buraimi Oasis’ in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 39 (2009) 307-320.
10) ‘Islam’ Section 5 Chapter 6 in T.Insoll and R.MacClean eds. Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion Oxford University Press. 2009
11) ‘The Archaeology of Islam in Britain; recognition and potential’ Antiquity December 2008.
12) ‘The Turkish Conquest of Arabia’ in Peacock ed. Frontiers of the Ottoman World World British Academy Carlton House London. 2008
13) ‘Bridges in Medieval Palestine’ in in U. Vermeulen & K. Dhulster (eds.) History of Egypt & Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid & Mamluk Eras V. Peeters, Leuven 2008.
14) 2008 ‘The Medieval Hajj Route Through Syria and Jordan’ in D’hustler, K. and A. van Tongerloo eds. Festschrift Professor Urban Vermeulen; Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Studies Peeters, Leuven.
16) 2008 ‘The Ottoman Hajj Route in Jordan: Motivation and Ideology’ in Walker, B and J-F. Salles eds. Exercising Power in the Age of the Sultanates: Bilad al-Sham and Iran. (Proceedings of the French-American Roundtable of 13-14 May 2005, Amman). IFEAD (Institut Français d’études Arabes de Damas) Damascus.
Additional Information
Previous Academic Positions
Assistant Professor United Arab Emirates University 2004-6
Research Officer Council for British Research in the Levant 2002-3
Qualifications
PhD Cardiff University
M.Phil University of Oxford
MA St Andrews University
Postgraduate Supervision
I am particularly interested in supervising research students in any of the following areas
- Islamic Archaeology worldwide theory and practice
- Islamic Architecture
- Islamic Material Culture in Britain and Europe
- Roman to modern Palestine and Jordan
- Islamic Arabia
- Heritage and Culture in Muslim communities
