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As the first undertaking of its kind, Project SIPO has embarked in 2018 on the environmental-archaeological research of a lithic site in Oman in a true mountain ambient – Hayl Ajah (a large sediment-filled depression at 1019 m a.s.l. on an intermontane karst plateau between Al Jabal Al Kawr and Al Jabal Al Ghul; Figs 1 and 2). Because porous karstic limestone – other than more compact rocks – allows the infiltration of precipitation water into the matrix of the rock itself, our project aims to find out, whether during prehistoric periods a degree of water storage inside limestone rock-layers and aeolian surface sediments could have made good for the reduced precipitation in the northern part of Oman compared to the country’s south. Judging from the archaeological finds, the site Hayl Ajah and similar smaller sediment places in the surroundings mountains have been accessed by people during different prehistoric periods (probably since the Middle Palaeolithic, definitely during the Neolithic and Umm an-Nar period). At the present stage we encounter various kinds of small, dispersed water and sediment features in our research area that could have served mobile foragingpastoral groups while roaming the bleak mountain landscape. Indicative of this is the remarkably wide spectrum of mostly non-local raw materials used for the stone artefacts of Hayl Ajah. For some of the lithics encountered at the mountain site, yet no real analogy to lithic traditions in other parts of the Arabian Peninsula can be found. Other stone artefacts, according to first OSL/C14 dates, belong to a time period when aridization was under way (Late Neolithic). From this evidence we infer tentatively that mountainous places in Al Jabal Al Hajar have had significance for prehistoric humans during past dry periods - perhaps as the “roof section” of an environmentally diversified, yet integrated refugium in the Kawr-Akhdar Area encompassing the more open alluvial places at the mountain front (cf. Uerpmann, Uerpmann & Jasim 2000).

The debate on the timing and nature of “Out of Africa” dispersals of multiple waves of the genus Homo has been based on a limited number of securely dated sites; the majority of the Palaeolithic archaeological record for Arabia is represented by undated surface sites. This project aims to contribute to the body of knowledge and debate through targeted field survey for stratified Palaeolithic sites that can be well dated. A multidisciplinary team of geologists, geomorphologists, hydrologists, dating experts and archaeologists has been assembled to specifically target this question. Our first three survey seasons in 2019, 2020 and 2022 gave invaluable insights into the landscape setting of Oman which have fed directly into the later seasons. Preliminary results include a number of surface sites with material typologically linked to the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of Oman, and a small number of stratified sites have been identified and are currently undergoing analysis.

The Fulayj Fort Project focuses on the unique archaeological remains at the site of Fulayj: a small, regularly planned, heavily defended, stone-built fortification constructed sometime between the early 5th to mid-6th century AD during the late pre-Islamic period and its subsequently reoccupation during the first decades following the Islamic conquest of Oman in the 7th century (Figs. 1-2). The fourth season of excavation took place over a six-week period from the 10th of January to the 20th of February 2023. It involved the work of an international team with a maximum of ten participants, including specialists from the UK, Oman, Canada, Greece and the Republic of Georgia. We were pleased to host one trainee from the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism regional office of the North Batinah Governate (Fig. 3). Excavation focused on the eastern side of the fort near to the fort entranceway (Fig. 4) with work in the north-east corner extending our understanding of a series of mudbrick rooms associated with the secondary occupation of the fort in the early Islamic period. Further excavations were opened in the south-east corner, and on the fort exterior across the south-east corner tower.

Suhar was one of the leading ports in the Indian Ocean during the Abbasid period. With Basra and Siraf, it formed a centre of maritime power in the Gulf and Arabia. The historian and traveller Istakhri, who wrote the Kitab Al-Masalik wa Al-Mamalik, and who lived in the 10th century, tells us that Suhar was the biggest and richest town in Oman. He tells us that it is not possible to find a city more rich in buildings and foreign wares than Suhar, and that many merchants live there who trade in ships with other countries. It is known that merchants came to Suhar from China, India and many other places. It is certain that Suhar is the most important location in Oman for the history of the first centuries of Islam. Archaeological research has already been carried out in Suhar, in the 1970s and 1980s, but there is still much more to learn about this important place. In January 2023 a British and Omani archaeological team led by Seth Priestman visited the town to investigate the remaining archaeological evidence (Fig. 1). A short sur-vey of the town revealed important information about its history. New locations came to light and important new finds of imported Chinese ceramic were made. The British and Omani team is hoping to continue work at Suhar so that the full potential of this important site can be developed.

"Seeb is the site of an extensive coastal settlement located in the northern suburbs of Muscat. Previous investigations by Romolo Loreto in 2013 indicate the presence of areas of deep stratigraphy, intact occupation deposits and architectural remains covering most phases of the Islamic period. More recently, documentation by the local community has highlighted the exceptional quality of the finds assemblage, with objects drawn from across the Indian Ocean world, often closely comparable to materials from other key urban centres in the region such as Suhar, Samarra or Siraf. The existence of a large urban centre on the southern Batinah remains to be better integrated into our wider historic reconstruction of the medieval topography of Oman. To address this, a three-week field-walking survey, followed by a week of finds processing, was carried out in January-February 2023. It involved mapping and surface collection to augment our understanding of the size, nature, and diachronic development of the medieval settlement. The work was conceived in partnership with the local community, taking the factor of existing interest as the motivating driver in the plan and design of future research. Public workshops, social media and continuing conversations with residents and other stakeholders form important channels in the pursuit of the project."

Sapienza Archaeological Mission in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf Area (MASPAG) surveys in the Omani southern Batinah, southwest of Muscat, near the Muslimat oasis, has recently revealed a new hitherto unknown multi-millennial archaeological landscape crossed by the Tropic of Cancer. In this vast area, two enormous cemeteries with hundreds of collective tombs have been identified. The oldest graves typologically and morphologically date from the end of the 4th millennium, but both the cemeteries appear to be associated with long-lasting settlements continuously inhabited up to the Islamic period. The two cemeteries next to a settlement that was fortified in the Iron Age offer the possibility of investigating the social complexity of those mobile groups interposed between south-eastern Arabia and the Persian Gulf on a broad spectrum. Powerful coalitions capable of governing large portions of the piedmont territory interposed between the rocky Hajar mountains and the spectacular western coasts of the Arabian Sea, a nomadic and half-nomadic territorial state in the south-eastern frontier of the ancient Near East which Mesopotamian texts identify as the Land of Magan.

The final field season of paleoenvironmental studies for the UmWeltWandel project lasted from 7 January–17 April 2023. It resulted in the collection of further samples of sediment, rock, charcoal, snail, plant, pollen, and water for laboratory analysis in Germany. More than 70 sedimentological sections were investigated in the vicinity of Al Khashbah to study soil and landscape formation processes. Once completed, these studies will provide important insights into climate and vegetation of the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Central Oman.

A small, newly discovered Umm an-Nar settlement close to the southern outskirts of the modern city of Ibra was investigated by a team from the University of Frankfurt, Germany between 1 March 2023 and 11 April 2023. The investigation included a detailed surface survey with find collection, as well as small-scale excavations at two of the buildings. The results of the first campaign suggest a well-planned settlement structure with specialized areas for the production or refinement of copper and copper objects. Of particular importance was the discovery of multiple plano-convex copper ingots during the excavations of one of the domestic buildings.

Several locations north of the village of Al Khashbah have yielded Neolithic remains, most likely due to the area’s accessible chert outcrops and elevated fluvial terrace systems overlooking wadi floodplains. KHS-A, the main Neolithic site in the area, is distinguished by extensive flint scatters, isolated stone constructions, and fireplaces. In 2022, the team excavated a preliminary test trench (KHS-A.1) that yielded a high number of lithics and charcoal samples. Radiocarbon dating placed the age of the complex within the Late Neolithic Period. In 2023, further excavations at KHS-A.13 were undertaken with the goal of confirming the age dating of the site and expanding our understanding of the extent and occupational sequence of the KHS-A complex. The trench consisted of a 3 × 4 m exposure revealing multiple fireplaces, ash pits, and post holes. The investigation of the Neolithic occupations at Al Khashbah seeks to open new routes and further perspectives in the study of Early and Middle Holocene in the broad area between the mountains and the Rub Al Khali desert.

Archaeological campaigns led during these last five years on the necropolis of Khor Jarama, located in the Ja’alan area, has brought to light what is probably a new prehistoric culture unknown in Oman. Indeed, the excavation of seven tombs located not far from the Jarama lagoon has enabled the discovery of the first funerary monuments known to date in Oman. These latter have been dated from the middle of the 4th millennium BCE for the oldest ones, that is to say several centuries before the monumental tombs of Hafit period. These tombs are characterized by new architectures as well as by new funerary practices observed in Oman. This discovery fills a void of data observed until now in Oman and located between 3600 and 3200 BCE, that is to say the period of transition between the end of the Neolithic and the beginning of the Hafit period. This discovery highly changes the vision that we had about the first prehistoric societies in Oman: there is probably here, very early at the end of the Neolithic, structured groups, probably hierarchized, and led by members buried in monumental tombs. A new campaign of survey in the Ja’alan area has allowed the discovery of eight others necropolis showing the same architectural characteristics than tombs of Jarama, and thus belonging probably to this period. Current investigations on these necropolis could come to confirm the identification of a new prehistoric period in Oman.

The Bat Archaeological Project conducted its winter field season from December 26, 2022 until March 5, 2023. Our research focused on different areas of the Bat area’s Bronze Age archaeological landscape, including Rakhat Al Madrh, the Khutm Settlement, and the proposed location of the new Bat Visitors Center. At Rakhat Al Madrh, the team excavated three Umm an-Nar period houses. With assistance from a team of geomorphologists and geologists from the Sorbonne University, we also discovered that the houses were located around an ancient marsh/wetland where Umm an-Nar people likely experimented with early agriculture and pastured livestock. This ancient settlement is unlike any other known Early Bronze Age village or town in Arabia because of this environment. At Al Khutm, the team discovered and excavated Umm an-Nar houses and tombs and digitally mapped a very large fortress at the site dating to the Iron Age II. At the proposed location for the new Bat Visitors Center, we excavated and surveyed several mounds, which appear to be tombs that continue from the necropolis across the wadi. With the generous permission of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, laboratory analyses on geological, C-14, botanical, and ceramic samples collected this season are currently underway.

Agricultural terraces are prominent features in landscapes across the world. Terraces enable the cultivation of steep land for crops including cereals, fruit, vegetables, flowers and trees, and can be irrigated where careful water management is required. They allow the redistribution of sediment to create soils with improved root penetration and water retention. Terraces are highly variable, their regional development reflecting a combination of natural factors (differing geologies, geomorphology, hydrological conditions) and landscape histories (manuring, field management, crop selection, water availability). The histories of terraced landscapes remain poorly understood, including in Oman. Little is known about when they were constructed, and how they were used and developed across different periods and environments. A key reason for this lack of knowledge is that terraces have proven exceptionally difficult to date using conventional or scientific archaeological methods. This research project uses a new method developed by the research team to date terraces in Oman for the first time and use geoarchaeological methods to investigate how they were used in the past. In March 2023, targeted fieldwork in two villages of Jabal Akhdar (Ash Shuraijah and Wadi Bani Habib) allowed collection of sediment samples for dating and geoarchaeological analysis.

In September 2018 the population of the capital area reached 1.4 million. Places such as Al Khod need room for growth. The development of this area during the past 20 years includes the building of the Nizwa road, highway 15, to its north-east Lulu Al Bandar super market and flanking to its west a large housing settlement. There, pre-Islamic hut tombs are scattered over the three low mountains (600m x 300m area). The Ministry of Defence plan to develop the mountains (Fig. 2) as a recreational facility – the ‘Heritage Hill’ project. This report sketches the mapping and excavation (12.01. to 26.01.2023) and documents 140 burial structures, the excavated finds, the clearance of stone from the tomb cluster on the southern mountain, figures of the 3D and drawings of the tomb images. This site, with its hut tombs and niche graves is important to solve the problem of the dating and nomenclature of prehistoric funerary architecture. The author searches for an alternative to the nomenclature ‘cairn’ which describes not the original architecture, but rather an undifferentiated, dishevelled state of preservation.

The geoarchaeological investigation around the Bisya and Salut Archaeological Park disclosed the complexity of local archaeological landscape dating to the last millennia of the Holocene and the main steps in developing sophisticated systems for land exploitation. Recent fieldwork focused on the importance of rock art in the region, which needs to be systematically surveyed and documented. Rock art sites feature various representations dating from the second millennium BCE onwards and the research carried out in 2022 aimed to assess its archaeological potential, as well as identify any threats to its preservation. The investigation confirms that local rock art is a valuable asset for Oman’s archaeology and potential tourism. It suggests the development of geo-cultural tourism routes that combine archaeological sites and rock art with the natural landscapes. Nonetheless, the preservation of rock art and the issues threatening it need careful consideration and assessment for future planning.

تُركز هذه الدراسة على رصد طبيعة وأنماط الملابس في ليبيا خلال القرون الألبسة في طرابلس وبرقة وفزان خلال القرون 5-11م/1-5هـ، وهو موضوع أهتم من خلاله بتوثيق التطور التاريخي لمراحل وأشكال الملابس المحلية، كالعباءات الرجالية والأردية النسائية والسراويل والطاقيات والصنادل. ومن الجيد رصد نوعية الملابس التي ارتداها سكان البلاد الليبية، إذ يُساعد هذا المنهج التسلسلي على تحديد التحولات التي طرأت على الملابس الليبية مع مرور الزمن. وتسعى الدراسة البحثية إلى التحقق من ماهية قطع الملابس المعنية بناءً على شهادات المصادر النصية أو الأدلة الأثرية، مع التمييز ما بين الملابس المنتجة محلياً وتلك المتأثرة منها بالثقافات الخارجية. خصوصاً وأن الملابس الطرابلسية الفاخرة بدأت بعد الإسلام تكتسب شهرة، وبعضها يأتي من جبل نفوسه، كما برزت منسوجات برقة الصوفية عالية الجودة، المنسوجة من صوف سلالة الخِراف البرقاوية الممتازة. This study focuses on documenting the nature and patterns of clothing in Libya between the 5th and 11th centuries CE (5th century AH). The research aims to trace the historical development of local garments, such as men’s cloaks, women’s robes, trousers, caps, and sandals. Examining the types of clothing worn by Libyans during this period is valuable, as this sequential approach helps identify transformations in Libyan attire over time. The study seeks to determine the characteristics of these garments based on textual sources and archaeological evidence, distinguishing between locally produced clothing and those influenced by external cultures. Notably, luxurious Tripolitanian garments gained prominence after the advent of Islam, some of which originated in the Nafusa Mountains. Additionally, high-quality woolen textiles from Barqa, woven from the fine wool of Barqawi sheep, became widely recognized.

Les victoires remportées par les Arabes sur les deux grands Empires perse et byzantin se sont soldées par l’annexion d’immenses territoires. Ces conquêtes soudaines et fulgurantes ont bouleversé les équilibres sociaux et institutionnels des vieilles cités de la péninsule Arabique. Un des effets inhérents à la conquête est la montée en puissance d’une oligarchie militaire arabe qui, aidée par ses affidés parmi les notables des pays vaincus, confisqua à son profit les biens et les terres, ceci entraînant une brusque recrudescence des violences et des exactions. Dans ce contexte, les populations colonisées furent souvent réduites à l’état de bêtes brutes, dénuées de sensibilité humaine. En plus du mépris et des catégorisations raciales, elles furent frappées d’exclusion en vertu d’une politique d’oppression et de spoliations massives et systématiques.Ces transformations profondes apparurent dès la deuxième moitié du viie siècle. Une de leurs conséquences décisives est la naissance d’un puissant empire édifié par les califes omeyyades. Descendant des notables affiliés au clan mecquois des ʿAbd S̲h̲ams, ces dynastes régnèrent à Damas entre 661 et 750 apr. J.-C. Après leur chute, ce fut au tour de leurs rivaux, les Abbassides, d’imposer leur domination depuis Bagdad sur des peuples et des territoires répartis sur des côtes aussi diverses que celles de la mer d’Arabie, du golfe Persique, de la mer Rouge, de la Méditerranée et des deux océans Atlantique et Indien.Cet article entend fournir une analyse historique et critique des rapports sociaux, économiques et culturels au Proche-Orient médiéval, à une époque marquée par la naissance et l’apogée des deux premiers empires coloniaux arabes. L’un de ses principaux enjeux est de sortir d’une histoire édifiante pour retrouver une approche méthodique, permettant de comprendre les mouvements profonds d’une si longue histoire. Il s’agit d’une démarche qui privilégie une relecture serrée des sources de première main et fait attention aux sens précis des mots et à la valeur informative des témoignages. Ces renseignements proviennent des documents de chancellerie, des dīwān ou bureaux des secrétaires royaux, des livres des impôts (Kharādj), des traités médicaux, des sources géographiques et littéraires, des annales historiques, etc. Ces corpus dont nous disposons sont sans doute assez réduits, incomplets et souvent laudatifs. Ils tendent généralement à édulcorer les réalités qu’ils décrivent. Il arrive néanmoins d’y trouver des indications significatives permettant de reconstituer la trame du réel. Ces données sont sans doute loin d’être sans défauts. Elles nous aident cependant à mieux cerner les faits pour les replacer dans l’infinie variété du réel tout en élargissant les champs d’investigation au sujet des discours sur l’altérité, de l’évolution des mentalités, de l’entrée en jeu des préjugés de couleur, des hiérarchies sociales et des identités biologiques et culturelles.

Abstract This study examines two late 2nd/8th century books that have been edited and published recently: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Yazīd al-Fazārī (d. c.185/800)’s Kitāb al-Rudūd (The Book of Responses) and Ḍirār b. ʿAmr al-Ġaṭāfānī’s (d. c.200/810) Kitāb al-Taḥrīš (The Book of Provocation). Both texts shed light on the emergence of ʿilm al-kalām (scholastic theology) in early Islam and its relationship to books and treatises on the Islamic firaq (sects) – a relationship which until now has not been sufficiently examined. In comparing these two texts, we focus on the specific topics they share, the methodologies they use, and the technical terms they employ. We conclude that the emergence of ʿilm al-kalām, as well as the Islamic “contemplative disciplines” in general, occurred not primarily, as is often surmised, as a result of external Greek philosophical influence but rather as the result of a politico-theological debate that took place within Muslim communities. We also reconsider the nature of intellectual life during the early Abbasid period.

Résistance et Dévotion : Anciens sanctuaires ibadites de Djerba, publié par Virginie Prevost, est le fruit d’un long travail commencé en 1996 et enrichi, depuis 2009, des clichés du photographe Axel Derriks. Cet ouvrage se présente comme une étude historique et architecturale minutieuse portant sur quarante-huit mosquées de l’île de Djerba, avec pour dessein de « conserver la mémoire des anciens lieux de culte de Djerba » (p. ix). Tout au long du volume, V. Prevost souligne de manière pertine...

Voici la première monographie publiée par le chercheur tunisien Hafed Abdouli, tirée en partie de sa thèse de doctorat consacrée à la Tripolitaine médiévale, défendue à Tunis en 2011 sous la direction de Faouzi Mahfoudh. L’ouvrage, préfacé par Ahmed M’Charek, constitue le premier volume d’une nouvelle collection des éditions Brill, Libya Islamica, et s’inscrit dans un intéressant programme de recherches dirigé par Aurélien Montel et Sébastien Garnier, Libmed, qui propose, sous la forme d’un s...