Description
Book SynopsisCity in the Desert, Revisited features previously unpublished documents and reproduces over fifty photographs from the archaeological excavations at Qasr al-Hayr in Syria. The book recounts the personal experiences and professional endeavours that shaped the fields of Islamic archaeology, art and architectural history as the significance of these fields of study expanded during the 1960s and 1970s.
Between 1964 and 1971, renowned Islamic art historian Oleg Grabar directed a large-scale archaeological excavation at the site of Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi. Drawn to the remote eighth-century complex in the hopes of uncovering a princely Umayyad palace, Grabar and his team instead stumbled upon a new type of urban settlement in the Syrian steppe. A rich lifeworld emerged in the midst of their discoveries, and over the course of the excavation's six seasons, close relationships formed between the American and Syrian archaeologists, historians, and workers who laboured and lived at the site.
Trade ReviewUndoubtedly, Gruber and Al-Ferzly have put together a book that intriguingly unravels the mood and times of the Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi excavations. The intentions, achievements, obstacles, and unexpected outcomes of the project are laid out in full clarity, while a valuable and empathic insight is given into the people of the Syrian countryside and their ways, now tragically decimated.
Walmsley, Alan, Bulletin of Oriental and African Studies 15 September 2023
