Greater Khorasan: History, Geography, Archaeology and Material Culture (Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East Book 29)

The modern sense of “Greater Khorasan” today corresponds to a territory which not only comprises the region in the east of Iran but also, beyond Iranian frontiers, a part of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. In the past this entity was simply defined as Khorasan. In the Sassanidera Khorasan defined the “Eastern lands”. In the Islamic era this term was again taken up in the same sense it previously enjoyed. The Arab sources of the first centuries all mention the eastern regions under the same toponym, Khorasan. Khorasan was the gateway used by Alexander the Great to go into Bactria and India and, inversely, that through which the Seljuks and Mongols entered Iran. In a diachronic context Khorasan was a transit zone, a passage, a crossroads, which, above all in the medieval period, saw the creation of different commercial routes leading to the north, towards India, to the west and into China. In this framework, archaeological researches will be the guiding principle which will help us to take stock of a material culture which, as its history, is very diversified. They also offer valuable elements on commercial links between the principal towns of Khorasan. This book will provide the opportunity to better know the most recent elements of the principal constitutive sites of this geographical and political entity. Pre-Mongol Khurasan. a historical introduction / David Durand-Durand-Guédy Khorasan proper and greater Khorasan within a politico-cultural framework / Rocco Rante La crise d'aridité climatique de la fin du 3ème millénaire av. J.â¿ÉC., à la lumière des contextes géomorphologiques de 3 sites d'Iran Oriental (Bam, Tepe Damghani, Jiroft) / Eric Fouache, Henri-Paul Francfort, Claude Cosandey, Chahryar Adle From Parthian to Islamic Nisa / Carlo Lippolis and Vito Messina Merv on Khorasanian trade routes from the 10th-13th centuries / Paul Wordsworth Ancient Herat Revisited. New Data from Recent Archaeological Fieldwork / Ute Franke Trois mosquées du début de l'ère islamique au Grand Khorassan : Bastam Noh-gonbadan/Haji-Piyadah de Balkh et Zuzan d'après des investigations archéologiques / Chahryar Adle Le paysage urbain de Nishapur / Haeedeh Laleh, Abolfazl Mokarramifar, Zahra Lorzadeh Nouvelles recherches sur la céramique de Nishapur : la prospection du Shahrestan / Annabelle Collinet Archaeological Material in the Museum Setting: The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Excavations at Nishapur / Marika Sardar Nishapur Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: 70 years of Restoration Techniques / Vicki Parry Le Grand Khorasan: Datation par des méthodes physico-chimiques (carbone 14 et luminescence) / Antoine Zink, Elisa Porto, Pascale Richardin, Nathalie Gandolfo, Rocco Rante Index. "The modern sense of 'Greater Khorasan' today corresponds to a territory which not only comprises the region in the east of Iran but also, beyond Iranian frontiers, a part of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. In the past this entity was simply defined as Khorasan. In the Sassanidera Khorasan defined the 'Eastern lands'. In the Islamic era this term was again taken up in the same sense it previously enjoyed. The Arab sources of the first centuries all mention the eastern regions under the same toponym, Khorasan. Khorasan was the gateway used by Alexander the Great to go into Bactria and India and, inversely, that through which the Seljuks and Mongols entered Iran. In a diachronic context Khorasan was a transit zone, a passage, a crossroads, which, above all in the medieval period, saw the creation of different commercial routes leading to the north, towards India, to the west and into China. In this framework, archaeological researches will be the guiding principle which will help us to take stock of a material culture which, as its history, is very diversified. They also offer valuable elements on commercial links between the principal towns of Khorasan. This book will provide the opportunity to better know the most recent elements of the principal constitutive sites of this geographical and political entity"--Résumé de l'éditeur "The modern sense of 'Greater Khorasan' today corresponds to a territory which not only comprises the region in the east of Iran but also, beyond Iranian frontiers, a part of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. In the past this entity was simply defined as Khorasan. In the Sassanidera Khorasan defined the 'Eastern lands'. In the Islamic era this term was again taken up in the same sense it previously enjoyed. The Arab sources of the first centuries all mention the eastern regions under the same toponym, Khorasan. Khorasan was the gateway used by Alexander the Great to go into Bactria and India and, inversely, that through which the Seljuks and Mongols entered Iran. In a diachronic context Khorasan was a transit zone, a passage, a crossroads, which, above all in the medieval period, saw the creation of different commercial routes leading to the north, towards India, to the west and into China. In this framework, archaeological researches will be the guiding principle which will help us to take stock of a material culture which, as its history, is very diversified. They also offer valuable elements on commercial links between the principal towns of Khorasan. This book will provide the opportunity to better know the most recent elements of the principal constitutive sites of this geographical and political entity"--Provided by publisher The modern sense of "Greater Khorasan" today corresponds to a territory which not only comprises the region in the east of Iran but also, beyond Iranian frontiers, a part of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. In the past this entity was simply defined as Khorasan. In the Sassanid era Khorasan defined the "Eastern lands". In the Islamic era this term was again taken up in the same sense it previously enjoyed. The Arab sources of the first centuries all mention the eastern regions under the same toponym, Khorasan. Khorasan was the gateway used by Alexander the Great to go into Bactria and India and, inversely, that through which the Seljuks and Mongols entered Iran. In a diachronic context Khorasan was a transit zone, a passage, a crossroads, which, above all in the medieval period, saw the creation of different commercial routes leading to the north, towards India, to the west and into China. In this framework, archaeological researches will be the guiding principle which will help us to take stock of a material culture which, as its history, is very diversified. They also offer valuable elements on commercial links between the principal towns of Khorasan. This book will provide the opportunity to better know the most recent elements of the principal constitutive sites of this geographical and political entity. Preface 5 Table of Contents 7 Pre-Mongol Khurasan. A Historical Introduction 9 “Khorasan Proper” and “Greater Khorasan” within a politico-cultural framework 17 La crise d’aridité climatique de la fin du 3ème millénaire av. J.-C., à la lumière des contextes géomorphologique de 3 sites d’Iran Oriental (Bam, Tepe Damghani, Jiroft) 35 From Parthian to Islamic Nisa 47 Merv on Khorasanian trade routes from the 10th–13th centuries 59 Ancient Herat Revisited. New Data from Recent Archaeological Fieldwork 71 Trois mosquées du début de l’ère islamique au Grand Khorassan : Bastam, Noh-Gonbadan/Haji-Piyadah de Balkh et Zuzan d’après des investigations archéologiques 97 Le paysage urbain de Nishapur 123 Nouvelles recherches sur la céramique de Nishapur : la prospection du shahrestan 133 Archaeological Material in the Museum Setting: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Excavations at Nishapur 149 Nishapur Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: 70 years of Restoration Techniques 159 Le Grand Khorasan : Datation par des méthodes physico-chimiques (carbone 14 et luminescence) 169 Index 185 Maps 189 Die Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Vorderen Orients erscheinen als Supplement der Zeitschrift Der Islam , gegrndet 1910 von Carl Heinrich Becker, einem der Vter der modernen Islamwissenschaft. Ganz im Sinne Beckers ist das Ziel der Studien die Erforschung der vergangenen Gesellschaften des Vorderen Orients, ihrer Glaubenssysteme und der zugrundeliegenden sozialen und konomischen Verhltnisse, von der Iberischen Halbinsel bis nach Zentralasien, von den ukrainischen Steppen zum Hochland des Jemen. ber die grundlegende philologische Arbeit an der literarischen berlieferung hinaus nutzen die Studien die archivalischen, sowie materiellen und archologischen berlieferungen als Quelle fr die gesamte Bandbreite der historisch arbeitenden Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften. Khorasan, "Lands of the East", refers to the northeastern region of Iran. In the early Islamic period, the term "Khorasan" came to be used for a much larger area, reaching into Central Asia well beyond the Oxus river, encompassing large parts of northern Afghanistan, and even extending to southeastern Iran. This volume brings together state-of-the art research on the history, geography, archaeology, and the material culture of this vast region