The Making of Islamic Heritage: Muslim Pasts and Heritage Presents (Heritage Studies in the Muslim World)

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. Offering key insights into critical debates on the construction, management and destruction of heritage in Muslim contexts, this volume considers how Islamic heritages are constructed through texts and practices which award heritage value. It examines how the monolithic representation of Islamic heritage (as a singular construct) can be enriched by the true diversity of Islamic heritages and how endangerment and vulnerability in this type of heritage construct can be re-conceptualized. Assessing these questions through an interdisciplinary lens including heritage studies, anthropology, history, conservation, religious studies and archaeology, this pivot covers global and local examples including heritage case studies from Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, and Pakistan. The Making of Islamic Heritage 4 Acknowledgments 6 Contents 7 List of Figures 9 1 The Making of Islamic Heritages: An Overview of Disciplinary Interventions 10 Making Heritages 10 Disciplinary Interventions 14 Notes 18 Bibliography 18 2 The Intertwining of History and Heritage in Islamic Contexts 21 Islam’s Multiple Pasts 23 Outcomes 25 Note 28 Bibliography 29 3 Muslim Cultures and Pre-Islamic Pasts: Changing Perceptions of “Heritage” 31 Egypt in Muslim Imaginations of the Pre-Islamic Past 32 Buried Treasure and More Accessible Artifacts 34 Narrative Traditions and Textualized Traces of the Ancients 39 Notes 46 Bibliography 49 4 Reclaiming Heritage Through the Image of Traditional Habitat 54 Introduction: The Mirage of “Islamic Housing” 55 Probing an Islamic Tradition in Architecture and Habitat 57 Housing the “Indigenous” in French North Africa 58 Designing for Cultural Continuity: Shushtar Noʾw, Iran 61 Conclusion 65 Notes 68 Bibliography 69 5 Framing the Primordial: Islamic Heritage and Saudi Arabia 73 Introduction 73 Primordial Time 75 Museums of Messages 76 The Hejaz Railway 81 Re-purposing an Ottoman Past 83 Utilizing and Refurbishing the Ottoman Past 85 Exhibition and Revival of the Ottoman Past 87 Conclusions 88 Notes 90 Bibliography 90 6 Images of Piety or Power? Conserving the Umayyad Royal Narrative in Qusayr ʿAmra 96 Introduction 97 Conservation at Qusayr ʿAmra: Revealing the Authentic? 99 Is the Art of Qusayr ʿAmra “Islamic”? 100 What Can Qusayr ‘Amra Do for “Islamic Heritage”? 107 Notes 109 Bibliography 110 7 The Buddha Remains: Heritage Transactions in Taxila, Pakistan 114 Searching for the Buddhas 114 Representational Art in Heritage Practices of Taxila 117 The Artisans of Taxila 120 Discussion and Conclusion 124 Notes 125 Bibliography 126 Index 129 Annotation Offering key insights into critical debates on the construction, management and destruction of heritage in Muslim contexts, this volume considers how Islamic heritages are constructed through texts and practices which award heritage value. It examines how the monolithic representation of Islamic heritage (as a singular construct) can be enriched by the true diversity of Islamic heritages and how endangerment and vulnerability in this type of heritage construct can be re-conceptualised. Assessing these questions through an interdisciplinary lens including heritage studies, anthropology, history, conservation, religious studies and archaeology, this pivot covers global and local examples including heritage case studies from Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, and Pakistan Front Matter....Pages i-ix The Making of Islamic Heritages: An Overview of Disciplinary Interventions....Pages 1-11 The Intertwining of History and Heritage in Islamic Contexts....Pages 13-22 Muslim Cultures and Pre-Islamic Pasts: Changing Perceptions of “Heritage”....Pages 23-45 Reclaiming Heritage Through the Image of Traditional Habitat....Pages 47-65 Framing the Primordial: Islamic Heritage and Saudi Arabia....Pages 67-89 Images of Piety or Power? Conserving the Umayyad Royal Narrative in Qusayr ʿAmra....Pages 91-108 The Buddha Remains: Heritage Transactions in Taxila, Pakistan....Pages 109-123 Back Matter....Pages 125-131

diversity; architecture; culture; vulnerability; conservation