Umayyad State Research Articles

Advances in Research on Islamic Cordoba

The capital of the Andalusian Umayyad state has been traditionally studied on the basis of written sources, including chronicles and palatine texts. In the last decades, however, the archaeology of Umayyad Cordoba has experienced substantial growth as a consequence of large-scale municipal development, which has necessitated numerous salvage excavations and other archaeological interventions. As a result of these activities and, specifically, of joint fieldwork by the University of Cordoba and the Municipal Urban Development Agency, which lasted from 2001 to 2011, it has been possible to study in depth certain aspects of the Islamic city, such as: a) The transition of the city from its late-antique stage, specifically in the area occupied by the Mosque and the Alcazar after the Islamic Conquest; b) The configuration of the islamicized landscape within the mad?na through the analysis of its evolution, from the foundation of munyas and suburban productive spaces to the constitution of suburban quarters; c) The definition and distribution of secondary or “quarter” mosques, baths and maqabirs, product, in many cases, of pious acts through the institution of waqf; d) The characteristics of the suburban quarters, born in the urban growth experienced after the proclamation of the Umayyad Caliphate; e) And, finally, the occupation of the city after the fitna at the beginning of the eleventh century and, particularly, the urban revitalization experienced under the Almohads.

The Creation of the System of Heir-Apparent by Mu’awiyah bin Abu Sufian in (680 A.D) and Reactions against it

The study highlights the political issue that played a major role in shaping the system of government in the Islamic state. This is the creation of the system of “heir apparent” by Mu’awiyah bin Abu Sufian, the Umayyad Caliph. The study follows a descriptive approach based on historical analysis and comparison of accounts, and then follows the reactions against that system. The findings of the study show that the system of “heir apparent” was one of the causes of bloody conflicts and violent strife experienced by the Islamic State, and was, in fact, a major cause of the fall of the Umayyad State in the East, in 132 AH / 750 AD.

The Creation of the System of Heir-Apparent by Mu’awiyah bin Abu Sufian in (680 A.D) and Reactions against it

The study highlights the political issue that played a major role in shaping the system of government in the Islamic state. This is the creation of the system of “heir apparent” by Mu’awiyah bin Abu Sufian, the Umayyad Caliph. The study follows a descriptive approach based on historical analysis and comparison of accounts, and then follows the reactions against that system. The findings of the study show that the system of “heir apparent” was one of the causes of bloody conflicts and violent strife experienced by the Islamic State, and was, in fact, a major cause of the fall of the Umayyad State in the East, in 132 AH / 750 AD.

Speech science in the light of modern and contemporary changes (analytical study)

Theology represented the response and the epistemological statement to the challenges that Islam faced at its inception and its civilizational dominance in the middle of the Middle Ages, and it had a positive effectiveness in responding to the internal and external attempts that wanted to obliterate the truth of Islam and its general principles of belief, so it was effective in discouraging Muslims from surrendering The judiciary, destiny, and standing in front of authoritarian currents that arose in the Umayyad state that says obedience to the caliph, whoever he is (1), so the science of theology represented a corrector for prevailing beliefs and ideas that represented an intellectual danger to the Muslims’ belief and their understanding of Islam. .

The relationship of the Umayyad state with the Byzantine state during the era of Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan (41-60 AH / 660-681 AD)

Campaigns were launched during the reign of Caliph Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan, which were larger than those that followed, at least until the period when campaigns against the Romans flourished in the Abbasid era, which clearly indicates the efforts made by this caliph and his willingness to take care of managing the frontiers and preparing armies. To protect the borders of the state from the attacks of the Byzantine Romans, in addition to that he developed his military experience and obtained positive results in the fight against the Romans. To become a caliph for Muslims.

Qur’ânicization of Religio-Political Discourse in the Umayyad Period

Documentary and literary evidence suggests that during the Umayyad period, institutions and practices central to the operation of the state were renamed using terms from the Qur’an. The goal of this process was to legitimate the Umayyad state and government by linking them with the divine revelation and the person of the prophet Muhammad. It also helped to define Islam as a tradition focused on the prophet and the Qur’an.

Spatial analysis of a historical phenomenon: using GIS to demonstrate the strategic placement of Umayyad desert palaces

The Umayyad qusour (desert palaces) are monumental structures built during the reign of the first caliphate of Islam. Usually dismissed as “pleasure palaces” or “hunting lodges,” some scholars are beginning to argue that these prominent structures were strategic interventions in the landscape. Until now, historians have relied mainly on textual, architectural and art-historical analyses of the qusour in order to understand Umayyad state architecture. This research proposes the use of spatial analysis through GIS to lend a new dimension to the discussion. The results of the analysis show that Umayyad qusour are carefully situated at routes of transhumance and water sources. The distribution pattern of the Umayyad qusour is clustered at the outlet of Wadi Sarhan, and there is actually line-of-sight communication between Azraq, Amra, Haranah, Muwaqqar, Umm al Walid, Mushatta, and Qastal. There is also a positive association between Umayyad qusour and their water sources. These results support the argument that the Umayyad qusour were built strategically at perennial water sources in order to monitor routes of transhumance amongst the socio-political centers of the period.

Abd al-Malik's Coinage Reforms : the Role of the Damascus Mint

A review of the history and historiography of precious metal coins issued by the caliphal mint of Damascus (72-79 ah) suggests that the caliph's administrators abandoned figurai coinage in favour of epigraphic coinage at the end of the eighth century as the final stage of a series of monetary experiments which aimed to create a universal Islamic coinage type, that would be accepted in all regions of the Umayyad state, including Iran as well as Greater Syria.

El rey-profeta salomón y la imagen del soberano islámico a partir de una pieza inédita cordobesa

We expound an unpublished Cordova’s object: an islamic plaque probably made in ivory, engraved in both sides with epigraphy and a complex iconography concerning to Solomon as the prototype of perfect sovereign, destinated to legitimate the Umayyad State as the direct heir of the same and therefore of God.

‘Abd Allah Ibn al-Muqaffa’ and the ‘Abbasid Revolution

The life and works of ‘Abd Allah b. al-Muqaffa', probably the Abdala the Saracen with whose mention the Christian humanist Pico della Mirandola opens his great Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486), have received some attention in modern scholarship. His life and work, however, have not been systematically studied in the context of the revolution of his time—namely, the ‘Abbasid revolution. This paper will try to show that Ibn al-Muqaffa's impressive intellectual output appears in a new light when it is properly put in this context, and is seen from the perspective of the breakdown of the Umayyad state and the ensuing process of revolution.

The fall of the Umayyads of Cordova: The end of the Arab caliphate

The Umayyad state collapsed at the beginning of the eleventh century, just as the ‘Abbāsid empire had done a century earlier. However, in Baghdad, the caliphate survived this collapse, whereas in Cordova it did not, even though, in Spain, as in the East, the idea of the caliphate was not dead. It is this contradiction ‐ the need for a symbol and the lack of one ‐ that I analyse in this article. In my opinion, the explanation lies in the initial purpose of the Umayyad caliphate of Cordova. Whereas their rivals, the ‘Abbāsids and the Fātimids, traced their rights to the caliphate back to the Prophet by descent, the Umayyads could hardly do so. But in contrast to the authority gained by Berbers, Persians, or Turks in Baghdad or Cairo, they laid emphasis on their supposed Arab purity. Unfortunately, the contradiction existing between the sedentary sovereign of Cordova, confined to the palace, and the warrior of the desert he was supposed to be, between the needs of the state and the ideology of the caliphate,...

Madīnat al-Zahrā’, le prétexte monumental des Umayyades de Cordoue

The paper, based on the study of the medieval Arabic sources, investigates the relationship and reflexivity between architecturalendeavours and political power at the time of the Umayyads of Cordoba. To do this, it investigates the concept of power and how it is reflected in the building programs of the sovereigns: The monumental program of construction was established to reinforce the internal and external images of the Umayyad State of Cordoba. This period was also affected by the diplomatic, hegemonicand religious rivalries between two great empires: the Umayyad caliphate of al-Andalus and the Fāṭimid caliphate in Ifrīqiya.