Imagining Antiquity in Islamic Societies

Description

A history of Islamic interest in the material past of the ancient world. The tragic destruction of cultural heritage performed by ISIS in Syria and Iraq is often superficially explained as an attempt to stamp out idolatry or as a fundamentalist desire to revive and enforce a return to a purified monotheism. Analyses like these posit that there is an "Islamic" manner of imagining the past and that the iconoclastic actions of terrorist organizations are one, albeit extreme, manifestation of an assumedly pervasive and historically ongoing Islamic antipathy toward images and pre-contemporary holy localities. However, this is not the full picture. This book explores the diverse ways Muslims have engaged with the material legacies of ancient and pre-Islamic societies, as well as how Islam's heritage has been framed and experienced over time. Long before the emergence of ISIS and other so-called Islamist iconoclasts, Muslims imagined Islamic and pre-Islamic antiquity and its localities in myriad ways: as sites of memory, spaces of healing, or places imbued with didactic, historical, and moral power. Front Cover Half Title Imagining Antiquity in Islamic Societies Copyright Page Table of contents Introduction: Imagining Localities of Antiquity in Islamic Imagining Antiquity at Palmyra Heritage Values: Cosmopolitan or Local? Antiquity and the Islamic Imaginary Talismanic or Apotropaic Veneration and Reuse Sacred Histories Modern and Contemporary Heritage Discourses Acknowledgements Notes Part 1 Imagining Antiquity in Medieval Islam 1 ‘Return to Origin Is Non-existence’: Al-Mada’in and Perceptions of Ruins in Abbasid Iraq Changing Geographies The Abbasid Texts History Geographies and Founded Cities Spolia and the Ruin Royal Power and the Ruin Poetry Conclusions Notes 2 Medieval Reports of the Preservation and Looting of Pre-Islamic Burials in South Arabia Reports of Preservation Reports of Looting Conclusion Notes 3 The Wisdom to Wonder: ‘Aja¯’ib and the Pillars of Islamic India Whence ‘aja’ib? The Quwwat al-Islam Mosque and Indian Islamic ‘Aja’ib The Pillar of Firuz Shah Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Part 2 Imagining Antiquity in Ottoman Lands 4 Explosions and Expulsions in Ottoman Athens: A Heritage Perspective on the Temple of Olympian Zeus Ottomanization and Islamization in the Ottoman Empire The Layering of Ottoman Athens’s Complex Heritage The Different Views of Ottoman Athens The Ottoman Olympieion and Its Multiple Presentations Discussion: The Inheritance of Ottoman Athens Future Prospects for New Presentations of Complex Heritage Notes 5 Spoils for the New Pyrrhus: Alternative Claims to Antiquity in Ottoman Greece Ali Pasha as Antiquarian Excavating Nikopolis and Building Preveza Anew The Imitator of Pyrrhus Victorious Triumph, From Augustus to Ali Pasha Conclusion: Confronting World Heritage Acknowledgements Notes 6 Claiming the Classical Past: Ottoman Archaeology at Lagina The Rediscovery of Lagina Archaeology and Identity in the Ottoman Empire Osman Hamdi Bey Ottoman Archaeology at Lagina Conclusion Notes Part 3 Imagining Antiquity in Modernity 7 Destruction as Layered Event: Twentieth Century Ruins in the Great Mosque of Gaza British Aestheticization of Ruins in the Aftermath of Destruction Comprehending Arab Ruins from the Abandoned Encampment to the Razed Islamic City Origins of Destruction Contesting Jewish History in the Great Mosque of Gaza Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes 8 In Situ: The Contraindications of World Heritage The Contraindications of World Heritage Are Ruins Ancient? How Old Is World Heritage? Who Are the Barbarians? Ruins and the Displaced Promise of Eternal Life Acknowledgements Notes Part 4 Imagining Antiquity in the Contemporary World 9 The Masjid al-Haram: Balancing Tradition and Renewal at the Heart of Islam Sinan’s arcade Extending the Haram The Relocation of Sinan’s Arcade Notes 10 ISIS’s Destruction of Mosul’s Historical Monuments: Between Media Spectacle and Religious Doctrine1 Typology of the Destroyed Monuments of Mosul Mosques of the Prophets Mosques and Shrines of Prophet Muhammad’s Family Mosque-Tombs of Eminent Mosul Residents Individual Tombs of Mosul Residents Christian Monuments Cemeteries ISIS’s Taswiyat al-Qubur in the Context of Salafi Teachings Conclusion List of Mosul Monuments Destroyed by ISIS from June 2014 to August 2015 (see Figure 10.6 for corresponding map locations) Acknowledgements Notes 11 The Radicalization of Heritage in Tunisia Patrimonialization from the Fringe The Two Faces of De-Patrimonialization The Anthropological Trap Je Suis Bardo Acknowledgements Notes 12 Heritage Crusades: Saving the Past from the Commons ‘There Is No Time to Waste’ ‘Islam Is Large’ Treasure Hunting and ‘Commoning’ From Commoners to Caretakers Acknowledgements Notes Notes on Contributors Index Back Cover