Greater Khorasan: History, Geography, Archaeology and Material Culture

Description

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. Preface Table of Contents Pre-Mongol Khurasan. A Historical Introduction “Khorasan Proper” and “Greater Khorasan” within a politico-cultural framework 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) From Parthian to Islamic Nisa Merv on Khorasanian trade routes from the 10th–13th centuries Ancient Herat Revisited. New Data from Recent Archaeological Fieldwork 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 Le paysage urbain de Nishapur Nouvelles recherches sur la céramique de Nishapur : la prospection du shahrestan Archaeological Material in the Museum Setting: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Excavations at Nishapur Nishapur Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: 70 years of Restoration Techniques Le Grand Khorasan : Datation par des méthodes physico-chimiques (carbone 14 et luminescence) Index Maps