Multi-disciplinary approaches to the Islamic period in Egypt and the Red Sea Coast

Abstract

We are privileged to offer a summary of the massive campaign of excavation and survey conducted by the author and his team from Japan in northern Egypt and the neighbouring coast of Sinai. Over the last few years they have excavated a large sector of al-Fustat (the early Islamic settlement on the outskirts of modern Cairo), mapped the early Christian monastery at Wadi al-Tur (sixth-twelfth century AD), recorded early Islamic rock inscriptions on Mt Naqus eighthtwentieth century AD), mapped the port and mosque at Raya (originating in the sixth-twelfth or thirteenth century AD) and investigated on a large scale the fourteenth-twentieth-century sequence at al-Kilani (al-Tur). Among the objects unearthed at al-Kilani were 4000 fragments of manuscripts. The work is throwing new light on early Islam, its development of social and commercial networks, and its relation with Christian, Coptic and Byzantine cultures.

Transitions in Islamic plant-ash glass vessels: on-site chemical analyses conducted at the Raya/al-Tur area on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt

“…Previous reports describe a gradual transition in the alkaline source for glass objects found at Raya (Sawada et al, 2005;Kato et al, 2009c), which was a medieval Islamic port city situated on the southwest coast of the Sinai Peninsula (Kawatoko, 2005a). This study examines plant-ash glasses excavated mainly from Raya (Shindo, 2003(Shindo, , 2009b, an important port city for Red Sea trade during the Islamic period.…”

“…Plant-ash glass from the Raya site was analyzed by XRF primarily during the 2007 season while investigating the transitions of glass in the Islamic world and the relationship between Raya and other Middle Eastern areas. Research during the 2008 season focused primarily on plantash glass unearthed at the Monastery of Wadi al-Tur, a site that has been dated to a relatively long period from the 6th to 13th centuries (Kawatoko, 1995(Kawatoko, , 2005aKato et al, 2009b). By increasing the number of samples dated after the 11th century, of which few have been excavated in Raya, the relationship between the composition and production date of plant-ash glasses found in the Raya/al-Tur area was established.…”

Change in chemical composition of early Islamic glass excavated in Raya,Sinai Peninsula, Egypt: on-site analyses using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer

“…In 2007, main team of the mission was changed from MECCJ to Research Institute of Islamic Archaeology and Culture in Janan (RIIAC). The purpose of the mission was to investigate the history of East-West maritime relations, the transformation of material culture and daily life in Egypt and the Red Sea area, and the form and structure of the Islamic city (Kawatoko, 2005). More than 15,000 pieces of Islamic glass objects have been excavated from this site.…”

From the Coast to the High Mountains: A Remote Sensing Survey of Disturbances and Threats to the Archaeology and Heritage of South Sinai

“…Finally, data from published research reports and detailed ground surveys such as SPR were also entered in the database (e.g. Finkelstein 1985 ; Dahari 2000 ; Beit-Arieh 2003 ; Kawatoko 2005 ; Mumford 2006 ; Shams 2011 ; Shams and Ten Harkel 2019 ).…”

“…As capital of the South Sinai Governorate, al-Tur primarily functions as an administrative and industrial centre. Archaeological remains testify to its long history as a harbour on the Gulf of Suez, facilitating trade and accommodating travellers (Shuqair 1917 ; Kawatoko 2005 ). From the fourth century CE, the coastal area functioned as a monastic centre, with hermits living in caves in the Jebel Naqus mountain range north of the town.…”