Agricultural Landscape of Nishapur and the Hinterland of a Metropole

Authors

  • Zahra Lorzadeh Goethe University Frankfurt
  • Haeedeh Laleh University of Tehran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.37689

Keywords:

Nishapur, Heartland, hinterland, agricultural landscape, food/non-food products, cotton

Abstract

Nishapur, as a metropole and one of the main urban centers in Khurasan, expanded over a vast geographical area with a heartland and a hinterland that together constitute the extensive Nishapur. In this paper, we investigate the variety and distribution of agricultural productsin the extensive Nishapur as a whole. By focusing on the landscape of fibers and fabrics we explore the role they performed in the economy of Nishapur at its apogee in the 4th AH/10th CE to 6th AH/12th CE century. The results demonstrate how the heartland and the hinterland in the extensive Nishapur acted together as a cohesive socio-economic system and why it is crucial, for understanding the agricultural landscape, to consider Nishapur in its entirety.

Author Biographies

  • Zahra Lorzadeh, Goethe University Frankfurt

    Zahra Lorzadeh is an archaeologist specializing in the Islamic period having completed her PhD at the Goethe University Frankfurt. She is currently active as the scientific executive of Iranian National Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscape: ICOMOS-Iran. Together with H. Laleh she is head of a long-term archaeological research project in Nishapur. 

  • Haeedeh Laleh, University of Tehran

    Haeedeh Laleh is professor of Islamic archaeology in the Department of Archaeology and Bioarchaoelogy Laboratory, Central Library, University of Tehran and is a specialist in the Islamic art and archaeology of Iran. Her research domain focuses on cultural landscapes, urban archaeology, building archaeology and material culture. After working in Isfahan, Qazvin and Kerman, she is currently co-heading with Z. Lorzadeh a long-term archaeological research project in Nishapur.

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Published

2018-12-19

How to Cite

Lorzadeh, Z., & Laleh, H. (2018). Agricultural Landscape of Nishapur and the Hinterland of a Metropole. Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 5(1), 3-16. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.37689