Agricultural Landscape of Nishapur and the Hinterland of a Metropole

doi:10.1558/jia.37689

Journal of Islamic Archaeology, Vol 5, No 1 (2018)

Agricultural Landscape of Nishapur and the Hinterland of a Metropole

Zahra Lorzadeh, Haeedeh Laleh

Issued Date: 19 Dec 2018

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.

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DOI: 10.1558/jia.37689

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