Medieval History
Recent conservation work at Qusayr ?Amra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site 85 kilometers east of Amman, has revealed the name of the Umayyad prince who commissioned the construction of the building. The conservation work is being conducted by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro in Rome, and World Monuments Fund. The site is a small building dating to the Umayyad period and is known for its mural paintings.
Gazelle and wild donkey hunts, dances, musicians, court scenes and allegories, and zodiac symbols are all painted on interior surfaces. The inscription, which previously could not be read due to accumulated dirt and previous unsuccessful cleaning attempts, is an invocation to Allah beginning with the formula ?Allahumma aslih al-Walid ibn Yazîd? (?Oh God! Make al-Walîd ibn Yazîd virtuous?). This inscription was painted in white above a window in old Kufic alphabet without any diacritical dots. Sections of the three-line inscription are still being translated.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
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Medieval History
Early Islamic site discovered in Jordan
Recent conservation work at Qusayr ?Amra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site 85 kilometers east of Amman, has revealed the name of the Umayyad prince who commissioned the construction of the building. The conservation work is being conducted by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro in Rome, and World Monuments Fund. The site is a small building dating to the Umayyad period and is known for its mural paintings.
Gazelle and wild donkey hunts, dances, musicians, court scenes and allegories, and zodiac symbols are all painted on interior surfaces. The inscription, which previously could not be read due to accumulated dirt and previous unsuccessful cleaning attempts, is an invocation to Allah beginning with the formula ?Allahumma aslih al-Walid ibn Yazîd? (?Oh God! Make al-Walîd ibn Yazîd virtuous?). This inscription was painted in white above a window in old Kufic alphabet without any diacritical dots. Sections of the three-line inscription are still being translated.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
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This month sees the launch of a new website designed to showcase one of the most important sets of medieval wall paintings to be found in East Anglia. The Lakenheath wall paintings website is the final stage in a project designed to conserve and interpret...
- Crusader Inscription By Frederick Ii Discovered In Israel
An Arabic inscription that bears the name of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, and the date ?1229 of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah?, was recently deciphered by Professor Moshe Sharon and Ami Shrager of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
- Jordan Creates Online Archaeology Treasure Trove
Jordan on Tuesday launched the world's largest online antiquities database, which details every archaeological site in the country and aims to help preserve its treasures. Its creators said the Web platform could be a model for Iraq, where looters...
- Umayyad Coin Discovered In Egypt
Egypt's Cultural Minister, Farouk Hosni, announced that a gold Umayyad coin was unearthed last Thursday during an excavation at Deir Yehnes el-Koseir (Monastery of St. John the Little), an area in Wadi el-Natrun. The excavation is a joint venture...
- Byzantine Bathhouse Found In Syria
Syrian archaeologists have disovered the remains of a bathhouse dating back to the late Byzantine era and the beginning of the Umayyad era. The bath was discovered within a huge architectural bloc, which was likely a palace. Ibrahim Amiri, who heads...