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Archaeology and Early Islamic History. Religion, Society and the State. An account of Muslim Origins. The Prophetic biography ( Sira ) Problem of the earliest textual sources The rise of the Islamic state Was Mecca even Mecca?. The Revisionist Dilemma.
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Archaeology and Early Islamic History Religion, Society and the State
An account of Muslim Origins • The Prophetic biography (Sira) • Problem of the earliest textual sources • The rise of the Islamic state • Was Mecca even Mecca?
The Revisionist Dilemma • Is the Muslim narrative of origins true? • When do we first see the Muslims as a unified group (umma)? • Does the archaeological record give us something that texts do not?
Categories of Evidence • Mecca and Medina • Religious architecture/monuments • Numismatics • Inscriptions
Other Possible Roles for Archaeology and the Early History of Islam • Studies of culture contact • Transformations of the landscape • The workings of empire and its institutions • The break with late antiquity