Rayy

This is a very useful and interesting investigation of the archaeological evidence relating to the early Islamic and medieval periods of one of Iran’s major pre-modern cities. As such, the study has considerable relevance to the study of other cities in the Iranian Islamic world. There are however some problems with the book, some of which are a result of how it is presented and some are of a more methodological nature. The book comprises seven chapters arranged logically starting with the geographical setting (ch. 1) followed by a summary of the history of the city (ch. 2). The third chapter is a review of previous archaeological research and fieldwork, while ch. 4 presents a descriptive topography of the remains visible up to the 1940s. The following two chapters present the results of recent excavations at the site. Chapter 5 recounts the excavation of four test trenches by the author as well as a summary of the citadel excavations by the Iranian archaeologist Ghadir Afround. The final chapter presents an overview of the urban development and compares it with some other medieval Iranian cities. In general the book bears a strong similarity to the thesis on which it was based, although in this form it is helpfully both shorter and in English rather than French

Ancient history · Archaeology · Excavation · Geography · Historiography · Islam · Relevance (law · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Byzantine Studies and History · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Classics · History