Material Sources for Early Islam and Late Antique Near East

Welcome colleagues! This site is designed to provide a central location for resources on the materials for the history of Early Islam and the Late Antique Near East. Where in the past classically trained historians mostly focused on texts, we now see an increasing appreciation for a more interdisciplinary approach where a variety of artifacts, archeological finds and documentary sources are studied alongside texts. This trend has proven immensely valuable for our understanding of history, but it does require a lot from the researcher. Someone that is well-versed in the study of manuscripts, might feel shy to include papyri or insights from numismatics into their research and visa versa. This website is here to help and quickly offer an overview of where to start and what research tools are available for a variety of material sources. Among the institutional frameworks which have made this possible is the ERC-funded project, Embedding Conquest: Naturalising Muslim Rule in the Early Islamic Empire (600-1000), at Leiden University, but the website is not limited to the scope of the project, and collaboration is welcome. For more information visit the About page. For suggestions send an email with “Material Sources Website” in the subject line to Edmund Hayes: e.hayes@let.ru.nl