The Aghlabids & Their Neighbours: Art and Material Culture in 9th century North Africa The Society for Libyan Studies awarded a grant to go towards the costs of the conference: The Aghlabids & Their Neighbours: Art and Material Culture in 9th century North Africa, held at Winston House, London on the 23rd-24th May 2014 and organized by Glaire Anderson (University of North Caroline-Chapel Hill), Corisande Fenwick (University of Leicester) and Mariam Rosser-Owen (Victoria & Albert Museum, London). The aims of the conference were threefold: to showcase the most recent archaeological and historical research on ninth-century North Africa; to foster interdisciplinary dialogue between scholars working on the Aghlabid dynasty and their neighbouring states; and to broaden awareness of North Africa's Islamic heritage to a British audience. It was a tremendous success. Over 70 scholars, students and interested members of the public attended, many of whom had travelled to London from elsewhere in the UK, North Africa, Europe and the USA. Despite difficulties obtaining UK visas for the North African speakers, seven scholars from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco were able to present their papers in person. The workshop commenced with a keynote paper on the origins of the Aghlabids by Professor Hugh Kennedy, and was followed by 24 papers on topics as varied as Muslim rulership and authority, the architecture of the Great Mosque at Kairouan, and the techniques used to create the famous Blue Qu’ran. Papers moved well beyond the Aghlabid heartlands in Tunisia to cover a vast region stretching from Sijilmasa to Sicily to the Libyan Fazzan. The Tunisian Ambassador generously hosted a closing reception at the Tunisian Embassy which served as a fitting way to celebrate the advances in our understanding of the Aghlabids and their ninthcentury neighbours. Papers from the conference, with further papers commissioned from scholars who were unable to attend, will be published in a volume in Brill’s Art and Archaeology of the Islamic World series. THE AGHLABIDS AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS: ART AND MATERIAL CULTURE IN 9TH-CENTURY NORTH AFRICA Winston House, 3 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3RA http://aghlabid.web.unc.edu | https://www.facebook.com/TheAghlabids THE AGHLABIDS Welcome by Corisande Fenwick, Glaire Anderson and Mariam Rosser-Owen Keynote: Hugh Kennedy (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London), “Abbasid Networks in Ifriqiya and the origins of the Aghlabids” Panel 1: Foundations and Urbanism: Alex Metcalfe (Lancaster University) Corisande Fenwick (University of Leicester), “Setting the scene: the archaeology of postconquest Ifriqiya” Caroline Goodson (Birkbeck, University of London), “Kairouan and the formation of a ninthcentury capital: a comparative perspective” Ali Asgar Alibhai (Harvard University), “An Effaced Memory: Aghlabid Hydraulic Works and the Medieval Islamic Regalia of Kingship” Panel 2: The mihrab of the Kairouan mosque: John Mitchell (Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia) Jonathan Bloom (Boston College), “The Marble Mihrab Panels of the Great Mosque of Kairouan” Olivier Bobin (CIRAM/Université de Bordeaux), “The Metallic Lustre Decoration of the Mihrab of the Great Mosque of Kairouan (Tunisia, 9th Century AD). Scientific Investigations.” Khadija Hamdi (Université Paris-Sorbonne/University of Sfax, Tunisia), “Les aspects cachés des carreaux de la grande mosquée de Kairouan” Panel 3: Material culture: Simon O’Meara (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) Lotfi Abdeljaouad (Chargé de recherches, Institut National du Patrimoine Tunisie), “L’épigraphie aghlabide: apports historiques et influences” (prerecorded) Azeddine Belakehal (Université Mohamed Khider, Biskra) “Les ambiances lumineuses dans le Mosquées de la periode Aghlabide” Stuart Sears (Independent Scholar), “Numismatic Evidence for the Origins of al- ‘Abbāsīya and the Aghlabid State” Panel 4: The Aghlabids overseas: Giuseppe Mandalà (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid) Alex Metcalfe (Lancaster University), “History and historiography: the Aghlabids in Ifrīqiya and Sicily” Annliese Nef (Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Paris 1)), “Sicily in the Aghlabid emirate” Kordula Wolf (Deutsches Historisches Institut Rom), “The Muslim Settlement near the River Garigliano (883-915): Historical and Archaeological Researches” WRAPPING UP COMMENTS: Annliese Nef THEIR NEIGHBOURS Panel 5: Tunisia and Egypt: Eduardo Manzano (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid) Matthew Gordon (Miami University), “Aghlabid-Tulunid Relations: A Brief Survey.” Stéphane Pradines (Aga Khan University, London), “Qalat al-Kabsh and the fortifications of Egypt and Tunisia in the 9th century” Riyaz Latif (Wesleyan College), “Negotiating the Metaphorical Frontiers: Aghlabid Ribats in Ifriqiya” Panel 6: Saharan neighbours: Patrice Cressier (CIHAM-UMR 5648, CNRS, Lyon) David Mattingly and Martin Sterry (University of Leicester), “Zuwila and Fazzan in the seventh-tenth centuries AD” Leila Jebri-Dridi (Musée National du Bardo, Tunisia), “La ville de Gabés à l’époque Aghlabide à la lumière des sources Sunnites et Ibadites: un pouvoir loyal dans le centre urbain et dissident dans la région” Chloé Capel (Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Paris 1)), “Sijilmasa in the days of the Aghlabids: between Saharan isolation and Kairouanese side-effects” Panel 7: Morocco and Algeria: Caroline Goodson (Birkbeck, University of London) Azaddin Bouyahiaoui (Institut d’Archéologie-Université d Alger 2) and Djellid Akila (CNRPH Alger), “Tahert-Tagdemt, site archéologique aux problématiques multiples” Patrice Cressier (CIHAM-UMR 5648, CNRS, Lyon), “Nakûr: un émirat rifain pro-omeyyade contemporain des Aghlabides” Chafik Benchekroun (Université de Toulouse-le-Mirail), “La fondation de la Qarawiyyīn: un quiproquo entre l’historiographie et l’archéologie” Panel 8: Qur’āns and the Aghlabids’ Legacy: Sheila Blair (Boston College) Karim Ifrak (Université Paris-Sorbonne), “Au-delà de l’être et du paraître. Le cas des livres manuscrits coraniques aghlabides” Cheryl Porter (Freelance consultant/Director, Montefiascone Project, Italy), “Techniques and materials used in the making of the Blue Qur’an: a scientific analysis” Jeremy Johns (University of Oxford), “The Palermo Qur’ān (AH373/982–83AD) and the triumph of Malikism in Ifrīqiya” RESPONDENT COMMENTS & FINAL GROUP DISCUSSION (chaired by Glaire Anderson) Respondents: Eduardo Manzano, Simon O’Meara, Patrice Cressier Key questions • What is the state of the question? What are the big new developments in our understanding of the Aghlabids and this period in the Western Mediterranean? • What are the questions that arise from the different disciplinary approaches? • What are the remaining gaps in our knowledge? What are the problems? • In which directions would colleagues in North Africa like to see research develop? • Publication of papers and the growth of a research community