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This thesis critically examines the creation and development of the concept of the Islamic city in the discourse of twentieth century Orientalism and Islamic studies. Based largely upon the urban theories of Max Weber, French Orientalists working in the first half of the twentieth century developed a standardized and ideal model of the Islamic city. This model remained unchallenged until the late 1950s when Eliyahu Ashtor-Strauss and Claude Cahen began to question some of its fundamental assumptions. The revisionist trend continued into the 1960s and 1970s with the innovative work of Samuel Stern and Ira Lapidus. Contributions from fields outside traditional Oriental studies such as anthropology, sociology, and geography also helped to paint a more complex and diverse picture of the city in Islam. By the 1980s, thanks in part to the influence of Edward Said's book Orientalism, the old French model of the Islamic city was thoroughly discredited. In its place emerged a new understanding of the Islamic city in which scholar increasingly saw Islam as just one of many forces which have helped to shape the urban form. Moreover, cities are increasingly regarded as dynamic and constantly evolving entities, and therefore they can longer be simply represented in idealist and essentialist terms.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 300-313. / Issues within the context of the present cannot be isolated from their spatial or temporal context. Neither the past (tradition) nor the future (modern technology) can provide solutions to the problems of the present. Their value lies in the fact that they represent "resources" which broaden our choices and inform us as to how similar issues were or could be dealt with in different times and places. However, a society's past and the way that society conceives of its past provides modes of continuity which give the present its authenticity. If we are to deal with the issues of the present and hope for an authentic future, the authority of the past or tradition cannot be blindly accepted though its authenticity and relevance to the present must be recognized. The problem addressed here is that of a present physical environment in the Arab-Muslim city which is to tally different from the traditional one. As a result of this difference, a sense of discontinuity and alienation has developed among the inhabitants of these cities. The purpose of this study is to understand how this process came about and how a sense of continuity with the past can be reestablished. To achieve this purpose four main issues are addressed here: (l) the origin and process of formation of the traditional physical environment; (2) the disparity between the traditional and the contemporary environment; (3) the origins of this disparity; and (4) the possible notions which might be suggested by way of reestablishing a sense of continuity between the past and the present. The legal system is used as a means of analysis in this study. This has helped us to see the physical environment within its socio-cultural context, by informing us about the ideological or structural level of the society and by pointing out accepted social norms and conventions and the mechanism of their social effectiveness. The law has helped us to point out the differences between the traditional and the contemporary process. In the traditional city, the process relied on rules of conduct or social conventions which proscribed certain actions on the part of the inhabitants. In the contemporary city, the rules are physical and prescriptive in nature. They prescribe in physical terms not only what is to be done but also how it is to be implemented. Implied within the traditional process is a reciprocal and possibilist relationship between form and use while the contemporary process advocates a determinist approach to the relationship of form and use. Several factors are believed to have worked in favor of the shift from the traditional process to the contemporary one in the Arab-Muslim city. Important among these are: the existence of certain implied ideologies; changes in the scale of development, power and technology; and problems within the field of architecture and urbanism and their relationship to the Arab-Muslim context. Only by being aware of these processes and factors can we conceive of an appropriate approach to reestablish a sense of continuity with the past that sterns from the needs of the present and aspirations for the future. / by Saleh A. Al-Hathloul. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Adelaide, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-263).

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Carleton University, 1999. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, June 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This work is a study in urban history, in particular, one that examines a crucial period in the rise and development of large cities and metropolises in the region of Sogdiana within Central Asia, between the seventh and tenth centuries. The primary focus of inquiry is to show the effects of inter-relationships between social change, intense urbanization and religious conversions that occurred within Sogdiana at this time. All of these processes were initiated as a result of the Arab invasions between 625 and 750 A.D. Sogdia or Sogdiana, along with the regions of Bactria and Khwarazm, were incorporated into the Islamic world through the process of conquest that followed these invasions, but once resistance was extinguished and Islam widely accepted among the populace, these regions became among the most vital centers of urban life in the Islamic world. Sogdiana, among these three regions, witnessed the rise, change and unprecedented development of many large metropolises that were distinct in several ways from the cities in other parts of the Islamic world. Traditional cities in the Islamic world further west and south of Central Asia had a dense structure within an encircling wall, and eventually the residential areas were found to extend beyond the wall, only themselves to be eventually protected by another wall. However, in Central Asia yet another further stage of development took place. Here the main administrative functions and markets moved out into this outer residential area and abandoned the central core. This outer area of the city (the rabad) became the locus of political and commercial activity. In due course the process repeated itself - the residential areas overflowing beyond the walls of the rabad, only themselves to be surrounded by a third outer wall. In this way the Central Asian city developed into a distinct type, markedly different from cities further west and south.

During the 1980s, it was frequently claimed that spatial patterns of archaeological and contemporary settlements were closely related to the social nature of the societies which had created and modelled them (Hietala 1984; Hillier & Hanson 1984). Despite a decade of alternative claims, such theories are still widely accepted although in many cases the emphasis has shifted from economic factors to symbolic or social ones. The presence of a class-based social system is one of the major characteristics of Iranian society during the Sasanian era (224-651 CE). This social system was based upon the official religion of Sasanians - Zoroastrianism - and had a major impact on most aspects of Iranian society during this period. The far-reaching impact of this social system on architectural space and urban infrastructure is clearly representative of a class-based society. The collapse of the Sasanian world, accelerated by Arab invasions (641 CE), severely reduced the dominance of Zoroastrianism within Iran, heralding a fundamental change in the social life of its people. These changes, accompanied by the acceptance of a new religion, have been the focus of several researchers over the last decades (Kennedy 2001). In contrast to Sasanian society, Early Islamic social structure was characterised as one of equality and its urban forms as ones with little differentiation as typified by Medina (Zarrinkub 1993). The aim of this dissertation is to test the above assumptions and models with reference to a single urban site - the city of Barn. Selected due to its Pre-Islamic and Islamic occupations, its excellent state of preservation allows a full testing of the above assumptions through archaeological analysis. The results of this research indicate a continuation of patterns of Sasanian space and society into the Islamic period. In addition, the space and society of Bam, documented in this research, provides an important step towards a further understanding of the social and spatial organisation of Sasanian and Early-Islamic cities, as well as providing a foundation for additional research in this field.

During the 1980s, it was frequently claimed that spatial patterns of archaeological and contemporary settlements were closely related to the social nature of the societies which had created and modelled them (Hietala 1984; Hillier & Hanson 1984). Despite a decade of alternative claims, such theories are still widely accepted although in many cases the emphasis has shifted from economic factors to symbolic or social ones. The presence of a class-based social system is one of the major characteristics of Iranian society during the Sasanian era (224-651 CE). This social system was based upon the official religion of Sasanians - Zoroastrianism - and had a major impact on most aspects of Iranian society during this period. The far-reaching impact of this social system on architectural space and urban infrastructure is clearly representative of a class-based society. The collapse of the Sasanian world, accelerated by Arab invasions (641 CE), severely reduced the dominance of Zoroastrianism within Iran, heralding a fundamental change in the social life of its people. These changes, accompanied by the acceptance of a new religion, have been the focus of several researchers over the last decades (Kennedy 2001). In contrast to Sasanian society, Early Islamic social structure was characterised as one of equality and its urban forms as ones with little differentiation as typified by Medina (Zarrinkub 1993). The aim of this dissertation is to test the above assumptions and models with reference to a single urban site - the city of Barn. Selected due to its Pre-Islamic and Islamic occupations, its excellent state of preservation allows a full testing of the above assumptions through archaeological analysis. The results of this research indicate a continuation of patterns of Sasanian space and society into the Islamic period. In addition, the space and society of Bam, documented in this research, provides an important step towards a further understanding of the social and spatial organisation of Sasanian and Early-Islamic cities, as well as providing a foundation for additional research in this field. / Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran