Archaeology to the Rescue

The Benefits of Interdisciplinary Research on the Abbasid Period in Palestine

Abstract

While historians have been quite keen on adopting tools from other scholarly disciplines, they have widely ignored the potential benefits of archaeology to their research. This article sets out to demonstrate the significance of archaeology in the study of early Islamic history (and history more broadly), using as its case study the debate over the so called decline of Palestine/Eretz Israel during the Abbasid period (750-868). The article examines archaeological findings from three cities - Ramla, Caesara and Beth-Shan (Baysan) and sets them against the backdrop of the scanty available textual evidence on these cities (and on the Abbasid period in Palestine more generally). It demonstrates that such urban centers did not suffer from across-the-boarder decline in Palestine, as assumed until recently. Furthermore, this case study shows the crucial role of archaeology in agreeing, complementing, or contrasting with existing written sources. By demonstrating the theoretical and methodological importance of such cooperation, the article further calls for more awareness on behalf of historians of the potential synergy between history and archaeology.