Description:
In the early Islamic age, the city of Balkh was one of the largest and most influential cities in the world. Situated on the northern plains of modern Afghanistan, Balkh flourished from the 7th to the 13th centuries, home to a wide variety of scholars, artists and religious leaders.
This book presents the first comprehensive analysis of the history and archaeology of early Islamic Balkh. Archaeological research undertaken throughout the twentieth century has investigated the evolution of the city, but only more recently has the evidence for its medieval development been pieced together. The authors collate and examine the available textual and artefactual material in order to recreate the history of this unique city and assess its critical role in early medieval Eurasia.Brief description:
Edmund Herzig is Masoumeh and Fereydoon Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies at the
University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow in Iranian Studies at Wadham College, Oxford, UK.
Review Quotes: "... Drawing on the past century and more of scholarship, as well as new fieldwork undertaken in the early 2000s, this is the first single volume devoted to the historical, cultural, archaeological and geographical background of Balkh. Written by an impressive team of international scholars from different disciplines, this book will be the standard reference work on the city for many years to come and a vital contribution to Central Asian studies as a whole." --Warwick Ball, author of The Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan