Identifying Cultural Habits and Economical Preferences in the Islamic Period, Mount Zion, Jerusalem

Authors

  • Linoy Namdar Tel Aviv University
  • Jennifer Zimni German Protestant Institute of Archaeology
  • Omri Lernau University of Haifa
  • Dieter Vieweger Biblical-Archaeological Institute, Bergische Universität Wuppertal
  • Yuval Gadot Tel Aviv University
  • Lidar Sapir-Hen Tel Aviv University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.24777

Keywords:

zooarchaeology, animal economy, fish remains, earthquakes, Mount Zion, Late Islamic period

Abstract

Archaeological and historical sources describe differently the course of events that occurred during the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem. Was the transition from the Byzantine to the Islamic period a short and dramatic event or a long and steady process? This study aims to examine the Islamic cultural influences over Jerusalem during the Byzantine/Umayyad period and later post-earthquake of the 8th century CE. Thus, we carried out a study of Mount Zion’s (seasons 2018 and 2019) faunal assemblages, analyzing the species discovered at the site, their demography and distribution between the different architectural contexts. The focus was on evaluating the cultural identity and economic preferences of the local population.

The remains we found indicate that the economy was based mainly on caprines, pigs and fish. As the site was located inside the Jerusalem walls, the locals gained their meat supply from the local markets and might have been involved in agriculture outside the walls. Although the site experienced architectural alterations between the two periods, the Christian population remained, and their faunal economy did not change from the Byzantine period till after the earthquake.

Author Biographies

  • Linoy Namdar, Tel Aviv University

    Linoy Namdar is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University. Her main research interests are the livestock economy of urban and rural settlements, animal Paleopathologies and the “Secondary Products Revolution.” Major publications deal with ancient economies and cultural identity through the faunal remains.

  • Jennifer Zimni, German Protestant Institute of Archaeology

    Jennifer Zimni’s main research interest is urbanism in Jerusalem. As a co-director, together with Dieter Vieweger and Katja Soennecken, of the DEI Mount Zion project, her research focusses on the southern slope of Mount Zion throughout the ages.

  • Omri Lernau, University of Haifa

    Omri Lernau’sis working on fish remains in archaeological excavations, for the past 30 years. His main research interest is regarding the role of fish and fishing at the transition phase during the early Neolithic period; the export of fish from Egypt to the entire Eastern Mediterranean including the Levant, Anatolia, Cyprus (both from the Nile and from the hypersaline lagoon of Bardawil in along the Mediterranean coast of Sinai); trade in fish from the Red Sea along Roman-Byzantine caravan roads; and taboos about certain fish as they appear in the Bible and in archaeological excavations.

  • Dieter Vieweger, Biblical-Archaeological Institute, Bergische Universität Wuppertal

    Prof. Dieter Vieweger’s main research interests are the Bronze and Iron Age archaeology in Southern Levant, and Old Testament studies. Dieter is the director of GPIA-excavations on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, and on Tall Ziraʿa, Jordan.

  • Yuval Gadot, Tel Aviv University

    Prof. Yuval Gadot is the head of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures in Tel Aviv University. He is researching Jerusalem's archaeology throughout its long history and the relation between the city and its rural periphery. His most recent publication is “The Landfill of Early Roman Jerusalem: The 2013‒2014 Excavations in Area D3,” now available from Penn State University Press.

  • Lidar Sapir-Hen, Tel Aviv University

    Dr. Lidar Sapir-Hen is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures and Curator of Archaeozoological Collections of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University. Her main research interest is the interaction between humans and animals in the past. Major publications deal with the social complexity of ancient populations, identity and cultural aspects as reflected in food production and consumption. Lidar is currently involved with several excavations of sites that date from the early Neolithic through to Late Antiquity periods.

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Published

2024-03-07

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2023)

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Articles

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How to Cite

Namdar, L., Zimni, J., Lernau, O., Vieweger, D., Gadot, Y., & Sapir-Hen, L. (2024). Identifying Cultural Habits and Economical Preferences in the Islamic Period, Mount Zion, Jerusalem. Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 10(2), 175-194. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.24777