"Twixt Cross and Crescent": Caari and the Cultural History of Crusader and Islamic Cyprus

The medieval and early modern periods (twelfth through nineteenth centuries) are popularly imagined as one of the "dark ages" ofCypriot history, when the island was occupied by foreign forces and its Orthodox Christian heritage suppressed.1 Fortunately, the last twenty years have witnessed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Near Eastern archaeology 2008-03, Vol.71 (1/2), p.104-110
Main Author: Walker, Bethany J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeological surveys
Archaeology
Architecture
Art history
Christianity
Cultural identity
Ethnography
Excavations
Field study
Geographical surveys
Land use
Material culture
Medieval pottery
Muslims
Religion
Tax revenues
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Summary:The medieval and early modern periods (twelfth through nineteenth centuries) are popularly imagined as one of the "dark ages" ofCypriot history, when the island was occupied by foreign forces and its Orthodox Christian heritage suppressed.1 Fortunately, the last twenty years have witnessed a growing appreciation of Cyprus' medieval and post-medieval heritage and significant progress in ceramic analysis, building multi-disciplinary databases on the material culture and physical environment, and understanding, gradually, the complexities of cultural encounters between the Lusignans Venetians, and Ottomans, on the one hand, and local peopks, the Cypriot landscape, and regional political and economic networks, on the other. Contemporary Scholarship 1980s The Canadian Palaeopaphos Survey Project (CPSP), which was in the field from 1979 to 1991 under the direction of David Rupp and the institutional sponsorship of Brock University, was one of the earliest projects that systematically collected and published data on the later historical periods.\n Cyprus-based scholars should attend Ottoman, Crusader, and medieval Islamic conferences in order to place local ceramic developments, trade, and political events and their impact on local society in a regional perspective.14 * The landscape paradigm in Cypriot surveys has facilitated investigation into environmental and agricultural history, areas of inquiry ideally suited to research on the more recent historical periods.15 Such work is also being done on these periods in neighboring regions of the Middle East and should be continued, with a systematic and expansive collection of paleofloral and paleofaunal data.
ISSN:1094-2076
2325-5404
DOI:10.1086/NEA20361354