The Construction of an Islamic City in Palestine. The Case of Umayyad al-Ramla

At the beginning of the eighth century A.D. a new town was built in Palestine, called al- Ramla (Ramlah of today). It was founded by the then provincial governor, Sulaymān b. ‘Abd al-Malik (d. 717) in order to serve as the capital of Jund Filasṭīn, the southern province of Palestine. The building of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1997-04, Vol.7 (1), p.27-54
Main Author: Luz, Nimrod
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aqueducts
Art and archaeology
Capital cities
Cities
Classical art
Excavations
Geographic regions
Islam
Mosques
Muslims
Towns
Umayyad Caliphate
Umayyades of syria
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Summary:At the beginning of the eighth century A.D. a new town was built in Palestine, called al- Ramla (Ramlah of today). It was founded by the then provincial governor, Sulaymān b. ‘Abd al-Malik (d. 717) in order to serve as the capital of Jund Filasṭīn, the southern province of Palestine. The building of a new town, and especially of a capital city, constituted a significant departure in the Palestine environment, for two main reasons. First, it was the first city to be founded after a period of 350 years, i.e., for most of the Byzantine epoch. Second, though the Muslims ruled the country for 1100 years, al-Ramla remained the sole example of a new town in the whole of Palestine.
ISSN:1356-1863
2051-2066
1474-0591
DOI:10.1017/S1356186300008300