The Archaeology of Christianity in Iraq and the Near East (6th–10th centuries CE)

Christian communities in Iraq and surrounding regions faced significant challenges and opportunities during the centuries spanning the late Sassanian rule and the rise of Islamic governance (6th–10th centuries CE). This course investigates the archaeological record of these communities, examining how material evidence reveals strategies of adaptation, resistance, and transformation. The course will analyze church architecture, monastic sites and landscapes, changes in settlement patterns, and the material culture evidence within Christian communities. It also highlights the methodological challenges in identifying Christian material culture in multi-religious contexts.

Students will engage critically with archaeological data (including excavation reports, surveys, and recent regional studies), textual evidence, and current methodologies to assess the transformation and continuity of Christian presence in a region undergoing Islamization. Emphasis will be placed on archaeological sites of early Christian communities with a focus on Iraqi key sites such as al-Hira, Mosul area, the monastic landscapes of the Nineveh plains and the monasteries along the Tigris and Euphrates, as well as relevant sites in the Syrian Jazira, Tur Abdin area, and the Arabian/Persian Gulf regions.

By the end of the course, students will develop a nuanced understanding of how Christian communities adapted, persisted, and transformed within the shifting socio-political landscapes of Iraq and its surrounding regions during the late Sassanian and early Islamic periods, as well as gain insight into the characteristics of the material culture and built environment of early Christian sites.

General reading:

-      Morony, M. 2009. Christians in Iraq after the Muslim Conquest. Piscataway: Gorgias Press.

-      Finster, B. and Schmidt, J. 1977. Sasanidische und frühislamische Ruinen im Iraq Baghdader Mitteilungen 8.

-      Bonnéric, J.; Amin, N. A.; and Couturaud, B., (eds.) 2023. Christianity in Iraq at the turn of Islam: history and archaeology. Beirut: Institut français du Proche-Orient.

-      Simpson, S. J. 2018. Christians on Iraq’s Desert Frontier. Al-Rafidan 39: 1–30.