Palace Gardens in Lower Mesopotamia

8th to 11th Centuries

Mahmoudian, Safa

Provides the first in-depth examination of palace gardens in the Abbasid caliphate’s Lower Mesopotamian heartland
Draws on a wide range of textual sources, including lexicons, geographies, histories, poetry, and science written by authors who lived primarily in Mesopotamia or visited there during the 8th to 11th centuries
Takes an interdisciplinary approach by also considering archaeological reports, aerial photographs, and archival sources like archaeologists’ letters and diaries
Revisits certain prevailing notions concerning the spatial arrangement and function of the adjoining covered spaces
Challenges the prevalent, essentialist view of an ‘Islamic garden’ typology, which presupposes a continuity in garden traditions, and leads to a more nuanced understanding of their forms and functions.
Gardens were both a setting and showcase for nearly every aspect of social and daily life at the royal court during the early Islamic period in Western Asia. Safa Mahmoudian uses a wide range of primary source materials including contemporary Arabic manuscripts, together with archaeological reports, aerial photographs, and archaeologists’ letters and diaries. Through close readings of this evidence, Mahmoudian creates a picture of these gardens in their historical, architectural and environmental contexts and examines various factors that influenced their design and placement. In doing so, Mahmoudian adds to our understanding of these gardens and palaces and, ultimately, early Islamic-period court culture as a whole.