University of Hamburg

Faculty Member, Asien-Afrika-Institut

Professor of Islamic Studies

About

Over the past years I became known as a historian of the Middle East who has an equal command in the study of literary and legal sources, material culture, numismatics, and archaeological evidence. I focus mainly on periods of transition and economic and cultural change in Islamic societies. Most prominent figure among my studies the formation of the early Islamic empire, the apogee of the Abbasid Empire and the formation of the Middle Islamic civilization in the 12th and 13th century. I work with archaeological missions from Portugal to Mongolia, yet most of them excavate in Syria.
Three major research projects emerged from this interest:

    * The Middle Islamic Period: Social, Economic and Cultural Transformations in Syria and Northern Mesopotamia
    * Al-Raqqa at the Euphrates: Urbanity, Economy and Settlement Pattern in the Early Islamic Period
    * A Survey of Islamic Numismatics

In addition, I pursue currently a number of specific interests, the Abbasid invention of brass, the development of metalwork and neo-Mamluk art in the nineteenth century and the use of medieval history in modern visual political discourse as specific form of cultural memory.
I also co-ordinated the activities of the Oriental Coin Cabinet Jena and the Alphons Stübel-Collection of Middle Eastern Photographs (1850-1890) which can be seen again on national and international exhibitions on Islamic art.

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