Islamic archaeology

Islamic archaeology involves the recovery and scientific investigation of the material remains of past cultures that can illuminate the periods and descriptions in the Quran, and early Islam. In the fourth century CE pagan south Arabian inscriptions started to be replaced by monotheistic expressions, using the term rahmān.[1]

Early pioneers included Alois Musil and Eduard Glaser. Some of the earliest areas investigated include Qaryat al-Fāw and Hijr/Madāin Sālih. Few archaeological surveys have taken place in the Arabian peninsula and are considered taboo in Mecca and Medina. There is no architecture from the time of Mohammed in either city and the battlefields of the Quran have not been unearthed. Known settlements from the time, such as Khaybar, remain uninvestigated. The oldest extant Islamic monument, is The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem which contains some of the earliest extant qurānic text, dated to 72/692. They vary from today's standard text (mainly changes from the first to the third person) and are mixed with pious inscriptions not in the Quran.[1]

According to the Quran, the ʿĀd built and monuments and strongholds at every high point[2] and their fate is evident from the remains of their dwellings.[3][4] Despite this, no archaeologial evidence of their existence has been uncovered.[1]

References
  1. Robert Schick, Archaeology and the Quran, Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an
  2. Quran 26
  3. Quran 29
  4. Quran 46
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