Muslim Archaeology: Scope and Content of the Concept

The authors address the concept of ‘Muslim Archaeology’, which is treated as a scientifi c discipline and a special direction in antiquity studies, against a broad background of similar disciplines, such as Biblical Archaeology and Church Archaeology. The goal of the ‘Muslim Archaeology’, in the authors’ opinion, is to accumulate sources and ensure their analytical processing, interpret material objects and sites, and reconcile these data with the narrative sources in order to ensure a comprehensive reconstruction of the history of Muslim civilization and religious life of the Muslim societies. The study of Muslim antiquities requires a multidisciplinary approach to generalize research in the fi eld of archaeology, history of religion and church, history of art and architecture. Methods of this discipline must be applied to study material and spiritual aspects of religious life in the broadest historical and cultural context, using all available archaeological sources from respective periods. To emphasize, Muslim Archaeology as a scientifi c discipline, which is free of its own confessional interests, is able to open new possibilities for a study of culture, economy, everyday life as well as to offer independent sources and new data on history and civilization of Muslim countries for scientifi c discussion.