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Article: An ancient cityscape revealed: scientists use GIS and remote-sensing technologies to map the historic landscape of Raqqa, Syria. (Fieldwork Applications).
- Article from:
- GEO World
- Article date:
- July 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Bev-AL Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN THE NINTH CENTURY A.D., THE CITY OF AL-RAQQA, ON THE NORTH BANK OF THE RIVER EUPHRATES, WAS THE ADMINISTRATIVE HUB OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD AND AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRIAL CENTER. THE CITY, ABANDONED IN A.D. 1250, LAY ALMOST UNTOUCHED UNTIL THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF RAQQA AS A REGIONAL CAPITAL FOR MODERN SYRIA IN THE 1970s AND 1980s.
Such rapid development has destroyed much of the Islamic Cultural landscape. Since 1994, the University of Nottingham, under the direction of Professor Julian Henderson of the Department of Archaeology, has been engaged in archaeological excavation in the industrial quarter of Islamic Raqqa, rescuing evidence for Islamic glass and pottery ...