F31 Zirid Ifriqiya & The Islamic World In The 10th-12th CenturiesInfo Location Attendee Categories Contact More Info Event Information
DescriptionUniversité Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and UCL are co-hosting a two-day conference on the archaeology and history of Zīrid Ifrīqiya and its role in the Islamic world at UCL on May 28th and 29th 2026.
The Zīrids (972-1148), a Berber Sanhaja dynasty, were the first of the great Berber dynasties to rule North Africa with their reach extending from the Maghrib al-Aqṣā to Cyrenaica at times. Yet unlike the Almoravids and Almohads, Zīrid Ifrīqiya has not received sustained scholarly attention since Hady Roger Idris’s (1962) landmark history which notably overlooked material culture. This neglect is explained, in part, by the enduring power of the (much contested) ‘Hilali myth’ and Ibn Khaldun’s vivid descriptions of widespread destruction of settlements, agriculture and trade networks by the Banū Hilāl tribes, and, in part, by a tendency to view North Africa as a cultural backwater whose artistic production was derivative of Fatimid Cairo or Umayyad Cordoba. However, Zīrid Ifrīqiya was no periphery. At the crossroads of the Mediterranean and the Sahara, the region – and its peoples – played a central role in transregional political, economic, craft and scholarly networks in the fragmented but increasingly connected world of the 10th-12th centuries.
Event Location
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Additional ItemsContactFor all queries in regards to this Conference please contact the following :- Dr Viva Sacco
PLEASE ONLY CONTACT THE ONLINE STORE DIRECTLY IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH YOUR DEBIT/CREDIT CARD PAYMENT, FOR ALL OTHER QUERIES RELATING TO THIS TRAINING CONFERENCE INCLUDING CANCELLATIONS THESE SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE CONTACT DETAILS ABOVE.
More InformationThe conference brings together international historians, archaeologists and art historians to critically re-evaluate Zīrid Ifrīqiya and its role in the Islamic world and presents a snapshot of current research in this field.
The Programme will be available here (link to: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/social-historical-sciences/archaeology/news-and-events/conferences/zirid-ifriqiya-and-islamic-world-10th-12th-centuries)
Registration covers sandwich lunches, refreshments and a wine reception.
Organisers: Corisande Fenwick (Professor of Late Antique and Islamic Archaeology, UCL), Annliese Nef (University Professor of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) and Viva Sacco (Associate Lecturer in Islamic Archaeology, UCL).
For more information on the Islamic Archaeology Network and its events: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/research/directory/islamic-archaeology-network
Please note that the Early Bird will only be available until the 15th May 2026
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