Seminars, Con[ere ces, Addresses 

Material Culture in Central Asia 

and the Middle East II 

24-25 Dhil Ill Qa'dala 1414 I 5-6 Ma, 1994 

School of Oriental and African tudic:s 

Univers ty of Lo don, Lo don, United Kingdom 

A two-day conference on material culture in the Islamic Middle F.ast 
and Central Asia with special reference to the innovation and diffuson 
of technology in the areas of engineering, architecture, carpet manufac­
ture, and medicine, among others, was held in London between 5-6 May 
1994. It was hosted by the School of Oriental and African Studies 
(SOAS), University of London, United Kingdom. As conveners of the 
conference, Keith McLachlan (SOAS, University of London, UK) and 
Richard Tapper (SOAS, University of 4>ndon, UK) pointed out that it 
was the latest in a series of conferences to be held at SOAS on various 
aspects of material culture. Earlier ones were entitled "Culinaty Cultures 
of the Middle Fat" (April 19'.J2)," The Language of Dress in the Middle 
&st'" (November 1992), and the first conference on #Material Culture in 
Central Asia and the Middle F.ast" (June 1993). 

Participants reviewed nomadic, pastoralist, cultivator, and urban sys­
tems and � the regions' role as centers for innovation and the dif­
fusion of technologies, principally during the Islamic period. The first 
scsmon of the conference's keynote speech was chaired by Ghazi 
Algosaibi (Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United Kingdom) and 
included a revealing paper titled "Arab and Islamic Contributions to Euro­
pean Ovilization." Rifat Ebied {prof�r of Semitic Studies, University 
of Sydney, Aumalia, and currently Visiting Fellow, Trinity Hall, Cam.­
bridge, UK) elaborated upon the historical issues concerning the produc­
tion of knowledge in the Muslim world and its transmission to Europe via 
educational establishments. Ebied pointed out that the Arabs inherited the 
scientific tradition of late antiquity, preserved and expanded it with 
valuable additions, and finally passed it on to Europe. He outlined the 
major segments of the Muslim world's massive contribution to western 
civilization, focusing on the influence of the Islamic legacy on Europe in 
the various fields of knowledge, with particular emphams on the Islamic 
origins of the system of higher education (i.e., the creation of the uni­
versity as an institution). In the second session, Donald Hill read a paper 
entitled "Science and Technology in Islamic Building Construction,* in 
which he examined some of the scientific and technological content of 





446 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 11:3 

Turkic tents. 1bis was followed by a paper on "Material Culture of 
Pastoral Nomads: Reflections based on Arab and Afghan Materials," pre­
sented by Klaus Ferdinand (Dansk Nomadeforskning, Denmark), who 
drew on his previous work, Bedouins in Qatar (1993), a great deal. Jon 
Thompson's speech focused on "Looms, Carpets, and Kelims in the 
Islamic World," while Richard Tapper (SOAS, University of London, 
UK) dwelt on "Felt Making in Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkey." Two 
papers were devoted to medical issues: a) Derek Lithium (Professor 
Emeritus in Arabic and Islamic Studies, Edinburgh University and 
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, UK) presented an 
informative paper on the treatment of tuberculosis of the lungs. His paper, 
"TB and Its Treatment in Medieval Islam," gave a very good account of 
1$baq ibn Sulaym.an's (ca. 855-950 CE) approach to hectice fever and its 
treatment; and b) "Al vbb al Nabawf: The Prophet's Medicine," was 
read by Ghada Karmi (SOAS, University of London, UK). The last paper, 
delivered by Mahmoud Abdullah Zadeh (director, Research Information 
Department, and editor, Tahqiqat-i Jslami) explored "The Political Signi­
ficance of the Bazaar in Iran." 

Talip Kii9iikcan 
Research Fellow, Tiirkiye Diyanet V akfi 

Centre for Islamic Studies 
Istanbul, Turkey