Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 1-1-2017 Inscribed Administrative Material Culture And The Development Of The mU ayyad State In Syria- Palestine 661-750 Ce Tareq Ramadan Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Ramadan, Tareq, "Inscribed Administrative Material Culture And The eD velopment Of The mU ayyad State In Syria-Palestine 661-750 Ce" (2017). Wayne State University Dissertations. 1860. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1860 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. INSCRIBED ADMINISTRATIVE MATERIAL CULTURE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UMAYYAD STATE IN SYRIA-PALESTINE 661-750 CE by TAREQ RAMADAN DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2017 MAJOR: ANTHROPOLOGY Approved By: ________________________________ Advisor Date __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ © COPYRIGHT BY TAREQ RAMADAN 2017 All Rights Reserved DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the honor and memory of some my very dear friends and mentors who passed away before they could witness the completion of my work and who would have been proud. I miss all of them, dearly and I wish they were all here, today. I will forever be there student. They were all beacons of light and impacted my life in ways that are hard to put into words. To the memory of my very dear friend, colleague, and mentor, the late Professor Seth Carney, Ph.D. who played a major role in facilitating my foray into academia and to whom I am forever thankful. While our friendship was short, you left a profound and lasting impact on me. You are missed by so many. Rest in Peace, Seth (1979-2007). To the memory of my former professor and colleague, Dr. Annie Higgins, Ph.D. who was always so kind and genuine, who involved me in so many projects, and who spent so much time both teaching me and listening to me. You are dearly missed. Rest in Peace, Tahani (1957-2014). To my old and great friend, David Lowe, who was always so generous, so giving, and who was passionate about my education and who strongly believed my future would be bright. You are sorely missed. Rest in Peace, Dave (1955-2008). This work is also dedicated to my family: To my mother, father, and my aunt who sacrificed so much all so that my two siblings and I could have a chance to succeed, and to my two sisters who have been so encouraging throughout this process and who I learned so much from over the years. To all of them, I owe an incalculable debt for all of their love, kindness, care, patience, as well as for the values they imparted on me throughout the years. I could not have done this without their selflessness and endless support. Thank you and I love you all. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must begin by offering my sincerest appreciation and thanks to my amazing doctoral committee for their willingness to work with me, for dedicating regular parts of their schedule to accommodate my academic ambitions, and for being so encouraging, patient, and who opened up so many new avenues and opportunities for me over the years. They are truly an all-star cast of brilliant academics in their own right, as well as incredible, humble, and loving human beings. I cannot thank them enough. To my doctoral advisor Dr. Stephen Chrisomalis who spent countless hours sharing research with me, who mentored me throughout my tenure as a doctoral student, who wrote a dozen letters of recommendation on my behalf for so many fellowships, who kept me focused and engaged, whom I continued to learn from every day and who supervised the construction of my dissertation while also providing me with the freedom to construct it the way I saw fit. He has been far more than an advisor but a great friend, a colleague whom I learned so much from and continue to. He has been so invested in my success and has helped me further develop my interests over the years. He has made my time as a doctoral student both challenging and enjoyable and I look forward to continuing our friendship as we go forward. Thank you to my former M.A. advisor Dr. May Seikaly for mentoring me, beginning with my days as an undergraduate student and for providing me my first ever job in teaching. She constantly pushed me, challenged me, and made me passionate about my subject area. As a person and professor, she has taught me so much over the last fourteen years and has had a profound impact on my life, in general. She has been an amazing friend, colleague, and mentor over the past decade and a half to whom I am forever indebted. iii Thank you to Dr. Krysta Ryzewski who facilitated my journey and foray into archaeology and who was always there to help me, to answer questions, and whom I owe my first ever archaeological experiences to. She spent so much time and energy acquainting me with the discipline, with the people in it, and has helped me establish long-lasting networks of colleagues and friends. She worked with me on so many major projects over the years and was always available for questions and advice. Her classes were among some of the most enjoyable and fascinating I have ever partook in and I hope to continue working with her on future projects. Thank you to Dr. Donald Whitcomb who was so kind to join me in my dissertation adventure and who never shied away from answering questions. I communicated with him regularly and he constantly provided me with materials and feedback relevant to my work. I very much appreciate his understanding and encouragement throughout this process and certainly look forward to continue exchanging ideas in the future. I still have much to learn from you. I am also very thankful for Dr. Nayef Goussous, Dr. Hassan al-Zuod and Mrs. Aida at the Jordan National Bank Numismatic Museum, who have been so kind, generous, and welcoming to me over the years and who treated me like one of their own. I must also extend my many thanks to Dr. Susan Alcock and Dr. Chris Tuttle, both of whom made my first archaeological fieldwork experience at Petra in 2012 immemorable. Many thanks to Dr. Barbara Porter for her kindness and support as well as for creating one of the most unforgettable research experiences ever during my fellowship at ACOR in Amman in 2015. I must also thank several institutions including Wayne State University, a place I have called home since 2000, the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR), The Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), the Jordan Department of Antiquities, the Jordan National Bank Numismatic Museum, the Jordan Museum, the Jordan Archaeological iv Museum, the Irbid Archaeological Museum (Dar as-Saraya), the Madaba Archaeological Museum, the University of Michigan Kelsey Museum (including a special thanks to Sebastian Encina for providing me access to relevant materials there). Thank you to Dr. Glenn Corbin, Dr. Beatrice St. Laurent, and Dr. Debra Foran for spending time with me to discuss various issues related to my research. I also appreciate the time and efforts of Mr. Firas Bqa’in, Dr. Younis Shdaifat and Zakariya Ben Badhann, and all of my colleagues in Jordan including at Mu’tah University and especially at the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman as well as the various museums I worked at. I appreciate all of their generosity and hospitality. To all of my past professors in the Anthropology department, the former Near Eastern and Asian Studies department, and the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures including the late Dr. Annie Higgins (may she Rest in Peace 1957- 2014). I cannot thank you all enough for the many life-changing learning experiences I have had over the years working alongside you all. I must also thank both Dr. Andrea Sankar (chair of the Anthropology department) and Dr. Anne Duggan (chair of the CMLLC department) for their encouragement, feedback, opportunities and interest in my work. Thank you to Mrs. Sue Villerot for making my professional experience in the Anthropology department a great one as well as Mrs. Cyndi Jones who was essential to my successful transition from student to instructor in the Near Eastern Studies program many years ago. I also appreciate the work of Mrs. Uzma Khan, Mrs. Amanda Donigian, and Mrs. Teresa Pickering- all of whom made department life manageable and enjoyable. Thank you to my former high school teacher (who later became principal), Mrs. Skopczynski, for her never-ending support over the years. I hope I have made her proud. v Moreover, thank you to my numismatic colleagues Tony Goodwin, Ingrid Schultze, Dr. Tasha Vorderstrasse and the late Shraga Qedar. Thank you to Dr. Aleya Rouchdy, Dr. Hani Fakhouri, and Dr. Barbara Aswad for their continued support and incredible generosity. I am so very thankful for all of the members of my extended family overseas who were generous, hospitable, accommodating and so caring over the years while conducting research in Jordan. And of course, my immediate family, whom I cannot thank enough. They have been more helpful than one could ever imagine.