EURASIAN Studies �3 (�0�5) �-4 brill.com/eurs Islamic Ghazni New Data and Research Perspectives. An Introduction Thanks to its geographical position as a crossroads of the Iranian, Central Asian, and Indian regions, Ghazni was in former times a prosperous commercial and cultural center in the area of present-day Afghanistan. Extant monuments and archaeological finds bear witness to the ancient prestige and glory of the city, which represents an evocative synthesis of the cultural achievements of this area. One of the main features of the site is its uninterrupted archaeological sequence and settlement continuity from the Buddhist period (2nd-9th century) to the Modern Age (19th century). Here, we have one rare case study of com- plete overlap between pre-Islamic and Islamic cultures within the same geographical area. In the late 10th century, the city became the cradle of the powerful Ghaznavid dynasty (977-1186), whose court was renowned as one of the most refined of the Iranian world. Ghazni was later conquered by the Ghurids, becoming one of their capitals between 1173 and 1203. Subsequently, it briefly came under the control of the Khwarazmshah (1215-21), just prior to the Mongol invasions of the early 13th century. In Ilkhanid times, the city passed under the Kart rul- ers of Herat until 1401, when it became part of a local Timurid family’s fief. The province at last entered the sphere of influence of the Mughal Empire (16th-mid 18th century).1 Between 1957 and 1978, the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan carried out several excavation campaigns and many surveys in the area (Pl. I).2 Concerning the investigations on the Islamic period, secular buildings, mosques, mausoleums and tombs were discovered along with a large amount of valuable finds: marble, brickwork, stucco, pottery, metalwork, and glasses. Mission activities, abruptly terminated in 1979 due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, resumed in 2002. Due to the impossibility of restarting 1 For more details on the history of Ghazni see Bosworth, Clifford Edmond, “G̲h̲azna”, in EI2 (1965): pp. 1073-4. 2 See Bombaci, Alessio, “Summary report on the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan. Introduction to the Excavations at Ghazni”; Scerrato, Umberto, “Summary report on the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan. The first two excavation Campaigns at Ghazni, 1957-1958”, East and West, X/1-2 (1959): pp. 3-22 and pp. 23-55; Adamesteanu, Dinu, “Notes sur le site archéologique de Ghazni”, Afghanistan, XV/1 (1960): pp. 21-30. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���6 | doi �0.��63/�46856�3-��34000� 2 Allegranzi et al. archaeological fieldwork, the new Mission campaigns have focused on ascer- taining finds localization and their state of conservation. In 2004, the project Islamic Ghazni. An Archaeological Project in Afghanistan, directed by Roberta Giunta, has been set up with the principal aim of studying the huge documen- tation collected by the Italian Mission.3 A new project, started in 2012 and still in progress, presents the results achieved so far on a website providing information on the Mission’s activi- ties, as well as a preliminary database of finds.4 The Islamic section already includes about 1,400 records, all corresponding to marble and alabaster arti- facts documented in the area of Ghazni. The four papers presented in this issue offer an overview of new data and ongoing researches about different materials collected at Ghazni through surveys and archaeological investigations. They deal with the huge amount of pottery (10th-17th century) unearthed at two archaeological sites – a royal palace and a private dwelling; they also deal with the little-known repertory of monumental epigraphy in Persian language (10th-12th century) coming from different areas of the city, and with the Ghazni funerary landscape (epigraphic tombs in marble dating from the 15th century and marble re-employments inside the ziyārāt). These researches shed light on the historical evolution of the city from the early Islamic period to the Modern Age. A multidisciplinary approach bearing on the fields of archeology, epigraphy, and the study of liter- ary sources is provided. These studies started as MA theses carried out by the authors in the frame- work of the Islamic Ghazni Project. Three of them also resulted in doctoral researches.5 The texts presented here are updated versions of the speeches 3 See Giunta, Roberta, “Islamic Ghazni. An IsIAO Archaeological Project in Afghanistan. A Preliminary Report (July 2004-June 2005)”, East and West, LV/1-4 (2005): pp. 473-484. On different researches conducted in the framework of the Islamic Ghazni Project also see Filigenzi, Anna and Giunta, Roberta (eds.), The IsIAO Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan 1957-2007. Fifty Years of Research in the Heart of Eurasia. Proceedings of the symposium held in the Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, Rome, January 8th 2008 (Roma: IsIAO, 2009). 4 The project Buddhist and Islamic Archaeological Data from Ghazni, Afghanistan. A multidis- ciplinary digital archive for the managing and preservation of an endangered cultural heritage has been funded by Gerda Henkel Stiftung and Università degli studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”. See the website at: http://ghazni.bradypus.net. 5 The PhD thesis by Agnese Fusaro (“Studio del corpus ceramico di età islamica dagli scavi italiani a Ghazni, Afghanistan (x-xiii secolo): contributo alla ricostruzione storica del palazzo sultaniale e della ‘casa dei lustri’ ”) has been defended in November 2014 at Sapienza Università di Roma. PhD theses by Viola Allegranzi (“Les inscriptions persanes de Ghazni EURASIAN Studies 13 (2015) 1-4.