Material Culture in Central Asia and the Middle East II 24-25 Dhu al Qa'dah 1414/5-6 May, 1994 School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

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 manufacture,
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 London, 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 1992)," The Language of Dress in the Middle
East" (November 1992), and the first conference on #Material Culture in
Central Asia and the Middle Fast" (June 1993).
Participants reviewed nomadic, pastoralist, cultivator, and urban systems
and assessed the regions' role as centers for innovation and the diffusion
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 Euro­pean Civilization." Rifat Ebied (professor of Semitic Studies, University
of Sydney, Australia, and currently Visiting Fellow, Trinity Hall, Cambridge,
UK) elaborated upon the historical issues concerning the production
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 emphasis on the Islamic
origins of the system of higher education (i.e., the creation of the university
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 ...