Peter J Brown
@peterjbrown.bsky.social
Honorary Fellow @arcdurham.bsky.social | Landscape archaeology of medieval Eurasia | Water Management | Islamic Archaeology | Environmental History
https://p-j-brown.github.io
https://p-j-brown.github.io
Pinned
Our new article published today in @antiquity.ac.uk focuses on interesting archaeological landscape features in southern Iraq. Groups of long linear earthen ridges sit on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab river in the Basra region, north of the shores of the Gulf… 🧵
Reposted by Peter J Brown
In this article, our Honorary Fellow in Archaeology @peterjbrown.bsky.social sheds new light on the story of the Zanj rebellion – a slave revolt that took place in the late 9th century in southern Iraq. Peter and his team have unearthed the timelines. Read more 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/research/cur...
August 22, 2025 at 1:57 PM
In this article, our Honorary Fellow in Archaeology @peterjbrown.bsky.social sheds new light on the story of the Zanj rebellion – a slave revolt that took place in the late 9th century in southern Iraq. Peter and his team have unearthed the timelines. Read more 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/research/cur...
My piece in The Conversation @africa.theconversation.com based on our recent article in @antiquity.ac.uk
Read the original article here: doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Read the original article here: doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
August 22, 2025 at 7:53 AM
My piece in The Conversation @africa.theconversation.com based on our recent article in @antiquity.ac.uk
Read the original article here: doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Read the original article here: doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
Earthworks cover southern Iraq, built by slave labour during the Early Islamic period
A slave rebellion was thought to have caused their abandonment, but new research suggests other factors, such as Mongol invasion and the plague, were responsible 🏺 #Archaeology
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
A slave rebellion was thought to have caused their abandonment, but new research suggests other factors, such as Mongol invasion and the plague, were responsible 🏺 #Archaeology
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
August 21, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Earthworks cover southern Iraq, built by slave labour during the Early Islamic period
A slave rebellion was thought to have caused their abandonment, but new research suggests other factors, such as Mongol invasion and the plague, were responsible 🏺 #Archaeology
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
A slave rebellion was thought to have caused their abandonment, but new research suggests other factors, such as Mongol invasion and the plague, were responsible 🏺 #Archaeology
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
Did enslaved people build the monumental agricultural earthworks of Early Islamic Iraq? #MedievalMonday 🏺
Scientific #archaeology sheds light on the impact of the Zanj rebellion, Mongol invasion, plague and climate change on the Iraqi landscape.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Scientific #archaeology sheds light on the impact of the Zanj rebellion, Mongol invasion, plague and climate change on the Iraqi landscape.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
June 16, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Did enslaved people build the monumental agricultural earthworks of Early Islamic Iraq? #MedievalMonday 🏺
Scientific #archaeology sheds light on the impact of the Zanj rebellion, Mongol invasion, plague and climate change on the Iraqi landscape.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Scientific #archaeology sheds light on the impact of the Zanj rebellion, Mongol invasion, plague and climate change on the Iraqi landscape.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
Around 1,200 years ago in what is now Iraq, enslaved people who were forced to build a vast canal system defied authority and rebelled
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
Enslaved Africans led a decade-long rebellion 1,200 years ago in Iraq, new evidence suggests
The Zanj, enslaved people largely from Africa, rebelled at the same time they were ordered to build a massive system of canals in what is now Iraq, a new study finds.
www.livescience.com
June 13, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Around 1,200 years ago in what is now Iraq, enslaved people who were forced to build a vast canal system defied authority and rebelled
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
NEW Did a slave revolt cause the decline of medieval farming in southern Iraq? 🏺
New dates suggests earthworks in the region stayed in use following the 9th-century-AD Zanj rebellion, questioning the traditional historical narrative.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
New dates suggests earthworks in the region stayed in use following the 9th-century-AD Zanj rebellion, questioning the traditional historical narrative.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
June 9, 2025 at 8:15 PM
NEW Did a slave revolt cause the decline of medieval farming in southern Iraq? 🏺
New dates suggests earthworks in the region stayed in use following the 9th-century-AD Zanj rebellion, questioning the traditional historical narrative.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
New dates suggests earthworks in the region stayed in use following the 9th-century-AD Zanj rebellion, questioning the traditional historical narrative.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
More coverage of our recent research in @antiquity.ac.uk Read the original paper here: doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
June 9, 2025 at 6:39 PM
More coverage of our recent research in @antiquity.ac.uk Read the original paper here: doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
The Shatt al-Arab floodplain, an agricultural system outside of the Iraqi city of Basra, was likely dug by enslaved Africans exploited by the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century A.D.
archaeology.org/news/2025/06/05/enslaved-africans-built-ancient-agricultural-system-in-southern-iraq/
archaeology.org/news/2025/06/05/enslaved-africans-built-ancient-agricultural-system-in-southern-iraq/
June 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The Shatt al-Arab floodplain, an agricultural system outside of the Iraqi city of Basra, was likely dug by enslaved Africans exploited by the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century A.D.
archaeology.org/news/2025/06/05/enslaved-africans-built-ancient-agricultural-system-in-southern-iraq/
archaeology.org/news/2025/06/05/enslaved-africans-built-ancient-agricultural-system-in-southern-iraq/
A fascinating and highly thought provoking volume!
Just discovered my edited volume Imagining Antiquity in Islamic Societies got a nice review in the Journal of Islamic Archaeology. Thank you @peterjbrown.bsky.social for the review and thanks to all the brilliant contributors!
journal.equinoxpub.com/JIA/article/...
journal.equinoxpub.com/JIA/article/...
June 9, 2025 at 5:44 PM
A fascinating and highly thought provoking volume!
Reposted by Peter J Brown
🏺 Recent research suggests that thousands of earthen ridges and canals in the Shatt al-Arab floodplain outside Basra in Iraq, part of an ancient agricultural system, were constructed with slave labour during the early Islamic period associated with the 'Zanj rebellion'.
#Archaeology
#Iraq
#Archaeology
#Iraq
The landscape of the Zanj Rebellion? Dating the remains of a large-scale agricultural system in southern Iraq | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
The landscape of the Zanj Rebellion? Dating the remains of a large-scale agricultural system in southern Iraq
www.cambridge.org
June 6, 2025 at 2:30 PM
🏺 Recent research suggests that thousands of earthen ridges and canals in the Shatt al-Arab floodplain outside Basra in Iraq, part of an ancient agricultural system, were constructed with slave labour during the early Islamic period associated with the 'Zanj rebellion'.
#Archaeology
#Iraq
#Archaeology
#Iraq
Reposted by Peter J Brown
📰 Discovery of over 7000 earthworks in southern Iraq offers fresh insight into slavery during the early Islamic Period
#AntiquityResearch #ArchaeologyNews via @arcdurham.bsky.social
www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
#AntiquityResearch #ArchaeologyNews via @arcdurham.bsky.social
www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
Archaeologists shed new light on ancient Mesopotamian landscape - Durham University
Archaeologists have uncovered new evidence about an ancient Mesopotamian landscape, offering fresh insight into the legacy of black slavery during the early Islamic Period.
www.durham.ac.uk
June 5, 2025 at 4:31 PM
📰 Discovery of over 7000 earthworks in southern Iraq offers fresh insight into slavery during the early Islamic Period
#AntiquityResearch #ArchaeologyNews via @arcdurham.bsky.social
www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
#AntiquityResearch #ArchaeologyNews via @arcdurham.bsky.social
www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
New dating of ridges in southern #Iraq show the agricultural system developing not only in the 800s, but until the 1200s
This was the landscape at one point worked by the Zanj, slaves from sub-Saharan Africa whom I talked about in my @archumanities.bsky.social book The Medieval Persian Gulf
This was the landscape at one point worked by the Zanj, slaves from sub-Saharan Africa whom I talked about in my @archumanities.bsky.social book The Medieval Persian Gulf
The landscape of the Zanj Rebellion? Dating the remains of a large-scale agricultural system in southern Iraq | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
The landscape of the Zanj Rebellion? Dating the remains of a large-scale agricultural system in southern Iraq
www.cambridge.org
June 3, 2025 at 2:09 PM
New dating of ridges in southern #Iraq show the agricultural system developing not only in the 800s, but until the 1200s
This was the landscape at one point worked by the Zanj, slaves from sub-Saharan Africa whom I talked about in my @archumanities.bsky.social book The Medieval Persian Gulf
This was the landscape at one point worked by the Zanj, slaves from sub-Saharan Africa whom I talked about in my @archumanities.bsky.social book The Medieval Persian Gulf
Coverage of our article published in @antiquity.ac.uk. Full paper available here: doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
June 3, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Coverage of our article published in @antiquity.ac.uk. Full paper available here: doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
News article on our new paper www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
Archaeologists solve mystery of Iraq’s huge network of ridges and canals
The researchers reviewed images from the 1960s showing the remains of more than 7,000 massive ridges
www.independent.co.uk
June 2, 2025 at 4:07 PM
News article on our new paper www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
A slave revolt, Mongol invasion, spread of plague and climate change.
Find out how agricultural features in southern Iraq can teach us about all of these in this great thread, then check out the new Research Article in Antiquity 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Find out how agricultural features in southern Iraq can teach us about all of these in this great thread, then check out the new Research Article in Antiquity 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Our new article published today in @antiquity.ac.uk focuses on interesting archaeological landscape features in southern Iraq. Groups of long linear earthen ridges sit on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab river in the Basra region, north of the shores of the Gulf… 🧵
June 2, 2025 at 10:32 AM
A slave revolt, Mongol invasion, spread of plague and climate change.
Find out how agricultural features in southern Iraq can teach us about all of these in this great thread, then check out the new Research Article in Antiquity 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Find out how agricultural features in southern Iraq can teach us about all of these in this great thread, then check out the new Research Article in Antiquity 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by Peter J Brown
Our latest article is out today. It describes results of remote sensing and OSL dating of archaeological earthworks near Basra in Iraq. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
June 2, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Our latest article is out today. It describes results of remote sensing and OSL dating of archaeological earthworks near Basra in Iraq. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Our new article published today in @antiquity.ac.uk focuses on interesting archaeological landscape features in southern Iraq. Groups of long linear earthen ridges sit on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab river in the Basra region, north of the shores of the Gulf… 🧵
June 2, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Our new article published today in @antiquity.ac.uk focuses on interesting archaeological landscape features in southern Iraq. Groups of long linear earthen ridges sit on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab river in the Basra region, north of the shores of the Gulf… 🧵