Urban Relations - Network for the Study of Cities in Ancient North Africa

• Applicant: Dr. Lennart Gilhaus
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology ; Ancient History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 542539020

In the last 20 years, numerous new research works on ancient North Africa have appeared and, above all, have brought hitherto strongly neglected aspects and periods into focus. However, the diverse interdisciplinary individual studies are mostly limited to a small period of time or specific topics or spaces; there has been a lack of comprehensive studies so far. The proposed network has therefore set itself the goal of taking up the innovative potential that currently exists and attempting, for the first time, to look at the diverse developments of cities in ancient North Africa from their beginnings to the Islamic expansion from a long-term perspective. For this purpose, the network wants to choose an integrative approach, with which the city is thought of less in terms of its individual components and its built-up centre, but rather the cities are understood as complex networks of relationships. In contrast to conventional approaches, the network intends to change the perspective and view the city from the perspective of its external relations. From this position, the formations and developments of urbanities are to be examined with regard to the communicative interrelationships between the city and its near and far surroundings on various closely interconnected levels. Within this interdependent system of relations, the focus is particularly on the relations between (1) cities and landscapes, (2) cities and their surroundings, (3) cities and other cities, (4) cities and other forms of communities, and (5) cities and the oikumene. These different levels of urban relations are closely interrelated and will be investigated in targeted longitudinal and cross-sectional studies in order to trace the diversity of developments in urban life in ancient North Africa through a decentralised view of the relational systems of cities from the beginnings of urban forms of life to the Islamic expansion. In this way, research on urban life in North Africa will be placed on a new footing and the often observed marginalisation of ancient North Africa in overarching and comparative studieswill be addressed.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Dennis Beck