From Handaxe to Khan

Book excerpt: Coollected as a Festschrift for the 70th birthday of Peder Mortensen, former director of the Moesgard Museum and the Danish Institute in Damascus, the essays in this volume reflect the breadth of Mortensen's passion for archaeology and culture in the Middle East. The topics are arranged chronologically and range from stone tools and early human footprints, to the cultural transitions reveled by a Palestinian mosaic from the 4th century AD, to the way the design of a Jordanian madafah from the early 20th century encouraged traditional Muslim hospitality: Several papers cover the archaeology of the region, including Luristan, Elam and the Syrian Palaeolithic, while Frank Hole uses his experiences travelling with Iranian nomads to shed light on excavations of ancient campsites. The final essay considers the development and future of Islamic archaeology as an academic discipline.