The English edition of Nora, an Islamic Town in Medieval Ethiopia is now available at the CFEE

Under the direction of François-Xavier Fauvelle and Romain Mensan

Available in its printed format at the CFEE, for sale and at the library.

The English edition of Nora, an Islamic Town in Medieval Ethiopia (from the End of the 13th to the Beginning of the 16th Century): The 2008 Excavations, edited by François-Xavier Fauvelle and Romain Mensan, is now available at the CFEE.

Already published in French, this English edition makes the results of this major archaeological research accessible to a wider international readership. The volume presents the results of the archaeological excavations carried out in 2008 at the Islamic site of Nora, in present-day Ifat, Ethiopia.

Located on a rocky spur halfway up the Rift escarpment, Nora preserves the remains of an Islamic town occupied from the late thirteenth century to the first third of the sixteenth century. Abandoned several centuries ago, the site offers a major contribution to the study of medieval Islam, urban life and material culture in Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa.

The book presents the results and interpretations drawn from the excavation of several domestic residences, two of the five mosques identified at the site — including the Great Mosque — and a tomb set within a silo. It also includes the study of ceramic, glass and metal artefacts, as well as a sample of faunal remains.

Beyond the description of the excavated structures and artefacts, the volume situates Nora within its geological and agrarian landscape. Particular attention is given to geoarchaeological data, the formation processes of the site, the stratigraphic interpretation of its phases of occupation and abandonment, and the architectural analysis of its buildings.

The volume proposes to identify Nora as the locality of Tobyā, one of the towns of the sultanate of Afwāt, in Arabic, or Ifāt, in Geʿez, mentioned in written sources. Nora is also the first Islamic site to have been extensively excavated in Ethiopia.

The CFEE warmly thanks the editors of the volume, François-Xavier Fauvelle and Romain Mensan, as well as all the contributors: Laurent Bruxelles, Chloé Capel, Amélie Chekroun, Deresse Ayenachew Woldetsadik, Samir El Ouaamari, Habtewold Habtemikael, Bertrand Hirsch, Clément Ménard, Bertrand Poissonnier, Stéphane Pradines, Guillaume Saint-Sever, Abigail Chipps Stone, Helina Solomon Woldekiros and Hailu Zeleke Woldetsadik (†).

The English edition is now available for consultation at the CFEE library and can also be purchased at the Centre.

An online open-access version will be available soon.

Secrétaire Scientifique

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