Event:Zīrid Ifrīqiya and the Islamic world in the 10th-12th centuries 2026

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In-Person
Date: May28,2026
Location: University College London, London, United Kingdom
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The conference Zīrid Ifrīqiya and the Islamic World in the 10th–12th Centuries will take place at UCL, London, on 28–29 May 2026, co-hosted by Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and UCL. It will gather scholars from archaeology, history, art history, numismatics, epigraphy, and manuscript studies to re-evaluate the Zīrid dynasty’s (972–1148) role in the Islamic world. The event seeks to challenge long-standing neglect of Zīrid Ifrīqiya—often overshadowed by other Berber dynasties—by highlighting its political, economic, and cultural importance as a Mediterranean–Saharan crossroads. Paper proposals are due by 30 September 2025.

Participants & Organizers

(Organizer)

Prof. Corisande Fenwick is Professor of Late Antique and Islamic Archaeology. Her research focuses on empire and everyday life in the late antique and Islamic world, particularly North Africa. Her recent publications include the monograph Early Islamic North Africa (Bloomsbury, 2020) and the co-edited Oxford Handbook of Islamic Archaeology (OUP, 2020) and Aghlabids and their Neighbours: Art and Material Culture in Ninth-Century North Africa (Brill, 2017).

(Organizer)

Professor of History, Civilization, Archaeology, and Art of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds.

(Organizer)

British Academy International Fellow, UCL Institute of Archaeology (2023-26)