2009/06/01 by Michael Decker · 169 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Agricultural revolution #Agriculture #Archaeology #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Economics #Economy #Eurasian Exchange Networks #Geography #Green Revolution #History #Islam #Islamic Studies and History #Political science #Sample (material) #Social science #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1353/jwh.0.0058
published in Journal of world history 20(2), 187-206 (World History Association)
openalex publication_date 2009/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/23
Since it was first proposed in the 1970s, the concept of an Islamic agricultural revolution, in which new plants and techniques spread rapidly from east to west and transformed agriculture in the Mediterranean basin, has gained widespread acceptance. Based on an investigation of a sample of plants, the present article argues that changes in farming attributed to the era of classical Islam were far more complex and distended than previously acknowledged. This casts doubt on the validity of the theory of a medieval "green revolution" and calls for a reexamination of its fundamental tenets.