1997/04/01 by Nimrod Luz · 5 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Engineering · #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Islamic Studies and History #Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies #Palestine #Byzantine architecture #Islam #Capital (architecture) #Capital city #Ancient history #History #Governor #Diplomacy #Archaeology #Geography #Political science #Law #Engineering #Politics
paper · doi:10.1017/s1356186300008300
openalex publication_date 1997/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/23
At the beginning of the eighth century A.D. a new town was built in Palestine, called al- Ramla (Ramlah of today). It was founded by the then provincial governor, Sulaymān b. ‘Abd al-Malik (d. 717) in order to serve as the capital of Jund Filasṭīn, the southern province of Palestine. The building of a new town, and especially of a capital city, constituted a significant departure in the Palestine environment, for two main reasons. First, it was the first city to be founded after a period of 350 years, i.e., for most of the Byzantine epoch. Second, though the Muslims ruled the country for 1100 years, al-Ramla remained the sole example of a new town in the whole of Palestine.