This dissertation pinpoints the origins of a diversity of approaches to the study of 'Islamic archaeology' in Egypt by examining attitudes of self-defined practitioners of 'Islamic archaeology' from the 1880s to the 1980s. Towards this goal, the dissertation examines how the current diversity of scholarship has been a direct result of conversations between individuals, institutional priorities in local contexts, legislative realities at a national level, and constraints that derive from both historical precedent and modern needs. While the dissertation engages with broader political and anthropological trends, its primary aim is to carefully examine trends within the practice of 'Islamic archaeology' itself. |