CONTENTS List of Figures and Maps List of Contributors Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Note on Transliteration 1 Introduction by Amira K. Bennison 1 PART 1 : The Genesis of Islamic Cities 13 2 An Urban Structure for the Early Islamic City: An Archaeological Hypothesis by Donald Whitcomb 15 3 The Foundation Legend of Fez and other Islamic Cities in Light of the Life of the Prophet by Simon O. Meara 27 4 The City of Sultan Kala, Merv, Turkmenistan: Communities, Neighbourhoods and Urban Planning from the Eighth to Thirteenth Centuries by Tim Williams 42 PART 2 : Power and the City 63 5 Power and the City in the Islamic West from the Umayyads to the Almohads by Amira K. Bennison 65 6 Ceremonial and Sacred Space in Early Fatimid Cairo by Jonathan M. Bloom 96 7 Frzkh: The Summer Capital of the Ghurids by David Thomas 115 8 Fathpur Sikri and Isfahan: The Founding and Layout of Capital Cities in Mughal India and Safavid Iran by Stephen P. Blake 145 PART 3 : The Impact of Religion on Urban Life 159 9 The Water Supply of Tinns: Public Amenities and Private Investments by Alison L. Gascoigne 161 10 Health, Spirituality and Power in Medieval Iberia: The Mristn and its role in Nasrid Granada by Athena C. Syrakoy 177 11 Commerce and Spirituality: The Urbanism of Ridwn Bey by Nicholas Warner 196 Index 225