부산대학교 도서관

The Royal Ontario Museum Zabid project began in 1982 with its focus upon the town of Zabid on the central Tihamah plain of North Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic). Using sherd counts collected from field surveys, the project has been successful in establishing a working typology for the pottery found in the area of Zabid and in the surrounding 2,500 square kilometres. On that basis, some preliminary hypotheses regarding the settlement patterns from the 1st century AD to the pre-modern era have already been formulated. A study of the standing architectural remains has already been begun.The long-term objective is to identify more completely the nature and extent of the settlements associated with Zabid, in order to be able to evaluate the dynamics involved in the foundation, growth and development of an 'Islamic city'. The project still needs to define the extent of the catchment area which may be demonstrated to have been influenced by the same external imperial or local dynastic factors as Zabid. So far, the indications are that the greatest influence upon the settlement pattern and the material culture stemmed from the Rasulid dynasty (13th-15th centuries AD), which had its winter capital in Zabid.