Aila Santi
SOAS University of London, School of languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Newton Post-doctoral Fellow
I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher for the ERC-funded project “Embodied Imamate: Mapping the Development of the Early Shiʿi Community 700-900 CE” at Leiden University. My research focuses on the role of space, architecture, and material culture in shaping and crystallizing Imami communal identity, as well as mediating the representation of Imamic charisma.
From 2023 to 2024, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at SOAS University of London, where I worked on the manuscript for my first monograph, provisionally titled "The Mosque of the Prophet and the Palace: Topographies of Faith and Power in Early Islamic Medina."
Before this, I held a Newton International Postdoctoral Fellowship at SOAS (2021-2023) and a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the American University of Beirut (2019-2020). My research during these fellowships focused on the urbanism and architecture of early Islamic Medina and ʿAnjar, respectively.
I earned my BA (2012) and MA (2015) in Islamic Archaeology and History of Art from Sapienza University of Rome, where I also completed my PhD in Archaeology in 2019. My dissertation, titled “The Relationship Between Mosque and Dār al-Imāra in the Early Islamic Period: The Case Studies of Madīna, Kūfa, and ʿAnjar in Light of a Reassessment of the Urbanism of the Origins,” explored the interplay between religious and administrative architecture in early Islamic cities.
My primary research interest is the development of the monumental and visual language of the early Muslim elite, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between architecture, ceremonial practice, and the conceptualization of caliphal authority at the Umayyad court. Additionally, my interests include antiquarian trends in early Islam, the emergence of sacred topographies and associated devotional iconographies, and the narrative of the development of early Islamic urbanism in historical sources.
Address: Room 1144
Herta Mohr building, Witte Singel 27A 2311 BG Leiden
From 2023 to 2024, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at SOAS University of London, where I worked on the manuscript for my first monograph, provisionally titled "The Mosque of the Prophet and the Palace: Topographies of Faith and Power in Early Islamic Medina."
Before this, I held a Newton International Postdoctoral Fellowship at SOAS (2021-2023) and a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the American University of Beirut (2019-2020). My research during these fellowships focused on the urbanism and architecture of early Islamic Medina and ʿAnjar, respectively.
I earned my BA (2012) and MA (2015) in Islamic Archaeology and History of Art from Sapienza University of Rome, where I also completed my PhD in Archaeology in 2019. My dissertation, titled “The Relationship Between Mosque and Dār al-Imāra in the Early Islamic Period: The Case Studies of Madīna, Kūfa, and ʿAnjar in Light of a Reassessment of the Urbanism of the Origins,” explored the interplay between religious and administrative architecture in early Islamic cities.
My primary research interest is the development of the monumental and visual language of the early Muslim elite, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between architecture, ceremonial practice, and the conceptualization of caliphal authority at the Umayyad court. Additionally, my interests include antiquarian trends in early Islam, the emergence of sacred topographies and associated devotional iconographies, and the narrative of the development of early Islamic urbanism in historical sources.
Address: Room 1144
Herta Mohr building, Witte Singel 27A 2311 BG Leiden
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SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA
Roma, 30-31 gennaio/ 01 febbraio 2018
Aula di Archeologia, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia (piazzale Aldo Moro 5)
Papers
The Sasanian iconography of the monster – featuring a dog head, clawed forepaws, wings, and a peacock/fishtail – survived the Muslim conquest of Persia and became a prominent subject in early Islamic art, spanning a wide variety of media including metal, textiles, and stucco.
This paper focuses on a little-known stamped roundel depicting a canonical image of the creature accompanied by a pious Arabic inscription, once part of a private collection. Through an in-depth analysis of the piece, this study seeks to explore the wider phenomenon of the transmission of the “Sēnmurv” from Sasanian to Islamic art, suggesting new insights into the survival and acceptance of the motif.
of literary sources and an accurate review of the archaeological data available, we will seek to overturn the traditional view by proposing a new dating for the emergence of the physical connection between the two buildings with some insights pertaining to the monumental vocabulary of the Umayyad ruling élite.
SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA
Roma, 30-31 gennaio/ 01 febbraio 2018
Aula di Archeologia, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia (piazzale Aldo Moro 5)
The Sasanian iconography of the monster – featuring a dog head, clawed forepaws, wings, and a peacock/fishtail – survived the Muslim conquest of Persia and became a prominent subject in early Islamic art, spanning a wide variety of media including metal, textiles, and stucco.
This paper focuses on a little-known stamped roundel depicting a canonical image of the creature accompanied by a pious Arabic inscription, once part of a private collection. Through an in-depth analysis of the piece, this study seeks to explore the wider phenomenon of the transmission of the “Sēnmurv” from Sasanian to Islamic art, suggesting new insights into the survival and acceptance of the motif.
of literary sources and an accurate review of the archaeological data available, we will seek to overturn the traditional view by proposing a new dating for the emergence of the physical connection between the two buildings with some insights pertaining to the monumental vocabulary of the Umayyad ruling élite.