Nora, an Islamic Town in Medieval Ethiopia (from the End of the 13th to the Beginning of the 16th Century): the 2008 Excavations
The Islamic site of Nora, in what is now the district of Ifat, in Ethiopia, is located on a rocky spur halfway up the slope of the Rift escarpment. It was abandoned several centuries ago, and reveals the vestiges of an Islamic town that was inhabited from the end of the 13th to the first third of the 16th centuries. This book describes the results of an excavation carried out in Nora in 2008. It presents the information and interpretations gathered from excavations of a number of domestic reside...
Note de l’éditeur
This book is the English version of: Nora, ville islamique de l’Éthiopie médiévale (fin du XIIIe-début du XVIe siècle) : les fouilles de 2008, published in 2024 as part of the same series. The translation was conducted by Simon Dix and revised by Mélanie Lacan.
Note de l’auteur
The research in Nora was carried out under the aegis of the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH, now known as EHA, the Ethiopian Heritage Authority) of the Ethiopian government. It was financed by the Commission des Fouilles du Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Étrangères, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) and the Centre Français des Études Éthiopiennes (CFEE).
This book has received support from the ERC project HornEast, which has been funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement no. 726206.
Éditeur : Centre français des études éthiopiennes
Lieu d’édition : Addis Ababa
Publication sur OpenEdition Books : 1 octobre 2026
ISBN numérique : 978-2-11-172338-2
DOI : 10.4000/16vm2
Collection : Ad’É Books, Archaeology and History
Année d’édition : 2026
ISBN (Édition imprimée) : 978-2-11-172337-5
Nombre de pages : 212
Julien Loiseau
ForewordFrançois-Xavier Fauvelle, Romain Mensan, Amélie Chekroun et al.
1
Nora, a Medieval Site in Ifat, Ethiopia: IntroductionLaurent Bruxelles et Clément Ménard
2
A Survey of Nora’s Surrounding Landscape: Geology, Geomorphology, Geoarchaeology, Raw Materials and Lithic ToolsSamir El Ouaamari
3
The Archaeological Site of Nora in its Landscape and Agricultural Context, Yesterday and TodayFrançois-Xavier Fauvelle, Romain Mensan, Habtewold Habtemikael et al.
4
The Archaeological Site of Nora: General Characteristics, Excavation Methods, Geoarchaeological Interpretation and Stratigraphic OverviewFrançois-Xavier Fauvelle et Romain Mensan
Chloé Capel et Stéphane Pradines (collab.)
5
Nora’s Domestic StructuresStéphane Pradines
François-Xavier Fauvelle, Habtewold Habtemikael, Hailu Zeleke Woldetsadik et al. (collab.)
6
The Mosques of NoraRomain Mensan et Abigail Chipps Stone
François-Xavier Fauvelle (collab.)
7
A Silo Type of Burial Structure in NoraFrançois-Xavier Fauvelle et Romain Mensan
Chloé Capel, Bertrand Poissonnier et Guillaume Saint-Sever (collab.)
9
Nora’s ArtefactsFrançois-Xavier Fauvelle et Romain Mensan
10
Summary and Synthesis of the Archaeological Data from the Excavation of NoraThe Islamic site of Nora, in what is now the district of Ifat, in Ethiopia, is located on a rocky spur halfway up the slope of the Rift escarpment. It was abandoned several centuries ago, and reveals the vestiges of an Islamic town that was inhabited from the end of the 13th to the first third of the 16th centuries. This book describes the results of an excavation carried out in Nora in 2008. It presents the information and interpretations gathered from excavations of a number of domestic residences, two of the five mosques found on the site (including the Great Mosque) and a tomb in a silo. The ceramic, glass and metal artefacts and a sample of faunal remains are also described. As well as offering observations that make it possible to place the Islamic site of Nora in its particular geological and agrarian landscape, the book dedicates particular attention to geoarchaeological information regarding the settlement and formation of the site, a stratigraphic interpretation of the phases of settlement and abandonment and an architectural description of the buildings.
Nora has been identified as the locality of Tobyā, which is one of the towns of the sultanate of Afwāt (in Arabic) or Ifāt (in Geez) mentioned in written sources, and is the first Islamic site to have been extensively excavated.
Simon Dix (trad.)
Independent translator.
Mélanie Lacan (trad.)
Independent translator.
François-Xavier Fauvelle (dir.)
Collège de France
ORCID : 0000-0001-9421-0559
François-Xavier Fauvelle is a professor at the Collège de France (PSL University), holds the chair in History and Archaeology of the African Worlds, and is a member of the TRACES research laboratory (University of Toulouse Jean-Jaurès). He has conducted numerous research trips to Ethiopia, where he directed the French Center for Ethiopian Studies from 2006 to 2009.
Romain Mensan (dir.)
Independent Researcher
ORCID : 0009-0001-7503-8885
Romain Mensan is an independent researcher in geoarchaeology. He has conducted numerous research trips to Ethiopia, particularly as part of the work of the French Center for Ethiopian Studies and the Sustainable Lalibela program.
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Nora, ville islamique de l’Éthiopie médiévale (fin du XIIIe-début du XVIe siècle) : les fouilles de 2008
François-Xavier Fauvelle et Romain Mensan (dir.)
2024
Nora, ville islamique de l’Éthiopie médiévale (fin du XIIIe-début du XVIe siècle) : les fouilles de 2008
François-Xavier Fauvelle et Romain Mensan (dir.)
2024
Educating the Nation in Ethiopia
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Nora, ville islamique de l’Éthiopie médiévale (fin du XIIIe-début du XVIe siècle) : les fouilles de 2008
François-Xavier Fauvelle et Romain Mensan (dir.)
2024
Educating the Nation in Ethiopia
State, Society and Identity in Wolaita (1941–1991)
Pierre Guidi Simon Dix (trad.)
2024
Nora, ville islamique de l’Éthiopie médiévale (fin du XIIIe-début du XVIe siècle) : les fouilles de 2008
François-Xavier Fauvelle et Romain Mensan (dir.)
2024
