Islamic Architecture of the Swahili Coast with Stephane Pradines

Isabelle Imbert welcomes Pr Stephane Pradines, Professor of Islamic Art, Architecture and Archaeology at the Aga Khan University in London. Stephanes is an archaeologist with a particular expertise on Sub-Saharan Africa, a large region that is being discussed for the first time on this podcast, and for today the Swahili coast in the East. In the episode, they talk about Stephane’s past and ongoing archaeological projects, before diving into the architecture of the Swahili coast, artistic exchanges in the Indian ocean, as well as the practice of archaeology in different terrains and climates.  

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Mentioned in the Episode and Further Links

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• Follow Stephane Pradines on Academia
• Stephane's profile and list of publications on the Aga Khan University website
• Stephane's publications mentioned in the episode: 
  • "Early Swahili Mosques: The Role of Ibadi and Ismaili Communities, Ninth to Twelfth Centuries", Muslim Cultures of the Indian Ocean, Edinburgh Uni Press: 2023
  • Historic Mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa, from Timbuktu to Zanzibar, Brill: 2022
  • "Islamic Archaeology in the Comoros: The Swahili and the Rock Crystal Trade with the Abbasid and Fatimid Caliphates", Journal of Islamic Archaeology, vol 6-1 (2019)
  • "Madagascar, the Source of the Abbasid and Fatimid Rock Crystals: New Evidence from Archaeological Investigations in East Africa", Seeking Transparency: Rock Crystals across the Medieval Mediterranean, A. Shalem, C. Hahn (eds), Gebr. Mann Verlag: 2020
• More information: 
  • Pradines, S., Blanchard, P., "From Zanzibar to Kilwa : Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Omani Forts in East Africa", Fort, 47 (2019)
  • Pradines, S., "Sufi in War: Persian influence on African weaponry in the 19th century Mahdist Sudan", JAAS, XXII (2018)
  • Pardines, S., "Swahili Archaeology New edition", Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, Springer International Publishing 2018
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Click here to see the reproductions of architectures and objects discussed in the episode.