Denia: A Muslim Port in Spain
2 January 2000

A Time Team special as part of the On the Line season. A Muslim port is revealed under this modern-day Spanish town.

The town of Denia

Just along the coast from Benidorm on Spain's Costa Blanca, the port of Denia was a bustling Arab town from 711 to 1242. Today, its castle is the only visible reminder of the Muslim Arab presence, which dominated Spain for 500 years after the initial invasion by Arabs and Berbers from North Africa in 711. Yet under the buildings of the modern town are extensive remains of the earlier Islamic town, which consisted of a main fortified centre and an adjoining suburb.

Excavations were already under way by Spanish archaeological teams at two principal sites in the town, which were being cleared for new building developments. The Team was able to focus on three main digs. One involved the excavation of burials from a Muslim cemetery. A second centred around an area where large quantities of medieval Islamic pottery had been found. And a third sought evidence of a bridge or (as turned out to be the case) causeway linking the suburb to the main town across what would then have been a stretch of water.

The burials had all been carried out in traditional Islamic fashion, with the bodies aligned towards Mecca and laid out on their sides. Islamic practice requires that a grave should be no wider than 'a span [the distance between the outstretched thumb and small finger] and four fingers'; hence the Arabic saying that you take only a span and four fingers with you after death. By using an osteo-archaeologist, expert in determining information from skeletal remains, the Team was able to discover the likely age and gender of many of the burials. Among much else, it was revealed that they included a mixed population of people with both Caucasoid and Negroid features.

A wide range of pottery finds confirmed the advanced status of Muslim crafts and culture during this period, with pottery of a quality that would not be found in the rest of Europe for another 200 or more years. Perhaps the most exciting finds, meanwhile, were the remains of a kiln and large quantities of kiln furniture. The finds underlined the importance of Denia as one of only three sites in Europe where both locally made pottery and the kilns in which it was made have been discovered. Phil was also particularly excited by the discovery of a row of shops dating from around 1000 AD, which was immediately dubbed a 'millennium shopping centre'.

The name Denia is actually derived from its earlier Roman place name, which arose from the presence of a temple dedicated to Diana. It was likely to have been an important port and trading centre, then, long before the Muslim invasion. During the Muslim era it became very important, handling trade from throughout the Mediterranean and even the far east. Many of the foods which are now commonplace in Europe were first introduced via trading centres such as Denia. The spread of Muslim science, medicine, arts and other knowledge, then far in advance of the rest of Europe, would also have been aided by the wide range of contacts made in places such as this.

At its height, the Muslim presence covered most of the Iberian peninsula, with the exception of the northern coastal regions. With it came, most famously, the architectural splendours best represented by Alhambra and Granada. Christians and Jews, as 'people of the book', were tolerated by their Islamic overlords, although they were taxed more heavily than Muslims. The Christian reconquest, however, which reached Denia in 1242, showed less tolerance: any practice of the Muslim faith was eventually outlawed and brutally suppressed. The Muslim presence in Spain finally ended with the fall of Granada in 1492.

Preparing the feast

Medieval Islamic cuisine

The Team took Mustapha Sayeed, a Moroccan-born cook, with them to Denia, where he prepared two traditional Islamic dishes using recipes taken from a medieval cookery book, written in 1012. The book's recipes are unspecific about quantities. Mustapha said it's best to make your own judgement based on taste. The meat dish would have been cooked in a terracotta pot on a fire contained within a larger terracotta vessel. These are the recipes as originally published.

Lamb with prunes
Take some lamb, cut it up and place it in a pot with salt, pepper, dried coriander, a little bit of cumin and saffron, some vinegar and oil. Put the pot over the fire and when the meat is almost cooked add the cow's eye (black prunes). Cook it in the pot, take it aside and let it cool. Transfer to a serving dish, break up egg yolks and adorn the dish with them and with the meat balls, sprinkle with fine spices and meat juice. Serve.

Pastry with dates
The pastry is made with pure wheat and yeast and little salt and boilt butter and honey and oil. Use this pastry to make thin pancakes. Place one on a hot pan and when it is cooked turn it over and place the dates on top. (The dates are cleaned, crushed, worked with the hands and softened with some oil.) Shape the date paste with the hand on the pastry and add another pastry layer. Turn over to cook the other side and repeat the process as many times as you want. When it is cooked, place it on a serving dish and pour hot oil over it together with clean honey.

Further reading

Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of Al-Andalus by Hugh Kennedy (Longman, 1997) ISBN 0582495156
This political history of Muslim Spain and Portugal, based on Arab sources, covers events throughout the region from the Arab invasion in 711 through to the fall of Granada in 1492.

A History of Islamic Spain by William Montgomery Watt and Pierre Cachia (Edinburgh University Press, 1996) ISBN 0748608478
This history of Islamic Spain covers the events, key figures and social and political movements from 711 to 1492. As well as relating the process of the Muslim conquest and the achievements of Moorish Spain under the Umayyads, it considers the causes of the decline of Arab rule, culminating in the Christian reconquest.

The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe by W Montgomery Watt (Edinburgh University Press, 1994)
Examines the Islamic expansion into Europe, the impact of the Arabic presence, including achievements in science and philosophy, and trading and other links between Christian and Muslim communities.

Islamic Spain by L P Harvey (University of Chicago Press, 1990) ISBN 0226319628

Moorish Spain by Richard Fletcher (Phoenix Press, 1994) ISBN 1857991176

Other websites

This website contains links to other websites which are not under the control of and are not maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

The Modern Languages and Literatures Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, has excellent maps on Islamic Spain, history timelines and further links to other sites.
http://srproj.lib.calpoly.edu/projects/engl/Zapata_Liziel_L/

The Links Project has good basic information about Islamic Spain and extensive links to other sites with further information. Go to www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/6913/history-islamspain.html
or access the resource links direct at
www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/6913/resourcelinks-spain.htm

Mick brushes up on his Spanish

Denia Quiz

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