1st Track : Evolution of Mosque Architecture through the Ages
Role/Contribution
Associate lecturer and researcher
Institute of Ismaili Studies
During my time at the Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) spanning the last seven years, I have taught several modules, seminars, and short courses—utilising research-based teaching—on mediaeval Islamic archaeology, art history, architecture, and cultural heritage. Aside from the classroom, these were held within the museum setting, e.g., the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, or even abroad in Egypt, Spain, and Tunisia, specifically within the historical monuments or the museum spaces. I have created the syllabi and PowerPoint presentations, delivered the lectures, provided pastoral care for students, and marked all submitted work. I also designed, organised, and convened the largest academic conference hosted at the IIS (2021) with 38 speakers and over 2,000 participants, addressing the history, material culture, politics, and religion of a mediaeval North African Muslim dynasty—the Fatimids (297-567/909-1172). The conference brought together archaeologists, architects, curators, professors, and researchers from a myriad of Fatimid studies to exchange data and ideas as well as advance our current knowledge in the field. I am now editing the conference proceedings, which will be published as a volume with Bloomsbury Publishing (2024). Additionally, I worked on a significant IIS heritage documentation project for over two years, identifying, researching, and documenting various mediaeval Fatimid historical sites in North Africa, which have been added to an online public database.
Research paper Title
The Maqsura: Necessity or Royal Device
Personal Biography
Gregory Bilotto PhD, FRAS, is an art historian and archaeologist specialising in early Islamic material culture and architecture from Egypt, Ifriqiya, Khurasan/Transoxiana, and the Levant. He is an associate lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, where he convened the international conference “Fatimid Cosmopolitanism: History, Material Culture, Politics, and Religion” (2021)—the proceedings are forthcoming with Bloomsbury Publishing (2024). He excavated six seasons (2002-15) in Kom al-Aḥmar (Upper Egypt) with Prof Elizabeth Walters and the last season (2016) of the Fatimid Cairo project with Prof Stéphane Pradines. He recently published on Fatimid jewellery, “Crescent-Shaped Gold Earrings” in Museum of Islamic Art: The Collection (2022), edited by Julia Gonnella et al., and his monograph Fatimid Metalwork 297-567/ 909-1171: Context, Identification, and Style in the Mediaeval Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean is forthcoming (2025) with the American University in Cairo Press.
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