Remarks by the Recipient of the 2018 MEM Lifetime Achievement Award Given at the Annual Meeting of Middle East Medievalists

Abstract

This acknowledgement of my work in Islamic archaeology comes as a complete surprise and therefore is all the more appreciated. It is with some humility that I would express my gratitude to Middle East Medievalists, especially as I had begun to wonder whether my field of studies had become irrelevant or just passé, a forgotten corner of Middle East studies. I will discuss this further but, first, I would offer a short account of my entrance into this arcane, if not irrelevant field of studies.