This volume, together with its companion Manufacturing and Labour, examines the economic basis of the early Islamic world, looking at the organization of extractive and agricultural operations, manufacturing processes and labour relations. Mining, stock raising, agriculture and irrigation are the themes of this volume. The work is based on both literary sources and archaeology, and is concerned with the extraction of raw materials and production based on natural resources and domesticated animals. Some classic articles are included because they defined the issues and deserve to be available due to their continuing significance. These are balanced by state-of-the art studies, and by others translating and commenting on important texts in areas where analytic studies have yet to be carried out. This body of work provides a sense of the intensity of exploitation of natural resources in early Islamic times, of how labour and energy-intensive mining, agriculture and irrigation were, and of the interrelationship of different sectors of the economy.
