Nour Ammari

Nour Ammari is a PhD candidate at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (New York University), specializing in late antique and early Islamic visual culture in the southern Levant between the 6th and 10th centuries, with a particular focus on the 7th–9th centuries. Her dissertation examines inscribed everyday objects from present-day northern Jordan, surrounding the transitional period through the centralization of the first Islamic state, using these artifacts to explore cultural syncretism and the relationship between script, language, and identity in multi-faith communities during a period of porous yet developing confessional boundaries. More broadly, her research engages questions of text and materiality, the quotidian record, and the critical interrogation of the historiographical categories of “Byzantine” and “Islamic” themselves. Her cross-disciplinary approach draws on art historical, archaeological, and textual methods. She holds an MA in art history from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2017) and an MA in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Chicago (2020). Her theoretical interests span new materialism and object-oriented ontology, the biography and itinerary of objects, historiography of early Islam, and exhibition and reception studies. Her fieldwork and professional experience reflect the range of her commitments. She excavated for three seasons at Siniya Island, Umm al-Quwain, UAE, and held an Islamic Curatorial Fellowship at the American Numismatic Society in summer 2025. She has also contributed to the Institute’s exhibitions Through the Lens: Latif al-Ani’s Visions of Ancient Iraq (November 8, 2023–February 25, 2024), and Madinat al-Zahra: The Radiant Capital of Islamic Spain (October 30, 2024–March 2, 2025).