Abbasid Studies IV
Abbasid Studies IV

Author: Monique Bernards

Publisher: Gibb Memorial Trust

Published: 2013-12-13

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0906094984

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Soon after their successful revolution in 750 AD, the Abb?sids supplanted the Umayyad dynasty, built the new city of Baghdad, Iraq which became the capital of the Islamic Empire. The civilization that the Abb?sids helped to create carried forth the torch of knowledge lit by ancient Greece, Rome, Byzantium, and Persia. Adding many of their own unique contributions, the Abb?sid dynasty left an indelible mark on the history of humankind. This current selection of ?Abb?sid Studies presents a colourful mosaic of new research into classical Arabic texts that sheds light on significant historical, political, cultural and religious aspects of the ?Abb?sid era and provides insight into how the fundamentals of philology are shaped. Wonderful vistas of ancient dreams open up while ?Abb?sid armies clatter and collide; images are conjured of murderous caliphs, foreign looking littérateurs and talking objects. We see a lively self portrait of a scholar struggling with the presentation of his own image and a Persian courtier on exploratory missions around the globe obtaining eyewitness testimony of the wonders of the world. We learn of magic pools, all-seeing mirrors, the kidnapping of a lute-playing shepherd; a Baghdadi party-pooper at an Isfahani social gathering monopolising all participants with an amazing speech until the narrator drunkenly passes out on the floor, and much more. ?Abb?sid Studies IV is the latest contribution to the new series of The Occasional Papers of the School of ?Abb?sid Studies. The contributors to this book are David Bennett, Amikam Elad, Antonella Ghersetti, Joseph Lowry, Letizia Osti, Ignacio Sanchez, Emily Selove, John Turner, Johan Weststeijn, and Travis Zadeh.

Abbasid Studies IV
Abbasid Studies IV

Author: School of ʻAbbasid Studies

Publisher:

Published: 2013-12-13

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 9780906094891

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"Soon after their successful revolution in 750 AD, the Abbāsids supplanted the Umayyad dynasty, built the new city of Baghdad, Iraq which became the capital of the Islamic Empire. The civilization that the Abbāsids helped to create carried forth the torch of knowledge lit by ancient Greece, Rome, Byzantium, and Persia. Adding many of their own unique contributions, the Abbāsid dynasty left an indelible mark on the history of humankind. This current selection of {u02BF}Abbāsid Studies presents a colourful mosaic of new research into classical Arabic texts that sheds light on significant historical, political, cultural and religious aspects of the {u02BF}Abbāsid era and provides insight into how the fundamentals of philology are shaped. Wonderful vistas of ancient dreams open up while {u02BF}Abbāsid armies clatter and collide; images are conjured of murderous caliphs, foreign looking littérateurs and talking objects. We see a lively self portrait of a scholar struggling with the presentation of his own image and a Persian courtier on exploratory missions around the globe obtaining eyewitness testimony of the wonders of the world. We learn of magic pools, all-seeing mirrors, the kidnapping of a lute-playing shepherd; a Baghdadi party-pooper at an Isfahani social gathering monopolising all participants with an amazing speech until the narrator drunkenly passes out on the floor, and much more."--Publishers.

Women, Islam, and Abbasid Identity
Women, Islam, and Abbasid Identity

Author: Nadia Maria El Cheikh

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2015-10-06

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 0674736362

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When the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads in 750 CE and ushered in Islam’s Golden Age, ideas about gender and sexuality were central to the process by which the caliphate achieved self-definition and articulated its systems of power and thought. Nadia Maria El Cheikh’s study reveals the importance of women to the writing of early Islamic history.

The ʿAbbasid and Carolingian Empires
The ʿAbbasid and Carolingian Empires

Author: D.G. Tor

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2017-10-23

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 9004353046

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Circa AD 750, both the Islamic world and western Europe underwent political revolutions; these raised to power, respectively, the ʿAbbasid and Carolingian dynasties. The eras thus inaugurated were similar not only in their chronology, but also in the foundational role each played in its respective civilization, forming and shaping enduring religious, cultural, and societal institutions. The ʿAbbāsid and Carolingian Empires: Studies in Civilizational Formation, is the first collected volume ever dedicated specifically to comparative Carolingian-ʿAbbasid history. In it, editor D.G. Tor brings together essays from some of the leading historians in order to elucidate some of the parallel developments in each of these civilizations, many of which persisted not only throughout the Middle Ages, but to the present day. Contributors are: Michael Cook, Jennifer R. Davis, Robert Gleave, Eric J. Goldberg, Minoru Inaba, Jürgen Paul, Walter Pohl, D.G. Tor and Ian Wood.

The Great Caliphs
The Great Caliphs

Author: Amira K. Bennison

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2014-05-14

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0300154895

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This endlessly informative history brings the classical Islamic world to lifeIn this accessibly written history, Amira K. Bennison contradicts the common assumption that Islam somehow interrupted the smooth flow of Western civilization from its Graeco-Roman origins to its more recent European and American manifestations. Instead, she places Islamic civilization in the longer trajectory of Mediterranean civilizations and sees the ‘Abbasid Empire (750–1258 CE) as the inheritor and interpreter of Graeco-Roman traditions.At its zenith the ‘Abbasid caliphate stretched over the entire Middle East and part of North Africa, and influenced Islamic regimes as far west as Spain. Bennison’s examination of the politics, society, and culture of the ‘Abbasid period presents a picture of a society that nurtured many of the “civilized” values that Western civilization claims to represent, albeit in different premodern forms: from urban planning and international trade networks to religious pluralism and academic research. Bennison’s argument counters the common Western view of Muslim culture as alien and offers a new perspective on the relationship between Western and Islamic cultures.

The Shaping of 'Abbasid Rule
The Shaping of 'Abbasid Rule

Author: Jacob Lassner

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2017-03-14

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 1400886368

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In order to understand the transition between the revolutionary movement that propelled the Abbasids to power and the imperial government that later took root, Jacob Lassner studies those elements that served to shape the political attitudes and institutions of the emerging regime during its formative years. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography
Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography

Author: Tayeb El-Hibri

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1999-11-25

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780521650236

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The history of the early Abbasid Caliphate has long been studied as a factual or interpretive synthesis of various accounts preserved in the medieval Islamic chronicles. Tayeb El-Hibri s book breaks with the traditional approach, applying a literary-critical reading to examine the lives of the caliphs. By focusing on the reigns of Harun al-Rashid and his successors, the study demonstrates how the various historical accounts were not in fact intended as faithful portraits of the past, but as allusive devices used to shed light on controversial religious, political and social issues of the period. The analysis also reveals how the exercise of decoding Islamic historigraphy, through an investigation of the narrative strategies and thematic motifs used in the chronicles, can uncover new layers of meaning and even identify the early narrators. This is an important book which represents a landmark in the field of early Islamic historiography.

Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court
Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court

Author: Maaike van Berkel

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2013-07-11

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9004252703

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The reign of al-Muqtadir (295-320/908-32) is a crucial and controversial epoch in the history of the Abbasid empire. Al-Muqtadir’s regime has traditionally been depicted as one of decline, when the political power of the caliphate and the lustre of its capital began to crumble. This book not only offers a substantial investigation of the idea and reality of decline, but also provides new interpretations of the inner workings of the court and the empire. The authors, four specialists of Abbasid history, explore the formal and informal power relationships that shaped politics at the court, involving bureaucrats, military, harem, courtiers and of course al-Muqtadir himself. A study of the topography of Baghdad completes this vivid picture of the court and its capital.