Reconstructing Jerusalem

Reconstructing Jerusalem

Author: Kenneth A. Ristau

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2016-05-25

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 157506409X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Jerusalem—one of the most contested sites in the world. Reconstructing Jerusalem takes readers back to a pivotal moment in its history when it lay ruined and abandoned and the glory of its ancient kings, David and Solomon, had faded. Why did this city not share the same fate as so many other conquered cities, destroyed and forever abandoned, never to be rebuilt? Why did Jerusalem, disgraced and humiliated, not suffer the fate of Babylon, Nineveh, or Persepolis? Reconstructing Jerusalem explores the interrelationship of the physical and intellectual processes leading to Jerusalem’s restoration after its destruction in 587 B.C.E., stressing its symbolic importance and the power of the prophetic perspective in the preservation of the Judean nation and the critical transition from Yahwism to Judaism. Through texts and artifacts, including a unique, comprehensive investigation of the archaeological evidence, a startling story emerges: the visions of a small group of prophets not only inspired the rebuilding of a desolate city but also of a dispersed people. Archaeological, historical, and literary analysis converge to reveal the powerful elements of the story, a story of dispersion and destruction but also of re-creation and revitalization, a story about how compelling visions can change the fate of a people and the course of human history, a story of a community reborn to a barren city.


A History of Social Justice and Political Power in the Middle East

A History of Social Justice and Political Power in the Middle East

Author: Linda T. Darling

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-05-02

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 1136220178

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From ancient Mesopotamia into the 20th century, "the Circle of Justice" as a concept has pervaded Middle Eastern political thought and underpinned the exercise of power in the Middle East. The Circle of Justice depicts graphically how a government’s justice toward the population generates political power, military strength, prosperity, and good administration. This book traces this set of relationships from its earliest appearance in the political writings of the Sumerians through four millennia of Middle Eastern culture. It explores how people conceptualized and acted upon this powerful insight, how they portrayed it in symbol, painting, and story, and how they transmitted it from one regime to the next. Moving towards the modern day, the author shows how, although the Circle of Justice was largely dropped from political discourse, it did not disappear from people’s political culture and expectations of government. The book demonstrates the Circle’s relevance to the Iranian Revolution and the rise of Islamist movements all over the Middle East, and suggests how the concept remains relevant in an age of capitalism. A "must read" for students, policymakers, and ordinary citizens, this book will be an important contribution to the areas of political history, political theory, Middle East studies and Orientalism.


Touraj Kiaras and Persian Classical Music: An Analytical Perspective

Touraj Kiaras and Persian Classical Music: An Analytical Perspective

Author: Owen Wright

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 135153890X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this book Owen Wright analyses a single recording of classical Persian music made by Touraj Kiaras, a distinguished singer, accompanied by four noted instrumentalists. The format of the recording is typical of a public concert performance, and thus includes instrumental compositions as well as a central exploration of vocal repertoire and technique. The analysis identifies salient structural features, whether of the individual components or of the whole, in a way accessible to the western reader, but it also takes account of the analytical metalanguage used in Persian scholarship, and includes consideration of the relationship between music and poetry. It is important to note that it is also guided by the perceptions of the performer, whose input and responses to questions have significantly influenced the enterprise. To avoid the dryly impersonal, the analysis is also framed by an introduction which combines a biographical sketch of Touraj Kiaras with a survey of the twentieth-century evolution of Persian classical music and of the position of the vocal repertoire within it, and by an epilogue which examines further the ideological basis of prevalent attitudes to music, and seeks to explore the validity of the analytical enterprise within this context.


Persian Narrative Poetry in the Classical Era, 800-1500: Romantic and Didactic Genres

Persian Narrative Poetry in the Classical Era, 800-1500: Romantic and Didactic Genres

Author: Mohsen Ashtiany

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-01-12

Total Pages: 657

ISBN-13: 1786726580

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The third volume in this ground-breaking series, Persian Narrative Poetry in the Classical Era, 800-1500: Romantic and Didactic Genres, introduces masterpieces of Persian literature from these seven centuries to an international audience. In the process, it underlines the remarkable tenacity of their malleable tradition: the perennial dialogue and the interconnectedness which binds together a vast and varied literature composed of many threads, romantic and didactic, in many lands, from Anatolia and Iran to India and Central Asia. In its companion volume, Persian Lyric in the Classical Era, 800-1500, the readers of the series will have already met in passing all the mythical and historical figures who appear with far more aplomb on the stage here, with their lives narrated in detail by poets of different caliber from different perspectives. The first two chapters of this volume recount the literary history of the entire period, focusing on didactic and romantic narratives. The central chapters take a closer look at the towering figure of the poet Nezâmi Ganjavi. The final chapter takes the reader to a wider landscape tracing the footsteps of Alexander across the globe, offering insights to the cultural preoccupations refracted in so many versions past and present.


The Archaeology of Elam

The Archaeology of Elam

Author: D. T. Potts

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 553

ISBN-13: 1107094690

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book examines the formation and transformation of Elam's many identities through both archaeological and written evidence. It brings to life one of the most important regions of ancient Western Asia, re-evaluates its significance, and places it in the context of the most recent archaeological and historical scholarship.


Archaeologies of the Middle East

Archaeologies of the Middle East

Author: Susan Pollock

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-02-09

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1405137231

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Archaeologies of the Middle East provides an innovative introduction to the archaeology of this fascinating region and a window on both its past and present. Written by some of the top archaeologists of the Middle East: scholars from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of interests and intellectual approaches Coverage spans 100,000 years: from the Paleolithic to Hellenistic times Explores the connections between modern-day politics and the social context of archaeological practice and various underutilized approaches to archaeological interpretation Designed for student use


Memory and Identity in the Syriac Cave of Treasures

Memory and Identity in the Syriac Cave of Treasures

Author: Sergey Minov

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-12-07

Total Pages: 423

ISBN-13: 900444551X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Memory and Identity in the Syriac Cave of Treasures, Sergey Minov analyses the role played by the pseudepigraphic work known as the Cave of Treasures in the formation of cultural memory and collective identity among Syriac Christians of Iran during Late Antiquity.


New Persian Language and Linguistics

New Persian Language and Linguistics

Author: Shahram Ahadi

Publisher: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9783447045858

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Interest in the Persian language has grown during the last few decades, as a consequence of which numerous studies and analyses of different size have been made. The present bibliography is a selection of essays, articles and monographs on the New Persian Language (including the variants Dari and Tajik and in addition local and regional accents such as Tehrani, Isfahani, and ShiraziPersian) written - up to the year 2001 - in the following languages: Persian, Arabic, English, French, German, Italian. Apart from the subject matter aspects like relevance to Persian, topicality and reliability were decisive, too. The present material has not been listed according to strict library usage, but the author has tried to combine the accuracy and conciseness of the entries with userfriendliness. Certain kinds of type (small capitals, italics) are intended to make it easier for the reader to find their way through the mass of information and moreover the reader is given further details which possibly offer more information than the title itself. For optimal use of the enclosed bibliography five indexes (Chronological Index, Subject Index, Language Index, Word Index, Person and Title Index) have been provided which offer the reader special information.