This is a very explicit erotic story about the complete submission of Anahita, an Angel of the Light who turns out to be a very, submissive Angel of Fertility. As Anahita journeys through the kingdom of Abraxas, she is mastered and possessed by the fisherman Imamiah, his two hell-hounds - Sirius and Cavall, and Imamiah's neighbor Gwyllion. Warning: This very explicit sex story is meant for those over the age of consent only.
This collection of twenty-eight essays presents an up-to-date survey of pre-Islamic Iran, from the earliest dynasty of Illam to the end of Sasanian empire, encompassing a rich diversity of peoples and cultures. Historically, Iran served as a bridge between the earlier Near Eastern cultures and the later classical world of the Mediterranean, and had a profound influence on political, military, economic, and cultural aspects of the ancient world. Written by international scholars and drawing mainly on the field of practical archaeology, which traditionally has shared little in the way of theories and methods, the book provides crucial pieces to the puzzle of the national identity of Iranian cultures from a historical perspective. Revealing the wealth and splendor of ancient Iranian society – its rich archaeological data and sophisticated artistic craftsmanship – most of which has never before been presented outside of Iran, this beautifully illustrated book presents a range of studies addressing specific aspects of Iranian archaeology to show why the artistic masterpieces of ancient Iranians rank among the finest ever produced. Together, the authors analyze how archaeology can inform us about our cultural past, and what remains to still be discovered in this important region.
Annotation This collection challenges the tendency among scholars of ancient Greece to see magical and religious ritual as mutually exclusive and to ignore "magical" practices in Greek religion. The contributors survey specific bodies of archaeological, epigraphical, and papyrological evidence formagical practices in the Greek world, and, in each case, determine whether the traditional dichotomy between magic and religion helps in any way to conceptualize the objective features of the evidence examined. Contributors include Christopher A. Faraone, J.H.M. Strubbe, H.S. Versnel, Roy Kotansky, John Scarborough, Samuel Eitrem, Fritz Graf, John J. Winkler, Hans Dieter Betz, and C.R. Phillips.
Greek religion is filled with strange sexual artifacts - stories of mortal women's couplings with gods; rituals like the basilinna's "marriage" to Dionysus; beliefs in the impregnating power of snakes and deities; the unusual birth stories of Pythagoras, Plato, and Alexander; and more. In this provocative study, Marguerite Rigoglioso suggests such details are remnants of an early Greek cult of divine birth, not unlike that of Egypt. Scouring myth, legend, and history from a female-oriented perspective, she argues that many in the highest echelons of Greek civilization believed non-ordinary conception was the only means possible of bringing forth individuals who could serve as leaders, and that special cadres of virgin priestesses were dedicated to this practice. Her book adds a unique perspective to our understanding of antiquity, and has significant implications for the study of Christianity and other religions in which divine birth claims are central. The book's stunning insights provide fascinating reading for those interested in female-inclusive approaches to ancient religion.
In this thorough revision, updating, and expansion of his great 2007 book, Empathy in Patient Care, Professor Hojat offers all of us in healthcare education an uplifting magnum opus that is sure to greatly enhance how we conceptualize, measure, and teach the central professional virtue of empathy. Hojat’s new Empathy in Health Professions Education and Patient Care provides students and professionals across healthcare with the most scientifically rigorous, conceptually vivid, and comprehensive statement ever produced proving once and for all what we all know intuitively – empathy is healing both for those who receive it and for those who give it. This book is filled with great science, great philosophizing, and great ‘how to’ approaches to education. Every student and practitioner in healthcare today should read this and keep it by the bedside in a permanent place of honor. Stephen G Post, Ph.D., Professor of Preventive Medicine, and Founding Director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University Dr. Hojat has provided, in this new edition, a definitive resource for the evolving area of empathy research and education. For those engaged in medical student or resident education and especially for those dedicated to efforts to improve the patient experience, this book is a treasure trove of primary work in the field of empathy. Leonard H. Calabrese, D.O., Professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University The latest edition of Empathy in Health Professions Education and Patient Care grounds the clinical art of empathic caring in the newly recognized contributions of brain imagery and social cognitive neuroscience. Furthermore, it updates the accumulating empirical evidence for the clinical effects of empathy that has been facilitated by the widespread use of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, a generative contribution to clinical research by this book’s author. In addition, the book is so coherently structured that each chapter contributes to an overall understanding of empathy, while also covering its subject so well that it could stand alone. This makes Empathy in Health Professions Education and Patient Care an excellent choice for clinicians, students, educators and researchers. Herbert Adler, M.D., Ph.D. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior,Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University It is my firm belief that empathy as defined and assessed by Dr. Hojat in his seminal book has far reaching implications for other areas of human interaction including business, management, government, economics, and international relations. Amir H. Mehryar, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Population Studies, Institute for Research and Training in Management and Planning, Tehran, Iran
The acclaimed author of Rubicon and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic (and incredibly timely) account of the rise of Islam. No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion—except that they achieved their conquests not over the course of centuries as the Romans did but in a matter of decades. Just like the Greeks during the Persian wars, they overcame seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day—not by standing on the defensive, however, but by hurling themselves against all who lay in their path.
This volume of al-Tabari’s History provides the most complete and detailed historical source for the Persian empire of the Saμsaμnids, whose four centuries of rule were one of the most glorious periods in Persia’s long history.
Two leading academic scholars offer the first comprehensive source reader on the Eastern Orthodox church for the English-speaking world. Designed specifically for students and accessible to readers with little or no previous knowledge of theology or religious history, this essential, one-of-a-kind work frames, explores, and interprets Eastern Orthodoxy through the use of primary sources and documents. Lively introductions and short narratives that touch on anthropology, art, law, literature, music, politics, women’s studies, and a host of other areas are woven together to provide a coherent and fascinating history of the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition.
In this comprehensive and up to date history, from prehistoric proto-Indo-Iranian times to the post-Soviet period, Richard Foltz traces the complex linguistic, cultural and political history of the Tajiks, a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group from the modern-day Central Asian states of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. In eight chapters, the author explores the revitalisation of Persian culture under the Samanid Empire in the Tajik heartlands of historical Khorasan and Transoxiana; analyses the evolution of the politics of Tajik identity; and traces the history of the ethnic Tajik diaspora today.
