Middle East

In the 1870s, American painter Frederick Bridgman traveled from his home in Paris to Algiers. Although he traveled to paint, his journeys so impressed him that he produced a written account that appeared in “Harpers Monthly.” That account became the basis of this book. His travelogue describes the people and customs, the layout of the towns, the celebration of the Muslim religion, the black community in an Islamic context, and the legends of the people of historic Algeria.

This written travelogue of Ella Sykes’ historic first journey across central Asia has been considered a classic of women’s studies as well as a historic travel account. Detailing the impressions of Sykes while traveling with her diplomat brother through central Asia in the nineteenth century, this illustrated volume has a wide appeal to those interested in Iran as it used to be.

A fascinating travelogue through southern and central Iran, this early nineteenth-century account is written with wit and insight; the polymathic Copley Amory Jr. proves an able tour guide. The reader is taken from Tehran to Kerman and back, along a trail that highlights ancient sites of historical importance. Along the way, the culture of “tribes and tents” is described, as well as a plucky misadventure involving encounters with camel caravans and excessive automobile troubles. Written in a witty and engaging style, this account of a classic journey contains an education in the history and customs of a vanishing way of life.

The narrative of the Jesuit missions to Akbar, ruler of the Mughal Empire in India, is a noted period piece in travel writing. Although the author never traveled abroad, he compiled a substantial history of Jesuit missionary activity. This book narrates the missions to India in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Mandaean priests, representatives of a religious heritage that can be traced back to Late Antique Mesopotamia, still copy their ancient literature by hand. The Great Stem of Souls is a study of the colophons – postscripts at the end of each text – that are appended to most Mandaean documents. A study of the contents of the colophons provides a framework for reconstructing Mandaean history.

Part travelogue and part memoir, this account of Major Sir Hubert Young’s time spent in the Middle East in diplomatic and military roles provides a rare insider’s look at political developments in that part of the world. Sympathetic with the rich Arabic heritage of Mesopotamia, Arabia, and what is now Jordan and Syria, Young writes a lucid narrative spanning the time from his first involvement up to the Iraqi Mandate.

From the eyes of a novelist, Warner illustrates the drama and romance of a voyage through Egypt. Particularly attracted to the Muslim life and practice in Egypt, and the monuments of the ancient empires, Warner takes the reader through the length of the country into Ethiopia and tropical Africa. A travelogue that captures the 19th century fascination with the East, this volume will delight anyone interested in Egypt.

A historic travelogue with an eye toward the medical conditions encountered along the way, this rare book sheds light on western Asia from a unique vantage-point. Wittman describes his journey through Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, noting along the way the diseases suffered by the residents, and brings the world of ancient western Asia to life through his vivid writing.

This work compiles essays by Dr. Huntington concerning the usefulness of geography and climatology for understanding history and projecting environmental outcomes. It is of value to students of geography, climatology and Mediterranean, the Near Eastern and Central Asian history.

Starting with the religious background of China, Latourette probes why Christianity appealed to the Chinese and then launches into a detailed history of its development. He considers how Christianity began before and coped under the Mongol Dynasty and then the incursion of the Roman Catholic Missions. Briefly considering the Russian Orthodox interest in Chinese missions, he moves on to what is clearly his main concern in the Protestant influx in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Considering the main events of China’s history in relation to the European powers of the day, he considers how Christianity fared into the early nineteenth century.

With the characteristic compelling photographs that accompany his work, E. M. Newman here presents his unique outlook on Egypt and the Holy Land. Written with the competence of a professional travel writer, Newman takes the reader through his arrival in Egypt by ship and on a virtual tour of the noted wonders of that land. His impressions of Egypt, Palestine, the Arabian Desert and Sinai are all dutifully recorded. Finishing up with the accounts of his main New Testament sites, Nazareth, the Jordan River, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, this travelogue contains a wealth of impressions and memories. Illustrated with over 300 photographs, this volume gives a visually descriptive tour of these ancient lands.

The book describes different facets of the Greek-Turkish conflict (1919-23) through the eyes of of the Australian press. Australia’s national identity was forged on the shores of the Gallipoli Peninsula fighting against the Ottoman Empire in 1915. After the war, Australia stayed involved with that area of the world as it sought to chart an 'independent' foreign policy within the framework of the British Empire. This book discusses the role that Australia's press played during that conflict and how it shaped Australian nationalism and identity going forward.

More than a literary survey, this introduction to the history of late and Neo-Syriac (Neo-Aramaic) covers the works of the past several centuries. Macuch begins with the post-Mongolian period to the end of the 18th century. For the 19th century, Macuch considers the situation of the Assyrians in this period, including the American, Anglican, and Russian Orthodox missionary enterprises in Urmia, noting the writers of the foreign missions. For the twentieth century he includes literature from the period of the wars up to the 1970s. Various East-Syriac and West-Syriac authors of the Chaldean and Church of the East, and Syrian Orthodox and Maronite traditions, as well as the Syrian literature of Malabar in southern India are also considered.

This incisive study by historian Lester Brune examines the background and implications of the two conflicts. Considering the late twentieth-century involvement of the United States in Iraq, Brune discusses the policy of containment and the decision to go to war a second time. He traces the situation up to the creation of an Iraqi government and Saddam Hussein’s capture and trial. The continuing implications of the wars are also analyzed.

The “Nestorian Monument” or “Nestorian Stele” is a fascinating attestation of the work of Syriac-speaking missionaries in sixth-century China. Commemorating the diffusion of Christianity in China from 635-781, the inscription was erected in the latter year as a public monument. The inscription in Chinese, supplemented with some Syriac, provides a brief outline of Christian doctrine and provides an account of how Christianity came to China. This book offers an English translation of the monument along with the original language text.

Originally a two-part publication, geographer Wilhelm Tomaschek’s study on the historic topography of Persia is here published in one volume. Beginning with the street layout of the Tabula Peutingerana, the author describes the major routes of the Persian realm as reflected in antiquity. Although reflecting the period of the Qajar Dynasty prior to the developments during the World Wars, this guide still provides historic information concerning the mapping of one of the great empires of the ancient world.

As the title of the volume ably indicates, this historical catalogue is a record of the Oriental codices in the library of the Royal University of Lund. After a brief introduction in Latin he divides the materials into different religious or language groups, beginning with Islamic materials, the largest category. Hebrew, Syriac, and Sabaean codices complete the collection.

This study considers the topography of Asia Minor during a period of intense historical interest, the era spanning the Crusades. Useful for historians of the Middle Ages and especially those interested in the events surrounding the use of Asia Minor as a bridge to the distant lands of the Holy Land, this brief examination will retain its value. Presenting Turkey as it was seen during the Ottoman period, this topographical history will also appeal to historians of the final days of the empire.

Lagarde’s edition of the British Museum manuscript of an abridged version of the Geoponica is here made available again for the use of scholars and interested historians. Originally composed by Vindonius Anatolius of Beirut, a fourth-century Greek author, the Geoponica is an example of early natural science, a collection of agricultural tracts. Published here with Lagarde’s Latin commentary on the material from his Gesammelte Abhandlungen, this obscure and difficult text is now available for the first time with the insightful comments of the linguist who edited the Syriac text.

Taken from the collection of studies published under the collective title Mémoires de l'histoire et de Ia geographie orientales, Mémoire sur la Conquête de la Syrie stands as a monument to the insight of M. J. de Goeje on the Arabic conquest of Syria. This brief account of an important phase of Syria’s history will be sure to please those interested in the general history of the Middle East as well as scholars studying the rise of Islam.

This investigation of Abu-al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi’s al-Wafa bi Fada'il al-Mustafa, according to the Leiden manuscript by one of Germany’s foremost Semiticists, is essential reading for anyone interested in Arabic history and literature. Ibn al-Jawzi was a twelfth-century jurist and perhaps the most prolific writer in the history of Arabic literature. Al-Wafa bi Fada'il al-Mustafa (Detailed Accounts of the Chosen Prophet), is a large work on the biography of the prophet Muhammad. In this manuscript study, Brockelmann analyzes several aspects of this composition, including citations of this work by other notable Islamic writers.

In this collection of poetry of Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt, as well as poems published in his name, Schulthess does a great service in bringing together these legendary Arabic poems. Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt was a contemporary of Muhammad who did not accept Islam. Printed here in the original Arabic, the poems are also translated in German and annotated. Schulthess also provides a knowledgeable introduction that includes a listing of the manuscript sources utilized in the reconstruction of the texts.

This brief introduction to the state of Christianity in Iraq during the ascendancy of Islam begins with a discussion of the friction between Christians and Magians. The political role of the church among the Sassanians, both internally and externally, is addressed. With the Islamic conquest various traditions circulated regarding the tolerance of Christianity within Muslim jurisdiction. Morony skillfully navigates these traditions, providing a plausible historical view. The formation of the Assyrian Church of the East’s doctrine and identity as well as their schools, monasteries, laws, and their sense of community and separateness are considered. The contrast with Monophysites with their “Nestorian” competitors rounds out the discussion.

Presented in the original Persian, this volume represents the solely published first volume of the Haft Ásmán “seven heavens,” or a compendium of poetry in the seven epic meters of Persian poetry. This history of the masnawí, or Middle Persian poetic form, written in rhymed couplets, is here presented by one of the recognized teachers of Persian in India. This, his final work, was intended to be an introduction to the works of Nizami. As such it contains invaluable nuggets about the Persian poets and their poetry.

In 1849, within days of her marriage to missionary printer Edward Breath, Sarah Ann Breath joined her husband to begin a four month journey to Oroomiah (modern Urumia), Persia. Her narrative, written in a highly descriptive flowing prose, describes the journey by sea, steamer and caravan to a Nestorian community. Breath’s journal pays careful attention to the Nestorian, Assyrian, and Kurdish communities she encountered. For Breath, the journey would transform her sensibilities, challenge her awareness of cultural differences and plunge her into a world whose dangers and opportunities she could never have imagined.