History

Commercial sources on journeying to the east after Marco Polo; the gradual closing of trade between Italy and China or India under the hostile or defensive rulers of the lands in between.

This work presents a detailed first-hand account of shamanic songs, rituals, and healing and initiatory ceremonies from all over Siberia, arranged by tribe.

This text narrates the travels of Rabbi Petachia, a medieval rabbi from Regensburg, Germany, who set out to visit Baghdad, Susa, and Palestine.

ICONEA is the only publication exclusively dedicated to the archaeomusicology of Near and Middle Eastern cultures from its Sumerian origins to the dawn of Christianity. ICONEA also publishes papers of comparative archaeomusicology with contemporaneous neighbouring cultures.

A fascinating study of the underlying reasons for the disagreement over the clause “and the Son” in the Western version of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed, which contributed to the schism between Eastern and Western Christians. Coetzee argues that there has been a great deal of misunderstanding of the positions of each tradition by the other, partly due to the fact that East and West imbue certain key words, such as ‘person’ and ‘unity’, with different meanings which Coetzee believes come from different understandings of Hellenic philosophy. Against this backdrop, Coetzee sets about clearing up some of the misunderstandings.

This book is a catalogue of the idiophones acquired by the Department of the Near East of the British Museum since the mid-nineteenth century. It includes clay rattles principally from Ur, dating from the third millennium BC; shell clappers; copper and bronze clappers and cymbals from Nimrud and from other prestigious locations and a remarkable collection of bronze bells mainly from Nimrud, unearthed by Layard around 1850. The book gives an accurate description of the objects along with former references and a comprehensive bibliography.

This work contains a full description of the Nestorian Stone in English.

Genghis Khan's law code, the Yasa, survives in fragments. This article lists the known provisions, from Berhebraeus, Juwaini, and Arab sources; Vernadsky considers it a supplement to Mongol custom for the multinational Empire.

Recent archaeological discoveries within the Upper Tigris region in Southeastern Turkey offer a unique opportunity to understand the dynamics of the Assyrian Empire borderlands. Within a few years most of the region will be irreversibly submerged, due to the construction of the Ilisu dam, the biggest hydroelectric power plant project in Turkey. It is of paramount importance to understand and record as much data as possible about the local communities and the foreign connections that flowered in this area.

This work contains illustrations of the thirteenth century Byzantine New Testament at the Rockefeller-McCormack collection in Chicago with a full description of its text, provenance, and the artistic and theological significance of the miniatures.

The mythology, history, and ritual of the Mandaeans, with an account of their clergy, ritual, language, and numbers, written by a Syriac Christian who was French consul in Mosul for twenty years.

The book is a collection of eleven articles written by the author about Lord Byron’s personal and literary involvement in Oriental life and creativity. Byron’s genuine Oriental scholarship provides the platform upon which the articles are based. The authentic images of the East and the West in Byron’s Oriental tales and some of his major works, Don Juan and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, are analyzed to expose the influences of both worlds on his personal life and career.

AOJA is an multilingual European project that collect studies in the fields of physical and cultural anthropology, and of the disciplines related to. It offers original researches by scholars of merit and young researchers, with particular attention to proposals by Asian and developing countries authors.

Kubaba is a peer-reviewed journal which specializes in the geographical region of Southwest Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Aegean before the Classical Era. It publishes articles, notes, news and reviews.

George Washburn’s memoir describes characters and events during his presidency of Robert College (1877–1903), the first American missionary college in the Ottoman Empire and the Near East, and the first American college founded outside the United States, as well as the rivalry between the declining Ottoman Empire and the rapidly growing United States.

What is truly timeless? This book explores two ancient Greek terms for eternity, aiônios and aïdios. It traces these terms from their earliest occurrence in Pre-Socratic philosophy and Plato and through their interaction with Jewish thought and down into the patristic fathers, where they play a crucial role in debates over eternal punishment vs. universal salvation.

The Psalm Headings remain one of the most difficult and puzzling pieces of the Hebrew Bible. The present study looks at how these titles were treated in the East Syriac traditions. This volume gives a history of research and presents a new critical edition based on previously unpublished manuscripts. The Psalm headings in the East Syriac tradition reflect the exegesis of the Antiochene school, especially Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia. The headings contain a summary of Theodore's exegesis which had an important influence on the work of Syriac interpreters such as Ishodad of Merv and Bar Hebraeus.

The Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture (JLARC) is a peer-reviewed open access online journal edited by members of the Cardiff Centre for Late Antique Religion and Culture (CLARC) and published by Cardiff University (http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/clarc).

A detailed survey of the Ottoman Empire carried out by the French geographer Vital Cuinet in the late 19th century. This volume focuses on the vilayets of Broussa (Bursa) and Castamouni (Kastamonu).

The journal "Ural-Altaic studies" is concerned with linguistic matters, connected with the Uralic and Altaic languages. It is bilingual; all papers are published in both Russian and English.

This anthology on Eve brings together an international group of scholars to discuss how this character has been interpreted by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In a time when the history of women is being reassessed, it is natural that women look to the paradigmatic female figure. This treatment of Eve covers her wide range of roles as mother of our race, victim, stooge, wife, companion, independent thinker, and “helper”. A venerated figure by many modern feminists and a denigrated figure by those who blame her for original sin, no reader will leave these pages indifferent to the first woman.

The journal "Ural-Altaic studies" is concerned with linguistic matters, connected with the Uralic and Altaic languages. It is bilingual; all papers are published in both Russian and English.

The Ecclesiastical History of Bar Hebraeus is an important source for the history of the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Church of the East. It deserves to be widely read, but has never before been fully translated into English. David Wilmshurst, a noted historian of the Church of the East, has now provided a graceful and accurate English translation of the Ecclesiastical History, with the aim of winning this important text the readership it deserves. Wilmshurst's elegant translation is complemented by a well-informed and helpful introduction, several pages of maps and a comprehensive index of places and persons.

Syriac tradition remembers sixth century Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the harsh persecutor of the faithful, while his wife Theodora is revered as the “believing queen”, champion and protectress of the dissenting non-Chalcedonian church.

The long career of Jacob of Serugh provides insights into Scripture and tradition expected by homilies as well as information about his audience. In this publication, Harvey discusses Jacob of Serugh’s concern for congregations to balance lifestyle and devotional obligations.