History

In this personal travelogue, William Seabrook chronicles his adventures in the Middle East in the early part of the twentieth century. Specifically he focuses on his time among four Arabic groups: the Bedouins, Druses, Dervishes, and Yezidees.

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.

Moss’s catalogue represents the first effort at providing a thorough, printed database of the various materials that make up the British Museum’s Syriac corpus. The catalogue includes not only Syriac manuscripts, but also a listing of books and articles concerning them.

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.

This important summary of Garstang’s travels and studies in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) is fully illustrated with nearly 100 photographs as well as maps and plans. This account details the marvels revealed by archaeology in ancient western Asia. The study begins with documentation of the geography of the region, giving the reader a sense of the world as seen by the Hittites of antiquity. Garstang outlines the history of the Hittite period before detailing the monumental architecture of this people. Garstang’s treatment concludes with a substantial history of the Hittites, people referred to in the Bible and in the historical records of other ancient Near Eastern civilizations.

Exploring the important but complex historical period following the rule of Cleisthenes in Athens, Bates provides a handy reference for the tribes that emerged from this early experiment in democracy. The tribes of Antigonis, Demetrias, Ptolemais, Attalis, and Hadrianis are all considered, along with the families (demes) that made up each tribe.

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.

The History of the Za’faran Monastery is for the first time offered in English translation to the readers. It was written in 1917 by Patriarch Ignatius Aphram Barsoum (d. 1957) when he was still a monk at the monastery. The book details the history of the monastery from its inception until modern times. It deals with with everything, from construction to its significance as a center of Syriac learning and learned men. Without this small book, the first of its kind, a great and significant page of the history of the Syrian Church of Antioch would have been lamentably lost.

The site of Tell Halaf was located by Baron von Oppenheim while on a mission to survey the land for the Baghdad Railway. The Baron returned some years later to excavate the mound, and this monograph is his considered statement of the site’s importance. Setting the stage with a narrative of the discovery of the tell, von Oppenheim proceeds to describe the structures, monumental statuary and smaller objects recovered from the dig. Lavishly illustrated with over 85 illustrations and maps, this volume contains a storehouse of knowledge on ancient Syria, at that time part of the cultural continuum of Mesopotamia.

Rawlinson’s study of ancient Egypt surveys the land and people of Egypt before taking the development of the nation through historic chapters. Told in a level of detail to rival Breasted’s classic work on Egypt, this earlier study makes fascinating reading.

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.

One of the perennial touchstones in the field of archaeology in the ancient Near East, Albright’s work has been endlessly utilized. With a freshness apposite to its position among the pioneering works of a new discipline, this contribution laid the groundwork for countless future studies. Albright deftly describes how ancient Palestine was discovered, his famous excavation of Tell Beit Mirsim, and the relevance of archaeology for understanding the Bible. In setting the stage for what follows in the archaeological drama in Israel and throughout the Middle East, this work justly deserves a place in the Gorgias Classic Archaeological Reprints.

Particularly valuable to students of archaeology in the ancient Near East are the old accounts of cities uncovered by archaeologists and historians of the nineteenth century. Meyer offers as comprehensive a history of Gaza as the material of his time would allow. This ambitious account covers what was known of Gaza in Palestine from the earliest records up through the nineteenth century. Meyer divides his treatment into two parts: the first looks at the population and historical periods of the city; the second is concerned with concepts and physical remains: cults; deities; the Gaza calendar; inscriptions; coins; and other artifacts.

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.

Makings of the Sea is an inquiry into the makings of the Mediterranean imagination in the 20th century, focusing on specific cases in the visual and performing arts, music and literature. It also questions a number of populist perceptions of the Mediterranean and its cultures. Following a thematic structure that falls broadly under the headings of journey, doubt and nostalgia, this is an essay on Mediterranean aesthetics.

The Beth Alpha synagogue mosaic is one of the most striking examples of ancient Jewish art ever uncovered. Excavated in 1929 by E. L. Sukenik on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, this mosaic provoked an immediate sensation among scholars and lay people throughout Jewish Palestine, Europe and America. Located in Israel’s Jezreel Valley, this remarkable mosaic preserves images of the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22), of a zodiac wheel flanked by personifications of the seasons that was labeled in Hebrew, and of a Torah shrine flanked by menorahs and lions.

Alert to the implications of Egyptian politics to the world of the Middle Ages, Muir offers a detailed look at the rule of the slave-soldier caste known as the Mamelukes who ruled Egypt from 1260 to 1517. Each ruler of the Bahrite and Circassian dynasties is given a full chapter, and the role of the Mamelukes under the Ottoman Empire is reviewed.

The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (GEDSH) is the first major encyclopedia-type reference work devoted exclusively to Syriac Christianity, both as a field of scholarly inquiry and as the inheritance of Syriac Christians today. In more than 600 entries it covers the Syriac heritage from its beginnings in the first centuries of the Common Era up to the present day. Special attention is given to authors, literary works, scholars, and locations that are associated with the Classical Syriac tradition. Within this tradition, the diversity of Syriac Christianity is highlighted as well as Syriac Christianity’s broader literary and historical contexts, with major entries devoted to Greek and Arabic authors and more general themes, such as Syriac Christianity’s contacts with Judaism and Islam, and with Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Georgian Christianities.

Liddon’s lectures on the divinity of Christ stand as one of the hallmarks of nineteenth century English churchmanship. Following the trajectory of the Bible itself, Liddon considers the testimony of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the Ecumenical Councils, in his lectures on the nature of Christ’s divinity.

The first English biography of Saint Anselm, an eleventh century doctor of the church, this work has set the standard for works on the saint. Anselm became the Archbishop of Canterbury and led the English Catholic church through difficult political times.

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 study explores the Emperor Julian's actions in regards to the Jews, especially his advances toward rebuilding the Jewish Temple. It offers the reader an insight into an aspect of Julian’s reign not often examined by Christian historians.

The continuation of the historic American Journal of Ancient History this volume contains three articles: “Urartu and the Medikos logos of Herodotus” by Laura D. Steele, “‘The athletes of war’: An evaluation of the agonistic elements in Greek warfare” by John Dayton, and “Agesilaus’ Egyptian enterprise” by Stephen Ruzicka. This is volume 2, number 2 of the New Series (2003 [2007]).