Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies

As the title of the volume ably indicates, this historical catalogue is a record of the Arabic, Persian and Turkish codices in the library of the Royal University of Uppsala. After a substantial introduction in Latin he divides the materials into the different types of documents they represent. A wide variety of topics are covered. A set of indices help to locate specific topics addressed in this wide variety of materials. An unsurpassed catalogue of the holdings in Uppsala, this reference is now once again accessible to scholars and general readers alike.

Eager to preserve the Spanish and Arabic heritage, Miguel Casiri set out to catalogue the 1800 Arabic manuscripts in the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real, known generally by the title El Escorial. The resulting work was a monument of scholarship in the eighteenth century. Containing a number of quotes from Arabic sources on history, geographical and historical manuscripts, full text of both volumes, indicies, and subject divisions, this edition, part of Gorgias Historical Catalogues, serves as a historic and linguistic study, as well as a reference work.

A representative of the Arabic genre known as “futuh reports,” The Conquest of Syria remains an important historical source although it is now recognized not to be the work of Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Omar Ibn Waqid al-Aslami (called al-Waqidi). This Arabic document, part history, part romantic reconstruction of the past, is one of the main sources narrating the Muslim conquest of Syria. A window into the world of early Muslim self-perception, these documents are a valuable historical source in the sense of being period pieces. Here the Arabic text is presented along with the partial notes and comments of W. Nassau Lees, a noted writer on Eastern culture.

Among the earliest important Shiite works is that of Tusy’s List of Shiites Books. This reprint of the first publication of the work bears all the marks of a primary source, and it was a work heralded by Islamic scholars of late antiquity. Also included in this edition is the new edition of a supplement to Tusy’s bibliography prepared by Alam al-Hoda. The notes from this text are replicated at the bottom of the page. A useful resource for scholars of ancient bibliography, this uncommon source of Arabic scholarship is now again available, in its original language, for the Arabic reader interested in the history of bibliography.

Written in the original Persian, this account of the reign of the Mughal emperor Aurangzib-Alamgir (reigned 1658-1707) is a standard resource for the this final great ruler of the empire. The chronicles of the emperors of this period in India are in general a blend of biography and history, but in the case of Aurangzib, the emperor is portrayed in terms of unstinting praise. Comprising both official sources, such as court circulars and letters, and personal recollections, the work was initiated by Mirza Muhammad Kazim, put aside until after the Emperor’s death, and completed in 1710 by Saqi Must`ad Khan.

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.

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 edition of the poems of Mutalammis, a 6th-century poet from the tribe of Bakr, Vollers draws on his extensive experience in Cairo to present an informative edition of the poems in both Arabic and German translation. After a substantial introduction to the material at hand, the Arabic texts, annotated, are presented. This is followed by the fragments that have survived and a translation of texts I to XVII. With this wealth of material, the interested reader of early Arabic poetry will find this edition of poems by Mutalammis a welcome edition to their library of Arabic literature.

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.

As the oldest organized religion in Sassanian Iraq, Judaism serves as a kind of model for other religious organizations in the region. After considering the growth of Judaism in Iraq during the Sassanian period, Morony notes the connections between the Jewish and Aramaean populations as well as the intermixed ethnic communities in which Jews played a part. Social, administrative, and religious issues are all considered. Messianic expectations as they continued to develop in the Jewish community in diaspora round out this discussion of Judaism as a fully developed religion in Iraq under Islamic rule.

This extract from Michael G. Morony’s Iraq After The Muslim Conquest presents a brief yet through presentation of the complex language and political history of the Aramaeans of that region. The interaction of the Aramaeans and the Arabs during the period of the Islamic conquest is sketched out, citing the important families and individuals that stand out in this situation. The somewhat uneasy mutual relationship between the Arabs and Aramaeans is briefly explored.

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.

This book investigates the socio-cultural and maritime history of 18th century – early 19th-century Southern Iran and the Persian Gulf in terms of the merchants, mariners and captains who lived and died in the turbulent waters of the western Indian Ocean. This “uncertain frontier” between a revitalized Ottoman Empire to the west and an emergant British India to the east became a testing grounds for the communities of the Gulf. Generally assumed to be a period of anarchy, the 18th-century maritime peoples resolved differences by marriage, forged alliances, and adapted their mercantile skills to the emerging age of global power.

In the 17th century Britons left their country in vast numbers - explorers, diplomats, ecclesiastics, merchants, or simply “tourists.” Only the most intrepid ventured into the faraway lands of the Ottoman Empire. Their travel narratives, best-sellers in their day, provide an entertaining but also valuable testimony on the everyday life of Orthodox Christians and their coexistence with the Turks. Greek Christians, though living under the Ottoman yoke, enjoyed greater religious freedom than many of their brothers in Christian Europe. The travelers’ intellectual curiosity about Greece opened a window on the Orthodox Church, and paved the way for future dialogue.

The United States’ standing in the Middle East eroded as a result of its policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1947 to 1967, with Eisenhower’s “immediate deterrence” proving the lone exception. This period was especially critical as it introduced dynamics into the Middle Eastern balance of power that have proved particularly difficult to address. While the responsibility for seeking an end to conflict ultimately lies with the belligerents, the United States bears a heavy historical responsibility for the course of events and must now constitute the driving force behind a peaceful resolution of the dispute.

Twenty-four contributions on matters dealing with Byzantine and Oriental lands, people, and cultures through different perspectives, including history, maritime trade, documents, travelers, and art. These essays trace the history of the relations between the Greeks and the peoples of the Middle East from Late Antiquity up to the seventeenth century.

This book is a collection of essays on Ottoman history, focusing on how sultans of the Ottoman Empire were viewed by the public.

This volume of collected essays focuses on Middle Turkic and Ottoman literature.

This monograph of the religious life of the late Ottoman Empire covers several significant features of the Turkish religious landscape. Indispensable for historians of Islamic breakaway religions, Alkan’s monograph fills a gap in many accounts of emergent religions.

Djuneyd: Un personnage remuant de l'époque des Sultans Mehmed I et Mourad II Deux oracles concernant le règne de Michel VIII : Prédictions et prophéties vers la fin de l'Empire byzantin L'étendard de Mourad, conte historique Bayazid et Roxana, fiction historique Romain IV Diogène à Manzikert.

The aim of this book is to demonstrate the movement of Greek thought into Arabic via the Syriac language. Al-Hamad devotes the four sections of this book to profiling four different authors who either wrote in Syriac or whose works were transmitted into Arabic via Syriac translations: Porphyry, John Philoponos (‘the Grammarian’), Jacob of Edessa and Dionysios of Tellmahre.

This book begins with a discussion of the contribution of the areas of al-Raqqa (Kallinikos) and Diyar Mudar for translations into the Arabic language; it also covers the importance of Christian monasteries in the region of the Jazira for the history of translations into Greek.

The question of the relationship between Arab identity and Islam is a pressing one for all Christian minorities in the Middle East. In this book, Syrian and Arab intellectual George Jabbur publishes a series of lectures concerned with examining the matter of Arabness, Arabhood, Islam, and political participation and belonging in the constitutions of the countries of the Arab world.