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When debating the need for prophets, Muslim theologians frequently cited an objection from a group called the Barāhima – either a prophet conveys what is in accordance with reason, so they would be superfluous, or a prophet conveys what is contrary to reason, so they would be rejected. The Barāhima did not recognise prophecy or revelation, because they claimed that reason alone could guide them on the right path. But who were these Barāhima exactly? Were they Brahmans, as their title would suggest? And how did they become associated with this highly incisive objection to prophecy? This book traces the genealogy of the Barāhima and explores their profound impact on the evolution of Isla...
Has any ancient figure captivated the imagination of people over the centuries so much as Alexander the Great? In less than a decade he created an empire stretching across much of the Near East as far as India, which led to Greek culture becoming dominant in much of this region for a millennium. Here, an international team of experts clearly explains the life and career of one of the most significant figures in world history. They introduce key themes of his campaign as well as describing aspects of his court and government and exploring the very different natures of his engagements with the various peoples he encountered and their responses to him. The reader is also introduced to the key sources, including the more important fragmentary historians, especially Ptolemy, Aristobulus and Clitarchus, with their different perspectives. The book closes by considering how Alexander's image was manipulated in antiquity itself.
A fascinating study of Persia’s interactions and exchanges of influence with ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. The founding of the first Persian Empire by the Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great in the sixth century BCE established one of the greatest world powers of antiquity. Extending from the borders of Greece to northern India, Persia was seen by the Greeks as a vastly wealthy and powerful rival and often as an existential threat. When the Macedonian king Alexander the Great finally conquered the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BCE, Greek culture spread throughout the Near East, but local dynasties—first the Parthian (247 BCE–224 CE) and then the Sasanian (224–651 CE)—reestablished th...
The role of kings, the source of their authority and the nature of the practical restraints on their power have exercised political and religious philosophers, historians, competing candidates for rule and subject populations from the time of the earliest documented human societies. How the kingly image is created and presented and how the ruler performs his or her function as the source of justice are among the topics addressed in this volume, which also covers the role of queens in maintaining dynastic succession yet being the target of tales of adultery. This volume is of particular interest in bringing together studies of kingly power from Cyrus the Great and Alexander in the ancient world to Shah Abbas in the seventeenth century, and covering the European Middle Ages as well as Iran and the Muslim world.
Although empires have played a decisive role in political thinking and the orientation of political goals at all times, the focus of research has so far mostly been on spatial and ideological aspects. This volume, on the other hand, offers a multi-disciplinary collection of studies that deal with the instrumentalization and ongoing impacts of perspectives on empire and their place in time. Coming from archaeology, history, art history, literary studies, and social sciences, the individual case studies discuss perceptions of imperial histories and imagined futures of empires, both in imperial and in post-imperial contexts. The transcending historical significance of the imperial ideas and ideals shows the deep and long-lasting effects of empire in landscapes, mindscapes, and social structures. The diachronic cut through all epochs from antiquity to modern times is complemented by a broad global view to deepen the temporal understanding of imperial imaginaries as well as their political implications.
Reveals how the empire of Attalid Pergamon dominated the Hellenistic world by controlling culture and identity through its fiscal system.
Inter-religious Practices and Saint Veneration in the Muslim World studies the immortal saint Khidr/Khizr, a mysterious prophet and popular multi-religious figure and Sufi master venerated across the Muslim world. Focusing on the religious figure of Khidr/Khizr and the practice of religion from Middle East to South Asia, the chapters offer a multi-disciplinary analysis. The book addresses the plurality in the interpretation of Khizr and underlines the unique character of the figure, whose main characteristics are kept by Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs. Chapters examine vernacular Islamic piety and intercommunal religious practices and highlight the multiples ways through which Khidr/K...
Storytelling in late antique Christianity -- "How is Muhammad a better storyteller than I?" -- Narrating the Quran with Christian saints -- Christian saints in Islamic literature -- From Paul and John to Fīmyūn and Ṣāliḥ -- Stories between Christianity and Islam.
The first full reconstruction of and investigation into the vibrant and fascinating legend of King Seleucus, successor to Alexander the Great.