Baghdad
From Its Beginnings to the 14th Century
Published on 28. July 2022
Book
Hardback
948 pages
978-90-04-51336-5 (ISBN)
Description
Baghdad: From its Beginnings to the 14th Century offers an exhaustive handbook that covers all possible themes connected to the history of this urban complex in Iraq, from its origins rooted in late antique Mesopotamia up to the aftermath of the Mongol invasion in 1258.
Against the common perception of a city founded 762 in a vacuum, which, after experiencing a heyday in a mythical "golden age" under the early ?Abbasids, entered since 900 a long period of decline that ended with a complete collapse by savage people from the East in 1258, the volume emphasizes the continuity of Baghdad's urban life, and shows how it was marked by its destiny as caliphal seat and cultural hub.
Contributors
Mehmetcan Akpinar, Nuha Alshaar, Pavel Basharin, David Bennett, Michal Biran, Richard W. Bulliet, Kirill Dmitriev, Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Beatrice Gruendler, Sebastian Guenther, Olof Heilo, Damien Janos, Christopher Melchert, Michael Morony, Bernard O'Kane, Klaus Oschema, Letizia Osti, Parvaneh Pourshariati, Vanessa van Renterghem, Jens Scheiner, Angela Schottenhammer, Y. Zvi Stampfer, Johannes Thomann, Isabel Toral.
Against the common perception of a city founded 762 in a vacuum, which, after experiencing a heyday in a mythical "golden age" under the early ?Abbasids, entered since 900 a long period of decline that ended with a complete collapse by savage people from the East in 1258, the volume emphasizes the continuity of Baghdad's urban life, and shows how it was marked by its destiny as caliphal seat and cultural hub.
Contributors
Mehmetcan Akpinar, Nuha Alshaar, Pavel Basharin, David Bennett, Michal Biran, Richard W. Bulliet, Kirill Dmitriev, Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Beatrice Gruendler, Sebastian Guenther, Olof Heilo, Damien Janos, Christopher Melchert, Michael Morony, Bernard O'Kane, Klaus Oschema, Letizia Osti, Parvaneh Pourshariati, Vanessa van Renterghem, Jens Scheiner, Angela Schottenhammer, Y. Zvi Stampfer, Johannes Thomann, Isabel Toral.
More details
Series
Language
Other
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 49 mm
Weight
1479 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-51336-5 (9789004513365)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Jens Scheiner, Ph.D. (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen 2009), is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Goettingen. He has published a monograph on the conquest of Damascus (Leiden 2010) and edited a volume on the contexts of learning in Baghdad (Princeton 2014).
Isabel Toral, Ph.D. (Tuebingen 1997), Habilitation (Freie Universitaet Berlin 2008), is Professor of Arabic Studies at that university. She has published extensively on cultural history, literature and history of the Arabs, including Al-?ira (Leiden 2014).
Contributors
Mehmetcan Akpinar, Nuha Alshaar, Pavel Basharin, David Bennett, Michal Biran, Richard W. Bulliet, Kirill Dmitriev, Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Beatrice Gruendler, Sebastian Guenther, Olof Heilo, Damien Janos, Christopher Melchert, Michael Morony, Bernard O'Kane, Klaus Oschema, Letizia Osti, Parvaneh Pourshariati, Vanessa van Renterghem, Jens Scheiner, Angela Schottenhammer, Y. Zvi Stampfer, Johannes Thomann, Isabel Toral.
Isabel Toral, Ph.D. (Tuebingen 1997), Habilitation (Freie Universitaet Berlin 2008), is Professor of Arabic Studies at that university. She has published extensively on cultural history, literature and history of the Arabs, including Al-?ira (Leiden 2014).
Contributors
Mehmetcan Akpinar, Nuha Alshaar, Pavel Basharin, David Bennett, Michal Biran, Richard W. Bulliet, Kirill Dmitriev, Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Beatrice Gruendler, Sebastian Guenther, Olof Heilo, Damien Janos, Christopher Melchert, Michael Morony, Bernard O'Kane, Klaus Oschema, Letizia Osti, Parvaneh Pourshariati, Vanessa van Renterghem, Jens Scheiner, Angela Schottenhammer, Y. Zvi Stampfer, Johannes Thomann, Isabel Toral.
Content
Preface
Acknowledgements
Notes on Transliteration and Style
List of Figures
AbbreviationsVi
Notes on ContributorsVii
1 Baghdad's Topography and Social Composition A Historical Sketch
?Jens Scheiner and Isabel Toral
Part 1: The Foundation of Madinat al-Salam and Its Legends
2 Legends about the Foundation of a Marvelous City
?Isabel Toral
3 Islamic Art and Architecture in Pre-Mongol Baghdad
?Bernard O'Kane
More-to-Know I: The Foundation of al-Man?ur's Palatial City and Its Horoscope
?Johannes Thomann
More-to-Know Ii: Was Madinat al-Salam a "Round City"?
?Jens Scheiner
Part 2: A Historical Overview from Late Antiquity to the Mongol Period
4 Ctesiphon and Its Surroundings, Precursors of Baghdad
?Parvaneh Pourshariati
5 The Early ?Abbasid Caliphs as Commanders and Constructors
?Jens Scheiner
6 Baghdad under Buyid Rule
?Nuha Alshaar
7 Baghdad under the Saljuqs
?Vanessa Van Renterghem
8 Baghdad under the Late ?Abbasid Caliphs
?Hend Gilli-Elewy
9 Baghdad under Mongol Rule
?Michal Biran
10 The Economic Parameters of Baghdad and Its Hinterland
?Richard W. Bulliet
Part 3: Baghdad's Neighbouring Empires
11 The ?Abbasids and the Byzantine Empire
?Olof Heilo
12 ?Abbasid Caliphs and Frankish Kings
?Kirill Dmitriev and Klaus Oschema
More-to-Know IiI: Sino-?Abbasid Relations in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries
?Angela Schottenhammer
Part 4: The ?Abbasid Court and Its Legacy
13 Sketches of Court Culture in Baghdad
?Letizia Osti
14 City of Poets, Poets of the City
?Beatrice Gruendler
15 Prose Writing in Baghdad An Overview
?Isabel Toral
More-to-Know IV: A "Golden Age" in Baghdad?
?Isabel Toral
Part 5: Institutions of Learning and Fields of Knowledge
16 Knowledge and Learning in Baghdad
?Sebastian Guenther
More-to-Know V: Medinan Scholars in Early ?Abbasid Baghdad
?Mehmetcan Akpinar
17 Philosophical and Scientific Learning in Baghdad
?Damien Janos
Part 6: The Religious Communities
18 The Formation of Sunni and Shi?i Traditionalism
?Christopher Melchert
More-to-Know Vi: Rational Theologians
?David Bennett
19 The ?ufi School of Baghdad Persons and Teachings
?Pavel Basharin
20 Christian Communities in Baghdad and Its Hinterland
?Michael Morony
21 Jews in Baghdad during the ?Abbasid Period
?Y. Zvi Stampfer
22 Zoroastrians, Manichaeans and Gnostics in Baghdad and Its Hinterland
?Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst
Epilogue
?Jens Scheiner
Appendix: Original Sources featuring Baghdad
?Jens Scheiner
Index
Acknowledgements
Notes on Transliteration and Style
List of Figures
AbbreviationsVi
Notes on ContributorsVii
1 Baghdad's Topography and Social Composition A Historical Sketch
?Jens Scheiner and Isabel Toral
Part 1: The Foundation of Madinat al-Salam and Its Legends
2 Legends about the Foundation of a Marvelous City
?Isabel Toral
3 Islamic Art and Architecture in Pre-Mongol Baghdad
?Bernard O'Kane
More-to-Know I: The Foundation of al-Man?ur's Palatial City and Its Horoscope
?Johannes Thomann
More-to-Know Ii: Was Madinat al-Salam a "Round City"?
?Jens Scheiner
Part 2: A Historical Overview from Late Antiquity to the Mongol Period
4 Ctesiphon and Its Surroundings, Precursors of Baghdad
?Parvaneh Pourshariati
5 The Early ?Abbasid Caliphs as Commanders and Constructors
?Jens Scheiner
6 Baghdad under Buyid Rule
?Nuha Alshaar
7 Baghdad under the Saljuqs
?Vanessa Van Renterghem
8 Baghdad under the Late ?Abbasid Caliphs
?Hend Gilli-Elewy
9 Baghdad under Mongol Rule
?Michal Biran
10 The Economic Parameters of Baghdad and Its Hinterland
?Richard W. Bulliet
Part 3: Baghdad's Neighbouring Empires
11 The ?Abbasids and the Byzantine Empire
?Olof Heilo
12 ?Abbasid Caliphs and Frankish Kings
?Kirill Dmitriev and Klaus Oschema
More-to-Know IiI: Sino-?Abbasid Relations in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries
?Angela Schottenhammer
Part 4: The ?Abbasid Court and Its Legacy
13 Sketches of Court Culture in Baghdad
?Letizia Osti
14 City of Poets, Poets of the City
?Beatrice Gruendler
15 Prose Writing in Baghdad An Overview
?Isabel Toral
More-to-Know IV: A "Golden Age" in Baghdad?
?Isabel Toral
Part 5: Institutions of Learning and Fields of Knowledge
16 Knowledge and Learning in Baghdad
?Sebastian Guenther
More-to-Know V: Medinan Scholars in Early ?Abbasid Baghdad
?Mehmetcan Akpinar
17 Philosophical and Scientific Learning in Baghdad
?Damien Janos
Part 6: The Religious Communities
18 The Formation of Sunni and Shi?i Traditionalism
?Christopher Melchert
More-to-Know Vi: Rational Theologians
?David Bennett
19 The ?ufi School of Baghdad Persons and Teachings
?Pavel Basharin
20 Christian Communities in Baghdad and Its Hinterland
?Michael Morony
21 Jews in Baghdad during the ?Abbasid Period
?Y. Zvi Stampfer
22 Zoroastrians, Manichaeans and Gnostics in Baghdad and Its Hinterland
?Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst
Epilogue
?Jens Scheiner
Appendix: Original Sources featuring Baghdad
?Jens Scheiner
Index