Through a study of metaphor in medieval Arabic literature, Stanford comparative literature professor Alexander Key finds that the Arab world had a head start on the West when it comes to understanding how language works.
On the Significance of Secrecy in the Medieval Arabic Romances
September 13, 2014 By
In this essay, I analyze the keeping and divulging of secrets as they relate to aspects of love and sexuality portrayed mainly in a selection of medieval Arabic romances known as the ‘Udhri love stories.
Two Rabbinic Views of Christianity in the Middle Ages
June 15, 2014 By
In the sessions of our section over the past decade, I introduced a significant distinction between two rabbinic attitudes in the Mediterranean countries during the Middle Ages of 12th and 13th centuries as to their view of Christianity.
BOOK REVIEW: “Defending the City of God” : A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem, by Sharan Newman
May 9, 2014 By
This is my review of Sharan Newman’s latest book, Defending the City of God: A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem.
Greek in Marriage, Latin in Giving: The Greek Community of Fourteenth-century Palermo and the Deceptive Will of Bonannus de Geronimo
April 12, 2014 By
This article discusses the pitfalls that can occur in the study of ethnicity in the me- dieval period in the context of the potential existence of two separate Greek minori- ties—one indigenous and one immigrant—in fourteenth-century Latin-dominated Palermo, Italy.
Medieval Cookbooks: Something to Inspire the Medieval Cook in all of us!
January 5, 2014 By
Baby it’s cold outside. Brrrrr! It’s January, snow is blowing, frost is nipping at your toes – it’s a great time to cook a hearty, hot meal. Want to make it even better? Try a medieval menu! Here are a few books to inspire the medieval cook in all of us.
A Study on the Effects of Ghazan Khan’s Reformative Measures for the Settlement of the Nomadic Mongols (1295-1304)
July 23, 2013 By
The Ilkhanid’s sovereignty in Iran was part of the great empire under the command of Genghis Khan and his successors. It extended broadly from Korea to Eastern Europe and China to Iran and Syria. Such conquest originated from Mongolia (Middle Asia), which was the original land of these homeless nomadic people. They lived by shepherding, hunting and sometimes looting nearby tribes or civilized centers.
The Calamitous Fourteenth Century in England: All Doom and Gloom?
May 28, 2013 By
This was a fantastic paper given at the Crown and Country in Late medieval England session at KZOO. There were only two papers but both were interesting and enjoyable. This paper delved into the history of science in late medieval England and examined why the fourteenth century, a time that is usually synonymous with doom and gloom, plague and uprising, wasn’t all that bad upon closer observation.
Notes on a private library in fourth/tenth-century Baghdad
March 3, 2013 By
Studies on medieval Arabic bibliophilia have mainly focussed on public and semi-public institutions, for some of which we have detailed information. Less is known about private libraries and their physical arrangement. This paper looks at the library of Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī (d. 335/947), which is described by the sources in unique terms, contextualising it with al-Ṣūlī’s own words on collecting and organizing books.
Freedom of expression and censorship in medieval Arabic literature
February 15, 2013 By
This article explores the restraints placed upon literary production in medieval Arabic literature (particularly poetry) and the ways in which such control was effected
Neither ill nor healthy: The intermediate state between health and disease in medieval medicine
December 16, 2012 By
Paradoxically, however, the notion of an intermediate state between health and disease also has a long history, harking back, at least, to the times of Galen. The question of the existence of such a state and the utility and necessity for physicians to acknowledge it, was particularly hotly debated in the Middle Ages…
Jacopo da Firenze and the beginning of Italian vernacular algebra
December 15, 2012 By
Whatever the reason, nobody seems to have taken an interest in the treatise before Warren Van Egmond inspected it in the mid-seventies during the preparation of his global survey of Italian Renaissance manuscripts concerned with practical mathematics.
Conversion and Empire: Byzantine Missionaries, Foreign Rulers, and Christian Narratives (ca. 300-900)
December 3, 2012 By
For a broader modern audience today, if taken somewhat journalistically, Pusicius’ story is an example that cuts along cultural and religious lines that presumably originate in ancient, political divisions and confirm a “clash of civilizations” thesis.
The Indigenous Christians of the Arabic Middle East in an Age of Crusaders, Mongols, and Mamlūks (1244-1366)
December 2, 2012 By
The chronological period of study is highlighted by the usurpation of the Ayyūbid-ruled Sultanate by the Baḥrī Mamlūks, while the two most important political-military events in the region were the collapse of the Crusader States and the invasion of the Mongols. This thesis will examine how events impacted on the nine Christian Confessions, treating each separately.
The Evolution of the Saladin Legend in the West
November 18, 2012 By
William of Tyreʼs account of the history of the Crusades stops suddenly in 1184. As he lays down his pen he is in despair at the inevitable outcome which he foresees for the struggle with Saladin. It was fortunate for him that he did not live to see the triumph of Saladin at Hattin and Jerusalem. Williamʼs judgement of Saladin, there- fore, is one of fear and admiration but he is also able to criticize his faults, especially his ruthless ambition.
Light through the dark ages: The Arabist contribution to Western ophthalmology
October 28, 2012 By
Because blindness was a major cause of morbidity in the medieval Arab world, as is the case in the developing world today, Arabist physicians developed much exposure to ophthalmological conditions, and nearly every major medical work written at the time had a chapter on diseases of the eye.
Organa doctorum: Gerbert of Aurillac, organbuilder?
October 11, 2012 By
He was born a peasant. Yet, through intelligence, political skill and uncommon good luck he came to be one of the most influential people in the Europe of his time…Pope Sylvester II.
The fabric of society: The organization of textile manufacturing in the Middle East and Europe, c. 700 – c. 1500
October 7, 2012 By
In recent years several attempts have been made to use institutional theory to explain this divergence between the Middle East and Europe. Most of these attempts focus on the organization of international trade.
Sailing with the Mu’allim: The Technical Practiceof Red Sea Sailing during the Medieval Period
September 30, 2012 By
The status of the Red Sea as a lane of communication be-tween the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean has beenwidely commented upon…The medieval period was no exception to this. The establishment of Mecca as a centre of pilgrimage and theincreasing importance of Cairo both served to provide further motives for seafaring activity along and across theRed Sea.
The Sufi Influence on Spanish Jews
September 7, 2012 By
By reintroducing true stories of positive interactions between Muslims and Jews, we can begin to change the contemporary dialogue away from the schoolyard “you’re either with us or against us” attitude of this young millennia, towards a more Gandhian approach, where a just peace for everyone involved is the only true option…
Praising A City: Nicaea, Trebizond, and Thessalonike
August 26, 2012 By
Praising A City: Nicaea, Trebizond, and Thessalonike Aslıhan Akışık Journal of Turkish Studies, Vol.36 (2012) Abstract The late Byzantine period(1204-1461) was distinguished by the existence of multiple,competing, and interconnected centers, superseding the imperial and Constantinopolitan model of the middle period. Civic identity, defined largely in opposition to the “other”,which refers to the Latins in the […]
Graeco-Roman Case Histories and their Influence on Medieval Islamic Clinical Accounts
April 29, 2012 By
Medieval Islamic medicine has until now been studied primarily through its learned treatises. According to that theoretical corpus, written in Arabic, Islamic medicine mainly constitutes an elaborate systematization and synthesis of earlier Graeco-Roman sources.
A medieval Arabic analysis of motion at an instant : the Avicennan sources to the forma fluens/fluxus formae debate
April 22, 2012 By
The first and foremost topic of classical and medieval physics is the concept of motion
(Grk. kine ̄sis, Arb. h ̇ araka, Lat. motio). Within the complex of issues and problems associated with motion, the question ‘in which category does motion itself belong?’ occupied a position of considerable importance in scholastic natural philosophy.
The Andalusi origins of the Berbers
February 20, 2012 By
How could the Berbers originate in al-Andalus when everyone knows they are the original inhabitants of North Africa? One of the goals of this article is to show that asking the question in this way is part of the problem and that it stands in the way of securing the soundness of historical interpretations of the past.
Natural Qualifications of a Medieval Poet According to Moshe Ibn Ezra
December 11, 2011 By
The most important attainment of the Arabs, in Ibn Ezra’s opinion, is the distinction they achieved in the field of rhetoric.
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