What it Means to be a Son: Adam, Language, and Theodicy in a Ninth-Century Dispute
Al-Jāḥiẓ’s epistle entitled Refutation of the Christians (al-Radd ʿalā al-Naṣārā) contains an account of a dispute that took place between his teacher al-Naẓẓām (d.835-845), al-Jāḥiẓ himself, and a third unnamed mutakallim, tentatively identified by David Thomas as Aḥmad b. Ḥāʾiṭ (or Ḥābiṭ or Khāʾiṭ) a Muʿtazilī theologian who studied under al-Jāḥiẓ’s teacher, al-Naẓẓām
Fifteenth-Century Burgundy and the Islamic East
What was the nature and scope of Burgundian contact with the Islamic world? How did Burgundians conceptualise the Islamic East? What were their frames of reference and how were they shaped by contemporaneous events, including further Ottoman penetration into eastern Europe and the fall of Constantinople?
Islamic Spaces and Diplomacy in Constantinople (Tenth to Thirteenth Centuries C.E.)
This article focuses on the built spaces, often described as mosques, of two Muslim communities in Constantinople between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.
The Road to China: Seaborne Exploration in Medieval Islam
This lecture explores how sea and mainland trade with China was one of the most important aspects of the flourishing of Islam in the Middle Ages.
Ibn Sa,di on Truth-Blindness
In his biographical dictionary, the well-known Andalusian scholar al-Humaydi gives an account of the unhappy experience of an earlier compatriot of his, Abu ‘Umar Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Sa,di, in the theological debating societies of Baghdad.
Early Medieval Muslim Graves in France: First Archaeological, Anthropological and Palaeogenomic Evidence
This study provides the first archaeo-anthropological testimony of the Muslim establishment in South of France through the multidisciplinary analysis of three graves excavated at Nimes.
A mediaeval court physician at work: Ibn Jumayʿ’s commentary on the Canon of Medicine
Ibn Jumayʿ’s (d. c. 594/1198) commentary on the Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sīnā (d. 428/1037) occupies an important place in the history of medicine for it is the first Canon commentary written by a physician and thus stands at the start of a tradition extending over 500 years.
Artefacts could reveal closer connection between the Vikings and the Islamic world
Swedish researchers have uncovered Kufic characters, an ancient Arabic script, in artefacts from Viking Age Scandinavia. Their study also indicates that both the names ‘Allah’ and ‘Ali’ can be seen in these artefacts.
New Medieval Books: Byzantium and the Islamic World
Five recent books that looks at the first centuries of contact and conflict between the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world.
Medieval Islamic Thought and the ‘What is X?’ Question
Medieval Islamic Thought and the “What is X?” Question By Thérèse-Anne Druart American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Vol.73:1 (1999) Introduction: In his early dialogues Plato…
Monstrous Muslims? Depicting Muslims in French Illuminated Manuscripts from 1200-1420
This paper examines depictions of Muslims in illuminated manuscripts produced in France between 1200-1420 that feature images of Christian-Muslim interactions.
‘Nothing is true, everything is permitted’: The Portrayal of the Nizari Isma’ilis in the Assassin’s Creed Game Series
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed does a remarkable – though not flawless – job in presenting a well-balanced game narrative, which incorporates not only a historically justified representation of the Nizari Isma’ilis, but also implicitly corrects one of the most famous Western legends about the so-called ‘Assassins’
Medieval Mass Media and Minorities
The portrayal and (mis)use of the figure of the Jew and the Muslim in vernacular sermons and wall paintings from medieval Denmark and Sweden.
Petrified Powers: Materials, Forms, and Theories of Medieval Islamic Talismans
Persis Berlekamp is working on Islamic talismans created in the 12th to 15th centuries, focusing on objects from the Seljuk, Mongol and Timurid milieux.
Cultural Exchange in the Languages and Literatures of Medieval Spain
Professor David Wacks’s fascinating discussion of the Iberian Peninsula and it’s incredible linguistic heritage.
The Global Side of Medieval at the Getty Centre: Traversing the Globe Through Illuminated Manuscripts
Los Angeles correspondent, Danielle Trynoski takes through the, ‘Traversing the Globe Through Illuminated Manuscripts’ exhibut at the Getty Museum.
Friendship, Betrayal, War: “Soldier of God” Movie Review
A Templar and a Muslim; their strange friendship is the premise of this week’s movie based in the 12th century immediately after the disastrous Battle of Hattin.
Early Medieval Muslim Graves in France: First Archaeological, Anthropological and Palaeogenomic Evidence
Given all of these data, we propose that the skeletons from the Nimes burials belonged to Berbers integrated into the Umayyad army during the Arab expansion in North Africa.
Science and Religion in the Middle Ages
Why did science and natural philosophy suffer such disparate fates in the two great civilizations of Christendom and Islam?
The Mythical Ghoul in Arabic Culture
Though the ghoul has origins as old as the Mesopotamian civilization, Arabs were largely responsible for popularizing it. Because Islam incorporated this being in its doctrine, the ghoul remained a source of fear and mystery in the Arab culture.
Medieval Lisbon: Castelo de São Jorge
Above Lisbon’s skyline of colourful tiled houses and red roofs lies Castelo de São Jorge, a dominating, but beautiful, 11th century fortress in the heart of this vibrant city…
Qur’an manuscript discovered in England could be over 1400 years old
Experts at the University of Birmingham believe they have discovered a manuscript of the Qur’an that is at least 1370 years old, making it the oldest known copy of the Islamic Holy Book.
A Comparative Analysis of the Concepts of Holy War and the Idealized Topos of Holy Warrior In Medieval Anatolian And European Sources
This thesis focuses on the relations between the idea of holy war and the portrayals of holy warriors in medieval narratives composed by those in the service of power-holders.
David Nirenberg on ‘Religion and Violence’
Do the respective claims of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic holy texts contribute to the violence between the various communities that read them? Or do they provide a basis for solidarity between the three Abrahamic religions?