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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions
Katie J. Woolstenhulme considers the pertinent questions: Who were
'the matriarchs', and what did the rabbis think about them? Whilst
scholarship on the role of women in the Bible and Rabbinic Judaism
has increased, the authoritative group of women known as 'the
matriarchs' has been neglected. This volume consequently focuses on
the role and status of the biblical matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah,
the fifth century CE rabbinic commentary on Genesis. Woolstenhulme
begins by discussing the nature of midrash and introducing Genesis
Rabbah; before exploring the term 'the matriarchs' and its
development through early exegetical literature, culminating in the
emergence of two definitions of the term in Genesis Rabbah - 'the
matriarchs' as the legitimate wives of Israel's patriarchs, and
'the matriarchs' as a reference to Jacob's four wives, who bore
Israel's tribal ancestors. She then moves to discuss 'the
matriarchal cycle' in Genesis Rabbah with its three stages of
barrenness; motherhood; and succession. Finally, Woolstenhulme
considers Genesis Rabbah's portrayal of the matriarchs as
representatives of the female sex, exploring positive and negative
rabbinic attitudes towards women with a focus on piety, prayer,
praise, beauty and sexuality, and the matriarchs' exemplification
of stereotypical, negative female traits. This volume concludes
that for the ancient rabbis, the matriarchs were the historical
mothers of Israel, bearing covenant sons, but also the present
mothers of Israel, continuing to influence Jewish identity.
The essay Reading and studying the Qur'an is an updated English
version of the work appeared in Italian (Rome 2021) Leggere e
studiare il Corano which deals with the contents of the Qur'an, the
style and formal features of the text, the history and fixation of
it and an poutline of the reception in Islamic literature. The aim
of the work is to give a reader a description of what he/she can
find in the Islamic holy text and the state of the critical debates
on all the topics dealt with, focusing mainly on the growing
scholarly literature which appeared in the last 30 years. As such,
the work is unique in combining the aim to give comprehensive
information on the topic and, at the same, time, reconstruct the
critical debate in a balanced outline also emphasizing confessional
approaches and the dynamics in the study of the Qur'an. There is
nothing similar in contemporary scholarship and the book is a
handbook for students and scholars of Islam but also for readers in
religious studies who need to know how the main questions related
to the Islamic text have been discussed in recent scholarship.
The Sunni saint cult and shrine of Ahmad-i Jam has endured for 900
years. The shrine and its Sufi shaykhs secured patronage from
Mongols, Kartids, Tamerlane, and Timurids. The cult and
shrine-complex started sliding into decline when Iran's shahs took
the Shi'i path in 1501, but are today enjoying a renaissance under
the (Shi'i) Islamic Republic of Iran. The shrine's eclectic
architectural ensemble has been renovated with private and public
funds, and expertise from Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization.
Two seminaries (madrasa) that teach Sunni curricula to males and
females were added. Sunni and Shi'i pilgrims visit to venerate
their saint. Jami mystics still practice 'irfan ('gnosticism').
Analyzed are Ahmad-i Jam's biography and hagiography; marketing to
sultans of Ahmad as the 'Guardian of Kings'; history and politics
of the shrine's catchment area; acquisition of patronage by shrine
and shaykhs; Sufi doctrines and practices of Jami mystics,
including its Timurid-era Naqshbandi Sufis.
This book aims to give students an introduction to the religious
and social world of ancient Israel. It consists of two parts. The
first explores the major religious offices mentioned in the Old
Testament, including prophets, priests, sages and kings. As well as
considering what these key people said and did, the author traces
the process someone might have gone through to become recognised as
a prophet, priest or sage, and where you would have had to go in
ancient Israel if you wanted to locate someone who held one of
these offices. In the second part the focus is on the religious
beliefs and practices of the "common" people as this was the group
that made up the vast majority of ancient Israel's population.
This book uses the mythological hero Heracles as a lens for
investigating the nature of heroic violence in Archaic and
Classical Greek literature, from Homer through to Aristophanes.
Heracles was famous for his great victories as much as for his
notorious failures. Driving each of these acts is his heroic
violence, an ambivalent force that can offer communal protection as
well as cause grievous harm. Drawing on evidence from epic, lyric
poetry, tragedy, and comedy, this work illuminates the strategies
used to justify and deflate the threatening aspects of violence.
The mixed results of these strategies also demonstrate how the
figure of Heracles inherently - and stubbornly - resists reform.
The diverse character of Heracles' violent acts reveals an enduring
tension in understanding violence: is violence a negative
individual trait, that is to say the manifestation of an internal
state of hostility? Or is it one specific means to a preconceived
end, rather like an instrument whose employment may or may not be
justified? Katherine Lu Hsu explores these evolving attitudes
towards individual violence in the ancient Greek world while also
shedding light on timeless debates about the nature of violence
itself.
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