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Covers the history of the near east from the birth of Muhammad to
the fall of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, allowing students
to trace the history of Islam and be introduced to the
historiographical debates surround its rise and collapse. The text
is supported by genealogical tables and maps which provide strong
background information for students who have not previously studied
near east history before. Coverage of eastern Iran and Central
Asia, including dynasties like the Seljuks, the Samanids and
Ghaznevids, has been greatly expanded giving students the benefit
of comprehensive coverage of the region.
The essays in this volume deal with the history of the Middle East
from c.550 to 1000 AD. There are three main themes: Syria in Late
Antiquity and the changes and continuities with the early Islamic
period; relations between Muslims and the Byzantine Empire from the
8th to the 11th centuries; and the development of government and
the economy in the early caliphate. Throughout there is an emphasis
on social and economic trends and the integration of written and
archaeological evidence to elucidate the complex developments in
this pivotal part of the world. In different ways all the papers
discuss the formation of the Islamic world and the way in which the
legacy of Antiquity, economic, social and cultural, affected the
emergence of what we think of as this "Islamic World". These papers
will be of interest to historians of Islam and Byzantium but also
western mediaevalists interested in comparing processes of change
at opposite ends of the Mediterranean.
Covers the history of the near east from the birth of Muhammad to
the fall of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, allowing students
to trace the history of Islam and be introduced to the
historiographical debates surround its rise and collapse. The text
is supported by genealogical tables and maps which provide strong
background information for students who have not previously studied
near east history before. Coverage of eastern Iran and Central
Asia, including dynasties like the Seljuks, the Samanids and
Ghaznevids, has been greatly expanded giving students the benefit
of comprehensive coverage of the region.
This is the first study in English of the political history of
Muslim Spain and Portugal, based on Arab sources. It provides
comprehensive coverage of events across the whole of the region
from 711 to the fall of Granada in 1492. Up till now the history of
this region has been badly neglected in comparison with studies of
other states in medieval Europe. When considered at all, it has
been largely written from Christian sources and seen in terms of
the Christian Reconquest. Hugh Kennedy raises the profile of this
important area, bringing the subject alive with vivid translations
from Arab sources. This will be fascinating reading for historians
of medieval Europe and for historians of the middle east drawing
out the similarities and contrasts with other areas of the Muslim
world.
The early Abbasid Caliphate was an important period for Islam. The
dynasty, based in Baghdad, ruled over a vast Empire, stretching
from the Indus Valley and Southern Russia to the East to Tunisia in
the West; and presided over an age of brilliant cultural
achievements. This study, first published in 1981, examines the
Abbasid Caliphs from their coming to power in 750 AD, to the death
of the Caliph al-Ma'mun in 833 AD, when the period of Turkish
domination began. It looks at the political history of the period,
and also considers the social and economic factors, showing how
they developed and influenced political life. The work is designed
as a unique introduction to the period, and will prove invaluable
to all students involved with Islamic, Byzantine and Mediterranean
history and culture.
During the Medieval period, the Middle East was a battleground in which the Umayyad and the Abbasids Caliphs fought for dominance of an empire that stretched from Spain to the borders of India. The Armies of the Caliphs is the first major study of the relationship between army and society in the early Islamic period, and reveals the pivotal role of the military in politics. Through an examination of recruitment, payment, weaponry and fortifications in the armies, The Armies of the Caliphs offers the most comprehensive view to date of how the early Muslim Empire grew to control so many people. Using Arabic chronicles, surviving documents, and archaeological evidence, this book analyses the military and the face of battle, and offers a timely reassessment of the early Islamic State.
During the Medieval period, the Middle East was a battleground in which the Umayyad and the Abbasids Caliphs fought for dominance of an empire that stretched from Spain to the borders of India. The Armies of the Caliphs is the first major study of the relationship between army and society in the early Islamic period, and reveals the pivotal role of the military in politics. Through an examination of recruitment, payment, weaponry and fortifications in the armies, The Armies of the Caliphs offers the most comprehensive view to date of how the early Muslim Empire grew to control so many people. Using Arabic chronicles, surviving documents, and archaeological evidence, this book analyses the military and the face of battle, and offers a timely reassessment of the early Islamic State.
@lt;P@gt;This is the first study in English of the political
history of Muslim Spain and Portugal, based on Arab sources. It
provides comprehensive coverage of events across the whole of the
region from 711 to the fall of Granada in 1492. Up till now the
history of this region has been badly neglected in comparison with
studies of other states in medieval Europe. When considered at all,
it has been largely written from Christian sources and seen in
terms of the Christian Reconquest. Hugh Kennedy raises the profile
of this important area, bringing the subject alive with vivid
translations from Arab sources. This will be fascinating reading
for historians of medieval Europe and for historians of the middle
east drawing out the similarities and contrasts with other areas of
the Muslim world.@lt;BR@gt;@lt;BR@gt;@lt;BR@gt;@lt;BR@gt;@lt;/P@gt;
A popular history of the Arab invasions that carved out an empire
from Spain to China Today's Arab world was created at breathtaking
speed. Whereas the Roman Empire took over 200 years to reach its
fullest extent, the Arab armies overran the whole Middle East,
North Africa and Spain within a generation. They annihilated the
thousand-year-old Persian Empire and reduced the Byzantine Empire
to little more than a city-state based around Constantinople.
Within a hundred years of the Prophet's death, Muslim armies
destroyed the Visigoth kingdom of Spain, and crossed the Pyrenees
to occupy southern France. This is the first popular English
language account of this astonishing remaking of the political and
religious map of the world. Hugh Kennedy's sweeping narrative
reveals how the Arab armies conquered almost everything in their
path. One of the few academic historians with a genuine talent for
story telling, he offers a compelling mix of larger-than-life
characters, battles, treachery and the clash of civilizations.
The tenth century was a formative period for Islamic culture and
Adam Mez's Renaissance of Islam offers a detailed survey of the
Muslim world during that period. No other single work covers the
subject as comprehensively. Mez drew upon a vast range of sources
to produce a detailed account of all aspects of Islamic culture and
society - finance, religion, geography, industry and trade, law,
morals, navigation, etc. The result is a lucid and engaging work
that even today remains a key resource for researchers and students
alike. The original edition is now very rare. This new edition,
introduced by Hugh Kennedy, one of the leading scholars of the
period, makes the work available once again and includes a
bibliography and index specially prepared for this edition.
The "golden age of Islam" in the eighth and ninth centuries was as
significant to world history as the Roman Empire was in the first
and second centuries. The rule of Baghdad's Abbasid Dynasty
stretched from Tunisia to India, and its legacy influenced politics
and society for years to come. In this deftly woven narrative, Hugh
Kennedy introduces us to the rich history and flourishing culture
of the period, and the men and women of the palaces at Baghdad and
Samarra-the caliphs, viziers, eunuchs, and women of the harem that
produced the glorious days of the Arabian Nights .
The waterways of ancient Iraq were crucial to its prosperity. While
they were maintained, Iraq and neighbouring Khuzistan, in southwest
Iran, were the richest and most productive agricultural areas of
the Middle East, supporting the Sasanian, Umayyad and Abbasid
empires. When the waterways changed or fell into decay, both the
prosperity and the political role of Iraq largely disappeared.
Understanding the course of the rivers and how they changed is
therefore pivotal to understanding the history of the region. Peter
Verkinderen's important book provides the first major
re-examination of the waterways of early Islamic Iraq in almost
seventy years. Combining a close reading of early Arab geographical
and historical sources with analysis of modern satellite imagery,
the author reconstructs the course of each of the major rivers--the
Euphrates, Tigris, Karun, Jarrahi and Karhe-- from the 7th to the
12th centuries, showing how they changed over the intervening five
hundred years. His extensive use of detailed narrative accounts
found in Arab historical sources has never previously been
undertaken and the use of remote sensing has allowed the author to
link traces of ancient river beds and canal systems to the rivers
and canals mentioned in the early Arab sources. Presenting a much
fuller and more accurate picture than has previously been possible,
Waterways of Iraq is a work of the first importance, unlikely to be
superseded for many years to come.
In this engaging history, world-renowned historian Hugh Kennedy
deftly sews together the stories of the people, armies, and events
that conquered an area from Spain to China in just over 100 years.
Part of the rich legacy of the Middle East is a poetic record
stretching back five millennia. This unparalleled repository of
knowledge - across different languages, cultures and religions -
allows us to examine continuity and change in human expression from
the beginnings of writing to the present day. In Warfare and Poetry
in the Middle East leading scholars draw upon this legacy to
explore the ways in which poets, from the third millennium bc to
the present day, have responded to effects of war. The contributors
deal with material in a wide variety of languages - including
Sumerian, Hittite, Akkadian, biblical and modern Hebrew, and
classical and contemporary Arabic - and range from the Sumerian
lament on the destruction of Ur and the Assyrian conquest of
Jerusalem to the al-R?miyy?t of the poet and warrior prince Ab?
Fir?s al-?amd?n?, the popular Arabic epics and romances that form
the siyar, to the contemporary poetry of Hamas and Hezbollah. Some
of the poems are heroic in tone celebrating victory and the prowess
of warriors and soldiers; others reflect keenly on the pity and
destruction of warfare, on the grief and suffering that war
causes.The result is a work that provides a unique reflection upon
the ways in which this most violent and pervasive of human
activities has been reflected in different cultures. The history of
war begins in the Middle East - the earliest reported conflict in
human history was fought between the neighbouring city states of
Lagash and Umma in ancient Iraq. At a time when the Middle East
seems to be permanently at war and wracked by violence, it is
salutary to look back at the ancient roots of modern attitudes and
to see that in the past, as in the present, these attitudes are
much more varied, and the emotions more subtle, than often
realised.
This is a general account of the history and architecture of Crusader castles in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, County of Tripoli and Principality of Antioch between 1099 and 1291, the years during which the Crusaders had a permanent presence on the Levantine coast. Extensive use is made of contemporary chronicles to show the reasons why castles were built and how they were used in peace and war. The book is fully illustrated by photographs, drawings and plans, and contains a comprehensive bibliography.
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