History Commons^™

Map Walk Of The Middle East, Stephen Cory

Migration in Global Context Symposium

All Migration in Global Context participants are welcome to attend the map walk on April 28th as a fitting follow-up event to the series. Come anytime throughout the day to walk on large, laminated tactical pilotage charts, each at a scale of 1:500,000 (eight miles to the inch) and measuring approx. 3½ x 5 feet, so you can gain a better sense of the geographical layout of the Middle East and Mediterranean region. The maps show cities and towns as well as principal roads, railroads, rivers, bodies of water, distinctive landmarks, spot elevations, contours, elevations tints, and stream-drainage patterns.

See …

Origin Narratives And The Making Of Dynastic History In Al-Dīnawarī’S Akhbār, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara

World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

This article takes the reader on a journey into the historical writing of the ninth century Muslim historian al-Dīnawarī (d. 895) and examines the motives behind composing his al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl. The themes and narrative arrangements of this work give insight into al-Dīnawarī's historical agenda that demonstrates his interest in royal histories that exemplify the rise and fall of nations, dynasties, and powerful rulers. Al-Dīnawarī's emphasis on specific episodes and events demonstrates that only certain ethnic groups whose political legitimacy derives from a respectable and prominent origin can bring about political and social stability. By dealing with these sociopolitical concerns, …

The Evolution Of The Term ‘Qarn’ In Early Islamic Sources, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara

World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

In modern standard Arabic, recurrences of the term qarn (pl. qurun), of the root q-r-n, revolve around two meanings: a "horn" or "one hundred years."2 The association of qarn with "horn" is borrowed from the animal domain due to the eye-catching sight oft he animal's horns. Hence, the etymology of qarn is based on the notion that two things are situated parallel to each other. This study, however, will not examine the first meaning of qarn, but instead focus on the second. The attestations of qarn in early Islamic sources point to a composite term that retained a wide range …

The Evolution Of The Story Of Julian The Apostate In Early Islamic Sources = Tabalwur QiṣṢAt Al-QayṣAr Yūliyānūs Fī Al-Fikr Al-Islāmī Al-Ta’Rīkhī, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara

World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

The article examines the representations of the story of Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate (r. 361-363), in early Islamic historical writing and the channels of information that Muslims writers used to construct this narrative. The study is a comparative analysis of pertinent Islamic accounts in terms of narrative strategies, sources (Arabic, Persian, Syriac, and Greek), and methodology. In so doing, this study provides a constructive framework that enhances our understanding the historical agendas of these Muslim historians as well as the cultural discourses against which they wrote. The study also reflects on the early stages of the incorporation of Greco-Roman …

The Fourteenth Century Meets The Twenty-First: An Engaged Learning Experience In Historical Geography, Monica L. Ward

Undergraduate Research Posters 2012

Our goal was to develop an application that would enable students to use the Map Walk to “walk” through world traveler Ibn Battuta’s itinerary of his trips throughout the Muslim world between 1325 and 1354. On the day of the Map Walk, students will be able to use their smart phones to access the blogs and follow Ibn Battuta on his travels around the world.

Cooperating Rivals: The Riparian Politics Of The Jordan River Basin, By J. Soslan, Neda A. Zawahri

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Khaldunian Cycle? The Rise Of Sharifianism As The Basis For Political Legitimacy In Early Modern Morocco, Stephen Cory

History Faculty Publications

This paper argues that the sharifian Sa'di and 'Alawi dynasties ended the Khaldunian Cycle within Morocco through their development of a political creed based upon sharifianism (the idea that Islamic leadership should be held by descendants of the Prophet Muhammad). Within the context of a growing European threat, the Sa'dis created a doctrine that was both new and distinctly Moroccan while alleging it held a universal application deriving from the time of the Prophet. Thus they institutionalised a sense of 'asabiyah in a way that preceding dynasties could not, which later enabled the 'Alawis to exceed Ibn Khaldun's predicted dynastic …

Review Of Islam: Origins • Practices • Holy Texts • Sacred Persons • Sacred Places By Matthew S. Gordon, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara

World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

Review of Islam: Origins • Practices • Holy Texts • Sacred Persons • Sacred Places by Matthew S. Gordon, Oxford University Press, 2002.

Review Of Byzantium Viewed By The Arabs By Nadia Maria El-Cheikh, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara

World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

Review of Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs by Nadia Maria El-Cheikh, Harvard Univesity Press, 2004.

Review Of Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun Al-Rashid And The Narrative Of The ʿAbbasid Caliphate By Tayed El-Hibri, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara

World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

Review of Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the ʿAbbasid Caliphate by Tayed el-Hibri, Cambridge University Press, 2000.