Christian Sahner @ccsahner Twitter profile

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Christian Sahner

1 year

I'm pleased to announce the publication of my new book, "The Definitive Zoroastrian Critique of Islam," just out with Liverpool University Press in its series "Translated Texts for Historians" 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ If you're a Christian in medieval #Egypt , and the church won't grant you a divorce, what do you do? Head to the Muslim court! This fascinating papyrus from the Fayyūm is dated to 909 AD. It records the divorce proceedings of a Christian named Sawīrah (Severus)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

The history of Christianity in North Africa after the Islamic conquest is very opaque. Some assume that Christian communities disappeared very quickly, but this surely wasn't the case. Here is a fascinating Latin tombstone of a Christian from Qayrawān (Tunisia) from 1007 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ Medieval Muslims were fascinated by Christian monasteries, which they celebrated as places of refreshment, beauty, and entertainment These little-known images come from the Book of Wonders (Kitāb al-Bulhān) of ʿAbd al-Ḥasan al-Iṣfahānī, now at the Bodleian Library, Oxford

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

Coming in June, my new book: "The Definitive Zoroastrian Critique of Islam" (Translated Texts for Historians, Liverpool UP) (PROOFS of the cover and table of contents below) 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ What happened to the descendants of the Sasanian cavalry (known as the Asāwira) who went over to the Arabs during the conquest of Iraq? A thread on how Sasanian soldiers transformed into Muslim theologians over the course of several generations

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

Check out the cover of my new book, dropping next month!

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

One of the reasons I love the early Abbasid period is the incredible mix of different religions that helped shape high culture. Here's a report about a diverse group of friends who met to recite poetry and tell stories in Basra in southern Iraq in 156/772-73. They included 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

Ancient and medieval Zoroastrianism is famous for the practice of "xwēdōdah," that is, close-kin or incestuous marriage. As far as I'm aware, the first documentary proof of "xwēdōdah" was recently discovered in a legal text written in Pahlavi from 8th-century Tabaristan 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

I’ve received a copy of my colleague Nicolai Sinai’s brilliant new book, “Key Terms of the Qur’an: A Critical Dictionary,” just published by @PrincetonUPress . This is an essential reference for anyone working in Quranic studies or Arabic literature more broadly 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

The Kaʿba came under attack several times in early Islamic history. One individual who wished to destroy it was Sunbād, an associate of Abū Muslim who revolted after his friend was killed in 755. He then returned to Zoroastrianism and proclaimed his intent to destroy the Kaʿba 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ What does the #Quran have to say about #Christmas , and what does this ruined church located between #Jerusalem and #Bethlehem have to do with it?

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

Nice reference to Saint Augustine in a medieval Arabic text, this from the Masālik of the Andalusī geographer al-Bakrī (d. 487/1094), who describes Hippo (Ar. Būna, modern ‘Annāba) as an ancient city and home of “Aqushtīn, the scholar of the Christian religion” (ii, 717)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

Day 8 in #Ethiopia , visited the small town of Negash. Tradition holds that the Prophet #Muhammad dispatched a group of followers here in 615 to escape persecution in #Mecca (“The First Hijra”). Today, a modern shrine holds the tombs of several early Emigrants, plus a new mosque

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ Cosmopolitanism isn’t just a modern phenomenon: This remarkable manuscript was produced in #Egypt , ca. 12-14th c. It includes the Gospels and Epistles in five medieval languages! From R to L: #Armenian , #Arabic , #Coptic , #Syriac , and #Ethiopic

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ This week I'm posting about early converts to Islam and what happened to their descendants once inside Muslim society ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAwn (d. 768) was a famous early Sunnī scholar from Basra whose grandfather had been a Christian deacon enslaved during the conquest of Iraq

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

Coming in June: Nicolai Sinai, Key Terms of the Qur'an, Princeton University Press

Key Terms of the Qur'an

An essential single-volume companion to the critical interpretation of Islamic scripture

press.princeton.edu

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

6 months

My Oxford colleague Yuhan Vevaina has just published a major work that will interest scholars of Zoroastrianism, Late Antiquity, the early Islamic period, religious hermeneutics, etc. 17 years of research between these covers! Bravo Yuhan @FAMESOx 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

Theophilus of Edessa (d. 785) was a famous Maronite astronomer, historian, and courtier under the caliph al-Mahdī. Of note, he is said to have translated "two books of Homer about the city of Ilion (Troy) from Greek into Syriac," these being the Iliad and the Odyssey 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

I’ve just received a copy of this important and interesting new book by my former Oxford colleague @TobyMatthiesen . Congratulations, Toby! I look forward to reading it and I commend it to all of you

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

Took a walk to see the Norman Church of St Mary the Virgin in Iffley Village just outside of Oxford, built ca. 1160. (It’s really old! In 1160, the Seljuks had recently captured Baghdad, and it wouldn’t be long until the Fatimids fell in Cairo!)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 years

Big news for Arabic and Islamic studies at Oxford: Tahera Qutbuddin will be joining us as the next Laudian-AlBabtain professor of Arabic. She succeeds recent holders of the chair, including Julia Bray, Geert Jan van Gelder, and Wilferd Madelung

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

I have an op-ed in today's @WSJ about the history of #HagiaSophia and the very unfortunate decision to turn it into a mosque Here's my proposal: Why not follow the example of early Islamic history and allow both Muslims and Christians to worship inside?

Opinion | A Better Plan for Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia

The historic structure is reverting from a museum to a mosque, but a hybrid approach would better honor its diverse lineage while keeping it open to all.

www.wsj.com

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 months

My book has just come out in paperback (for £20!). See here:

The Definitive Zoroastrian Critique of Islam | Liverpool University Press

www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk

Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

I'm pleased to announce the publication of my new book, "The Definitive Zoroastrian Critique of Islam," just out with Liverpool University Press in its series "Translated Texts for Historians" 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 years

1/ Fascinating detail about the Muslim conquerors of al-Andalus in the 8th c.: aDNA research of a Muslim cemetery in Pamplona (far north!) showed just under 2/3 of the men buried there were of North African origin, in contrast to less than 1/10 of the women

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

7/ The papyrus comes from Khoury, Chrestomathie de papyrologie arabe, 1993, pp. 42-43. I learned about it while reading the fabulous new book of Lev Weitz, Between Christ and Caliph, 2018, p. 133 @PennPress (read it!!):

Homepage - University of Pennsylvania Press

The University of Pennsylvania Press publishes more than 100 new books a year and 22 journals. Find out more about us here.

www.pennpress.org

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

4/ What's interesting here is how a Christian used the mechanisms of Islamic law to gain a more favorable outcome in his divorce proceedings (this less than 300 years after the Islamic conquest of Egypt)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

6/ This is part of a well-known trend in Middle Eastern history, whereby dhimmīs availed themselves of Islamic courts if it turned out they could gain more favorable rulings (on divorce, inheritance, etc.) than they could before their own rabbis or priests

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

2/ It states that Sawīrah divorced his wife, Qasīdaq (the daughter of a monk named George) "three times [and] irrevocably." The divorce was witnessed by a series of Muslim men, who are named in the papyrus (His father-in-law, the monk, could not have been happy!)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ A thread on the most famous slave revolt in Islamic history: the Zanj of #Iraq (869-83), who brought the Abbasid caliphate to its knees, followed a messianic preacher and even held slaves of their own @HenryLouisGates has compared them to Spartacus & Toussaint Louverture

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

5/ Traditionally, Christian canon law did not permit divorce, whereas Islamic law took a much more permissive stance towards it (at least for men). Interestingly, there is no hint that Sawīrah converted to Islam in order to gain access to Islamic justice

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ I've recently been reading the work of Josef van Ess, the great German scholar of Islamic Studies. Here's an accessible interview he did in English, in which he spells out his views of the origins of Islam. Some quotes below (see esp. the last point!)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 months

Congratulations to my Oxford colleague Eugene Rogan, whose new book on the 1860 massacre in Damascus was launched today! @FAMESOx

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 years

1/ After yesterday's horrible attack in Kabul, some may be confused about the name of the group that was responsible: ISIS-K, with "K" standing for "Khurasan" The name Khurasan isn't much used today, but it has deep resonance in Iranian, Central Asian, and Islamic culture

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ #ChristianMartyrsUnderIslam is coming to paperback in 2020. I thought I'd use the occasion to regularly Tweet about little-known martyrs from the early Islamic period First up: Anthony al-Qurashī (d. 799), a Muslim convert to Christianity from the Prophet's tribe of Quraysh

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

I was delighted to receive a copy of Ken Wolf’s new translation of the Indiculus luminosus by Paul Alvarus. This Latin text from 9th-c. Spain is a precious window into the history of Christian-Muslim relations and the Cordoba martyrs movement specifically. A great achievement! 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

24 days

The early Muslim encyclopedist and geographer Ibn Rusta completed his famous work, the Kitāb al-aʿlāq al-nafīsa, around 912. The end of the surviving section contains interesting lists of people. Here, a list of men named Muḥammad before Islam (de Goeje, 201-2) 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

New book out later this year! "Conversion to Islam in the Premodern World: A Sourcebook" (University of California Press, December 2020), which I've co-edited with my colleagues Nimrod Hurvitz, Uriel Simonsohn, and Luke Yarbrough @ucpress

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 years

Just got a copy of this exciting new book and looking forward to diving in! Congratulations, Hannah! @rebellionUHH

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

A 7/8th c. Syriac source, discussing the First Fitna, describes ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as “Abū Turāb” (father of dust, a polemical epithet also attested in the Islamic tradition) and “emir of Ḥírtā” (al-Ḥīra in southern Iraq, a Christian city beside al-Kūfa where ʿAlī was based)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

It is one of several Christian tombstones from the area. Interestingly, it is dated according to both Christian and Islamic calendars ("annorum infidelium") 2/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ Fun fact from today’s Islamic History lecture @UniofOxford : the Khazars, a nomadic people from the S. Russian steppe, converted to #Judaism in ca. 9th. Here, a Khazar coin based on an Islamic model swaps “ #Muhammad is the Messenger of God” for “ #Moses is the Messenger of God”!

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

New publication: “The History and Culture of Iran and Central Asia,” edited by D. G. Tor and Minoru Inaba, University of Notre Dame Press, 2022

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

3/ The triple divorce refers to the Islamic practice of ṭalāq, whereby a man may repudiate his wife by uttering the phrase "ṭalāq" three times, thereby dissolving the marriage

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

Late antique church mosaic just discovered in Mardin. The article mentions Syriac inscriptions, but sadly includes no photos of them!

Mosaics in ancient church in southeastern Turkey unearthed

Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have launched excavations to unearth the mosaics of a 1,600-year-old church in the village of Göktaş in the...

www.dailysabah.com

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

9/ And for a comparison with the Ottoman period, see this famous article by Najwa Al-Qattan, "Dhimmīs in the Muslim Court," IJMES (1999):

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

It seems to provide some information about how Latin was pronounced in North Africa at this late stage. The "v" has been replaced by "b" 3/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ Islamic #Spain is often celebrated for its culture of religious tolerance. But there are famous episodes which challenge this impression, including of the #Cordoba Martyrs Today's martyr is Eulogius (d. 859), the main chronicler of the events #ChristianMartyrsUnderIslam

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ There is a famous Middle Persian inscription from Constantinople, discovered in 1964 in the neighborhood of Çapa. It comes from a Byzantine sarcophagus, and de Blois argues that it may refer to a 9/10th-c. Melkite Christian from Iran who died in the city

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

On the road in Algeria, Day 4: Scenes from the Wādī Mizāb, an oasis valley deep in the Algerian Sahara, home to the country’s historic Ibadi community. According to tradition Ibadis settled here in the generations after the fall of the Ibadi Rustumid dynasty in the north (909) 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 months

The library of New College, Oxford—where Peter Brown was an undergraduate—is perhaps an appropriate place to discover that a new edition of The World of Late Antiquity has just been published, including a new preface

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

Day 6 in #Ethiopia : We visited the monastery of Abba Garima, home to some the oldest illustrated Gospel manuscripts in the world (ca. 5th-7th c.)! We had the privilege of seeing these beautiful artifacts thanks to Abba Garima’s hospitable monks

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ The real glory of the @hermitage_eng collection are the wall paintings from Penjikent (now Tajikistan), ca. 7-8th. c. This was the eastern-most city of Sogdia, a major #SilkRoad civilization and melting pot in Late Antiquity. Here, feasting Sogdian style. Thread to follow

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

I love stories about the wild religious beliefs that attached to the figure of Abū Muslim al-Khurāsānī, the architect of the ʿAbbasid Revolution, after he was murdered by the ʿAbbasids in 755. Many of his followers, upset with his death, regarded him as a messianic figure 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

The history of the Maronites before the arrival of the Crusaders (1098) is very murky. For this reason, the Church of St Theodore in Behdaidat (بحديدات, NE of Byblos in the mountains)—dated by Sader to the 9-11th c.—is potentially very interesting. Note the Syriac inscriptions

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 year

Saw Oppenheimer last night—brilliant and intense! There’s a lot to like for those who know Princeton, including shots of the Institute for Advanced Study. Below, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. filming outside my office last spring when I was at the IAS. V. cool experience!

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

The Kitāb of Ibn Sallām (9th century) is among the oldest historical and apologetic works from the Ibāḍī Muslim community of North Africa. One of the most famous sections discusses the “virtues of the Berbers,” in which Ibn Sallām strives to portray Berbers as a chosen people 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 month

One of my favorite books about conversion and religious change is Eamon Duffy’s “Stripping of the Altars.” Today I stumbled across the cover image: the rood screen from Binham, Norfolk. Portraits of medieval saints whitewashed and covered over with text from Cramner’s 1539 Bible

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 years

Job opportunity in Oxford: Departmental Lecturer in Islamic History, 2-year post. Applications close on 25 June 2021. (This is to cover my teaching while I'm away on research leave). Spread the word! @OrientStudiesOx

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 years

Happy feast of St. Gregory the Great (d. 604), an older contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad. The last pope of Late Antiquity or the first of the Middle Ages, depending on how you see it!

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

8/ For further reading, also see this book by Uriel Simonsohn, A Common Justice, 2011 (also from @PennPress ):

Homepage - University of Pennsylvania Press

The University of Pennsylvania Press publishes more than 100 new books a year and 22 journals. Find out more about us here.

www.pennpress.org

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 months

A new article of mine in Medieval Encounters (available via Open Access) on "Family Ties between Muslim Men and High-Status Non-Muslim Women (Seventh–Ninth c. CE)" (1/2)

Family Ties between Muslim Men and High-Status Non-Muslim Women (Seventh–Ninth c. CE)

Abstract This article explores unions between elite Muslim men and elite non-Muslim women from the conquered populations during the seventh to ninth centuries CE. It considers cases from a range of...

brill.com

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

Idrīs ibn ʿAbdallāh was a Zaydī Shīʿī revolutionary and the founder of the Idrīsid dynasty in early medieval Morocco. Literary sources state that he died of poisoning in his bath in 791 in the ancient city of Volubilis/Walīlā. The possible bath of Idrīs has now been excavated 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

A question for Middle East Twitter: Throughout history, how common was it for Arab Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land to use the honorary title “Hajj/ Hajja” (حاج/حاجة) like their Muslim counterparts who visited Mecca and Medina?

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

During Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic period, there were Syriac-speaking Christian communities up and down the Persian Gulf coast. The arrival of guest workers in the modern day has restored this historic presence

Indo-Christian Culture

@indo_christian

5 years

A priest makes an announcement at a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Doha, Qatar. The Gulf Arab states are home to more than a million Christians of South Asian background.

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

A pleasure to host @shahanSean here in Oxford. Today he spoke about his new book, a major study of the early biographical traditions about the Prophet Muhammad. He argues that we CAN reconstruct certain details of his life if we read judiciously. History is back! @OxfordByzantine

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ #Iran dominates #Iraq today, but it wasn't always this way. Thoughts on the relationship between two neighbors in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic period: The Sasanians were the last great Persian empire (224-661). They originated in Iran, but ruled from Iraq

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ What does the #Quran have to say about conversion to Islam? In our new sourcebook from @ucpress , Abdullah Saeed translates and comments on several Quranic passages that discuss the phenomenon of "conversion" #ConversionToIslam

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 years

Hot new book! Stephen Shoemaker translates into English the earliest non-Muslim eyewitnesses to the rise of Islam. This will be a great tool for teaching and a stimulus for new research

University of California Press

Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

www.ucpress.edu

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

6 years

My piece in today's @WSJ on the threat to priceless Islamic manuscripts in #Yemen , an unreported tragedy

Opinion | Yemen’s Threatened Cultural Heritage

The heartbreakingly destructive civil war in Yemen has put some of the world’s most treasured Islamic manuscripts in peril.

www.wsj.com

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

ZOOM SEMINAR IN OXFORD THIS TERM: The Oxford Pre-Modern Middle Eastern History Seminar, Tuesdays, 5:30-6:30 pm GMT Next week (Jan. 19) we start with Lena Salaymeh (Oxford), "The Beginnings of Islam" Speakers and registration information below.

The Oxford Pre-Modern Middle Eastern History Seminar

ongc.web.ox.ac.uk

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

I was taking my daily Corona-virus walk around the neighborhood in Oxford when I came across the house of none other than T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He apparently grew up here. And it's for sale, a cool £2.6 million .... camel included

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

Important publication just out: The ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ of Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa (d. 1270), the most important history of medicine in the medieval Islamic world. Congratulations to Emilie Savage-Smith and the rest of the team on this fine achievement! (TOC below)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

I'm pleased to announce the publication of a new book I've co-edited with N. Hurvitz, U. Simonsohn, and L. Yarbrough: "Conversion to Islam in the Premodern Age: A Sourcebook" @ucpress Watch this space for tweets in the coming weeks! #ConversionToIslam

University of California Press

Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

www.ucpress.edu

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

Just received a very cool stamp from Germany featuring the famous meeting of St. Francis of Assisi and the **Ayyubid sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil (Thank you, @Simon_W_Fuchs !)

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 months

I always thought of the Lower Bodleian Reading Room as the best place to do work on Late Antiquity in Oxford—among the old patristic books, where Peter Brown once studied. But I’m very pleased to discover these 17th c. portraits of late antique greats in the Upper Reading Room!

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5 years

1/ The Arab conquests reached deep into the #Caucasus , bringing Christian #Georgia and #Armenia under Islamic rule Today's martyr is Abo (d. 786), a Muslim convert to Christianity, who is today considered a patron saint of Tbilisi #ChristianMartyrsUnderIslam

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ This week @UniofOxford we're exploring medieval #Egypt through the work of Nābulusī (d 1262), an Ayyubid bureaucrat and all-around crank (who hated peasants and #Copts ) A new book on Nābulusī (by Y. Rapoport) gives clues about when Egypt (esp. the Fayyūm) first became Muslim

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

Church-to-mosque conversion has been well studied in Syria and Palestine. It also happened in North Africa. Here are photos of an Ibāḍī mosque in the Jabal Nafūsa region of W. Libya, which seems to have once been a church. It is known locally as the "Kanīsa" of Tamazdā 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ How did conversion to Islam work for Zoroastrians at the ʿAbbasid court? In our new sourcebook, Michael Cooperson discusses the life of the powerful vizier and convert al-Faḍl ibn Sahl (d. 818) #ConversionToIslam

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 months

Spotted in the lower Bodleian: a portrait of Edward Pococke (d. 1691), one of the founding fathers of Arabic studies in Oxford. A very significant portion of the Arabic manuscripts in Oxford were collected by him during travels around the Middle East

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ How did a Syriac-speaking bishop in the Umayyad period propose dealing with Christians who had converted to Islam? In our new sourcebook, Jack Tannous discusses pastoral advice given by the famous Jacob of Edessa (d. 708) #ConversionToIslam .

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

More from the Gheralta region in northern #Ethiopia , where a fresco in the dome of the church of Abuna Yemata Guh resembles early Christian iconography at places like Ravenna in Italy

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

6 years

My piece @aeonmag has generated debate over whether early Muslim jurists saw marriage as a form of female enslavement. Yes they did, and for why it matters for religiously mixed families, see Yohanan Friedman below @PrincetonUPress

Islam spread through the Christian world via the bedroom | Aeon Ideas

A world of surprisingly porous borders: how Islam spread through the medieval Middle East via relationships with non-Muslims

aeon.co

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ Check out my new article in the latest issue of BSOAS: "Zoroastrian Law and the Spread of Islam in Iranian Society (9th-10th Centuries)."

(2021) "Zoroastrian Law and the Spread of Islam in Iranian Society" (BSOAS)

This article explores three important Zoroastrian legal texts from the ʿAbbasid period, consisting of questions and answers to high-ranking priests. The texts contain a wellspring of information...

www.academia.edu

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ Just back from the @britishmuseum show on Islamic Art and the West. Fun fact: This painting by the French orientalist (and Muslim convert) Étienne Dinet (d. 1929) has a frame covered with pseudo-Arabic jibberish ...

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

Currently reading about the early spread of Christianity in the mountains of coastal Syria. This beautiful mosaic comes from a basilica in the village of Chhim in the Chouf, excavated by a Polish-Lebanese team and dating to the late fifth century

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ The last of the great Central Asian finds @hermitage_eng come from Varakhsha, in the western Bukhara Oasis (Uzbekistan), ca. 7-8th c. The Red Room, probably painted after the Islamic conquest, is filled with elephants, tigers, and lions galore. Thread to follow #SilkRoad

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ Here’s a unique coin I love to show my students @UniofOxford . A fascinating window into the early history of #Islam in #Iran . Minted in Sistan, ca. 691-2. One side portrays the #Sasanian king of kings; the other has the Islamic profession of faith (the shahada) but in Pahlavi!

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

8/ And for a nice study of Muslim attitudes towards Christian monasteries, see Elizabeth Key Fowden, "The lamp and the wine flask. Early Muslim interest in Christian monasticism," in Islamic Crosspollinations (Cambridge, 2007), 1-28

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

3 years

Oxford seminar ONLINE starting next week: "After Rome and Further East": The Near East in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Thursdays at 5 pm GMT; see below for login details. All are welcome

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

Some treasures of late antique and Islamic art that caught my eye at the Louvre this morning Mosaic floor, Church of St Christopher, Qabr Hiram, near Tyre, southern Lebanon, ca. 575 1/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

6 months

Michael Cook’s latest—a massive history of the Muslim world from its origins to the present—out in May. This will be excellent

A History of the Muslim World

books.google.co.uk

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

1 month

Superb article (h/t ⁦ @GabrielSaidR ⁩) Arabic, A Christian Language by Onsi A. Kamel | Articles | First Things

Arabic, A Christian Language | Onsi A. Kamel

To whom does a language belong? One might think it the possession of all who speak it. But as anyone . . . .

www.firstthings.com

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

4 years

1/ Last week, my students and I covered the early history of the Maronite Church (the leading Christian community in #Lebanon ). The Maronites originated in the plains around Hama in #Syria , but eventually went up into the mountains. The question is why?

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

5 years

1/ A few days ago, I posted an image of a 7th-c. Iranian coin with the #Islamic profession of faith (the shahada) in #Pahlavi . Here’s a parallel example, minted in 1028 in #Lahore in modern #Pakistan , with a bilingual #Arabic - #Sanskrit inscription

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

2 years

You can read more here, which points to further specialist publications: 4/

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Christian Sahner

@ccsahner

6 months

A fascinating phenomenon: Mass conversions to Syriac Orthodox Christianity in Guatemala, especially among portions of the Mayan population, since 2012. Reminds me of religious trends in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.