Worship, rites, ceremonies and rituals Books

Book SynopsisTibet’s Mount Kailas is one of the world’s great pilgrimage centres, renowned as an ancient sacred site that embodies a universal sacrality. But Kailas Histories: Renunciate Traditions and the Construction of Himalayan Sacred Geography demonstrates that this understanding is a recent construction by British colonial, Hindu modernist, and New Age interests. Using multiple sources, including fieldwork, Alex McKay describes how the early Indic vision of a heavenly mountain named Kailas became identified with actual mountains. He emphasises renunciate agency in demonstrating how local beliefs were subsumed as Kailas developed within Hindu, Buddhist, and Bön traditions, how five mountains in the Indian Himalayan are also named Kailas, and how Kailas sacred geography constructions and a sacred Ganges source region were related.Trade Review'The book under review is a significant contribution to studies of trans-Himalayan pilgrimages and sacred places. Contrary to popular perceptions of an ancient history of mount Kailas, Alex McKay, however, unravels a rather recent history of the holy mountain that he argues evolved over the past hundred years or so.' Soumen Mukherjee, newbooks.asia 'In this formidable study, Alex McKay provides the first historical account of the development of Mt. Kailas as an iconic site of Himalayan religiosity (...) In historicizing the multiple genealogies that fed into the current construction of Kailas-Manasarovar as a sacred space, the book more than accomplishes its goals.The span of data, their analyses, and contextualisation are a feat of considerable importance, rendering it indispensible for those interested in the religions of South Asia, the Himalayas, and Tibet, as well as for scholars of sacred geography writ large. While the pervasive impact of modernity on the construction of Kailas as a site of timeless sanctity is clearly demonstrated, this interpretation relied on the staggering overlay of anterior conjunctions of divergent readings originating in multifarious cultural worlds in the Himalayan borderland. In this respect, McKay amply delivers on his initial qualification of Kailas as “a dynamic process as well as a place” (20), while reminding us of the very human agency and motivations of those involved in the construction of sanctified spaces in the Himalayas and beyond.' Arik Moran, University of Haifa, Israel, Asian Ethnology 75/2 (2016) 'Kailas Histories is, overall, an indispensable guide to the many texts and traditions that have shaped sacred Himalayan geographies over time.' Kyle Gardner, University of Chicago, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 79 (3/2016)

Read more less

Book SynopsisPatricia Crone's Collected Studies in Three Volumes brings together a number of her published, unpublished, and revised writings on Near Eastern and Islamic history, arranged around three distinct but interconnected themes. Volume 1, The Qurʾānic Pagans and Related Matters, pursues the reconstruction of the religious environment in which Islam arose and develops an intertextual approach to studying the Qurʾānic religious milieu. Volume 2, The Iranian Reception of Islam: The Non-Traditionalist Strands, examines the reception of pre-Islamic legacies in Islam, above all that of the Iranians. Volume 3, Islam, the Ancient Near East and Varieties of Godlessness, places the rise of Islam in the context of the ancient Near East and investigates sceptical and subversive ideas in the Islamic world. The Iranian Reception of Islam: The Non-Traditionalist Strands Islam, the Ancient Near East and Varieties of GodlessnessTrade Review"..once again she has forced scholars to engage her arguments, made a strong case for skepticism of the traditional accounts, and set the direction of a debate for years to come." Herbert Berg in The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 34:2Table of ContentsEditor’s preface Author’s preface 1. How did the Qurʾānic pagans make a living? 2. Quraysh and the Roman army: Making sense of the Meccan leather trade 3. The religion of the Qurʾānic pagans: God and the lesser deities 4. Angels versus humans as messengers of God: The view of the Qurʾānic pagans 5. The Qurʾānic mushrikūn and the resurrection (Part I) 6. The Qurʾānic mushrikūn and the resurrection (Part II) 7. The Book of Watchers in the Qurʾān 8. War 9. Jewish Christianity and the Qurʾān (Part I) 10. Jewish Christianity and the Qurʾān (Part II) 11. Pagan Arabs as God-fearers 12. Problems in sura 53 13. No compulsion in religion: Q. 2:256 in medieval and modern interpretation 14. Islam and religious freedom 15. Tribes without saints List of Patricia Crone’s publications Index to volume 1

Read more less

Book SynopsisJewish Prayer Texts from the Cairo Genizah, which sets a new tone for future studies, consists of a selection of transcribed and translated Genizah fragments that contain some of the earliest known texts of rabbinic prayers. Reif describes in detail the physical makeup of each manuscript and assesses the manner in which the scribe has tackled the matter of recording a preferred version. He then places the prayer texts included in the manuscript within the context of Jewish liturgical history, explaining the degree to which they were innovative and whether they established precedents to be followed in later prayer-books. He offers specialists and more general readers a fresh understanding of the historical, theological, linguistic, and social factors that may have motivated adjustments to their liturgical formulations.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. T-S G1.78: Naṭronai’s Hundred Blessings 2. T-S NS 123.12: Preliminary Readings and Prayers 3. T-S H18.4: Poetic ‘Amida 4. Or.1080 3.2: ‘Amida with Strong Emotions 5. Add.3160.2: Evening Prayer and Bibliographical Crux 6. T-S NS 123.92: Weekday and Shabbat Eves Compared 7. T-S 8H16.23: Differences on Friday Evenings 8. T-S NS 299.150: Polemical Reading against Karaites 9. Add.3159.4: Shabbat Beginnings and Endings 10. T-S 6H6.6: folio 4: Qaddish in Strange Form 11. T-S NS 235.171: Musaf for Rosh Ḥodesh 12. Add.3160.9: Rosh Ḥodesh to Rosh Ha-Shana 13. T-S 10H3.4 and T-S NS 235.157a & 157b: Prayers for Rosh Ḥodesh and Musaf for Rosh Ha-Shana 14. T-S 8H23.2: Prayers for Rosh Ha-Shana 15. T-S H8.79: Verses and Musaf for Rosh Ha-Shana 16. T-S NS 155.1: Ways to Start Yom Kippur 17. T-S 10H4.1: Shemini ‘Aṣeret’s Own Rite 18. T-S H2.124: Special Qiddush for Pesaḥ 19. T-S H2.152: Ma Nishtana in Five 20. Add.3159.13: Haggada before Meal 21. T-S 8H24.3: Prayers for Pesaḥ 22. T-S NS 89.36: Additions for Ḥanukka 23. T-S NS 196.66: Hafṭara Blessings 24. Or.1080 15.4 & T-S AS 110.359: Unusual Grace 25. T-S NS 123.31: Instructions in Aramaic List of Works Cited and Abbreviations Indexes Sources Names Subjects

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Isaiah Shembe’s Hymns and the Sacred Dance in Ibandla lamaNazaretha, Nkosinathi Sithole explores the hymns of Prophet Isaiah Shembe and the sacred dance in Ibandla LamaNazaretha, and offers an emic perspective on the Church which has attracted scholars from different disciplines. Isaiah Shembe’s Hymns and the Sacred Dance in Ibandla lamaNazaretha posits that in the hymns, Shembe found a powerful medium through which he could voice his concerns as an African in colonial times, while praising and worshipping God. Sithole also refutes claims by some scholars that the sacred dance was a response to colonialism and oppression, showing that in fact the sacred dance in Ibandla lamaNazaretha is considered to be a form of worship and is thought to exist on earth and in heaven.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book explores historical and cultural aspects of modern and contemporary Bengal through the performance-centred study of a particular repertoire: the songs of the saint-composer Bhaba Pagla (1902-1984), who is particularly revered among Baul and Fakir singers. The author shows how songs, if examined as 'sacred scriptures', represent multi-dimensional texts for the study of South Asian religions. Revealing how previous studies about Bauls mirror the history of folkloristics in Bengal, this book presents sacred songs as a precious symbolic capital for a marginalized community of dislocated and unorthodox Hindus, who consider the practice of singing in itself an integral part of the path towards self-realization.Trade Review“Lorea’s research provides some interesting new perspectives to approach the bāul-sphere. Her extensive knowledge of relevant critical theoretical concepts and her frequent dialogue with those is as applaudable as her honest confusions regarding Bhaba’s religious identity and his probable association with different religious groups.” Ratul Ghosh, Cooch Behar, Folklore, Religion and the Songs of a Bengali Madman 116(2), 2021

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Caliphate and Kingship in a Fifteenth-Century Literary History of Muslim Leadership and Pilgrimage Jo Van Steenbergen presents a new study, edition and translation of al-Ḏahab al-Masbūk fī Ḏikr man Ḥağğa min al-Ḫulafāʾ wa-l-Mulūk, a summary history of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca by al-Maqrīzī (766-845 AH/ca. 1365-1442 CE). Traditionally considered as a useful source for the history of the ḥağğ, al-Ḏahab al-Masbūk is re-interpreted here as a complex literary construction that was endowed with different meanings. Through detailed contextualist, narratological, semiotic and codicological analyses Van Steenbergen demonstrates how these meanings were deeply embedded in early-fifteenth century Egyptian transformations, how they changed substantially over time, and how they included particular claims about authorship and about legitimate and good Muslim rule.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Personal Religion and Magic in Mamasa, West Sulawesi, Kees Buijs describes the traditional culture of the Toraja’s, which is rapidly vanishing. The focus is on personal religion as it has its centre in the kitchen of each house. In the kitchen and also by the use of magical words and stones the gods are sought for their powers of blessing. This book adds important information to Buijs’ earlier Powers of Blessing from the Wilderness and from Heaven (Brill, 2006).Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter I Religion and magic Chapter II Headlines of the religion of the Toraja’s in West Sulawesi Chapter III Pairan, individual religious responsibility Chapter IV Stones and incantations, vestiges from the other world of the gods Chapter V Pairan and magic, personal religion in daily life Glossary Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Ibāḍī Texts from the 2nd/8th Century Abdulrahman Al-Salimi and Wilferd Madelung present an edition of fourteen Ibāḍī religious texts and explain their contents and extraordinary source value for the early history of Islam. The Ibāḍīs constitutes the moderate wing of the Kharijite opposition movement to the Umayyad and ‘Abbasid caliphates. The texts edited are mostly polemical letters to opponents or exhortatory to followers by ‘Abd Allah b. Ibad , Abu l-‘Ubayda Muslim b. Abi Karima and other Ibadi leaders in Basra, Oman and Hadramawt. An epistle detailing the offences of the caliph ‘Uthman is by the early Kufan historiographer al-Haytham b. ‘Adi. By their early date and independence of the mainstream historical tradition these txts offer the modern historian of Islam an invaluable complement to the well-known literary sources.Trade Review"Researchers and students of Islamic intellectual history will be grateful for having more material to make sense of the classical period of Islamic theological traditions." Sajjad Rizvi in: The Muslim World Book Review, 40:3, 2020 "The scientific edition of these fourteen early Ibāḍī texts, all from the 2nd/8th century, together in one book, constitutes a welcome addition to the growing body of newly edited and published old Ibāḍī texts." Martin Custers, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXVI N° 1-2 (2019)Table of Contents1- The Introduction. 2- The Texts a. Letter of ‘Abd Allāh b. Ibāḍ to ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwān. b. Ibāḍ’s second letter to ‘Abd al-Malik. c. Epistle of Abū Mawdūd Ḥājib. d. Letter of Muslim Abū ‘Ubayda and Ḥājib to the people of the Maghrib when they disagreed concerning the matter of ‘Abd al-Jabbār and al-Ḥārith such that they killed each other. e. Epistle of Abū ‘Ubayda and Abū Mawdūd. f. Epistle of Abū ‘Ubayda and Abī Mawdūd to al-Faḍl b. Kathīr. g. A letter of Abū ‘Ubayda. h. Epistle of Abū ‘Ubayda about the alms tax. i. Epistle of Shabīb b. ‘Aṭiyya al-‘Umānī. j. Letter of Shabīb b. ‘Aṭiyya to ‘Abd al-Salām against the Doubters and the Murji’a. k. Epistle of Khalaf b. Ziyād al-Baḥrānī. l. Epistle of the Jurist Sheikh Wā’il b. Ayyūb. m. Book in which there is a reply to the people of uncertainty. n. Epitome of a book in which there is the description of the offences of ‘Uthmān b. ‘Affān.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn many near eastern traditions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam, demons have appeared as a cause of illness from ancient times until at least the early modern period. This volume explores the relationship between demons, illness and treatment comparatively. Its twenty chapters range from Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt to early modern Europe, and include studies of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They discuss the relationship between ‘demonic’ illnesses and wider ideas about illness, medicine, magic, and the supernatural. A further theme of the volume is the value of treating a wide variety of periods and places, using a comparative approach, and this is highlighted particularly in the volume’s Introduction and Afterword. The chapters originated in an international conference held in 2013. "Ultimately, Demons and Illness admirably performs the important task of reminding modern scholars of premodern health of the integral role played by these complex and shifting entities in the lives of people across the globe and through the centuries." -Rachel Podd, Fordham University, in: Social History of Medicine 32.3 (2019) "Given the sheer breadth of its scope, the volume is, of course, illustrative rather than comprehensive in its coverage, yet there is a definite coherence to its content, aided by the introduction and afterword which bookend the work and help begin to draw out the threads of commonality and difference. As such it constitutes a significant and welcome resource for comparative explorations of historical-cultural links between demons, illness, medicine, and magic, while offering a clear invitation to future work." -Matthew A. Collins, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 43.5 (2019)Trade Review"Ultimately, Demons and Illness admirably performs the important task of reminding modern scholars of premodern health of the integral role played by these complex and shifting entities in the lives of people across the globe and through the centuries." - Rachel Podd, Fordham University, in: Social History of Medicine 32.3 (2019)Table of ContentsPreface List of Contributors Introduction, Siam Bhayro and Catherine Rider Antiquity Shifting Alignments: The Dichotomy of Benevolent and Malevolent Demons in Mesopotamia, Gina Konstantopoulos The Natural and Supernatural Aspects of Fever in Mesopotamian Medical Texts, András Bácksay Illness as Divine Punishment: The Nature and Function of the Disease-Carrier Demons in the Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts, Rita Lucarelli Demons at Work in Ancient Mesopotamia, Lorenzo Verderame Late Antiquity Demons and Illness in Second Temple Judaism: Theory and Practice, Ida Fröhlich Illness and Healing through Spell and Incantation in the Dead Sea Scrolls, David Hamidović Conceptualizing Demons in Late Antique Judaism, Gideon Bohak Oneiric Aggressive Magic: Sleep Disorders in Late Antique Jewish Tradition, Alessia Bellusci The Influence of Demons on the Human Mind According to Athenagoras and Tatian, Chiara Crosignani Demonic Anti-Music and Spiritual Disorder in the Life of Antony, Sophie Sawicka-Sykes Over-eating Demoniacs in Late Antique Hagiography, Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe Medieval Miracles and Madness: Dispelling Demons in Twelfth-Century Hagiography, Anne E. Bailey Demons in Lapidaries? The Evidence of the Madrid MS Escorial, h. I. 15., Carolina Escobar-Vargas The Melancholy of the Necromancer in Arnau de Vilanova’s Epistle against Demonic Magic, Sebastià Giralt Demons, Illness and Spiritual Aids in Natural Magic and Image Magic, Lauri Ockenström Between Medicine and Magic: Spiritual Aetiology and Therapeutics in Medieval Islam, Liana Saif Demons, Saints, and the Mad in the Twelfth-Century Miracles of Thomas Becket, Claire Trenery Early Modernity The Post-Reformation Challenge to Demonic Possession, Harman Bhogal From A Discoverie to The Triall of Witchcraft: Doctor Cotta and Godly John, Pierre Kapitaniak Healing with Demons? Preternatural Philosophy and Superstitious Cures in Spanish Inquisitorial Courts, Bradley J. Mollmann Afterword: Pandaemonium, Peregrine Horden Indices of subjects and texts

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this book, Eric Montgomery and Christian Vannier provide an ethnographically informed text on the cultural meanings and practices surrounding the gods and metaphysics of Vodu, as they relate to daily life in an ethnic Ewe fishing community on the coast of southern Togo. The authors approach this spirit possession and medicinal order through “shrine ethnography,” understanding shrines as parts of sacred landscapes that are ecological, economic, political, and social. Giving voice to practitioners and situating shrines and Vodu itself into the history and political economy of the region make this text pertinent to the social changes and global relevance of Millennial Africa.Trade Review"Through their extensive engagement with vodu shrine priests, devotees, and villagers, anthropologists Montgomery (Wayne State Univ.) and Vannier (Univ. of Michigan-Flint) clarify the interconnected ritual economy of Gbedala, in which dedication to particular vodu deities is a source of both spiritual and material benefits." E. P. Renne, University of Michigan, CHOICE, Vol. 54 No. 12 'Eric Montgomery and Christian Vannier’s (2017) book is a careful, ethnographically rich, and historically grounded contribution to African Studies and especially to the understanding of Vodu, one of the world’s most well-known West African religious complexes (...) If encouraging readers to think in different ways is a measure of success, then I give Montgomery and Vannier’s book five stars. This is a study of tremendous value to scholars of religions in the African Atlantic World that will resonate with historians and anthropologists alike. It is sophisticated enough to speak to specialists and engaging enough to capture the attention of students and the interested public. For anyone wishing to learn more about Africa or religion, this is a superb exploration of both.' Timothy Landry, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, Journal of Religion in Africa 48 (2018).

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe collection of Aramaic magic bowls and related objects in the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin is one of the most important in the world. This book presents a description of each object and its contents, including details of users and other names, biblical quotations, parallel texts, and linguistic features. Combined with the detailed indices, the present volume makes the Berlin collection accessible for further research. Furthermore, sixteen texts, which are representative of the whole collection, are edited. This book results from an impressive collaboration between Siam Bhayro, James Nathan Ford, Dan Levene, and Ortal-Paz Saar, with further contributions by Matthew Morgenstern, Marco Moriggi, and Naama Vilozny, and will be of interest for all those engaged in the study of these fascinating objects. "The presentation, transcriptions, translations, and commentaries are excellent examples of the finest scholarship from some of the leading scholars in the study of ancient Aramaic and its dialects.... The manuscript and the bowls it introduces should be eagerly received and examined by graduate students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible, esoteric traditions of later antiquity (like the seals of Solomon, demonology, etc.), and the historical development of Aramaic." - Peter T. Lanfer, Occidental College, in: Review of Biblical Literature 8 (2019)Trade Review"The presentation, transcriptions, translations, and commentaries are excellent examples of the finest scholarship from some of the leading scholars in the study of ancient Aramaic and its dialects [...]. The manuscript and the bowls it introduces should be eagerly received and examined by graduate students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible, esoteric traditions of later antiquity (like the seals of Solomon, demonology, etc.), and the historical development of Aramaic." - Peter T. Lanfer, Occidental College, in: Review of Biblical Literature 8 (2019)Table of ContentsPreface List of Figures Abbreviations Sigla List of Contributors Introduction Text Editions I VA.2182 II VA.3854 III VA.2418 IV VA.2428 V VA.Bab.2829 + VA.unnumberedD VI VA.2269 VII VA.2510 VIII VA.2419 IX VA.2445 + VA.unnumberedC X VA.2439 + VA.unnumberedA (rim) + VA.unnumberedB (side) XI VA.2435 XII VA.3383 XIII VA.Bab.2765 XIV VA.Bab.4167i XV VA.Bab.2792 XVI VA.Bab.2764 and VA.Bab.2840 Catalogue Joined Fragments (with Different Shelf Marks) Glossary Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Mandaic Syriac List of Terms Discussed List of Divine Names, Angels, Demons, and Exemplary Figures List of Beneficiaries and Adversaries List of Biblical Quotations List of Texts Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Rites Controversies in the Early Modern World is a collection of fourteen articles focusing on debates concerning the nature of “rites” raging in intellectual circles of Europe, Asia and America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The controversy started in Jesuit Asian missions where the method of accommodation, based on translation of Christianity into Asian cultural idioms, created a distinction between civic and religious customs. Civic customs were defined as those that could be included into Christianity and permitted to the new converts. However, there was no universal consensus among the various actors in these controversies as to how to establish criteria for distinguishing civility from religion. The controversy had not been resolved, but opened the way to radical religious scepticism. Contributors are: Claudia Brosseder, Michela Catto, Gita Dharampal-Frick, Pierre Antoine Fabre, Ana Carolina Hosne, Ronnie Po-Chia Hsia, Giuseppe Marcocci, Ovidiu Olar, Sabina Pavone, István Perczel, Nicholas Standaert, Margherita Trento, Guillermo Wilde and Ines G. Županov.Trade Review"This collection of essays is a welcome contribution to the study of missionary and indigenous debates regarding non-Christian rites, precisely because this volume widens its purview to include the missionary enterprise beyond China. (...) Županov and Fabre have managed to solicit and inspire contributors who have produced a remarkably interrelated collection of chapters. (...) This volume is an important contribution to the dialogue between cultures, and between scholars of the past and present." - Anthony E. Clark, Whitworth University, Spokane, WA, Journal of Jesuit Studies Volume 6 (2019), pp. 327-330.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Maps and Illustrations List of Frequently Used Abbreviations List of Contributors The Rites Controversies in the Early Modern World: An Introduction  Ines G. Županov and Pierre Antoine Fabre Part 1: Chinese Rites and Jesuit Missions 1 Chinese Voices in the Rites Controversy: From China to Rome  Ronnie Po-chia Hsia 2 Chinese Voices in the Rites Controversy: The Role of Christian Communities  Nicolas Standaert 3 Atheism: A Word Travelling To and Fro Between Europe and China  Michela Catto Part 2: Malabar Rites between Mission and History 4 Śivadharma or Bonifacio? Behind the Scenes of the Madurai Mission Controversy (1608–1619)  Margherita Trento 5 Revisiting the Malabar Rites Controversy: A Paradigm of Ritual Dynamics in the Early Modern Catholic Missions of South India  Gita Dharampal-Frick Part 3: Mission and Inquisition 6 Rites and Inquisition: Ethnographies of Error in Portuguese India (1560–1625)  Giuseppe Marcocci 7 Jesuits and Oriental Rites in the Documents of the Roman Inquisition  Sabina Pavone Part 4: Rites Controversies: Far and Near 8 Accommodationist Strategies on the Malabar Coast: Competition or Complementarity?  Istvan Perczel 9 Orthodoxy and Politics: The Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, the Prince Mihnea III Radu of Walachia and the Great Church of Constantinople  Ovidiu Olar Part 5: Idols, Idolatry and Catholic Mission 10 Writing Rites in the Borderlands: Appropriation, Mimesis and Interaction between Jesuits and Indians in Colonial South America  Guillermo Wilde 11 “Secularizing” the Andes: The Effects of Transcultural Processes on Colonial Andean Rituals  Claudia Brosseder 12 Dios, Dio, Viracocha, Tianzhu: “Finding” and “Translating” the Christian God in the Overseas Jesuit Missions (16th–18th Centuries)  Ana Carolina Hosne Epilogues: Rites Controversies as Cultural Resources 13 A Cross Concealed Among Flowers: Interpreting a Secret Ritual in Seventeenth Century Chinese Christian Communities  Pierre Antoine Fabre 14 Against Rites: Jesuit Accommodatio as Pietist Preparatio Evangelica in Eighteenth Century South India  Ines G. Županov Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the the Ghirshman Prize by the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres! This prize was established in 1973 by the donation made by Roman Ghirshman, one of the prominent French archaeologists of Pre-Islamic Iran. It is awarded annually for a publication in the field of Pre-Islamic Iranian Studies. In Intangible Spirits and Graven Images, Michael Shenkar investigates the perception of ancient Iranian deities and their representation in the Iranian cults. This ground-breaking study traces the evolution of the images of these deities, analyses the origin of their iconography, and evaluates their significance. Shenkar also explores the perception of anthropomorphism and aniconism in ancient Iranian religious imagery, with reference to the material evidence and the written sources, and reassesses the value of the Avestan and Middle Persian texts that are traditionally employed to illuminate Iranian religious imagery. In doing so, this book provides important new insights into the religion and culture of ancient Iran prior to the Islamic conquest.Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Color Plates List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Preface 1. Introduction 2. Written Sources 3. Iconographic Pantheon 4. Intangible Spirits: Iranian Aniconism 5. Graven images: Iranian Antropomorphism 6.Conclusions Appendix. Iranian Dynasties Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Erzählte Bewegung. Narrationsstrategien und Funktionsweisen lateinischer Pilgertexte (4.-15. Jahrhundert), Susanna Fischer analyzes the function and structure of the genre of pilgrimage narratives from a literary point of view. The first part of the book is devoted to theoretical reflections and a systematic analysis of characteristic elements of pilgrimage narratives. Interpreting the texts from a narrative perspective, she focuses not only on formal characteristics but also on narrative structures and thus takes a closer look at the poetics of pilgrimage narratives. Through the detailed analysis of fourteen Latin texts about pilgrimage to the Holy Land from the 4th to the 15th century, she illustrates the development of a literary tradition with specific structural, stylistic and narrative characteristics. See inside the book.Table of ContentsVorwort Abbildungsverzeichnis Teil 1 Einleitung 1 Pilgertexte und Memorierung Teil 2 Lateinische Pilgertexte über Reisen ins Heilige Land 2 Texte  2.1 Lateinische Pilgertexte über Reisen nach Palästina: Überblick und Textauswahl  2.2 Überlegungen zur Textgattung ‚Pilgertexte‘ 3 Textmerkmale  3.1 Strukturmerkmale  3.2 Funktions- und Effektmerkmale Teil 3 Narrationsstrategien und Funktionsweisen lateinischer Pilgertexte 4 Imaginierung der Pilgerreise  4.1 Egeria, Itinerarium  4.2 Anonymus von Piacenza, Itinerarium  4.3 Adomnan, De locis sanctis  4.4 Johannes von Würzburg, Descriptio terre sancte und Theodericus, Libellus de locis sanctis  4.5 Ricoldus de Monte Crucis: Liber peregrinationis  4.6 Humbert de Dijon, Liber de locis et conditionibus Terrae Sanctae et Sepulcro und Antonius de Cremona, Itinerarium ad Sepulcrum Domini  4.7 Jacobus de Verona: Liber peregrinationis  4.8 Felix Fabri: Evagatorium Fratris Felicis in Terrae sanctae, Arabiae et Egypti peregrinationem 5 Enzyklopädische Funktion  5.1 Burchardus de Monte Sion: Descriptio terrae sanctae  5.2 Wilhelm von Boldensele, Liber de quibusdam ultramarinis partibus et praecipue de terra sancta und Ludolf von Sudheim, De itinere terre sancte liber  5.3 Symon Semeonis: Erzählen über Städte und ihre Bewohner 6 Schlussbemerkungen Literaturverzeichnis Register Personennamen Register Ortsnamen

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Locating Politics in Ethiopia's Irreecha Ritual Serawit Bekele Debele gives an account of politics and political processes in contemporary Ethiopia as manifested in the annual ritual performance. Mobilizing various sources such as archives, oral accounts, conversations, videos, newspapers, and personal observations, Debele critically analyses political processes and how they are experienced, made sense of and articulated across generational, educational, religious, gender and ethnic differences as well as political persuasions. Moreover, she engages Irreecha in relation to the hugely contested meaning making processes attached to the Thanksgiving ritual which has now become an integral part of Oromo national identity.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Masters of Psalmody (bimo) Aurélie Névot analyses the religious, political and theoretical issues of a scriptural shamanism observed in southwestern China among the Yi-Sani. Her focus is on blood sacrifices and chants based on a secret and labile writing handled only by ritualists called bimo. Through ethnographic data, the author presents the still little known bimo metaphysics and unravels the complexity of the local text-based ritual system in which the continuity of each bimo lineage relies on the transmission of manuscripts whose writing relates to lineage blood. While illuminating the usages of this shamanistic tradition that is characterized by scriptural variability between patrilineages, Aurélie Névot highlights the radical changes it is undergoing by becoming a Chinese state tradition.Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgements Illustrations and Tables Notes to the Reader Introduction 1 Countercurrent Writing: Myths and Blood Lineages in Question  Introduction: Yi-centrism versus Han-centrism  1 A Direction of Writing Contrary to Chinese Writing  2 Writing as a Mirrored Avatar and/or as an Expression of a Distinction of Identity?  3 “The Language of the Eyes”  4 Apparent Anarchy, Lineage Lability  Conclusion: a Lineage Shamanistic Tradition 2 The Textual Chants of Bimo: Voicing the Written Space  Introduction: Graphical Melodies  1 To Meow, to Screech like a Falcon, to Quack like a Wild Duck, to Utter the Chant of the Snake/Dead  2 To Write Then to Psalmodize: Becoming Bimo  3 Invisible Characters, Voice in Completion, Subtle Speech  4 Writing as a Psalmodic Chimera  5 The Written Reflexivity of Bimo Speech  Conclusion: the Acoustic Life of Bimo Writing 3 The Physicality of Bimo Books: the Manuscript as a Psalmodic Mask  Introduction: Manuscript as a Persona  1 The Space of the Book  2 A Canvas of Writing-Blood  3 Mountain-book, Hillside-pages  4 Facing “Two Cheeks”  Conclusion: the Feminine of Writing 4 The Bimo’s Bookish Journey: to Walk through Chanted Lines of Writing  Introduction: Bimo Transhumances and Shamanistic Spatialities  1 To Ride, to Walk on Four Hands, to Whirl, to Flow  2 Parallelisms  3 A Concatenation of Textual Chant  Conclusion: the Writing, Visible, as Access to the Vocalized Invisible Space 5 Bimo Ritual, nyi: Sacrificial Transsubstantiality  Introduction: Blood Sacrifices  1 Setting Up the Ritual Framework  2 “To Build the Center”  3 To Become a mo (Sacrificial Animal)  4 “The Sacrificial Animal’s Speech”  Conclusion: Bloods 6 Achema: the Yi-Sani Apologue for the Art of Speaking  Introduction: Vocal Co-Dehiscence and Social Reconfiguration  1 The Primacy of Speech  2 Chema: from Snake-Woman to Dead-Woman  3 The Mastery of Speech as a Social Issue, the Art of Speaking as Performance  4 To Imitate Nature’s Babble  Conclusion: Voices Echo 7 Bimo Religion as Intangible Cultural Heritage: the Process of Standardizing Writings and Chants  Introduction: “Bimo Religion” bìmó jiào 毕摩教  1 Bimo Qualification Certificate  2 From “Blood” to “Image”  3 Current Policies as Rooted in the 19th Century  4 To Rewrite: to Restructure the Writing Pages  5 From Lineage Writings to the Yi Writing of the Stone Forest County  6 From the Secrets of Initiated Men to State Secrets?  7 Bimo Music and Chants as Institutions of the Chinese State  Conclusion: Se in the Process of Becoming wén? An Ongoing Shamanistic Schism Conclusion Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisHakol Kol Yaakov: The Joel Roth Jubilee Volume contains articles dedicated to Rabbi Joel Roth, written by colleagues and students. Some are academic articles in the general area of Talmud and Rabbinics, while others are rabbinic responsa that treat an issue of contemporary Jewish law. These articles reflect the unique and integrated voice and vision that Joel Roth has brought to the American Jewish community.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors List of Donors Appreciation  Arnold M. Eisen, Philip Scheim and Mitchell Cohen To Our Father  Ariel Roth, on behalf of the Roth Children Bibliography of the Writings of Rabbi Joel Roth  Noah Bickart and Akiva Roth 1 Halakhah, Theology and Psychology: The Case of Maimonides and Obadiah the Proselyte  Eliezer Diamond 2 Providing References for Schools or Jobs, HM 28:1.2014  Elliott Dorff and Marc Gary 3 Mikveh and the Sanctity of Being Created Human  Susan Grossman 4 On the Recitation of “Amen” between Ge’ulah and Tefillah of the Shaharit Service  Robert A. Harris 5 Nishmat Kol Hai: A Literary and Spiritual Commentary  Jeff Hoffman 6 Mar’it Ozen: From the Ancient Water-mill to Automated Electronic Devices  Joshua Kulp and Jason Rogoff 7 Who Gets a Voice at the Table?: Eating and Blessing with Rav Naḥman  Marjorie Lehman 8 Contemporary Criteria for the Declaration of Death  Daniel S. Nevins 9 Big Data Meets the Shulḥan Arukh  Michael Pitkowsky 10 The Joint Bet Din of the Conservative Movement  Mayer E. Rabinowitz 11 Balancing Rabbinic Authority and Personal Freedom in the Modern Age  Avram Israel Reisner and Murray Singerman 12 The Death of Rabbi Eliezer: Bavli Sanhedrin 68a  Jeffrey L. Rubenstein 13 Ve-Shuv Limlakhah u-Shvut: An Older Theoretical Framework  Marcus Mordecai Schwartz 14 From Confidence to Confusion: Structure and Meaning in Psalm 27  Benjamin D. Sommer 15 Elucidating Talmudic suryaqe—an Exercise in Talmudic Lexicography  Shamma Friedman 16 Open Ye the Gates: Procedure for Returning the Torah to the Ark  Joseph H. Prouser 17 היגיון ולשון: התפתחותה של סוגית ״אתי דיבור ומבטל דיבור״  נח בנימין ביקרט 18 תשובה בעניין ביקורת המקרא  דוד גולינקין 19 עיון בסוגיית ״הוא לפדות ובנו לפדות״ (בכורות מט ע״ב)  י״ש מילגראם 20 רבי משה יהודה עבאס—חכם שנשכח: על קורותיו וכתביו שטרם ראו אור  שמואל גליק Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Western Wall—Judaism’s holiest site—occupies a prominent position in contemporary Jewish and Israeli discourse, current events, and local politics. In The Western Wall: The Dispute over Israel's Holiest Jewish Site, 1967–2000, Kobi Cohen-Hattab and Doron Bar offer a detailed exploration of the Western Wall plaza’s evolution in the late twentieth century. The examination covers the role of archaeology in defining the space, the Western Wall’s transformation as an Israeli and Jewish symbol, and the movement to open it to a variety of Jewish denominations. The book studies the central processes and shifts that took place at the Western Wall during the three decades that followed the Six-Day War—a relatively short yet crucial chapter in Jerusalem's extensive history.Table of ContentsForeword List of Figures Introduction  1 Pilgrimage and Holy Places  2 National Sentiment and Holy Places  3 Research Methods and Approach  4 Western Wall Scholarship and the Present Volume 1 The History of the Western Wall before the Six-Day War  1 The Development of the Western Wall as a Holy Place  2 The Western Wall in the Modern Era (1799–1967) 2 Archaeology and Sanctity at the Western Wall and Its Surroundings  1 Razing the Mughrabi Quarter  2 The Battle over the Demolition of Homes in the Abu Saud Quarter  3 Archaeology near the Southwestern Corner of the Temple Mount  4 The Ministry of Religions and the Western Wall Tunnel 3 Politics in the Planning of the Western Wall Plaza  1 The Creation of the Temporary Plaza  2 The Design of the Western Wall Plaza  3 The Safdie Plan and the Related Disputes  4 The Shimron Committee Conclusions 4 The Western Wall as a National Israeli Symbol  1 Between State and Religion, or, Who Is Responsible for the Western Wall?  2 A Holy Place or a National-Historical Site?  3 The IDF and the Western Wall  4 Mass Prayer and Expressions of National Solidarity 5 Non-Orthodox Jewish Denominations and the “Women of the Wall”: a Struggle for the Right to Pray at the Western Wall  1 The Struggle over the Partition at the Western Wall Plaza  2 Reform Jewry at the Western Wall, July 1968  3 The Non-Orthodox, the Women of the Wall, and the Right to Pray in the Western Wall Plaza  4 Robinson’s Arch as an Alternative Prayer Site Summary and Conclusions: Past, Present, and Future at the Western Wall Plaza  1 Past and Present at the Western Wall Plaza  2 Planning and Development: How Should the Plaza Look?  3 Nation, State, and Religion at the Western Wall Plaza  4 Who Owns the Western Wall?  5 Past, Present, and Future Interwoven Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn previous studies of South Asian Tantric ritual, scholars tend to focus on one region or context. For the first time, Tantra, Ritual Performance and Politics in Nepal and Kerala: Embodying the Goddess-clan offers a comparative approach to Tantric mediumship as observed in two locales: Navadurgā rituals in Bhaktapur, Nepal, and Teyyāṭṭam in North Kerala. In this book, Matthew Martin advances a new theory of ritual, which spotlights the way dancer-mediums embody medieval goddess-clans and ancestor deities, through offerings of food and sacrifice, that synchronize their denizens with the land in spiralling web-like ritual networks. Uniquely interdisciplinary in style, this study synthesizes cultural history, ethnography, and theory to explore the continuities – historical, societal, and political – that characterize these ritual traditions across the subcontinent.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Abbreviations Style, Format, and Interview Transcriptions Introduction: Methodology and Context  1 Folk Śākta Performances: Sovereignty, Goddesses, and Macro-Clans  2 Teyyāṭṭam and Navadurgā Compared: The Research Process  3 Methodological Orientations  4 Fieldwork Locations & Informant Introductions  5 Contextual Background Part 1 1 Introducing the Southern Case Study—Teyyāṭṭam, Northern Malabar, Kerala  1 Ancestors, Land, and Divinities (Teyyam) in Northern Kerala  2 Lineages, Clans, and Ritual Kinship  3 Blood Sacrifices, Offerings, and Swords  4 Cosmology, Metaphysics, and Textual History  5 Caste Identities, Politics, and Performance in North Malabar 2 Introducing the Northern Case Study—Navadurgā, Bhaktapur, Nepal  1 Hindu-Buddhist Tantra in Newar Society: The Case of Bhaktapur  2 Bhaktapur City: Blood Symbols, Goddess-Clan, Space, and Society  3 Monsoon, Power, and the Goddess-Clan: Banmala Dancer-Mediums during the Ritual Cycle  4 Blood Sacrifice, Mohani, and the Navadurgā Cycle  5 Cosmology, Tantric Texts, and Newar Hinduism in Bhaktapur  6 Politics and Caste Structures in Bhaktapur Part 2 3 Dancer-Medium Communities and Ritual Kinship  1 Introduction  2 Dancer-Medium Communities: Teyyāṭṭam and Navadurgā  3 Teyyāṭṭam  4 Navadurgā  5 Conclusion 4 History and Assimilation in Tantric Cosmology  1 Introduction  2 Teyyāṭṭam  3 Navadurgā  4 Conclusion 5 Sacrifice, Earth Cycles, and Self-Reflexive Affect  1 Introduction  2 Teyyāṭṭam  3 Navadurgā  4 Conclusion 6 Politics, Ritual Performance, and Caste  1 Introduction  2 Marxist-Influenced Politics and Ritual Performance in Postcolonial South Asia  3 Teyyāṭṭam  4 Navadurgā  5 Conclusion Conclusion  1 Teyyāṭṭam and Navadurgā Compared: Revisited  2 Dancer-Medium Communities and Ritual Kinship  3 History and Metaphysical Underlays of Folk Śākta Ritual  4 Blood Sacrifice and Self-Reflexive Affect  5 Politics and Caste Structure Glossary of Key Terms Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis edition gives a transcription of Anklesaria’s text, an English translation, a Gujarati-English glossary, an introduction to Gujarati-language works on ritual directions and a study on the relationship between Anklesaria’s text and the liturgical manuscripts in Yasna 3–8. Unlocking the meaning and performative aspects in this first-ever edition in any European language, of these core Zoroastrian rituals in India, Céline Redard and Kerman Dadi Daruwalla open up the Indian tradition for future research and highlight its importance.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBringing together the innovative work of scholars from a variety of disciplines, Matsuri and Religion explores festivals in Japan through their interconnectedness to religious life in both urban and rural communities. Each chapter, informed by extensive ethnographic engagement, focuses on a specific festival to unpack the role of religion in collective ritualized activities. With attention to contemporary performance and historical transformation, the study sheds light on understandings of change, identity and community, as well as questions regarding intangible cultural heritage, tourism, and the intersection of religion with politics. Read as a whole, the volume provides a uniquely multi-sited ethnographic, historical, and theoretical study, contributing to discourses on religion and festival/ritual/performance in Japan and elsewhere around the globe.Table of ContentsPreface Notes on Contributors List of Figures 1 Introduction Matsuri and Religion in Japan  Michael Dylan Foster (, , ) and Elisabetta Porcu (, , ) 2 Displaying Mythological Characters Changes in the Meanings of Decorations in the Sawara Grand Festival in Chiba, Japan  Tsukahara Shinji 塚原伸治 (, , )Jude Pultz 3 Gion Matsuri in Kyoto A Multilayered Religious Phenomenon  Elisabetta Porcu (, , ) 4 Sannō Matsuri Fabricating Festivals in Modern Japan  John Breen (, , ) 5 Eloquent Plasticity Vernacular Religion, Change, and Namahage  Michael Dylan Foster (, , ) 6 Kuma Matsuri Bear Hunters as Intermediaries between Humans and Nature  Scott Schnell (, , ) 7 Fire, Prayer, and Purification Early Winter Events and Folk Beliefs in Kyoto  Yagi Tōru 八木透 (, , ) 8 Encounters with the Past Fractals and Atmospheres at Kasuga Wakamiya Onmatsuri  Andrea Giolai (, , ) 9 Demographic Change in Contemporary Rural Japan and Its Impact on Ritual Practices  Susanne Klien (, , ) 10 Photographic Essay: Secret Eroticism and Lived Religion The Art of Matsuri Photography  Michael Dylan Foster (, , ) and Ogano Minoru 小賀野実 (Photographer, Saitama City, Japan) Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is a multi-faceted study of the Srōš Drōn, comprising chapters 3 to 8 of the Yasna ceremony, the core ritual of the Zoroastrian religion. It provides a critical edition produced with the electronic tools of the project The Multimedia Yasna, and a study of the performative aspects of the Srōš Drōn both through the lens of the ritual directions and in comparison with the Drōn Yašt ceremony. By analysing the Srōš Drōn both as a text attested in manuscripts and as a ritual performance, Céline Redard applies a new approach to unlock the meaning of these chapters of the Yasna.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEliezer-Zusman of Brody: The Early Modern Synagogue Painter and His World discusses Jewish cultural and artistic migration from Eastern Europe to German lands in the first half of the eighteenth century. Focusing on Eliezer-Zusman of Brody, who painted synagogues in the Franconia area, hitherto neglected biographical aspects and work methods of religious artisans in Eastern and Central Europe during the early modern period are revealed. What begins as a study of synagogue paintings in Franconia presents an unexpectedly intensive glimpse into the lives and sacred products of painters at the periphery of Jewish Ashkenazi existence.Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Plates 1 The Painter Eliezer-Zusman of Brody  1 Signature Formulas  2 Origin and Vocational Training  3 Status and Personal Life  4 Itinerary 2 Eliezer-Zusman at Work  1 Underpainting, Binding Materials, and Pigments  2 Preparation of the Substrate and Color Laying Order  3 Copying Models  4 Inscriptions  5 Planning and Layout of Compositions  6 Textual Sources of Painting Themes 3 Eliezer-Zusman’s Workshop—the Unterlimpurg and Steinbach Synagogues  1 Underpainting, Binding Materials, and Pigments  2 Preparation of the Substrate and Color Laying Order  3 Copying Visual Models: Bechhofen and Horb Synagogues  4 Shared Visual Models: Kirchheim Synagogue  5 Copying Visual Models: Miscellanea  6 Inscriptions  7 Planning and Layout of the Composition  8 Textual Sources of Painting Themes  9 Re-examination: The Attribution of the Unterlimpurg and Steinbach synagogue Paintings to Eliezer-Zusman 4 Eliezer-Zusman’s Workshop—the Colmberg Synagogue  1 Underpainting  2 Copying Models  3 Consistent Placement of Motifs within the Decoration  4 Re-examination: The Attribution of the Colmberg Synagogue Paintings to Eliezer-Zusman 5 Continuing the Tradition of Synagogue Interior Paintings in Southern Germany and Alsace in the Eighteenth Century  1 The Georgensgmünd Synagogue  2 The Odenbach Synagogue  3 The Traenheim Synagogue  4 The Horkheim Synagogue  5 Summary Epilogue Bibliography Plates Index of Names Index of Places

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2021 Sheikh Zayed Book Award (category: Arab Culture in Other Languages) Browse a preview of Arabic Oration: Art and Fuction. In Arabic Oration: Art and Function, a narrative richly infused with illustrative texts and original translations, Tahera Qutbuddin presents a comprehensive theory of this preeminent genre in its foundational oral period, 7th-8th centuries AD. With speeches and sermons attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad, ʿAlī, other political and military leaders, and a number of prominent women, she assesses types of orations and themes, preservation and provenance, structure and style, orator-audience authority dynamics, and, with the shift from an oral to a highly literate culture, oration’s influence on the medieval chancery epistle. Probing the genre’s echoes in the contemporary Muslim world, she offers sensitive tools with which to decode speeches by mosque-imams and political leaders today.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2021 Sheikh Zayed Book Award (category: Arab Culture in Other Languages) "This erudite study is a major breakthrough in our understanding of Arabic oratory. Qutbuddin has painstakingly reconstructed this vast tradition in all its diverse guises and contexts, from the battlefield to the pulpit, from political to legislative speeches. She presents its complexities with lucid precision and scrupulous attention to detail—and it is a truly pioneering work for Qutbuddin’s discussion of women’s orations and her survey of contemporary sermons." - James Montgomery, Sir Thomas Adams Professor of Arabic, University of Cambridge “For a scholar of Western traditions of political thought, this book is a revelation. The Western canon also begins with oratory and with the ideas of the relation between public speech and politics that lay at the heart of Greek practice. To come to understand how the Arabic tradition thinks of language’s role in shaping communal and political life will significantly advance the capacity of scholars to engage with the political discourse of the Arabic speaking world. This project is of fundamental importance and should transform the capacity of the non-Islamic and Islamic worlds to communicate with each other about political subjects.” - Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard, and Director, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics “Arabic Oration: Art and Function undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the Arabic oration, a prominent genre of Arabic literature that has roots in ancient Arab oral tradition. Tahera Qutbuddin presents a masterful survey of the genre, identifying the major sub-categories of the genre and analyzing their formal conventions, themes, rhetorical strategies, and aesthetics. Drawing on examples attributed to orators from the pre-Islamic period, key figures of the nascent Muslim community, and commanders, governors, and other prominent figures of early Islamic history, including women, she addresses the reception of orations and the important functions they served in political, social, and religious life. This ground-breaking work provides essential background for an understanding of Arabic literary history, early Islamic political history, and the history of the Arabic language.” - Devin J. Stewart, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Emory University "Pious sermons, stirring battle speeches, chilling political rhetoric by stern governors, splendid literary artefacts: they are the subject of this magisterial book on Arabic oratory in which Tahera Qutbuddin deals with Arabic speeches as they have been recorded in the early centuries of Islam. Their stylistic and structural characteristics, their oral nature, their function, their influence even on present-day Friday sermons in Muslim countries, all this is expertly handled, as is the controversial matter of their authenticity. This book about an important but somewhat neglected genre is essential reading for all students of early Islam, its history and its literature." - Geert Jan van Gelder, Laudian Professor of Arabic Emeritus, University of Oxford "This study has meticulously unearthed the hitherto under-explored elements of an oral cultural heritage of immense value. It is a monumental contribution towards filling the lacuna in scholarly research about Arabic oration in the wider context of world culture, and indeed represents the first detailed investigation of the oldest verbal performances in the Arabic tradition before and after Islam. For those who are interested in the development of the discourse on orality and literacy, as well as audience-speaker interaction in the public sphere, Qutbuddin’s book is a truly indispensable resource." - Amidu Olalekan Sanni, Professor of African and Middle Eastern Studies, and Vice Chancellor, Fountain University, Osogbo, Nigeria in: Journal of Arabic Literature, Volume 52 Issue 3-4(2021), 425–436. "Qutbuddin’s work will stand as a definitive study of Arabic oration that will surely encourage future scholars to attend to the powerful words that once were uttered from Friday pulpits or from generals leading troops into battle." - Maurice Pomerantz, New York University Abu Dhabi in: Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, Volume 117 Issue 2 (2022). "Arabic Oration is a magisterial study of early Arabic oratory that is mainly aimed at specialists in the field of Arabic literature. Due to its comprehensive nature, it can serve as an important resource for scholars of early Islamic history. Thanks to the long quotations from primary texts translated into English, it provides much comparative material for scholars in other fields, such as orality, rhetoric, and communication studies. The close analyses of individual texts can also be used in the classroom context. I look forward to seeing the new interest in the study of early Arabic oratory that Qutbuddin’s Arabic Oration should spark." - Pamela Klasova, Macalester College, St Paul, USA in: Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā, Volume 30 (2022), 644-653.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations Presentation Introduction 1 The Preservation of Orations Mnemonics-Based Oral Transmission, Supplementary Writing, and the Question of Authenticity 2 Structure of the Oration Contextualization of Conventional Components to Strengthen a Religio-Political Message 3 Style of the Oration The Aesthetics of Orality and Persuasion 4 Orators and Audience of the Oration Dynamics of Public Space, Authority, and Negotiation 5 The Sermon of Pious Counsel Human Mortality, a Life of Virtue, and Preparation for the Hereafter 6 The Friday and Eid Sermon Ritual and Piety, Politics and War 7 The Battle Oration Horses and Swords, Strategies and Ethics, Urgings and Prayers 8 The Political Speech Succession and Accession, Control and Policy 9 Additional Categories Legislative, Theological, Oracular, and Marriage Orations 10 Women’s Orations Kinship-Based Authority and Silence-Breaking Trauma 11 The Oration’s Influence on Arabic Prose Viewed in a Hybrid Oral-Written Continuum 12 The Influence of the Classical Arabic Oration on Contemporary Muslim Sermons and Speeches Appendix of Orations: References and Index Glossary 1: Early Arabic Orators Glossary 2: Arabic Literary Terms Bibliography General Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAt the center of this book stands a text-critical edition of three chapters of the Gāthās, exemplifying the editorial methodology developed by the “Multimedia Yasna” (MUYA) project and its application to the Old Avestan parts of the Yasna liturgy. Proceeding from this edition, the book explores aspects of the transmission and ritual embedding of the text, and of its late antique exegetical reception in the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) tradition. Drawing also on a contemporary performance of the Yasna that was filmed by MUYA in Mumbai in 2017, the book aims to convey a sense of the Avestan language in its role as a central element of continuity around which the Zoroastrian tradition has evolved from its prehistoric roots up to the modern era.

Read more less

Book SynopsisVibrant worship music is part of the Charismatic liturgy all around the world, and has become in many ways the hallmark of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity. Despite its centrality, scholarly interest in the theological and ritual significance of worship for pentecostal spirituality has been sparse, not least in Africa. Combining rich theoretical and theological insight with an in-depth case study of worship practices in Nairobi, Kenya, this interdisciplinary study offers a significant contribution to knowledge and is bound to influence scholarly discussions for years to come. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in Pentecostal worship, ritual, and spirituality.Trade ReviewThis work is an excellent study of lived theology. In Björkander’s analysis, the theological riches of Pentecostal spirituality come to the fore. - Mika Vähäkangas, Professor, Director of Polin Institute of Åbo Akademi University Björkander here makes a significant contribution to a pentecostal theology of worship that accounts for the various affective, performative, and embodied dimensions of pentecostal spirituality, enabled through meticulous ethnographic foregrounding of two charismatic East African congregations and their ritual practice. This is practical theology at its best, lifting up the many (disciplinary) tongues and (linguistic) accents of global pentecostal-charismatic Christianity. - Amos Yong, Professor of Theology and Mission, Fuller SeminaryTable of ContentsPrelude List of Figures and Tables 1 Introduction  1 The Task at Hand  1.1 Background  1.2 Introducing the Research Study  1.3 Introducing the Researcher  2 Worship in Pentecostal Spirituality: Previous Research and Study Rationale  2.1 Ritual Perspectives  2.2 Theological Perspectives  2.3 Congregational Music Perspectives  2.4 Africanist Perspectives  2.5 Study Rationale  3 Step by Step through This Book Part 1 Theory and Method 2 Worship, Ritual, and Pentecostal Spirituality-as-Theology  1 A Spirituality Approach to Pentecostalism  1.1 The Pentecostal-Charismatic Tradition  1.2 Pentecostal Spirituality as Theology  1.3 Worship as Orthodoxa  2 A Practice Approach to Theology  2.1 Starting with Practice  2.2 Researching the Lived and the Local  2.3 Worship as a Modus Theologicus  3 A Ritual Approach to Worship  3.1 The Lacuna in Pentecostal Studies  3.2 Perspectives in Ritual Theory  3.3 Embodiment and the Study of Pentecostal Ritual  3.4 Worship as ‘The Rite of Worship and Praise’  4 A Combination of Approaches 3 Research Design and Method  1 Case Study Design  1.1 Critical, Multiple-Case, Embedded-Case Study Design  2 The Fieldwork Journey  2.1 Choosing a Topic, a Method and a Field  2.2 Two Phases of Fieldwork and Two Cases  3 The Data-Collection Maze  3.1 Observation and Participation  3.2 Field Notes, Audio-Visual Recordings  3.3 Interviews  3.4 Lyrics  3.5 Research Surveys  3.6 Summary of Collected Data  4 The Quagmire of Analysis  4.1 Analysing Lyrics in Search of Theology: A Special Excursion  5 Ethical Considerations  5.1 Access, Anonymity and Informed Consent  5.2 Copyright Issues  5.3 The Role of the Researcher Part 2 Cases and Context 4 Urban, Progressive Melting Pots  1 Urban Pentecostalism in Kenya  1.1 Historical Background  1.2 One Charismatic Community, Two Influential Church Families  2 Introducing Woodley and Mavuno  2.1 citam Woodley  2.2 Mavuno Church Bellevue  2.3 Demographic Profiles and Affiliation  3 Situating Woodley and Mavuno Theologically  3.1 Pentecostal or Evangelical?  3.2 Cultural, Theological, and Liturgical Melting Pots  Interlude  1 Sunday Worship in Mavuno Church, Bellevue, January 2014  2 Sunday Worship in citam Woodley, January 2014 Part 3 Worship in Pentecostal Spirituality-as-Theology 5 Orthopraxis: Worship as Ritualized Practice  1 Ritual Dynamics in Worship  1.1 Music and Singing within the Larger Ritual System  1.2 The Rhythm of Sunday Services  1.3 The Rhythm and Flow of Worship and Praise  2 Core Elements of Worship  2.1 Ritual Preparation and Production  2.2 Ritual Actors and Groups  2.3 Ritual Objects and Places  2.4 Ritual Languages  3 Conclusion: the Ritualization of Pentecostal Worship 6 Orthopathos: Worship as Embodied Practice  1 Bodies together as One: Why Community Matters  1.1 Nurturing Community through Worship  1.2 Conflicts, Power Play, and the Body of Christ  2 Bodies in Motion: Why Movement Matters  2.1 Kinesthetic Dimensions of Worship  2.2 Dance, Spirituality, and Liturgy  3 Bodies Dressed for Service: Why Clothes Matter  3.1 Dress Codes and Holiness Ideals in Worship  3.2 The Social Skin: When Style is Everything  4 Bodies Feeling and Not Feeling: Why Emotion Matters  4.1 Affective Dimensions of Worship  4.2 The Emotions of a Worship Leader  5 Conclusion: The Embodied Character of Worship 7 Orthopistis: Worship as Theologizing Practice  1 What Does the Bible Sing? Singing the Scriptures  1.1 Emic Voices on the Bible in Worship  1.2 Tabernacle and Throne: How Selected Passages Recur in Song  1.3 A Psalter-Inspired Typology of Worship Songs  2 Christology as the Hub of Pentecostal Theology  2.1 Patterns of Trinitarian Thought in Contemporary Worship  2.2 Jesus Is the Centre of It All: Not the Spirit  2.3 Christ as (Newborn, Crucified, and Triumphant) Saviour and King  3 Conclusion: Theologizing through Worship 8 Orthodoxa: A Rhythm That Connects Our Hearts with God  1 Pentecostal Spirituality-as-Theology Revisited  1.1 Theoretical Remarks on This Study’s Contribution to Knowledge  2 Worship as Unio Mystica  2.1 Transformation as a Key Concept in Pentecostal Spirituality  2.2 Songs That Carry Salvific Transformation  2.3 Sung Worship as a Mediator of the Divine-Human Relationship  2.4 Becoming Fearless Influencers: The Missional Goal for Worship  3 BTW, What Is Worship?  3.1 Worship Is a Lifestyle: It Encompasses Everything  3.2 Worship Is Biblical: It Is Modelled on Scripture  3.3 Worship Is More Than Music, Yet Music Is Critical for Worship  4 Living a Life of Love: Worship as Orthodoxa Appendix 1: Interview Guides and Examples Appendix 2: Observation Guides Appendix 3: Lyrical Content Analysis Guide Appendix 4: Research Surveys Appendix 5: Research Survey Results, Mavuno Church Appendix 6: Research Survey Results, CITAM Woodley Appendix 7: Primary Sources Bibliography Index of Scripture Index of Subjects

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less