Description
Book SynopsisThis collection of essays by seven highly respected scholars is a straightforward narrative of real worldintellectual, commercial, spiritual, philosophical, scientific, aestheticcreative engagement among Jews, Muslims, and some Christians in daily life in Spain and around the Mediterranean. History as Prelude is a major contribution to the Israeli-Arab peace process because it underminesin fact, blows awaythe efforts of propagandists who serve governments or political movements to negate the reality of the Arab-Jewish relationship in the medieval Mediterranean. The contributors, in unassuming, well-researched scholarship have erected a wall protecting historical reality from distortion, providing irrefutableand often delightfulexamples of creative coexistence.
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface: Recovering History: A Psychodynamic Approach to Peacemaking Chapter 2 1. Jewish and Islamic Life in the Middle Ages: Through the Window of the Cairo Geniza Chapter 3 2. Sharing Science: Jews, Muslims and Practical Science in the Medieval Islamic World Chapter 4 3. "The Battle of Alfuente" by Samuel the Nagid Chapter 5 4. On Muslim Curiosity and the Historiography of the Jews of Yemen Chapter 6 5. Doctors without Borders: Medicine in the Mediterranean World Chapter 7 6. Merchants and Cross-Cultural Commerce in the Medieval Mediterranean World Chapter 8 7. Sufism and Philosophy in Muslim Spain and the Medieval Mediterranean World
