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This volume deals with the religious practices of the family in the ancientBabylonian, Syrian, and Israelite civilizations. On the basis of a wealth ofdocuments from both the private and the literary realm, the book gives anexhaustive description and analysis of the rites of the ancestor cult and thedevotion to local gods. The author demonstrates the role of these two aspectsof family religion in the identity construction of its followers. The sectiondealing with Israel pays particular attention to the relationship betweenfamily religion and state religion. The emergence of the state religion underKing Saul marked the beginning of a competition between civil and privatereligion. Though the two had great influence upon each other, the tensionbetween them was never resolved. A study of their interaction proves to be akey for the understanding of the development of Israelite religion during themonarchic period.The book is of particular importance to biblical scholars, Assyriologists,and all those interested in the history of ancient Near Eastern religion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Call To Reevaluate The Seleucid Empire
This compilation on the Seleucid Empire calls for an interdisciplinary approach to studying the largest of the dynastic empires to follow Alexander The Great.The text is more of a scholarly review addressed primarily to people working in the field of classical studies, archeology, and anthropology.Although perhaps not a book that would be of interest to the casual reader of history, Susan Sherwin-White and Amelie Kurt are two of few historians who have bothered to question the commonly accepted theories as to the evolution of the Seleucid Empire.

Susan Sherwin-White and Amelie Kurt evaluate new findings that were made indicating that the Seleucid Empire was not simply a Greek culture and state that arose out of thin air to impose itself upon the Persian Empire's former subjects.Previous scholars have approached the subject with a flawed paradigm in concluding that Seleucid monarchs reinvented the wheel after Alexander's defeat of Persia by imposing a ruthless policy of colonialism and maintaining a society segregated between Greeks and non-Greeks.As a result, historians have been looking only at artifacts and texts reflecting Greek culture or values to make their conclusions while ignoring everything else.White and Khurt, along with respected scholars such as Erich Gruen, present and interpret new findings in numismatic, archeological, and textual areas to dispute this false paradigm such as cuneiform scripts used by Greeks, architectural fusion of Greek and Eastern styles, etc.

As with their other book 'From Samarkhand to Sardis', this book is a major contribution to the study of the Seleucids as previous scholars such as Tarn simply didn't have the knowledge of the major archeological finds that were uncovered after he published his works in the mid-twentieth century. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is seriously in need of important and recent information on the Seleucid empire. The book is hard to find and I recommend you get it as soon as it becomes available. It's possible that another edition is on the way but that may be long in the future if ever at all. Again,the book is not suited for the casual reader as one would at least need to have a thorough background on Alexander The Great if not Persian and Greek history: the book is primarily targeted towards an academic audience and not the general reader. The book is also expensive at $50+ and not really in the price range of someone who only has a limited interest in the subject. A very good book to go with this one is A. K. Narain's 'Coin Types of the Indo-Greek Kings" that focuses on the Seleucid kingdoms of the Indus valley and Bactria: its several studies focus primarily on numismatic evidence along with archeological and literary sources.The works and theories of the authors as to the development and administration of the Seleucid kingdoms complement each other and therefore make a great pair of books to own.


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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Diplomatic Conferences in Syria, Events in Damascus, Festivals in Syria, 2008 Arab Capital of Culture, Thursday of the Dead, Kha B-Nisan, 2002 West Asian Football Federation Championship, Dox Box, Waba Champions Cup 2004, World Military Cup 1977, 1992 Pan Arab Games, Damascus International Film Festival, 2008 Arab League Summit, 1976 Pan Arab Games. Excerpt: The 2008 Arab Capital of Culture was chosen to be Damascus, Syria. The Arab Capital of Culture is an initiative undertaken by UNESCO, under the Cultural Capitals Program to promote and celebrate Arab culture and encourage cooperation in the Arab region. The preparation for the festivity began in February 2007 with the establishing of the Administrative Committee for Damascus Arab Capital of Culture" by a presidential decree. The committee was headed by the well known professor and scholar Hanan Qassab Hassan, dean of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus. She was the General Secretary of the event until its closing ceremony. The committee included a board of directors comprising: Additionally, there was an advisory board of respected intellectuals, artists and literati including such figures as Adunis, Asaad Fidda, Abed Azrie and Ghassan al-Maleh. The festivities were officially launched on January 18, 2008 with fireworks and a spectacular visual and light show at the Umayyad Square. The opening ceremony included levitated dancing, musical segments, floating acrobatics, and hot air balloons. The ceremony was attended by the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Foreign guests included the Turkish prime minister Abdullah Gul, the Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa and the secretary general of the Arab League Amr Moussa. The Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad, attended a concert at the... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=21220932 ... Read more

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This is a NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A561953. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: The collapse of the Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union marked the end of a painful era in history. As the 2Oth century draws to a close, mankind is busy establishing a common world in which nations can understand each other more easily than in the Cold War. Peace, democracy, and free market economy are the cornerstones of this new order. However, Syria is still anti-democratic, economically backward and a conflict-prone state. The main thesis of this work is that Syrian political and strategic culture is one of the major obstacles to Syria's transformation into a democratic, peaceful and prosperous country. The most immediate problem faced by Syria is the urgency for liberalization at home and peace in the region. However, President Hafiz al-Asad's personal way of thinking, the Ba'th ideology, and the political system all impede Syria from undergoing necessary structural transformations and concluding the Middle East peace process with a viable peace agreement. This is because liberalization and peace put the survival of Asad's dictatorship at stake. As a result, it is plausible to argue that Syria will not be a partner of the new world order as long as Asad or his clique remains in power. ... Read more

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A study of religious thought and practice across a broad social spectrum, but within a well-defined historical context, this book is an interdisciplinary endeavor that incorporates the tools of philology, social-history and historical-anthropology. ... Read more

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The legal treatment of sexual behavior is a subject that receives little scholarly attention in the field of Middle East women's studies. Important questions about the relationship between sexuality and the law and about the societies enforcing that relationship are rarely addressed in the current literature. Elyse Semerdjian's "Off the Straight Path" takes a bold step toward filling that gap, offering a fascinating look at the historical progression of Islamic law's treatment of illicit sex.

Semerdjian provides a comprehensive review of the concept of zina, sexual indiscretion, exploring the diverse interpretation of zina crime as presented in a variety of sources from the Qur'an and hadith to legal literature. She then delves into the history of legal responses to zina within the specific community of Aleppo, Syria. Drawing on a wealth of shari 'a court records, Semerdjian brings to life Syrian society during the Ottoman period. With vivid detail, she describes specific women's lives and experiences as their cases are presented before the court. Semerdjian argues that the actual treatment of zina crimes in the courts differs substantially from sentences prescribed by codifed Islamic jurisprudence. In contrast to the violent corporal punishments dictated in the Islamic legal code, the courts often punished crimes of sexual indiscretion with nonviolent sentences, such as removal from the community. Employing exceptional insight, "Off the Straight Path" presents a powerful challenge to the traditional view of Islamic law, enabling a richer understanding of Islamic society. ... Read more

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This book offers a clear insight into the daily life in Tall Bazi (Syria). Based on the definition of a perfect house - recreated by archaeological methods and leaning on elements of natural sciences, ethnographical analysis and cuneiform texts - the author examines the functions of separated discoveries and installations, as well as of complete houses. German text. ... Read more