Damascus after the Muslim Conquest: Text and Image in Early Islam

217 Pages·2011·2.42 MB·English

by  Nancy Khalek

Damascus after the
Muslim Conquest
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Damascus after the
Muslim Conquest
Text and Image in Early Islam
(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:2)
Nancy Khalek
1
1

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Copyright © 2011 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Khalek, Nancy A., 1977–
Damascus after the Muslim conquest : text and image in early Islam / Nancy Khalek.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-19-973651-5
1. Damascus (Syria)—History. 2. Syria—History—634-750. 3. Syria—Civilization. I. Title.
DS99.D3K43 2011
956.91'4402—dc22 2010039645
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For my parents
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
S cholarship can be a solitary business, but no academic really works alone.
Th is project began as a dissertation thesis, completed in September 2006 at
Princeton University, which was supervised by Peter Brown, Michael Cook,
William Chester Jordan, and Fred Donner. From them I received guidance,
correction, and above all, exceptional models for how to approach history,
and the history of religion and culture in particular. At Princeton, I also
benefi ted enormously from the teaching and friendship of Slobodan Ćurčić
and, through the Program in Hellenic Studies, Dimitri Gondicas. In the
intervening years, both the project and the resulting product changed
enormously, but I continued to receive my committee's advice, and their
mentorship extended way past the routines of the usual advisor-advisee
relationship. I am deeply grateful for their continued support. I am also
grateful for the conversations and critiques that have been available from
my colleagues in the Department of Religious Studies at Brown University,
especially Susan Harvey and Ross Kraemer, who were always happy to read
a portion of the book or to stop at any given moment for an impromptu
talk about history and texts in late antiquity.
It is impossible to acknowledge properly all the colleagues and friends
who study late antique and early Islamic Syria and whose work has given
me the space and opportunity to explore old questions in new ways. In the
process of contributing a book to such a lively and fascinating fi eld, I have
enjoyed being in conversation with many whom I admire immensely. A few
people have exhibited special generosity and encouragement over the years,
however, namely Paul Cobb, Arietta Papaconstantinou, Hugh Kennedy,
Chase Robinson, Joel Walker and Suleiman Mourad. On a sadder note, I
would like to acknowledge my colleague and friend Tom Sizgorich, whose
untimely passing happened just as I was fi nishing work on this book. I con-
sider myself lucky to have been able to learn from him, but also, at confer-
ences over the years, to have enjoyed his sweet and aff able company. For
his unfailing kindness and expertise when I needed help with obtaining
permission for images, I wish to thank Colum Hourihane of the Princeton
( viii ) Acknowledgments
Index of Christian Art. Th anks also to Lutz Ilisch of the University of
Tübingen for being so willing to share his own images of Umayyad coins,
and to Nancy Sevcenko for sharing her advice on manuscripts. I am also
grateful to my research assistant Jesse Morgan, for proofreading drafts.
Th e staff at Oxford University Press was patient and meticulous when it
came to production of the book, and I am especially grateful to my editor
Cynthia Read, who supported this project from the very beginning. For the
camaraderie, commiseration, and all around good cheer, thank you, Intisar
Rabb, John Kuhner, Mark Wallace, Carey Wallace, Katherine Marsengill,
Angela Gleason, Catherine Nisbett, Kunal Parker, Asma Sayeed, Rashid
Alvi, Samantha Papaioiannou, Stratis Papaioannou, Yumna Masarwa,
Salim Abbad, Nicola Denzey, and Tal Lewis. Finally, I want to acknowledge
my family, Mohamed, Hayam, Nahla, and Sharif. I am grateful to them all
for pretending to understand, even when they didn’t, why I was alternately
stressed or unavailable for weeks at a time, for being supportive of my
choices and my work no matter what, and for all around just putting up
with me on a regular basis. I know it isn’t always easy!
CONTENTS
Dates and Abbreviations xi
1. Narrative and Early Islamic History 3
2. Telling Stories: Historical Texts in Early Islamic Syria 39
3. Icons: John the Baptist and Sanctified Spaces in Early
Islamic Syria 85
4. Iconic Texts: Damascus in the Medieval Imagination 135
Afterword 175
Selected Bibliography 1 81
Index 195