Week 1
HW
1) The 4th century Nemara inscription of Imru’ al-Qays: what does it not tell us about Arab identity? (see Hoyland p 219, 222, 234, 239 and Plate 13)
2) map: outline Hadramawt; precisely locate in their corresponding modern locations: Palmyra, Dura-Europos, Petra, Gaza, Timna’, Adulis, Najran (a quick Google search should identify the modern names of obsolete antique names)
reading questions: How are “Arabia” and “Religions” both contested terms? How does Teixidor define “traditional religions” and what practices and evidence are associated with them? According to Potts, was there just one incense route? According to Hoyland, to when can we date the emergency of Arab identity and what is the evidence for it?
- Teixidor, The Pagan God, chapter 1
2. Hoyland, “Epigraphy and the Emergency of Arab Identity”
3. Potts, “Trans-Arabian Routes of the Pre-Islamic Period” read parts of intro “On Routes, Ancient and Modern” pp 127-28, Parthian era pp 133-35, Sassanian era pp 135-36, and start orienting yourself on the maps and how to use them
4. Met Museum thematic essays on trade routes: “Trade between Arabia and the empires of Rome and Asia,” “Trade between the Romans and the empires of Asia,” “Nabataean kingdom and Petra,” “Palmyra,” “Monumental architecture and stela of the Aksumite empire”
read the brief essays as well as the descriptions for all the items in the slideshow
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ince/hd_ince.htm
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/silk/hd_silk.htm
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/naba/hd_naba.htm
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