Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Vol. 2, Part 1
Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Vol. 2, Part 1
By: Irfan Shahîd
In this topical study of the military, religious, and civil structures of the Ghassānids, Shahîd argues that the Ghassānids were not nomadic but thoroughly sedentary.
Title information
Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, volume 2, part 1, Toponymy, Monuments, Historical Geography, and Frontier Studies is a topical study of the military, religious, and civil structures of the Ghassānids. Irfan Shahîd’s detailed study of Arab buildings of the sixth century illuminates how Byzantine provincial art and architecture were adopted and adapted by the federate Arabs for their own use. As monuments of Christian architecture, these federate structures constitute the missing link in the development of Arab architecture in the region between the earlier pagan (Nabataean and Palmyrene) and later Muslim (Umayyad). Drawing from literary and material evidence, Shahîd argues that the Ghassānids were not nomadic, as traditionally believed, but thoroughly sedentary both in their roots and in the late Roman frontier zone they inherited. The third of four volumes dedicated to the sixth century, this book extensively depends upon the previous two volumes (volume 1, part 1, Political and Military History; volume 1, part 2, Ecclesiastical History).
Irfan Shahîd
Associate Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks and Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, Irfan Shahîd was Emeritus Professor of Arabic Studies at Georgetown University, where from 1982 to 2008 he was Oman Professor of Arabic and Islamic Literature.
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This set includes all seven volumes of Irfan Shahîd’s groundbreaking work on the political, military, religious, social, and cultural history of the Arabs and their relationship with the Eastern Roman Empire from 64 BC to the advent of Islam.
Shahîd describes the military, religious, social, and civil structures of the Ghassānids, as well as their contributions to the cultural environment in sixth-century Oriens, revealing the history of a unique Christian Arab culture.