Climate and political climate [electronic resource] : environmental disasters in the Medieval Levant / by Sarah Kate Raphael.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Raphael, Kate.

Series:

Brill's Series in the History of the Environment 3.

Brill's series in the history of the environment, 1876-6595 ; v. 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Climatic changes--Middle East--History--To 1500.

Climatic changes.

Climatic changes--Social aspects--Middle East.

Climate and civilization--Middle East.

Climate and civilization.

Nature--Effect of human beings on--Middle East--History.

Nature.

Paleoclimatology--Middle East.

Paleoclimatology.

Middle East--Climate--History.

Middle East.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (230 p.)

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Brill, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the Levant saw a substantial rise in the number of droughts. This coincided with some of the most violent tectonic activity the region had witnessed. Nature, however, could conjure other powerful disasters: swarms of locusts, armies of mice, scorching winds and thick dust storms. The data for this research is drawn from contemporary Arabic and Latin sources. The main aim is to try and determine the long and short-term repercussions of environmental disasters on the political, military and social affairs in the Levant during the Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Did environmental disasters spur or hinder conflict? This research examines the most destructive disasters and gradual climate changes within a broader historical context.

Contents:

pt. 1. Droughts and famines

pt. 2. Earthquakes and the politics of mass destruction

pt. 3. Small and destructive enemies

pt. 4. Dearth, crisis and violence.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

90-04-24473-5

OCLC:

827208567

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004244733 DOI