The History of the Kings of the Persians in Three Arabic Chronicles The Transmission of the Iranian Past from Late Antiquity to Early Islam / Hoyland, Robert G.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoyland, Robert G., 1966- author.

Series:

Translated texts for historians

Translated Texts for Historians

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

History, Ancient.

Translation & interpretation.

Middle Eastern history.

Islam.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (201 pages).

Place of Publication:

4 Cambridge Street, Liverpool L69 7ZU : Liverpool University Press, 2018.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

This book translates the sections on pre-Islamic Persia in three Muslim Arabic chronicles, those of Ahmad al-Ya'qubi (d. circa 910), 'Ali al-Mas'udi (d. circa 960) and Hamza al-Isfahani (d. circa 960s). Their accounts, like those of many other Muslim historians on this topic, draw on texts that were composed in the period 750-850 bearing the title 'The History of the Kings of the Persians'. These works served a growing audience of well-to-do Muslim bureaucrats and scholars of Persian ancestry, who were interested in their heritage and wished to make it part of the historical outlook of the new civilization that was emerging in the Middle East, namely Islamic civilization. This book explores the question of how knowledge about ancient Iran was transmitted to Muslim historians, in what forms it circulated and how it was shaped and refashioned for the new Perso-Muslim elite that served the early Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad, a city that was built only a short distance away from the old Persian capital of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Reviews'This is an important contribution to a reconstruction of sāsānid historiography.' (Translated from German.) Tino Shahin, Plekos Robert G. Hoyland is Professor of Late Antique and Early Islamic Middle East History at the Institute for Study of the Ancient World of New York University. Previous publications include 'Theophilus of Edessa's Chronicle and the Circulation of Historical Knowledge in Late Antiquity and Early Islam' (LUP, 2011). Publisher description

Notes:

Description based on publisher's metadata

ISBN:

9781800857889

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.