The Book of Monasteries / al-Shābushtī.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

al-Shābushtī, Author.

Contributor:

Denecke, Wiebke, Contributor.

Kilpatrick, Hilary, Contributor.

Series:

Library of Arabic Literature Series

Library of Arabic Literature ; 105

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monasteries--Middle East--Early works to 1800.

Monasteries.

Monasteries--Middle East--Poetry--Early works to 1800.

Genre:

Poetry.

Anecdotes.

Historic structure reports.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : New York University Press, [2025]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A literary tour of Christian monasteries of the medieval Middle EastThe Book of Monasteries takes readers on a tour of the monasteries of the Middle East by presenting the rich variety of poetry and prose associated with each monastery. Starting with Baghdad, readers are taken up the Tigris into the mountains of south-eastern Anatolia before moving to Palestine and Syria, along the Euphrates down to the old Christian center of Ḥīrah and onward to Egypt. For the literary anthologist al-Shābushtī, who was Muslim, monasteries were important sites of interactions with Christian communities that made up about half the population of the Abbasid Empire at the time.Each section in this anthology covers a specific monastery, beginning with a discussion of its location and the reason for its name. Al-Shābushtī presents poems, anecdotes, and historical reports related to each. He selects heroic and spectacular incidents, illustrations of caliphal extravagance, and events that gave rise to memorable verse. Important political personalities and events that were indirectly linked with monasteries also appear in the collection, as do scenes of festive court life and gruesome murders. Al-Shābushtī uses these accounts not to teach history but to offer a meditation on the splendor of Abbasid culture as well as moral and philosophical lessons: the ephemerality of power; the virtues of generosity and tolerance; the effectiveness of eloquence in prose and poetry; the fleeting nature of pleasure and beauty. Translated into English for the first time, The Book of Monasteries offers an entertaining panorama of religious, political, and literary life during the Abbasid era.An English-only edition.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Letter from the General Editor

About this Paperback

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Map: Heartlands of the Abbasid Caliphate

Map: Monasteries in Early Baghdad

Map: Monasteries of Egypt and the Levant

Map: Monasteries of Iraq, Southern Turkey, and Syria

Note on the Translation

Notes to the Introduction

The Book of Monasteries

1: The Durmālis Monastery

2: The Samālū Monastery

3: The Monastery of the Foxes

4: The Monastery of the Catholicos

5: The Monastery of the Confessors

6: Ushmūnī’s Monastery

7: Sābur’s Monastery

8: The Monastery of Qūṭā (the Flock)

9: The Monastery of Mār Jirjis (Saint George)

10: Bāshahrā Monastery (The House of Vigils)

11: The Sisters’ Monastery

12: The Monastery in ʿAlth

13: The Virgins’ Monastery

14: Al-Sūsī’s Monastery

15: The Monastery of Mār Mārī

16: The Monastery of Mār Yuḥannā (Saint John)

17: The Monastery of Ṣabbāʿī

18: Al-Aʿlā Monastery

19: The Monastery of Yūnus ibn Mattā ( Jonah Son of Amittai)

20: The Devils’ Monastery

21: The Zaʿfarān (Saffron) Monastery

22: The Monastery of Aḥwīshā (the Anchorite)

23: The Fīq Monastery

24: The Monastery of Mount Tabor

25: The Bactrians’ Monastery

26: The Monastery of Zakkā (Zacchaeus)

27: The Monastery of Mār Sarjīs (Saint Sergius)

28: Ibn Mazʿūq’s Monastery

29: Sarjis’s Monastery

30: The Bishops’ Monasteries

31: The Shrine of al-Shatīq

32: The Monastery of Hind, Daughter of al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Mundhir

33: The Zurārah Monastery

34: The Monastery of Mār Yawnān

35: Qunnā’s Monastery, Also Known as the Monastery of Mār Mārī the Apostle

36: The Monastery of Kaskar

The Monasteries of Egypt That People Visit for Drink and Recreation

37: The Quṣayr Monastery

38: The Monastery of Mār Ḥannā (Saint John)

39: The Nahyā Monastery

40: The Monastery of Ṭamwayh

The Monasteries Where Miracles Are Performed According to What Those Living There Have Said and Described

41: The Scarabs’ Monastery

42: The Rabies Monastery

43: The Tar Spring Monastery

44: The Monastery of Mār Tūmā (Saint Thomas)

45: The Bāṭā Monastery

46: The Monastery of Mār Shimʿūn (Saint Simeon) near Sinn

47: The ʿAjjāj Monastery

48: The Jūdī Monastery

49: The Church of Mount Sinai

50: The Priory of Abū Hūr

51: The Monastery of Yuḥannas

52: The Priory of Itrīb

53: The Monastery in the Region of Akhmīm

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Further Reading

Index

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Research Institute

About the Translator

The Library of Arabic Literature

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 22. Feb 2025)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-4798-3598-6

OCLC:

1493374961