Demonizing the Queen of Sheba

Demonizing the Queen of Sheba PDF Author: Jacob Lassner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226469157
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Over the centuries, Jewish and Muslim writers transformed the biblical Queen of Sheba from a clever, politically astute sovereign to a demonic force threatening the boundaries of gender. In this book, Jacob Lassner shows how successive retellings of the biblical story reveal anxieties about gender and illuminate the processes of cultural transmission. The Bible presents the Queen of Sheba's encounter with King Solomon as a diplomatic mission: the queen comes "to test him with hard questions," all of which he answers to her satisfaction; she then praises him and, after an exchange of gifts, returns to her own land. By the Middle Ages, Lassner demonstrates, the focus of the queen's visit had shifted from international to sexual politics. The queen was now portrayed as acting in open defiance of nature's equilibrium and God's design. In these retellings, the authors humbled the queen and thereby restored the world to its proper condition. Lassner also examines the Islamization of Jewish themes, using the dramatic accounts of Solomon and his female antagonist as a test case of how Jewish lore penetrated the literary imagination of Muslims. Demonizing the Queen of Sheba thus addresses not only specialists in Jewish and Islamic studies, but also those concerned with issues of cultural transmission and the role of gender in history.

Demonizing the Queen of Sheba

Demonizing the Queen of Sheba PDF Author: Jacob Lassner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226469157
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book

Book Description
Over the centuries, Jewish and Muslim writers transformed the biblical Queen of Sheba from a clever, politically astute sovereign to a demonic force threatening the boundaries of gender. In this book, Jacob Lassner shows how successive retellings of the biblical story reveal anxieties about gender and illuminate the processes of cultural transmission. The Bible presents the Queen of Sheba's encounter with King Solomon as a diplomatic mission: the queen comes "to test him with hard questions," all of which he answers to her satisfaction; she then praises him and, after an exchange of gifts, returns to her own land. By the Middle Ages, Lassner demonstrates, the focus of the queen's visit had shifted from international to sexual politics. The queen was now portrayed as acting in open defiance of nature's equilibrium and God's design. In these retellings, the authors humbled the queen and thereby restored the world to its proper condition. Lassner also examines the Islamization of Jewish themes, using the dramatic accounts of Solomon and his female antagonist as a test case of how Jewish lore penetrated the literary imagination of Muslims. Demonizing the Queen of Sheba thus addresses not only specialists in Jewish and Islamic studies, but also those concerned with issues of cultural transmission and the role of gender in history.

Sheba's Daughters

Sheba's Daughters PDF Author: Jacqueline de Weever
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134826702
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
Exploring how the depiction of otherness or alterity during the Middle Ages became problematic in the aesthetics of the Romance epics written during the centuries of the Crusades, this book offers a vital contribution to the growing interest in the way foreign women are presented in the texts of the Latin West and will be of consuming interest to students in women's studies, cultural studies, and medieval literature.The texts considered are written in the major European languages of the time and range from the Song of Songs through Geoffrey of Vinsauf's Poetria Nova to such epics and romances as Erec et Enide,Doon de Maience, Fierabras, La Prise d'Orange, Ars Versificatoria, The Sowdone of Babylone, and Parzifal.

Moses in the Qur'an and Islamic Exegesis

Moses in the Qur'an and Islamic Exegesis PDF Author: Brannon M. Wheeler
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136128905
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Relating the Muslim understanding of Moses in the Qur'an to the Epic of Gilgamesh, Alexander Romances, Aramaic Targums, Rabbinic Bible exegesis, and folklore from the ancient and medieval Mediterranean, this book shows how Muslim scholars authorize and identify themselves through allusions to the Bible and Jewish tradition. Exegesis of Qur'an 18:60-82 shows how Muslim exegetes engage Biblical theology through interpretation of the ancient Israelites, their prophets, and their Torah. This Muslim use of a scripture shared with Jews and Christians suggests fresh perspectives for the history of religions, Biblical studies, cultural studies, and Jewish-Arabic studies.

Solomon

Solomon PDF Author: Walter Brueggemann
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
ISBN: 1506491960
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Through Solomon and his place in the larger consciousness of Israel, Walter Brueggemann considers what narratives reveal about the ideals of the ancient Israelite people. Paying attention to nuances of the biblical text, he exposes the competing voices that claim to offer a reliable rendering of Solomon and invites critique of accepted beliefs.

The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʼān

The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʼān PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004153527
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Republication of Arthur Jeffery's important study, "The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur'?n," offers a new generation of scholars and students access to this foundational text. Arranged in Arabic alphabetical order, Jeffery's compendium of philological scholarship remains an indispensable tool for any serious study of Qur'?nic semantics. Drawing upon etymological examination of languages such as Greek, Persian, Syriac, Ethiopic, Coptic and Nabataean, Jeffery's work illuminates the rich linguistic texture of Islam's holy book. His lengthy introductory essay explores the exegetical analysis offered by medieval Muslim commentators as well as the insights provided by more recent research.

Sheba's Daughters

Sheba's Daughters PDF Author: Jacqueline de Weever
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113482677X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Exploring how the depiction of otherness or alterity during the Middle Ages became problematic in the aesthetics of the Romance epics written during the centuries of the Crusades, this book offers a vital contribution to the growing interest in the way foreign women are presented in the texts of the Latin West and will be of consuming interest to students in women's studies, cultural studies, and medieval literature.The texts considered are written in the major European languages of the time and range from the Song of Songs through Geoffrey of Vinsauf's Poetria Nova to such epics and romances as Erec et Enide,Doon de Maience, Fierabras, La Prise d'Orange, Ars Versificatoria, The Sowdone of Babylone, and Parzifal.

The Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship

The Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship PDF Author: Bernard Leeman
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781515169611
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This book examines evidence connected with the life of Queen of Sheba, including the Sabaean inscription on the Ethiopian plateau, aspects of the Ancient West Arabian language, and geographical references in Ge'ez Kebra Nagast to offer a third alternative. It argues that the Old Testament is an accurate account but its events took place in West Arabia, not Palestine. It suggests that scholars are unwilling to consider such a strong possibility because, if true, it would not only completely undermine the raison d'être of the State of Israel but also force a total reassessment of Biblical, Arabian, and North East African history. Professional archaeology in the Holy Land dates from the 1920s and has been characterized by Jewish and Christian attempts to substantiate the Biblical record. While evidence has been unearthed that supports the account of the post-Babylonian captivity, well-known archaeologists such as Kenyon, Pritchard, Thompson, Glock, Hertzog, Silberman, and Finkelstein have concluded that the Old Testament is either a fantasy or highly exaggerated. Joshua's invasion of Canaan has been reinterpreted as a peaceful migration and traces have been found of the massive public works allegedly contracted in Jerusalem by Solomon or in Samaria by Omri. If they existed, they would have been little more than petty village headmen with imaginative publicists. This so-called minimalist outlook is fiercely challenged by others who believe that the evidence to support the Old Testament has literally yet to be uncovered. By accepting African traditions in providing a solution to the bitter division in Biblical scholarship, this book ranks with Martin Bernal's Black Athena in its degree of controversy and presenting evidence that most scholars should address.

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha PDF Author: Richard Bauckham
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467463361
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 848

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Book Description
This work stands among the most important publications in biblical studies over the past twenty-five years. Richard Bauckham, James Davila, and Alexander Panayotov’s new two-volume collection of Old Testament pseudepigrapha contains many previously unpublished and newly translated texts, complementing James Charlesworth’s Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and other earlier collections. Including virtually all known surviving pseudepigrapha written before the rise of Islam, this volume, among other things, presents the sacred legends and spiritual reflections of numerous long-dead authors whose works were lost, neglected, or suppressed for many centuries. Excellent English translations along with authoritative yet accessible introductions bring those ancient documents to life for readers today.

Solomon the Esoteric King

Solomon the Esoteric King PDF Author: Pablo Torijano Morales
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004494499
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
The aim of the present work is to study the esoteric characterization of King Solomon that became popular in certain currents of Judaism and Christianity of Late Antiquity and to establish a typology of it. Representative texts are analyzed, first to establish precisely the development of the different esoteric traditions linked to King Solomon, and then to show how these texts and traditions are placed in relation within the broad context of Magic and Religion in Late Antiquity. The book provides data for a better understanding of magic and its role in the Mediterranean Oikumene, suggests the necessity for a better categorization of the magical discipline, and furthers the discussion on the transmission and importance of esoteric traditions withing Judaism and Christianity .

The Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an

The Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an PDF Author: Anton Wessels
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467439266
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Discussing the Bible and the Qur'an in one breath will surprise some Jews, Christians, and Muslims. But Anton Wessels argues that all three traditions must read the Scriptures together and not against each other. As his book title suggests, the three books, in the end, are actually one tale. Wessels accepts Muhammad as a prophet and takes the Qur'an seriously as Holy Scripture along with the Old and New Testaments -- without giving up his own Christian convictions. Respectfully reading the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an together, he argues, is of crucial importance: our world often sees these religious books as the cause of conflicts rather than the solution to them.