A Kaleidoscopic View of History: Al-Mas‘ūdī on Jewish-Christian Interaction

A Kaleidoscopic View of History: Al-Mas‘ūdī on Jewish-Christian InteractionQuaderni di Studi ArabiSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/UY7MEZVM/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Barbara HjördisRoggemaA Kaleidoscopic View of History: Al-Mas‘ūdī on Jewish-Christian Interactionhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/UY7MEZVMhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/UY7MEZVMhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/UY7MEZVMQuaderni di Studi Arabi16202198-124This article investigates the attitude of al-Masʿūdī to the world around him by focusing on a minor theme in his works: the interaction between Jews and Christians throughout history. The hypothesis of the article is that this theme, which also plays a role in the foundational texts of Islam, would provoke al-Masʿūdī to express some of his views on these religious communities, rather than merely describing their doctrines and customs in his usual non-committal way. This hypothesis turns out to be correct: al-Masʿūdī engages with the tensions between the two communities and seems to subscribe to the Christian anti-Jewish clichés that he integrates. At the same time, he uses more subtle ways to criticize Christians too. In other instances, he takes on a rather traditional supersessionist tone, with which he dismisses both communities. One has to conclude that al-Masʿūdī did not feel the need to press one specific viewpoint on these issues, which as such is telling for his historiographical style. Roggema, Barbara Hjördis. “A Kaleidoscopic View of History: Al-Mas‘ūdī on Jewish-Christian Interaction.” Quaderni Di Studi Arabi 16 (2021): 98–124. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/2667016X-16010006. Barbara Hjördis Roggema, A Kaleidoscopic View of History: Al-Mas‘ūdī on Jewish-Christian Interaction, Quaderni Di Studi Arabi 16 (2021): 98–124, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/2667016X-16010006.BahiraIX CEJewish-Christian relationsMartyrs of NajranMuslim-Christian relationsVII-XVIII CEpolemic