History and Identity in the Late Antique Near East

Download or read book History and Identity in the Late Antique Near East written by Philip Wood and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-04-04 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the importance of the past, both real and imagined, in constructing contemporary culture in the period AD 500-1000. It goes beyond 'history-writing' in a narrow sense to examine philosophy, theology, liturgy and jurisprudence as vehicles for tradition and the imagination of a past 'golden age'. The papers straddle the Roman-Persian frontier and go well into the Islamic period: together, they push the boundaries of late antiquity' into the varied language traditions: not just Greek, but also Syriac, Armenian, Coptic and Arabic.