Baghdād

Jens Scheiner, Ph.D. (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen 2009), is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Göttingen. He has published a monograph on the conquest of Damascus (Leiden 2010) and edited a volume on the contexts of learning in Baghdād (Princeton 2014).Isabel Toral, Ph.D. (Tübingen 1997), Habilitation (Freie Universität Berlin 2008), is Professor of Arabic Studies at that university. She has published extensively on cultural history, literature and history of the Arabs, including Al-Ḥīra (Leiden 2014).ContributorsMehmetcan Akpınar, Nuha Alshaar, Pavel Basharin, David Bennett, Michal Biran, Richard W. Bulliet, Kirill Dmitriev, Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Beatrice Gruendler, Sebastian Günther, Olof Heilo, Damien Janos, Christopher Melchert, Michael Morony, Bernard O’Kane, Klaus Oschema, Letizia Osti, Parvaneh Pourshariati, Vanessa van Renterghem, Jens Scheiner, Angela Schottenhammer, Y. Zvi Stampfer, Johannes Thomann, and Isabel Toral.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsNotes on Transliteration and StyleList of FiguresAbbreviationsViNotes on ContributorsVii1 Baghdād’s Topography and Social Composition A Historical SketchJens Scheiner and Isabel ToralPart 1: The Foundation of Madīnat al-Salām and Its Legends2 Legends about the Foundation of a Marvelous CityIsabel Toral3 Islamic Art and Architecture in Pre-Mongol BaghdādBernard O’KaneMore-to-Know I: The Foundation of al-Manṣūr’s Palatial City and Its HoroscopeJohannes ThomannMore-to-Know Ii: Was Madīnat al-Salām a “Round City”?Jens ScheinerPart 2: A Historical Overview from Late Antiquity to the Mongol Period4 Ctesiphon and Its Surroundings, Precursors of BaghdādParvaneh Pourshariati5 The Early ʿAbbāsid Caliphs as Commanders and ConstructorsJens Scheiner6 Baghdād under Būyid RuleNuha Alshaar7 Baghdād under the SaljūqsVanessa Van Renterghem8 Baghdād under the Late ʿAbbāsid CaliphsHend Gilli-Elewy9 Baghdād under Mongol RuleMichal Biran10 The Economic Parameters of Baghdād and Its HinterlandRichard W. BullietPart 3: Baghdād’s Neighbouring Empires11 The ʿAbbāsids and the Byzantine EmpireOlof Heilo12 ʿAbbāsid Caliphs and Frankish KingsKirill Dmitriev and Klaus OschemaMore-to-Know IiI: Sino-ʿAbbāsid Relations in the Eighth and Ninth CenturiesAngela SchottenhammerPart 4: The ʿAbbāsid Court and Its Legacy13 Sketches of Court Culture in BaghdādLetizia Osti14 City of Poets, Poets of the CityBeatrice Gruendler15 Prose Writing in Baghdād An OverviewIsabel ToralMore-to-Know IV: A “Golden Age” in Baghdād?Isabel ToralPart 5: Institutions of Learning and Fields of Knowledge16 Knowledge and Learning in BaghdādSebastian GüntherMore-to-Know V: Medinan Scholars in Early ʿAbbāsid BaghdādMehmetcan Akpınar17 Philosophical and Scientific Learning in BaghdādDamien JanosPart 6: The Religious Communities18 The Formation of Sunnī and Shīʿī TraditionalismChristopher MelchertMore-to-Know Vi: Rational TheologiansDavid Bennett19 The Ṣūfī School of Baghdād Persons and TeachingsPavel Basharin20 Christian Communities in Baghdād and Its HinterlandMichael Morony21 Jews in Baghdād during the ʿAbbāsid PeriodY. Zvi Stampfer22 Zoroastrians, Manichaeans and Gnostics in Baghdād and Its HinterlandDesmond Durkin-MeisterernstEpilogueJens ScheinerAppendix: Original Sources featuring BaghdādJens ScheinerIndex