000			02804cam a2200301 i 4500
001			u80265
005			20171208181008.0
007			ta
008			170727s2017 maua b 001 0 eng c
020			_a9780674057760
040			_aMH/DLC _beng _cMH _erda _dDLC _dUK-LoPHL
082	0	4	_a297.09021
100	1		_aBowersock, G. W. _q(Glen Warren), _d1936- _eauthor. _9114100
245	1	4	_aThe crucible of Islam / _cG. W. Bowersock.
264		1	_aCambridge, Massachusetts ; _aLondon : _bHarvard University Press, _c2017.
300			_a220 pages : _billustrations, maps
336			_atext _2rdacontent
336			_astill image _2rdacontent
336			_acartographic image _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _2rdacarrier
505	0		_aThe Arabian kingdom of Abraha -- Arab paganism in late antiquity -- Late antique Mecca -- Ethiopia and Arabia -- The Persians in Jerusalem -- Muhammad and Medina -- Interregnum of the four caliphs -- A new dispensation -- The Dome of the Rock.
520			_aLittle is known about Arabia in the sixth century CE. Yet from this distant time and place emerged a faith and an empire that stretched from the Iberian peninsula to India. Today, Muslims account for nearly a quarter of the global population. G. W. Bowersock seeks to illuminate this most obscure and yet most dynamic period in the history of Islam--from the mid-sixth to mid-seventh century--exploring why arid Arabia proved to be such fertile ground for Muhammad's prophetic message, and why that message spread so quickly to the wider world. In Muhammad's time Arabia stood at the crossroads of great empires, a place where Christianity, Judaism, and local polytheistic traditions vied for adherents. Mecca, Muhammad's birthplace, belonged to the part of Arabia recently conquered by the Ethiopian Christian king Abraha. But Ethiopia lost western Arabia to Persia following Abraha's death, while the death of the Byzantine emperor in 602 further destabilized the region. Within this chaotic environment, where lands and populations were traded frequently among competing powers and belief systems, Muhammad began winning converts to his revelations. In a troubled age, his followers coalesced into a powerful force, conquering Palestine, Syria, and Egypt and laying the groundwork of the Umayyad Caliphate. The crucible of Islam remains an elusive vessel. Although we may never grasp it firmly, Bowersock offers the most detailed description of its contours and the most compelling explanation of how one of the world's great religions took shape.-- _cProvided by publisher
650		0	_aIslam _xHistory.
650		0	_aArabs _xHistory _yTo 622. _960697
651		0	_aIslamic Empire _xHistory _y622-661. _917075
942			_n0
999			_c71964 _d71964