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Monthly Archives: November 2020
Arabian Pagan Religion
Until about the 4th century AD, Arabians were polytheists with beliefs and practices similar to the rest of the world. Their customs were mostly common to other polytheists, but they had a few interesting distinctives. One of the common polytheistic … Continue reading
Posted in Islam History A: the Prophet
Tagged Arabia, idols, meteorites, pre-Islamic
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Arabia Deserta in the Iron Age
The interior of Arabia has been a difficult terrain during the period of recorded history, although we know that it had been much wetter in the past, supporting animals like hippopotami. The animal best suited to survive in Arabia as … Continue reading
Saba: Kingdom of the Ma’rib Dam
The Hebrew Bible tell us that Solomon’s Iron Age kingdom grew rich enough that the Queen of Sheba traveled to Jerusalem to see it. It wasn’t a long journey, though in ancient times, every journey was long and dangerous. The … Continue reading
Posted in Islam History A: the Prophet
Tagged Marib Dam, Queen of Sheba, Saba, Yemen
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Arabia Felix in the Iron Age
The southern coast of Arabia is not much like the rocky zone in the north or the vast wilderness in the center. And in ancient times, it was even more different. It was probably settled by people moving across the … Continue reading
Posted in Islam History A: the Prophet
Tagged Arabia, frankincense, myrrh, Yemen
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Arabia Petraea in the Iron Age
With the Iron Age, we move into the heart of Hebrew Bible history, familiar to many Americans from Sunday School. Iron was more easily available than tin or copper, so the switch to iron technology contributed to growing power of … Continue reading
Posted in Islam History A: the Prophet
Tagged Arabia, caravans, Palmyra, Petra
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Dilmun: East Arabia in the Bronze Age
When we dial back in time to the Bronze Age, we’re in the time of the first Pharaohs who built pyramids, the heroic Mycenean Greeks, the Hittite Empire with its chariots, and the flourishing civilizations of Sumer. If the people … Continue reading
Posted in Islam History A: the Prophet
Tagged Arabia, Bahrain Island, Bronze Age, copper, Dilmun, Ea-Nasir
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Arabia: who are the Arabs?
It seems like we know the answer to this question, but do we? The Arabs live in Arabia, but they also live in Iraq and Syria. Not in Iran, in spite of the similarity of religion. Are Egyptians Arabs? I … Continue reading
Posted in Islam History A: the Prophet
Tagged Arabia, Arabs
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Medieval Islam: origins (sticky)
Islam and the Christian West: in a chronic face-off since 600 AD, and yet we in the West know so little about Islam and its adherents. When I worked on this topic in the past, it became clear to me … Continue reading
Posted in Islam History A: the Prophet
Tagged Arabia, Islam, medieval
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Touring Players Before 1570
The last transitional stage in England between medieval and modern theater (counting Shakespeare as the start of the modern) was the rise of touring theater companies. There were two types, the sponsored kind that we think was involved in Shakespeare’s … Continue reading
Posted in Theater
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The Palmer, the Pardoner, the Pothecary, and the Peddler
The pre-eminent name in early Tudor plays is John Heywood’s. Heywood was part of a leading intellectual family, at a time when London had a wealth of aristocratic scholars, when Renaissance learning was at a fever pitch. Heywood himself was … Continue reading
Posted in Theater
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