This long-standing series provides the guild of religion scholars a venue for publishing aimed primarily at colleagues. It includes scholarly monographs, revised dissertations, Festschriften, conference papers, and translations of ancient and medieval documents. Works cover the sub-disciplines of biblical studies, history of Christianity, history of religion, theology, and ethics. Festschriften for Karl Barth, Donald W. Dayton, James Luther Mays, Margaret R. Miles, and Walter Wink are among the seventy-five volumes that have been published. Contributors include: C. K. Barrett, Francois Bovon, Paul S. Chung, Marie-Helene Davies, Frederick Herzog, Ben F. Meyer, Pamela Ann Moeller, Rudolf Pesch, D. Z. Phillips, Rudolf Schnackenburgm Eduard Schweizer, John Vissers

This collection of articles is an innovative contribution to religious studies, because it picks up concepts developed in the wake of the so-called "spatial turn". Religions are always located in a certain cultural and spatial environment, but often tend to locate (or translocate) themselves beyond that original setting. Also, many religious traditions are not only tied to or associated with the area its respective adherent live in, but are in fact "bi-local" or even "multi-local", as they closely relate to various spatial centers or plains at once. This spatial diversity inherent to many religions is a corollary to religious diversity or plurality that merits in-depth research. The articles in this volume present important findings from a series of settings within and between Asia and Europe. Contributors are: Anna Akasoy, Christopher I. Beckwith, Stephen C. Berkwitz, Alexandra Cuffel, Ana Echevarria, Reinhold F. Glei, Tsering Gonkatsang, Georgios T. Halkias, Nikolas Jaspert, Adam Knobler, Zara Pogossian, Henrik H. Sörensen, Knut Martin Stünkel, John Tolan, Dorothea Weltecke, and Michael Willis.

The Ottoman East what is also called Western Armenia, Northern Kurdistan or Eastern Anatolia compared to other peripheries of the Ottoman Empire, has received very little attention in Ottoman historiography. So-called taboo subjects such as the fate of Ottoman Armenians and the Kurdish Question during the latter years of the Ottoman Empire have contributed to this dearth of analysis. By integrating the Armenian and Kurdish elements into the study of the Ottoman Empire, this book seeks to emphasise the interaction of different ethno-religious groups. As an area where Ottoman centralization faced unsurpassable challenges, the Ottoman East offers an ideal opportunity to examine an alternative social and political model for imperial governance and the means by which provincial rule interacted with the Ottoman centre. Discussing vital issues across this geographical area, such as trade routes, regional economic trends, migration patterns and the molding of local and national identities, this book offers a unique and fresh approach to the history and politics of modernization and empire in the wider region."

"Rich and illuminating." Literary Review A landscape of high mountains and narrow valleys stretching from the Black to the Caspian Seas, the Caucasus region has been home to human populations for nearly 2 million years. In this richly illustrated 2-volume series, historian and explorer Christoph Baumer tells the story of the region's history through to the present day. It is a story of encounters between many different peoples, from Scythians, Turkic and Mongol peoples of the East to Greeks and Romans from the West, from Indo-European tribes from the West as well as the East, and to Arabs and Iranians from the South. It is a story of rival claims by Empires and nations and of how the region has become home to more than 50 languages that can be heard within its borders to this very day. This first volume charts the period from the emergence of the earliest human populations in the region – the first known human populations outside Africa - to the Seljuk conquests of 1050CE. Along the way the book charts the development of Neolithic, Iron and Bronze Age cultures, the first recognizable Caucasian state and the arrival of a succession of the great transnational Empires, from the Greeks, the Romans and the Armenian to competing Christian and Muslim conquerors. The History of the Caucasus: Volume 1 also includes more than 200 full colour images and maps bringing the changing cultures of these lands vividly to life.

Christian dualism originated in the reign of Constans II (641-68). It was a popular religion, which shared with orthodoxy an acceptance of scriptual authority and apostolic tradition and held a sacramental doctrine of salvation, but understood all these in a radically different way to the Orthodox Church. One of the differences was the strong part demonology played in the belief system. This text traces, through original sources, the origins of dualist Christianity throughout the Byzantine Empire, focusing on the Paulician movement in Armenia and Bogomilism in Bulgaria. It presents not only the theological texts, but puts the movements into their social and political context.

This first study of its kind cuts across and brings together the political and cultural histories of the medieval Near East. The peculiar episode of the Fatimid Armenians (1074-1163) and other phenomena earlier on are given their proper background and context; the 'Armenian Period' in the last century of the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt is shown to be a major phase in the perpetual alliance between Armenian sectarians and Muslims. The reconstruction of this to date unstudied subject also reveals new relevant data. Through its methodology, this book proposes fresh criteria and perspectives for the evaluation of patterns of cultural and political interaction in Near Eastern history.

In a searching challenge to the paradigm of medieval Christian dualism, this study reenvisions the Paulicians as largely conventional Christians engendered by complex socio-religious forces in the borderlands of Armenia and Asia Minor.

This volume encompasses the whole Christian Orthodox tradition from 1200 to the present. Its central theme is the survival of Orthodoxy against the odds into the modern era. It celebrates the resilience shown in the face of hostile regimes and social pressures in this often-neglected period of Orthodox history.

Armenia was the first country to recognize Christianity as the official state religion in 301 AD, twelve years before Constantine's decree granting tolerance to Christianity within the Roman Empire. Ever since, Armenia has claimed the privilege of being the first Christian nation, and the wealth of Christian art produced in Armenia since then is testimony to the fundamental importance of the Christian faith to the Armenian people. This extensive new survey of Armenian Christian art, published to accompany a major exhibition at The British Library, celebrates the Christian art tradition in Armenia during the last 1700 years. The extraordinary quality and range of Armenian art which is documented includes sculpture, metalwork, textiles, ceramics, wood carvings and illuminated manuscripts and has been drawn together from collections throughout the world—many of the examples have never before been seen outside Armenia. In his authoritative text, Dr. Vrej Nersessian, Curator at The British Library, charts the development of Christianity in Armenia. This fascinating history is essential to an understanding of the art and religious tradition of Armenia, a country in which the sense of the sacred extends well beyond the purely religious, infiltrating the entire fabric of Armenian affairs to create a fascinating culture. This sumptuously illustrated book will be of immense value to anyone with an interest in Byzantine art and culture, the history of Christianity and the history of Armenia and the Middle Orient.

The second volume of The Heritage of Armenian Literature continues the highly acclaimed and monumental project of presenting Armenia's literary treasures to an English-speaking audience. Nowhere else can students and general readers easily find a comprehensive, English-language guide to these masterpieces, complete with important background information and vivid, accurate translations of key sample passages. Volume 2 takes readers through the medieval period up to the eighteenth century. As in the previous volume, the editors here offer a wide and varied range of readings that encompasses the literary panorama of this ancient civilization. They situate each work as extensively as possible within its theological, historical, and philosophical contexts, while highlighting aspects that will be meaningful to readers in light of modern scholarship.