Download or read book A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East written by John M. Steele and published by Saqi. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Middle East is the birthplace of astronomy and the centre for its development during the medieval period. In this brief introduction John Steele offers an intriguing insight into Middle Eastern achievements in astronomy and their profound influence on the rest of the world. Amongst other things, the book traces the Late Babylonians' ingenious schemes for modelling planetary motion. It also reveals how medieval Islamic advances in the study of the heavens, and the design of precise astronomical instruments, led to breakthroughs by Renaissance practitioners such as Copernicus and Kepler. An invaluable introduction to one of the oldest sciences in the world.

Download or read book A Brief History of the Middle East written by Christopher Catherwood and published by Robinson. This book was released on 2011-02-24 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western civilization began in the Middle East: Judaism and Christianity, as well as Islam, were born there. For over a millennium, the Islamic empires were ahead of the West in learning, technology and medicine, and were militarily far more powerful. It took another three hundred centuries for the West to catch up, and overtake, the Middle East. Why does it seem different now? Why does Osama bin Laden see 1918, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, as the year everything changed? These issues are explained in historical detail here, in a way that deliberately seeks to go behind the rhetoric to the roots of present conflicts. A Brief History of the Middle East is essential reading for an intelligent reader wanting to understand what one of the world's key regions is all about. Fully updated with a new section on the Iraq Invasion of 2003, the question of Iran and the full context of the Isreali/Palestine conflict.

Download or read book CyberResearch on the Ancient Near East and Neighboring Regions written by Vanessa Bigot Juloux and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CyberResearch on the Ancient Near East and Neighboring Regions is now available on PaperHive! PaperHive is a new free web service that offers a platform to authors and readers to collaborate and discuss, using already published research. Please visit the platform to join the conversation. CyberResearch on the Ancient Near East and Neighboring Regions provides case studies on archaeology, objects, cuneiform texts, and online publishing, digital archiving, and preservation. Eleven chapters present a rich array of material, spanning the fifth through the first millennium BCE, from Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Iran. Customized cyber- and general glossaries support readers who lack either a technical background or familiarity with the ancient cultures. Edited by Vanessa Bigot Juloux, Amy Rebecca Gansell, and Alessandro Di Ludovico, this volume is dedicated to broadening the understanding and accessibility of digital humanities tools, methodologies, and results to Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Ultimately, this book provides a model for introducing cyber-studies to the mainstream of humanities research.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture written by Karen Radner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-22 with total page 838 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative guide to the Ancient Middle East as seen through the lens of cuneiform writing, the writing system of ancient Mesopotamia. Written by a team of international scholars, with chapter bibliographies and numerous illustrations, the Handbook is a state-of-the-art guide to the discipline as well as offering pathways for future research.

Download or read book New Insights From Recent Studies in Historical Astronomy Following in the Footsteps of F Richard Stephenson written by Wayne Orchiston and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-11-24 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains papers from a conference held to celebrate the 70th birthday of one of the world’s foremost astronomical historians, Professor F. Richard Stephenson, the latest recipient of the American Astronomical Society’s highest award for research in astronomical history, the LeRoy Doggett Prize. Reflecting Professor Stephenson’s extensive research portfolio, this book brings together under one cover papers on four different areas of scholarship: applied historical astronomy (which Stephenson founded); Islamic astronomy; Oriental astronomy and amateur astronomy. These papers are penned by astronomers from Canada, China, England, France, Georgia, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Portugal, Thailand and the USA. Its diverse coverage represents a wide cross-section of the history of astronomy community. Under discussion are ways in which recent research using historical data has provided new insights into auroral and solar activity, supernovae and changes in the rotation rate of the Earth. It also presents readers with results of recent research on leading historical figures in Islamic and Oriental astronomy, and aspects of eighteenth and nineteenth century Australian, British, German and Portuguese amateur astronomy, including the fascinating ‘amateur-turned-professional syndrome’.

Download or read book A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire written by Bruno Jacobs and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-07-23 with total page 1744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A COMPANION TO THE ACHAEMENID PERSIAN EMPIRE A comprehensive review of the political, cultural, social, economic and religious history of the Achaemenid Empirem Often called the first world empire, the Achaemenid Empire is rooted in older Near Eastern traditions. A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire offers a perspective in which the history of the empire is embedded in the preceding and subsequent epochs. In this way, the traditions that shaped the Achaemenid Empire become as visible as the powerful impact it had on further historical development. But the work does not only break new ground in this respect, but also in the fact that, in addition to written testimonies of all kinds, it also considers material tradition as an equal factor in historical reconstruction. This comprehensive two-volume set features contributions by internationally-recognized experts that offer balanced coverage of the whole of the empire from Anatolia and Egypt across western Asia to northern India and Central Asia. Comprehensive in scope, the Companion provides readers with a panoramic view of the diversity, richness, and complexity of the Achaemenid Empire, dealing with all the many aspects of history, event history, administration, economy, society, communication, art, science and religion, illustrating the multifaceted nature of the first true empire. A unique historical account presented in its multiregional dimensions, this important resource deals with many aspects of history, administration, economy, society, communication, art, science and religion it deals with topics that have only recently attracted interest such as court life, leisure activities, gender roles, and more examines a variety of available sources to consider those predecessors who influenced Achaemenid structure, ideology, and self-expression contains the study of Nachleben and the history of perception up to the present day offers a spectrum of opinions in disputed fields of research, such as the interpretation of the imagery of Achaemenid art, or questions of religion includes extensive bibliographies in each chapter for use as starting points for further research devotes special interest to the east of the empire, which is often neglected in comparison to the western territories Part of the acclaimed Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World series, A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire is an indispensable work for students, instructors, and scholars of Persian and ancient world history, particularly the First Persian Empire.

Download or read book Intersections of Religion and Astronomy written by Chris Corbally and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the way in which cultural ideas about "the heavens" shape religious ideas and are shaped by them in return. Our approaches to cosmology have a profound effect on the way in which we each deal with religious questions and participate in the imaginative work of public and private world-building. Employing an interdisciplinary team of international scholars, each chapter shows how religion and cosmology interrelate and matter for real people. Historical and contemporary case studies are included to demonstrate the lived reality of a variety of faith traditions and their interactions with the cosmos. This breadth of scope allows readers to get a unique overview of how religion, science and our view of space have, and will continue to, impact our worldviews. Offering a comprehensive exploration of humanity and its relationship with cosmology, this book will be an important reference for scholars of Religion and Science, Religion and Culture, Interreligious Dialogue and Theology, as well as those interested in Science and Culture and Public Education.

Download or read book The Allure of the Ancient written by Margaret Geoga and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-02-14 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How was the ancient Middle East—including Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia— imagined and employed for artistic, scholarly, and political purposes in Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America, circa 1600–1800 ?

Download or read book Routledge Revivals Medieval Islamic Civilization 2006 written by Josef Meri and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-01-12 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islamic civilization flourished in the Middle Ages across a vast geographical area that spans today's Middle and Near East. First published in 2006, Medieval Islamic Civilization examines the socio-cultural history of the regions where Islam took hold between the 7th and 16th centuries. This important two-volume work contains over 700 alphabetically arranged entries, contributed and signed by international scholars and experts in fields such as Arabic languages, Arabic literature, architecture, history of science, Islamic arts, Islamic studies, Middle Eastern studies, Near Eastern studies, politics, religion, Semitic studies, theology, and more. Entries also explore the importance of interfaith relations and the permeation of persons, ideas, and objects across geographical and intellectual boundaries between Europe and the Islamic world. This reference work provides an exhaustive and vivid portrait of Islamic civilization and brings together in one authoritative text all aspects of Islamic civilization during the Middle Ages. Accessible to scholars, students and non-specialists, this resource will be of great use in research and understanding of the roots of today's Islamic society as well as the rich and vivid culture of medieval Islamic civilization.

Download or read book Astronomy in the Service of Islam written by David A. King and published by Routledge. This book was released on 1993 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Delineates the two very different traditions of astronomy in medieval Islam: legal scholars watched the crescent moon to keep the calendar, and used shadows to keep the hours and direction of prayer, while astronomers constructed elaborate theories and mathematical tables to approach ever more precision in times and directions. The articles are reproduced from their original publication in various journals, 1982-91.

Download or read book Quo Vadis Evolution of Modern Navigation written by F. G. Major and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-10-16 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quo Vadis: Evolution of Modern Navigation presents an intelligent and intelligible account of the essential principles underlying the design of satellite navigational systems—with introductory chapters placing them in context with the early development of navigational methods. The material is organized roughly as follows: the first third of the book deals with navigation in the natural world, the early history of navigation, navigating by the stars, precise mechanical chronometers for the determination of longitude at sea, and the development of precise quartz controlled clocks. Then, the reader is introduced to quantum ideas as a lead in to a discussion of microwave and optical interactions with atoms, atomic clocks, laser gyrocompasses, and time based navigation. The final third of the book deals with satellite-based systems, including orbit theory, early satellite navigation systems, and a detailed treatment of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Intended for non-specialists with some knowledge of physics or engineering at the college level, this book covers in an intuitive manner a broad range of topics relevant to the evolution of surface and space navigation, with minimum mathematical formalism.

Download or read book The Lion Led the Way written by Dwight Hutchison and published by Dwight Hutchison and the Association Signes Célestes. This book was released on 2021-07-07 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Was there a meaningful stellar sign over Bethlehem? What did it look like to someone looking up at the night sky? Did wise men really come from the East seeking Israel’s Messiah sometime after the birth of Jesus? The biblical account of the wise men and the star that announced the coming of the Messiah of Israel has inspired and puzzled people for two millennia. Important aspects of Babylonian astronomy seem to be involved in understanding the star’s appearing. But in addition, The Lion Led the Way also explores the men and events from a profoundly Jewish perspective. The traditional Jewish names of stars and planets, Jewish symbols, as well as Jewish dates, all seem to be keys to unlocking the mystery of the famous star. The star of Bethlehem was not the brightest of the heavenly lights, nor was it the most spectacular starry manifestation of all time. However, it was part of the most meaningful set of celestial events in human history. The God of Israel is surprising. His ways are not our ways; his thoughts are not our thoughts. The star gives us a concrete example of God’s intervention in the universe. Book website: www.star-of-bethlehem.info

Download or read book Astrology and Cosmology in the World s Religions written by Nicholas Campion and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2012-06-11 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents overviews of the astrologies of the world's religions, discussing how various cultures have used celestial observations and beliefs about the heavens to engage with the divine and understand their lives on Earth.

Download or read book How the World Made the West written by Josephine Quinn and published by Random House. This book was released on 2024-09-03 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An award-winning Oxford history professor overturns the way the West thinks about itself, tracing its innovations and traditions to societies from all over the world and making the case that the West is, and always has been, truly global. “Superb, refreshing, and full of delights, this is world history at its best.”—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family History of Humanity In How the World Made the West, Josephine Quinn poses perhaps the most significant challenge ever to the “civilizational thinking” regarding the origins of Western culture—that is, the idea that civilizations arose separately and distinctly from one another. Rather, she locates the roots of the modern West in everything from the law codes of Babylon, Assyrian irrigation, and the Phoenician art of sail to Indian literature, Arabic scholarship, and the metalworking riders of the Steppe, to name just a few examples. According to Quinn, reducing the backstory of the modern West to a narrative that focuses on Greece and Rome impoverishes our view of the past. This understanding of history would have made no sense to the ancient Greeks and Romans themselves, who understood and discussed their own connections to and borrowings from others. They consistently presented their own culture as the result of contact and exchange. Quinn builds on the writings they left behind with rich analyses of other ancient literary sources like the epic of Gilgamesh, holy texts, and newly discovered records revealing details of everyday life. A work of breathtaking scholarship, How the World Made the West also draws on the material culture of the times in art and artifacts as well as findings from the latest scientific advances in carbon dating and human genetics to thoroughly debunk the myth of the modern West as a self-made miracle. In lively prose and with bracing clarity, as well as through vivid maps and color illustrations, How the World Made the West challenges the stories the West continues to tell about itself. It redefines our understanding of the Western self and civilization in the cosmopolitan world of today.

Download or read book Illustrating the Phaenomena written by Elly Dekker and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume all extant celestial maps and globes made before 1500 are described and analysed. It also discusses the astronomical sources involved in making these artefacts in antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Islamic world and the European Renaissance before 1500.

Download or read book The Lost Empire of Atlantis written by Gavin Menzies and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “MENZIES [IS] PROPOUNDING ONE OF THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS IN THE HISTORY OF HISTORY.” —New York Times Magazine New York Times bestselling historian Gavin Menzies presents newly uncovered evidence revealing, conclusively, that “the lost city of Atlantis” was not only real but also at the heart of a highly advanced global empire that reached the shores of America before being violently wiped from the earth. For three millennia, the legend of Atlantis has gripped the imaginations of explorers, philosophers, occultists, treasure hunters, historians, and archaeologists. Until now, it has remained shrouded in myth. Yet, like ancient Troy, is it possible that this fabled city actually existed? If so, what happened to it and what are its secrets? The fascinating reality of Atlantis’s epic glory and destruction are uncovered, finally, in these pages in thrilling detail by the iconoclastic historian Gavin Menzies—father of some of “the most revolutionary ideas in the history of history” (New York Times). Meticulously analyzing exciting new geologic research, recently unearthed archaeological artifacts, and cutting-edge DNA evidence, Menzies has made a jaw-dropping discovery: Atlantis truly did exist, and was part of the incredibly advanced Minoan civilization that extended from its Mediterranean base to England, India, and even America. In The Lost Empire of Atlantis, he constructs a vivid portrait of this legendary civilization and shares his remarkable findings. As riveting as an Indiana Jones adventure, The Lost Empire of Atlantis is a revolutionary work of popular history that will forever change our understanding of the past.

Download or read book Heaven and Earth in Ancient Greek Cosmology written by Dirk L. Couprie and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-03-23 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Miletus, about 550 B.C., together with our world-picture cosmology was born. This book tells the story. In Part One the reader is introduced in the archaic world-picture of a flat earth with the cupola of the celestial vault onto which the celestial bodies are attached. One of the subjects treated in that context is the riddle of the tilted celestial axis. This part also contains an extensive chapter on archaic astronomical instruments. Part Two shows how Anaximander (610-547 B.C.) blew up this archaic world-picture and replaced it by a new one that is essentially still ours. He taught that the celestial bodies orbit at different distances and that the earth floats unsupported in space. This makes him the founding father of cosmology. Part Three discusses topics that completed the new picture described by Anaximander. Special attention is paid to the confrontation between Anaxagoras and Aristotle on the question whether the earth is flat or spherical, and on the battle between Aristotle and Heraclides Ponticus on the question whether the universe is finite or infinite.