Histories you can trust.The Oxford History of the Holy Land covers the 3,000 years which saw the rise of Judaism,Christianity,and Islam - and relates the familiar stories of the sacred texts with the fruits of modern scholarship. Beginning with the origins of the people who became the Israel of the Bible,it follows the course of the ensuing millennia down to the time when the Ottoman Empire succumbed to British and French rule at the end of the First World War.Parts of the story,especially as known from the Bible,will be widely familiar. Less familiar are the ways in which modern research,both from archaeology and from other ancient sources,sometimes modify this story historically. Better understanding,however,enables us to appreciate crucial chapters in the story of the Holy Land,such as how and why Judaism developed in the way that it did from the earlier sovereign states of Israel and Judah and the historical circumstances in whichChristianity emerged from its Jewish cradle.Later parts of the story are vital not only for the history of Islam and its relationships with the two older religions,but also for the development of pilgrimage and religious tourism,as well as the notions of sacred space and of holy books with which we are still familiar today. From the time of Napoleon on,European powers came increasingly to develop both cultural and political interest in the region,culminating in the British and French conquests which carved out the modern states ofthe Middle East.Sensitive to the concerns of those for whom the sacred books of Judaism,Christianity,and Islam are of paramount religious authority,the authors all try sympathetically to show how historical information from other sources,as well as scholarly study of the texts themselves,enriches our understanding of the history of the region and its prominent position in the world's cultural and intellectual history.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Oxford University PressISBN: 9780192886866Weight: 492 gDimensions: 196 x 130 x 24 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
For those interested in the Bible,history or spiritual pilgrimage,this is a captivating guide and will be a great asset to anyone who has travelled,or will travel,to the Holy Land.The Oxford History of the Holy Land is full of...remarkable details. Thirteen fact-packed chapters,each by an expert in his or her field,take us on a tour from the earliest recorded history onwards. It is a remarkable,readable,and useful achievement,one that will illuminate a thousand sermons and provide much to think about for anyone interested in the subject.Three great world faiths have invested so many hopes and passions in one relatively small part of the eastern Mediterranean seaboard and its hinterland,that there are risks even in calling it by a single name. This collective study of the "God-trodden land" is a richly informative,reliable,and sane guide to its troubled history: one valuable contribution to crafting it a more peaceful present and future.
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