Vita Daphna Arbel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199837779
- eISBN:
- 9780199932351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199837779.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The chapter shows how several scenes, paralleling prevalent early Jewish and Christian exegetical traditions, depict Eve as accountable for inflicting death on Adam and all humanity. Simultaneously, ...
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The chapter shows how several scenes, paralleling prevalent early Jewish and Christian exegetical traditions, depict Eve as accountable for inflicting death on Adam and all humanity. Simultaneously, other scenes subtly portray Eve as playing a beneficial role in the context of Adam’s death, such as caring for his body, mourning his decease, pleading for his soul, and witnessing his final ascent to heaven. The chapter demonstrates how these later portrayals resonate with a broad range of culturally esteemed funerary practices and conceptions associated with women, well established in the multicultural landscape in which the GLAE emerged. With attention to relations between social practices and narrativation, the chapter further suggests that, by associating Eve with valued funerary practices, the GLAE representations undermine traditions of Eve’s liability, emphasize countertraditions about her positive role in the aftermath of Adam’s death, and ultimately assert an ideological stance concerning the valued standing of Eve in the context of contrasting views.Less
The chapter shows how several scenes, paralleling prevalent early Jewish and Christian exegetical traditions, depict Eve as accountable for inflicting death on Adam and all humanity. Simultaneously, other scenes subtly portray Eve as playing a beneficial role in the context of Adam’s death, such as caring for his body, mourning his decease, pleading for his soul, and witnessing his final ascent to heaven. The chapter demonstrates how these later portrayals resonate with a broad range of culturally esteemed funerary practices and conceptions associated with women, well established in the multicultural landscape in which the GLAE emerged. With attention to relations between social practices and narrativation, the chapter further suggests that, by associating Eve with valued funerary practices, the GLAE representations undermine traditions of Eve’s liability, emphasize countertraditions about her positive role in the aftermath of Adam’s death, and ultimately assert an ideological stance concerning the valued standing of Eve in the context of contrasting views.
Marian H. Feldman
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226105611
- eISBN:
- 9780226164427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226164427.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
The chapter examines a small subgroup of decorated metal bowls, typically referred to as “Phoenician,” that bear inscriptions on them, as an avenue into the corpus as a whole, and delves into the ...
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The chapter examines a small subgroup of decorated metal bowls, typically referred to as “Phoenician,” that bear inscriptions on them, as an avenue into the corpus as a whole, and delves into the material association of ornamentation and inscription on vessels designed for pouring and/or drinking liquids in a funerary context. The presence of an inscription that names a person activates memories in a self-conscious manner. The bowls elicit, even demand, an ongoing remembrance on behalf of the named individual. The representational decoration drew user-viewers into its figured world, enacting and reenacting social, familial, and power relations through time. That these vessels appear in burial contexts from Iran to Italy points to shared cultural practices of communal feasting. Yet, the inscribing of personal names and the declaration of ownership in numerous languages and scripts found on metal bowls around the Near East and Mediterranean from the transitional period at the end of the Late Bronze Age into the Iron Age suggest a new role for funerary practices, in which emerging communal identities were increasingly being expressed through ethno-linguistic affiliation and a metaphor of ancestral kinship.Less
The chapter examines a small subgroup of decorated metal bowls, typically referred to as “Phoenician,” that bear inscriptions on them, as an avenue into the corpus as a whole, and delves into the material association of ornamentation and inscription on vessels designed for pouring and/or drinking liquids in a funerary context. The presence of an inscription that names a person activates memories in a self-conscious manner. The bowls elicit, even demand, an ongoing remembrance on behalf of the named individual. The representational decoration drew user-viewers into its figured world, enacting and reenacting social, familial, and power relations through time. That these vessels appear in burial contexts from Iran to Italy points to shared cultural practices of communal feasting. Yet, the inscribing of personal names and the declaration of ownership in numerous languages and scripts found on metal bowls around the Near East and Mediterranean from the transitional period at the end of the Late Bronze Age into the Iron Age suggest a new role for funerary practices, in which emerging communal identities were increasingly being expressed through ethno-linguistic affiliation and a metaphor of ancestral kinship.
Mark Michael Rowe
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226730134
- eISBN:
- 9780226730165
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226730165.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Despite popular images of priests seeking enlightenment in snow-covered mountain temples, the central concern of Japanese Buddhism is death. For that reason, Japanese Buddhism's social and economic ...
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Despite popular images of priests seeking enlightenment in snow-covered mountain temples, the central concern of Japanese Buddhism is death. For that reason, Japanese Buddhism's social and economic base has long been in mortuary services—a base now threatened by public debate over the status, treatment, and location of the dead. This book explores the crisis brought on by this debate and investigates what changing burial forms reveal about the ways temple Buddhism is perceived and propagated in contemporary Japan. It offers an account of how religious, political, social, and economic forces in the twentieth century led to the emergence of new funerary practices in Japan and how, as a result, the care of the dead has become the most fundamental challenge to the continued existence of Japanese temple Buddhism. Far from marking the death of Buddhism in Japan, the book argues, funerary Buddhism reveals the tradition at its most vibrant.Less
Despite popular images of priests seeking enlightenment in snow-covered mountain temples, the central concern of Japanese Buddhism is death. For that reason, Japanese Buddhism's social and economic base has long been in mortuary services—a base now threatened by public debate over the status, treatment, and location of the dead. This book explores the crisis brought on by this debate and investigates what changing burial forms reveal about the ways temple Buddhism is perceived and propagated in contemporary Japan. It offers an account of how religious, political, social, and economic forces in the twentieth century led to the emergence of new funerary practices in Japan and how, as a result, the care of the dead has become the most fundamental challenge to the continued existence of Japanese temple Buddhism. Far from marking the death of Buddhism in Japan, the book argues, funerary Buddhism reveals the tradition at its most vibrant.
Jacqueline S. Thursby
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123806
- eISBN:
- 9780813134949
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123806.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
When Evelyn Waugh wrote The Loved One (1948) as a satire of the elaborate preparations and memorialization of the dead taking place in his time, he had no way of knowing how technical and ...
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When Evelyn Waugh wrote The Loved One (1948) as a satire of the elaborate preparations and memorialization of the dead taking place in his time, he had no way of knowing how technical and extraordinarily creative human funerary practices would become in the ensuing decades. This book explores how modern American funerals and their accompanying rituals have evolved into affairs that help the living with the healing process. The book suggests that there is irony in the festivities surrounding death. The typical American response to death often develops into a celebration that reestablishes links or strengthens ties between family members and friends. The increasingly important funerary banquet, for example, honors an often well-lived life in order to help survivors accept the change that death brings and to provide healing fellowship. At such celebrations and other forms of the traditional wake, participants often use humor to add another dimension to expressing both the personality of the deceased and their ties to a particular ethnic heritage. In research and interviews, the book discovers the paramount importance of food as part of the funeral ritual. During times of loss, individuals want to be consoled, and this is often accomplished through the preparation and consumption of nourishing, comforting foods. This book examines rituals for loved ones separated by death, frivolities surrounding death, funeral foods and feasts, post-funeral rites, and personalized memorials and grave markers. The book concludes that though Americans come from many different cultural traditions, they deal with death in a largely similar way. They emphasize unity and embrace rites that soothe the distress of death as a way to heal and move forward.Less
When Evelyn Waugh wrote The Loved One (1948) as a satire of the elaborate preparations and memorialization of the dead taking place in his time, he had no way of knowing how technical and extraordinarily creative human funerary practices would become in the ensuing decades. This book explores how modern American funerals and their accompanying rituals have evolved into affairs that help the living with the healing process. The book suggests that there is irony in the festivities surrounding death. The typical American response to death often develops into a celebration that reestablishes links or strengthens ties between family members and friends. The increasingly important funerary banquet, for example, honors an often well-lived life in order to help survivors accept the change that death brings and to provide healing fellowship. At such celebrations and other forms of the traditional wake, participants often use humor to add another dimension to expressing both the personality of the deceased and their ties to a particular ethnic heritage. In research and interviews, the book discovers the paramount importance of food as part of the funeral ritual. During times of loss, individuals want to be consoled, and this is often accomplished through the preparation and consumption of nourishing, comforting foods. This book examines rituals for loved ones separated by death, frivolities surrounding death, funeral foods and feasts, post-funeral rites, and personalized memorials and grave markers. The book concludes that though Americans come from many different cultural traditions, they deal with death in a largely similar way. They emphasize unity and embrace rites that soothe the distress of death as a way to heal and move forward.
Kathleen Garces‐Foley
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195335224
- eISBN:
- 9780199868810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335224.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In the classroom we can light incense, listen to dirges, watch videos of funerals, and pass around a cremation urn, but these encounters with the intersection of death and religion are taken out of ...
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In the classroom we can light incense, listen to dirges, watch videos of funerals, and pass around a cremation urn, but these encounters with the intersection of death and religion are taken out of their social context. By moving students beyond the classroom, we force them to step beyond the comfort of academic distance and encounter religion and death on their own terms. This chapter describes the pedagogical benefits of site visits and how they can enhance the study of death from a “lived religion” perspective. It also explores ethical issues arising from site visits and suggests practical ways to maximize the success of the site visit, from planning the trip to student preparation through the follow-up analysis. Lastly, it offers specific suggestions for visits to the most common sites used in death courses, namely cemeteries and funeral homes.Less
In the classroom we can light incense, listen to dirges, watch videos of funerals, and pass around a cremation urn, but these encounters with the intersection of death and religion are taken out of their social context. By moving students beyond the classroom, we force them to step beyond the comfort of academic distance and encounter religion and death on their own terms. This chapter describes the pedagogical benefits of site visits and how they can enhance the study of death from a “lived religion” perspective. It also explores ethical issues arising from site visits and suggests practical ways to maximize the success of the site visit, from planning the trip to student preparation through the follow-up analysis. Lastly, it offers specific suggestions for visits to the most common sites used in death courses, namely cemeteries and funeral homes.
Mark Michael Rowe
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226730134
- eISBN:
- 9780226730165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226730165.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book is a study of contemporary Japanese Buddhism and the care of the dead. It shows how religious, political, social, and economic forces over the course of the twentieth century led to the ...
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This book is a study of contemporary Japanese Buddhism and the care of the dead. It shows how religious, political, social, and economic forces over the course of the twentieth century led to the emergence of new funerary practices in Japan and how this has made the care of the dead the most essential challenge to the continued existence of Japanese temple Buddhism. This challenge extends beyond the economic, demographic, and social forces of change into the realm of more existential doubts about the role of the tradition and the true meaning of Buddhist understandings of death. Secondarily, it is a study of the primary overseers of shaping tradition within Japanese Buddhism today; of the interplay and tensions between Buddhist ideals, as reflected in the activities of Buddhist intellectuals; and the often conflicting practical needs of temple priests in the context of their daily responsibilities as caretakers for the dead.Less
This book is a study of contemporary Japanese Buddhism and the care of the dead. It shows how religious, political, social, and economic forces over the course of the twentieth century led to the emergence of new funerary practices in Japan and how this has made the care of the dead the most essential challenge to the continued existence of Japanese temple Buddhism. This challenge extends beyond the economic, demographic, and social forces of change into the realm of more existential doubts about the role of the tradition and the true meaning of Buddhist understandings of death. Secondarily, it is a study of the primary overseers of shaping tradition within Japanese Buddhism today; of the interplay and tensions between Buddhist ideals, as reflected in the activities of Buddhist intellectuals; and the often conflicting practical needs of temple priests in the context of their daily responsibilities as caretakers for the dead.
Jacqueline I. Stone and Mariko Namba Walter (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824832049
- eISBN:
- 9780824869250
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824832049.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. This book, running chronologically from the tenth century to the present, brings to light ...
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For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. This book, running chronologically from the tenth century to the present, brings to light both continuity and change in death practices over time. It also explores the interrelated issues of how Buddhist death rites have addressed individual concerns about the afterlife while also filling social and institutional needs and how Buddhist death-related practices have assimilated and refigured elements from other traditions, bringing together disparate, even conflicting, ideas about the dead, their postmortem fate, and what constitutes normative Buddhist practice. The idea that death, ritually managed, can mediate an escape from deluded rebirth is treated in the first two chapters. Even while stressing themes of impermanence and non-attachment, Buddhist death rites worked to encourage the maintenance of emotional bonds with the deceased and, in so doing, helped structure the social world of the living. This theme is explored in the next four chapters. The final three chapters deal with contemporary funerary and mortuary practices and the controversies surrounding them. The book constitutes a major step toward understanding how Buddhism in Japan has forged and retained its hold on death-related thought and practice, providing one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the topic to date.Less
For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. This book, running chronologically from the tenth century to the present, brings to light both continuity and change in death practices over time. It also explores the interrelated issues of how Buddhist death rites have addressed individual concerns about the afterlife while also filling social and institutional needs and how Buddhist death-related practices have assimilated and refigured elements from other traditions, bringing together disparate, even conflicting, ideas about the dead, their postmortem fate, and what constitutes normative Buddhist practice. The idea that death, ritually managed, can mediate an escape from deluded rebirth is treated in the first two chapters. Even while stressing themes of impermanence and non-attachment, Buddhist death rites worked to encourage the maintenance of emotional bonds with the deceased and, in so doing, helped structure the social world of the living. This theme is explored in the next four chapters. The final three chapters deal with contemporary funerary and mortuary practices and the controversies surrounding them. The book constitutes a major step toward understanding how Buddhism in Japan has forged and retained its hold on death-related thought and practice, providing one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the topic to date.
Chris Scarre
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199281626
- eISBN:
- 9780191804311
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199281626.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines the funerary practices in Brittany. It highlights the scarcity of preserved human remains and discusses evidence for multiple burials and collective tombs and the model for the ...
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This chapter examines the funerary practices in Brittany. It highlights the scarcity of preserved human remains and discusses evidence for multiple burials and collective tombs and the model for the development of Neolithic funerary practices proposed by Christine Boujot. It also describes the collected human remains from the Neolithic burial south of the Loire and the Normandy passage graves.Less
This chapter examines the funerary practices in Brittany. It highlights the scarcity of preserved human remains and discusses evidence for multiple burials and collective tombs and the model for the development of Neolithic funerary practices proposed by Christine Boujot. It also describes the collected human remains from the Neolithic burial south of the Loire and the Normandy passage graves.
Gregory Shushan
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190872472
- eISBN:
- 9780190872502
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190872472.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Many near-death experiences (NDEs) were found in Polynesia and Melanesia, alongside claims that afterlife beliefs derived from them, and numerous relevant myths. Religious rituals and beliefs often ...
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Many near-death experiences (NDEs) were found in Polynesia and Melanesia, alongside claims that afterlife beliefs derived from them, and numerous relevant myths. Religious rituals and beliefs often incorporated knowledge of NDEs, and revitalization movements often had NDE origins and themes. Shamanic practices included otherworld journeys, soul-retrieval, mediumship, and invited spirit possession. Micronesia and Australia, in contrast, yielded very few NDEs, or statements that beliefs originated in them. In Micronesia, the dead were brought to the living via possession and mediumship, while Australians practiced otherworld journey shamanism. Such practices took preference over interest in NDEs, while fulfilling similar socioreligious functions. The differences between the regions also reflected different funerary practices: in Polynesia and Melanesia they often facilitated the possibility of the soul’s return, while in Micronesia and Australia they were frequently designed to prevent such a return.Less
Many near-death experiences (NDEs) were found in Polynesia and Melanesia, alongside claims that afterlife beliefs derived from them, and numerous relevant myths. Religious rituals and beliefs often incorporated knowledge of NDEs, and revitalization movements often had NDE origins and themes. Shamanic practices included otherworld journeys, soul-retrieval, mediumship, and invited spirit possession. Micronesia and Australia, in contrast, yielded very few NDEs, or statements that beliefs originated in them. In Micronesia, the dead were brought to the living via possession and mediumship, while Australians practiced otherworld journey shamanism. Such practices took preference over interest in NDEs, while fulfilling similar socioreligious functions. The differences between the regions also reflected different funerary practices: in Polynesia and Melanesia they often facilitated the possibility of the soul’s return, while in Micronesia and Australia they were frequently designed to prevent such a return.
Giancarlo Marcone
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780813062785
- eISBN:
- 9780813051703
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813062785.003.0005
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
Drawing from ethnohistorical sources, many Andean scholars have modeled Inca expansion as a highly ritualized political process, with feasting and ritual performance as its principal components. This ...
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Drawing from ethnohistorical sources, many Andean scholars have modeled Inca expansion as a highly ritualized political process, with feasting and ritual performance as its principal components. This model was long projected onto all Andean societies on the assumption that feasting activities were similarly important and played similar political roles across societies over time. Other voices have proposed that burial practices and ancestor veneration were also of central political importance in the Andean states’ expansionist projects. Ancestor veneration was thought to be the ideological base that upheld these entire systems. Increasingly, however, new voices are proposing that ancestor veneration and burial practices need to be understood in relation to feasting practices. It is only in this relational way that we can fully understand their political and social meanings. In chapter 5, Flores proposes that this is particularly true in cases where local communities interact with expansionist polities. He argues, based on evidence from Lote B, a small rural settlement in the Lurín Valley, that the increase of feasting activities is related to the suppression of funerary practices or vice-versa. This inverse correlation not only informs us about the nature of an expansionist project but also about the compromise that takes place between local communities and expansionist polities in turn.Less
Drawing from ethnohistorical sources, many Andean scholars have modeled Inca expansion as a highly ritualized political process, with feasting and ritual performance as its principal components. This model was long projected onto all Andean societies on the assumption that feasting activities were similarly important and played similar political roles across societies over time. Other voices have proposed that burial practices and ancestor veneration were also of central political importance in the Andean states’ expansionist projects. Ancestor veneration was thought to be the ideological base that upheld these entire systems. Increasingly, however, new voices are proposing that ancestor veneration and burial practices need to be understood in relation to feasting practices. It is only in this relational way that we can fully understand their political and social meanings. In chapter 5, Flores proposes that this is particularly true in cases where local communities interact with expansionist polities. He argues, based on evidence from Lote B, a small rural settlement in the Lurín Valley, that the increase of feasting activities is related to the suppression of funerary practices or vice-versa. This inverse correlation not only informs us about the nature of an expansionist project but also about the compromise that takes place between local communities and expansionist polities in turn.
Valérie Delattre
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199567959
- eISBN:
- 9780191804410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199567959.003.0029
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The numerous archaeological excavations recently carried out around Paris (Ilede-France) have made this part of France a privileged area for new studies of the Iron Age. In particular, it offers ...
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The numerous archaeological excavations recently carried out around Paris (Ilede-France) have made this part of France a privileged area for new studies of the Iron Age. In particular, it offers great potential for fresh interpretation of La Tène funerary practices as well as the role of human deposits in storage pits and the manipulation of human remains. This chapter uses the data from this region to explore the meanings of such evidence within Iron Age societies. Human deposits, often referred to as ‘relegation burials’, underlining the apparent second-rate nature of the tomb, are inferred as representing the alienation of certain individuals in death. However, the excluded dead play an important role understanding religious worship during this period, first via the post-mortem treatment of body itself and ultimately via the manipulated skeletal remains during the decomposition process.Less
The numerous archaeological excavations recently carried out around Paris (Ilede-France) have made this part of France a privileged area for new studies of the Iron Age. In particular, it offers great potential for fresh interpretation of La Tène funerary practices as well as the role of human deposits in storage pits and the manipulation of human remains. This chapter uses the data from this region to explore the meanings of such evidence within Iron Age societies. Human deposits, often referred to as ‘relegation burials’, underlining the apparent second-rate nature of the tomb, are inferred as representing the alienation of certain individuals in death. However, the excluded dead play an important role understanding religious worship during this period, first via the post-mortem treatment of body itself and ultimately via the manipulated skeletal remains during the decomposition process.
Chris Scarre
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199281626
- eISBN:
- 9780191804311
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199281626.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines tombs and stone monuments in Brittany during the Late Neolithic Period. It describes different tomb types and their relationship to variations in funerary practices and ...
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This chapter examines tombs and stone monuments in Brittany during the Late Neolithic Period. It describes different tomb types and their relationship to variations in funerary practices and highlights the presence of engraved motifs and features carved in raised relief in Neolithic megalithic tombs. It also discusses the symbolism of the Late Neolithic tombs in relation to the ‘great houses’ of third millennium Brittany and the structural similarities between tombs and houses.Less
This chapter examines tombs and stone monuments in Brittany during the Late Neolithic Period. It describes different tomb types and their relationship to variations in funerary practices and highlights the presence of engraved motifs and features carved in raised relief in Neolithic megalithic tombs. It also discusses the symbolism of the Late Neolithic tombs in relation to the ‘great houses’ of third millennium Brittany and the structural similarities between tombs and houses.
L. Marlow
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780748696901
- eISBN:
- 9781474422215
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748696901.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
To situate Naṣīḥat al-mulūk in the religious culture of the tenth-century Samanid domains, this chapters explores the orientations and practices of the Samanid amirs from the later ninth century ...
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To situate Naṣīḥat al-mulūk in the religious culture of the tenth-century Samanid domains, this chapters explores the orientations and practices of the Samanid amirs from the later ninth century onwards. It portrays the proclivities towards austerity (zuhd) and religious devotion (ʿibāda) of the earlier amirs, especially the generation of Naṣr I and his brothers, the memory of whose conduct significantly shaped Pseudo-Māwardī’s conception of good governance. The chapter presents the efforts of this generation of amirs to develop mutually supportive relations with the religious scholars, and their active participation in the public religious sphere, in, for example, the hearing and transmission of ḥadīth and participation in the funerary rites of prominent scholars. It treats the social prominence and economic means of religious scholars and renunciants, whose support and co-operation Pseudo-Māwardī urges the king to cultivate. The chapter concludes with a discussion of religious developments during the reign of Naṣr II.Less
To situate Naṣīḥat al-mulūk in the religious culture of the tenth-century Samanid domains, this chapters explores the orientations and practices of the Samanid amirs from the later ninth century onwards. It portrays the proclivities towards austerity (zuhd) and religious devotion (ʿibāda) of the earlier amirs, especially the generation of Naṣr I and his brothers, the memory of whose conduct significantly shaped Pseudo-Māwardī’s conception of good governance. The chapter presents the efforts of this generation of amirs to develop mutually supportive relations with the religious scholars, and their active participation in the public religious sphere, in, for example, the hearing and transmission of ḥadīth and participation in the funerary rites of prominent scholars. It treats the social prominence and economic means of religious scholars and renunciants, whose support and co-operation Pseudo-Māwardī urges the king to cultivate. The chapter concludes with a discussion of religious developments during the reign of Naṣr II.
Andrew Erskine
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199608409
- eISBN:
- 9780191745102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199608409.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Most scholars have approached Book 6 in piece-meal fashion, exemplified by the tendency to translate the word politeia as 'constitution', even though Polybius includes elements which could not be ...
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Most scholars have approached Book 6 in piece-meal fashion, exemplified by the tendency to translate the word politeia as 'constitution', even though Polybius includes elements which could not be called constitutional such as funerary practices. This chapter shows how Book 6 explains the success of Rome (and by implication the failure of Greek communities) holistically: elements often ignored by scholars, such as the account of enrolment for the Roman army and the Roman camp, are in fact part of a strategy of emphasizing Roman efficiency. Likewise, the overriding focus on the state's interests over those of the individual is reflected in Polybius' accounts of military discipline, and in the Roman response to the dispatch of prisoners to Rome by Hannibal after Cannae which ends the book.Less
Most scholars have approached Book 6 in piece-meal fashion, exemplified by the tendency to translate the word politeia as 'constitution', even though Polybius includes elements which could not be called constitutional such as funerary practices. This chapter shows how Book 6 explains the success of Rome (and by implication the failure of Greek communities) holistically: elements often ignored by scholars, such as the account of enrolment for the Roman army and the Roman camp, are in fact part of a strategy of emphasizing Roman efficiency. Likewise, the overriding focus on the state's interests over those of the individual is reflected in Polybius' accounts of military discipline, and in the Roman response to the dispatch of prisoners to Rome by Hannibal after Cannae which ends the book.
