Mu?ammad Ibn-?ar?r a?- ?abar?

Muhammad ibn Yarir al- Tabari

?abar?

Ab?-?a?far Mu?ammad Ibn-?ar?r ?abar? (a?-)

Muhammad b. Yarir al- Tabari

This volume covers the years 700-715 A.D., a period that witnessed the last five years of the caliphate of the Umayyad 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan and the whole of the caliphate of his son al-Walid. In retrospect, this period can be seen to have marked the apogee of Marwanid Umayyad power. It began with the dangerous revolt of the Iraqi tribal leader Ibn al-Ash'ath, which seriously imperilled Marwanid control of Iraq and was countered with considerable difficulty; but this proved to be the last of the obstacles faced by 'Abd al-Malik in the wake of the Second Civil War of 685-693. Thereafter he was able to preside over a strong and dynamic Arab kingdom, with al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf as his powerful governor of Iraq and the East. When 'Abd al-Malik died in 705, the caliphate passed to his son al-Walid, during whose decade of office al-Hajjaj remained at his post and further Arab expansion took place in Central Asia, in Sind, and in the Iberian Peninsula. To many of their contemporaries, the Arabs of that time must have looked like potential world conquerors. The volume ends shortly after the deaths of al-Hajjaj and al-Walid and just two years before the dispatch in 717 of the ill-fated Arab expedition to Constantinople.

The Zenith of the Marwanid House: The Last Years of 'Abd al-Malik and The Caliphate of al-Walid A.D. 700-715/A.H. 81-96

The History of al-Tabari Vol. 23

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T?bar?

This volume continues the stories of the Israelite patriarchs and prophets who figured in Volume II, as well as of the semi-mythical rulers of ancient Iran. In addition to biblical, Qur'anic, and legendary accounts about Moses, Aaron, and the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt; of the Judges, Samuel and Ezekiel; and of Saul, David, and Solomon, it includes a version of Iranian prehistory that emphasizes the role of Manuchihr (Manushihr in Arabic) in creating the Iranian nation and state. Woven into these accounts are stories about figures belonging to the very earliest literatures of the Middle East: the mysterious al-Khidwith echoes from the epic of the Sumero-Akkadian hero Gilgamesh; the legendary exploits of Dhu l-Qarnayn, mirroring the ancient romance of Alexander; and incorporating elements about the encounter of King Solomon and Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, of Jewish midrash and South Arabian lore. The Islamic empire was at its political and economic height during the tenth and eleventh centuries, and a new civilization was forged at the caliphal court and in society at large. One of the literary triumphs of that civilization was this rich and colorful tapestry belonging to the Islamic genre of "tales of the prophets." The tales in this volume show how threads from all the ancient civilizations of the Middle East were incorporated, absorbed, and Islamized in the brilliant fabric of that new civilization.

The Children of Israel

The History of al-Tabari Vol. 3

Ab?-?a?far Mu?ammad Ibn-?ar?r ?abar? (a?-)

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