Mirage of the Saracen: Christians and Nomads in the Sinai Peninsula in Late AntiquityMirage of the Saracen analyzes the growth of monasticism and Christian settlements in the Sinai Peninsula through the early seventh century C.E. Walter D. Ward examines the ways in which Christian monks justified occupying the Sinai through creating associations between Biblical narratives and Sinai sites while assigning uncivilized, negative, and oppositional traits to the indigenous nomadic population, whom the Christians pejoratively called "Saracens." By writing edifying tales of hostile nomads and the ensuing martyrdom of the monks, Christians not only reinforced their claims to the spiritual benefits of asceticism but also provoked the Roman authorities to enhance defense of pilgrimage routes to the Sinai. When Muslim armies later began conquering the Middle East, Christians also labeled these new conquerors as Saracens, connecting Muslims to these pre-Islamic representations. This timely and relevant work builds a historical account of interreligious encounters in the ancient world, showing the Sinai as a crucible for forging long-lasting images of both Christians and Muslims, some of which endure today. |
Contents
| 1 | |
1 Saracens | 17 |
2 Monasticism and Pilgrimage in the Sinai | 42 |
3 The Sinai as Christian Space | 67 |
4 Martyrdom in the Sinai | 92 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aila Ammonius Ammonius Monachus Anastasius Arabia Arabs archaeological autem barbarians biblical events Blemmyes Byzantine Caner church Conquest Cosmas Indicopleustes Dahari described desert Early Christian East Egeria Elim Elusa Eusebius Exodus fourth century frontier Greco-Roman Greek History Hoyland Ibid imperial inscription Islamic Jerusalem John of Damascus Late Antiquity limes Arabicus locations martyrdom Mayerson mentions monastery monastic communities monasticism monks Moses Mount Sinai mountain Moyses Muslims Nabataean Narrationes Negev Nessana Nilus nomadic groups nomads Onomasticon Oxford pagan Palestine pastoralist Petra Petrus Diaconus Pharan Pharanites Piacenza pilgrim pilgrimage Procopius Pseudo-Nilus Raphidim region Relatio Rhaithou Roman Empire Saint Catherine's Saint Catherine's Monastery sanctus Saracens sedentary Sinai Martyr Sinai monks Sinai Peninsula sixth century Solzbacher 1989 Sophronius sources tion trans University Press Wadi ἀπὸ γὰρ δὲ εἰς ἐν ἐπὶ καὶ κατὰ μὲν οἱ πρὸς τὰ τῇ τὴν τῆς τὸ τοῖς τὸν τοῦ τῷ τῶν ὡς