Johannes Pahlitzsch – författare

Die Bedeutung von Stiftungen für die islamisch geprägten Gesellschaften der Vormoderne lässt sich kaum überschätzen. Stiftungen finanzierten an vielen Orten Einrichtungen der Armen- und Krankenfürsorge, religiöse Institutionen und Aufgaben der kommunalen Infrastruktur, sie dienten aber auch als Grundlage für den Zusammenhalt unterschiedlicher sozialer Gruppen. Heute werden Stiftungen im Rahmen der Debatten zu genuin islamischen Finanzinstrumenten wieder stark diskutiert. In den Beiträgen des Bandes wird die islamische Stiftung nicht als eine statische und unflexible Institution islamischen Rechts verstanden. Vielmehr werden einzelne Stiftungsgeschichten untersucht und in ihrem zeitlichen und regionalen Kontext gesehen. Damit stellen die Autoren die soziale Praxis und die Anpassungsfähigkeit des islamischen Stiftungswesens in den Vordergrund.

This volume is dedicated to the topic of the human evaluation and interpretation of animals in ancient and medieval cultures. From a transcultural perspective contributions from Assyriology, Byzantine Studies, Classical Archaeology, Egyptology, German Medieval Studies and Jewish History look into the processes and mechanisms behind the transfer by people of certain values to animals, and the functions these animal-signs have within written, pictorial and performative forms of expression.

This volume is dedicated to the topic of the human evaluation and interpretation of animals in ancient and medieval cultures. From a transcultural perspective contributions from Assyriology, Byzantine Studies, Classical Archaeology, Egyptology, German Medieval Studies and Jewish History look into the processes and mechanisms behind the transfer by people of certain values to animals, and the functions these animal-signs have within written, pictorial and performative forms of expression.

This volume is dedicated to the topic of the human evaluation and interpretation of animals in ancient and medieval cultures. From a transcultural perspective contributions from Assyriology, Byzantine Studies, Classical Archaeology, Egyptology, German Medieval Studies and Jewish History look into the processes and mechanisms behind the transfer by people of certain values to animals, and the functions these animal-signs have within written, pictorial and performative forms of expression.

The contributors to this volume examine the complex dynamics which arose between the Byzantine Empire and the Near East. Moving beyond the tradition of histoire événementielle, the contributions collected here highlight the passing of artistic practices, ideas and interlocutors between Byzantium and the Islamicate world. In this way, the book seeks to nuance and contextualize our understanding of the relationship between these two medieval cultural spheres.

Jerusalem is a city holy to three world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. From the early Byzantine period, Christian pilgrimage here and to other holy sites became a »mass phenomenon«. Thousands of Christians set out to holy sites in Palestine, Egypt and other places in order to physically experience salvation history and seek divine intervention in their lives. Numerous travel reports, pilgrim guides and other written sources highlight important aspects of pilgrimage. In addition, many well-preserved churches, monasteries, hostels and other buildings, as well as rich archaeological findings, provide us with a vivid and synthetic picture of the history of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This volume presents the contributions of a conference held at Jerusalem in 2017. They address the phenomenon of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem from very different approaches using written and material sources. On the one hand, they ask how pilgrims travelled to the Holy Land, what was the infrastructure that made pilgrimages possible, what did they see and what impressed them. On the other hand, they approach the pilgrims themselves, their origins, their motivations and their itineraries.

Kann ein Herrscher ein Versager sein? Die Beiträger*innen sind erstmals dieser Fragestellung nachgegangen und nehmen anhand von Fallstudien Herrscher des 3. Jt. v. Chr. bis zum 11. Jh. n. Chr. in den Fokus. Dabei lassen sich zentrale Bewertungskriterien für den Erfolg oder Misserfolg eines Herrschers ermitteln: dessen Verhältnis zur Religion, das Erfüllen von etablierten oder individuellen Erwartungen und Normen, die Bewältigung konkreter Herausforderungen, persönliche Eigenschaften sowie die Art seines Herrschaftsendes. Die Befunde, die bis in die moderne Forschung nachwirken, fordern zu einer kritischen Analyse heraus, die durch den interkulturellen Vergleich und die diachrone Perspektive noch an Schärfe gewinnt. Mehr noch kann die multiperspektivische Betrachtungsweise dazu beitragen, Chancen und Grenzen unterschiedlicher methodischer Zugänge zu erkennen und weiter zu entwickeln.Can a ruler be a failure? For the first time, the contributors have focused on this question and with the help of case studies analyse rulers of the 3rd millennium BC to the 11th century AD. Here, important criteria for the success or failure of a ruler can be identified: their relationship to religion; the fulfilment of established or individual expectations and norms; how they met challenges; personal characteristics as well as the manner of the end of their rule. The results, which have impacts on recent studies, demand a critical analysis which gains momentum due to its intercultural comparison and diachronic perspective. Moreover, the multi-perspective view can help to identify and refine chances and limitations of different methodical approaches.

In Antike und Mittelalter sind im euromediterranen Raum nur vereinzelt Frauen als Herrscherinnen nachweisbar, die Regierungsgeschäfte aktiv und eigenständig führten. Andererseits lässt sich eine Vielzahl weiblicher Figuren feststellen, die durch eine besondere Nähe zum männlichen Herrscher großen politischen Einfluss erlangen konnten. Solche Frauen werden in den Beiträgen dieses Bandes sowohl unter quellenreferenzierten als auch figurativen Perspektiven betrachtet. Der Rahmen der Untersuchungen vom Mesopotamien des 24. Jh. v. Chr. bis zum byzantinischen Reich des 14./15. Jhs. n. Chr. ermöglicht im interkulturellen Vergleich nicht zuletzt die Identifikation vereinfachender Deutungsschemata, die von Mit- und Nachwelt geteilt wurden und z. T. noch die aktuelle Forschung prägen.Throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, only a few women can be discerned who were active and independent rulers. Nonetheless, there were a considerable number of female figures who acquired immense political influence due to their particularly close proximity to a male ruler. Such figures are handled in this volume, both from the perspective of the sources and as literary figures. The framework of this study, which ranges from Mesopotamia of the 24th century BC to the Byzantine Empire of the 14th/15th century AD, through an intercultural comparison facilitates, not least of all, the identification of basic interpretative schemes for these figures which were employed contemporaneously and afterward, and indeed even influence modern scholarship.

The volume presents a comparative perspective on victors and vanquished according to the categories of remembering victory and defeat, practices of celebrating victory and triumphs as well as the culture of dealing with the vanquished. Specifically, the representation of victory and defeat in Byzantine literature of the 10th–12th centuries is contrasted with commemorative practices in early Russia, and the reflection of military events in courtly music of the 15th century is examined. In addition, the practices of celebrating victories in England in the High and Late Middle Ages are explored, as is the treatment of the defeated and the subjugated in the Frankish Empire of the 9th century, in Norman southern Italy and in Byzantium.