Byzantium and the Arabs

Studies on the encounter between Eastern Christians and Muslims in the aftermath of the Arab conquests in the seventh century continue to emerge--a welcome development. A recent publication from Irfan Shahid continues helpfully to expand what we know about that early encounter: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 2, Part 2 (Dumbarton Oaks, 2010), 480pp.

About this book the publisher tells us:

This fourth and final installment in Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century resumes the previous volume’s discussion of the Ghassanids by examining their economic, social, and cultural history. First, Irfan Shahîd focuses on the economy of the Ghassanids and presents information on various trade routes and fairs. Second, the author reconstructs Ghassanid daily life by discussing topics as varied as music, food, medicine, the role of women, and horse racing. Shahîd concludes the volume with an examination of cultural life, including descriptions of urbanization, Arabic script, chivalry, and poetry. Throughout the volume, the author reveals the history of a fully developed and unique Christian-Arab culture. Shahîd exhaustively describes the society of the Ghassanids, and their contributions to the cultural environment that persisted in Oriens during the sixth century and continued into the period of the Umayyad caliphate.