Studies on Hellenism, Christianity and the Umayyads

The present volume offers o parcial presentation of research that has been prosecuted, in one form or another, over the past decade and more. Some early, misguided ideas about the relationship between Hellenism and the Umayyads as manifest in the paintings of Qusayr Arma appeard in chapter 6 of Garth Fowden, "Empire to commonwealth: Consequences of monotheism in late antiquity (1993); while in chapter 6 of "The Barbarian Plain: Saint Sergius between Rome and Iran" (1999), Elisabeth Key Fowden looked at the relationship between Christanity and Islam in Umayyad al Rusafa. A three year grant from the "Aristeia" programme of the Greek Ministry of Development, General Secretariat for Research and Technology, whithin the European Union's 3rd Community Support Framework, has encouraged us to concetrateon specific aspects of these cultural interactions. A more rounded interpratation of the material, with due emphasis on the wider Islamic environment, will be published elsewhere.[...] (Από τον πρόλογο του βιβλίου)