Christianity in South Arabia before Islam

قبل خمسة وأربعون عاماً، خرجت اليمن من فترة طويلة من الصراع والعزلة. في الميدان الثقافي، صاحبت هذه النهضة مكونًا أثريًا مهمًا، ركزت في البداية على العصور القديمة، وهي الحضارة العربية الجنوبية، ثم امتدت سريعا إلى عصور ما قبل التاريخ والإسلامية.
يتتبع هذا الكتاب أكثر من أربعين عاماً من البحوث الأثرية الفرنسية، نُسقت ابتداءً من عام 1982 من قِبَل المركز الفرنسي للدراسات اليمنية، الذي أصبح المركز الفرنسي للأثار والعلوم الاجتماعية بصنعاء. ورغم التوقف الوحشي بسبب الصراعات الأخيرة، إلا أن الاكتشافات التي حققتها الفرق العديدة من علماء الآثار والمؤرخينتجعل من الممكن تتبع المراحل العظيمة لتطور بلد أسطوري، بلد ملكة سبأ. هذه الأرض شهدت ظهور الممالك والمدن التي كان تطورها نتيجة لاتقان متقدم للزراعةالمروية وزيادة في تجارةالقوافل ثم التجارة البحرية للراتنجات العطرية، والخيول والبن.
من خلال الطابع الأثري لهندستها المعمارية، وصقل فنونها، والسحر الذي تبذله نقوشها، تبدو الحضارة العربية الجنوبية (جنوب شبه الجزيرة العربية)مختلفة تمامًا عن الصورة الخاطئة لصحراء عربيةيجوبها البدو الوحيدون.

An archaeological survey of Saudi Arabia's Farasan Islands in May 2010 recorded a broad range of sites that have not previously been documented. The survey concentrated on Greater Farasan and Segid islands, and comprised a rapid recording of sites shown to the authors by representatives of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. The sites were photographed, their positions logged, sketch drawings made of the principal features and surface pottery drawn and photographed. Detailed drawings were made of a stone anchor and a well with possible Ancient South Arabian carved decoration. The sites visited included settlements, wells, cemeteries and a cave. Several sites included the remains of buildings made of massive ashlar blocks, as well as others of rubble-stone construction. Datable material at the sites points to several periods of occupation, from the early first millennium BC to early modern times. Some locations were characterised by long periods of settlement. Apart from the findings of this survey, most of the sites remain largely uninvestigated, and suggest significant potential for future research into settlement on the archipelago, as well as into past maritime activity and technology in the southern Red Sea region and beyond.

Dear friends and colleagues,

We are happy to announce, on behalf of the board of directors of the Early Islamic Studies Seminar: International Scholarship on the Qur’ān and Islamic Origins, our first biennial Nangeroni Meeting, “Early Islam: The Sectarian Milieu of Late Antiquity?,” which shall take place in Milan from June 15 to 19, 2015, under the auspices of the Enoch Seminar: International Scholarship on Second Temple Judaism, Christian, Rabbinic, and Islamic Origins.

The meeting will be chaired by Guillaume Dye (Free University of Brussels [ULB]) and Gabriele Boccaccini (University of Michigan) and aims at re-examining afresh formative Islam in its the late-antique context.

We plan to have panels (major sessions) on the following topics:

(1) Early Islam and Enochic Traditions
(2) Early Islamic Eschatology
(3) Early Islamic Sources in Light of a “Theology of Salvation"
(4) The Making of the Islamic Prophet
(5) Epigraphic Sources for the Study of Qur'ānic Origins
(6) The Qur'ān in Light of Traditio-Historical Criticism
(7) Method and Theory in the Study of Islamic Origins

Major papers will be offered by Annette Yoshiko Reed,Tommaso Tesei, Emilio González Ferrín, Carlos A. Segovia, Manfred Kropp, Guillaume Dye and Stephen J. Shoemaker.

Short papers on Qur'ānic and Early Islamic Studies are welcome, particularly if they are related to any of the following topics of interest, to which we plan to devote several reading sessions and short-paper sessions, as well:

• Dating Old Qur'ānic Manuscripts: Problems, Methods, Criteria
• The Religious Landscape of Sassanid and Early Islamic Iran (500-750)
• Scribal Culture in the Near East (6th-8th centuries)
• Biblical/Para-Biblical Traditions in the Qur’ān
• The material Culture of Emergent Islam
• Arabia and Byzantium on the Eve of Islam
• Jews, Christians, Manichaeans and their Scriptures in Pre-Islamic Arabia

As usual with the Enoch Seminars and Nangeroni Meetings, the pre-circulating papers shall be presented briefly (5 min.) before being discussed by the participants (respondents in the major sessions will be allowed 10 min. to respond before the general discussion begins).

Paper Submission: short papers (3000 words maximum) should be submitted by April 30, 2015. This will allow other participants enough time to prepare their critical comments.
Proceedings: A volume will be published with the proceedings of the conference, which overall purpose is to contribute to the renewed study of Islamic origins in close dialogue with scholars working on the late-antique Near East, Second Temple Judaism, Rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and Sassanian Iran.

Should you like to present a short paper, please send the chair of the conference, Guillaume Dye (gdye@noos.fr), a provisional title plus a brief abstract by January 2015!

We have secured the lovely Villa Cagnola (http://www.villacagnola.it) in Gazzada Schianno (about 45 kilometres [28 miles] northwest of Milan) for our accommodations. Four nights lodging and all breakfasts and lunches are included in the cost, paid directly to us in Milan via cash according to the following ratio:

€0 – Authors of Major Papers
€200 – Major Paper Respondents
€300 – Everyone else
€200 – Guests (children under 14, staying in the same room, are free)

As usual, there is also a modest registration fee that should be paid by February 15, 2015. This registration fee is a donation to our sponsor, the Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies, and it is tax-deductible for U.S. residents. It is refundable (minus a $50 administrative processing fee) 30 days prior to the start of the Seminar (i.e. by May 15, 2014) if for some reason you are unable to attend.

The registration fee is based on the number of Enoch Seminars/Nangeroni Meetings attended in the past:

$125 – Newcomers
$110 – Attended 1 Enoch Seminar
$100 – Attended 2 Enoch Seminars
$90 – Attended 3 Enoch Seminars
$75 – Attended 4 or 5 Enoch Seminars + all emeriti
$0 – Attended 6 or more Enoch Seminars or Nangeroni Meetings

More information on the provisional schedule and the list of prospective participants can be easily found here:

http://www.4enoch.org/wiki3/index.php?title=Early_Islam:_The_Sectarian_Milieu_of_Late_Antiquity%3F_/_Fourth_Nangeroni_Meeting_(2015_Milan),_conference
(Please check this site often for news and updates!)

Best regards,

Guillaume Dye & Carlos A. Segovia