Makings of the Sea is an inquiry into the makings of the Mediterranean imagination in the 20th century, focusing on specific cases in the visual and performing arts, music and literature. It also questions a number of populist perceptions of the Mediterranean and its cultures. Following a thematic structure that falls broadly under the headings of journey, doubt and nostalgia, this is an essay on Mediterranean aesthetics.

The Beth Alpha synagogue mosaic is one of the most striking examples of ancient Jewish art ever uncovered. Excavated in 1929 by E. L. Sukenik on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, this mosaic provoked an immediate sensation among scholars and lay people throughout Jewish Palestine, Europe and America. Located in Israel’s Jezreel Valley, this remarkable mosaic preserves images of the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22), of a zodiac wheel flanked by personifications of the seasons that was labeled in Hebrew, and of a Torah shrine flanked by menorahs and lions.

Alert to the implications of Egyptian politics to the world of the Middle Ages, Muir offers a detailed look at the rule of the slave-soldier caste known as the Mamelukes who ruled Egypt from 1260 to 1517. Each ruler of the Bahrite and Circassian dynasties is given a full chapter, and the role of the Mamelukes under the Ottoman Empire is reviewed.

Gives a brief account of the history and traditions of the modern Assyrian people, and the fateful history of the Church of the East. The first seven Chapters are dedicated to the modern period, while the final six chapters discuss Christian-Muslim relations and the fate of the Church of the East and the Assyrian people during and after World War I.

The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (GEDSH) is the first major encyclopedia-type reference work devoted exclusively to Syriac Christianity, both as a field of scholarly inquiry and as the inheritance of Syriac Christians today. In more than 600 entries it covers the Syriac heritage from its beginnings in the first centuries of the Common Era up to the present day. Special attention is given to authors, literary works, scholars, and locations that are associated with the Classical Syriac tradition. Within this tradition, the diversity of Syriac Christianity is highlighted as well as Syriac Christianity’s broader literary and historical contexts, with major entries devoted to Greek and Arabic authors and more general themes, such as Syriac Christianity’s contacts with Judaism and Islam, and with Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Georgian Christianities.

This volume is a collection of selected essays on specific themes in Ugaritic literature. Included are eight unique contributions to understanding the religious life and thought of Ugarit, including detailed studies and essays covering broader issues for grasping the worldview of ancient Syria.