This work explores the points of contact, as well as the differences between the distinct notions of divine embodiment developed by Maximos the Confessor (580-662), one of the greatest Greek Fathers, and Tsong kha pa (1357-1419), arguably the most important thinker in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. Both authors developed a spiritual theology where natural contemplation and the practice of the virtues are invested with a transformative value and are construed as a response to a cosmic intelligence, which sustains the universe, but also becomes manifest in history.

Aphrahat the Persian Sage, (fl. 337-345 C.E.), was a Syriac Christian author who wrote twenty-three treatises entitled The Demonstrations. This book examines “temple” as a key image for Aphrahat’s theological anthropology. The temple is central for both Jews and Christians; it is the place of sacrifice, meeting, and communication with the Divine. For Aphrahat, the devout Christian person may be a micro-temple which then allows one to encounter the divine both within oneself and through a vision ascent to the heavenly temple.

This invaluable eleven-volume set on the Chronicle of Michael the Great makes the scholarly resources on this unique manuscript available together for the first time. Now inaccessible, the Chronicle is the largest medieval chronicle known, and is available here for the first time in history as a facsimile copy of the original manuscript, as well as in a copy of the original Syriac, the French translation, an abbreviated Armenian recension, and Arabic versions. The Chronicle is one of the most important primary sources on the history of the Middle East, especially the period between the rise of Islam and the Crusades.

This invaluable eleven-volume set on the Chronicle of Michael the Great makes the scholarly resources on this unique manuscript available together for the first time. Now inaccessible, the Chronicle is the largest medieval chronicle known, and is available here for the first time in history as a facsimile copy of the original manuscript, as well as in a copy of the original Syriac, the French translation, an abbreviated Armenian recension, and Arabic versions. The Chronicle is one of the most important primary sources on the history of the Middle East, especially the period between the rise of Islam and the Crusades.

Noting the standard reservations of Classicists regarding the Greek Bronze and Dark Ages, Carol Thomas declares the Pre-Classical period of ancient Greece to be the locus of much historical information. Both the metaphor and the fact of Troy serve as emblems of this historical enterprise as Thomas organizes her work around the subjects encountered by those approaching this time-frame: the tools (method and dating) and the evidence (writing and oral tradition). A brief account of the war is given in the context of both an actual war and a metaphor. These tools allow her to reconstruct the Mycenaean Age and the Dark Age prior to Classical Greece. A necessary requisite for consideration of the history of Classical Greece, this volume is accessible to scholars and interested laity alike.

The arrival of new disciplinary approaches to ancient fields of study is embraced in this volume of Publications of the Association of Ancient Historians. This volume considers the world of the Classic civilizations viewed through the lenses of recent approaches to historical material. Stanley M. Burstein considers Egypt and Greece in the light of Afrocentrism as a means of exploring ethnicity in the study of antiquity. Nancy Demand applies the outlook of gender studies to ancient history with the resultant concepts of participation and power. Ian Morris delves into the role archaeology takes in the understanding of ancient Greece, and Lawrence Tritle explores psychology and history in an analysis of Thucydides, a foundational writer of Classical history. These cross-disciplinary studies demonstrate the flexibility and breadth of the historical undertaking in an environment of continual growth and change.