in this paper, an investigation on the relation between state-building and near eastern religion is attempted. analyzing the city-state of ḥaṭrā (iraq, close to kirkuk), it is demonstrated that pre-islamic state craft in the region was dependent on the initiative of the parthian monarchy in iran. the kings of the arsacid dynasty attempted to bestow the local arabic tribes in the jazira with a c...

The Druze are an aggregate of communities in the Levant and Near East living almost exclusively in the mountains of Syria, Lebanon and Israel whose ~1000 year old religion formally opposes mixed marriages and conversions. Despite increasing interest in genetics of the population structure of the Druze, their population history remains unknown. We investigated the genetic relationships between I...

Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies is an interdisciplinary program whose purpose is to explore the historical experience; literary, religious and cultural expression; and political and material life of the Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern civilizations. Our program is unique in the United States because it integrates Islamic studies and Jewish studies. Whether students favor the study of ...

Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies is an interdisciplinary program whose purpose is to explore the historical experience; literary, religious and cultural expression; and political and material life of the Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern civilizations. Our program is unique in the United States because it integrates Islamic studies and Jewish studies. Whether students favor the study of ...

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Epistemology Commons, Esthetics Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Othe...

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Epistemology Commons, Esthetics Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Othe...

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Epistemology Commons, Esthetics Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Othe...

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Epistemology Commons, Esthetics Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Othe...

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Epistemology Commons, Esthetics Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Othe...

Since the revolutions of 1989, increased public interest in religion across the former Soviet bloc has helped to generate new topics of investigation in a variety of disciplines, from history to sociology to literary studies. Sociocultural anthropology has been no exception. At the 2003 Meetings of the American Anthropological Association in Chicago, a number of anthropologists who have worked ...