Fall 2008 - The Johns Hopkins University Press

New in PaperbackGod’s MountainThe Temple Mount in Time, Place, and MemoryYaron Z. EliavWinner, Association of American Publishers’ Professional andScholarly Publishing Award in Theology and Religious StudiesWinner, 2006 Salo Baron Prize for the Best First Book in JudaicStudies, American Academy of Jewish ResearchThis provocative study ofJerusalem’s Temple Mountunravels popular scholarlyparadigms about the originsof this contested sacred siteand its significance in Jewishand Christian traditions.In God’s Mountain, Yaron Z.Eliav reconstructs the earlystory of the Temple Mount,exploring the way the sitewas developed as a physicalentity, religious concept, andcultural image. He traces theTemple Mount’s origins andinvestigates its history, explicating the factors that shaped itboth physically and conceptually.“Eliav uses his impressive knowledge of Talmud, the Bible, archeology,languages, rabbinic texts, the classics and patristic literatureto debunk the notion that the Temple Mount was a sacred space forancient Jews and Christians. According to him, it did not achieve thisstatus until long after the Second Temple was destroyed. In a dazzlingdisplay of erudition, he supports his thesis by providing new readingsof familiar sources and by citing many little-known references.”—Publishers Weekly“All readers will be rewarded by Eliav’s judicious insights, his nuancedreinterpretations, and his wide-ranging scholarship.” —Choice“This book means to awaken an important scholarly debate and itdeserves to succeed.”—ShofarYaron Z. EliaV is the Jean and Samuel Frankel AssociateProfessor for Rabbinic Literature at the University ofMichigan.Venetians in ConstantinopleNation, Identity, and Coexistencein the Early Modern MediterraneanEric R DurstelerMoving beyond the “clash ofcivilizations” model that surveysthe relationship betweenIslam and Christianity froma geopolitical perch, historianEric R Dursteler focuseson a localized microcosm:the Venetian merchant anddiplomatic community inMuslim Constantinople. Althoughdissonance and strifewere certainly part of this relationship,he argues, coexistenceand cooperation weremore common.While such factors as religion, culture, and political statuscould be integral elements in constructions of self and community,Dursteler finds that the fluidity and malleability ofidentity in the early modern world made coexistence amongdisparate cultures possible.“The introduction to this book is dazzling . . . The Venetian communityin Constantinople provides an excellent site for exploration of issues ofnation and identity . . . [Dursteler’s] overall intention—to demonstratecultural diversity in a place and era that has been commonly assumedto lack it—remains firmly at the fore, and he admirably fulfills histask.”—American Historical Review“This is a boundary-busting book . . . Dursteler is to be commendedfor this insightful and gracefully written work that delivers a powerfulmessage in brief compass, and will help change the way we considerEuropean-Ottoman relations in the early modern era and perhaps Westand non-West relations in our own.” —Renaissance QuarterlyEric R DurstelER is an associate professor of history atBrigham Young University.The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historicaland Political ScienceDecember 392 pages 6 x 9 6 line drawings, 23 halftones978-0-8018-9106-9 0-8018-9106-X $30.00(s) / £16.00 pbReligionHardcover edition published in 2005, 978-0-8018-8213-5, 0-8018-8213-3November 312 pages 6 x 9 6 halftones, 2 line drawings978-0-8018-9105-2 0-8018-9105-1 $25.00(s) / £14.00 pbEuropean HistoryHardcover edition published in 2006, 978-0-8018-8324-8, 0-8018-8324-5THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS www.press.jhu.edu 60