Knowledge Collaboration among Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Muslims in the Abbasid Near East: Introduction

This thematic section unearths several ways professionals from a variety of religious communities in the Near East collaborated with one another during medieval period. Modern scholars intellectual history have often attempted to trace connections texts across spectrum, but it has been difficult pin down interpersonal circumstances behind these and other interactions. is at least part because scientific, philosophical, theological treatises rarely refer personal relationships explicitly, leaving researchers turn kinds works for such details: biographies, chronicles, hagiographies, documentary sources. But then remains come terms historiographical perspectives authors works. For example, Arabic biographical dictionaries (ṭabaqāt literature) provided some richest sources person-to-person exchange Eastern history, they filter taxonomize their subjects focus on individuals, overwhelmingly men, who can be seen as formative particular classes or categories (ṭabaqāt) society. Disciplinary segmentation made especially answer questions how much »neutral« space there was interreligious knowledge East, whether fields medicine became »Islamicized« through exclusion non-Muslims teaching, study, practice field. The research articles here (contributors virtual forum hosted by BMBF-funded »Communities Knowledge« project) take various approaches problems explicating silent sources, interpreting constructions, bridging disciplinary segmentation. Some put under microscope, pointing out new evidence specific interactions basis close readings examination palimpsested manuscript. zoom slightly making fresh comparisons between differing genres languages. All dimensions and, wherever possible, engagements that brought about. Reports two projects complement taking macro-level involve multiple languages, genres, broad regions. Overall, this collection highlights collaborative aspects work Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Muslims Abbasid caliphate (132-656 AH/750-1258 CE) aim stimulating overcome previous genre limitations boundaries.