Vanishing Syria: Periodization and Power in Early Islam
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Antoine Borrut
Abstract: This article argues that the agreed-upon periodization of early Islam is an Abbasid-era construct that became a binding framework for later generations of historians down to modern times. It also contends that scholars have tended to ignore the fact that this periodization was first and foremost an Abbasid claim to power. It investigates the Abbasid-era construction of the past and demonstrates that alternative periodizations were used prior to these massive efforts to enclose the past into a rigid structure, and so it sheds light on forgotten alternative pasts. The links between periodization and space are emphasized, focusing on the example of early Islamic Syria. Indeed, this province largely vanished from the map with the coming of the Abbasids to power since Syria’s memory came to be limited to its Umayyad past. Elaborating upon alternative periodizations, the paper offers a fresh attempt at a history of the meanings (Sinngeschichte) of a long Syrian eighth century, articulated around memory and power.
© De Gruyter 2014
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Nachruf auf Ernst J. Grube (1932–2011)
- Introduction – What is in a Period? Arabic Historiography and Periodization
- Periodization as a Tool of the Historian with Special Reference to Islamic History
- Vanishing Syria: Periodization and Power in Early Islam
- Al-Jāhiliyya: Uncertain Times of Uncertain Meanings
- Dynastic Periodization and its Limits: Historiography in Contemporary Arab Monarchies
- Frames of Time: Periodization and Universals in the Works of Abdallah Laroui
- Silence and Nostalgia: Periodizing the Past in an Algiers Neighborhood
- Reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Nachruf auf Ernst J. Grube (1932–2011)
- Introduction – What is in a Period? Arabic Historiography and Periodization
- Periodization as a Tool of the Historian with Special Reference to Islamic History
- Vanishing Syria: Periodization and Power in Early Islam
- Al-Jāhiliyya: Uncertain Times of Uncertain Meanings
- Dynastic Periodization and its Limits: Historiography in Contemporary Arab Monarchies
- Frames of Time: Periodization and Universals in the Works of Abdallah Laroui
- Silence and Nostalgia: Periodizing the Past in an Algiers Neighborhood
- Reviews
