Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents ix
3. Maps and Illustrations xi
4. Abbreviations xv
5. Preface xxi
6. 1. Musil’s Fairy-Tale Castle 1
7. 2. Luxuries of the Bath 31
8. 3. The Hunt 85
9. 4. “O God, Bless the Amír” 115
10. 5. The Princely Patron 142
11. 6. Maintaining the Dynasty 175
12. 7. The Six Kings 197
13. 8. A Captive Sasanian Princess 227
14. 9. Quṣayr Ἁmra Contextualized 248
15. 10. Umayyad Self-Representation 291
16. Epilogue 325
17. Appendix. The Value of Arabic Literary Sources 327
18. Bibliography 335
19. Index 375