LEADER 05410nam 2201249 a 450 001 9910808644703321 005 20230727162914.0 010 $a1-283-28067-1 010 $a9786613280671 010 $a1-4008-4006-6 024 7 $a10.1515/9781400840069 035 $a(CKB)2550000000054455 035 $a(EBL)773464 035 $a(OCoLC)757398573 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000536818 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11330508 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000536818 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10552486 035 $a(PQKB)11105836 035 $a(StDuBDS)EDZ0000515041 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse36975 035 $a(DE-B1597)446712 035 $a(OCoLC)979910928 035 $a(DE-B1597)9781400840069 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL773464 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10499000 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL328067 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC773464 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000054455 100 $a20110318d2012 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|n|---||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aFounding gods, inventing nations $econquest and culture myths from antiquity to Islam /$fWilliam F. McCants 205 $aCore Textbook 210 $aPrinceton $cPrinceton University Press$dc2012 215 $a1 online resource (192 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 08$a0-691-15148-2 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aGifts of the gods : the origins of civilization in ancient Near Eastern and Greek mythology -- The beneficent sky god : cultural history in the Qur'an -- Who was first? : protography and discovery catalogs -- Inventing nations : postconquest native histories of civilization's origins -- "The sciences of the ancients" : speculation on the origins of philosophy, medicine, and the exact sciences. 330 $aFrom the dawn of writing in Sumer to the sunset of the Islamic empire, Founding Gods, Inventing Nations traces four thousand years of speculation on the origins of civilization. Investigating a vast range of primary sources, some of which are translated here for the first time, and focusing on the dynamic influence of the Greek, Roman, and Arab conquests of the Near East, William McCants looks at the ways the conquerors and those they conquered reshaped their myths of civilization's origins in response to the social and political consequences of empire. The Greek and Roman conquests brought with them a learned culture that competed with that of native elites. The conquering Arabs, in contrast, had no learned culture, which led to three hundred years of Muslim competition over the cultural orientation of Islam, a contest reflected in the culture myths of that time. What we know today as Islamic culture is the product of this contest, whose protagonists drew heavily on the lore of non-Arab and pagan antiquity. McCants argues that authors in all three periods did not write about civilization's origins solely out of pure antiquarian interest--they also sought to address the social and political tensions of the day. The strategies they employed and the postcolonial dilemmas they confronted provide invaluable context for understanding how authors today use myth and history to locate themselves in the confusing aftermath of empire. 606 $aMythology, Middle Eastern 606 $aGreeks$zMiddle East$xHistory 606 $aRomans$zMiddle East$xHistory 606 $aArabs$zMiddle East$xHistory 606 $aAcculturation$zMiddle East$xHistory 606 $aCivilization$xPhilosophy 607 $aMiddle East$xCivilization$xHistoriography 607 $aMiddle East$xCivilization$xPhilosophy 607 $aMiddle East$xIntellectual life 607 $aMiddle East$xColonization 610 $aArab conquests. 610 $aArabs. 610 $aGreek conquests. 610 $aGreek ethnography. 610 $aGreek philosophy. 610 $aGreeks. 610 $aIbn Qutayba. 610 $aIslam. 610 $aIslamic culture. 610 $aIslamic thinking. 610 $aJews. 610 $aMuhammad. 610 $aNear East. 610 $aPliny. 610 $aQur'an. 610 $aRoman conquests. 610 $aRomans. 610 $aancient Greece. 610 $aancient culture. 610 $aancient mythology. 610 $aancient texts. 610 $acivilization. 610 $aconquerors. 610 $aconquest. 610 $aconquests. 610 $aculture myths. 610 $aethnic belonging. 610 $aironsmithing. 610 $alearned culture. 610 $amedicine. 610 $anative history. 610 $aorigin. 610 $aorigins. 610 $aphilosophy. 610 $apostconquest period. 610 $apre-Islamic culture. 610 $aprotography. 610 $ascience. 615 0$aMythology, Middle Eastern. 615 0$aGreeks$xHistory. 615 0$aRomans$xHistory. 615 0$aArabs$xHistory. 615 0$aAcculturation$xHistory. 615 0$aCivilization$xPhilosophy. 676 $a939/.40072 700 $aMcCants$b William Faizi$f1975-$01346278 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910808644703321 996 $aFounding gods, inventing nations$93073922 997 $aUNINA