The Tigris and Euphrates: rivers of the Mandaeans
The Tigris and Euphrates in Genesis and in Mandaean belief: living water, baptism in the river, and the Mandaeans of Iraq today.
Topic
History
The history of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Mandaeism from antiquity to the present.
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Badr and Uhud: two battles in the Qur’an
Badr and Uhud, the two battles the Qur’an discusses most fully: a victory of the few in 624 and a reverse in 625, and…
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Kairouan: the holy city of the Maghreb
Kairouan, the oldest Muslim city of the Maghreb: its founding in 670, the Great Mosque of ʿUqbah, and its scholars.
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Masjid al-Aqsa: the Farthest Mosque
Masjid al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam: the Night Journey, the first qibla, the three mosques, and the history of the sanctuary.
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Patmos and Mount Athos: the holy places of Orthodoxy
Patmos, the island of the Book of Revelation, and Mount Athos, the monastic republic of Orthodoxy, with the Qur’an’s praise of night prayer.
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Safed and Tiberias: the holy cities of Galilee
Safed and Tiberias, two of Judaism’s four holy cities: the sages, the Masoretes, the mystics of Safed and the Qur’an’s praise of the rabbis.
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Shiloh and Masada: sanctuary and fortress
Shiloh and Masada: the first sanctuary of ancient Israel, where the Ark rested, and the last fortress against Rome. With the Ark in the…
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Galilee: Capernaum, Cana, Tabgha and Mount Tabor
Galilee in the Gospels and the Qur’an: Capernaum, the wedding at Cana, the feeding at Tabgha and the table from heaven, and Mount Tabor.
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Jews and Muslims in history: the record under Islam
Do Muslims hate Jews? What the Qur’an commands, and what historians find in the record of Jewish life under Islam compared with medieval Christian…
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Harut and Marut: the two angels of Babylon
Who were Hārūt and Mārūt? The Qur’an’s sober account of two angels at Babylon who warned before they taught, and the later legend that…
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Saul in the Qur’an: the story of Talut
Who is Saul in the Qur’an? The story of Ṭālūt, Israel’s first king, his test at the river and David’s victory over Goliath, beside…
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The Kaaba: who built it, and its history
Who built the Kaaba? The Qur’an’s account of Abraham and Ishmael, and the history of the House from the Quraysh to the Umayyads.