Specialists are sought to contribute chapters towards a forthcoming edited volume to be published under Gorgias Press’ Classical & Late Antiquity Series (CLA).

The title of the edited volume is From Oriens Christianus to the Islamic Near East: Theological, Historical and Cultural Cross-pollination in the Eastern Mediterranean of Late Antiquity.

The volume seeks to shed new light on the crossroads at which the Late Antique world of the Eastern Mediterranean heralded diverse exchanges between Oriental Christendom, Byzantine culture and the Islamic world. Further, how these exchanges impacted the development of diverse regions, cultures, languages, and religions. The volume will provide an inter-disciplinary overview of the various perspectives emerging from the Christian Oriental, Byzantine, Early Islamic and Archaeological approaches to this area of research. The key objective of the volume is to explore the possibilities of a unified and holistic approach to understanding the “Sattelzeit” (R. Koselleck) – i.e. the period between 500 and 750 CE.

While the scope of the volume has been intentionally left broad, the editors are particularly interested in chapters that deal with the following areas:

• The role of Eastern/Oriental Christians in the relationship(s) formed between the Islamic Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire.
• Scripture and Arts as a medium of interchange between Christians and Muslims.
• The historical narratives and administrative reality of the expansion of the Islamic Empire.

The deadline for abstracts (max. 500 words) is 15th June 2018 and completed chapters submitted by 15th December 2018. Chapters should be 4,000-6,000 words in length.