Shaping the Middle East

Essays by leading archaeologists, historians, and art historians on the Middle East during the four centuries preceding the rise of Islam. The most recent archaeological findings with interpretation are presented. Archaeological plans, as well as color photographs of sites and artwork, are included.Caesarea Palaestinae: A Paradigmatic Transition?Caesarea in Transition: The Archaeological EvidenceQays riyah as an Early Islamic SettlementArchaeological Evidence for the Sasanian Persian Invasion of JerusalemThe Province of Arabia during the Persian Invasion (613-629/630)Continuity and Change in the Cities of Palestine during the Early Islamic Period: The Cases of Jerusalem and RamlaPella, Jarash, and Amm n: Old and New in the Crossing to Arabia, ca. 550 750 C.E.Changes in the Settlement Pattern of Palestine Following the Arab ConquestThe Peninsular Arab Presence in Oriens (Bil d al-Sh m) in Byzantine and Umayyad TimesAspects of the Rabbinic Movement in Palestine, 500 800 C.E.Images, Icons, and the Public Space in Early Islamic Times: Arab Christians and the Program to Claim the Land for IslamThe Muslim Appropriation of a Biblical Text: The Messianic Dimensions of Isaiah 21:6 7Sefer Eliyyahu: Jewish Eschatology and Christian JerusalemThe Many Facets of Middle Eastern Art: Late Antique, Christian, Islamic