The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 4

The Ancient Kingdoms

Moshe Perlmann

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780887061820, 9780887061813
• eBook ISBN: 9781438415888
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

In this volume ?abar? takes up the history of the ancient world, focusing on the Iranians and the Israelites after the time of Solomon. He establishes a comparative chronology between the two nations; viewing Bahman, the Persian king, as the son of Esther, and his daughter, Khumani, the mother of Darius. ?abar?'s synchronization also leads him into a discussion of North and South Arabia, in which stories about King Jadhimah, Queen Zabba, and the tribes of ?abar? and Jadis appear.

Falling outside the general scheme of the volume, are other details. These are concentrated in five chapters on the biblical stories of Samson and Delilah, and on Jonah, commentary on a Quranic passage concerning three divine envoys, and on two stories of Christian antiquity, the Seven Sleepers and the martyr Jirjis.

?abar? presents a mass of Iranian, Jewish, Christian, and Arabian lore in order to create a unified view of the material. His treatment of the mythical Iranian kings, as they battle Turanians and other foes, extends beyond the time of Alexander and his successors to the era of the Gospels, John the Baptist, and Jesus. Tales of the Israelites include the story of Asa and Zerah the Indian, remarkable for its development of the Biblical nucleus and variants of the history of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• The History of al-Tabari: Editorial Board
• The History of al-Tabari: Vol. IV
• Copyright
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• Translator’s Foreword
• An Account of the Persian Kings who Ruled the Region of Babylonia and the East After Kayqubadh.
• Kaykhusraw
• The Kingdom of the Children of Israel After Solomon, the Son of David
• The Story of Asa b. Abijah and Zerah the Indian
• The Story of Isaiah's Friend; the Kings of the Children of Israel and Sennacherib
• The Account of Luhrasb and His Son Bishtasb; the Expedition of Nebuchadnezzar Against the Israelites and How He Destroyed Jerusalem
• The Reason Why Nebuchadnezzar Destroyed Jerusalem
• The Story of Nebuchadnezzar’s Raid Against the Arabs
• Returning to the Story of Bishtasb, His Reign and Its Events, Initiated by Him as well as Others, Such as His Governors; Also the Deeds of Nebuchadnezzar
• The Account of the Kings of the Yaman in the Days of Qabus, And After Him, to the Age of Bahman b. Isfandiyar.
• The Account Concerning Ardashir Bahman and His Daughter Khumani
• The History of the Israelites and the Synchronization of Their Chronological Data with Those of the Persian Kings
• The Account of the Persians After the Death of Alexander
• The Arsacid (Ashaghan) Kings
• The Events That Occurred During the Rule of These Regional Princes
• The Story of Jesus Son of Mary and His Mother
• The Roman Rulers
• Al-Hirah and al-Anbar
• ‘Amr b. Zarib
• Al-Zabba
• Tasm and Jadis
• The Story of the Men of the Cave
• Jonah Son of Amittai
• The Sending by God of His Three Envoys
• The Story of Samson
• The Story of Jirjis
• Bibliography of Cited Works
• Index
• Back Cover