Postgraduate Course: The Umayyad Empire: the Islamic World in its Late Antique Context (IMES11041)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The Prophet Muhammad began preaching the message of Islam in the remote highlands of west Arabia shortly after 600 AD. By 750 AD, his successors ruled the largest empire in history thus far - stretching from Spain and the Atlantic Ocean in the West to Pakistan and the Indian Ocean in the East.
This course seeks to examine this pivotal 150 years in its wider historical context and in new the light of new evidence and new perspectives. It situates the 'formation of Islam' in the imperial world of 6th-and 7th-century Rome and Sasanian Iran. It also seeks to understand how and why the vast early Muslim Empire, ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, took the shape it did - both in terms of its political structures and its ideology. This is the period before Sunni and Shi'i Islam took their classical form: how and why these sectarian positions eventually developed as they did is rooted in these early centuries of Islamic history.
The course is taught in English, and will engage directly with many primary texts in translation, as well as the art, architecture and material culture of Rome, Iran and the Arab-Islamic world.
This course is jointly taught with undergraduate students. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
1. Be familiar with the history of West Eurasia in the 6th, 7th and early 8th centuries.
2. Understand current debates about monotheism, ethnic identity and 'state formation' in late antiquity, with particular reference to the early Islamic world.
3. Have a detailed understanding of the first 150 years of Islamic history and the debates surrounding 'empire' and 'state formation' in this period.
4. Be acquainted with a wide range of primary literary evidence for this period in translation and understand current debates about its interpretation.
5. Be able to research 1-4 in both secondary literature and primary sources in translation.
6. Be able to present ideas and arguments about 1-4 orally and in written form (especially as essays); be able to debate and discuss these questions with others. |
Assessment Information
Essay (3000 words) (65%);
Four presentational and writing assignments (35%) |
Special Arrangements
| PG Version |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Andrew Marsham
Tel: (0131 6)50 9872
Email: andrew.marsham@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Olivia Little
Tel: (0131 6)50 4917
Email: olivia.little@ed.ac.uk |
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