The Invention of Cuneiform: Writing in Sumer Review

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The Invention of Cuneiform: Writing in Sumer ReviewI put this book at the top of my wish list, hoping to find in it a history of the development of writing in Sumer and a description of how the writing system operates. Instead I found a long-winded, repetitive discussion in the French philosophical tradition of the nature of reality and whether writing is a "different language" than speaking. More than half the book is spent deriding other French authors. The main thesis of the book, delivered with great rhetorical finesse and little or no evidence, is that writing did not develop gradually but was "invented" suddenly as a full-blown system.The Invention of Cuneiform: Writing in Sumer OverviewAs the first known system of writing, the cuneiform symbols traced in Sumerian clay more than six millennia ago were once regarded as a simplistic and clumsy attempt to record in linear form the sounds of a spoken language. More recently, scholars have acknowledged that early Sumerian writing-far from being a primitive and flawed mechanism that would be "improved" by the Phoenicians and Greeks-in fact represented a complete written language system, not only meeting the daily needs of economic and government administration, but also providing a new means of understanding the world. InThe Invention of Cuneiform Jean-Jacques Glassner offers a compelling introduction to this seminal era in human history. Returning to early Mesopotamian texts that have been little studied or poorly understood, he traces the development of writing from the earliest attempts to the sophisticated system of roughly 640 signs that comprised the Sumerian repertory by about 3200 B.C. Glassner further argues-with an occasional nod to Derrida-that the invention of writing had a deeper metaphysical significance. By bringing the divinely ordained spoken language under human control, Sumerians were able to "make invisibility visible," separating themselves from the divine order and creating a new model of power.

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My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness: A Poet's Life in the Palestinian Century Review

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My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness: A Poet's Life in the Palestinian Century ReviewYou might think that a biography of a poet who writes in Arabic of whom you've never heard is not a book you need to read. But in the case of "MY Happiness . . ." you'd be wrong. That's because this is, in addition to being a satisfying biography of one man, the best introduction I can think of to Palestinian and Israeli history since the 1930s. With an astounding command of documents in at least three languages (Arabic, Hebrew, English) in archives all over the world, and based on interviews with both Palestinian refugees and the Israeli soldiers who ousted them from their homes, Adina Hoffman has pieced together an immensely convincing and refreshingly unbiased account of how a place changed from being the homeland of one people to the homeland of another. It is so specific, so filled with detail and first-hand accounts that it reads more like a novel than a biography. Taha Muhammad Ali himself is an immensely likable if unlikely poet, and Hoffman resists the impulse, endemic to literary biography, of trying to convince us her subject is "major." She is content to convince us of his interest as a poet, his greatness as a human being, and the complexity of his fate. Adina Hoffman lives in Jerusalem and, with her husband, a translator and poet, runs a small press that publishes poetry from the Middle East. Her own writing is wonderful.My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness: A Poet's Life in the Palestinian Century Overview

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Modern Arab Historiography: Historical Discourse and the Nation-State Review

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Modern Arab Historiography: Historical Discourse and the Nation-State ReviewChoueiri's book is a book that one could quickly miss in the mass of scholarly literature, but I believe relatively short volume is perhaps one of the most useful works that I have ever read on the history of modern Middle East. The thesis of the work is relatively simple: nationalist identity has predominated the discourse of the Arab intelligentsia particularly in writing of history. What, however, makes this work so useful is the lucid fashion in which it traces modern Arabic historical writing from 19th century pioneers such as al-Jabarti and al-Tahtawi to more modern, established scholars such as Shafiq Ghurbal, Kamal Salibi, and Abdallah Laroui. Intersped with this mapping out of the intellectual are profound critiques of each individual thinker and the development of Arab nationalism as a whole. Rarely are Arabic historians given such a systematic analysis, and even less often are they posited in such an enlightening, contextualizing historical narrative making this a work that should be read by every historian of the modern Middle East.Modern Arab Historiography: Historical Discourse and the Nation-State OverviewInclusing a new introduction and conclusion, this revised second editiondeals with a vital yet neglected ingredient in modern Arab culture. It is the only scholarly study of Arab historiography. It covers the periods 1820-1920 (Pioneers and Amateurs) and 1920 to today (Professional Historians: Managers of Legitimation). This work is a major contribution not only to the study of Arab historiography but to our understanding of modern Arab thought.

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The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization Review

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The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization ReviewAn excellent story teller, Lyons uses the curiosity, conversations and travels of Adelard of Bath to provide a historic context for Arabic influence on European thought. Traveling to the east from his home in England's West Country, Adelard hoped to increase his knowledge by learning the teachings of the Arabs. As the story of the wandering Adelard unfolds, the reader gleans some knowledge of the dominant beliefs of the middle ages, the philosophical debates of the day, of Church ideology in shaping views of the Muslim world, the crusaders, and the incorporation of Arab innovations by some of the Christian conquerors. Adelard returns home after seven years of travel with knowledge gained about Euclidean geometry, alchemy, and astrology. His publication of "On the Use of the Astrolabe" provides the west with an aid to timekeeping, navigation and measurement of the physical world as well as an introduction to astronomy.
One of the great centers of knowledge dissemination was the House of Wisdom. Located in Baghdad, it housed a library and translation/research center, and brought together from afar scholars as well as a very large collection of Persian, Sanskrit, and Greek texts of science and philosophy which became the bases of further advances in arithmetic, astronomy, medicine. For example, the Hindu "9 number system plus zero", which we use today, was explicated by Al-Khwarizmi, who later wrote "The Book of Restoring and Balancing", a study in algebra.
In like manner, Cordoba in Muslim Spain became an important center for the dissemination of knowledge. Bordering directly on Christian Europe, ideas, poetry, fashions, and foodstuffs flowed from east to west. In al-Andalus, the innovations included sophisticated agronomy and engineering to ensure successful crops of fruits and foods previously unknown in a region and climate quite different from India and Persia. Eventually translators from European countries followed Adelard in pursuing Arab knowledge, returning with their translations and original works to build or enhance universities in Bologna, Paris and Oxford.
This book is very accessible. It is written in so lively a prose the readers will hear Pope Urban II urging his crusaders to overcome the infidel Muslims and later will envision the scholars working together in translating ancient texts!
The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization OverviewFor centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy, and violent conflict. Meanwhile Arab culture was thriving, dazzling those Europeans fortunate enough to visit cities like Baghdad or Antioch. There, philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers were steadily advancing the frontiers of knowledge, as well as keeping alive the works of Plato and Aristotle. When the best libraries in Europe held several dozen books, Baghdad's great library, The House of Wisdom, housed four hundred thousand. Jonathan Lyons shows just how much "Western" ideas owe to the Golden Age of Arab civilization.

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Broken Wings Review

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Broken Wings ReviewBroken Wings is a simple story which serves as a canvas for Kahlil Gibran's flights of beautiful prose and philosophical insight. Gibran's prose is simply redolent with images. His evocative narration paints pictures with words which both took me away and taught me. Gibran's point is so much more clear and simply arresting for the crispness of his imagery, such as when he writes: "Those ample treasure chests that the energy of the father and the thrift of the mother fill up are transformed into dark, narrow prison cells for their heirs. That mighty deity whom the people worship in the form of money metamorphoses into a horrifying demon who tortures the people and kills the heart." (p.51)
There were several thoughts of Gibran's that I found similarly significant. In talking about the blossoming of love, Gibran writes that love is not "born of long association and unbroken companionship." Instead, he writes, it is "the daughter of a spiritual understanding, and if that understanding is not achieved in a single moement, it will never be attained -- not in a year, not in a whole century" (p. 41). My limited experience leads me to believe precisely this. Likewise, I agreed with Gibran when he writes that "Limited love demands possession of the beloved, but infinite love desires only its own essence" (p. 97).
If Gibran has a fundamental message in Broken Wings, though, I think that it is surrounding the tension or balance between putting everything that we can into our love and our endeavors, and the need to contextualize that love or endeavor in such a way that it does not consume that which we are. Gibran's narrator struggles with this tension. He wants to spirit Salma away to a life of true love. He wants her to break her word to her father and follow her heart. Mostly, he doesn't want her to give up on their love. His defense of this course of action is passionate: "For the soul to experience torment because of its perseverance in the face of trials and difficulties is more noble than for it to retreat to a place of safety and calm. The moth that contines to flutter about the lamp until it burns up is more exalted than the mole that lives in comfort and security in its dark tunnel" (p.73).
The imagery is again evocative, and certainly, I think, speaks to me: if you are to pursue life, pursue it like the moth -- soaring to unimagined heights and experiences. Don't be a mole who attempts to prolong his life by simply hiding himself away -- but never really experiencing life. Live, don't simply preserve an unlived life. Such a good reminder for us.
Love (and any endeavor, I imagine) isn't always so black-and-white, though. Salma's understanding is deeper and more complicated: before even her emotions and her love, she places her commitment to her father and to her (unloving) husband. There is incredible power in her choosing integrity over running away to a love which Gibran paints as being the fulfillment of all of our hopes for love. There is some unspoken insight here about integrity and commitment, I think. It is, perhaps, part of the foundation of love itself, a necessary ingredient for its presence.Broken Wings OverviewIn Broken Wings, Kahlil Gibran uncovers the glory and pain of young love. This loosely autobiographical story is in the tradition of Romeo and Juliet, but with Gibran's characteristic lush Oriental settings and images.A young Kahlil is introduced to Faris Karama, a wealthy and good-hearted merchant of Beirut, and his daughter, Salma. Kahlil and Salma are deeply attracted to one another and continue to meet regularly, with the blessings of Faris Karama. But a powerful priest, Father Ghalib, in order to gain access to the Karama fortune, demands that his son be allowed to marry Salma.Kahlil and Salma find ways to continue meeting in secret, but their love is doomed and Gibran exposes the social and personal hypocrisy that forbids true love to blossom.Broken Wings is a deeply moving love story that explores the spiritual theme of the meaning of human existence in a world that contains profound beauty and love amidst the stains of greed and pains of suffering. Gibran eloquently speaks of the ways of the heart that can be denied, but only with tragic results.Juan Cole's translation captures the magic of Gibran's matchless Arabic prose.

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A Hundred And One Middle Eastern Delights Review

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A Hundred And One Middle Eastern Delights ReviewMiddle Eastern recipes book, especially useful for those who have left the Middle East a long time ago and whose children have never been there also has been sought after by people who have tasted and loved Middle Eastern food and want to learn how to prepare it.A Hundred And One Middle Eastern Delights OverviewIllustrations: this book contains 100 photosIntroductionI was encouraged by my family and friends to put down on paper my few recipes which were passed down from family and friends as well as ones I made up myself.In the first edition, I tried to make some of the recipes easier to encourage non Arabs to try them. All or most of the ingredients can be found in a good supermarket. The odd ingredient may not be so accessible, but is available in Middle Eastern shops, located all over the country.In the second edition, I changed a few things, tweaked a few recipes, added new ones as well as many more photos (100 photos). I hope you will enjoy making the food as much as I do, and having fun along the way. The book has proved especially useful for those who have left the Middle East a long time ago and whose children have never been there, like mine. It has also been sought after by people who have tasted and loved Middle Eastern food and want to learn how to prepare it.I had a great deal of help from my family and friends, who have enjoyed my cooking and friends, who have encouraged me with them.GloriaMore details and hard copy info on the website: www.middleeastdelights.com

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The Guide for the Perplexed Review

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The Guide for the Perplexed ReviewI'm going to try to separate my critique of the text as it is presented, and Maimonides work.
The typeface used here is awfully small, and crammed onto the pages with a crowbar, it seems. The margins must be measured with a micrometer. I suppose the publishers were determined to get the thing into one volume, but this book is really pretty slender; I don't see why it couldn't be larger to accommodate larger print, with more white space, so the words aren't crammed together like passengers in steerage.
The translation is dated, and takes some getting used to, if you haven't had a lot of exposure to late Victorian English, the language may be off-putting. I happen to have a degree in English literature, and have read many styles extensively, and barely notice how dated the language was. There are other translations, but Freidlander, in this translation is very cautious in keeping his words consistent. This is important, because a large part of Guide for the Perplexed is defining Biblical terms.
The Guide for the Perplexed is a brilliant work. Maimonides is my nomination for "most important post-Talmudic scholar."
The Guide is not a simple work; Maimonides does not spell things out; he doesn't give succinct answers to ages old questions. One doesn't go to this book, look up "Cain," and say, "Ah, there's where he got his wife."
This is a book to aid the reader in becoming a better scholar. Where Maimonides does not give answers, he presents the tools that may assist the reader in studying the Torah, and coming up with his (or her!) own answers.
Words are defined, and also analyzed in an etymological way, which is really more mystical than scientific, but we're talking Torah.
Maimonides knows better than to give tools for interpretation without also giving lessons in interpretation. Some of his own mishnot come through as he discusses interpreting the Torah. He also discusses prophecy and free will, but eventually brings it all back to Torah.
Anyone who wants to be a serious Torah scholar needs this book.The Guide for the Perplexed OverviewThe Guide for the Perplexedby Moses Maimonides, M. Freidländer, tr.Maimonides' masterful summation of theology, natural philosophy and divine law.The Guide consists of three books. The first book deals with the nature of God, concluding that God cannot be described in positive terms. He uses this argument to systematically deconstruct the Islamic Kalam literalist school of thought, which anthropomorphized God. The second book examines natural philosophy, particularly Aristotle's system of concentric spheres, and theories of the creation and duration of the universe, and the theory of angels and prophecy. In the last Book, he expounds the mystical Merkabah section of Ezekiel, skirting the traditional prohibition of direct explanation of this passage. After this he covers the 613 laws of the Pentateuch, organized into 14 branches, attempting to present rational explanations for each law. Throughout, Maimonides stresses that the student needs to consider all theories.About the Author:"Moses Maimonides (March 28, 1138 Cordoba, Spain - December 13, 1204 Fostat, Egypt), was a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Andalusia, Morocco and Egypt during the Middle Ages. He was one of the various medieval Jewish philosophers who also influenced the non-Jewish world. Although his copious works on Jewish law and ethics were initially met with opposition during his lifetime, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. Today, his works and his views are considered a cornerstone of Jewish thought and study."

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