Joel Blecher
@joelblecher.com
History Professor at George Washington U | Islamic History & Thought | Said the Prophet (UC Press) | Merits of the Plague (Penguin Classics) | Now writing for Basic Books | ex-berliner, Wissenschaftskolleg | sometimes morse code www.joelblecher.com
Pinned
Joel Blecher
@joelblecher.com
· Oct 23
Reflections on pandemics under the shadow of the Black Death
Merits of the Plague has its origins in two pandemics. Written by the Egyptian judge, poet and scholar Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalānī in the aftermath of the 1416
www.the-tls.co.uk
#historiansofislam
Ibn Hajar makes sense of destruction and ruin in last week‘s Times Literary Supplement
Ibn Hajar makes sense of destruction and ruin in last week‘s Times Literary Supplement
When the sun enters its final death throes, it will first expand into a red giant, swallowing up Greenland, before collapsing into a white dwarf
February 12, 2025 at 12:02 AM
When the sun enters its final death throes, it will first expand into a red giant, swallowing up Greenland, before collapsing into a white dwarf
Reposted by Joel Blecher
I’m thrilled to announce that my book, provisionally titled “Sea of Treasures: A Cultural History of Ancient Indian Ocean Trade” is now under contract with @princetonupress.bsky.social. Excited for it to be out in the world in 2026!
February 7, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I’m thrilled to announce that my book, provisionally titled “Sea of Treasures: A Cultural History of Ancient Indian Ocean Trade” is now under contract with @princetonupress.bsky.social. Excited for it to be out in the world in 2026!
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February 4, 2025 at 9:07 PM
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not surprised but still speechless
January 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
not surprised but still speechless
my voice would be horse after reciting this
إني رأيت الـخـيل عـزاً ظـاهراً
تـنجي من الغمى ويكشفن الدجى
ويبتن بالثـغـر الـمخوف طلائعاً
ويـثـبن للصعلوك جمة ذي الغنى
يخرجن من خلل الغـبار عوابـساً
كأصابـع المقرور أقعى فـاصطلى
ولقد علمت على تجـنـبي الردى
أن الـحصون الخيل لا مدر القرى
الأسعر الجعفي
تـنجي من الغمى ويكشفن الدجى
ويبتن بالثـغـر الـمخوف طلائعاً
ويـثـبن للصعلوك جمة ذي الغنى
يخرجن من خلل الغـبار عوابـساً
كأصابـع المقرور أقعى فـاصطلى
ولقد علمت على تجـنـبي الردى
أن الـحصون الخيل لا مدر القرى
الأسعر الجعفي
January 26, 2025 at 1:30 AM
my voice would be horse after reciting this
A fascinating history of the world told through the prism of the evolution, domestication, and migration of the horse!
Wanted the chapters on the Islamic world to have a bit more horse poetry…
can we please collect some here? Is Imru’ al-Qays on blusky yet?!
Wanted the chapters on the Islamic world to have a bit more horse poetry…
can we please collect some here? Is Imru’ al-Qays on blusky yet?!
January 26, 2025 at 1:12 AM
A fascinating history of the world told through the prism of the evolution, domestication, and migration of the horse!
Wanted the chapters on the Islamic world to have a bit more horse poetry…
can we please collect some here? Is Imru’ al-Qays on blusky yet?!
Wanted the chapters on the Islamic world to have a bit more horse poetry…
can we please collect some here? Is Imru’ al-Qays on blusky yet?!
Reposted by Joel Blecher
My new article: "Linking Seventeenth-Century Yemen to Colonial New England: A Closer Look at Silver Coins across the Indian and Atlantic Oceans" in Am Journal of Numismatics (2024).
Tracing the journey of silver coins from Yemen to Madagascar to colonial America, many found by metal detectorists.
Tracing the journey of silver coins from Yemen to Madagascar to colonial America, many found by metal detectorists.
January 22, 2025 at 2:35 AM
My new article: "Linking Seventeenth-Century Yemen to Colonial New England: A Closer Look at Silver Coins across the Indian and Atlantic Oceans" in Am Journal of Numismatics (2024).
Tracing the journey of silver coins from Yemen to Madagascar to colonial America, many found by metal detectorists.
Tracing the journey of silver coins from Yemen to Madagascar to colonial America, many found by metal detectorists.
Wine, coffee, hashish, opium, tobacco, qat… Teaching a class on „Islam, Drugs, and Empire“ this semester… soliciting any and all suggestions for recent scholarship to read….
January 15, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Wine, coffee, hashish, opium, tobacco, qat… Teaching a class on „Islam, Drugs, and Empire“ this semester… soliciting any and all suggestions for recent scholarship to read….
Reposted by Joel Blecher
Studis wenn ich frage wie es mit ChatGPT bei Hausarbeiten aussieht
January 14, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Studis wenn ich frage wie es mit ChatGPT bei Hausarbeiten aussieht
Carrie Underwood? Wake me up when it’s Carrie Brownstein
January 14, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Carrie Underwood? Wake me up when it’s Carrie Brownstein
Reposted by Joel Blecher
New article alert!
Ibn Khaldūn’s Muqaddima offers the most extended reading of a series of maps known from medieval literature. In this article, Alfred Hiatt parses Ibn Khaldūn’s text alongside manuscripts of al-Idrīsī’s 12th-cent. geography, prompting questions about Ibn Khaldūn’s art of history
Ibn Khaldūn’s Muqaddima offers the most extended reading of a series of maps known from medieval literature. In this article, Alfred Hiatt parses Ibn Khaldūn’s text alongside manuscripts of al-Idrīsī’s 12th-cent. geography, prompting questions about Ibn Khaldūn’s art of history
January 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
New article alert!
Ibn Khaldūn’s Muqaddima offers the most extended reading of a series of maps known from medieval literature. In this article, Alfred Hiatt parses Ibn Khaldūn’s text alongside manuscripts of al-Idrīsī’s 12th-cent. geography, prompting questions about Ibn Khaldūn’s art of history
Ibn Khaldūn’s Muqaddima offers the most extended reading of a series of maps known from medieval literature. In this article, Alfred Hiatt parses Ibn Khaldūn’s text alongside manuscripts of al-Idrīsī’s 12th-cent. geography, prompting questions about Ibn Khaldūn’s art of history
Reposted by Joel Blecher
This article features an AI-generated image that, in my view, works against the call for "fair media representation." Images of real people in real life contexts, photographed by working photographers, would do more to help us navigate the current political landscape than AI fantasies.
The representation of faith and belief systems has become a delicate yet urgent matter. Faith serves as an anchor during turbulent times. It provides solace, fosters community, and offers moral guidance. However, when the media misrepresents or oversimplifies faith...
www.patheos.com/blogs/coalit...
www.patheos.com/blogs/coalit...
Fair Media Representation: Faith in a Divided World
Explore how fair media coverage of faith can bridge divides, challenge biases, and inspire unity in a polarized political era.
www.patheos.com
January 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM
This article features an AI-generated image that, in my view, works against the call for "fair media representation." Images of real people in real life contexts, photographed by working photographers, would do more to help us navigate the current political landscape than AI fantasies.
Paperback!
Hadith Commentary: Continuity and Change, is now available to pre-order in paperback!
edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-hadith-...
30% off when ordering direct from EUP — code is PAPER30.
Hadith Commentary: Continuity and Change, is now available to pre-order in paperback!
edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-hadith-...
30% off when ordering direct from EUP — code is PAPER30.
Hadith Commentary
Hadith Commentary
edinburghuniversitypress.com
January 7, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Paperback!
Hadith Commentary: Continuity and Change, is now available to pre-order in paperback!
edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-hadith-...
30% off when ordering direct from EUP — code is PAPER30.
Hadith Commentary: Continuity and Change, is now available to pre-order in paperback!
edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-hadith-...
30% off when ordering direct from EUP — code is PAPER30.
dog heaven is probably a january snowstorm in the woods near sligo creek
January 6, 2025 at 11:00 PM
dog heaven is probably a january snowstorm in the woods near sligo creek
My colleague Islam Dayeh at Ghent shared this one with me jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-Pr...
Professor in Critical Religion Studies & Comparative Philosophy (BOF)
Professor in Critical Religion Studies & Comparative Philosophy (BOF)
jobs.ugent.be
January 6, 2025 at 10:28 PM
My colleague Islam Dayeh at Ghent shared this one with me jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-Pr...
Imagine being in Köln in January of 1975 and completely missing it
January 5, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Imagine being in Köln in January of 1975 and completely missing it
Also a sensible choice
This intro article to the thematic issue presents a good overview of the state of the field in Islamic Studies specifically
doi.org/10.1080/1745...
doi.org/10.1080/1745...
Introduction: The sensory history of the Islamic world
Published in The Senses and Society (Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022)
doi.org
December 30, 2024 at 8:18 PM
Also a sensible choice
Check this out in this December’s Past & Present! @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social
Just had a chance to get to Abigail Agresta's eloquent article on plague correspondence in 15-16th century Iberia - a great read and important for plague historiography - demonstrates the lack of trust among Spanish cities and the limits of quarantine procedures...
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
Plague Correspondence, Rumour, and Mistrust in the Late Medieval Crown of Aragon*
Abstract. Starting in the fifteenth century, European city governments began to respond to the threat of plague by introducing quarantine measures, which p
academic.oup.com
December 29, 2024 at 6:52 PM
Check this out in this December’s Past & Present! @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social
Now we’re cooking
Plugging in my open access article of food and smell at Mughal court here
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The Perfumed Palate: Olfactory Practices of Food Consumption at the Mughal Court
This article considers the centrality of smells, both fragrant and fetid, to food practices at the Mughal court. Mughal-era manuscripts and paintings frequently reference the smells of spices, frui...
www.tandfonline.com
December 28, 2024 at 3:14 PM
Now we’re cooking
this makes perfect sense
Meaning fragrance in Islamic Studies, or more generally?
Within IS, there is @nehavermani.bsky.social, Anya King, me and Christian Lange, and a few others.
Here are good starting points, with bibliography:
doi.org/10.1163/1570...
brill.com/display/titl...
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfss20/1...
Within IS, there is @nehavermani.bsky.social, Anya King, me and Christian Lange, and a few others.
Here are good starting points, with bibliography:
doi.org/10.1163/1570...
brill.com/display/titl...
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfss20/1...
Islamic Sensory History
"Islamic Sensory History" published on 29 Jul 2024 by Brill.
brill.com
December 26, 2024 at 11:28 PM
this makes perfect sense
olfactory ethics was kind of a big deal during plague times… foul smelling air being the supposed source of mass death and all…
December 26, 2024 at 8:35 PM
olfactory ethics was kind of a big deal during plague times… foul smelling air being the supposed source of mass death and all…
Reposted by Joel Blecher
The Caliphal Finances project is inviting authors to contribute to their Handbook of Fiscal History in the Early Islamic World (7th-10th century)! Abstracts due 15 January 2025. See the linked post for more details.
blogs.ed.ac.uk/caliphalfina...
blogs.ed.ac.uk/caliphalfina...
Call for Contributions! Handbook of Fiscal History in the Early Islamic World (7th-10th century) – Caliphal Finances – The Finances of the Caliphate: Abbasid Fiscal Practice in Islamic Late Antiquity
blogs.ed.ac.uk
December 21, 2024 at 2:55 PM
The Caliphal Finances project is inviting authors to contribute to their Handbook of Fiscal History in the Early Islamic World (7th-10th century)! Abstracts due 15 January 2025. See the linked post for more details.
blogs.ed.ac.uk/caliphalfina...
blogs.ed.ac.uk/caliphalfina...
Reposted by Joel Blecher
In our latest translation, "די מאַלינע" or "The Hideaway", translated by Jake Schneider, is an excerpt from Avrom Nokhem Stencl’s memoirs of urban wandering in Weimar Berlin.
https://buff.ly/3UMgqyf
https://buff.ly/3UMgqyf
November 11, 2024 at 10:19 AM
In our latest translation, "די מאַלינע" or "The Hideaway", translated by Jake Schneider, is an excerpt from Avrom Nokhem Stencl’s memoirs of urban wandering in Weimar Berlin.
https://buff.ly/3UMgqyf
https://buff.ly/3UMgqyf
Reposted by Joel Blecher
A major new book for early modern and Indian Ocean World South Asia! Subah Dayal *Between Household and State: The Mughal Frontier and the Politics of Circulation in Peninsular India* (@ucpress.bsky.social, 2024) www.ucpress.edu/books/betwee...
December 16, 2024 at 3:29 AM
A major new book for early modern and Indian Ocean World South Asia! Subah Dayal *Between Household and State: The Mughal Frontier and the Politics of Circulation in Peninsular India* (@ucpress.bsky.social, 2024) www.ucpress.edu/books/betwee...
From my dear friend andrew hui… and @princetonupress.bsky.social a marvelous study of studies to read in your study
December 15, 2024 at 4:01 PM
From my dear friend andrew hui… and @princetonupress.bsky.social a marvelous study of studies to read in your study