This volume explores aspects of religious culture in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula across Late Antiquity - the period of dynamic and historically crucial developments, culminating in the emergence of Islam. While it would be impossible to provide an exhaustive examination of the topic in a single volume, it is the main aim of this book to further stimulate scholarly research on the Late Antique context of the origins of Islam and the history of early Arab-Muslim culture.

Table of Contents (v)Introduction (1)I. RITUAL AND THEOLOGICAL ASPECTS (9)   The Silence of the Gods. Some Observations on the Destruction of Pagan Temples, Shrines and Statues in the Late Antique East (from Constantine to Mu¿ammad) KONSTANTIN M. KLEIN (11)   The Relationship Between Theological Teaching and Religious Practice by the East-Syrian Christians in Qatar (Sixth - Seventh Centuries) MARTIN TAMCKE (89)II. RE-INVESTIGATING THE TEXTS OF EARLY AND CLASSICAL ARABIC POETRY (103)   Glory and immortality: the motif of monumentum aere perennius by Samaw¿al b. ¿Adiyä KIRILL DMITRIEV (105)   Tracing the Reception of the Protoevangelium of James in Late Antique Arabia: the Case of the Poetry of Umayya ibn Abi ä-¿alt and its Intersection with the Quran CORNELIA HORN (123)   Traders, Innkeepers and Cup-Bearers: Foreigners and People of the Book in Arabic Wine Poetry BRUNO PAOLI (147)III. RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY (163)   From Mavia to al-Mundhir: Arab Christians and Arab Tribes in the Late Antique Roman East GREG FISHER (165)   Inclusion and Seclusion in Late Antique and Early Medieval Settlement Strategies in Syria and Palestine MATTIA GUIDETTI (219)IV. PERSPECTIVES ON THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SOUTH ARABIA (247)   Altsüdarabische Kulte im vorchristlichen Abessinien FRANCIS BREYER (249)   Les évolutions du calendrier dans le royaume de ¿imyar : quelques hypothèses CHRISTIAN JULIEN ROBIN (281)