IMC 2020: Sessions
Session 230: Horses in the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant
Monday 6 July 2020, 14.15-15.45
Organisers: | Timothy Dawson, Independent Scholar, Leeds Anastasija Ropa, Department of Management & Communication Science, Latvian Academy of Sport Education, Riga |
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Moderator/Chair: | Timothy Dawson, Independent Scholar, Leeds |
Paper 230-a | Banāt al-rīḥ: Mythical Horse Hybrids in Early Islamic Literature (Language: English) Index terms: Islamic and Arabic Studies, Language and Literature - Other |
Paper 230-b | The Horses of the Prophet Muḥammad (Language: English) Index terms: Islamic and Arabic Studies, Language and Literature - Other |
Paper 230-c | Roman and Enemy Horses and Riders: The Testimony of Historia Romana by Gregoras (Language: English) Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Language and Literature - Greek |
Paper 230-d | From Head to Tail: Writing on the Ideal Horse in Middle Byzantine Times (Language: English) Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Language and Literature - Other, Social History |
Abstract | The session considers the role and representation of equines in the regions of the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant, both in Islamic and Byzantine cultures. The speakers address the issue from various perspectives, using Arabic and Byzantine religious texts, historical writings, military treatises, and poetry. The papers consider the ways in which author portrayed what the considered to be the ideal equine and its opposite, together with the ways in which equines could become hybrids, either by blending them physically with other creatures or by metaphorically blending the horse and the rider, thus transferring the characteristics of the rider onto the horse and vice versa. This way, the papers contribute to the discussion of boundaries between species, the boundaries between the ideal and the real, as well as state boundaries. |