Taking as its starting point an investigation into the physical topography and symbolism of the two cities of Athens and Jerusalem, this book offers a cultural history of the rival superpowersthe Byzantine Empire and Fatimid Caliphatethat between them dominated the Mediterranean world during the Central Middle Ages. It shows that the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on the orders of al-Hakim punctuated a century of heightened interaction resulting from changing patterns of warfare, trade and pilgrimage. Resettlement of both Christians and Muslims from Syria-Palestine in Asia Minor and the Balkans introduced these migrants' host culture to new forms of religious and artistic expression. In Hellas, a flurry of building projects reinvented Athens as a New Jerusalem and the Parthenon as a New Temple. The Acropolis became famous for its miraculous lamp and elaborate liturgy. The clergy who performed the sacred mysteries justified them with reference to concepts of hierarchy, illumination and divinisation. These concepts were derived from a philosophical tradition over whose ownership the two superpowers competed. The resulting political theology was the creation of male intellectuals, but female patrons and worshippers also had an impact.

Awarded the 'Lykourgeio Prize' by the Academy of Athens for greatly advancing the study of the history and geography of our Mediterranean Sea, as well as the knowledge of the philosophy, theology, and manners of those dwelling around it. Co-Winner of the Mediterranean Seminar Best Book Prize. The triennial prize, which recognizes the best scholarly or trade book on the Mediterranean, irrespective of period and discipline, praised Wisdom's House, Heaven's Gate as a tour-de-force of early medieval Mediterranean history demonstrating how Mediterranean Studies approaches can generate illuminating and original conclusions by interrogating canonical historiographical paradigms."

Offers the first cultural and intellectual history of the entanglement of the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate Poses nuanced discussions of the symbolism of ancient Athens and Jerusalem outside western Europe during the Middle Ages Gives an in-depth analysis of textual, artistic and archaeological evidence from different social and gendered contexts

Autorentext
Teresa Shawcross is Associate Professor of History and Hellenic Studies at Princeton University, USA and a Senior Member of Robinson College, University of Cambridge, UK. She has previously published The Chronicle of Morea: Historiography in Crusader Greece and Reading in the Byzantine Empire and Beyond.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Introduction: Reframing the Question of Athens and Jerusalem.- Chapter 2. The Parthenon from Temple to Church.- Chapter 3. A Miracle of Heavenly Fire.- Chapter 4. The Relocation of Jerusalem.- Chapter 5. The Light of Hellenism in Empire and Caliphate.- Chapter 6. Wisdom: Lady of the Temple, Lady of the Red Thread.- Chapter 7. Conclusion: The City on a Hill.