Flourishing in the centuries around the birth of Christ, the Nabataean kingdom covered a large swathe of the north-western Arabian Peninsula and was shaped by cultural influences from the Mediterranean, Arabian and wider Semitic worlds. The Religious Life of Nabataea examines the inscriptions, sculptures and architectural remains left by worshippers in every corner of the kingdom, from the spectacular remains of the desert city of Petra to the fertile plains of southern Syria. While previous scholarly approaches have minimised the diversity of cultic practices and traditions found in Nabataea, this study reveals a vibrant religious landscape dominated by a variety of local traditions.

The history of the Nabataean Kingdom of Hellenistic-Roman times, centred on Petra, is now well known, but until the publication of this book, no monograph has been devoted to Nabataean religion, known to us principally from inscriptions in Nabataean Aramaic, iconography, archaeology and Greek literary texts. After a critical survey of the sources, the author analyses systematically the information on the individual gods worshipped by the Nabataeans, including a detailed illustrated account of temples and iconography. A further major section discusses religious themes: aniconism, henotheism, death-cult and the divinisation of kings. In a final chapter, Nabataean religion is considered in relation to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The book will be of particular interest to historians of religion in the Graeco-Roman Near East and to Semitic epigraphists.

The aim of this book is to explore the history and culture of the Nabataeans, using the inscriptions not just as a complement to ilustrate the text but as a primary source of information. It is based on the conviction that the inscriptions can be enjoyed not only by the specialists but also by those who are curious and want to learn about them.

First published in 1997, this collection of essays from David F. Graf, an esteemed ancient historian and archaeologist specializing of the Greco-Roman world in the Levant and Arabia, represent over two decades of his own research on Roman Arabia which occurred during twenty-five years of a virtual explosion in our knowledge of this remote corner of the Roman empire. Graf’s preoccupation has primarily focused on the population of the region, rather than its forts and communication system. He explores such diverse matters as the urbanization of the area, regional demography, the defensive system, fluctuating provincial borders and the relations with frontier peoples until the Islamic Conquests.

Version three of Roland Muller's ground breaking book on worldview. Intended for an evangelical audience this book present the three common-ancestral worldviews from a Biblical basis and examines how they influence our understanding of the gospel. This book comes highly recommended and is essential reading for those wishing to work cross culturally.Roland Muller introduces the concepts of guilt, fear and shame based cultures, showing their development over the years, and their influence on our understanding of the gospel message. Muller examines the way we traditionally present the gospel, and the difficulties this poses for those from a shame/honor background. A case study based on the Muslim cultures of the Middle East follows, where he examines Islam in the light of shame and honor. In conclusion Roland Muller presents us with the three-fold message of the gospel which is understandable in whatever cultural setting we may work in.

The first comprehensive multidisciplinary analysis of rural cult centres in the Hauran (southern Syria) from the pre-Roman to the Roman period (100 BC-AD 300). This volume re-evaluates the significance of contacts between the elite of the Hauran and other cultures of the Near East in shaping cult sites.