This fourth and final installment in Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century resumes the previous volumers"s discussion of the Ghassanids by examining their economic, social, and cultural history. First, Irfan Shahicirc;d focuses on the economy of the Ghassanids and presents information on various trade routes and fairs. Second, the author reconstructs Ghassanid daily life by discussing topics as varied as music, food, medicine, the role of women, and horse racing. Shahicirc;d concludes the volume with an examination of cultural life, including descriptions of urbanization, Arabic script, chivalry, and poetry. Throughout the volume, the author reveals the history of a fully developed and unique Christian-Arab culture. Shahicirc;d exhaustively describes the society of the Ghassanids, and their contributions to the cultural environment that persisted in Oriens during the sixth century and continued into the period of the Umayyad caliphate.
Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century