<<

American Oriental Society

FOUNDED 1842

Constituent of the American Council of Learned Societies And the International Union of Orientalists

ABSTRACTS

OF COMMUNICATIONS PRESENTED

AT THE

TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIXTH

MEETING

Boston, Massachusetts

March 18–21, 2016 c American Oriental Society 2016 New Haven CT and Ann Arbor MI A. Ancient Near East I: Special Joint Session: Ancient Near East/South & Southeast Asia. (Organized by Craig Melchert and Anthony Yates, University of California, Los Angeles) Craig Melchert and Anthony Yates, University of California, Los Angeles, Chairs (1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.) Alcott Room ∗

1. Gaˇsper Beguˇs, Harvard University Caland System in Tocharian The Proto-Indo-European derivational paradigm or “Caland System” has been thoroughly studied in Greek, Latin, and Indo-Iranian, but has received little atten- tion in other branches of the family. The purpose of this is to fill this gap: building on previous work by Nussbaum (1976) and Fellner (ms.), I investigate the Caland System in Tocharian and put forth an analysis of nine lexical items that I argue belonged to the Caland paradigm. I show that interpreting these Tocharian lexical items in this way offer new insight into the system on both a morphological and semantic level. The newly identified Tocharian Caland vocabulary includes six adjectives and three nouns: (i) TB l¯are ‘dear’; (ii) TB pr¯ake ‘firm, hard’; (iii) TB aikare, ‘empty’, TA ekro ‘poor’; (iv) TB ´sr¯ay (pl.) ‘old’; (v) TB m¯aka, TA m¯ak ‘many, much’; (vi) TB moko, TA mok ‘old, elder’; (vii) TB taupe ‘mine’; (viii) kare ‘worth, rank, dignity’; (ix) TB kr¯am¨ar ‘weight, heaviness’. Several insights arise from this set of lexemes. It is confirmed that Tocharian lost the productive Caland System, but retained some archaisms and introduced some innovations. For example, the nominalized adjective taupe provides evidence for the existence of an o-stem adjective to the root ∗deubh—already in PIE. The adjective moko suggests an archaic status of the nt-formation“ of the root. The adjective ´sr¯ay provides evidence for a u-stem adjective. The noun kare is a rare s-stem adjective of the Tocharian Caland system; its adjectival counterpart kr¯amar could point to an archaic mr/men-formation.

2. Benjamin Fortson, University of Michigan More Reflections on Retroflexion across Word-boundary in the Rigveda At last year’s AOS, I investigated the phenomenon of nati (retroflection of n) across word-boundary in the Rigveda. A number of observations were forwarded about the syntax, prosody, and style of the relevant verses. This paper will compare the results of that study with those of a new one focusing on ruki (retroflexion of s after r, u, k, or i) across word-boundary.

3. Petra Goedegebuure, University of Chicago Waraika, King of not only Hiyawa, but also of the Lands West of the ? In the Phoenician-Luwian C¸inek¨oy inscription king Waraika of Hiyawa/Que (Cili- cia) celebrates his conquests of territories to the east and the west of Hiyawa and the unification of his country with (under Tiglath-pileser III). In the Incirli trilingual the same king strikes a more boastful tone, asserting that he is also the king of “the entire Hittite country up until Lebanon” (Kaufman 2007:15). This rather

– 1 – outrageous claim means that around the mid-8th century B.C.E. Waraika controlled the Neo-Hittite and Aramean kingdoms of at least Patin, Bit Agusi (Arpad) and Hamath. Perhaps because of the fact that this cannot be reconciled with what is currently known about the history of the period, Waraika’s self-designation as king of what was effectively Hittite North- has not received any attention. I argue that a re-reading of a phrase in §10 of the C¸inek¨oy inscription could provide support for Waraika’s claim in the Incirli inscription. The relevant phrase has received at least three different readings: 1. “FLUMEN”-sa pa+ra/i-ni-wa/i-i “pour le palais du pays du fleuve” (Teko˘glu & Lemaire 2000:970, 972); 2. “FLUMEN”-sa-pa+ra/i-wa/i-ni-zi, as based on Hawkins’s translation as “des Flusses Sapara” (2005:156), with Sapara = Saros = Seyhan river (l.c., fn. 26); 3. “FLUMEN”-sa pa+ra/i-wa/i-ni-zi, Payne 2012:43 (she leaves the phrase untrans- lated). Accepting Payne’s parsing of the signs, I read the sequence as nom.pl. of /habas pari(ya)wanni-/ “(that) of beyond/across the river”. This could of course refer to the plain to the west of the Seyhan river, the main river of Cilicia, but it is also possible to understand it as a calque on the Assyrian geographical name eber nari, the Trans- Euphrates. The latter understanding of the phrase supports Waraika’s remarkable claim in the Incirli inscription and requires a reassessment of the historical sources of the mid 8th century. Hawkins J.D. (2005). “Sp¨athethitische Herrscherinschriften; 4.1 Die Inschrift des Katuwas, des Landesherrn von Kargamiˇs; 4.2 Die Inschrift des Jariri, Regenten von Kargamiˇs; 4.3 Die Inschrift des Warikas von Hiyawa aus C¸inek¨oy; 4.4 Die zweisprachige Inschrift des Azatiwatas vom Karatepe”, in: TUAT-NF 2: 151–159. Kaufman, S. (2007). “The Phoenician Inscription of the Incirli Trilingual. A Tentative Reconstruction and Translation”. MAARAV 14.2: 7–26. Payne, A. (2012). Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions (SBL from the Ancient World 29). Atlanta. Teko˘gu, R. and Lemaire, A. (2000). “La Bilingue Royale Louvito-Ph´enicien de C¸inek¨oy”. Comptes Rendus de l’Acad´emie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres 2000:961–1006.

4. Dieter Gunkel, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit¨at M¨unchen On Meter and Word order in the Rigveda Do metrical constraints partly determine the word order of the Rigveda? If so, word order would tell us less about the meaning of the text than it does in prose, and the Rigveda’s value for the study of syntax would be compromised. Opinions on the issue vary, due in part to the fact that differences between the word order patterns of the mantra language and prose may be due to meter, language change, genre, or some combination thereof.1 The case studies presented in this paper attempt to circumvent that issue by comparing Rigvedic orders in metrically neutral contexts (i.e. where inversion of paired elements would not affect the meter), e.g.

1 On the importance of genre and discourse type, see Jamison 1991 and Hock 2000.

– 2 – ya¯´bhih. s´ındhum ´avatha ya¯´bhis tu¯´rvatha 8.20.24a REL:INSTR.PL Sindhu:ACC you.help REL:INSTR.PL you.prevail ‘with which you help the Sindhu, with which you prevail’

bhujy´um. ya¯´bhir ´avatho ya¯´bhir ´adhrigum 1.112.20b Bhujyu:ACC REL:INSTR.PL you.aid REL:INSTR.PL Adhrigu:ACC ‘with which you help Bhujyu, with which (you help) Adhrigu’ with Rigvedic orders in non-neutral contexts, e.g.

y´ena pit.r¯´n ´acodayah. 1.42.5c REL:INSTR.SG forefathers:ACC you.spurred.on ‘with which you spurred on (our) forefathers’

ray´ım. y´ena v´an¯amahai 9.101.9d wealth:ACC REL:INSTR.SG we.will.win ‘with whom we will win wealth’. If metrical constraints affect word order, we expect neutral and non-neutral pairs to exhibit different order-meaning mappings and/or different ordering frequencies.

Works cited: Hock, Hans Henrich. 2000. “Genre, discourse, and syntax in .” In Textual parameters in older languages, ed. S. Herring et al., 163–95. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Jamison, Stephanie W. 1991. “The syntax of direct speech in Vedic.” In Sense and syntax in Vedic, ed. Joel P. Brereton and Stephanie W. Jamison, 40–61. Leiden: Brill.

5. Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee, University of Chicago Dative or no Dative: The Function of the Morpheme ∗-is in Semitic The study of ancient Semitic languages has traditionally been dominated by the methodologies of Historical and Comparative Linguistics as developed on the basis of Indo-European. Although other linguistic methodologies, such as Generative Gram- mar, Discourse Analysis, Pragmatics, and, to a certain extent, Typology, have started to become more popular in recent years, this is still true today. One of the main aims of Historical Linguistics is, of course, the reconstruction of the ancestor language of a language family or individual language. In the case of Semitic, Historical Linguistics has been applied quite successfully for this purpose and has yielded important results. Many features of Proto Semitic, such as its phonological inventory and certain aspects of its morphology such as the basic verbal system, have been established with relative certainty. It is, however, general consensus as well that the method has its limitations. One such limitation is that it cannot recover any feature of an ancestral language that has disappeared without a trace. Furthermore, it faces limitations with regard to the time depth a reconstruction can achieve. In this paper, I will present a case study for the application of Historical Linguistics to Semitic. An issue that has long been debated is the original function of a morpheme that can be reconstructed as ∗-is to Proto Semitic. In Akkadian and Ugaritic, this morpheme (-iˇs/-h) indicates direction

– 3 – toward an entity and marks adverbs, while in Hebrew, it is only used as directional morpheme. It has been suggested by several scholars that this morpheme reflects an original dative, while others see it as an adverbial marker with no case function. I will discuss the arguments in favor and against these two main functional reconstructions in the framework of Historical Linguistics and suggest an alternative approach for those cases in which Historical Linguistics reaches its limitations.

6. Jared Klein, University of Indo-European Syncretism as a Problem of both Form and Meaning An obvious issue in every Indo-European language, at least in part of its nomi- nal system, is syncretism: the reduction of a case system from more to fewer cases. Perhaps because of its pervasiveness in the Indo-European dialects, syncretism is nor- mally taken for granted by most Indo-Europeanists and has rarely been discussed as a general linguistic problem. Aside from some treatments of the phenomenon in individ- ual languages, such as Delbr¨uck (1907), the main discussions I have found in the more recent literature are Meiser (1992) and Coleman (1993), both of which are concerned only or primarily with the meaning side of the linguistic sign. But syncretism always has two dimensions, a semantic side and a formal side. For when case systems get reduced, one must always look not only at the semantic broadening of the remaining categories but also at the morphological forms which occupy a given syncretized case slot cross-paradigmatically. Thus, the Latin ablative harbors the values of the original ablative, locative, and instrumental; but depending upon paradigm, the form which occupies the case-slot “ablative” may be, in the singular, ablative or locative. Sim- ilarly, the Latin (dative-)ablative plural may represent, depending upon paradigm, the (dative-)ablative or instrumental plural. Approaches to syncretism that neglect the formal aspect are impoverished. In this paper I will examine the Indo-European case systems represented in Vedic Sanskrit, Old Iranian, Greek, Latin, Old Germanic, Classical Armenian, Balto-Slavic, and Celtic from both a semantic and a morpho- logical perspective. Semantically, where reduction occurs, it is most likely to affect nonargument cases (locative, instrumental, ablative) in both the singular and plural, with semantic extension of the dative to encompass these cases. For the singular, this scenario is seen best in Old Irish and Gothic, to a lesser extent in Greek; but in Latin it is uniquely the ablative that predominates, at least in the singular. The only real generalization concerning the case form that survives, depending on paradigm, is that it is not the instrumental. References: Coleman, Robert. 1993. Patterns of Syncretism in Indo-European. In Henk Aertsen and Robert J. Jeffers (eds.), Historical Linguistics 1989. from the 9th In- ternational Conference on Historical Linguistics Rutgers University, 14-18 August 1989 . Amsterdam: Benjamins, 111–117. Delbr¨uck, Berthold. 1907. Synkretismus. Ein Beitrag zur germanischen Kasuslehre. Strasbourg: Tr¨ubner. Meiser, Gerhard. 1992. Syncretism in Indo-European languages — motives, process and results. Transactions of the Philological Society 90. 187–218.

– 4 – 7. Jesse Lundquist, University of California, Los Angeles Hittite meni/weni and the Reconstruction of the Anatolian 1st Plural Ending The 1pl. present active ending of the verb in Hittite is -weni with -meni after a u (see Hoffner and Melchert 2008:181 with further reff.). Hitt. -weni is regularly compared to endings found in the other Anatolian languages, reconstructible as ∗- weni (cf. Palaic -wini/-wani, C-Luw. -unni < ∗-w´anni). However, the extra-Anatolian comparative material disagrees sharply with ∗-weni: no other Indo-European language offers anything to match 1plural ∗-weni, but only forms reflecting ∗-mes, ∗-men (e.g., Gk. -men). Scholars have accordingly looked to the PIE 1dual ∗-wes-, assuming that the dual ∗-wesi has dislodged the old plural ending ∗-meni, while the n of ∗-weni would preserve a reflex of the 1pl. ∗-meni ending, cf. e.g., Melchert (ftchm. §3.3.4.1 “Person and Number”), Jasanoff (2003:3), Kloekhorst EDH (s.v. -weni/ -wani: -wen, p. 1,000). This scenario could work formally but founders at the functional level. No other trace of the dual in the verbal system is found in Anatolian and it is hardly straight- forward to come up with an explanation for how the dual first displaced the plural, then was completely lost as a category, a change which would be remarkable within the typology of IE and apparently non-IE languages (see Corbett 2000:20 with n14, 269n. 7, ch. 7). I will argue that Anatolian inherited the expected ∗-meni and that the dissimilation rule existed also in Proto-Anatolian, affecting all verbs ending in -u from whatever source, e.g., Hitt. dahhe, tum¯eni ‘we take’, tarna-, tarnumeni ‘we re- lease, let’, and -nu- (e.g., arnumeni ‘we bring’) etc. (cf. Hoffner and Melchert 2008:ch. 12,13). Due to the dissimilation rule, the surface string [umeni] would be ambiguous to parse: it could represent either /-u-meni/ or /-u-weni-/. Once the ending was analyzed as /-u-weni/ → [-u-meni], underlying /-weni/ could be treated as the paradigmatic ending. In support of this account, cf. n¯uman/ n¯uwan. adv. “(negative of volition) not want to” from nu + man with variants in NH spelled nu-u-wa-an, nu-u-wa-a-an as though from nu + wan. An account along these lines is on the whole absent from the literature, but a version of it was in fact already proposed tentatively by Hrozn´y (1917:155). I would like to resurrect the specter of Hrozn´y’s reconstruction, though in changed guise. References: Corbett, Greville G. 2000. Number. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hoffner, Harry A., and H. Craig Melchert. 2008. A Grammar of the . Vol. I: Reference Grammar. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Hrozn´y, Friedrich B. 1917. Die Sprache der Hethiter, ihr Bau und ihre Zugeh¨origkeit zum indogermanischen Sprachstamm: ein Entzifferungsversuch. Leipzig: J.C. Hin- richs’sche Buchhandlung. Jasanoff, Jay. 2003. Hittite and the Indo-European Verb. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kloekhorst, Alwin. 2008. Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon. Leiden: Brill.

– 5 – Melchert, H. Craig. fthcm. The Position of Anatolian. In Andrew Garrett and Michael Weiss (eds.), Handbook of Indo-European Studies. Oxford ; New York: Oxford Uni- versity Press.

8. Na’ama Pat-El, University of Texas, Austin On the Fallacy of Source-to-Target Path of Change Several current lingusitic approaches offer formulaic paths of change, suggesting that linguistic change is restricted by the initial material from which it arose. Gram- maticaization theory assumes change is possible only in a specific direction (lexical > grammatical), and Sources and Targets have a close functional relationship. For example, copulas change to existentials, dative becomes possessor etc. Thus, similar source-to-target combination in different languages are treated as an identical process. In this talk I will argue that a superficial similarity, such as dative-to-possessor in different languages does not imply similarity of processes and that methods focusing on source-to-target are superficial and do not explain language change; rather, our focus should be on the process itself, regardless of source or target. I will review a few cases of classic source-to-target changes in Semitic and Indo-European languages which do not reflect similar process despite their superficial similarities. References: Heine, Bernd and Tania Kuteva (2002). World Lexicon of Grammaticalization. Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press. Vincent, Nigel (1995). Exaptation and Grammaticalization. Historical Linguistics 1993. H. Andersen. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins: 433–445.

9. Elizabeth Tucker, University of Oxford Old Indo- Feminines in var¯ı According to the standard historical linguistic account (e.g. Wackernagel-Debrunner Altind. Gr. II,2: §256 i).α and §719 a).) Old Indo-Aryan feminines in -var¯ı- correspond to masculines in -van-, and the suffix alternation -var- /-van- represents a relic of Indo- European heteroclitic inflection, cf. Vedic p¯´ıvan- / p¯´ıvar¯ı-, Greek p´ı(w)¯on / p´ı(w)eira ∗ ∗ < IE p´ıH-uon- / p´ıH-ueriH2. However, a detailed survey of the R. gveda and Athar- vaveda evidence“ for the“ distribution“ and function of feminine stems in -var¯ı- suggests that this picture may need to be modified. Parallelism with masculines in -van- only holds good in the RV Family . A high proportion of the -var¯ı- feminines in RV 10 and the AV have no corresponding masculine form in -van-, e.g. RV 10 abhibhu¯´var¯ı-, p¯urvaja¯´var¯ı-, prasu¯´var¯ı-, PS apacit- var¯ı-, vighasvar¯ı-. When a stem in -van- is attested the meanings of the masculine and feminine formations sometimes diverge, e.g., k.r´tvan- ‘active’ in RV Books 8, 9,10, but k.r´tvar¯ı- ‘sorceress’ SS´ 4.18.1, PS 5.24.1; t´akvan- ‘bird of prey’ RV 1.66.2, but takvar¯ı- ‘runner, flowing’ PS 11.16. It will be argued that the class of feminines in -var¯ı- was productively extended in early Vedic, independently from masculines in -van-, because such forms had evolved a particular function. -var¯ı- built agent nouns that refer exclusively to animate fe- males: to female human beings, occasionally to female animals, and also frequently to goddesses such as the Earth or the Divine Waters. Most new -var¯ı- forms appear

– 6 – to have been derived from root nouns (prasu¯´var¯ı- : prasu¯´- ‘giving birth’, saj´ıtvar¯ı- : sam. j´ıt- ‘victor’), but the history of a few that are attested only in the AV (e.g., takvar¯ı- ‘flowing’, vim.r´gvar¯ı- ‘cleansing’) is less clear and will be discussed. 10. Michael Weiss, Cornell University Tocharian and the Question of East-West Archaisms Vendryes’s famous article about the shared religious and legal lexicon preserved at the eastern and western edges of the Indo-European world was published in 1918 just before the discovery and decipherment of Anatolian and Tocharian. At the time, the geographical and phylogenetic distribution suggested that these words must be extreme archaisms. But from the point of view of our current understanding, East- West matches of this sort only date to Inner Indo-European (i.e., the post Anatolian, post-Tocharian node), and the question naturally arises whether and which of these Vendryes items can be shown to exist at the sub-node Nuclear PIE. In this paper I will examine the lexicon shared between Tocharian and Italo-Celtic in order to sharpen our understanding of the diachrony of the Indo-European religious and legal lexicon. References: Vendryes, Joseph. 1918. “Les correspondances de vocabulaire entre Lindoiranien et litalo-celtique.” MSL 20:265–85.

B. East Asia I: Global Encounters. Richard VanNess Simmons, Rutgers Uni- versity, Chair (2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m.) Holmes-Brandeis 11. Zhiyi Yang, University of Frankfurt Wang Jingwei, Humanist in Lyon Wang Zhaoming (1883–1944), better known by his penname Jingwei, rose in mod- ern Chinese political stage as a nationalist hero, but died as the arch-traitor of the nation, notorious for his WWII collaboration with Japan. This paper will examine his stay at Lyon, France, from 1912 to 1917, a crucial period that saw him changing from a revolutionary, who loftily retreated from politics after the victory of the 1911 Revolution, to a politician, who would risk compromises to reach his political goals. This paper uses Wang’s essays, letters, as well as historical archives, to analyze his intellectual transformation during this period. I would argue that this change was caused by two factors. His study in European politics and philosophy helped to nourish the seed of humanism planted in him through his childhood education in Wang Yangming’s idealist philosophy. This change is particularly telling in his poetry. Using classical allusions, his poetry transformed Europe into a seemingly Chinese landscape, thus expanding the Confucian concern for “All-under-Heaven” into a truly global scale. His nationalist convictions were thus espoused with a certain universalism, understood as the unity of peoples of all nations. But to reach that true equality, he argued, one must first promote one’s own nation’s culture and strengthen its power. Second, the First World War that engulfed Europe awakened him to the general human condition of suffering, which he interpreted in his poetry in Buddhist terms. To end the suffering, he reasoned, he must “sacrifice” himself to engage in politics, even though it would necessitate compromises and conveniences. I argue that these notions formed in his Lyon period, a period that has so far received little scholarly attention, would continue to influence his later “Peace Movement.”

– 7 – 12. Frederik Green, San Francisco State University Painted in Oil, Composed in : Late Imperial Chinese Literati Poems on the Topic of Western-Style Painting This paper explores the poetic responses of several Qing-dynasty poets to their en- counter with Western-style oil paintings. Ranging from outright derision to apprecia- tive curiosity, these poetic responses composed on the theme of Western portrait and landscape paintings provide critical insights into the ways elite members of ’s late interpreted Western æsthetic and cultural concepts. Unfamiliar with Western post-Renaissance techniques, most notably the use of perspective and of oil paints, these poets expressed their anxiety, distaste, curiosity and appreciation of Western æsthetic and cultural practices through their poems. While my paper stands in dialogue with recent studies on late-Qing painting and poetics, it further draws for its theoretical framework on William Mitchell’s work on ekphrastic poetry and semiotics that illustrates that the central goal of such poetry is the overcoming of otherness. By focusing on previously un-translated poems of Weng Fanggang (1733–1818), Li Xialing (1768–1832) and Kang Youwei (1858–1927), I argue that these poems function as metaphors for the complex ways in which China’s late imperial elites negotiated their country’s encounter with the West, both as a tight-knit group bound by dynastic conventions and as a loose network of individual thinkers whose varied talents allowed for highly original reflections on the cultural potential of East-West encounters. I will show that—while strictly adhering to traditional Chi- nese prosodic conventions—these poets through their creative and nuanced poetic commentaries on Sino-Western relations achieved an unusual degree of cultural cross- fertilization. Intrigued by the ‘foreignness’ of the art works they set their eyes on, these poets, I will illustrate, were able to expand the horizons of poetic discourse without surrendering to the lure of the foreign or abandoning indigenous formal conventions.

13. Humayun Akhtar, Bates College Edo Japan, Persia, and the VOC: Diplomacy and Commerce during the Career of Arai Hakuseki (d. 1725) A widely debated question in both Asian Studies and Middle Eastern Studies is how to conceptualize the encounter of medieval regional trade networks with European world trade of the early modern era. The 17th-century history of the Dutch East company (VOC) is central to this question given the global extraterritorial trade agreements that the Dutch secured in maritime territories stretching from Ottoman and Persian lands to Japan. A fascinating trajectory of research pursued recently by scholars such as Ryuto Shimada and Yumiko Kamada is the question of Persian and Indo-Persian commercial and cultural exchange with Japan, through China and the Dutch, during the ostensibly isolated Tokugawa (Edo) period. Building on the picture of inter-Asian merchant and intellectual networks offered by scholars such as Peter Borschberg, Masashi Haneda, and Muzaffar Alam, this paper examines the case of the Confucian scholar and bureaucrat Arai Hakuseki (d. 1725). Known mostly as a reformist politician and scholar under the shogun Tokugawa Ienobu, Hakuseki was also the first early modern Japanese thinker to write extensively about the Islamic world. In dialogue with Sachiko Murata’s work on the translation of Persian Sufism into the discourse of Chinese Neo-Confucianism, Fabio Rambelli’s recent study of Arai Hakuseki’s Japanese Neo-Confucian reading of Islamic thought and ritual has shed

– 8 – further light on premodern East Asian conceptualizations of Islamic civilization. This paper investigates the history of diplomacy and trade during the life of Arai Hakuseki in new light, bringing together sources in Persian, Turkish, Dutch, and Japanese to highlight the two-way movement of objects and ideas between Japan and Persianate world in the early 18th century.

C. East Asia II: Organized Panel: of the North: Society, Religion, and Geography in the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou. Scott Pearce, Western Washington University, Chair (3:45 p.m.–5:15 p.m.) Holmes-Brandeis ∗

14. Mandy Jui-man Wu, Hanover College Visualizing Military Power: The Tombs of the Northern Zhou Imperial Family and Generals After the fall of Northern Wei in 534 CE, northern China was controlled by mil- itary leaders from the late Northern Wei’s Six Garrisons region in Inner . This phenomenon formed a defining character of the militarized society of the North- ern Zhou, established in 557 CE by one of the leaders of Six Garrisons, the Yuwen family of Xianbei origin. The Northern Zhou was unique in its shared military regime because military elites formed the highest levels of both the social and political hier- archies and the rise of individual leaders through the military organization was based solely on their military achievements. The Xianbei leaders of Northern Zhou not only established a militarized society, but also created a dual governmental model that utilized the established ancient Chinese bureaucratic titles for high-ranking generals. Evidence from scientific excavations of Northern Zhou tombs provides an extraor- dinary opportunity to explore how martial power and authority were displayed in tombs of Northern Zhou emperors and generals and the role played by mortuary arts in creating and/or maintaining multiple sociopolitical and cultural identities during the Northern Zhou. The Xianbei rulers’ tombs of the Northern Zhou suggest that, on the one hand, they collected and entombed jade bi discs, a symbol of heaven based on the written text in the Zhouli, which might be seen as a metaphor of the regime’s fictive Zhou heritage. On the other hand, Xianbei conquerors and high-ranking gen- erals consciously chose steppic style objects and burial practices as a way to display their military prowess.

15. Nina Duthie, University of California, Los Angeles Imperial Ritual at the Founding of the Northern Wei This paper focuses on ritual and imperial authority at the founding of the Tuoba Xianbei-ruled Northern Wei in the late fourth century C.E. The first sec- tion briefly traces the Wei shu narrative on Tuoba Gui’s accession as the Northern Wei founding emperor (Emperor Daowu), including his acceptance of the mandate of heaven, deliberation on the new state name, the building of a new capital at Pingcheng, and the institution of new ritual protocol. I then examine the record of Emperor Daowu’s practice of imperial ritual, focusing primarily on his performance of the sub- urban sacrifices. I argue that in spite of the Wei shu’s assertion that the Northern Wei emperor adhered to Zhou ritual prescriptions for the suburban sacrifices—especially with respect to the worship of heaven and earth—the account of his ritual perfor- mances reveals the persistence of Tuoba ritual practice. As Emperor Daowu, Tuoba

– 9 – Gui rarely enacted the “orthodox” version of the suburban sacrifices (whether we un- derstand that as referring to either Zhou ritual texts or Han precedent), but instead is represented as continuing an earlier Tuoba tradition of heaven worship throughout his reign, and also practicing forms of suburban sacrifices that defy any clear catego- rization. Through an in-depth analysis of early Northern Wei imperial ritual practice, this paper sheds light on the apparent tensions in Wei shu historiography between the cultural authority vested in the Tuoba ruler and his founding of an imperial state.

16. Jon Felt, Virginia Tech Two ‘Central Realms’: The World Model of the Shuijing zhu Li Daoyuan’s (d. 527) Shuijing zhu was the first extant attempt within non- Buddhist Chinese literature to synthesize traditional Chinese and newly-introduced Buddhist geographies into a single coherent and comprehensive worldview. This paper will describe this world model and show how Li Daoyuan built his case for it. On the one hand, he elaborated upon some syncretizing assertions from a few earlier texts. On the other hand, he purposefully cherry-picked from a variety of traditional Chinese spatial models so as to find common ground with Buddhist geographies, thereby con- firming the few earlier syncretizing assertions. His synthetic model situated the center of the earth at a great mountain complex—equating the Chinese Kunlun Mountain with the Buddhist Anavatapta Mountain. This topographical and supernatural center point was the pivot between an eastern and western bipolar world, stretched between the “central realm” of India (madhyade´sa) and the “central realm” of China (zhong- guo). Although culturally distinct, these two poles were fundamentally similar to each other, and different from all other lands. According to this model, both exercised dominance within their eastern and western spheres of influence. This new syncretis- tic worldview provincialized the traditional Sinocentric imperial geography inherited from the Han, but in so doing it allowed the Northern Wei to claim authority over its primary rival for the mantle in the Yangzi River Basin.

D. Inner Asia I: Philology, Literature, History, and Art History. Kevin van Bladel, Ohio State University, Chair (2:00–5:00 p.m.) Hutchinson-Lowell

17. Adam Benkato, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences Sogdian Epistolary Formulæ in their Central Asian Context A number of Sogdian letters survive from various locations throughout , ranging over a period from the 3rd to the 10th centuries CE. While these letters treat a wide variety of subjects and originate in different places, in formal terms they belong to a continuous epistolary tradition. This tradition, and Sogdian generally, has roots in chancery practice (Sims-Williams 1996), while it formed a major influence on the Uighur epistolary tradition later on (Yoshida 2000). This can be seen especially in epistolary formulæ. In this presentation I will discuss how certain formulæ, including ones previously unidentified, can be traced from the earlier Sogdian letter corpora through to the latest despite the sometimes substantial differences in the nature of the sources. Furthermore, certain of these formulæ can be situated within a larger context that includes parallels in Bactrian (e.g., Sims-Williams 2006), sheds light on the Sogdian background of Uighur letters, and raises questions about the nature of Chinese influence on Sogdian documents in general. The results of this work

– 10 – allow for the identification of further fragments of Sogdian letters and assist greatly in the reading and understanding of damaged texts. References: Sims-Williams, N. 1996. “From Babylon to China: astrological and epistolary formulæ across two millennia.” La Persia e l’Asia centrale da Alessandro al X secolo (Atti dei convegni Lincei 127), 77–84. Sims-Williams, N. 2006. “Bactrian letters from the Sasanian and Hephthalite periods.” Proceedings of the 5th Conference of the Societas Iranologica Europæa, Vol. I, ed. A. Panaino & A. Piras, 701–713. Yoshida, Y. 2000. “The form of the Manichæan Sogdian Letters from B¨az¨aklik.” In Tulufan xinchu Moni jiao wenxian yanjiu [Studies in the Manichæan texts recently discovered at Turfan], ed. Liu Hong-liang, 250–279.

18. Judith Lerner, New York University Institute for the Study of the Ancient World Rapid Changes in Seals and Sealing Practices Concurrent with Muslim Rule as Observed in the Bactrian Documents As is by now widely known, the Bactrian Documents—the corpus of more than 150 legal and economic texts and letters written in the Bactrian language of pre- Islamic —have revealed a Middle Iranian language and a society that were hardly known before. Spanning over four centuries, the seals and sealing method of the documents reveal strong links with Bactria’s Hellenistic past, although the sealings suggest a variety of cultural and ethnic elements among the inhabitants of the region. The coming of Muslim rule is accompanied by a change in the kinds of seals used in documents produced in Islamicized Bactria as well as in language and chancery practice. This presentation documents these changes in some detail and seeks to place them in the context of similar phenomena elsewhere in the early Islamic period.

19. Kevin van Bladel, The Ohio State University Ibn al-Muqaffa, on the Bactrian Language among the ,Abb¯asid Armies The ethnic makeup of the revolutionaries who brought the ,Abb¯asid caliphs to power in the eighth century has been an issue of debate for decades. One group of scholars (e.g., Agha, Crone) has argued that the ,Abb¯asid revolution was carried out and supported by ethnically , signaling at least a change in the ethnic makeup of the elite of the Islamic . Another group of scholars (e.g., Shaban, Sharon) has emphasized the Arab makeup of the leadership of the ,Abb¯asid revolutionaries, making it a revolution of one Muslim Arab faction against another. A passage preserved by Ibn al-Nad¯ım and others, attributed to Ibn al-Muqaffa, (d. 756), who witnessed the events of the revolution, should be decisive. Here the famous translator of texts indicates that the language he perceived to be dominant among the ,Abb¯asid armies was Bactrian, an eastern Iranian language then used in and Tukharistan. The significance of the passage has been over- looked because its grammatical interpretation has been misconstrued by generations of scholars specializing in Persian, as this presentation will demonstrate.

– 11 – 20. Hadi Jorati, Ohio State University The Primary Sources of the History of : A Re-appraisal The office of the Khwarizmshah, which had continued in the form of local dynasties administering the khwarizm region, while serving various empires, quickly grew to something much more significant during the late Seljuq period. Between the rise of Ala al-Din to the eventual downfall of the Khwarazmian Empire to the , the empire experienced a rapid rise and an explosive fall, and left a deep mark in the History of Persianate societies, in particular Iranian Central Asia, through espousing and sponsoring various “Iranian” offices. Many of the said offices were adopted by the Mongol administration which followed. The legacy of the short-lived empire, and its place in the continuum of the Iranian administration of Central Asia still suffers from a dearth of serious studies. One of the many compounding factors contributing to this situation is the scattered source base, which ultimately has to do with the abrupt end of the Khwarazmian rule in the wake of the Mongol campaigns. Further obscuring the picture is the complicated history of the Mongol campaigns in West Asia in the first place, and our incomplete knowledge of the circulation of historiographical writing from later periods pertaining the Khwaramzian empire. This paper aims at a re-appraisal of the field by surveying the sources in Arabic and Persian primarily, the languages of administration of West Asia in the subsequent centuries. To that end I will categorize the sources according to their format, genre, period of production, scope, structure, and textual interdependence.

21. Xin Wen, Harvard University The Monolingual Polyglot: Practicing Multilingualism on the in East- ern (800–1000) The trans-Eurasian land route known as the “Silk Road” connects regions of great linguistic diversity. Travellers on the Silk Road, according to most ancient chroniclers as well as modern scholars, had to be masters of many languages. Such an impression, I argue, is biased because it is based on records written in courts of the Chinese, Eu- ropean, and Islamic states on the edges of Eurasia. These records almost exclusively deal with the highest echelon of the travelling community, such as the erudite Chinese monk Xuanzang and envoys from the Pope to the Mongol Khan, who had extraor- dinarily rich resources available. In this paper, I shift the focus of research to places along the Silk Road in Eastern Eurasia such as , Turfan, and Khotan. On the basis of locally discovered bilingual (Chinese-Tibetan, Chinese-Khotanese, Khotanese- Sanskrit, Sogdian-Uighur, among others) documents and references to trans-lingual activities in monolingual documents, I argue that the experience of multilingualism on the Silk Road was much more limited than previously understood. Most travellers were probably monolingual, which was not a serious problem because they usually had little contact with local societies on the road. When they did have such con- tact, they relied on interpreters who themselves often had poor linguistic abilities and merely used premade phrasebooks and other tools to conduct simple conversations. More important than a comprehensive mastery of a new language was the specialized vocabulary of a certain field of activities such as commerce and pilgrimage. Through the use of basic bilingual manuals and simple transcriptional/translational operations, people with limited linguistic skills were able to communicate with each other on is- sues of key importance. As it turns out, most travelers on the ancient Silk Road, while

– 12 – being monolingual, were nonetheless usually successful in practicing multilingualism for the purpose of travelling like a true polyglot.

E. Islamic Near East I: In Honor of on the Occasion of his 100th Birthday. Jacob Lassner, Northwestern University, Chair (1:30 p.m.–2:45 p.m.) Kennedy

22. Jacob Lassner, Northwestern University The Origins of Revisited This presentation takes up once again a subject that has been discussed by Western scholars since the 19th century: When and in what circumstances was Jerusalem, the Holy City of Jews and transformed into a locus sacra for comparable in certain respects to and , the h. aramayn of the Hijaz. A general consensus evolved over time in which the Umayyad caliph ,Abd al- was generally regarded as having played the key role in establishing Jerusalem as sacred topography for Muslims. However, a revisionist historiography of the early Umayyad period has resulted in a claim that it was Mu,¯awiya b. Ab¯ıSufy¯an who actually was responsible Jerusalem’s master plan which would have made the city the equivalent of the h. aramayn. According to some revisionists, the caliph actually envisioned moving the capital of the Islamic realm from Damascus to Jerusalem. Among those embracing the revisionist view of Mu,¯awiya’s master plan were S.D. Goitein (revising his original position) and Oleg Grabar (who originally rejected Goitein only to accept his view later). Amikam Elad, a leading historian of Jerusalem in the and Frank Peters, who has written extensively about the Holy City, have gone so far as to argue that Mu,¯awiya made plans to move from Jerusalem to Damascus, creating, thereby, a new administrative center for the Abode of . A careful analysis of the Arabic sources cited by the revisionists does not reveal any evidence to support their view, quite the opposite. Nor does the evidence obtained from post-1967 archeological excavations directly below and west of the H. aram al- Shar¯ıf. My presentation is limited to the literary evidence. Time permitting, I can cite my conclusions concerning the archeological data.

23. Paula Sanders, Rice University Islamic History for the Ism¯a,¯ıl¯ıCommunity: Remembered, Recovered, Invented [No abstract submitted]

24. Michael Bonner, University of Michigan Shaping the Debates: Bernard Lewis and the Earlier Centuries of Islam When Professor Bernard Lewis arrived at Princeton in 1974, he was best known, at least in the United States, as a historian of the and modern Turkey, especially because of the masterpiece The Emergence of Modern Turkey (1961). Dur- ing the following decades he continued to focus on Ottoman history, even as he became increasingly involved in modern and contemporary issues and controversies. Mean- while, even though students and scholars have continued to read his earlier work, this has received less attention on the whole. Here I go back to this work, based primarily on Arabic- and Persian-language sources, on the earlier . I reexamine

– 13 – the controversies that this work engaged and, in some cases, ignited. Areas for con- sideration include urban history and the question of guilds; the history of Isma,ilism, the Fatimids, and the Assassins; apocalyptic voices in the era of the earliest Islam; and the comprehensive view expressed in the masterful The Arabs in History (1950). Themes and ideas from this earlier work recur in Prof. Lewis’s post-1974 publications and in fact need to be understood in order to understand his œuvre as a whole. Finally, it emerges that Prof. Lewis has been one of the most critically important historians, not only of the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic world as a whole, but also of the earlier, formative centuries of Islam.

F. Islamic Near East II: Literary Readings of Early Islamic Texts. Beatrice Gruendler, Freie Universit¨at Berlin, Chair (1:30 p.m.–2:45 p.m.) Isabella Stewart Gardner

25. Hamza Zafer, University of Washington Patriarchs of Nations as Prophets to Nations in the Qu-r¯an The Qur-¯an applies a distinct language and logic of prophecy (nubuwwah) to the principal patriarchs of Genesis. In the Qur-¯an, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are emissaries (rusul) sent with prophetic mandates (hud¯a) to their own communities (umam). Their narrative function in the Biblical tradition(s) as progenitors of nations (avot) is subordinated entirely to the Qur-¯an’s radical new typology of prophet (nab¯ı / nadh¯ır / bash¯ır / h¯ad etc.) and prophetic community (ummah). This new typol- ogy reflects the subversive, oecumenical and productive orientation of the scriptural period, which is markedly distinct from the normative, hegemonic and traditionalist orientation underlying the early historiographical genres. These early writings, which include the prophetic biography (s¯ırah), contextual scriptural glosses (asb¯ab al-nuz¯ul) and prophetic prosopography (qas.as. al-anbiy¯a-), exhibit a level and manner of con- cern for harmony and concordance with Biblical models that is entirely absent in the Qur-¯an itself. By comparing central narrative elements, mythemes, in the Qur-¯anic and post-Qur-¯anic narratives of the patriarchs, I shall present evidence of two discrete stages in the accretion and development of Muslim prophetology as it relates to the Biblical tradition. The Qur-¯an deploys the patriarchal narratives within its unique cyclical and œcumenical paradigm of prophecy and peoplehood. The post-Qur-¯anic corpus on the other hand aligns the canonized text’s idiosyncratic representations of these Biblical figures with an emergent teleological and closed paradigm of The Prophet, Muhammad, and The Community, the Muslim Ummah. In this presenta- tion, I shall trace this important shift in early Muslim prophetology. I shall illustrate how, through its rhetoric of remembrance (dhikr), the Qur-¯an deploys the foundational narratives of Genesis to buttress its own polemical and apologetic agenda, showing little concern for harmony with the Biblical vorlages. With specific examples from the text, I shall show that the Qur-¯anic Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are not decomposed or atrophied retellings of the principal patriarchal narratives of Genesis but rather fully developed expressions of the text’s axial and idiosyncratic concepts of prophethood and nationhood.

– 14 – 26. Adam Bursi, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Making Christian Space Islamic: A Reading of an Early Hadith Recent research has highlighted the complicated relationship between Christian and Islamic holy spaces over the course of the first five hundred years of Islamic rule in the Near East. As Rina Avner, Suliman Bashear, Mattia Guidetti, and others have shown, the holy status of Christian churches was acknowledged by early Muslims in a variety of ways, including Muslim prayer in Christian churches, the construction of mosques adjacent to churches, as well as the eventual conversion of Christian churches into Muslim mosques. Utilizing both archæological and literary sources, these scholars have uncovered a complex history of the transformation of the Near Eastern Christian religious landscape into the Islamic Dar al-Islam. This paper will pursue a literary examination of an unusual text illustrating this transformation: an early hadith in which an Islamic contact relic—the Prophet Muhammad’s used ablution water—is used for the cleansing and repurposing of a Christian prayer space. While this hadith has been noted by scholars such as Julius Wellhausen, William Muir, Suliman Bashear, and Brannon Wheeler, their analyses have given this text little attention as literature, instead trying to relate it to the fac- tual history of the Prophet Muhammad’s treatment of Christian holy places. Rather than trying to ascertain the historicity of this account, my analysis instead relates this story to similar accounts in late antique Christian literature about the repurposing of pagan religious spaces for Christian usage. I suggest that we must read this hadith in dialogue with late antique Christian literature, which echoes many of the themes present in this account. Like the usages of Christian topoi within Islamic texts studied by Uri Rubin, Thomas Sizgorich, and many others, I suggest that this story offers an example of early Islamic texts’ engagement with Christian themes for the validation of Islam within Near Eastern monotheistic tradition. 27. Kevin Blankinship, University of Chicago Al-Ma,arr¯ı’s Imitation as Literary Reading of the Qur-¯an Few early Islamic texts inspired more written works in Arabic, including literary works, than the prototypical Islamic text itself: the Qur-¯an. This includes attempts to imitate the Qur-¯an, perhaps the most famous being Al-Fus.¯ul wa’l-gh¯ay¯at (Paragraphs and Periods) by medieval Syrian poet and iconoclast Abu’l-,Al¯a- al-Ma,arr¯ı(d. 1058 AD). In a sense, this work, like all artistic imitations, embodies a literary reading of its source text. Al-Fus.¯ul wa’l-gh¯ay¯at employs rhetorical devices typical of the Qur-¯an such as oaths to nature, honorific names for deity, and rhyming prose (saj,), all of which alert intended readers to the text’s possible status as imitative of the Qur-¯an, whether in homage or mockery or both. However, the possibility of Al-Fus.¯ul wa’l-gh¯ay¯at as Qur-¯anic imitation is an open one. Partly this has to do with the fact that al-Ma,arr¯ı’s accusers offer no definition of the Arabic term for “imitation,” mu,¯arad. a. Moreover, secondary medieval sources list two full titles for al-Ma,arr¯ı’s text: Al-Fus.¯ul wa’l-gh¯ay¯at f¯ı tamj¯ıd All¯ah wa’l- maw¯a,iz. (Paragraphs and Periods on Praise to God and Pious Counsel), and Al-Fus.¯ul wa’l-gh¯ay¯at f¯ımu,¯arad. at al-suwar wa’l-¯ay¯at (Paragraphs and Periods in Imitation of Qur-¯anic Chapters and Verses). No single pre-modern author lists both subtitles, a fact that I take as an index of conflicting interpretive priorities. Lack of authorial confirmation or denial of either interpretation—or even genuine attribution of these

– 15 – titles to al-Ma,arr¯ı—suggests that it is the author, not the reader, who has the final word as to whether a text is in fact imitative of a prior text.

G. Islamic Near East III: Islamic Law. Ahmed El Shamsy, University of Chicago, Chair (3:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.) Kennedy

28. Rodrigo Adem, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill The Limits of Human Authority: Ja,far¯ı Ijtih¯ad Rejectionism and the Roots of the Ism¯a,¯ıl¯ı Ta,l¯ım Doctrine This paper seeks to give further contextualization for the rise of H. asan al-S.abb¯ah.’s ta,l¯ım doctrine in Niz.¯ar¯ıIsm¯a,¯ılism by exploring its roots in early Fatimid positions on Islamic law, in particular the rejection of ijtih¯ad. Although prominence of the ta,l¯ım doctrine for proselytization was not a foregone conclusion in light of earlier and more prevalent methods, ta,l¯ım finds firm roots in the legal works of Fatimid jurist al-Q¯ad.¯ı al-Nu,m¯an within a common legal discourse of the greater Ja,far¯ı“school” of Sh¯ı,ism, in particular the rejection of ijtih¯ad. In this light, it is also fruitful to make comparisons between the writings of al-Q¯ad.¯ıal-Nu,man and his Sh¯ı,ite counterparts in order to highlight the commonalities and disparities of Ism¯a,¯ıl¯ıand Twelver religious epistemology which dictated their respective trajectories in this formative period of their history. Augmenting the foundational historical outlines of ta,l¯ım development provided by Hodgson and Madelung, this paper will demonstrate how us.¯ul al-fiqh became a vital new arena for the promotion of Ja,far¯ıdoctrine, touching on contentious issues about the proper scope of human agency in promulgating the religious teachings of Islam.

29. Elias Saba, University of Pennsylvania Disputation and Objection: The Rise of Legal Distinctions Legal distinctions (al-fur¯uq al-fiqhiyya) are an important, but understudied, part of Islamic legal thinking. They are a way of thinking about and analyzing relationships in Islamic law and, at the same time, a genre of Islamic legal literature. A legal distinction compares two laws that appear contradictory and presents a distinction between them to show they are harmonious. Only two Western publications so far have dealt with this topic, one by from 1926 and another by Wolfhart Heinrichs from 2000. Both provide brief surveys of the genre and attempt to draw attention to its importance in the history of Islamic law. Building on the work of these two scholars, my presentation will show that this tradition of legal thinking has a clear origin in traditions of formal disputation (,ilm al-jadal). Specifically, I demonstrate that the origins of legal distinctions in a form of counter- objection known as farq, objection by way of distinguishing characteristic. According to handbooks of legal disputation, farq was a process by which to object to a legal claim. This objection was centered on the way in which the legal cause (,illa) was used by the proponent. This is the basis of the concept of legal distinctions. I show, however, that instead of simply being lists of such objections, books of legal distinc- tions document how to overcome these objections. While farq is used in disputation oppositionally, to introduce doubt and uncertainty, in books of legal distinctions, the term is used to eliminate doubt and maintain harmony within Islamic substantive law. In locating the origins of legal distinctions within the tradition of disputation,

– 16 – my paper adds to recent work showing disputation theory as the site of the earliest development of Islamic law. It also demonstrates the importance of legal distinctions within Islamic law, even in a relatively early period.

30. Russell Hopley, Bowdoin College An Almohad Treatise on Jihad: The Kit¯ab al-Inj¯ad fi Abw¯ab al-Jih¯ad of Ibn al-Man¯as.if al-Mahdaw¯ı(d. 620/1223) The era of Almohad rule over North Africa and al-Andalus is often characterized as a period of displacement of the M¯alik¯ı ,ulam¯a- from the position of prestige and influence they had earlier enjoyed during the reign of the Almoravids. A notable exception, of course, is Ibn Rushd al-Haf¯ıdh (d. 594 / 1198) whose Bid¯ayat al-Mujtahid wa Nih¯ayat al-Muqtasid may be profitably read as a reflection of the Almohad desire to free legal thought in the Islamic west from the constraints of orthodox Malikism. Of lesser stature perhaps, but, I would suggest, of no less import is the figure of Ibn al-Man¯as.if al-Mahdaw¯ı, a jurist of the Almohad era who haled from the town of al-Mahdiyya in Tunisia, received his legal training in al-Qayraw¯an and Tunis, and pursued a career in the Almohad judiciary in Tlemcen, Murc´ıa, and Valencia. While serving as q¯ad.¯ı of Valencia in 607 / 1210, Ibn al-Man¯as.if was approached by the Almohad governor to compose a treatise on jihad, and the paper I propose to give shall focus on the work Ibn al-Man¯as.if wrote in response to this request, the Kit¯ab al-Inj¯ad f¯ıAbw¯ab al-Jih¯ad. My presentation will consider initially the contents of the Kit¯ab al-Inj¯ad, and here I will give attention to how Ibn al-Man¯as.if chose to structure his treatise in comparison with earlier works on jihad in the M¯alik¯ı tradition, highlighting in particular any departures he makes from that tradition. Ibn al-Man¯as.if’s use of Quranic and hadith citations will likewise be a focus of interest, and his employment of these citations to argue specific points concerning the practice of jihad will come in for examination. The historical circumstances in which Ibn al-Man¯as.if composed the Kit¯ab al-Inj¯ad will form the next section of my paper, and here I will consider the text both as a response to the growing tide of Christian reconquest of Islamic Iberia and as a comment upon Almohad rule by a member of the M¯alik¯ıjudiciary. I shall conclude my presentation with a brief word on the afterlife of Ibn al-Man¯as.if’s treatise, focusing in specific on the numerous citations made to the work in a later collection of Maghribi legal opinions, the Mi,y¯ar of Ah.mad al-Wanshar¯ıs¯ı(d. 914 / 1508). 31. Steven Judd, Southern Connecticut State University Al-Awz¯a,¯ıand Islamic Ritual Law Awz¯a,¯ı (d. 157/774) to the formation of Islamic law. Most studies of al-Awz¯a,¯ı to date (mine included) have focused on his influence on the laws of war. This is largely due to the attention his lost kit¯ab al-siyar attracted from his contemporary rivals, particularly the Hanafi scholar Ab¯uY¯usuf. Modern scholars have followed their medieval predecessors in examining al-Awz¯a,¯ılargely through the lens of the siyar literature. However, a broader examination of surviving traces of al-Awz¯a,¯ı’s legal thought sug- gests that warfare was not his only, or perhaps even his principal, focus. The canonical h. ad¯ıth collections include more reports from al-Awz¯a,¯ıregarding prayer and ablutions than regarding jih¯ad. The same is true for early comparative legal literature. For example, in the Ibn ,Abd al-Barr’s al-Istidhk¯ar al-j¯ami, li-madh¯ahib fuqah¯a-

– 17 – al-ams.¯ar, fewer than 10% of the references to al-Awz¯a,¯ıaddress warfare. These find- ings suggest that past scholarly focus on al-Awz¯a,¯ı’s lost siyar work has distracted from other, perhaps more important, elements of his legal thought. In an effort to broaden the focus of study of al-Awz¯a,¯ı’s legal thought, this paper examines al-Awz¯a,¯ı’s views on ritual law, an area in which he apparently showed particular interest. The paper discusses the extent to which al-Awz¯a,¯ı agreed and disagreed with other contemporary thinkers on such matters. It also considers whether the data available suggest a comprehensive al-Awz¯a,¯ıdoctrine on ritual matters, or whether the evidence points only to selective disputes between scholars over discrete questions. This inquiry into broader aspects of al-Awz¯a,¯ı’s jurisprudence is essential for a clearer understanding of the nature and extent of his influence on the formation of Islamic law.

32. Ahmed El Shamsy, University of Chicago Missing links: Two Early Texts of Islamic Legal Theory One of the most vexing questions in the historiography of Islamic legal theory (us.¯ul al-fiqh) is the development of the discipline between its first surviving articulation by al-Sh¯afi,¯ıat the beginning of the third/ninth century and the next cluster of extant legal-theoretical works (by al-Jas.s.¯as., Ab¯uYa,l¯a, and al-B¯aqill¯an¯ı) written in the sec- ond half of the fourth/tenth century. The long hiatus separating al-Sh¯afi,¯ı’s Ris¯ala from its successors and the obvious differences in structure and content that distin- guish the later works from the Ris¯ala have prompted several speculative approaches, ranging from Wael Hallaq’s denial of any genealogical relationship between the two to subsequent efforts by Devin Stewart and others to reconstruct fragments of lost legal-theoretical writings from the intervening period. This paper seeks to make a concrete contribution to bridging the gap by presenting two hitherto unknown, very early treatises on legal theory written by Ibn Surayj (d. 306/918) and al-Khaff¯af (fl. fourth/tenth century), respectively. These texts were not self-standing works but rather formed part of larger works on positive law, thus calling into question the almost exclusive focus on legal theory as a self-standing genre in previous historiog- raphy. An examination of their contents—the topics they cover and the terminology they use—sheds new light on the continuities and discontinuities in the discipline of legal theory in its earliest stages.

H. Islamic Near East IV: Divine Speech and Attributes. Jon Hoover, Uni- versity of Nottingham, Chair (3:00 p.m.–4:15 p.m.) Isabella Stewart Gardner

33. Tariq Jaffer, Amherst College B¯aqill¯an¯ı’s Method of Proof for the Qu-r¯an’s Inimitability In the history of the controversy concerning the Qur-¯an’s inimitability, B¯aqill¯an¯ı authored one of the most penetrating books—I,j¯az al-Qur-¯an. Scholarship dating from the 1930’s until the present (Aleem 1933, Von Grunebaum 1950, McCarthy 1950, Bouman 1959, Vasalou 2002) has shown that B¯aqill¯an¯ı’s arguments for the Qur-¯an’s i,j¯az set a solid foundation for an understanding of the Qur-¯an’s i,j¯az. Further, it has shown that B¯aqill¯an¯ıwas dissatisfied with the arguments that his predecessors had advanced; he argued for the Qur-¯an’s stylistic unclassifiability by excluding the Qur-¯an from the categories of poetry and rhymed prose (Bouman 1959, Vasalou 2002).

– 18 – This paper focuses on B¯aqill¯an¯ı’s method of proof for the Qur-¯an’s i,j¯az—a method that seems to have puzzled scholars of Islamic studies. Although B¯aqill¯an¯ıattempted to establish the Qur-¯an’s stylistic pre-eminence for Islamic orthodoxy, he rejected the doctrine of .sarfa—the idea that God deprived human beings of the motivation and ability to produce something of the Qur-¯an’s like. He also argued that a proof for the Qur-¯an’s inimitability cannot be constructed upon the Qur-¯an’s pre-eminent style (bay¯an, bal¯agha). He argued for the Qur-¯an’s i,j¯az by casting his theory within a fresh theological framework. This paper aims to explain: how B¯aqill¯an¯ıcritiqued the theories of i,j¯az that were available before and during his time; how B¯aqill¯an¯ıredefined salient notions includ- ing “miracle” and “custom-breaking” within the kal¯am tradition; the obstacles that B¯aqill¯an¯ıencountered when he reoriented Muslim tradition towards a novel and the- ologically robust doctrine of the Qur-¯an’s i,j¯az. The paper concludes by clarifying the ways that B¯aqill¯an¯ı, in his attempts to puzzle out the Qur-¯an’s i,j¯az and to locate the Qur-¯an’s miraculous nature, effectively ana- lyzed the junction of the transcendent sphere, i.e., the custom-breaking divine miracle, and the profane sphere of human action (and more broadly), the created order.

34. Aaron Spevack, Colgate University Kurdish Ash,ar¯ıs on God’s Speech The problem of God’s attributes (or lack thereof) was a core issue that shaped how Medieval Muslim scholars defined the boundaries of sectarian identities. On the issue of God’s speech in particular, Sunni scholars were divided; was the Qur-¯an as the uncreated word of God written on pages, recited on the tongues of the reciters, and contained in the minds of those who had memorized it? Or, was there a difference between that which was recited and the meanings which those recited, written, and memorized words indicated. The two positions commonly attributed to opposing camps among Sunnis are that of the Athar¯ıs (H. anbal¯ıs) who are presented in their most extreme form as affirming the eternal uncreatedness of the written word, while the Ash,ar¯ı opinion is often framed as the affirmation of an eternal and indivisible inner speech whose meanings are indicated by a created, composite, and external speech. In the works of some later Kurdish Ash,ar¯ıscholars, we find an alternative position that considers an eternal yet composite inner speech to be a possible solution for the problem. In discussing the details of this position, something of the contours later Kurdish Ash,arism will be discussed.

35. Jon Hoover, University of Nottingham Ash,ar¯ıs on God’s Attributes in the Wake of Ibn Taymiyya From Ibn Taymiyya’s Hamawiyya creed and his other works, as well as historical accounts, it is clear that he faced considerable Ash,ari resistance from within his own Mamluk context. However, this has not been examined through the writings of his contemporary opponents themselves, and, apart from Louis Pouzet’s brief survey of intellectual currents in his study of thirteenth century Damascene religious institu- tions, very little is known about Ash,arism in the early of and Syria. To begin addressing these gaps, this paper explores how three different

– 19 – contemporaries of Ibn Taymiyya—Ibn Jahbal al-Kilabi (d. 733/1333), Safi al-Din al- Hindi (d. 715/1315-6) and Badr al-Din Ibn Jama,a (d. 733/1333)—dealt with the issue at the core of his Hamawiyya: how to interpret texts, such as the Qur-anic verse “The All-Merciful sat on the Throne” (Q. 20:5), which suggest corporeal and spatial attributes for God. This will show that all three scholars worked within the paradigm of post-classical Ash,arism that derived from al-Ghazali and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and insisted that God be absolved of corporeal and spatial connotations. Be- yond that, however, they differed over the nonliteral reinterpretation (ta’wil) of God’s attributes and who may engage in it. Ibn Jahbal adopted a distinctively Ghazalian Sufistic approach that distinguished the elite from the common people. The elite from the Prophet down to Ibn Jahbal himself could reinterpret the attributes nonliterally but the commoners had to be prevented from doing so. Safi al-Din al-Hindi and Badr al-Din Ibn Jama,a both followed the more rationalist al-Razi in ascribing agnosticism (tafwid) about the meanings of God’s attributes to the early Muslims (salaf ) and nonliteral reinterpretation to later scholars (khalaf ). While acknowledging the per- missibility of reinterpretation, al-Hindi preferred agnosticism, but Ibn Jama,a favored reinterpretation in order to provide a stronger stance against corporealism among the commoners.

I. South & Southeast Asia I: Sanskrit Grammar. Ashok Aklujkar, Univer- sity of British Columbia, Chair (2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m.) King ∗

36. Anuja Ajotikar, Harvard University Criteria for Determining the Extent of Substituends and Replacements for you and us: the Case of asmabhyam and yus.mabhyam A7.1.30 bhyaso bhyam is ambiguous as to whether the replacement provided by the rule is bhyam, or abhyam with elision of the initial a (bhyaso ’bhyam). This ambiguity entails disagreement over the extent of the substituend in A7.2.90 ´ses.e lopah. , and dif- ference in the procedure for providing correct accentuation. Two views are proposed concerning the extent of the substituend if abhyam is accepted as the replacement. If the substituend consists of just the final sound, then the correct accent is provided by A8.2.5 ek¯ade´sa ud¯attenod¯attah. . If the substituend consist of the last vowel and any following consonants (.ti), then the correct accent is provided by A6.1.161 anud¯attasya ca yatra ud¯attalopah. (ud¯attanivr.ttisvara). These options are discussed in several com- mentaries including the K¯a´sik¯a, in which the abhyam view is presented as denigrated, in its commentaries, the Ny¯asa and Padama˜njar¯ı, and in the Svaraprakriy¯a. Joshi (2004: 178-182) and (2003: 27) discuss the views and recognize the K¯a´sik¯a’s preference but do not present clear criteria to reject the alternative options. A close analysis of the derivation of these forms reveals two clear criteria to reject the den- igrated view and its accompanying options. First, the fact that the substituend of a remainder must be the same as the substituend of the replacements of which it is the remainder serves to reject deletion of the .ti. Second, the fact that deletion of an accent and its recovery, and replacement of an accent in single-replacement sandhi both involve unnecessary prolixity serves to prefer keeping the shorter replacement and shorter substituend. The preferred procedure keeps the application of derivation of these forms consistent with that of other forms in the paradigm of yus.mad and asmad.

– 20 – 37. Tanuja Ajotikar, Harvard University rurudiva-rurudima or rudivah. -rudimah. : Which are the Proper Counter Examples on A.7.2.8? Counter examples are an important part of commentaries on rules in the As..t¯adhy¯a- y¯ı. The essential feature of a counter example is that it have all the conditions stated in the rule except one (ek¯a˙ngavikalat¯a) (Ajotikar and Kulkarni 2015). This feature serves as a criterion to determine the correct reading in cases where variants exhibit alternate counter examples each of which finds place in different editions, and is defended by the arguments of the sub-commentators. For example, the Osmania edition (1970) of the K¯a´sik¯avr.tti on A.7.2.8 ned. va´si kr.ti demonstrates the importance of the word in the rule by exhibiting as counter example forms rudivah. and rudimah. (present first person dual and plural of the root rud ‘to cry’). The first edition of the K¯a´sik¯avr.tti (1876), in contrast, reads rurudiva and rurudima (perfect first person dual and plural of the same root). The latter reading, which is supported by Jinendrabuddhi (8th cen- tury A.D.) is explicitly rejected by Haradatta (12th century A.D.) who supports the former reading. Sharma (2003) and Joshi and Roodbergen (2004) and others observe the disagreement but do not determine which is a correct counter example. A close analysis of the context of the rule reveals only the latter reading meets the essential conditions of a counter example.

38. Peter M. Scharf, The Sanskrit Library Vedic aorist Passives in r and the Account of Them in P¯an.inian Grammar The seven occurrences of the forms adr´sran and adr´sram in the Rgveda belong to the third person middle-passive aorist. Although˚ the˚ former was once˚ considered to originate in the aorist by analogy with the third person plural perfect ending (e.g. K¨ummel 1996: 2), Thieme (1929: 32) considered the two endings to be synonymous in the third person plural and to be differentiated only by phonetic context. Consistent with this analysis, the contexts of the occurrences of these seven forms in the Rgveda ˚ all call for third person plural aorist passives. In P¯an.inian grammar, adr´sran presents little difficulty to derive utilizing the the third person plural parasmaipada˚ verbal termination jhi. The form adr´sram, requiring the first person singular parasmaipada ˚ termination mip, which conditions gun.a because marked with p, presents greater difficulty. K¯aty¯ayana first notices a problem in the derivation of these forms in his first v¯arttika under As..t¯adhy¯ay¯ı 7.1.5 which Pata˜njali in his Mah¯abh¯as.ya commentary thereon endeavors to solve. S. D. Joshi (2003: 17–28) has analyzed the passage in detail. Yet several troubling issues remain. First, the K¯a´sik¯a under A. 7.1.8 suggests that A. 7.4.16, which provides gun.a for the root dr´s before the aorist stem-forming ˚ affix a ˙n, generally applies in such formations. However, the augment rut. could not produce the correct forms if added to the verbal termination after a ˙n, nor if added before it due to the antara ˙nga principle. Hence, the forms, whether root aorists or class two imperfects [as Joshi (2003: 20) suggests], must be derived by provision of the verbal termination directly after the root without any intervening stem affix. K¯aty¯ayana’s v¯arttika, which requires that a negation of gun.a be stated, is thus relevant only to the form adr´sam. ˚

– 21 – 39. Jo Brill, University of Chicago Citation Practice and the emerging Concept of Verbal Root This paper focuses on one aspect of the study of language and language conven- tions—the practice of citation—for clues about the evolution of the idea of “verbal root.” This literally radical notion was discovered in the west, as Alfieri has recently pointed out, only in the 18th and 19th centuries. In South Asia, by contrast, it demon- strably emerges in the Br¯ahman.as, pre-classical Vedic texts. The Br¯ahman.a authors took for granted the primacy of ritual action, and their project—to describe and explain ritual—relied upon various conventions, both those found in the source texts (which Jamison describes as “heavily signposted”) and also, as Lubin has recently catalogued, those that they themselves deployed. This paper takes as framework the Br¯ahman.a authors’ subsidiary goals: first, to understand and explain individual words (that is, to “etymologize”), and second, to establish a basis by which to justify the appropriateness of using a particular mantra in conjunction with a given ritual action, typically by the presence in that mantra of a word, phrase, or meter that is somehow relevant. Twentieth century Indologists—especially Liebich, Renou, and Palsule—gleaned numerous examples from the Br¯ahman.as of individual etymologies and mantra de- scriptions, and set out to explain their forms and conventions. I review these examples, and refine and expand the analysis in two ways. First, I ask about the impact on the Brahmana authors of the developing “technology” of various conventions, including citation. Did the deployment of new conventions change the way that authors worked and thought—as Grafton established that the footnote did, centuries later? Second, I compare the Br¯ahman.a authors’ citation practices to those of later authors working in other disciplines and genres, including Y¯aska and P¯an.ini, and attempt to explain why the distribution of the various conventions changed by project and over time

J. South & Southeast Asia II: Textual Criticism. Dominik Wujastyk, Uni- versity of Alberta, Chair (3:45 p.m.–5:00 p.m.) King ∗

40. Patrick Olivelle, University of Texas On Critically Editing the Y¯aj˜navalkya smr.ti Critical edition of ancient texts involve two essential steps: the collation of ex- tant of a work and the construction of a stemma codicum. Although other criteria for selecting readings, such as the principle of lectio difficilior, are available, a critical edition primarily depends on the stemma for reconstructing the archetype of the original text. I have been engaged in the project of critically editing the Y¯aj˜navalkya smr.ti for over ten years. During this period I have collected around 100 manuscripts and fully collated about 35 of them. In the process of constructing a stemma it became evident to me that it was an impossible task. ALL the medieval manuscripts in seven scripts belong to the same tradition, which I have called the “Vul- th gate”, that formed the basis of Vij˜n¯ane´svara’s 12 century commentary Mit¯aks.ar¯a, and to some extent also of Apar¯arka’s commentary. The only radically different version is found in the root text commented on by Vi´svar¯upa in the 9th century. This text is found also in most of the manuscripts of the text in the Malayalam script. So, instead of a stemma, I was left with two versions of Yaj˜navalkya: Vi´svar¯upa’s text preserved

– 22 – only in Kerala and the Vulgate found everywhere else in India. My presentation will focus on the criteria I have devised to critically edit the text without the benefit of a stemma. These include the sources used by Yaj˜navalkya: Kaut.ilya’s Artha´s¯astra, the M¯anava Dharma´s¯astra, and to a lesser extent the P¯araskara Gr.hyas¯utra. Assistance was also provided by the inclusion of the entire second chapter (Vyavah¯ara Adhy¯aya) in the Agni Pur¯an. a, whose text agrees with that of Vi´svar¯upa, and of the first chapter (Ac¯ara¯ Adhy¯aya) in the Garud. a Pur¯an. a 41. Adheesh Sathaye, University of British Columbia Subh¯as.ita Explosions: Why Proverbial Verses Appear and Disappear in Sivad¯asa’s´ Vet¯ala-pa˜ncavim. ´sati A remarkable collision of genres takes place within the Vet¯alapa˜ncavim. ´sati of Sivad¯asa,´ the early medieval Sanskrit anthology of popular narratives, when well- known proverbial verses or subh¯as.itas are injected into these otherwise prose riddle- tales at critical moments of the plot when sociopolitical or religious issues are at stake. While Indological scholarship (and especially Ludwig Sternbach) has focused its atten- tion on delineating the sources and intertextualities of these free-floating subh¯as.itas, their function and dynamism within the text has been relatively neglected. In fact, there is good evidence to suggest that these subh¯as.ita explosions in the Vet¯ala text constituted sites of tremendous textual fluidity, where later copyists felt free to add or delete verses according to their own tastes and inclinations. Through the use digital tools for collation and comparative analysis, this paper will offer some hypotheses about these scribal tastes and inclinations.

42. Peter M. Scharf, The Sanskrit Library; Anuja Ajotikar, Harvard University; and Tanuja Ajotikar, Harvard University The Sanskrit Library’s Harvard Sanskrit Cataloguing and Text-Image Alignment Projects Under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Sanskrit Library is carrying out a project to produce a digital descriptive catalogue of the 1700 Sanskrit manuscripts in the Houghton Library at Harvard University. Poleman included brief notices of these manuscripts in his Census of Indic Manuscripts in the United States and Canada (1938). The late David Pingree, with the assistance of Toke Knudsen, Clemency Montelle and others, had conducted a project in 2003– 2005 under the auspices of the American Committee for South Asian Manuscripts to collect additional data regarding these manuscripts on paper sheets. In an NEH- funded project to catalogue and digitize Sanskrit manuscripts at Brown University and related manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania, The Sanskrit Library de- veloped an XML template constructed in accordance with the Text- Encoding Initia- tive’s manuscript description guidelines (http://www.tei-c.org/release/doc/teip5- doc/en/html/MS.html), software to convert XML catalogue entries programmatically to HTML, and an extensive catalogue interface that includes title, author, scribe, date, collection, subject headings, text search fields and numerous other categories. In the current project, the Sanskrit Library had ACSAM’s paper sheets digitally imaged and typed by a data-entry firm. The authors entered data in the Sanskrit Library’s XML template, and revised and extended data with reference to the original manuscripts. The Sanskrit Library has begun to publish HTML catalogue entries of the Harvard

– 23 – Indic collection on-line at http://sanskritlibrary.org/catindex.html. At the time of writing this abstract, approximately 500 entries are available. Under the NEH-funded text-image alignment project, the Sanskrit Library has developed software to permit researchers to locate passages in digital images of manuscript pages by searching for the sought passages in corresponding digital editions of the text.

A. Ancient Near East II: Language & Linguistics. John Huehnergard, The University of Texas at Austin, Chair (9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.) Alcott ∗

43. Chelsea Sanker, Rutgers University An Analysis of Semitic Uvular-Pharyngeal Correspondences: Inter-Dialectal Bor- rowing in Akkadian In the attested late dialects of Akkadian, pharyngeal consonants were lost, so in- herited /è/ in from other Semitic languages generally corresponds to Ø in Akkadian. However, a set of forms has been identified in which Akkadian has /X/ corresponding to /è/ in other Semitic languages (Tropper 1995). One proposed ex- planation for the different correspondence sets is a phonetic change (Tropper 1995). However, the lack of consistently distinct environments for Ø:X correspondences vs. X:è correspondences would require that any explanation based on sound change allow substantial irregularity in the occurrence of that change. Another proposed explana- tion is that the X:è correspondence reflects a third phoneme in Proto-Semitic, distinct from ∗X and ∗è (Huehnergard 2003). While reconstructing a third phoneme could explain the distribution, the lack of a phonetically probable candidate for the charac- teristics of that sound poses a problem for this explanation. I propose that these words reflect inter-dialectal borrowing within Akkadian. It is clear from spelling and phonological effects that pharyngeals were still retained in early Akkadian; I suggest that they were retained in some dialects for longer than they were in the main written dialects. Even if written texts exist from dialects which preserved pharyngeals, the lack of standardized spelling of pharyngeals could have obscured their presence. Adaptation of the voiceless pharyngeal /è/ to other voice- less guttural fricatives such as [X] is common in borrowings into languages without pharyngeals (Pardis and LaCharit´e2001). Further consistent with a borrowing ex- planation are the semantic characteristics and temporal distribution of forms with this correspondence, once forms that cannot be clearly established as cognates are eliminated from consideration: many of the words fit into a limited semantic domain, relating to farming or trade, and are restricted to younger texts.

44. Phillip W. Stokes, The University of Texas at Austin Tanw¯ın or not Tanw¯ın, That is the Question: A Reanalysis of the Origin and Diachronic Development of ‘Dialectal Tanw¯ın’ in Arabic Scholars of non-standard varieties of Arabic have long noted the existence of an enclitic morpheme, realized variously as -in or -an, that marks morphologically indef- inite nouns, usually followed by an adnominal attribute. This morpheme is attested from quite early on in early Islamic-era writings (Hopkins 1984), is well-attested in a variety of Judæo-Arabic texts (Blau 1981; Wagner 2010), and has been documented in a surprisingly wide, and geographically widespread, range of spoken Arabic di- alects (Corriente 1977 for Andalusian Arabic; Ingham 2006 for Afghanistan Arabic;

– 24 – Holes 2011 for Bah.rain; Asiri 2008, for Rijal alma, in Saudi Arabia). Scholars have overwhelmingly interpreted this morpheme as a relic of tanw¯ın that survived in con- servative dialects in pre-pausal position (cf. Blau 1981: 167ff.). Recently, however, several scholars have noted the discrepancies that exist between the function and dis- tribution of this morpheme and those of nunation in classical Arabic. Most notably is the fact that, in virtually every variety in which it occurs, the function of the mor- pheme is to mark a noun that is followed by some type of attribute, whether adjective or adnominal phrase. Such discrepancies led Owens (2006: 103ff.) to propose that this morpheme is not a reflex of nunation at all, but rather is a linking morpheme, enclitic ∗Vn, that goes back to pre-conquest Arabic dialects. In this paper I propose a different etymology and development than has been hereto- fore proposed. Following Owens (2006), I argue that the morpheme does not originate in a relic of tanw¯ın; however, rather than positing a separate morpheme, I suggest that the origin of this morpheme lies in the well-known deictic particle h¯a(n) (see Has- selbach 2007; Pat-El 2009, for discussions of Semitic cognates and PS reconstruction). The morpheme was attached as a proclitic to adnominal attributes of a noun, which stood in apposition to the head noun (Pat-El 2009). I will present a reconstruction that explains how this reflex of ∗h¯a(n) developed into the post-nominal enclitic that is attested in contemporary dialects. I will further argue that such a reconstruction helps explain other attested constructions in which the definite article (-al) is used in adverbial and relative clauses in the Arabic dialects, as well as the use of -an as a nominalizer/complementizer in Classical Arabic. Bibliography: Asiri, Yahya. (2008) “Relative Clauses in the dialect of Rijal Alma’ (south–west Saudi Arabia),” Proceedings of the Seminary for Arabian Studies, vol. 38 (2008), pp. 71– 74. Blau, Joshua. (1981) The Emergence and Background of Judæo-Arabic. 2nd Edition. Oxford: OUP. Corriente, Frederico. (1977) A Grammatical Sketch of the Spanish Arabic Dialect Bun- dle. Madrid: Instituto Hispano-Arabe de Cultura. Hasselbach, Rebecca. (2007) “Demonstratives in Semitic,” in JAOS 127:1, pp. 1–27. Pat-El, Na’ama. (2009) “The Development of the Semitic Definite Article: A Syntactic Approach,” in Journal of Semitic Studies LIV/1 (Spring 2009), pp. 19–50. Owens, Jonathan. (2006) A Linguistic History of Arabic. Oxford: OUP. Wagner, Esther-Miriam. (2010) Linguistic Variety of Judæo-Arabic in Letters from the Cairo Geniza (ESJM 41). Leiden: Brill.

45. Peter T. Daniels, Jersey City, NJ Did Medieval Arab Scholars Decipher Egyptian Hieroglyphs? Okasha El Daly, Egyptology: The Missing Millenium (UCL Press, 2005), suggested that several Arab scholars, who worked between the 9th and 13th centuries CE, en- gaged successfully in attempts to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs. The was gen- erally well received by its few Egyptological reviewers, who acknowledged that such scholars’ work has been sadly overlooked by their modern successors, but pass over the “decipherment” chapter with vague demurrals. El Daly’s few pages on the topic were

– 25 – sensationalized by both the University College London press office and some news- papers, but there is less there than either the author or the publicists claim. Much is made of Arabs’ familiarity with Coptic, and of their use of hieroglyphic forms in art and alchemy, as if these suggested understanding of the readings or meanings of the glyphs. Okasha atttempts to identify the main Arabic source used by Athanasius Kircher, even though the name given by Kircher is hopelessly garbled; that the indus- trious and perhas brilliant Kircher proved no more successful than any other writer on hieroglyphs before Champollion and Young is good evidence that the Arabic ma- terials were not illuminative. This example provides an opportunity to again consider the nature of decipherment and the nature of publicity

46. Sarah Lynn Baker, The University of Texas at Austin “And Now”: Transitions in Northwest Semitic and Narrative The Canaanite phrase wQt “and now” appears frequently both in epigraphic mate- rial from the first millennium B.C.E. and in direct speech quoted in biblical Hebrew narrative. As a macrosyntactic marker signaling a transition, wQt most commonly introduces a command, request, or other volitive that is logically connected with the preceding context. In Hebrew, Edomite, and Ammonite letters, wQt also marks the transition from the opening address to the main subject of the message. The supposed Aramaic cognates (w)kQn/kQnt/kQt exhibit similar behavior, though the broader epis- tolary witness in this language enables us to examine the function of these terms in more diverse contexts. Previous scholarship on wQt and its cognates has largely been limited to general summaries in lexicons and grammars and to the translation of particular texts. The present study will conduct a more comprehensive survey of this term across Northwest Semitic epigraphic material and direct speech quoted in biblical narrative, demonstrat- ing how its use in each of these two contexts elucidates its function and interpretation in the other. A noticeable chronological shift in the dialogic contexts in which w@-Qattˆa appears in biblical Hebrew narrative suggests that the developing epistolary conven- tions (particularly of Official Aramaic) may have played a role in shaping the style of certain kinds of speech in later Hebrew texts.

47. Benedikt Peschl, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit¨at M¨unchen Anaptyctic i in the Avestan Manuscript Tradition One of the peculiar phonetic features of the Avestan language is the insertion of an anaptyctic vowel in certain Proto-Iranian consonant clusters. Due to the former inaccessibility of the vast manuscript tradition, the distribution, quality and age of these vowels has so far only been superficially discussed. The handbooks typically content themselves with the statement that the standard anaptyctic vowel is @, with ¯@, a,¯o, i appearing as variants, while some scholars (J. Kellens, M. de Vaan) have treated the contexts in which anaptyxis predominantly occurs, only hinting at some tendencies behind the distribution of its variants. But with the help of the Avestan Digital Archive (http://ada.usal.es/), it is now possible to trace the particular representation of anaptyxis in a given instance throughout a significant number of manuscripts. Samples shown in this paper illustrate that anaptyxis may be transmitted quite consistently in one instance, while elsewhere its transmission may show considerable variation or even have a completely erratic appearance, thus illustrating the strong influence of the oral

– 26 – on the parallel written tradition. In some instances, a specific anaptyctic vowel has apparently become fixed at a relatively early date, while generally the phenomenon has remained subject to much fluctuation up to modern times. Subsequently, the talk will focus on the quality of anaptyctic vowels in one specific context, namely in front of a syllable containing an i-vowel. As has been suggested before, this context shows a particular tendency for i- instead of @-anaptyxis. However, it is often only select manuscript classes that exhibit this tendency, so that the more “original” character of i in these cases is at least debatable. Finally, an attempt will be made to harmonize some of the patterns observable in the transmission of i-anaptyxis with the results of other recent research on the transmission of the Avesta.

48. Øyvind Bjøru, The University of Texas at Austin Semantic Transitivity and the Akkadian Verbal Stems In this paper, I will use recent advances in transitivity theory to show how each of the Akkadian verbal stems can be seen as performing a quite specific function in terms of semantic transitivity. The derived verbal stems in the Semitic languages are commonly explained in one of two ways: 1) in terms of diathesis, with each stem being ascribed a core grammatical voice, to which exceptions are mere variations, or 2) by means of a more or less exhaustive list of otherwise disparate syntactic and semantic functions. Both of these approaches are inadequate in that they either give too much weight to emblematic voice distinctions (passive, reflexive, causative, etc.), or fail to account for what allows varied syntactic and semantic categories to be expressed by the same morphological form. I will show that configurations of three parameters of the Agent (and Patient), viz. volition, instigation, and affectedness can elucidate both oppositions and overlaps within the system. In doing so, I mount a critique of N.J.C. Kouwenberg’s work on the D-stem in particular and partly rehabilitate A. Goetze’s interpretation of the D-stem as factitive, as opposed to a causative S-stem,ˇ recasting and developing the argument in terms of semantic transitivity.

B. Ancient Near East III: The Development of Writing. Peter T. Daniels, Jersey City, NJ, Chair 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Alcott

49. Ani Honarchian, University of California, Los Angeles Alphabet as a Divine Gift: The Creation of the Armenian Alphabet Origen of Alexandria admitted that Christians in general were uneducated. Even Constantine thought that fifty copies of scripture would be enough for spreading Christianity. I believe that the emergence of this new faith and its adoption as the religion of the Armenian lands should be studied alongside the history of literacy. has no until the early fifth century; a century after Christianity was accepted in the court as the official religion of . Since we have access to the sources written on the creation of Armenian alphabet, I decided to reexamine these materials to understand how and why this alphabet was presented as a divine gift. By using the sociolinguistics of writing system as a theoretical framework, I will demonstrate that by emphasizing on the distinctiveness of the Armenian alphabet, which was similar but different from Greek and Syria, tying this distinctive script with the identity of the Armenians as the chosen people, and dismissing other dialects as

– 27 – devilish and impure, the complex force behind the promotion of this alphabet managed to succeed. 50. Michael Wingert, University of California, Los Angeles Literary Technology and the Development of Syriac Cursive The importance of Syriac writing in the development of several ancient Near Eastern alphabets from Late Antiquity should not be underestimated. How and why this Edessan variant of the Aramaic script developed into its cursive form has been unclear. When previous scholarship has addressed the development of Syriac script in the past, it has typically been in light of earlier scripts such as those from Palmyra. This paper asserts that the development of Syriac cursive is largely the result of two factors: 1) the intrusion into the Near East of Greek writing from the Seleucid period onward and 2) the growth in popularity of the literary technology of the . Specific attention to the development of Syriac cursive has largely been lacking from the conversation. The square Aramaic script, as preserved in the Dead Sea , displays a written tradition following the upper line rule in accordance with Northwest Semitic tradition stretching back to the Iron Age. As Greek was found among the Qumran scrolls, the introduction of Greek alone was not enough to alter the shape of Aramaic from a square script into the Syriac cursive. Nevertheless, the presence of the Greek script in the Near East created the conditions for writing that employed both top and bottom rule. The introduction of the bottom rule to the square alphabet precipitated a shift in the weight of the Aramaic script, which taken in concert with the production of folios for codices, eventually created the conditions for a shift in the calligrapher’s hand from the top rule to the bottom rule, transforming square Aramaic into Syriac est.rangelˆa cursive.

C. Ancient Near East IV: Empires and their Administration. Seth Richardson, University of Chicago, Chair 9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Isabella Stew- art Gardner ∗ 51. Sigrid K. Kjær, The University of Texas at Austin Achæmenid Administrative Structures: Bactrian perspectives This paper outlines some of the content of the Aramaic administrative texts from the region of Bactria which were published in 2012. Through these texts, we become acquainted with administrative practices during the last years of the Achæmenid Empire as portrayed in letters from a satrap to his governor in the province of Bactria. The aim of this presentation is to expound the evidence by exploring the terminol- ogy used to denote important offices such as ‘governor,’ ‘satrap’ and ‘scribe.’ Com- parisons will be drawn to the earlier and contemporaneous Akkadian and also to the nomenclature we find in Biblical Hebrew describing the Persian province of Yehud. The office of the governor ph. h in Aramaic is, along with a number of other terms borrowed from or modelled upon Akkadian and their use in late Akkadian texts will serve to highlight their specific function in the semantics of administration. Further- more, the same terms found in Biblical Hebrew texts will serve as later corroborative evidence. Ultimately, I will argue that although the exact implications of a number of terms remain vague, this recent publication serves to nuance the distinctions and elucidate

– 28 – certain aspects of Official Aramaic chancellery language. Additionally, the texts pro- vide insight into the workings of the Achæmenid administrative hierarchy in its final years.

52. Tytus Mikolajczak, University of Chicago Persepolis Fortification Seal 1155 and the Connections between Regional Admin- istration and Central Accounting at Achæmenid Persepolis Eight documents from the Persepolis Fortification Archive (PFA) that have impres- sions of Persepolis Fortification Seal (PFS) 1155, a long with eight other documents that have related contents constitute a dossier that represents activities in a district of the territory monitored from Persepolis. This dossier sheds new light on operat- ing relationships between district administration and central accounting, suggesting that district administrators were more directly involved than previously supposed in compilation of final records at Persepolis.

53. Alice Mandell, University of California, Los Angeles Re-examining the Amarna Letters from the Egyptian Centers in the Levant and the “Canaanite” Features in the Amarna Letters from Egypt Re-examining the Amarna Letters from the Egyptian Centers in the Levant and the “Canaanite” Features in the Amarna Letters from Egypt Petrographic analysis suggests that nearly 10% of the extent Amarna Letters were written at Egyptian ad- ministrative centers in the Levant. The clay composition of tablets from diverse rulers best matches the clays produced in and Gaza, S.umur, and Beth-Shean. This attests to a common practice whereby rulers in the Levant convened with Egyptian representa- tives and either dispatched their letters directly to Egypt using the Egyptian courier system, or they themselves traveled to Egypt. Also, several of the Egyptian Amarna Letters, in particular EA 96 and 369, feature Canaano-Akkadian orthographies. As such the boundaries between scribal schools working for these polities is not quite clear-cut. This presentation proposes a more systematic study of these letters in light of recent scholarship on the paleography, clays, and use of epistolary protocol in these letters. Such a reassessment elucidates the role of cuneiform scribes in the Levant, and moreover, the function of Canaano-Akkadian within the Egyptian administrative apparatus.

54. Susanne Paulus, University of Chicago “Hands off my barley” — Legal and Administrative Terminology in Kassite Nip- pur While legal or literary texts are usually translated and discussed in detail, for ad- ministrative texts this is often not the case. These frequent documents are often only transliterated or paraphrased. The aim of this paper is to show that an in-depth philo- logical study of administrative terminology paired with an analyses of the form and function of these tablets can bring new insight to long discussed questions. This paper focuses on the (re)distribution of barley harvested in small villages around Nippur in , examining the terminology of barley receipts and ex- penses. The first part of the talk will examine how barley was distributed after the harvest. While it was transferred from one “hand” to another, different expressions,

– 29 – all including the term q¯atu (“hand”), are used (ina q¯at PN / kˆıq¯at PN / q¯ata tur- rat), that often lack an adequate translation. In the second part the idea that the barley was stored after the harvest to be then monthly redistributed will be revisited. The material used for this study originates from the Middle Babylonian archives of Nippur, dating from 14th–13th century BC (Kassite period). The texts were mostly ex- cavated at the end of the 19th century and were partly published by Clay (1906–1912). Based on these texts the administration of Nippur was discussed by Sassmannshausen (2001).

55. Laura Culbertson, Independent Scholar Wisdom, Authority, Connections: Judges of the Ur III Period What qualifies someone to be a judge in the Ur III state? This paper offers conclu- sions drawn from a comprehensive survey of the judges attested in the Ur III period (ca. 2100–2000 BC). Most judges are attested at the provinces of and Lagash, though some also known from Ur and Nippur. Even though the role of judge appears to be a function during the Ur III period rather than an official occupation, I highlight some evidence men who made judging at court proceedings into a career. Drawing on legal and administrative texts, I also note the mobility of judges between cities and discuss how coordination of judges occurred. Connections to the military among some of the highest-ranking judges of provincial capitals are also discussed.

56. C. Jay Crisostomo, University of Michigan The Idiosyncrasies of a Babylonian Scribe. The Borsippa scribe Nabˆu-kus.urˇsu, the son of B¯el-er¯ıba, the junior brewer of Nabˆu, copied several lexical and scholarly texts during the reign of Artaxerxes. The present paper offers a synopsis of Nabˆu-kus.urˇsu’s work, discussing his conventions and id- iosyncrasies. I analyze Nabˆu-kus.urˇsu’s varied colophons and spelling conventions, his regular handwriting and tablet formats, and copying discrepancies. In some ways, a detailed look at a single scribe’s writing practices defies desired assumptions of scribal standards, but also provides alternative measurables. By describing the work of an in- dividual scribe, I seek to lay the foundations for writing a history of cuneiform scribal practices.

D. Ancient Near East V: New and Old Discoveries and their Interpretation Chair: Tytus Mikolajczak, University of Chicago, Chair 11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Isabella Stewart Gardner ∗

57. Lorenzo D’Alfonso, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University A New Interpretation of the Inscription of TOPADA The Anatolian hieroglyphic inscription of TOPADA is one of the longest and most complex stone inscriptions dating to the 1st millennium BCE, in the aftermath of the Hittite empire. It is one of the few inscriptions from Anatolia narrating more episodes of a war between two coalitions, one of which formed of Neo-Hittite polities of South- Central Anatolia.. The inscription was published twice by P. Meriggi, but the recent standard edition is the one provided by D. Hawkins in CHLI, rediscussed and improved by M. Weeden (Fs Hawkins 2010). In this paper I will present some different readings,

– 30 – thus suggesting that the text refers to a military event confronting two major polities, one led by Great King Wasusarma, the other by the king of Phrygia. An analysis of the palæography and some aspects of the writing systems seems also supporting an early date of the inscription, as previously suggested by Prof. Meriggi, to the 10th-9th c. BCE. If these hypotheses will be correct, they will have profound consequences in our interpretation of the history of the early 1st millennium BCE in post Hittite Anatolia.

58. Jacob Lauinger, The Johns Hopkins University Months and Days at Tell Tayina. In 2009, members of the Tayinat Archæological Project discovered a small collection of cuneiform tablets and fragments in the inner sanctum of a temple in the sacred precinct of Tell Tayinat, a Neo-Assyrian provincial capital known in antiquity as Kullania. The majority of these tablets and fragments are exemplars of Iqqur ¯ıpuˇs, a Mesopotamian scholarly series that specified the favorable months for a variety of human activities and celestial phenomena. The aim of this paper is to communicate some preliminary remarks about the Tayinat Iqqur ¯ıpuˇs, material: Its nature and scope relative to the series as known from elsewhere; and its Sitz im Leben at Tell Tayinat. 59. Jessie DeGrado and Matthew Richey, University of Chicago An Aramaic-Inscribed Lamaˇstu Amulet from Zin¸cirli In the final volume of the excavation report from the F. VON LUSCHAN expedition to Zin¸cirli, Turkey, the editor, W. ANDRAE (1943: 146–47), provides a brief icono- graphic description and an imperfect photograph of an Aramaic-inscribed Lamaˇstu amulet from the site. The Old Aramaic inscription was, however, largely invisible in the photograph and the epigraph went untranscribed and untranslated in this and all subsequent mentions, with the result that few scholars are aware of its existence. Based on new high-resolution photographs and October 2015 collation of the amulet at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, we provide the first reading and full iconographic and historical treatment of this important find. The recto of the amulet is centered on a roughly-executed, Luwian-style depiction of the demon Lamaˇstu grasping two snakes and standing on a boat. The more compositionally diverse verso includes three registers: a series of divine symbols (top), three coarsely-scratched protective figures (middle), and Aramaic and pseudo-Aramaic lines of text (bottom, edge). This artifact represents the only known instance of local Aramaic script’s use on an amulet dominated by Mesopotamian iconographic motifs, notably including Lamaˇstu. It is an important witness to cultural contact and combination in an Aramaic/Neo-Hittite city-state of the 9th–8th centuries B.C.E. Due to the general paucity of Old Aramaic inscriptions, this epigraph also represents a significant addi- tion to the broader extant corpus and contributes important data for understanding Old Aramaic palæography, orthography, and onomastics.

60. Paul Gauthier, University of Chicago Writing Boards and State Payroll in the Middle Assyrian Kingdom For some time scholars have known that the Middle Assyrian kingdom used a sys- tem of five “writing boards” to help manage its personnel, but the details of the

– 31 – system have remained allusive. In this paper I will show that the writing boards were tied to a system of military supply districts that were at least partially geographic in conception. These districts had their own revenue streams which were used to pro- vide rations for Assyrian soldiers and workmen when on duty within the kingdom. In addition, the districts were also called upon to provide rations to civilian workmen and administrative staff on full-time state service. By examining the details of these supply districts it is possible to explain a number of administrative peculiarities at- tested in Arbela province in later times. More importantly, a detailed understanding of the writing board system allows one to derive a quantitative estimate of the total manpower available to the Middle Assyrian state.

E. East Asia III: Sickness and Music. Meow Hui Goh, The Ohio State Uni- versity, Chair (9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.) Holmes-Brandeis ∗

61. Antje Richter, University of Colorado, Boulder Visiting the Sick: Textual Evidence from Early and Early Medieval China Visiting the sick is a recurrent motif in early and early medieval Chinese literature. My talk introduces the various manifestations and contexts of sickbed visits mentioned in canonical writings, historiography, masters texts, religious scriptures, and poetry, in an attempt to discover patterns of its use for different rhetorical purposes. Part of a larger project dedicated to medical narratives in medieval Chinese literature, the exploration of this emerging literary motif not only promises insight into the understanding of illness, healing, social etiquette, and friendship, but also provides an opportunity to highlight the narrative art that went into the employment of this motif. While this is mostly an investigation of the textual representation of a social practice, I will also explore the question of whether and to what extent textual references to sickbed visits allow us to reconstruct the cultural history of this phenomenon.

62. Zeyuan Wu, The Ohio State University Transforming the World through Music: Qin Songs and Confucianism in Late Imperial China Can music, a performative genre mostly appreciated for its entertainment and æsthetic functions, transform the world? The musicians of 14th to early 20th cen- tury China had answered the question with a definitive “yes” through their advocacy of qin, the seven-string zither. A unique example of their effort was their attempt at reviving “Ospreys,” the first song in the Confucian canon, Classic of Poetry (formed around 600 BCE). Like all other songs in the Classic of Poetry, “Ospreys” had lost its music, surviving only in lyrics form, by late imperial time. This, however, did not deter the musicians of the time from creating many qin versions of the song in various compilations and, in each case, asserting the “authenticity” of these songs. How do we account for these late imperial recreations of this ancient song? How did their com- posers suppose they could revive a song with a two-thousand-year history? I argue that these composers’ recreation of “Ospreys” in fact functioned as their means for engaging in Confucian learning and teaching. Although many of them never succeeded in the civil service examination, these musicians presented themselves as having more profound understanding of the ancient sages than others. Aligning their works with

– 32 – the music-poetic tradition represented by the Classic of Poetry, they considered mu- sic composition to be no less important than textual scholarship in comprehending and expressing Confucian ideals. In their mind, the sage-kings had used qin music to regulate people’s lives, create rituals, and harmonize myriad things; as such, it was the true legacy of Confucianism. Continuing with the Sage’s work, their revival of ancient music was aimed not only at learning and transmitting the teachings of the ancient sage-kings, but ultimately, to influence governance and transform the world.

63. Chen Liu, Harvard University Zither Inscriptions in Medieval China Inscriptions of political, ritual texts or classics are widely found on bronze vessels, steles, or other objects in ancient China. As the tradition of inscribing formal writings like these continued, inscriptions on small and personal items under non-official cir- cumstances such as inkstone and musical instruments started to appear in medieval China. Besides signature or seals that claim ownership or craftsmanship, there are also verse and short prose inscriptions on larger items. Among them, inscriptions on Chinese zither, the most prestigious musical instrument in pre-modern China and the symbol of literati class, will provide us a best lens to look into the interaction between material culture, music and literary history. Built upon previous scholarship that takes either musicological or literary ap- proaches, this project will examine both actual inscribing practices represented by the tens of zithers survived from the medieval period, as well as the prose texts cate- gorized as “zither inscriptions” preserved in literary collections. I attempt to address these questions: what texts were inscribed on the back of zithers? Who were inscrib- ing and who were reading them? Finally, how the category of “zither inscription” as a genre came about? I argue that zither inscription flourished with the rise of con- noisseurship and private collecting in late Tang and early Song. While the signature or seal inscriptions were often made by the owner, “zither inscriptions” were mostly composed by the owners friends, either as gifts or in response to the owners request. This genre flourished because it provided a space where literati could celebrate friend- ship and praise the zither and hence the virtue of the owner. Most importantly, the inscription verified as well as added value to the instrument. Song literati not only “know the sound” of their friends, but also know the price.

F. East Asia East Asia IV: Fu and Poetry. Robert Joe Cutter, Arizona State University, Chair (10:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.) Holmes-Brandeis ∗

64. Yue Zhang, Valparaiso University In Memory of the Forgotten: A Close Reading of Xie Zhan’s Poem on Zhang Liang The section of Poems on History in the Selections of Refined Literature includes Xie Zhan’s (385–421) Poem on Zhang Liang (ca. 250 B.C.E–186 B.C.E). Although it was famous and popular during Xie’s time, this poem received little attention throughout history, ergo its literary prominence is downplayed. This is mainly because the poet obviously commends his contemporary ruler, which leaves readers with an impression that he flatters his superior at length. This paper, from a larger context of the development of poems on history, examines literati’s psychological state during the

– 33 – transition between the Jin and . In this regard, Xie’s poem is worthy of attention: this poem is the earliest extant poem on the historical figure, Zhang Liang, many aspects of whom are enhanced or carried forward by later prominent writers, such as Li Bai (701–762), Hu Zeng (fl. 840)and Wang Anshi (1021–1086); in addition, Xie Zhan transcends the existing modes of composing poems on history, ones that generally consist of poets’ reading historical records or visiting historical sites in the Six Dynasties (220–589). Rather than visiting the temple of Zhang Liang himself, he envisioned his ruler visiting the site, praising Zhang Liang’s contributions in unifying the country and consolidating the power of the Han dynasty. This leads to the poet to comment on his current ruler, Liu Yu (363–422), who renovated Zhang’s temple and made sacrifices there. Finally, this poem demonstrates the literati’s conscious concern with self-preservation, thereby facilitating our understanding of their complex emotions in this critical period.

65. Qu Jingyi, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Similar Tone with A Different Melody: Ruan Ji’s Escape and Tao Qian’s Reclu- sion The concept of Escapism is not an original conception but has long existed in the Western world. As early as 1975, Heilman, Robert B. proposed a definition to take “Escape as a mode of dealing with imperfect existence” from a psychological perspective. However, the concept of Escapism has neither been widely discussed nor extensively developed, especially in the area of Chinese literature studies. This paper seeks to scrutinize the respective literary works of Ruan Ji (210–263) and Tao Qian (c. 365–427) via the perspective of Escapism in order to posit Escapism as a unifying similarity in their literary works. This similarity can be observed through their inheritance relationship, historical background and literary characteristics. This paper does not stop merely at the “similar tone” of Escapism both Ruan Ji and Tao Qian share, but also emphasize their differences under the perspective of Escapism. The key difference between Tao Qian and Ruan Ji in their works: Tao Qian portrays his notion of Escapism via reclusion (take Taohuayuan story and Yinjiu poems as cases) while Ruan Ji portrays a similar notion as a form of escape (take Dongping fu and the five-word and the four-word Yonghuai poems as cases).

66. Lu Kou, Harvard University What is New in Chen Dynasty (557–89) Court Poetry? Analysis of Poetic Im- provisation on Assigned Topic (fude) Medieval Chinese court poetry featured one special form of poetry composition, namely, poetic improvisation on an assigned topic (fude). In numerous occasions, court members gathered and randomly selected objects for on-sight versification. Their com- position was strictly timed and assessed by court authority. Courtiers were expected to incorporate relevant allusions in the poem and employ language appropriate to the intended audience. While it was common to select a single object for improvisation in the Southern Dynasties (420–589), such as bamboo, cloud and rock and so on, the paper contends that courtiers from the Chen Dynasty deliberately tried to escalate the difficulty of the practice by making the assigned topic increasingly complicated. First, they much attended to topical specificity. Instead of bamboo in abstraction, for example, poets

– 34 – would be given more specified topics like bamboo in mountain, around a pool, or adjacent to stairs, for composition. Second, Chen courtiers also purposefully combined two random objects together as a composite topic for assignment, such as “cloud and wine” or “cloud and rock.” In those cases, they heeded descriptive appropriateness when delineating the specified topic and synthetized allusions on disparate objects to make it appealing to a court taste. The scholarship on Chen Dynasty poetry has long been focusing on the “Palace Style” that thematically describes boudoir or female body. Moreover, it has continued the disparaging claim established in the seventh century that the southern culture was irremediably “decadent.” The paper aims to redress the misleading impression on Chen Dynasty poetry by bringing attention to this distinctive body of poetic texts on assigned topic. It argues that the attempt by Chen court members in complicating the assigned topic greatly contributes to the sophistication of poetic language, and their exploration of the possibility of poetic expression exerts far-reaching influence on poetry composition in later ages. 67. Hin Ming Frankie Chik, Arizona State University Debate on the Choice of Capital in Eastern Han Dynasty: The Inner Logic of the Rhapsodies on Capitals In the first century of Latter Han, in which the central government just moved its capital away from Chang’an to Luoyang, a number of literati wrote several rhapsodies (fu) to assert that choosing Luoyang as capital was crucial for the empire’s prosperity by means of praising the achievements of emperors in Eastern Han who followed the rituals of former sages. Previously, scholars have analyzed these rhapsodies æsthet- ically, politically and historically and have summed up the advantages of Luoyang that those literati described. However, they fail to answer a question that what was the relationship between Luoyang’s advantages and the achievements of Eastern Han Emperors? This paper, therefore, aims to complete this missing link by examining the inner logic of those literati. By having a close examination of those rhapsodies and relative historical documents, it first argues that those literati presumed that emperors in Eastern Han would achieve nothing if they did not establish the capital in Luoyang as it was a symbol of ritual and frugality. In contrast, Chang’an was a city of luxury and evil that contradicted the ritual theory of Confucianism. This study then suggests in those writers’ mind, the advantages and disadvantages of both cities decided by previous rulers were everlasting and by no means can successors changed them. Finally, it examines how those literati solved a contradiction that Luoyang was the capital of Eastern Zhou, an era of disunion and chaos, by way of dividing the life span of a dynasty into different stages.

G. Islamic Near East V: A Corpus or a Canon? The Priorities and Princi- ples of the Library of Arabic Literature. (Presentation and Conversation) Philip F. Kennedy, New York University, Chair (9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.) Hutchinson- Lowell • The editors of the Library of Arabic Literature In this presentation and conversation with AOS colleagues, Kennedy and the Li- brary of Arabic Literature editors share their vision for the series; the principles

– 35 – behind the selection and review of titles; the mechanisms underlying the preparation of authoritative Arabic editions accompanied by modern lucid English translations; and the challenges associated with creating an initial library of 75 volumes.

H. Islamic Near East VI: Approaches to Islamic Intellectual History. Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter, Chair (9:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.) Kennedy

In recent years, those who identify their discipline within the study of Islam as Islamic intellectual history has mushroomed. Specialists in the study of philosophy, theology, hermeneutics, exegesis, and legal theory among other Islamic humanities have attempted to identify trends: the significance and continuity of rational tra- ditions, the important of commentary cultures as simulacra of intellectual creativity, and the wider significance of philosophical and theoretical issues in Islamicate culture, even in the scriptural disciplines. However, there is still little in the way of theoretical reflection on how we study engage in intellectual history. How should specialists locate themselves within disciplinary debates within intellectual history (whether contextu- alist, holistic, Begriffsgeschichte, genealogy, or otherwise)? The aim of this panel is to bring a series of reflections on the conduct of Islamic intellectual history that span the study of philosophy, theology and legal theory (synchronically and diachronically) and attempt to engage wider disciplinary formations. Fundamentally, the papers will attempt to put forward ideas about how we should study texts in the past.

68. Ebrahim Moosa, University of Notre Dame Identifying Trends in the Philosophy of History of Islamic Law and Legal Theory: Comparing Perspective among Pre-Modern and Modern Authors [withdrawn] The proposed paper attempts to identify the philosophy of history adopted by authors, both practitioners and historians, who write on applied Sharia/fiqh, on legal theory (us.¯ul al-fiqh) and those who chronicle the history of Muslim law schools and the history of legal theory. The goal of the paper is to begin to identify the conceptual history of certain cate- gories used within Muslim discourses in these disciplines. Conceptual history explores the historical semantics of terms. Conceptual history made famous by authors like Reinhart Koselleck, among others, examines the evolution of paradigmatic ideas and value systems over time. My goal will be to explore the conceptual development of key terms such as Sharia and fiqh, the meaning and role of kal¯am in legal theory, and the sensibilities of authors regarding epistemological mutation of ideas over time. How these authors view the relationship between ideas and history, especially temporality, would be one crucial line of inquiry. In my paper I will draw on a select number of pre-modern authors like al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, Ibn Rushd, the chroniclers Ibn Ab¯ıal-Waf¯a-, Ibn Q¯ad.¯ıShuhba, Taq¯ıal-D¯ın Ibn Subk¯ı, Ibn ,As¯akir and others. I will also compare the paradigmatic concepts I had identified and mentioned above in the writings of modern authors such as Muh.ammad bin H. asan al-H. ajw¯ı, Muh. ammad Z¯ahid al-Kawthar¯ı, B¯aqir al-S.adr, Muh.ammad Ab¯uZahr¯a- and Muh.ammad Jaw¯ad Maghniyya. A diachronic comparison of some conceptual and paradigmatic terms will help ferret out some sensibility as to how practitioners and chroniclers of what is called “Islamic

– 36 – law” imagine history. The goal of this paper will be modest: to identify trends and threads, rather than make any definitive conclusions. 69. Ahab Bdaiwi, University of St. Andrews To Historicize or not to Historicize, that is the Question: Navigating (d. 1037) between Dimitri Gutas and Henry Corbin [withdrawn] , According to Abd al-Lat.¯ıf al-Baghd¯ad¯ı(d. 1231), Avicenna (d. 1037) digested the entirety of philosophy and stuffed in his books. So pervasive and overarching the influence of Avicenna was that his writings and ideas came to dominate much of the intellectual landscape in the eastern lands of the Islamicate world in medieval and modern times. In this paper I shall explore and analyse two (antagonistic) readings of Avicenna, namely those of Dimitri Gutas and the late Henry Corbin, both of which largely dominate modern academic discourses in Islamic intellectual history. Corbin’s approach to Avicenna hinges on the view that philosophy ought to be studied in and of itself and that it should not fall prey to the “perils of historicism”. Corbin tells us that the study of philosophy will not fulfill its true objectives when and if it is “subservient to the unique perspective of the history of philosophy as his- tory.” Irked by Corbin’s ahistoricism, Gutas famously opined that “Corbin’s approach alienated philosophers from the study of Avicenna and all post-Avicennan Arabic phi- losophy, it attracted scholars who were interested precisely in confessional esotericism as a means to promote their personal or ethnic or religious chauvinistic agenda.” In the main this paper seeks to shed light on the above-mentioned antagonistic read- ings of Avicenna, showing that: the first approach is (i) deliberately anachronistic and largely indifferent to history and historiography, and (ii) this approach is determined to promulgate philosophical doctrines through phenomenological readings by insisting that the philosophy of Avicenna is rooted in transcendental origins (i.e., the ,¯alam al- mal¯ak¯ut); and that the second approach championed by Gutas is (i) very much in line with the methods of historical contextualism and conventionalism, indirectly echoing the Cambridge School, and (ii) that the writings and ideas of Avicenna ought to be presented as a continuation of Greek philosophical deliberations deserving a position of eminence in the history of philosophy in general. 70. Eric van Lit, Yale University Distant Reading in Post-Classical Islamic Intellectual History In this paper I provide a new theoretical framework for the study of Islamic intel- lectual history. Most research rely on the tested and tried method of close reading and a focus on authorial intent, without re!reflections on the theory and methodology of our work. This, however, breaks down for the post-classical period in two ways. First, since the post-classical period is unchartered territory, it is hardly useful to sit only in one spot of that territory and very precisely trace out its direct surroundings. Second, since it seems standard practice in that period for intellectuals to copy and paraphrase earlier works, close reading often leads to the conclusion that the intellec- tual is ‘unoriginal’. Even worse, if not unoriginal, scholars sometimes exaggerate the originality by failing to notice influence from earlier intellectuals. Through notions in Literary Theory, such as Franco Moretti’s counter-proposal to close reading by the name of distant reading, combined with notions from Religious Studies and Material Culture Studies, I propose a new way of approaching texts from

– 37 – the post-classical period. Its starting point is to consider what would happen if we do not study all texts of one author, but instead all authors of one text. Unoriginality and repetitiveness become desirable qualities, perceiving the reuse of text as a material signifier for the transmission of knowledge. Finding such a signifier, and finding all authors that invoke this signifier, allows us to draw up genealogies of ideas that can pierce through the centuries, sometimes all the way up until our time. A showcase of two such genealogies shall demonstrate the effectiveness of this ap- proach, especially in unearthing unexpected lines of influence.

71. Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter Studying Philosophy in Cultural contexts: The Case of Sh¯ı,¯ıPhilosophy Heidegger once famously opined that the notion of ‘Christian philosophy’ was oxy- moronic like a ‘square circle’. The study of philosophy has often been caught between universalising and culturally particularising tendencies: is philosophical reasoning a universal good and practice recognisable in all places and times because humans are ‘rational animals’, or rather are our very concepts of rationality and our categories— including that of philosophy—conditioned and formed in the crucible of a particular cultural context? This is a pertinent methodological question when approaching Is- lamic philosophy or even philosophy in Shi,i traditions and contexts not least because in most historical cases their practitioners merely said they were philosophising. Are there features that might point to an essence that we classify as ‘Shi,i philos- ophy’ ? Insofar as anything Shi,i ought to refer back to the axial notion of wal¯aya, surely the central questions of ontology, epistemology and even anthropology must be ones which refer back to a notion of reality in which the nexus of being as given to us—or God if one wishes—and becoming—insofar as it is the manifestation of the divine in the Imam—is central. Further questions arise: is philosophy a merely reflective or contemplative act or an ethical and even religious commitment? What art of living (and even dying) is entailed in philosophy in the Shi,i tradition? Do the teachings of the Imams act as the basis for the pursuit of wisdom as a salvific set of practices or are most cases of philosophy in Shi,i contexts different modalities of Hel- lenic thought with a thin Im¯am¯ıveneer? In this exploratory paper, I will raise these questions of method and approach and attempt a construct a coherent account that brings together various sources to make sense of philosophy as a spiritual practice and way of life in Shi,i Islam. In doing so I will engage with current theories in the study of intellectual history and the growing trend towards cross-cultural philosophy.

72. Hossein Kamaly, Barnard College Rethinking Intellectual History Beyond ‘Sects’ and ‘Schools’ This paper makes a number of tentative suggestions about approaching Islamic in- tellectual history in conceptual rather than doctrinal terms. A large portion of the available literature in the field substantively represents the latter, doctrinal, approach. Drawing on several entries in the Encyclopedia of Islam (second edition), the proposed paper seeks to offer an alternative reading and restructuring the historical evidence. The notion of ‘sect’ is problematized, drawing a parallel is between it and the similarly ubiquitous notion of ‘School’ (mazhab). Acknowledging the presence of strong ‘sec- tarian’ tendencies or mazhab-oriented perspectives in much of the available sources, this paper makes a case for attempting a more conceptual or problem-driven view of

– 38 – intellectual history. In line with the heresiographical tradition, the dominant school- based or doctrinal approach to intellectual history is inadequate. Labels that were invented and utilized primarily to promote communal interests—within a broader setting of identity politics—fall short of proper historiographical standards. Specif- ically, it draws on the application of the two labels Ash,arite and Mu,tazilite in a wide range of scholarly literature, showing their basic inadequacy in capturing the rich history of kal¯am. To illustrate the point further, another example is drawn from the history of philosophy.

I. Special Panel: Digital Humanities Round Table at American Oriental So- ciety (Individual Reflections on Digital Humanities and Discussion). Eric van Lit, Yale University, Chair (11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.) Hutchinson-Lowell ∗

This cross-discipline round table gives an impression of how one can take advantage of digital tools and resources in their day-to-day workflow, and it will further discuss the future role of what is dubbed “Digital Humanities” in each of our fields of studies. Panelists from different disciplines show some of the best practices out there, and explain how they incorporate such resources in their private research practice. The talks have both a conceptual and practical nature, but none are highly technical: the focus lies on how to incorporate technology into our existing research. The round table concludes with a discussion open to all.

• Eric van Lit, Yale University (Islamic Near East, Chair) A “digital orientalist” sounds like an oxymoron. Our fields of studies know a long methodological tradition which is not prone to change, largely based on close reading and other hands-on philological work. I have been documenting my experience of incorporating digital resources in my day-to-day workflow on my weblog “The Digital Orientalist,” and through this I have come to understand that a “digital orientalist” is not an oxymoron, but an imperative, if not now then in the near future. In my introduction to this round table I describe how some of the ways we operate our changing, now that we are entering the digital age. • Charles G. Haberl¨ , Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (Islamic Near East) I shall introduce two resources and share my personal experience with them. The first is called SIL FieldWorks, an interlinear morphophonemic parser that was designed for language documentation but works well with ancient texts too. The second is ELCat, which you can visit at http://endangeredlanguages.com. I have developed a course around it, on the endangered linguistic and cultural heritage of humanity. The ELCat course I teach is held entirely online and is popular with the students; I have got 125 this year, and I find that converting the course to an online model has actually made me a better instructor, at least in terms of reaching the current generation of undergraduates. • Enrique Jimenez´ , Yale University (Ancient Near East) I will show how personal research tools can be quickly developed, that tie in with larger projects, to create a personal workflow that is highly efficient. I mainly use CDLI, a catalog of all cuneiform tablets in the world, which includes photos of

– 39 – many of them, and Oracc, an international initiative to develop a complete corpus of cuneiform literature. At Yale I am developing the Cuneiform Commentaries Project (http://ccp.yale.edu), which is collaborating with both consortia. I will present these sites briefly, and then speak about how I integrate them in my own work—by connect- ing my Filemaker database with them. I will illustrate how useful this is by showing how I have identified dozens of fragments of cuneiform literature with the help of my database. • Timothy Lubin, Washington and Lee University (South and Southeast Asia) I shall survey the types of digital tools available to the field today and some of the uses to which they can be put, and some of the benefits of this availability. These tools include repositories of digital primary source texts (increasingly including transcriptions of otherwise unpublished manuscripts; digitized images of manuscripts, inscriptions, and iconography; databases of paleographic data; and digitized dictio- naries and other reference works (including bibliographies). Apart from increasing access to primary and secondary source materials, these tools allow forms of analysis and collaboration that would earlier have been clumsy, incomplete, or impracticable altogether. I shall also suggest that, suitably configured, such tools can play a role in cross-regional comparative studies.

J. South and Southeast Asia III: Law and Society I. Patrick Olivelle, University of Texas, Chair (9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.) King ∗

73. David Brick, Yale University M¯adhava’s Defense of Cross-Cousin Marriage and Its Impact on Brahmanical Custom The precise relationship between the rules of conduct prescribed in Dharma´s¯astra literature and actual social life in pre-modern India is a matter of longstanding schol- arly debate with some leading scholars in the field positing a relatively wide gap between lived reality and Dharma´s¯astric prescription and others arguing for a com- paratively narrow one. This paper contributes to this debate by drawing attention to a rare and apparently unnoticed case in which a specific Dharma´s¯astra text seems to have had a direct influence upon an actual specific customary practice. It, thus, adds at least some modest support to the thesis that Dharma´s¯astra had a consid- erable impact on pre-modern Indian society. The Dharma´s¯astra text referred to is the Par¯a´saram¯adhava, the lengthy commentary on the Par¯a´sara Smr.ti of M¯adhava (c. 1330–60), a figure connected with the early Vijayanagara court. The pertinent section of M¯adhava’s commentary is his defense of the South Indian custom of cross- cousin marriage, wherein he argues that the many scriptures that apparently prohibit cross-cousin marriage, in fact, apply only to marriages of non-kany¯ad¯ana types. This paper will argue in detail that it is this specific idea of M¯adhava that inspired the composition of a particular inscription in the year 1426 in the South Indian kingdom of Pad.aiv¯ıd.u. Written by a Brahmin assembly, this inscription tellingly requires all Brahmins of the region to practice only kany¯ad¯ana marriages under threat of serious punishment.

– 40 – 74. Christopher Fleming, University of Oxford The Concept of Property According to Kamal¯akarabhat.t.a (1610–1640): A Dharma´s¯astrin’s Response to Navya-Ny¯aya The philosophy of property (svatva) in Sanskrit S¯astra´ has attracted significant attention from John Duncan Derrett and Ethan Kroll, but the contributions of early modern jurists have gone relatively unnoticed. We know a great deal about Navya- Ny¯aya inquiries into property and a great deal about the impact of Navya-Ny¯aya on M¯ım¯am. s¯a, but almost nothing about its importance to Dharma´s¯astra. The work of th Kamal¯akara, a prominent jurist and M¯ım¯am. in 17 Century Varanasi, helps fill in this gap. Kamal¯akara had a keen interest in ongoing debates in knowledge systems like Ny¯aya and his interest in property reflects his family’s long-standing desire to appear as defenders of a southern Brahman heritage. This paper examines concept of property in Kamal¯akara’s Viv¯adat¯an. d. ava and M¯ım¯am. s¯akut¯uhala. In the Viv¯adat¯an. d. ava Kamal¯akara briefly refers to three philo- sophical possibilities for property: as a unique ontological category (pad¯artha), as a particular capability (´saktivi´ses.a) or as the quality of being the object of a valid transaction (vyavah¯aravis.ayat¯a). These theories are taken up in the M¯ım¯am. s¯akut¯uhala where Kamal¯akara advocates a ´sakti-theory for svata. Kamal¯akara introduces and re- jects the pad¯artha-theory of Raghun¯atha´siroman.i and the vyavah¯aravis.ayat¯a-theory of R¯amabhadra Sarvabhauma in favor of a ´sakti-theory. Kamal¯akara rejects Raghun¯atha and R¯amabhadra because they do not support the theory of inheritance (d¯aya) which he defends in the Viv¯adat¯an. d. ava. Kamal¯akara is thus one of the first Sanskrit jurists outside of eastern India to engage with Navya-Ny¯aya discussions of property and one of the first jurists to identity an eastern ‘school’ of inheritance law.

75. Timothy Lubin, Washington and Lee University A Genealogy of South Asian Sale Deeds As part of my research on the formulation and spread of standardized formats of legal and administrative documents in and beyond South Asia, and the circumstances that made this possible, I present here a set of examples illustrating the conventions of late-medieval sale deeds and other land transfers share elements going back as far as the earliest Indian inscriptions. As an example, I show that 17th-century Newari sale deeds from Nepal—about which Lienhard declared, “we know of no document of this kind from either India or areas influenced by Indian culture”—in fact closely follow the template provided by Gupta- and Pallava-era copper-plate inscriptions. I briefly point to similar examples of land-transfer documents from other regions, in other languages, that still echo the common format. I end by proposing an explanation of how a fairly standardized diplomatics cam to prevail throughout South Asia, making inroads even in Southeast Asia.

76. Mark McClish, Northwestern University From Law to dharma The title of my talk reverses that of a 1975 article written by Bernard S. Jackson, ‘From Dharma to Law,’ which draws its title, in turn, from the second part of Robert Lingat’s seminal study on dharma´s¯astra, The Classical Law of India (tr. DERRETT 1973). There, Lingat explores the development of ‘law’ in South Asia as rooted in and

– 41 – emerging from orthodox religious and ethical reflection on conduct. In this account, to early ‘rules of a discipline primarily of religious importance’ were gradually added ‘precepts of a juridical character,’ which ‘took a more and more important place in the dharma-´s¯astras’ over time (1973: 135). Hence, a gradual development within orthodox Brahmanism ‘From Dharma to Law.’ This paper seeks to build on recent advances in our understanding of the chronology of the early dharma and artha literature to tell a different story, wherein a largely ‘sec- ular’ body of law, vyavah¯ara (transactional law), was transformed into sacred ‘dharma’ through its appropriation into the Manusmr. ti. In a previous paper here, I argued that Manu appropriated most of his teaching on r¯ajadharma from the Artha´s¯astra. That work left unexamined the influence of the Artha´s¯astra on Manu’s legal code as well as the specific character of Manu’s innovations, which I will take up in this presentation. Paying special attention to Manu’s other main source, the Dharmas¯utras, I will argue that the early history of Hindu law can be profitably understood not as a passage from dharma to law, but from law to dharma.

K. South and Southeast Asia IV: Law and Society II. Joel Brereton, University of Texas (10:45 a.m.–12:00 p.m.) King

77. Christopher Minkowski, University of Oxford Two Brief Sanskrit Accounts of the Doctrines of the Mlecchas At an early meeting of the Society, I described the contents of a chapter found in a relatively unknown text by the sixteenth century author, S¯uryad¯asa, in which he presented the ‘Views of the Barbarians (mlecchamata)’ about cosmology, astronomy, and astrology. One thing that was notable in this account, the earliest known of its kind, was its depiction of the Aristotelian meteorological theory of the five elements and their disposition in the cosmos. Recently, two more accounts of the views of the yavanas or mlecchas have come to light. Both are brief. One is by the seventeenth century author, Nity¯ananda, who in his Sarvasiddh¯antar¯aja, an astronomical treatise that argues for the desirability of accepting certain Arabo-persianate scientific principles, offers a similar account of Aristotelian theory. The other is by N¯ılakan.t.ha Caturdhara, the seventeenth century commentator and polemicist. In a doxography of theological views, N¯ılakan.t.ha de- scribes a set of doctrines that appears to be Christian, or possibly Muslim, in nature, concerning the creator, heaven and hell, rebirth or its absence, and justice. The presentation will describe both accounts, providing examples from both, and will attempt to identify the ‘barbarous’ sources from which the Brahminical authors drew. There will also be some remarks about disturbances to the traditional Sanskrit patterns of doxography in texts of this period.

78. Jason Schwartz, University of California, Santa Barbara Universal Dharma and Particularized Revelation: Big Tent Brahmanism in the Twilight of the Saiva´ Cosmopolis

The “lost” T¯ırthakhan.d. a of Hem¯adri’s Caturvargacint¯aman.i offers a vivid vision of a religious landscape that is overwhelmingly Saiva´ and S¯akta´ Saiva´ in both its theology and institutional allegiances. Effectively, it confirms the research program of

– 42 – Alexis Sanderson and his students: that the corpus of texts and practices typically labeled Tantric by modern academic researchers formed the essential of medieval Indian religious life. Perhaps nowhere does the evidence it presents more jarringly violate our preconceived notions than in its representation of the sacred fields at Soman¯atha in Gujarat. In the early modern and modern Indian imagination, Soman¯atha looms large as emblematic of the glories of classical Hindu civilization. Conversely, its desecration at the hands of the Muslim Mahmud of Ghazna is read as emblematic of the fragmentation of Hindu society. In striking contrast, in Hem¯adri’s mid-thirteenth-century depiction, the sacred fields at Prabh¯asks.etra function primar- ily as a formidable esoteric power center. Here, K¯ap¯alikas offer human heads at the feet of the skull-bearing god and kings acquire sovereignty through conducting innu- merable oblations before the very same terrifying goddesses who today populate the Kathmandu Valley. In short, it is a space whose most sacred places are reserved for specialized classes of highly accomplished people engaged in harrowing austerities. Against such a backdrop, the Caturvargacint¯aman.i prescribes that pilgrimage sites should be open to everyone, even women and ´s¯udras, as places for a performing a codi- fied and delimited set of fixed religious practices actionable by ordinary people. What Hem¯adri proposes, succinctly, is an overturning of the existing religious paradigm. This paper will explore the implications of Hem¯adri’s reading of Soman¯atha for un- derstanding the social dimensions of his project for universalizing Hindu Dharma, presenting documentary evidence suggesting that the text’s radical vision was trans- lated into action under the Seuna Yadava Kings.

79. Donald R. Davis, Jr., University of Texas at Austin Vartt¯a as Vai¯syadharma Recent research by Olivelle and McClish (among others) into the connection be- tween early Dharma´s¯astra texts, especially Manu, and the Artha´s¯astra of Kaut.ilya has suggested that the dharma tradition successfully appropriated core subjects such as the vyavah¯aram¯atr. k¯a and viv¯adapadas of the artha tradition, thus incorporating the latter into a wider notion of dharma. In this communication, I will sketch a sec- ond possible appropriation in the area of economic thought and the concept of vartt¯a. Focusing on viv¯adapadas that concern transactions and business, I will argue that, much like the assimilation of artha and n¯ıti into the idea of ks.atriyadharma, vartt¯a was assimilated into the emerging theological scheme of dharma as vai´syadharma. Drawing on presences and absences between the textual structures in the Artha´s¯astra and later Dharma´s¯astra texts, I make a case that the truncated direct descriptions of vai´syadharma at, for example, Manu 9.326–333 should be understood as complemen- tary frames for detailed indirect descriptions of the dharmas expected of Vai´syas in several viv¯adapadas.

A. Ancient Near East VI: Gods, Religion and Religious Rituals. Piotr Michalowski, University of Michigan, Chair (1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.) Alcott ∗

80. Jo Ann Hackett, University of Texas at Austin Our Lady and her History: Another Suggestion for the Punic Deity Tinit TNT, our lady, famous as one of the deities that received child sacrifice in Carthage and other North African sites, seems to have sprung into being out of thin air, partly

– 43 – because of the accident of archæological finds. She has been thought to be local to North Africa because her name begins in t- and ends in -t, as do many Berber feminine words. Many scholars, however, noting the Phoenician settlement of many sites in North Africa, suggested that one of the three major female deities in the Levant lay behind TNT: ‘Ashtart, ‘Anat, or ’Asherah. Once the 7th-century BCE Sarepta inscription was published, with a dedication to TNT ‘STRT,ˇ her status as a Levantine deity seemed secure and the only question remaining was her relationship to the three mentioned above. She must have been one of them, whose true identity was obscured because she was known under a new epithet in the 1st millennium BCE. All that remained was to discover which of the three had been her origin. This paper will argue that that the name TNT was, in fact, a North African in- vention. Although the earliest occurrence of the name so far is in the Phoenician homeland, her name must have been developed by native North Africans at an early date and only later traveled back to the Phoenician homeland.

81. Thomas Benfey, Princeton University “Religion, Religions, Religious” in Sasanian This paper brings two areas of scholarship into reciprocal critique: first, the religious studies of the past fifty-odd years, its sustained attention to the specifically modern and Western history of the notion of “religion,” and the implications of this back- ground in particular; and second, textual studies of Sasanian Iran’s religious milieu. In this latter category the main concern is with three texts, each of likely Sasanian ori- gin, that have been taken to compare different “religions,” and, in the first two cases, to speak skeptically of “religion” in general: “The Chapter of Burz¯oy the Physician” associated with the earliest Arabic versions of Kal¯ıla wa-Dimna; Paul the Persian’s Syriac Introduction to Logic and the Middle Persian Judgments of the Spirit of Wis- dom. Although these texts have previously been treated as self-evidently “religious” (most recently in de Blois 1990 and Shaked 1984), such an orientation is not taken for granted here. Rather, the applicability of the notion of “religion” is demonstrated and qualified through a close reading of the texts in their original languages, with an eye toward the modern, Western history of this concept, as well as its capaciousness and the consequent need for careful definitions. With the first-millennium Iranian texts and their milieu as a case in point, and building on the work of J.Z. Smith, Robert Campany and Jason Beduhn, it is then shown that the modern, Western roots of “religion” do not preclude the utility of “religion” as an etic concept for the analy- sis of non-modern/Western societies or the existence of analogous emic concepts in non-modern/Western societies. Further, it is suggested that insofar as Sasanian and early Islamic Iran should not be considered entirely separately from the modern West, these ancient texts complicate the generally accepted history of “religion” as a purely modern, Western concept

82. Irene Sibbing Plantholt, University of Pennsylvania A portrait of a Deity: Hymn K 232+3371+12776, Healing Deities and Mesopo- tamian Scholarly Tradition Throughout the three millennia of Mesopotamian cuneiform culture, healing is rep- resented by a variety of deities, mostly female, who share characteristics but also have distinct traits that set them apart from each other. Scholars tend to group them to-

– 44 – gether, usually under the name Gula, to simplify the study of “the Mesopotamian healing deity”, and because it is generally assumed and accepted that these deities are interchangeable due to syncretism. A thorough diachronic and synchronic study of these various deities (i.e., Gula, Ninisina, Ninkarrak, Bau, Nintinuga, and Meme) allows for a more nuanced portrait of these different divine entities, as painted by and thereon embodying the Mesopotamian scholar. This paper will attempt to shed new light on this process through a case study: the text K 232+3371+12776, a Neo- Assyrian syncretistic hymn and explanatory name list dedicated to the goddess Nin- isina. The text, which is reminiscent of influential works like the godlist An=Anum, the Gula Hymn of Bullut.sa-Rabi and the Fifty Names of Marduk in En¯uma Eliˇs, has only been partially published and edited (K 232 is published by Craig [ABRT 2, 16–18] and Mullo-Weir [1929, JRAS 1, 9–18]). Based on recent collations I will reconsider the author, audience, purpose and context of the composition, and how the latter represents the character of Ninisina and related healing deities. This pa- per concludes that K 232+3371+12776 and its intertextual connections, as well as the manifestations of Mesopotamian healing deities, do not function within a closed context, but are part of and represent a larger system: the body of Mesopotamian scholarly knowledge, which is ever subject to both change and continuity.

83. Ryan Conrad Davis, University of Texas at Austin A Performance Approach to the Assured Results of Ancient Near Eastern Ritual Appearing before gods in the ancient Near East was widely deemed analogous to appearing before human superiors. The social protocols, posturing, gestures, and rhetorical strategies used when petitioning gods and human superiors were essentially the same (Zgoll 2003; Tomes 2005). Before human superiors, one had to rely on one’s persuasive power to ensure a positive result; however, the petitioner was ultimately at the mercy of the superior. Paradoxically, in both and ancient Israel, there were ways of guaranteeing that one’s petition to a god might be heard. This guarantee is made explicit in Akkadian ˇsuilla rituals and implicit in Hebrew laments of the individual. This raises the question: how could a ritual specialist think to ensure success with powerful otherworldly beings when petitions before human superiors was never guaranteed? Analyzing these rituals using performance approaches to ritual offers new ways of understanding ancient Near Eastern ritual. Performance approaches to ritual emphasize the similarity between ritual and other social domains such as theater, sports, and games. Because these interactions are scripted performances, not unlike theater, when human and divine participants consent to take part in the proceedings they voluntarily give up individual agency. Participation requires both human and divine participants to take on prescribed roles, identities, and carry out specific actions, and, when all parties consent to participate, they also consent to the final result of the ritual. From this perspective, ritual failure was not indicative of a failure of the ritual per se, but rather a failure of one of the participants to properly participate in the ritual.

84. Shana Zaia, Yale University Adad in Assyria: A Case Study of Assyrian Authority That Assyrian kings were divinely elected to the throne is a common trope in official inscriptions throughout almost all periods of Assyrian history. Most studies about the

– 45 – kings’ divine election focus on the role of the gods Aˇsˇsur and Enlil, who are invoked in important religious royal titles such as iˇsˇsak Aˇsˇsur “vice-regent of Aˇsˇsur” or ˇsakin Enlil “appointed by Enlil.” Often overlooked, however, is the role of the well-known storm god, Adad, in Assyrian kingship and in the granting of royal and official authority. This paper will explore the contexts in which Adad is invoked, his characterization in official texts, and his standing in the pantheon during the Neo-Assyrian period. Drawing evidence from Assyrian royal inscriptions and dedicatory objects, the paper will use Adad as a case study by which to better understand Assyrian constructions of power. Of particular interest is YBC 7058, a unique six-sided clay “die” whose possible function in determining eponyms has been the source of much debate. Studies about Adad tend to emphasize his nature as a storm god, but the present study seeks to demonstrate that Adad also had an integral position in the performance of Assyrian authority. In doing so, the paper will revisit divine sources of Assyrian power and the ways in which Assyrian kings and officials conceptualized their own authority.

85. Nicole Brisch, University of Copenhagen The Ereˇs-Dingir Priestess in Old Babylonian Nippur The priesthood offered women in ancient Mesopotamia a way to acquire social and economic power. The office of the ereˇs-dingir priestess was among the highest in the priestly hierarchy, yet administrative sources from Old Babylonian Nippur indicate that there may have been some changes or peculiarities of ereˇs-dingir priestesses at Nippur. This paper will attempt to re-assess the priestesses’ social, economic, and religious roles in order to arrive at a more balanced view of the roles that women plaid in early Mesopotamia.

86. Raanan Eichler, Harvard University Ancient Near Eastern Boxes and the Biblical “Box of God” According to the Hebrew Bible, the central cultic focus in ancient Israel was an object that is conventionally referred to in English as “the Ark of the Covenant”. The various biblical accounts and descriptions, as well as a semantic analysis of its name (aron), show that this object was a box or a chest and can more accurately be named “the Box of God”. Its closest formal parallels are thus the thousands of extant wooden chests, boxes, and similar objects from the ancient Near East, along with depictions thereof. Surprisingly, although the ark/box has been compared by scholars to a wide variety of unrelated objects, including model temples, Bedouin tent-shrines, thrones, throne-bases, footstools, pedestals, coffins, and Egyptian procession barks, no systematic comparison of the ark to ancient Near Eastern boxes and chests has been undertaken. Such a comparison wields explanatory power, leading to the solution of several puzzles in the biblical texts referring to the ark/box.

87. Elizabeth Knott, New York University The Scribal Settings of Mari’s Eˇstar Rituals Four ritual texts are presently known from the site of Mari. The texts were presented together in Florilegium marianum III (1997): two previously published rituals (texts 2, “protocole pour le rituel d’Eˇstar”, and 4, “le rituel du kispum”) and two previously unpublished texts (texts 3, “protocole royale pour le rituel d’Eˇstar d’Irradˆan”, and 5, “le rituel du humt.um”). Jean-Marie Durand’s thorough discussion dated the texts

– 46 – to the reign of Yasmah-Addu, son of Samsi-Addu, and provided a careful and clev- erlysynchronized comparison of the ritual calendars of Samsi-Addu / Yasmah Addu and Zimri-Lim. This paper examines the relationship between the two rituals that focus on the goddess Eˇstar (texts 2 and 3). The Eˇstar rituals appear to be related: they share, for example, similar ritual acts and performers, and a similar tablet layout. The Mari team even suggested the possibility that the identification of the goddess in text 3— specified in the colophon as eˇs4-t´ar ir-ra-[dan]—should be extended to that of text 2, with both texts celebrating a goddess tied to Samsi-Addu. I argue that despite the similarities of the rituals described in the texts, the texts themselves differ substan- tially and need to be understood as originating in different scribal contexts: either temporal, geographic, or institutional. The identification of different scribal settings raises a number of questions, including: Do the two texts represent different per- spectives on the same cult or two different cults? Should the goddess Eˇstar Irradˆan be identified with Samsi-Addu? How does this little-attested goddess relate to the panoply of Ishtar-type goddesses attested at Mari? The paper presents the texts’ paleographic and orthographic differences and contex- tualizes these differences through comparison with other textual evidence, including the remaining Mari rituals. It evaluates the possible production contexts, and the implications of distinct scribal settings.

88. Aren Wilson-Wright, University of Texas at Austin From the Stable to the Palace: The Trajectory of the Goddess Athtart in New Kingdom Egypt During the Egyptian New Kingdom (1550–1069 B.C.E.), several Semitic deities from the Levant made their way into the Egyptian pantheon, including the goddess Athtart. Many of the texts and reliefs from the this time period depict this goddess as an equestrian figure, which is strange since she was not associated with horses or chariots anywhere else in the ancient Near East. In this paper, I propose a historical scenario to account for Athtart’s equestrian features in Egypt based on both textual and visual data. I argue that Semitic-speaking stable hands from the Levant first introduced Athtart to Egypt under Thutmose III (1479–1425 B.C.E.) after they were captured and reemployed in the royal stables. Because they were stable hands, these individuals worshipped Athtart as an equestrian goddess—a form of Athtart not found elsewhere in the ancient Near East—and it is this form of the goddess that they brought to Egypt. Later, Amenhotep II (1427–1400 B.C.E.) elevated the equestrian form of Athtart to the position of royal patron after working in the royals stables as a young man and interacting with the Semitic stable hands installed by his father. Amenhotep II’s participation in their daily routine, although strange for an elite member of Egyptian society, introduced him to the equestrian form of Athtart. His later role as pharaoh, on the other hand, gave him the social capital to introduce this new deity into the pantheon.

– 47 – 89. Andrea Trameri, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York Uni- versity Ritual Text and Ritual Practice in the Hittite Tradition: Implications from the Study of a Composite Incantation for the Netherworld Deities (CTH 446) Second Millennium Hittite Anatolia exhibits a particular richness of religious and ritual traditions attested in a great quantity and variety of preserved ritual texts. Evaluating this evidence, the complex question of the relationship between ritual texts and ritual practice must be addressed. I will present some considerations based on the analysis of a purification ritual listed as CTH 446 and known as “A summoning of the Netherworld deities”. The study of this interesting text, with the support of a new and complete text re-edition, has revealed specific features concerning its com- position and structure which put into question the prescriptive and practical scope of the text itself. After the overview of structural, content, and compositional problems, I will try to relate these facts to the practical, performative aspect of the ritual. Some interpretations of Hittite rituals put particular emphasis on these latter aspects, seen in contrastive opposition with the artificial character of textual transmission. The case of this rather unique ritual in the Hittite corpus is meaningful in a perspective of syn- thesis and re-arrangement of traditions and this deliberate re-elaboration may point to a prevalent literary, cultural intention beyond the performative-practical nature of the text. However, this attitude could mirror actual ritual practice, if the tendency through speculation on religious matters was supported by the belief that ritual effec- tiveness was enhanced by the accumulation and juxtaposition of different practices. The evidence provided by this study shows more precisely how the conception of reli- gion as knowledge in Hittite Anatolia (as well as in the Ancient Near East) is mirrored in the accumulation, re-interpretation and transmission of textual materials in a way that does not necessarily contrast with performative interest, and instead exhorts to re-consider the validity of this conceptual opposition.

B. Ancient Near East VII: History. Jacob Lauinger, The Johns Hopkins Uni- versity, Chair (2:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.) Hutchinson-Lowell ∗

90. Herve´ Reculeau, University of Chicago Irrigation in the Middle Euphrates Valley: A View from the 18th c. BC Mari Letters Being located in a semi-arid environment, Bronze Age Mari (Tell Hariri, Syria) was dependant on irrigation agriculture for its subsistence. Whether the remains of large- scale canals nearby is evidence for this irrigation is vividly debated among scholars. Geyer-Monchambert (2008) and Margueron (2014) argue that they date back to the foundation of Mari, while others have suggested later periods, ranging from Neo- Assyrian (K¨uhne 1991) to Islamic (Kennedy 2014). Both Durand 1990 and Lafont 2000 have pointed out the 18th c. BC Mari tablets as a valid source for irrigation studies, in spite of numerous terminological difficulties. My systematic analysis of the cuneiform documents (including some hitherto unpublished material), combined with archæological, geomorphological and ethnographical evidence, offers a detailed reconstruction of the course and technical settings of the Mari canals, from their intake on the river down to the fields. This suggests that the above-mentioned archæological remains should not be identified with Bronze Age irrigation systems.

– 48 – Durand 1990. Probl`emes d’eau et d’irrigation au royaume de Mari : l’apport des textes anciens. BAH 136: 101–142. Geyer-Monchambert 2008. Canaux et am´enagement du territoire `al’ˆage du Bronze en Syrie orientale. ICAANE 4: 157–166. Kennedy 2014. Great estates and elite lifestyles in the Fertile Crescent from Byzantium and Sasanian Iran to Islam. In: Fuess-Hartung (eds), Court Cultures in the Muslim World: Seventh to Nineteenth Centuries. London: 54–79. Lafont 2000. Irrigation Agriculture in Mari. PIHANS 138: 129–145. Margueron 2014. Mari: Capital of Northern Mesopotamia in the Third Millennium BC . Oxford. K¨uhne (ed.) 1991. Die rezente Umwelt von Tall S¯ehˇ H. amad und Daten zur Umwel- trekonstruktion der assyrischen Stadt D¯ur-Katlimmu˘ . BATSH 1. Berlin.

91. Matthew Rutz, Brown University Hammurabi’s Deeds Hammurabi of Babylon’s forays into the regional power games of the early second millennium must figure prominently in any modern account of Mesopotamia’s polit- ical history in that period. Although a handful of later narrative texts and excerpts are known, such as the “Chronicle of Ancient Kings” from first-millennium Borsippa, an early historical literature for the Old Babylonian period has yet to fully emerge, and few literary historical products pertaining to the First Dynasty of Babylon can be securely attributed to the time of Hammurabi or his dynastic successors. Intentional witnesses to early Babylonian political history are limited to state-sponsored prac- tices of royal commemoration, i.e., royal inscriptions and year-names, each of which is limited by constraints of genre, function, and ideological stance. The purpose of this contribution is to examine the intentional historical witnesses to various episodes in the pivotal last years of Hammurabi’s reign (Ha 29–Ha 43). Focusing on Babylon’s interactions and conflicts with , Larsa, Eˇsnunna, and Mari, I will present and discuss a previously unknown literary historical composition from Nippur that nar- rates episodes in Hammurabi’s political career and reflect on this text’s significance for understanding both Mesopotamian history and -writing.

92. Mary Frazer, Yale University Remembering the Enemy’s Insults: Middle Babylonian-Middle Assyrian Royal Correspondence in Seventh Century BCE Nineveh It has long been known that three letters between Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian kings were preserved in later copies in Assyrian royal libraries at Nineveh. Two of these letters—one from a king of the early Isin II dynasty to a Middle As- syrian king (Llop and George (2001/2002)) and the other from Adad-ˇsuma-us.ur to Aˇsˇsur-n¯ar¯ar¯ıIII and Il¯ı-padˆa(ABL 924)—contain insults and criticisms of the Assyr- ian recipient that are without parallel in the many other texts attested at Nineveh. Over forty years ago, Grayson (1972) attempted to account for the presence of these hostile letters in Assyria’s royal libraries by suggesting that they served to remind the Assyrian king to take revenge on Babylonia for past wrongs. The aim of this paper is to explore Grayson’s proposal together with other possible reasons for the presence of copies of these letters in later libraries. By taking into consideration other copies

– 49 – of earlier letters found at Nineveh, as well as colophons preserved on some of the manuscripts and other evidence for Neo-Assyrian attitudes towards past moments of Assyrian political weakness, it is argued that the letters may have been of interest to Assyrian scholars engaged with the question of how to deal with Babylonian in- surrection in the seventh century. This paper thus also engages with larger questions, such as the functions of historical texts in the royal libraries at Nineveh and the rea- sons why scholars in the first millennium produced copies of earlier pieces of political correspondence.

93. Edward Stratford, Brigham Young University 50 Shades of Clay: Initial p-XRF Analysis of Old Assyrian Tablets This paper will report on progress made in characterizing clays of Old Assyrian tablets through portable X-Ray analysis (pXRF) and the related problems of inter- pretation of texts for location. In the past year, nearly two thousand tablets were scanned with pXRF. Gross compositional grouping has been made possible, but the relationship between the textual composition on the tablet and the tablet itself can yield interesting complications ahead of being able to identify clays with archæological sites or micro-regions. Still, it is possible to begin to trace out some aspects of archival storage and merchant mobility. Ultimately, pXRF analysis of tablet clay in associa- tion with micro-historical analysis can provide for a significant enhancement of the historical reconstruction of the Old Assyrian trade.

94. Jonathan Valk, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York Univer- sity The Origins of the Assyrian King List The Assyrian King List (AKL) is a key text for the reconstruction of Assyrian and broader Near Eastern history and chronology. Because of AKL’s significance, locating its original moment of composition has far-reaching historiographical implications. There is no scholarly consensus on the dating of AKL, and recent proposals have ranged from the reign of Shamshi-Adad I in the 18th century BCE (Yamada 1994) to that of Ashurnasirpal I in the 12th century (Azize 1998). A closer look at the internal evidence of AKL, however, indicates a firm, 15th century terminus post quem for the creation of AKL. As demonstrated by W.G. Lambert, the bilingual tablet fragment BM 98496 establishes the 13th century reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I as a secure terminus ante quem. Within this temporal range, it is possible to trace the genesis of AKL to the reign of Ashur-uballit I. This period witnessed great change in Assyria, and the nature of this change provides an ideal historical, political, and ideological context for the production of AKL. No other moment in Assyrian history offers so compelling a conjunction of political motives and historical circumstances for AKL’s composition. Indeed, dating AKL to the reign of Ashur-uballit I also helps make sense of the many idiosyncrasies that characterize the sequence of kings preceding him in AKL and enables a fuller appreciation of AKL’s composite origins.

95. Seth Richardson, University of Chicago Neo-Neo Sumerian Kingship: the Late Old Babylonian Period Since the 1980s, it has been argued by some that people fleeing the old Sumerian south (from Isin, Larsa, Uruk, and elsewhere) after the revolts against Samsuiluna

– 50 – came to settle in northern Babylonia. The evidence includes, among other things, onomastica, prayer sealings, and priestly titles purportedly diagnostic of southern origins. More recently, however, this idea has come under challenge, with evidence steadily growing against the idea of mass flight and general depopulation of the south after 1720. In fact, both positions are simultaneously undeniable, but remain to be explained together. This paper will make such an explanation by considering old and new evidence in the contexts of political loyalism and cultural emulation, with important conclusions for understanding fin de si`ecle Babylon I.

C. East Asia V: Literary Criticism and Historiography. Ronald Egan, Stan- ford University, Chair (1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.) Holmes-Brandeis ∗

96. Junlei Zhang, Arizona State University Writing A Drama Is Drawing A Painting? A Discussion of the Connection Be- tween Words and Images in Ming Drama Criticism Due to the burgeoning of the industry, the process of drama production, consumption, and appreciation was greatly accelerated in the (1368– 1644), especially during the Wanli period (1573–1620). A very interesting phenomenon can be observed in the texts of drama criticism in this period, which is that a set of æsthetic standards and technical terms from the field of painting was systematically and metaphorically borrowed by drama critics in order to evaluate different aspects of drama. My study will address the eminent need to compare these two sets of æsthetic standards in the fields of painting and drama, and will provide a medium to bridge the gap between our understanding of drama paratexts and texts proper. In order to highlight the metaphorical nature of the technical language of painting used in drama criticism, in this paper I will focus on a textual analysis of the language of painting æsthetics in the treatises written by some renowned drama critics in sixteenth and seventeenth century China. In addition, I will also provide visual presentations of con- temporaneous paintings to explicate the painting techniques and imagery appearing in drama critics’ writing. I find that when critics were discussing and talking critically about writing and performing a play, the prevailing metaphors used in drama criti- cism in this period were “writing a drama is drawing a painting” and “the æsthetics of drama are the æsthetics of painting”.

97. Jue Chen, Colgate University Biannian as Poetic Criticism Biannian, the method of chronologically arranging a poet’s works when compiling his/her poetic collection, is more than just a technical issue of archival work. It sup- ports the reading strategy that takes poetry as source of information pertaining to a poet’s life and era. It also enables critics to summarize various stylistic characteristics that developed throughout different periods of a poet’s life. In this sense, biannian is a special form of literary criticism. The rise of biannian in the Song (960–1279) testified to the practical transition from reading minor collections (xiaoji) to read- ing complete collections (quanji), and the æsthetic transition from impressionistically grasping poetic styles to historically focusing on biographical and stylistic authorship. These changes in reading activities encouraged poets to focus more on their personal life in poetic composition, and squeezed some of shi poetry’s lyric functions into ci

– 51 – poetry, an alternative poetic genre that intertwined less with specific circumstances in real life. Meanwhile, expectation for seemingly productive results of biannian often allured critics to overdo it, which in effect undermined conclusions in literary criti- cism that were based on biannian. Methodologically, instead of allowing established understanding of literary history to affect the practice of biannian, a more promising way is to conduct biannian to establish new narratives of literary history.

98. Christopher K. Tong, Washington University in St. Louis Nonhuman Poetics and Wang Guowei’s Renjian cihua [withdrawn]

99. Michael A. Fuller, University of California, Irvine Undoing a Historiographic Dichotomy: Poetry ‘Speaking of One’s Resolve’ or ‘Based on Feelings’ Zhu Ziqing (1898-1948) in his important study, Analysis of “Poetry Speaks of Re- solve” (Shi yanzhi bian) argued that by the Western (265–316) the com- posing of poetry had split into two separate streams, one strong moralistic and po- litical, committed to “speaking of one’s resolve” (yan zhi), the other, “based on feel- ings” (yuan qing), that withdrew into private subjectivity. To this day, these separate modes of writing have been accepted as a fact of Chinese literary history. However, this dichotomization—which accords with the understanding of emotion as part of a world of “human desire” that Neo-Confucianism separated from (and deemed harmful to) the meaningfulness of Heavenly Principle—seriously distorts the reading of poetry at least until the end of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). Some modern Chinese schol- ars, reflecting on the poetry and poetics of pre-modern Chinese literary culture, have begun to reject Zhu’s argument. This paper will introduce Zhu’s proposal and some of the recent counterarguments as well as my own model of the pre-Neo-Confucian understanding of the relationship between nature (xing), feelings (qing), resolve (zhi), and poetic composition. I will conclude with an examination of a poem by the great poet Du Fu (712–770) that demonstrates the fundamental misunder- standing of his poetry created by Zhu’s dichotomization.

100. Thomas D. Noel, University of Vermont “Lovers of the Odd”: One Tang Archaist’s Rejection of Ancient History and Revival of Classical Historiography The problematic status of studies which attempt to identify the origins of “tradi- tional Chinese fiction” continues to warrant further scrutiny, especially as it pertains to the development of traditional Chinese expectations and attitudes regarding “cre- ative” writing as well as “fictive” literature. However, it must also be said that such appraisals may be carried further, beyond the scope of “literature” to separate peri- ods and divergent genres of the Chinese canon. This in itself is by no means a new line of inquiry and in fact one of the greatest literary figures of the Tang, himself an author of “fiction,” has already done just that. Preserved within the eclectic corpus of Liu Zongyuan (773–819) is the Fei Guoyu (The Contra Discourses of the States), an unpublished monograph concerned with exposing alleged inconstancies and delib- erately crafted falsehoods in the influential Pre-Qin historical text Guoyu (Discourses of the States). This iconoclastic study is as much a work of literary criticism as it is a historiographical inquiry, and much like the so-called “Ancient-style Prose Moment”

– 52 – in which its author is said to have played a leading role, it constitutes an ambiva- lent dialogue between the rejection of inherited texts and a revival of the ideals that shaped them. This paper, by focusing its attention on a “category of authorship” iden- tified in the Contra Discourses of the States as haoshi zhe or “Lovers of the Odd,” will argue that Liu Zongyuan is in truth appropriating an ancient historiographical trope to question the validity of the very historical institutions to which it belongs. It is hoped that this will lend further insight into the complex relationship of the Mid-Tang Literati’s growing suspicion of the classical tradition they had ostensibly been trained to rely upon and their often ambivalent negotiation of the boundaries of fiction, history, and authorial agency.

D. East Asia VI: Specific Texts and Their Structures. Michael A. Fuller, University of California, Irvine (3:15 p.m.–5:15 p.m.) Holmes-Brandeis ∗

101. Matthias L. Richter, University of Colorado at Boulder Interweaving Technical Text and Narrative in Guoyu ‘Yueyu xia’ When hitherto unknown texts were excavated from the tomb of Mawangdui in the early 1970s, parts of these texts showed interesting parallels with some transmitted texts, in particular the Fan Li speeches in the last chapter of the Guoyu, “Yueyu xia”. In conjunction with a specious identification of the excavated texts with the elusive Huang-Lao tradition, these parallels gave rise to speculations about textual lineages and Fan Li’s place in the history of early Chinese political thought. The present paper proposes an alternative way of understanding such textual parallels, focusing on composition techniques and the appropriation of technical texts, rather than assumptions about the authorship of the appropriated texts.

102. Lawrence Whitney, Boston University Rethinking Xunzi in Light of Recent Textual and Historical Scholarship on the Literature of the Warring States Much of the literature on Xunzi and his corpus, and on the Analects, relies upon understandings of the textual development of the Chinese Classics and the Analects that have been challenged by recent textual and historical studies. For example, the idea that the Classics were compiled by Confucius, and thus would have been available to Xunzi, is refuted in Michael Nylan’s recent history of these texts. Furthermore, E. Bruce and A. Takeo Brooks make a strong argument for the developmental accretion of the Analects over the course of virtually the entirety of the Warring States pe- riod. Even if their precise chronology turns out not to be entirely accurate, as several critics suggest, these developments require reconsideration of the late Warring States “Confucian” philosopher Xunzi. Specifically, Xunzi needs to be understood as taking particular positions within lively debates in the Confucian movement at the end of the period and as having contributed to the development of these texts. This paper un- dertakes this reinterpretation with respect to the distinctive ways Xunzi develops his doctrines of human nature, heaven, and ritual. This reinterpretation is then deployed to parse and respond to the debate initiated by Kurtis Hagen regarding interpreta- tion of Xunzi as a realist or constructivist. The conclusion of the paper is that Xunzi envisions legitimately novel constructive contributions by humanity in collaboration with the distinctive contributions of heaven and earth to emerging objective reality.

– 53 – 103. Tobias Benedikt Zurn¨ , University of Wisconsin, Madison The Imaginaire of Writing as Weaving and Intertextual Practice in the Huainanzi Images of weaving play a prominent role in early Chinese conceptualizations of writing. Terminologies such as textual patterns (wen), canonical texts (jing), “weft- writings” (weishu), or records (ji) clearly reflect the existence of an imaginaire during the Han dynasty that connects the process of writing with weaving. Regarding this association Martin Kern has prominently argued in his article “Ritual, Text, and the Formation of the Canon: Historical Transitions of Wen in Early China” that a semantic shift from the term wen as a fabric to wen as a text happened sometime during the end of the Western Han (206 BCE–9 CE) and the beginning of the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE). In this talk, I continue his investigation by proving that the imaginaire of writing as weaving concretely materialized in the intertextual design and self-illustrations of the Huainanzi, a text that Liu An (179–122 BCE), the king of Huainan, presumably presented in 139 BCE at his inaugural visit to Emperor Wu’s (156–87 BCE) court. Considering the text’s self-depiction as “knotting a net of the Way and its Power and weaving a tapestry of humankind and its affairs,” I demonstrate that Liu An’s scripture understands its intertextual practice as the weaving together of textual threads and traces (ji) from various pre-Han sources. Consequently, I suggest that the analysis of the Huainanzi’s self-fashioning as a textual fabric allows us to adjust Martin Kern’s conclusion drawn from his semantic field analysis of the term wenzhang: apparently, the imaginaire and practice of writing as weaving, which probably led to the semantic change of wen as a fabric to wen as a text, existed already during the early Western Han.

104. Shu-hui Wu, Mississippi State University Structure of the Commentaries in the Later Han History (Hou Hanshu) and Fan Ye’s Historiographical Expression Although Fan Ye (398–445) wrote more than 200 commentaries in the Later Han History, their structure and historical purposes were quite different from “taishigong yue” in the Shiji and “zan yue” in the Hanshu. In addition to fifteen prefaces, Fan arranged two types of commentaries with the headings of “lunyue” and “zanyue”. The former existed within or at the end of a chapter, the latter at the end of every chapter in the sections of annals (ji) and biographies (zhuan). The “lunyue”, however, appeared irregularly in terms of its number, position, and length. The practice of “zanyue” was Fan’s innovation. These were written in prose style with various stanzas, each possessing four characters and rhyming. Unlike Sima Qian, Fan Ye employed a straightforward third-person narrative style, avoiding personal emotions or comments in the text of the chapter, but leaving them in the commentaries. The contents of “lunyue” displayed a unique pattern: the first part served to summarize or conclude the historical narrative of the chapter; in the second part Fan expressed his reflections to historical individuals or events related to the chapter; finally, he made his comments at the end of “lunyue”. Albeit the latter two parts were argumentative, Fan frequently employed emotive language to offer inferences and emphasize his historiographical views. The “zanyue” summarized the outstanding deeds or personality of the individuals in their respective biographies and highlighted author’s purposes in writing it. Thus, it was an indispensable part of Fan Ye’s historiography as a whole.

– 54 – This paper explores for the first time in Western language the method Fan employed in writing his history, and it continues my discussion comparing the emotive languages in the Shiji and Hanshu in my recently published book, Six Studies on the Historical Records (Shiji lunxi liuzhang, 2015).

E. Islamic Near East VII: Commentary and Hermeneutics. Devin J. Stew- art, Emory University, Chair (12:45 p.m.–2:45 p.m.) Kennedy ∗ 105. Nathaniel A. Miller, University of Chicago Quranic Isr¯a- and Pre-Islamic H. ij¯az¯ıImagery of Rule Angelika Neuwirth has argued that at its most basic, the isr¯a- of s¯urat al-Najm connects the “sacred topography” of the Holy Land to that of the Hijaz. Although it does not narrate a journey to Jerusalem, the s¯ura constructs a model of prayer transcending geography (the previous qibla), a model rooted in the isr¯a- experience. Other sets of texts, however, can also inform us about the geography of the isr¯a-: pre-Islamic inscriptions and early Arabic poetry. Here we can see that the celebra- tion of ultra-long-distance military raids constituted an essential element of regional imagery of rule just before the rise of Islam. Within this political context, a claim to have traveled to Jerusalem and back can be understood as a spiritualization of a contemporary Arabian and Hijazi notion of political power. In the fourth-century Nam¯ara inscription, the fifth-century Ryckmans 509 and mid- sixth-century Ry 506, Syrian and South Arabian monarchs make claims about their ability to project power by attacking distant targets. In the early seventh century, claims once made in stone were translated into oral form by Hijazi tribal leaders like , Abb¯as ibn Mird¯as al-Sulam¯ı. In As.ma,iyya no. 70 he records a twenty-nine-night journey undertaken as part of a military raid against the Yemeni Mur¯ad, a tribe mentioned in Ry 506. The spiritualized discourse of the Quran would have contrasted jarringly with a contemporary material culture of stark political force. Josef van Ess has argued that the horizontal (from the Hijaz to Jerusalem) isr¯a- hadith and s¯ıra narratives preceded the mi,r¯aj ascent, and that the earlier narratives featured a bodily journey, not a dream. I thus argue that the Hijazi reception context led to the rapid development of a “folk” version of the isr¯a- narrative as a miraculous proof emphasizing the corporeal, heroic and strangely equestrian nature of Muhammad’s journey. 106. Sean W. Anthony, Ohio State University Two ‘Lost’ S¯urahs of the Qur-¯an: S¯urat al-Khal, and S¯urat al-H. afd between Tex- tual and Ritual Canon (1st–3rd/7th–9 th centuries) Our earliest literary and historical accounts of the caliph ,Uthm¯an ibn ,Aff¯an’s (r. 644–656) collection of the Qur-¯an record numerous important traditions concerning five s¯urahs whose status as quranic revelation and, therefore, inclusion were in dispute. , Of these five, the Uthm¯anic Qur-¯an included three (Q. F¯atih.ah 1, Falaq 113, and N¯as , 114); but two s¯urahs the Uthm¯anic Qur-¯an excluded: al-Khal, and al-H. afd. With regard to these five s¯urahs, early accounts of ,Uthm¯an’s codification of the definitive codex (mus.h. af ) often contrast the caliphal codex with two counterfactual, Compan- ion codices that boasted substantial, albeit regionally circumscribed, authority: the codex of the Hudhal¯ıCompanion Ibn Mas,¯ud and the codex of the Ans.¯ar¯ıCompanion

– 55 – Ubayy ibn Ka,b. Whereas Ibn Mas,¯ud rejected all five controversial s¯urahs and Ubayy incorporated all five, the ,Uthm¯anic codex, these narratives posit, adopted a middle position between the two extremes by accepting the F¯atih.ah and the mu,awwidhat¯an and rejecting al-Khal, and al-H. afd. This study examines what ramifications of the ,Uthm¯anic exclusion of two s¯urahs, al-Khal, and al-H. afd, had for their canonicity and their textual transmission with two aims. First, the study surveys the earliest testimonies to these s¯urahs in order to arrive at a more precise evaluation of their textual contents than was made by either von Hammer-Purgstall (1850) or N¨oldeke and Schwally (1919), all of whom relied on relatively late textual attestations. Secondly, I argue that a thorough examination of nd rd th th the legal and h. ad¯ıth literature of the 2 –3 /8 –9 centuries demonstrates that, despite the putative exclusion of the two s¯urahs from the ,Uthm¯anic Qur-¯an, many early scholars continued to regard the two s¯urahs as an integral part of the quranic revelation well into the 2nd/8th century and continued to them treated as such in the ritual performance of the Qur-¯an during prayer.

107. Lyall Armstrong, American University of Beirut The Qus..s¯as. in Early Qur-¯an Commentaries The Islamic q¯as..s (pl. qus..s¯as.) has been widely viewed as a teller of stories who gathered around him the uneducated public and filled their minds with fabulous stories often in the process of commenting on the Qur-¯an (tafs¯ır). Indeed, since much of the commentary tradition relies on narratives for its exegesis, it is believed that the qus..s¯as. were an essential, if not primary, source for Qur-anic commentary. As a result, the commentary tradition has been considered by some, from Ignaz Goldziher to John Wansbrough and Patricia Crone, to be the creation, if not fabrication, of “the storytellers” who are largely deemed to have been second-rate scholars. This paper will reevaluate this image in light of new research on the identity of the early Islamic q¯as..s. The qus..s¯as.’s association with Qur-¯an commentary will be examined in terms of their general reputation as Qur-¯an commentators, their presence in early , commentaries, such as those of Abd al-Razz¯aq al-S.an,¯an¯ı(d. 211/826) and al-T. abar¯ı (d. 310/922), their affiliation with the traditions of “the People of the Book (ahl al- kit¯ab),” known commonly as isr¯a-¯ıliyy¯at or qis.as. al-anbiy¯a-, and, lastly, by an analysis of the commentary of Muq¯atil b. Sulaym¯an (d. 150/767). I will show that the qus..s¯as. of the early period were largely reputable scholars and that the ascription of stories of the pre-Islamic prophets to them seems to be a product of the perception that these were their primary domains and is not supported by the sources themselves. I will also argue that Muq¯atil’s tafs¯ır, which has often been connected to qas.as. and isr¯a-¯ıliyy¯at, is, on further review, less of an example of the material of “the popular q¯as..s” and more in line with the orthodox interpretations of later generations.

108. Steven Gertz, Georgetown University) Debating the Ahl al-Bayt: Early Twelver Sh¯ı,¯ıand Sunn¯ı Commentary on al- Ah.z¯ab 33–4 This paper examines early Muslim exegesis of al-Ah.z¯ab 33–4, arguably the most important verse in the Qur-an for Sh¯ı,¯ıcommentators who wished to locate their com- munity within Islam’s most sacred text. The paper compares the work of five commen- tators, three of whom were Sunn¯ı: Muq¯atil b. Sulaym¯an al-Balkh¯ı(d. 150/767), al-

– 56 – Tha,lab¯ıal-Naysab¯ur¯ı(d. 427/1035), and Al-Fad.l b. al-H. asan al-T. abris¯ı(or T. abars¯ı) (d. 548/1154); and two of whom were Sh¯ı,¯ı: ,Al¯ıIbr¯ah¯ım al-Qumm¯ı(fl. fourth/tenth century) and Ab¯uJa,far al-T. ¯us¯ı(d. 460/1067). The paper builds on the insights of Walid Saleh, who has undertaken a detailed study of the Qur’anic exegesis of al- Tha,lab¯ı(including al-Ah.z¯ab 33–4), and studies carefully the methods and arguments commentators used in their exegesis of the Arabic term ahl al-bayt (people of the house). It also draws on the thinking of J.Z. Smith (who argued that canonization involves both the closure of the text and the use of exegetical ingenuity) to clarify the process by which Sh¯ı,¯ıand Sunn¯ıcommentators arrived at their interpretations. The paper concludes that the most creative mufassir¯un were al-Qumm¯ıand al-T. ¯us¯ıwho (using philological tools as well as the authority of isn¯ads) read what was apparently intended for Muh. ammad’s wives to address ,Al¯ı’s family instead. This ‘stretching’ of the text is indicative of what Moshe Halbertal calls a “hermeneutical openness” that is in tension with the “restrictive impulse of canonization,” and it allows exegetes to find multiple (and even layered) meanings in a verse.

109. Carl Sharif El-Tobgui, Brandeis University Ibn Taymiyya’s Hermeneutics to the Text: Context, Use, and Non-Literal Mean- ing in the Qur-¯an A number of studies have elucidated various aspects of Ibn Taymiyya’s hermeneu- tics, most notably his rejection of the -majaz distinction and his insistence on a rigorously pragmatic and contextual approach to determining the meaning of utter- ances. We lack, however, a critical evaluation of these principles and his application of them in practice. For instance, Ibn Taymiyya appeals to linguistic criteria to argue for the reality of Qur’anic attributes such as God’s hand or His settling on the Throne, stridently denying that such terms may be interpreted through ta’wil as figurative references to God’s “power” or “dominion.” This understanding he holds to be linguistically determinate—i.e., no other meaning is linguistically possible. Simultaneously, he freely concedes the non-literal meaning of other texts, such as Q. 17:29, “Tie not thy hand to thy neck, nor outstretch it fully.” This raises the question of consistency in Ibn Taymiyya’s application of his linguistic principles and whether, by extension, such principles can unproblematically be marshalled to the defense of his stance on the non-applicability of ta’wil to certain contested attributes. This paper argues, first, that the difference between the haqiqa-majaz dichotomy and Ibn Taymiyya’s contextual approach is, in application, more formal than substan- tive. Second, by comparing his treatment of verses dealing with the divine attributes to others that do not, I argue that Ibn Taymiyya’s rigorous anti-ta’wil stance is, in the end, underdetermined by his own linguistic principles. Specifically, those consid- erations which yield non-literal meaning for verses such as Q. 17:29 render at least plausible a figurative understanding of some of the verses related to the divine at- tributes. Ibn Taymiyya’s refusal to countenance ta’wil in such instances depends as much on prior theological and ontological commitments as it does on strictly linguistic criteria, ultimately resting on an appeal to the authoritative non-ta’wil of the Salaf.

– 57 – F. Islamic Near East VIII: Intellectual and Scientific Life in the Ottoman Empire. Jane Hathaway, Ohio State University, Chair (1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.) Isabella Stewart Gardner

110. Helen Pfeifer, University of Cambridge A Man of Letters between Mamluk Cairo and Ottoman Istanbul For all of the focus on the alleged plundering of Cairo’s manuscript collections by the victorious sultan Selim I, we still have oniy a very hazy understanding of the intellectual consequences of the 1516–17 Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate. This paper will examine Ottoman interest in late Mamluk scholarship in the decades , , after the conquest through the lens of the Cairene scholar Abd al-Rah.¯ım al- Abb¯as¯ı. ,Abb¯as¯ı’s life and letters squarely straddled the two Islamic empires. Born in 1463, he studied and worked in Cairo and Damascus before visiting the court of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II in 1499. Although he declined the invitation to stay and teach h. ad¯ıth at the sultan’s new madrasa, after the fall of the ,Abb¯as¯ılost no time in returning to Istanbul. There he stayed, writing and mingling with the Ottoman elite until his death in 1555. The paper will consider ,Abb¯as¯ı’s transition from the Mamluk to the Ottoman establishment and his reception in his new capital city. ,Abb¯as¯ı’s influence cannot be measured in appointments: he probably never held a formal teaching position after settling in Istanbul. Yet he often received students in his home, and became a treasured member of Ottoman learned circles. ,Abb¯as¯ı’s literary output in this period reflects his warm reception as both ,¯alim and ad¯ıb, featuring a commentary on the S. ah.¯ıh. of Bukh¯ar¯ıand several works memorializing conquests, weddings and circumcisions in the age of S¨uleyman I (1520–66). By examining the content and contexts of ,Abb¯as¯ı’s writings, I will show the role Arab scholars had in articulating the Ottoman imperial project and in transforming the empire’s intellectual tradition in the sixteenth century.

111. Gottfried Hagen, University of Michigan The Place of “Cosmological Knowledge” in Ottoman Society The encyclopedic scope of the Ottoman Turkish Book of Travels of Evliya C¸elebi (1611–c. 1687) allows us many glimpses into its author’s understanding of the workings of the created world: Evliya constantly makes assumptions about physical forces (like magnetism or weather), technology (like vehicles or weapons), natural powers and processes (like procreation or healing), human nature and society (like mechanisms of governance), and spiritual powers (like miracles of saints). Modern intellectual history has tended to break those down into modern categories of knowledge and disciplines, separating out “natural science,” “history,” and “government, ” as well as the problematic catch-all “religion.” As the starting point of my paper, I will argue that these areas of world explanation should be considered together, as a whole, in what could be called “cosmological knowledge,” of which Evliya represents a mostly vernacular case. In applying methodologies from a “history of knowledge,” I propose to study how and why certain aspects of such “cosmological knowledge” were codified in writing. Again, modern historians have assumed that such codifications simply parallel vernacular transmission in aiming primarily at practical applications, e.g., of geography, history and governance, or medicine. Instead, I suggest, the codification of such knowledge potentially transforms it into a social and political currency that

– 58 – takes a function of its own. I will use the case of maritime knowledge as preserved in the works of Piri Reis (d. 1553), Seydi Ali Reis (d. 1563), and Katib C¸elebi (d. 1657), to make this argument. The result should be a better understanding of the social place and consumption of such books in Ottoman intellectual circles as a contribution to Ottoman intellectual history.

112. B. Harun Kuc¸¨ uk¨ , University of Pennsylvania Papaya Soup for Hypochondriacs: Science as Practice and Culture in Early Mod- ern Istanbul In my presentation, I will focus on how practices gave rise to a new culture of science in Istanbul between 1650 and 1750. I will specifically look at the evolution of astrology and medical empiricism in the seventeenth century. Istanbul was already a global hub of sub-literate natural knowledge by the 1660s: recipes, ephemerides, ingredients, maps and gadgets flowed freely, while the linguistic skills necessary to have a formal “exchange” of knowledge were still rare. Access to theoretical treatises written in Arabic was also fairly sporadic among scientific circles; figures such as al- Kind¯ıor al-T¯us¯ıwere known by name, but were hardly part of naturalistic practices. In this context, practical naturalists were vernacularizers with an emphasis on util- ity, and they were often critical of the ancients. These circumstances invite us to reconsider the Ottoman scientific enterprise as a set of practices that were driven by the forces of epistemic markets—paying customers looking to get cured or to have horoscopes drawn. By the eighteenth century, practical knowledge of nature began to overtake scholastic knowledge, thus creating a crisis of empiricism: was experience superior to book-learning? Was the compass a more reliable guide to show the qibla than the astrolabe was? Should you get treated by a medrese-trained hek¯ım or an uneducated but technically skilled tab¯ıb? I will conclude with one possible synthesis by Kırımlı Ahmed, engraver to the Sultanic Press.

113. Jane Hathaway, Ohio State University The Chief Harem Eunuch as Patron of Intellectual Life in the Ottoman Provinces This paper addresses the contributions to Ottoman provincial intellectual life of the Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman imperial harem (Arabic, Agh¯at¯ D¯ar al-Sa,¯ada; - ish, Dar¨ussaade A˘gası). I focus in particular on the most powerful Chief Eunuch in Ottoman history, el- Beshir Agha, who held the office from 1717 until his death in 1746. During that time, he endowed a large number of institutions of Muslim learning—Qur-¯an schools; madrasas (theological seminaries); schools for the study of h. ad¯ıth, or sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, and libraries—not only in Istanbul but also in a wide array of Ottoman provinces. Drawing on pious endowment deeds (Arabic singular, waqfiyya), as well as Ottoman and Egyptian chronicles, I will examine four provincial foundations in particular: a madrasa in Svishtov (formerly Sistova), Bulgaria; a library in ; a sab¯ıl-kutt¯ab (Qur-¯an school over a public fountain) in Cairo; and a h. ad¯ıth school (d¯ar al-h. ad¯ıth) in Medina. All these founda- tions demonstrate a concern with disseminating the foundational works of jurispru- dence of the Hanaf¯ılegal rite, the official Ottoman rite, in the Ottoman provinces, including those in which that rite was not dominant. They also show a marked con- cern with providing Hanaf¯ıinstruction to Anatolians from the central Ottoman lands (R¯um¯ıs) living in these provinces.

– 59 – Secondarily, the paper takes a hard look at the often impressive libraries amassed by Chief Eunuchs, including not only el-Hajj Beshir but also his predecessors el- Hajj Mustafa (terms 1605–20, 1622) and Abbas (term 1667–71), and his successor Moralı Beshir (term 1746–52). These eunuchs were unquestionably well-read, but the mechanics and purposes of their book-collecting deserve examination. I suggest that the Chief Eunuchs’ personal book collections served the purposes of their educational foundations, but also that they may have been transferable from earlier Chief Eunuchs to later occupants of the office.

G. Islamic Near East IX: Judeo-Arabic Studies. Ross Brann, Cornell Uni- versity, Chair (3:00 p.m.–3:45 p.m.) Kennedy

114. Benjamin Kantor, University of Texas at Austin The Standard Language Ideology of Saadia Gaon and the Arabic Grammarians Saadia Gaon (Sa,¯ıd bin Y¯usuf al-Fayy¯um¯ı) is widely regarded as one of the most significant figures in the history of Hebrew grammar. While it is difficult to underes- timate his importance for understanding the history of Hebrew grammatical thought, it is also worth devoting attention to analyzing his ideology regarding language. Such an analysis reveals that it is not only grammatical conventions and terminology that are shared between the Hebrew and Arabic grammatical traditions, but a language ideology itself. Further, a number of features of this shared language ideology are char- acteristic of what James Milroy calls a “standard language ideology.” In this paper I will deal with the topic of Saadia Gaon’s language ideology by addressing the follow- ing question: what was the motivation for and the purpose of writing his grammar , book, Kit¯ab Fas.¯ıh. Lughat al- Ibr¯an¯ıy¯ın (The Book of the Elegance of the Language of the Hebrews)? This question will provide insight into a number of features of Saadia Gaon’s language ideology such as considering a sacred text the standard of elegance, complaining that the general populace has forgotten their language, blaming the pre- dominance of foreign languages for the neglect of the community’s language, and legitimizing claims about a language by what Milroy calls “historicization.” This paper will also show that these same features, characteristic of Saadia Gaon’s language ideology, can be found in the Arabic grammatical tradition as well and are indicative of a “standard language ideology.” Such an analysis will further contribute to our understanding of the relationship between the Arabic language ideology and the ideology in the Middle Ages.

115. S.J. Pearce, New York University A “Negative Relief” of Kit¯ab al-H. ayaw¯an in a Preface to Hid¯aya il¯afar¯a-id. al- qul¯ub In the context of a larger study that argues for extensive engagement of Andalusi Judæo-Arabic-to-Hebrew translators with the canon of classical Arabic literary, philo- sophical, and theological texts, this paper will demonstrate that the translator’s pref- ace to one of the Hebrew versions of Bah.ya ibn Paq¯uda’s Hid¯aya il¯afar¯a-id. al-qul¯ub is in fact an adaptation of the discussion of translation in al-J¯ah.iz.’s Kit¯ab al-H. ayaw¯an. This is an application of the mid-century work of David Zvi Baneth, who argued that a number of Judæo-Arabic and Arabizing Hebrew texts were structured as “negative re- liefs” of classical Arabic works that demonstrate clear and well-structured evidence of

– 60 – contact with and influence of those classical works while not being direct translations of them, often as a consequence of lack of immediate access to books in situations of pilgrimage or exile. By examining the structural, thematic, and philological affinities between the two texts it is possible to demonstrate that the one text is a previously- unidentified but close adaptation of the other and is indicative of the depth of the translator’s engagement not only with Judæo-Arabic, but also with classical Arabic, texts.

H. Islamic Near East X: Sufism. Steven Judd, Southern Connecticut State University, Chair (4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.) Isabella Stewart Gardner

116. John Zaleski, Harvard University The Discernment of Incursive Thoughts (Khat.ar¯at/Khaw¯at.ir) in al-H. ¯arith al- Muh.¯asib¯ıand al-Junayd al-Baghd¯ad¯ı: A Case Study in the Development of S. ¯uf¯ı Concepts and Terminology This paper examines the discussion of khat.ar¯at (or khaw¯at.ir)—incursive thoughts— in the extant writings of al-H. ¯arith al-Muh.¯asib¯ı (d. 243/857) and al-Junayd al- Baghd¯ad¯ı (298/910). Both Muh. ¯asib¯ı and Junayd saw the human heart as subject to the incursion of thoughts deriving from God, the , or Satan—thoughts whose origins could be discerned through a process of self-examination. This concept of analyzing and discerning khat.ar¯at, which appears to originate with Muh.¯asib¯ı, was developed by later Sufi authors, such as al-Qushayr¯ıand al-Kal¯ab¯adh¯ı. Although previous scholars have discussed both Muh.¯asib¯ı’s and Junayd’s treatment of khat.ar¯at, no scholarly study provides a systematic treatment of khat.ar¯at across Muh.¯asib¯ı’s extant writings or connects Muh.¯asib¯ı’s discussion of khat.ar¯at to that of Junayd. By examining the discussion of khat.ar¯at in the edited texts of Muh.¯asib¯ı and Junayd, I argue that Junayd systematized Muh. ¯asib¯ı’s understanding of khat.ar¯at, clarifying an ambiguity in Muh. ¯asib¯ı’s understanding of the relation between thoughts deriving from the nafs and those deriving from Satan. Furthermore, I show that Junayd reoriented the purpose of the practice of discerning khat.ar¯at. For Muh.¯asib¯ı, the purpose of discerning khat.ar¯at was primarily to ascertain the moral status of one’s thoughts and the legal permissibility of potential actions. For Junayd, the purpose of discernment was to resist thoughts that obstruct the ascetic regimens of the Sufi. My study fills a lacuna in the scholarship on Muh.¯asib¯ıand Junayd, demonstrat- ing Muh.¯asib¯ı’s influence on Junayd in the area of self-examination. More broadly, it shows the way in which a concept that became closely associated with Sufism— discernment of khat.ar¯at—developed through the adaptation and incorporation of ter- minology derived from a non-mystical context (Muh.¯asib¯ı’s teachings on moral and legal scrupulosity). This supports and illustrates an understanding of the develop- ment of Sufism as based partially in the adaptation of themes from early Muslim piety.

117. Pascal Held, University of Chicago , Abd al-Q¯adir al-Jil¯an¯ı’s Theory on the Origin of the Term ‘S.¯uf¯ı’ T. his presentation aims to examine the interpretation of the origin of the word , ‘.s¯uf¯ı’ by the well-known h. anbal¯ımystic Abd al-Q¯adir al-J¯ıl¯an¯ı(d. 1166), as set out in his work al-Ghunya li-T. ¯alib¯ıT. ar¯ıq al-H. aqq. The theory most commonly accepted in

– 61 – the medieval Islamic world as well as in modern scholarship holds that ‘s.¯uf¯ı’ derived from ‘.s¯uf ’, meaning ‘wool’, which originally designated individuals in early Islam who adopted woolen clothes as part of their ascetic lifestyle before the term would come to be applied generally to mystically inclined Muslims. ,Abd al-Q¯adir’s theory diverges fundamentally from this as he perceives ‘.s¯uf¯ı’ to originally stem from the verb ‘s.¯ufiya’ based on the root .s-f-¯a rather than .s-¯a-f , as in the case of the prevailing opinion. Instead of identifying a person donning a woolen dress, it represents, according to his interpretation, a person characterized by inner purity. ,Abd al-Q¯adir was not the first individual to make use of this etymology. It appears to have been floating around in mystical circles beforehand; allusions to it are found in major works such as by Kal¯ab¯adh¯ı(d. ) and Hujw¯ır¯ı(d. 1070s). More recently, Louis Massignon and Alexander Knysh have pointed to it. That said, ,Abd al-Q¯adir is perhaps the first mystic to take a definite and well-elaborated stand for this etymology. What’s more, his viewpoint in this matter ties in with his broader ideas and therefore opens a window to trace the major stages of his proposed mystical path. Beyond adding , an important contribution to the discussion on the origins of the term ‘s.¯uf¯ı’, Abd al-Q¯adir’s theory also provides us with a valuable glimpse into the contemporaneous evaluation of .s¯uf¯ıs and Sufism as a whole.

I. Islamic Near East XI: Orientalism. Carl Sharif El-Tobgui, Brandeis Uni- versity, Chair (5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.) Kennedy

118. Bruce Fudge, University of Geneva “Frugal Orientalism”: Borges and the New Translations of the Thousand and One Nights Borges’ essay “The Translators of The Thousand and One Nights” (1936) is a short but fascinating piece by a man who did not hesitate to pronounce on the fidelity of the translations despite having no knowledge of the source language. He did have an excellent grasp of the target languages, however, and more importantly, of their literatures. In the course of his pleasantly rambling piece a recurrent theme is the translators’ perceived need to “improve” the text, whether to bring it in line with the intended readers’ tastes, to provide extensive ethnographic annotations or, more bluntly, simply to add literary merit to stories that lacked it. This last point seems to have been common to almost all translators. As Borges put it: The basic problem remains: how to entertain nineteenth-century gentlemen with the fictions of the thirteenth [sic] century? The stylistic poverty of the Nights is well known. Burton speaks somewhere of the “dry and business-like tone” of the Arab prosifiers ... The past decade has seen two new translations of the nineteenth-century edition of the Nights, one by Malcolm C. Lyons into English (2008), the other by Andr´e Miquel and the late Jamel Eddine Bencheikh into French (2005). My paper addresses three questions. First, do we really need another translation of the Thousand and One Nights? (Yes.) Second, how are the new translations? (Excellent.) Third, how do Lyons and Miquel/Bencheikh deal with the supposed “stylistic poverty” of the original, and is it not a problem in Arabic? (Both recognize the difficulty posed by the Nights’ Arabic style but deal with it differently—one in a sort of minimalist approach that pares down the text and speeds up the narrative, the other by taking more liberties

– 62 – with the Arabic vocabulary and syntax.) A conclusion considers how these latest renderings would fit into Borges’ genealogy of previous Nights’ translations.

119. Ehsan Estiri, Ohio State University The Constitutive Nature of Orientalist Narratives This paper set outs to demonstrate that the orientalist narratives of the presented in a large portion of the “western” media—especially in cinema—are not only commentaries, but as constitutive narratives they are actively involved in the reshaping of the Middle East. Since Edward Said’s re-conceptualization of “Orientalism”, the term has been ex- hausted by scholars of many fields in the humanities. The term has been used in different scholarly and non-scholarly contexts and loaded with a variety of different meanings to the point that it is losing its academic specificity. In this paper, I am not concerned with the term itself, but rather with some characteristics of Orientalist narratives such as homogenization, essentialization and reification. After laying out the framework, I pose my main argument that these homogenizing narratives are not only commentaries on the Middle East, but they also serve to construct a homogeneous Middle East. I draw on Kenneth Burke and James Boyd White’s theory of the “constitutive rhetoric,” which conceptualizes narratives as a means of construction not only through the power of “persuasion”, but also through “identification” of the audience. I suggest that although the homogenizing narratives of the Middle East are forged and distorted reflections of the region, these false yet powerful imageries tend to become real, as many active agents in the Middle East, including people of different Middle Eastern countries, accept them and gradually identify with them and strive to submit to their criteria. Thus, people who belong to different “cultural” areas feel connected through these unifying narratives that constitute a new and homogeneous Middle Eastern identity. The flawed but powerful narratives and imageries of the Middle East in the Western media and academic contexts can become actualized, and in the future may turn into valid narratives as the Middle East reshapes itself in accordance with them.

J. South and Southeast Asia V: Epigraphy. Richard Salomon, University of Washington, Chair (1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.) King ∗

120. Stephan Baums, University of Munich A G¯andhar¯ıStotra¯ in S¯ard¯ulavikr¯ıd´ .ita Meter The recent discoveries of G¯andh¯ar¯ı manuscripts from Pakistan and Afghanistan brought to light not only Buddhist canonical texts, commentaries and Mah¯ay¯ana s¯utras, but also several examples of original G¯andh¯ar¯ı Buddhist poetry. One example is the short BC 8 of the Bajaur Collection of G¯andh¯ar¯ımanuscripts, measuring 21.5 by 19 cm and containing four verses in as many lines. Strauch (2008) published a first transcription of the last verse and identified the meter as S¯ard¯ulavikr¯ıd´ .ita “with certain irregularities.” Further examination by the present author (in preparation of a full edition of the text) revealed that this stotra uses the Six Perfections attained by the Buddha as a structuring principle, and clarified the particular metrical li- censes employed in this G¯andh¯ar¯ıverse composition. The present paper will present

– 63 – and justify a reconstruction of the entire text of the stotra, situate it in the context of Buddhist stotra literature with special reference to later Sanskrit developments, provide a survey of the G¯andh¯ar¯ınon-canonical poetry now known, and discuss the principles of G¯andh¯ar¯ımeter that can be deduced from this material. 121. James Apple, University of Calgary The Old Tibetan Version of the K¯a´syapaparivarta preserved in Fragments from Dunhuang The K¯a´syapaparivarta is regarded as a principal scripture among modern schol- ars of Mah¯ay¯ana Buddhism due to the antiquity of its oldest sections that were formed at the earliest developmental stages of Mah¯ay¯ana literature. The currently known extant versions of the K¯a´syapaparivarta are in Sanskrit in two Central Asian manuscripts, three Chinese versions, Khotanese fragments, and a ninth century Ti- betan version preserved among Tibetan Kanjur collections. This paper identifies for the first time seven Old Tibetan fragments of the K¯a´syapaparivarta found among the Stein and Pelliot collections from the ancient city-state of Dunhuang. Altogether, these fragments cover fifty-five out of the one hundred sixty-six sections of the editio princeps edited by Sta¨el-Holstein (1926). One Sanskrit K¯a´syapaparivarta manuscript preserves an earlier contracted prose-only version of the s¯utra, while another San- skrit manuscript contains an ‘extended’ version with verses followed by prose. As this presentation demonstrates, all the Tibetan Dunhuang fragments correspond with the earlier version without verses. This differs from the later Tibetan version found in Kanjur collections that has prose followed by verse. In addition, one fragment indi- cates that the Old Tibetan version of this s¯utra was explicitly called Ratnakut.a, a title that accords with the title found in extant Indian and Khotanese works. This title also differs from later Kanjur versions where the text is entitled ’Od srung gi le’u together with the reconstructed Sanskrit title K¯a´syapaparivarta. One fragment also contains a segment missing from Tibetan canonical versions, and another fragment contains a segment not found in any other extant version of the K¯a´syapaparivarta, whether Sanskrit, Chinese, Khotanese, or Tibetan. Based on this evidence, the paper concludes by pointing out how the Old Tibetan version of the K¯a´syapaparivarta pre- served at Dunhuang, although fragmentary, provides important clues to assessing the chronological development of this s¯utra in its history of transmission. 122. Matthew Milligan, The University of Texas at Austin Administration and Donative Epigraphy at Early Buddhist Pilgrimage Sites Little is known about how early monastic Buddhists in South Asia funded their monasteries and st¯upa-s. Even less is known about how they administered these monasteries and kept track of finances, including donations. More than twenty years ago, Gregory Schopen posited a link between donor names and the objects of their donation. He suggested that, because the inscriptions themselves were never meant to be seen, a donor’s inscribed name accumulated intangible merit for the donor by acting as a substitute surviving within permanent proximity of the Buddha himself whose relics were enshrined nearby in a st¯upa. Recent studies of Buddhist archæology and philology have greatly improved our understanding of the contexts in which these inscriptions appear but have failed to review or emend Schopen’s proposition. As such, our understanding of the role donative epigraphy played in early monastic Bud- dhism continues to be shrouded in mystery because of the potentiality that we may

– 64 – not have ever been meant to view them in the first place. However, this conclusion deserves revision in light of the greater corpus of Indian epigraphy, especially that which appears on goods meant to be circulated, namely coins and mercantile seals. I argue that the donative epigraphy found at or near Buddhist st¯upa pilgrimage sites in Early Historic Period South Asia have more in common with inscriptions on everyday objects than they do with mystical objects or ritualistic instruments. In this paper, I analyze the historical development of the donative inscriptions’ written formula as well as their existence as part of the greater material culture of the pilgrimage sites. I hypothesize that donative epigraphy served a kind of administrative practical role at these pilgrimage sites and were a natural byproduct of the business of Buddhism as it grew as a religious institution. Receiving, tracking, and, finally, presenting that donation publicly allowed administrators to pragmatically appease both the needs of the institution along with the needs of the donor.

123. Luther Obrock, University of Pennsylvania Reading the Kalyana Inscription: Sanskrit, Religion, and the Sultanate in the Fourteenth Century Deccan This paper presents a close reading of the 1327 Kalyana inscription of Sultan Mo- hammad bin Tughluq (EI 32: no. 19), and specifically highlights the difficulties in the language, structure, and contents of the inscription itself, and points to a new way of reading and interpreting this important historical document. The research presented forms part of a collaborative project in “Sultanate Sanskrit”, undertaken with Ajay Rao of the University of Toronto. The 1327 Kalyana inscription is an essential document for reconstructing not only the history of Sultanate power in the Deccan but also a key witness for understanding the relationship between state power and religious institutions against the backdrop of political and sectarian strife. While P. B. Desai presents the inscription in the Epigraphica Indica at some length and Richard Eaton and Phillip Wagoner make it a centerpiece of their arguments in Power, Memory, Architecture, it has never been fully translated, nor have the implications of its strange structure and language been discussed. The inscription consists of a prose portion and a verse portion, each comprising roughly one half of the total amount of text. While the prose portion is in obscure and often corrupt Sanskrit, the metrical portion seems to retell the same information in a different manner and style in the ornate S¯ard¯ulavikr¯ıd´ .ita meter. In this paper I will present a first translation of the inscription, as well as read the two sections as supplementary to one another to understand as fully as possible the event the inscription commemorates. I conclude with a few thoughts on the languages of religion and politics displayed in this fascinating inscription.

K. South and Southeast Asia VI: Religious Lineages and Community. Adheesh Sathaye, University of British Columbia, Chair (3:15 p.m.–5:15 p.m.) King ∗

124. Dragomir Dimitrov, Philipps-Universit¨at Marburg Trials and Tribulations of the Cult of Maitreya in Therav¯ada Buddhism For a long time it has proved difficult to establish conclusively when the cult of Maitreya or Metteyya, as the future Buddha is called in Pali, was founded in

– 65 – Therav¯ada Buddhism. That much has been known that in the Pali canon Metteyya is referred to only once. The fact that the future Buddha is also rarely mentioned in the early post-canonical literature in Pali has made it inevitable to observe a striking discrepancy between the old widely spread cult of Maitreya in the Northern Buddhist tradition and the almost imperceptible attention Metteyya has been paid in the early Southern Buddhist tradition. Yet, this disparity has not been explained satisfacto- rily, and the origin of the cult of the future Buddha in La ˙nk¯a has remained poorly studied. The greatest impediment has posed the inability to settle the question of au- thorship and fix the date of a post-canonical chronicle in Pali entitled An¯agatavam. sa or “Chronicle of the future [Buddha Metteyya]”, a work on which Metteyya devotion- alism was initially based. Some false views—in particular, the dubious assumption that a chronicle by this title has already been known to Buddhaghosa in the fifth century ad—have prevented scholars to realize that the well-known An¯agatavam. sa was composed considerably later by an identifiable author. In this paper I review some of the trials and tribulations which the study of the cult of Maitreya in Therav¯ada Buddhism has gone through and argue that the Pali chronicle was written most likely in the by a proliferous Sinhalese polymath known at that time by the name of Upatissa. He supplied the An¯agatavam. sa with an autocommentary entitled Amatarasadh¯ar¯a or “Stream of the nectar of deathlessness”, after first studying the Maitreyavy¯akaran. a or “Prophesy about Maitreya” in northern India where he was still called Ratna´sr¯ıj˜n¯ana. This tenth-century scholar whose initial monastic name was Ratnamati played a pivotal role in the spread of the cult of the future Buddha in his native La ˙nk¯a.

125. Elaine Fisher, University of Wisconsin-Madison Hinduism In Translation: The Monastic Lineages of the Pa˜nc¯ar¯adhya V¯ıra´saivas Across Regions V¯ıra´saivism, in the vast majority of scholarship, is staunchly represented as a “re- ligion of place” for Kannada speakers, the vernacular religious voice par excellence of the south Indian state of Karnataka. In fact, Li ˙ng¯ayat V¯ıra´saivas today, who base their authority on the vacanas of the twelfth-century social reformer Basava, claim the status of a minority religion, fundamentally inflected by caste and linguistic dif- ference. And yet, as I have discussed previously, the Sanskritic Pa˜nc¯ar¯adhya tradition of V¯ıra´saivism played a crucial role in disseminating a new early modern Saivism´ across regions in south India, founded on a school of thought known as Siv¯advaita.´ At present, the influence of the Pa˜nc¯ar¯adhya tradition remains almost entirely un- known to Western scholars outside of brief references and footnotes (e.g., Zydenbos 1997), and the institutions that facilitated its transregional influence have yet to be historicized. This paper provides evidence that the Pa˜nc¯ar¯adhya V¯ıra´saiva tradition achieved its transregional influence through establishing an institutional epicenter not in Kar- nataka but at Sr¯ı´sailam´ in Andhra Pradesh, south India’s most renowned Saiva´ pil- grimage center, building a monastic network that cultivated a trans-regional Saivism´ ranging from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu. The Pa˜nc¯ar¯adhya lineages took new shape under the direction of Pan.d. it¯ar¯adhya, who, while recognized as the hagiographical founder of the Sr¯ı´sailam´ lineage, can be contextualized as a historical personage by in- scriptions and narrative literature from shortly after his lifetime, including the Telugu

– 66 – Pan. d. it¯ar¯adhya Caritramu of P¯alkurike Soman¯atha. Soon afterward, the Pa˜nc¯ar¯adhya lineage assumes liturgical control of the Mallik¯arjuna temple of Sr¯ı´sailam´ under the generous patronage of the Reddy dynasty. In particular, I focus on an intriguing but unstudied translation of P¯alkurike Soman¯atha’s Basava Pur¯an. a from Telugu into Sanskrit by K¯a˜nch¯ı Sa´ ˙nkar¯ar¯adhya, documenting the transmission of Pa˜nc¯ar¯adhya V¯ıra´saivism from Sr¯ı´sailam´ to Saiva´ intellectual communities of Tamil Nadu in the early sixteenth century.

126. Elizabeth Ann Cecil, Brown University Kaman, K¯amyaka & K¯amyake´svara: Piety and Polity in Early Medieval Ra- jasthan (8th–10th centuries CE) This paper is a study of religious life and political formation as reconstructed from early medieval inscriptions, architectural remains, and iconography preserved in the town of Kaman and the nearby village of Satwas (both in the Bharatpur District of Rajasthan, approximately 60 km northwest of Mathura). Visiting these places today one feels out on the margins of a rapidly modernizing nation, yet, the epigraphic and material evidence tells a very different story. In the medieval sources, Kaman emerges as a vital center of commerce and exchange populated by merchant collectives, arti- sans, lineages of Saiva´ religious specialists, and pious individuals who gave liberally to religious institutions, including the temple of K¯amyake´svara.1 The area’s remark- able artistic legacy—preserved in the remains of monumental temples, stepwells, and finely-crafted sculpture—similarly indicates a economic surplus sufficient to support ateliers of skilled artisans and craftspeople. Aside from early reports by the Archeological Survey of India2 and a brief entry in the Encyclopedia of Indian Temple Architecture,3 there has not yet been an effort to evaluate the material legacy of Kaman together with the epigraphic sources, nor do we have a study that examines the sources from Kaman in light of the contemporaneous material evidence from Satwas, only a few kilometers away. This study will address these significant lacunæ in the regional historiography and, in doing so, use the his- torical sources to articulate a new approach to the study of early medieval polity and patronage. More specifically, I propose we see Kaman as an ‘emplaced polity.’ This model of political formation, as I will explain, reflects medieval India’s unique geopolitics and the dynamics of a political landscape in which power was claimed and contested by multiple corporate bodies and individuals engaged in evolving affiliations.

127. Ajay Rao, University of Toronto Recounting Reconsecration

This paper offers a new analysis of the 1326 Kaly¯an.a Inscription of Sultan Muham- mad bin Tughluq (EI 32: no. 19), research that forms part of the collaborative project “Sultanate Sanskrit” (co-PI, Luther Obrock). Richard Eaton and Phillip Wagoner

1 Bhagawanlal Indraji Pandit, ‘Inscription from K¯am¯aor K¯amavana,’ Indian Antiquary 10 (1881), 34– 36; D.C. Sircar, ‘Three Inscriptions from Rajasthan,’ Epigraphia Indica 36 (1965), 47–56; V.V. Mirashi, ‘Kaman Stone Inscription,’ Epigraphia Indica 24 (1937–38), 329–335. 2 Archeological Survey of India: Progress Report of the Western Circle (1918–1919), 44–45; 64–65. 3 M.W. Meister & M.A. Dhaky, eds. Encyclopedia of Indian Temple Architecture. Vol II pt. II, North India: Period of Early Maturity 700–900 AD (New Delhi: AIIS, 1988), 217–220.

– 67 – have recently discussed this inscription in their groundbreaking monograph, Power, Memory, Architecture. The inscription—in Sanskrit, rather than Persian—is notable for its account of the reconsecration of the Siva li ˙nga in the Madhuke´svara temple at Kaly¯an.a, the erstwhile capital of the Western C¯alukyas. While the political context of the Sultan’s intervention involves layers of interaction between local and imperial figures (and dramatic evidence of an Indo-Islamic ruler’s patronage and protection of a Hindu temple), no less intriguing are the language and imagery employed in recount- ing the reconsecration, involving several difficulties of interpretation. In this paper, I examine the stampage of the inscription and sections which describe the li ˙nga, its desecration, and its installation in the temple. I use specific phrases and words to speculate on history of ritual practices associated with the temple and its significance for the religion and polity of the C¯alukya Empire, during which both the K¯al¯amukha and V¯ıra´saiva orders flourished. The inscription allows us to query the character of re- consecration in a historical, rather than normative, context. How did the li ˙nga regain its status as a partless manifestation of Siva?´ Where did the icon reside once it was displaced from the temple? What rituals were used once it returned to the temple?

128. Daniel M. Stuart, University of South Carolina, Columbia Confrontation and Procedure: The Vote in Early Buddhist Monasticisms This paper explores some aspects of procedural law in early Buddhist disciplinary literature as an entry point for understanding the operative modes of authority and the underpinnings of legislative thought in Buddhist monasticisms. Through a study of procedures for settling disputes or litigation (adhikaran. a´samatha), I argue for a vision of power within early Buddhist communities that on the one hand prioritized community cohesion against individual needs, personal rights, or exchange of ideas, and on the other hand created opportunities for the resolution of conflicts and the public performance of community power and participatory ideals. I take as my particular focus procedures for conflict resolution involving a majority vote (yadbh¯uyais.¯ıya) of the monastic community. I suggest that, by looking at two distinct but related models of monastic voting—one that allows for only one side to prevail and another that leaves open the possibility of a settlement in which either side prevails—we can locate inclinations towards two alternate modes of legislative discourse in Buddhist disciplinary thought. The first is conservative and is represented by the majority of Vinaya sources at our disposal. The second is adaptable, perhaps influenced by legal traditions outside of the Buddhist fold. These alternative models of monastic voting parallel two alternative interpretive frameworks in legal anthropol- ogy: one that sees procedures for settling disputes as primarily driven by a need for restoring peace and social harmony, and another that understands such procedures to serve an agonistic function, motivated by the pursuit of justice and fairness (Davis 2010). While the procedures engaged here generally fit better with the first interpre- tation, the diversity of approaches found in our sources blurs the boundaries between the two strands of interpretation.

– 68 – A. Ancient Near East VIII: Special Session in Honor of Geoffrey Khan. (Organized by Na’ama Pat-El, The University of Texas at Austin) Jo Ann Hackett, The University of Texas at Austin, Chair (9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.) Alcott ∗

129. John Huehnergard, The University of Texas at Austin) Opening Remarks

130. Eleanor Coghill, University of Z¨urich The Role of Aktionsart in the Development of the Eastern Aramaic Perfects

In Late Eastern Aramaic, a new perfect construction known as Qt.il li (marginally attested in Imperial Aramaic) emerged: (1) Syriac qt.il-¯a l-i kill.pp-fs dat-1sg ‘I have killed her’ Initially appearing with verbs of perception and cognition (Coghill 2016), it spread ultimately to all transitive verbs. In North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic and T. uroyo, Qt.il li shifted to a general past perfective (the narrative tense) and displaced the Suffix Conjugation Qt.al altogether. Alongside the transitive Qt.il li construction we also find verbal adjectives of various patterns which could express the perfect of intransitive verbs. These also have reflexes in the modern dialects: (2) Syriac dammik-¯a sleep.VRB ADJ-FS ‘She is asleep/has fallen asleep’ A transitive/intransitive distinction does not, however, adequately describe the dis- tinctions between Qt.il li and the intransitive verbal adjectives. The verbal adjectives were not found with all intransitives, while already in Syriac we see Qt.il li being occasionally used with intransitives: (3) Syriac met..tol d-l¯a qim-Ø l-i qd¯am ˇsallit.¯an´e because COMP-not stand.PP-MS l-1SG before rulers ‘because I have not stood in the presence of (i.e., served) rulers.’ (Kalila and Dimna, ed. Schulthess 1911: 1348, N¨oldeke 1904: 219, §279) In fact the distinction between the two also involves Aktionsart and verbal aspect. We find intransitive verbal adjectives restricted to stative or (telic) inchoative-stative verbs, and expressing a narrow stative or resultative aspect. While in early Syriac Qt.il li appears to be restricted to transitives, later it is attested with intransitive verbs with atelic Aktionsart, or expressing a broader experiential perfect (Comrie 1976: 58), rather than a narrow resultative.

– 69 – This paper will show how the inherent asymmetry of the two constructions, Qt.il li and the intransitive verbal adjective, has been resolved in different ways in modern eastern dialects. Some have neutralized the aspectual difference (T. uroyo, SE Tran- Zab NENA), while others have neutralized the transitivity distinction (Bohtan NENA, Mlah.so). Others have extended Qt.il li to all intransitives, while the intransitive re- sultative paradigm in such dialects, still extant in early NENA texts, has gradually been dropped in favour of new perfects.

COGHILL, Eleanor (2016). The rise and fall of ergativity in Aramaic: Cycles of align- ment change. Oxford University Press (in press). COMRIE, Bernard (1976). Aspect: An Introduction to the Study of Verbal Aspect and Related Problems (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. NOLDEKE¨ , Theodor (1904). Compendious Syriac Grammar: Translated from the sec- ond German edition by James A. Crichton. London: Williams & Norgate. SCHULTHESS, Friedrich, (ed.) (1911). Kalila und Dimna. Syrisch und Deutsch. (2 volumes). Berlin: Reimer.

131. John Huehnergard, The University of Texas at Austin ∗ Ugaritic ´g from Semitic θ. ∗ The Proto-Semitic consonant θ. (probably [θ’]) has two reflexes in Ugaritic: one reflex is a discrete consonant, usually transliterated .z; the other reflex appears as the consonant transliterated ´g, which otherwise reflects Proto-Semitic ∗´g (probably [7] or [K]). The latter development is notable both phonetically, in that an interdental consonant has become uvular or velar, and typologically, in that phonemic splits and partial mergers are uncommon in Semitic. In this paper these aspects will be re- ∗ examined, and a specific environment proposed in which the sound change θ. > ´g first occurred. 132. Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee, University of Chicago The Origin of the Third Person Markers on the Suffix Conjugation in Semitic The origin of the third person affixes marking person and number on the Semitic sta- tive/suffix conjugation—that is the East Semitic stative (paris) and the West Semitic perfect (qatala)—is still a matter of debate. Unlike the person markers of the first and second persons, which are clearly derived from forms of the corresponding in- dependent pronouns, the third person markers do not exhibit any formal similarities with attested third person pronouns. This discrepancy between second and first versus third person markers has led to various approaches attempting to explain the origin of the third person markers. The two main reconstructions that have been proposed are, first, that the third person suffixes are not person markers originally but reflect nominal endings corresponding to nominal gender and number markers, and, second, that the suffixes are, despite the lack of a clear correspondence to attested pronouns, nevertheless of pronominal origin. This paper argues that it is more likely that the third person suffixes are of nominal origin since they can directly be derived from gender, number, and case markers of the nominal paradigm. Although this derivation has been proposed before, it faces several issues, such as the form of the feminine plural, which has to be reconstructed as ∗-¯a for

– 70 – the stative/SC, but as ∗-¯at for the nominal inflection, and the lack of agreement in the nominal base of the original predicative construction. Problems such as these will be addressed and it will be shown that they can be explained by historical developments and common grammaticalization processes. The derivation from pronouns, on the other hand, faces several problems that are difficult to reconcile with the known developments and attestations of pronouns in Semitic languages, and is consequently considered less likely than a nominal derivation of the third person markers.

133. Devin J. Stewart, Emory University Conjectural Emendation and Anomalies in the Qur-anic Text The chances are that out of nearly one-third of a million letters in the Qur-¯an, a few have been garbled, transposed, misread, or dropped inadvertently, despite the tremen- dous attention that is generally paid to sacred texts. There is abundant evidence that changes to the text occurred. Interpolations in the text are readily identifiable and are addressed in Islamic tradition. The qira-at present recognized variants of the text, and while some are of a type that could occur through oral transmission, others show evidence of change through written transmission, such as the variant yaqd.¯ıbi’l- h. aqq “judges according to the truth” for yaqus..su l-h. aqq “tells the story of the truth” (6:57). This study examines and emendations proposed in medieval Islamic sources and critiques a emendations proposed by modern scholars James Bellamy in a series of articles in JAOS and Christoph Luxenberg in his work on the “Syro-Aramaic deci- pherment” of the Qur-¯an, a number of which can be proved wrong on textual grounds. It then examines anomalies in the Qur-¯an, including anomalous end-rhymes, faulty parallelism, texts that contrast with parallel passages, texts which appear to violate logic, and texts in which key words appear to be missing. A typical example is the text talfahu wujuhahum un-naru wa-hum fiha kalihun “the fire scorches their faces, while they are brazen in it” (23:104). Emending the verse-final word kalihun “brazen”, which only occurs in this case, and of which no other cognates appear in the Qur-¯an, to khalidun “permanently residing” (in Hell, that is), would bring this text in line with many other descriptions of paradise and Hell that include the stock phrase wa-hum fiha khalidun (e.g. 2:25, 39, 81, 82, 217, 257, 275). The study proposes a number of conjectural emendations that might resolve such anomalies while addressing the topic of conjectural emendation in general.

134. Kevin van Bladel, Ohio State University An Arabic Account of the Mandæans and Their Language circa 900

The Christian secretary al-H. asan ibn Bahl¯ul’s Kit¯ab ad-Dal¯a-il (wr. circa 942–968), on astral and calendrical lore, contains a chapter called “The Sect of the S.¯abians Re- siding in al-G¯amidaˇ and al-H. aw¯an¯ıt and Sitr¯ay¯a, of the Districts of W¯asit..” It consists of an excerpt from an unknown work, attributed to a certain Ab¯u ,Al¯ı, describing an Aramaic-speaking population in the Marshes of that followed the religion of Seth and revering John the Baptist. This presentation shows that the population described in this passage was what we today call Mandæan. References to the Aramaic language and a transcription of the Mandaic alphabet in the passage contribute to the iden- tification. I also identify the author Ab¯u ,Al¯ıas the Ibn Muqla (d. 940) and present a translation of this unique and sympathetic account of Mandæan religion. While this Arabic passage does not offer any account of the origin of the Mandæan

– 71 – sect (as does Theodore bar Konay’s Syriac account circa 792), it is the earliest extant document on the Mandæans’ social organization and language by an outsider. This presentation relates a portion of a forthcoming monograph on the Mandæans.

135. Na’ama Pat-El, The University of Texas at Austin Parallel Development and Historical Linguistics In his seminal comparative study, Khan (1988:227) remarks that syntactic parallels may have one of three explanations: (1) an existing common syntactic feature on the basis of which a subsequent development is built (i.e., parallel development); (2) areal contact (i.e., Sprachbund); and (3) independent development due to typological tendencies. Khan notes that it is possible that in most cases none of these explanations would be verifiable. It seems, however, that in most historical studies, only the latter two options are taken into account, while similarity stemming the first is considered unusable for subgrouping or reconstruction (starting from Meillet 1918). In this paper, I will argue that in some well-defined cases, parallel development can be proven as a feature of the linguistic structure and is therefore relevant for historical linguistics. I further suggest that parallel development is likely to recur in languages of a genetically cohesive family, which share relevant structural features. Several Semitic examples will serve to illustrate this point.

References: Khan, Geoffrey (1988). Studies in Semitic Syntax. Oxford; Oxford University Press. Meillet, Antoine (1918). “Convergence des d´eveloppements linguistiques.” Revue philosophique 85: 61–75. 136. Charles G. Haberl¨ , Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey The Origin and Meaning of Mandaic eutra The most characteristic figures in the Mandæan religion are the beings known as the eutria. Unlike the Great First Mind and Its various emanations, who remain largely aloof from the material world, the eutria repeatedly intervene in the affairs of mankind to protect the Mandæans and punish those who threaten them. Even though the Mandæans worship the Great Life as their supreme being, the eutria, and particularly the triad Hibel, Shitel, and Ennosh, are ever present in their thoughts and prayers. The eutria are so quintessentially Mandæan that the term is entirely absent from the vocabulary of other contemporary religions, although the category of beings to which they refer is routinely compared to the angels of , Christianity, and Islam, and the æons of western Gnostic traditions. As a consequence, the origin and precise meaning of the term eutra has been the subject of some debate. In this brief communication, I shall challenge the scholarly consensus that has de- veloped over the past fifteen decades, namely that Classical Mandaic eutra is with Aramaic ,utr¯a ‘riches’ and therefore means ‘riches’, citing internal evidence from the Mandaic literature and the comparative evidence from the other Semitic lan- guages. By comparing its contemporary form, Neo-Mandaic otrO, with related words in all other branches of Semitic, I shall demonstrate that Classical Mandaic eutra clearly derives from the PS root ∗w-t-r ‘to exceed’, that it is one of an extremely small class of relic C-stem deverbal adjectives in Aramaic, that its original meaning

– 72 – with reference to divine beings is ‘excellent’, and that in Classical Mandaic (and only in Classical Mandaic) it secondarily came to be used as a proper noun referring to an entire category of supernatural beings (‘the excellencies’). 137. Geoffrey Khan, University of Cambridge Concluding Comments

B. East Asia VII: Language and Style. Matthias L. Richter, University of Colorado, Chair (9:00 a.m.–10:15 a.m.) Holmes-Brandeis ∗ 138. Michael Opper, University of Michigan Medial Glides in Sinitic: Evidence and Productivity [withdrawn] Many researchers have debated the phonological status of the medial in the sylla- ble structure of Sinitic languages. Li 2015 presents a recent summary of this debate. Work in the Initial-Final model assumed by most scholars working in Chinese philol- ogy typically affiliates these glides to the final. This affiliation is exhibited in many fˇanqi`e glosses and patterns across rime tables; although Branner 1999 introduces and discusses some attested exceptions and redundancies. On the other hand, Generative linguists take various stances on the sub-syllabic affiliation of medial glides. This paper discusses the evidence regarding sub-syllabic affiliation of medial glides commonly considered by researchers including phonotactics, rhyming, alliteration, morpho-phonological processes, reduplication, and speech errors. Generative linguists have used these types of evidence to argue different theses regarding subsyllabic af- filiation of medial glides (Yip 2003, Duanmu 2007:ch 3). The argument presented in this paper is that language-specific phonemics should be the primary criterion for determining sub-syllabic affiliation of medial glides. That is, the other kinds of ev- idence may be used to support an argument, but cannot act as the driving source for arguing affiliation. This report first reviews the arguments regarding the status of medial glides in several Sinitic languages. Discussion then continues with an original analysis of Bai phonemics considering both features and syllable structure as has been presented for Lanzhou Mandarin in Yi & Duanmu 2015. Discussion concludes with the implications for phonological theory more broadly. 139. Richard VanNess Simmons, Rutgers University Veiled Innovations in the Zh¯ongyu´an y¯ıny`un: Did a Mixed Gu¯anhu`aKoin´eMake its Way into Yu´an Drama?

Zh¯ou D´eq¯ıng’s (1277–1365) Zh¯ongyu´an y¯ıny`un (completed in 1324; published 1341), compiled as a key to the rimes of Yu´an qˇu , is cited as the ear- liest rime dictionary to realistically depict the phonology of northern Mandarin. It is usually assumed that the book depicts the dialect of the Yu´an (1271–1368) capital D`ad¯u and thus the ancestor of the Bˇeij¯ıng dialect. In representing a contempo- rary phonology that is distinct from the traditional Qi`ey`un system, Zh¯ou’s vol- ume is innovative but also somewhat idiosyncratic. It lists traditional r`u tone syllables under the other three tones (p´ıng , shˇang , and q`u ), reflecting a con- temporary trend in northern dialects, for example; yet it still keeps the r`u syllables segregated within those categories. This arrangement led to a longstanding contro- versy about the actual nature of the r`u tone in the Zh¯ongyu´an y¯ıny`un phonology. At

– 73 – the same time, upon close examination, the book’s phonological system reveals itself to be pan-dialectal and not solely representative of a single dialect of one place. The Zh¯ongyu´an y¯ıny`un is most surely based on a koin´eof broad geographical currency, and represents a socially accepted common supra-regional vernacular Mandarin stan- dard, encompassing both northern and southern features. This koin´eas outlined in the Zh¯ongyu´an y¯ıny`un then served as a normative model for Yu´an qˇu rhyming practice and is not simply a passive reflection of that practice as it is often assumed to be.

140. E. Bruce Brooks, University of Massachusetts at Amherst On the Stylistic Study of Ancient Texts Judgements of style have long been part of scholarship, examples being Stilo in the 03rd century and Origen in the 2nd. Since the 19th century, judgements of style have sometimes been put on a statistical basis, with results often at odds with responsible critical opinion. Is it possible to register some aspect of style in an objective way, thus reducing impressionism and its endless discussions? Can that procedure be calibrated on assured results before being used on less certain material? And how should it be used to maximize its value to textual scholarship? Style tests are based on words, and all words have limitations as indicators of style. Content words are context related. Even function words, which articulate message rather than carry message, may be affected by changes in authorial mood or literary genre. But mood and genre are relatively easy to allow for, and a style test based on common function words might thus be useful in serious literary study. I here report on some results obtained with such a test, called BIRD (the Brooks Index of Rhetorical Difference). Examples are taken from classical Chinese texts (Mencius, Mw`odˇz, the ShˇrJ`ı), the New Testament (Revelation, Ephesians, Hebrews), and Homer’s Iliad (The Rush for the Ships, the speech of Phoinix, the exploit of Dolon), in part for their intrinsic interest, and in part to demonstrate that the BIRD test is not language-specific, but can give meaningful results with texts in any tradition. I note that, in addition to the inevitable authorship questions, such a test may also, and perhaps more fruitfully, be employed in studying style within the work of a single author.

C. East Asia VIII: Buddhist Culture and Practice. Antje Richter, Univer- sity of Colorado, Chair (10:30 a.m.–11:45 a.m.) Holmes-Brandeis ∗

141. Cuilan Liu, McGill University The Ownership of a Female Servant: Re-examining a Monastic Dispute in the Tibetan Legal Document P. T. 1079 This article discusses the handling of legal disputes between Buddhist institutions and individuals by examining the Tibetan legal document P. T. 1079 discovered from the Mogao cave in Dunhuang. This manuscript is dated to the period when the Sino- Tibetan frontier Dunhuang was under Tibetan control (786–848). Following Lalou’s catalogue of it in 1950, translation of this manuscript appeared in Chinese (Wao and Chen 1983) and was later re-transliterated and translated in English (Richardson 1991). These existing translations are not without problems but were nevertheless cited without questioning. Thus, in this article, I will re-examine P. T. 1079 with

– 74 – a focus on the legal aspect of a case involving both the monastery and individual members of the monastic communities. This manuscript records a legal dispute over the ownership of a female servant between a monastery and three individuals, a nun and two monks. It began with a summary of the dispute, followed by a decision, and ended with twenty-seven red official (bcad rgya) and personal seals (sug rgya). A careful re-examination of it informs us that a certain monk Bam Kim keng owned four female servants (bran). When he was about to die, he offered three of them to a Buddhist monastery and gave fourth to his younger sister who was a nun. Was the transference of monk Bam Kim keng’s belongs to his younger sister in conformity with the Buddhist monastic law on inheritance? How does Buddhist monastic law regulate the handling of a dead monk’s belongings? How does traditional Chinese and Tibetan law regulate it? And how was the handling of the belongings of a dead monk actually practiced in Dunhuang before, during, and after the period when this region was under Tibetan rule (786–848)? These are the specific questions to be addressed in this article.

142. Fletcher Coleman, Harvard University Bodies Embodied: A Reevaluation of Chinese A´soka Style Reliquaries The exploits of the great Buddhist sovereign, King A´soka (304-232 BCE, r. 269– 232) of the Mauryan Empire (322–185), were well known throughout the Asian sub- continent at a very early stage. As an expression of his devotion, A´soka had seven parts of the Buddha’s body gathered, re-divided, and distributed throughout his king- dom within 84,000 bejeweled reliquary st¯upas. Because of this great act, King A´soka became an exemplar of Buddhist rule. Later sovereigns sought to emulate him by reenacting A´soka’s search for and redistribution of Buddhist relics. Leaping forward approximately 1,200 years, King Qian Chu (928–988 CE, r. 947–978) of the Wuyue Kingdom (907–978) enacted one of the most famous distributions of relics modeled after A´soka. Qian Chu became ill in 954 from the sin of killing innocents during the suppression of a rebellion. A monk prescribed that he build st¯upas and copy s¯utras in order to regain his health. Early sources confirm the construction of these reliquaries. This literary evidence is further corroborated by a number of reliquaries unearthed in the 20th century that are directly identified in inscriptions as belonging to Qian Chu’s distribution. Because of the seemingly detailed historical documentation concerning Qian Chu’s reliquaries, contemporary scholars have ignored obvious iconographic discrepancies in their analysis of the roughly two-dozen surviving examples. Based upon material and literary evidence, I propose a complete reevaluation of the visual programs found on these reliquaries—although to do so counters previous scholarship on the objects. Based upon this new understanding of the reliquary programs, I argue that the King A´soka style reliquaries produced within the Wuyue Kingdom and for some years thereafter can be divided into two categories of iconographic program. In turn, these variant programs mirror two distinct functions for the reliquaries themselves.

– 75 – 143. Stephanie Balkwill, University of Southern California The Lives of Elite Women in the Imperial Nunnery of the Northern Wei My paper is a study of the imperial nunnery of the Northern Wei (386–534 CE) court in Luoyang, the Jade Glow Nunnery, which was the site of much political intrigue. Providing a safe haven for empresses and other elite women of the court, the nunnery housed some of the dynasty’s most powerful women during times when their power failed them, often following the deaths of their imperial husbands, fathers, and sons. Yet this safe house, tucked in as it was between the palace and the city wall, was not always safe; women were murdered by their competitors and raped by invaders even though they attempted to conceal themselves in the religious life. The nunnery is often mentioned in literature of the period—the epitaphs of nuns, the Wei shu, and the Luoyang qielan ji all tell different yet interrelated stories about the women who spent time in the Jade Glow. These stories tell us that the women of the Northern Wei court used the nunnery as an alternate social institution to the court and purposely created permeable boundaries between these two locales in order to increase their social options and safeguard their lives. In my paper I will locate all references to the Jade Glow in the aforementioned sources and will proceed to analyze how and why the nunnery became such an important social institution for court women in the Northern Wei and in Medieval China in general.

D. Islamic Near East XII: Transmission, Tradition and Institutions. Rana Mikati, The College of Charleston, Chair (9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.) Kennedy

144. Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Chicago Preservation of Early Arabic Oratorical Texts: Questions of Orality, Authenticity, and Modes of Transmission Arguably the first and most influential genre of Arabic belletrist prose is oration (khut.ba), and a large number of texts are attributed in the sources to speech-makers from the early, oral centuries of Islam. But before we can begin to understand the parameters of the genre, we need to assess the provenance of our materials: If the khut.ba texts of the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods were initially produced in an oral culture, how were they preserved until the time they were recorded in writing? And are the materials that have come down to us authentic? In my presentation, I will chronicle the history of the khut.ba texts’ preservation over the first three Hijri centuries. The story is complicated, and I will attempt to unravel the main strands. I will discuss how orations were spontaneously composed and orally delivered to a public audience, then preserved initially by the first generations of Muslims primarily through a strong indigenous tradition of memorization and oral transmission, sup- plemented by some written materials, before being systematically transcribed into literary and historical texts in the 3rd/9th century. Simultaneously, I will endeavor to offer a nuanced critical assessment of the knotty question of authenticity. Some scholars reject the historicity of these materials in a blanket fashion, but their stated reasons for doing so rely only on precedents from Greek and Roman materials. I will argue that because early Arabic oration texts contained built-in mnemonic devices which facilitated memorizing and transmission, they were ably passed on—for two, three or four generations—until they were eventually recorded and systematically col- lected. Although some of the materials attributed to early orators are surely fabricated

– 76 – or erroneously transmitted, it is reasonable to believe that many lines and pieces may have been spoken by them, perhaps with some variation, perhaps even verbatim.

145. David Calabro and Brian Hauglid, Brigham Young University Ibn Bishr’s Kit¯ab Mubtada- al-Duny¯awa-Qis.as. al--anbiy¯a-: At the Beginnings of the Islamic Tradition of Stories of the Prophets In August 2015, we (David Calabro and Brian Hauglid) began the preparation of a scholarly edition of the Oxford Bodleian Library’s manuscript Huntingdon 388, which contains Ab¯uHudayfa Ish¯aq ibn Biˇsr’s (d. 821 C.E.) work Kit¯ab mubtada- ad- duny¯awa-qis.as. al--anbiy¯a- (“Book of the beginning of the world and stories of the prophets”). This is the earliest book in the Islamic genre of stories of the prophets for which any manuscript exists, and our edition is to be the first complete publication of this manuscript. After a brief overview of the codicological aspects and contents of the manuscript, I will present our transcription and translation of the fourth section, comprising stories about Adam in paradise. I will highlight some passages that quote the parallel biblical account verbatim, that merge the biblical and Qur’anic accounts, or that rely on Jewish tradition. These passages provide concrete illustration of a fact noted in previous scholarship, namely Ibn Bishr’s close interaction with Jewish sources, a fact for which Ibn Bishr (along with some other early transmitters of stories of the prophets) came under criticism by later exegetes. I will also point out ways in which these particular sections differ from the accounts of other, more well-known transmitters of stories of the prophets.

146. Jordi Ferrer I Serra, Lund University The “Palace” of al-Khawarnaq: An Ancient Ruin, a Banqueting Tent or... an Abbasid Concoction? The mention of al-Khawarnaq conjures up the image of a magnificent palace, castle, or fortress standing on a hill overlooking the Euphrates on the outskirts of al-H.¯ıra. The palace was constructed, the Arab and Persian historians tell us, because Yazdaˇgird I put his son Bahr¯am in the care of his vassal king an-Nu,m¯an b. Imru- al-Qays of al-H.¯ıra, and in order to provide proper quarters for his young prot´eg´e, an-Nu,m¯an commissioned Sinimm¯ar to build a residence for him at al-Khawarnaq. Sinimm¯ar took many years to construct it, and when he finished, it was unequalled in splendour. Modern researchers, though aware that Sinimm¯ar belongs, at least partially, to the realm of legend, have nevertheless thought the existence of an important palace at al- Khawarnaq to have been a historical reality. G. Rothstein, in his seminal study on the Nas.rid kings of al-H.¯ıra, offered the opinion that it was a palace of great importance to this dynasty, probably even serving as the main residence of its kings, and later scholars, such as I. Toral-Niehoff, whose recent monograph on al-H.¯ıra appeared in 2014, have adopted a similar view. Students of Arabic poetry, including, among others, J. Stetkevych, M. Zwettler, and J. Scott Meisami, have in the same vein asserted that the early Arabic poets make frequent reference to this legendary palace. Scholars also appear to generally have been of the opinion that the palace continued to exist into Islamic times, though opinions vary about the state of the building in its later years, and no one has ventured to give an account of its final fate. Despite such uncertainties, however, art historians, beginning with E. Herzfeld, have accorded it a decisive role in the development of Islamic architecture. The paper I present here, however, argues

– 77 – that the evidence strongly indicates that no important palace existed at al-Khawarnaq in the late pre-Islamic period.

147. Devin J. Stewart, Emory University The Inaugural Ceremony (Ijl¯as) in the Madrasahs of Fifteenth Century Cairo The field of Islamic studies has witnessed many long-standing debates over the de- gree of formality of pre-modern institutions, such as the legal , the Islamic city, political loyalty, and so on, and one of the most thorny issues has been that of education. While George Makdisi portrayed medieval Islamic legal education, espe- cially the education associated with the institution of the madrasah or college of law, as regular, organized, and formal, his views have been questioned by scholars such as Jonathan Berkey, Daphna Ephrat, and Michael Chamberlain, who describe the sys- tem of education as flexible, informal, and based more on personal relationships than on impersonal rules and institutional procedures. Arguing for Makdisi and against his opponents, this essay examines references to the ijl¯as— literally, “seating, causing to sit”—in the massive biographical dictionary of al-Sakhawi (d. 902/1497), al-Daw’ al-lami‘, in order to define this institutional term related to madrasah education and professorships and to determine its parameters. Preliminary research suggests that the ijl¯as was an important formal element in premodern education that has not been sufficiently recognized in scholarship to date. It was a celebratory ceremony involving a public lecture, the invitation of prominent members of the learned community, and presumably the serving of food and drink for the audience. It served to mark at least two major types of event: the inauguration of a professorship ina madrasah or other similar stipendiary post attached to an endowed institution, and the conferral of the ijazat al-ifta’ wa’l-tadris, which Makdisi characterized as a doctoral degree of Islamic law. Scholars such as Chamberlain have doubted the existence of anything like the latter ceremony, maintaining that the ijazah was nothing like the formal degrees of western European universities and that receiving one was not accompanied by any formalities and did not grant entry into a recognized class of professionals. Exami- nation of the evidence suggests that there indeed existed a regular ceremony for the conferral of the ijazat al-ifta’ wa’l-tadris with well-known conventions, that the degree was highly coveted, and that recipients were willing to pay large sums to acquire it, in addition to studying for many years. This suggests that acquisition of the degree was directly related to prospects for employment in the judiciary and in other stipendiary and government positions.

E. Islamic Near East XIII: ,Abd al-Q¯ahir al-Gurˇg¯an¯ı.ˇ Alexander Key, Stan- ford University, Chair (9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.) Hutchinson-Lowell

148. Alexander Key, Stanford University ,Abd al-Q¯ahir al-Gurˇg¯an¯ı:ˇ Theory in Grammar Time ,Abd a-Q¯ahir al-Gurˇg¯an¯ı’sˇ reputation as a theorist is unimpeachable, and this panel recognizes that scholarship on his work has recently started to approach critical mass, with Nejmeddine Khalfallah’s 2014 monograph and Lara Harb’s 2013 dissertation building on the foundations laid by Margaret Larkin (1995) and Kamal Abu Deeb (1979). ,Abd al-Q¯ahir’s work also remains a central point of reference for all those of us working on literary theory in Arabic, in any language. Ever since Fahr ad-D¯ın ˘ – 78 – ar-R¯az¯ı’s encomium in Nih¯ayat al-Iˇg¯az¯ (ca. 1200), scholarship has been in agreement on ,Abd al-Q¯ahir’s preeminence. My paper will take a fresh look at the relationship between ,Abd al-Q¯ahir’s grammar and his poetics. It is well established that the theory of syntax (naz.m) with which he explained Quranic inimitability was made up of functions established by grammatical categories (ma,¯an¯ıan-nah. w). It is also understood that his ideas about poetics, and particularly the functioning of metaphor, rested on the identification of the different speeds of the processes by which language produced meaning. Finally, just as famous as ar-R¯az¯ı’s praise is the association of ,Abd al-Q¯ahir with long, discursive, and even disorganized books: Asr¯ar al-Bal¯a˙gah and Dal¯a-il al-I,ˇg¯az. I will make the argument that ,Abd al-Q¯ahir has a self-conscious theory of reading, an ethics of reading, that makes sense of the structure of his two great monographs. I will also argue that it is a theory of reading in time that matches the epistemological underpinnings of his theories of syntax and metaphor. The puzzle of how eloquence could be just grammar and yet more than grammar is thereby solved: grammar pro- vided ,Abd al-Q¯ahir with an account of how language works in our minds across time.

149. Lara Harb, Princeton University Form, Content and the Inimitability of the Qu-r¯an in ,Abd al-Q¯ahir al-Jurj¯an¯ı’s Works Proving the inimitability of the Qur-¯an is the purported purpose of many classical Arabic treatises on eloquence. The argument put forth is typically understood as fol- low: the Qur-¯an is the epitome of eloquence and that no poet is able to reach that level of perfection. This is not quite an accurate description, however. I argue that ,Abd al-Q¯ahir al-Jurj¯an¯ıattributes eloquence to two aspects: lafz. (form) and ma,n¯a (con- tent). Such a division, in and of itself, is not new on the part of al-Jurj¯an¯ı. However, his conception of each category is new. I show that form, defined as the ways in which a meaning can be conveyed poetically, constitutes sentence construction (naz.m) and only certain kinds of literary figures (namely, maj¯az, isti,¯ara, and kin¯aya). This forms the subject of his Dal¯a-il al-i,j¯az and it is in form alone that the inimitability of the Qur-¯an lies. Content, on the other hand, which constitutes the subject of his Asr¯ar al-bal¯agha, involves such literary devices as tashb¯ıh and takhy¯ıl, and does not form the basis on which the inimitability of the Qur-¯an lies. Poetic excellence, however, can be founded on content. Given that content is evaluated differently from form, the æsthetic criteria on which the arguments for i,j¯az are based and those on which poetic excellence tends to be based are not necessarily one and the same. Eloquence, therefore, constitutes a larger category than i,j¯az.

150. Jeannie Miller, University of Toronto Al-Bay¯an and Genre from al-J¯ah.iz. to al-Jurj¯an¯ı In the introduction to Dal¯a-il al-I,j¯az, al-Jurj¯an¯ı refutes a number of unnamed opponents who appear to be participating in the inter-bureau and inter-disciplinary competitive disputes of the tenth and eleventh centuries. Among them is someone who argues for something resembling al-J¯ah.iz.’s classification of bay¯an. Al-J¯ah.iz.’s classifi- cation of bay¯an had, by this time, appeared in shifting forms in the introductions to a minority of works participating in the distinct literary genres of i,j¯az al-qur-¯an

– 79 – and adab al-k¯atib. Gustave von Grunebaum and Krystyna Skarzynska-Bochenska have given us a good list of the texts that discuss bay¯an, but do not discuss the generic or affiliative significance of the choice to include a definition of bay¯an in the introduction to a work. A particularly interesting case from a generic perspective is Ibn Wahb’s al-Bay¯an f¯ıWuj¯uh al-Burh¯an. In this paper, will consider questions of genre and af- filiation as I read closely the introductions to Dal¯a-il al-I,j¯az and Asr¯ar al-Bal¯agha. The paper gives greater nuance to the existing claim that al-Jurj¯an¯ıwas inventing a new method and even a new discipline, and also notes that for al-Jurj¯an¯ıand his pre- decessors, the term bay¯an was reflexively linked with discussions about why language is a necessary component of being human, in arguments that combine several distinct arguments drawn from al-J¯ah.iz.’s work, in combination with Aristotelian ideas.

151. Avigail Noy, Harvard University The Legacy of ,Abd al-Q¯ahir al-Jurj¯an¯ıin the Arabic East, 1200–1300 Recognized today and by late medieval scholars as the greatest literary theorist of the Arabic scholarly tradition, in his own time ,Abd al-Q¯ahir al-Jurj¯an¯ı(d. 1078 or 1081) was known primarily as a grammarian. Moreover, according to Seeger A. Bonebakker, both his literary-theoretical masterpieces, Dal¯a-il al-i,j¯az and Asr¯ar al- bal¯agha, were often inaccessible to medieval scholars. Like Aristotle, who at some point in the Islamic tradition became known only through Ibn S¯ın¯a, al-Jurj¯an¯ıwas known primarily through the works of the much later al-Sakk¯ak¯ı(d. 1229) and al-Qazw¯ın¯ı (d. 1338). In this paper I explore the legacy of al-Jurj¯an¯ıin the century or so before al-Qazw¯ın¯ı, 1200–1300, in Iraq, Syria and Egypt (the Arabic East). I find that scholars, typically viewed as oblivious to al-Jurj¯an¯ı’s work, were in fact aware of it, either through the mediation of Fakhr al-D¯ın al-R¯az¯ı(d. 1209) (e.g., D. iy¯a- al-D¯ın Ibn al-Ath¯ır, d. 1239) or directly (e.g., Ibn Ab¯ıal-Is.ba,, d. 1256). One scholar (Ibn al-Naq¯ıb, d. 1298) even goes explicitly against a view held by al-R¯az¯ı, even though he describes him as a muh. aqqiq in the field. Another scholar, who had direct access to al-Jurj¯an¯ı’s work (Ibn al-Zamlak¯an¯ı, d. 1253), reaches conclusions different from those of his ‘master’, especially in the realm of figurative speech (maj¯az). While some mysteries are still left unanswered, I conclude that—as much as it may seem odd to the modern reader—the reason al-Jurj¯an¯ıdid not sweep the literary-critical tradition in the short term was not lack of accessibility, but rather lack of perceived merit.

152. Matthew L. Keegan, New York University Al-Mut.arriz¯ı’s Commentary on al-H. ar¯ır¯ı’s Maq¯am¯at: Jurj¯anian Poetics in Prac- tice This paper explores what Jurj¯anian poetics looked like in practice in the early th th 7 /13 century by examining a Jurj¯anian commentary on al-H. ar¯ır¯ı’s Maq¯am¯at. Ac- cording to al-Mut.arriz¯ı’s (d. 610/1213) commentary on the Maq¯am¯at, al-H. ar¯ır¯ı’s text offers the reader a challenging and rewarding interpretive experience which is un- matched in the Arabic and Persian adab traditions. In modern scholarship, Adab commentaries are often overlooked as sites of literary criticism. This study is the first in-depth analysis of this commentary and contributes to our understanding of both the development of applied Jurj¯anian poetics and the reception of al-H. ar¯ır¯ı’s Maq¯am¯at.

– 80 – Al-Mut.arriz¯ı’s commentary begins with an introductory essay on Jurj¯anian poet- ics, but the body of his commentary does not initially seem to develop a specifically Jurj¯anian reading of the Maq¯am¯at. In his introduction, he cites passages from the Maq¯am¯at to illustrate key rhetorical devices. By citing these examples, he demon- strates that the subtlety and complexity of the Maq¯am¯at’s content (ma,n¯a) was inex- tricably linked to its expression (lafz.). I argue that, for al-Mut.arriz¯ı, the Maq¯am¯at is a great work because it requires the reader to tease out the subtleties and ambiguities of its allusive language. In this sense, certain parts of his commentary can be under- stood to highlight a Jurj¯anian reading of the text that induces both wonder (,ajab) and pleasure (uns). To illustrate how al-Mut.arriz¯ıapplies al-Jurj¯an¯ı’s (d. 471/1078) theories about the intellectual pleasures of reading, I focus on an understudied aspect of Jurj¯anian poet- ics: the relationship between explication (tafs¯ır) and the text’s original expression. In Jurj¯anian poetics, any re-expression of the text’s meaning in commentary or explica- tion (tafs¯ır) cannot be commensurate with its original expression. These discussions of the relationship between text and commentary suggest that the body of al-Mut.arriz¯ı’s commentary is not an explanation of the text but an aid to experiencing it.

F. Islamic Near East XIV: H. ad¯ıth. Sean W. Anthony, Ohio State University, Chair (11:15 a.m.–1:30 a.m.) Kennedy

153. Michael Dann, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign The Discourse on Bid,a in 2nd/8th Century Iraq This paper traces the evolution of a discourse on bid,a among hadith critics of the Iraqi urban centers of and Kufa in the course of the second/eighth cen- tury. The issue of bid,a likely arose among traditionalist scholars already in the late first/seventh century, but it took roughly a century for hadith critics to arrive at a systematic articulation of its consequences for their emerging discipline. By the turn of the third/ninth century, most hadith critics held that it was unacceptable to narrate from an individual who proselytized for bid,a, but that it was acceptable to narrate from a non-proselytizing adherent of bid,a. The outlines of this issue have been sketched already by several scholars of the early hadith milieu, who suggest that the theoretical distinction between proselytizing and non-proselytizing innovators did not have significant practical consequences. In this paper, I demonstrate that while this distinction was largely semantic, a radical shift in hadith critics’ approach towards bid,a indeed took place in the latter half of the second/eighth century with significant practical consequences. This is exemplified in the contrast between the treatment of innovators by the most prominent hadith narrators of the mid-third/ninth century, and that of their prot´eg´es who flourished towards its end. The latter rejected a siz- able number of narrators who had been unambiguously accepted by the former and buttressed their rejection with a clearly articulated theoretical standard. I argue that the exponential increase in the availability of hadith that took place in the course of the second/eighth century and the desire to enforce communal boundaries were the primary factors that led to this shift. In conclusion, I demonstrate that this discourse on bid,a had a significant impact on the compilation of the six canonical works of Sunn¯ıhadith in the third/ninth century.

– 81 – 154. Issam Eido, Vanderbilt University The Mu,tazilite Approach toward H. adith Criticism: The Origin and Evolution In the field of h. adith criticism it became very clear that the genealogy of this field back to Al-Sh¯afi,¯ı(d. 820) in his two books “ar-Ris¯ala” and “Jim¯a, al-,Ilm”, “At- Tirmiz¯ı” (d. 892) in his introduction “al-,ilal”, and Ah. mad Ibn H. anbal (d. 855) in his books “al-,ilal” and “al-mas¯a-il”. In the early period which called “Mutaqadim¯un” that ends around at the end of the third century as adh-Dhahab¯ı(d. 1348) mentioned in his book’s introduction Miz¯an al-i,tid¯al, different voices and approaches towards hadith criticism can be seen. These voices gradually had declined in the late period which called “muta-khir¯un”, since then al-Sh¯afi,¯ıschool became almost the only voice that produces this kind of genre. However, in the early period we can notice different critical approaches, among them is the mu,tazila writings. These writings can be traced in two different ways, the first one through the Sunni writings which include both of scholarly and non-scholarly contents, and the second one through the mu,tazila writings themselves. This paper attempts to trace the origin of the mu,tazila criticism on hadith, and then to follow the subsequences that happened through the first four centuries and the reasons that led to disappear this school.

155. Garrett Davidson, The College of Charleston The Recanonization of al-Bukh¯ar¯ı’s S. ah.¯ıh. : Between the Manuscript Tradition and Printed Text This paper explores the manuscript tradition and printing of the canonical hadith collection S. ah.¯ıh. al-Bukh¯ar¯ı. In the later half of the nineteenth century a number of printed editions of Bukh¯ar¯ı’s Sah. ih. were produced. The emergence of these editions had the effect of canonizing certain recensions of the text. Prior to the printing of Bukh¯ar¯ı’s S. ah.¯ıh. there was considerable diversity in the manuscript tradition with a number of different recessions and variants of the text in circulation and use. In many cases the differences between the recensions were fairly substantial. For instance, some recensions diverge in the number of hadith they contain. Within this diversity some recensions were given preference over others. To a large extent these preferences were regional. In the central Islamic lands, since the eighth/fourteenth century, the recension produced by the Syrian hadith scholar Sharaf al-D¯ın al-Y¯un¯ın¯ı(d. 658/1259) has been considered to be most authoritative recension of the S. ah.¯ıh. . In the Maghreb, al-Y¯un¯ın¯ı’s recension of the S. ah.¯ıh. was largely unknown and the recension of Ibn Sa,¯ada (d. 566/1170) was recognized as the most authoritative recension of the text. The emergence of printed editions of the text in Cairo and India, radically homog- enized the text with the Cairo edition gaining a revered and canonical status in most of the Muslim world, and the Indian edition gaining a similar status in India. In both cases the reverence given the printed edition is in part due to the figures associated , with their printing, Sultan Abd al-H. am¯ıd II (r. 1876–1909) in the case of the Cairo , edition and Ah. mad b. Al¯ıal-Saharanp¯ur¯ı(d. 1879), one of the regionally revered founders of the Deoband seminary. The process that produced the Cairo edition is examined and the extent to which this edition reflects the Y¯un¯ın¯ımanuscript tradition that it is purported to be based on is raised.

– 82 – 156. Rana Mikati, The College of Charleston Defection at the Battle of S.iff¯ın: The Origin and Evolution of the Abd¯al Scholarly discussion of the abd¯al (substitutes) has been limited to their appearance as the members of a saintly hierarchy first alluded to by al-H. ak¯ım al-Tirmidh¯ı(d. 295/905–300/910) and systematized by Ibn ,Arab¯ı (d. 638/1240). However, unlike the other members of this hierarchy, the abd¯al are also known through the hadith, , one of which is attributed to Al¯ıb. Ab¯ıT. ¯alib. Based on hitherto unstudied hadith literature, this paper shows that prior to the Sufi iteration of the abd¯al the concept originated in hadith circles as part of a tradition with a specific purported historical context, the showdown between the Syrians and at the Battle of S.iff¯ın (37/657). It is demonstrated that initially the term abd¯al was a referent to Syrians with ,Alid sympathies, who had defected to ,Al¯ı’s camp. It also traces the gradual loss of this context that went hand in hand with the emergence of the mystical saintly abd¯al. This process of dehistorization of the hadith reports led to the emergence of the abd¯al as Syria specific saints. Having become a hadith backed geographical deployment of sanctity, the abd¯al were at times harnessed in fad. ¯a-il and biographical literature to sanctify the Syrian space and to legitimize the vertical cosmic saintly hierarchy in tracts such as al-Suy¯ut.¯ı’s (d. 911/1505) al-Khabar al-d¯all ,al¯awuj¯ud al- wa-al- awt¯ad wa-al-nujab¯a- wa-al-abd¯al.

157. Mareike Koertner, Trinity College The Speaking Wolf and the Mistaken Orientalist—Re-evaluating an Early H. adith In the early 20th century, Western scholars of Islamic Studies frequently studied ac- counts of the life of Muhammad in a binary way by distinguishing between ‘scholarly’ and ‘popular’ narratives. The common underlying assumption was that the ‘genuine’ accounts portraying the ‘historical’ Muhammad had been corrupted over time by pop- ular beliefs and folklore that were most commonly expressed in miraculous accounts. For many, the Orientalist’s task lay in discerning the two strands of biographical tradition. As a consequence, genres such as S¯ıra, Dal¯a-il al-Nub¯uwa, and Qis.as. al- Anbiy¯a- and parts of Hadith literature were oftentimes discredited as not having been part of the ‘legitimate’ Islamic scholarly discourse but rather the product of popular veneration. In this paper, I present the case study of a Hadith that relates a shepherd’s en- counter with a speaking wolf. The Orientalist Tor Andræ used this particular Hadith as an example for narratives that he classified as ‘fantastic legends’ and ‘barbaric embellishments.’ I counter his classification by outlining the Hadith’s actual reception in various traditional Muslim genres, including canonical Hadith compilations, and will argue that narratives like this have actually been part of the Muslim scholarly discourse on prophecy and found their way in various religious genres. By locating this particular Hadith within its intellectual landscape, I argue that its classification as product of popular veneration is a reflection of the intellectual views of the early 20th-centruy Orientalist scholars, particularly their skepticism toward miracles, rather than of the Hadith’s actual role in Islamic intellectual history.

– 83 – G. South and Southeast Asia VII: The R¯am¯ayan. a. Ajay Rao, University of Toronto, Chair (9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.) King

158. Vidyut Aklujkar, University of British Columbia The Song of the Birds in Ananda-r¯am¯ayan¯ .a In Ananda-r¯am¯ayan¯ .a’s vil¯asa k¯an. d. a sarga 2, [verses 25–33] we find a nine-verse long song, paks.ibhih. krtam navakam, attributed to birds residing in a pleasure-garden of R¯ama’s palace in˚ Ayodhy¯a. This little gem has gone unnoticed in all publications on Ananda-r¯am¯ayan¯ .a so far. I propose to analyse this song in detail and place the text in its various contexts to underscore its significance. It can be analysed as a victory song, or as a compressed r¯ama-story with exclusively adjectival phrases describing R¯ama. Its composition of precisely nine verses allows me to compare it with other such nine- verse compositions in AR¯ and also elaborate on the significance of the number nine with regards to R¯ama lore with reference to AR¯ manohara-k¯an. d. a, sarga 6. While discussing the meter K¯amad¯aof the navakam, I would like to point out a couple of misprints which hamper the meter, but have gone unnoticed so far in the Hindi edition by Pandit Ramtej Pandey and also in the Hindi and English translations available. I shall suggest probable emendations. In passing, I will compare it with other songs of the birds in world literature, and discuss the possibility of influences from other sources.

159. Robert Goldman, The University of California at Berkeley Avat¯ara’s End: The Complex Theology of the Uttarak¯an. d. a of the V¯alm¯ıkir¯am¯a- yan. a As scholars have often noted, The Uttarak¯an. d. a of the V¯alm¯ıkir¯am¯ayan. a presents a number of noteworthy contrasts to the content and style of the epic’s first six books. One such area that has received relatively little attention, however, is the important one of theology. The k¯an. d. a provides at some length an account of the end of the R¯am¯avat¯ara, including the circumstances under which the epic hero decides to bring his earthly sojourn to a close, his mah¯aprasth¯ana together with his brothers, them- selves partial incarnations, his subjects and his companions, and their final ascension to various heavenly realms. This account, which occupies the final eight sargas of the k¯an. d. a in the critical edi- tion contrasts sharply with the B¯alak¯an. d. a’s account of the incarnation of R¯ama, his brothers and his future v¯anara allies. The latter is relatively brief and the mechanics, as it were, of incarnation are quite simple and easy to understand. The description of the end of the avat¯aras however is much more obscure and rather difficult to un- derstand. This difficulty and obscurity has, not unexpectedly, given rise to extensive exegesis and noteworthy differences of opinion on the part of the epic’s body of me- dieval commentators. Drawing on the work of earlier scholars such as Whaling, Pollock and Rao I hope to elucidate the complexity of the Uttarak¯an. d. a account both as a further bit of evidence of the relative lateness of certain sections of the book and, more importantly, as a window, through its receptive history, of the rise of medieval and early modern sectarian Hinduism.

– 84 – 160. Aaron Sherraden, University of Texas at Austin It was an Accident! Who is Samb¯uka,´ Anyway? Shifting Narrative in Vimalas¯uri’s Pa¨umacariya The late edition of the Uttarak¯an. d. a and the B¯alak¯an. d. a to the core of V¯alm¯ıki’s R¯am¯ayan. a added new dimensions to R¯ama’s character. R¯ama gained a divinity—not present in V¯alm¯ıki’s other books—as an incarnation of Vis.n. u. With the Uttarak¯an. d. a also comes controversy: among other things, R¯ama exiled S¯ıt¯aat the urging of his subjects as they doubted her chastity while living as R¯avan.a’s captive. As R¯ama and his story spread across socio-religious boundaries, both of these aspects spread with him. Unable to ignore R¯ama’s effect on their own lay community, the Jain religious elite were forced to contend with the rising popularity and controversy of the divine king. One means of addressing R¯ama’s rising influence was to claim the R¯am¯ayan. a for themselves, to make R¯ama fit into Jain doctrine. Vimalas¯uri composed his Prakrit- language Pa¨umacariya to serve just such an end. This paper will address how the Pa¨umacariya reconstructs a worldly R¯ama and a R¯ama who—as one of sixty-three Jain ´sal¯ak¯apurus.as—conforms to Jain ideals of non-violence. Such a reconstruction necessarily comes with modifications, not just to R¯ama’s actions and characteristics, but to the narrative arch of the R¯am¯ayan. a in general. Through a comparative look between Vimalas¯uri’s and V¯alm¯ıki’s handling of Samb¯uka’s´ death, I will present an example of how Vimalas¯uri made these modi- fications. In order to contest the brahmanical paradigm within which R¯ama and his influence gained prominence, Vimalas¯uri had to remove caste, divinity, and violence from R¯ama’s thoughts and actions. Vimalas¯uri’s rendering of Samb¯uka’s´ death ad- dresses all of these points and shows us a virtuosic attempt at “correcting” V¯alm¯ıki’s text in a simultaneous effort to claim R¯ama. To support this paper, I will draw on studies of the R¯am¯ayan. a and Jainism done by Goldman, Kulkarni, Jha, Jacobi, and Dundas.

161. Sally J. Sutherland Goldman, The University of California at Berkeley A Narrative of Rape: Sexual Aggression and the Uttarak¯an. d. a The Uttarak¯an. d. a is commonly understood to be a late or spurious book consisting of 1 an eclectic collection of “virtually independent episodes.” Thus the k¯an. d. a has suffered neglect on the part of many scholars. Moreover, the vast majority of scholarship of the k¯an. d. a has focused on specific references that support larger examinations of comparative dating, geographic and ethnic identifications, language, episodes, and the like2; examinations and comparisons of specific sections or individual episodes3; 4 or examinations of the structural relationship of the k¯an. d. a to the B¯alak¯an. d. a. As a result, there has been virtually no scholarship devoted exclusively to analyzing the 5 k¯an. d. a as a discrete literary entity or as an integral part of the larger epic. A close reading of the Uttarak¯an. d. a, however, demonstrates that its author has composed a carefully and logically structured work, one that is haunted by themes of

1 See, for example, Brockington 1998: 381. 2 See, for example, Brockington 1998: 345–73, 373–77, 377–97. 3 See Bulcke 1960; Verkerdi 1964; Antoine 1975; Sutherland (Goldman) 1999. 4 S. Goldman 2004. 5 Antoine 1975; Chatterjee 1972–73

– 85 – sexual transgression. Not only is the first half of the k¯an. d. a occupied with the history and genealogy of R¯avan.a, who is no less than the sexual aggressor par excellence, but its latter half tells of R¯ama’s seemingly heart-wrenching decision to banish S¯ıt¯abased on rumors of her own supposed infidelity. Similar themes are reflected in a number of the k¯an. d. a’s sub-stories—both those that are understood to be part of the main narrative and those that belong to the so-called ‘pur¯an.ic’ narratives—and highlight sexual aggression against women. This paper will examine a specific and quite unusual subset of such narratives, those that deal with explicit rape, with an eye toward further understanding why here, uniquely in this k¯an. d. a , such stories appear, and well as what these narratives tell us of the narrative integrity of the k¯an. d. a and its epic.

H. South and Southeast Asia VIII: The Mah¯abh¯arata. Christopher Minkowski, University of Oxford, Chair (10:45 a.m.–12:00 p.m.) King

162. Stephanie W. Jamison, University of California Los Angeles Utta ˙nka in the Mah¯abh¯arata: Dharma in Action The story of the brahmacarin Utta ˙nka and his adventures in seeking a guru gift is related at length in two separate places in the Mah¯abh¯arata, once in the Paus.ya Parvan of the first book of the epic (I.3), once in the A´svamedhika Parvan (XIV.56– 58). The two versions share substantially the same narrative line, but differ in detail and in emphasis. The tale has attracted some recent scholarly attention, beginning with Wilhelm 1965, followed by, e.g., Feller 2004 and Magnone 2012. All these ap- proaches see the version found in I.3 as upholding brahminical norms, though they see it as conforming to different narrative models: Wilhelm as Utta ˙nka’s test, Feller as his initiation, Magnone as his quest. My approach is closest to Wilhelm’s, but I consider the story in I.3, which is the first narrative section of the epic, as one meant to situate dharma and dharmic puzzles in a narrative context and to “problematize” the notion of dharma, whose conflicting strictures will figure so prominently in the many narratives to follow. This showcasing of a narrative consisting of a series of dharmic conundrums sets the dharmic stage for the rest of the epic, just as the instituting of Janamejaya’s snake sacrifice, urged by Utta ˙nka, at the end of the Paus.ya Parvan sets the ritual stage. 163. Jarrod Whitaker, Wake Forest University Bleeding for Heaven: On the Complex Martial Messages of Mah¯abh¯arata 12.96– 104 Since epic accounts of violence are heavily romanticized and idealized, it is unclear what their didactic and prescriptive purpose may have been for real warriors and kings. Of course, one of the clearest theological statements about how to socialize men into participating in battle appears in the Bhagavad G¯ıt¯a. A less well-known section of the Mah¯abh¯arata, 12.96–104, also contains a clear set of martial expectations and justifications intended to edify warriors. The nine chapters are contained within a larger section entitled, “Law, Force, and War” (12.93–109), and this section is itself set within one of the major divisions of the S¯anti´ Parvan, entitled “The Laws for Kings” (r¯ajadharmaparvan) (12.1–128). While most of the information in the S¯anti´ Parvan is composed about and for kings, MBh.12.96–104 presents an explicit account in religious and ritual terminology about how kings can convince warriors that fighting

– 86 – and dying in battle is the right thing to do. Consequently, this paper will argue that the nine chapters give us a rare window into how aristocratic warriors may have been socialized into a violent martial ideology. Moreover, the didactic messages contained in these chapters closely parallel advice given to kings in the Artha´s¯astra (as seen in AS.10.3.26–47)´ and thus highlight the intertextual nature and importance of such practices for the ruling class.

164. Tim Lorndale, University of Pennsylvania Who is the Real Hero of the S¯ahasabh¯ımavijaya?: Narrative Structure and Dury- odhana’s Characterization in an Old Kannada Mah¯abh¯arata Ranna’s S¯ahasabh¯ımavijaya (SBhV) is a retelling of the Mah¯abh¯arata, written in Old Kannada at the Kaly¯an.i C¯al.ukya court for Saty¯a´sraya II. It is a poem ostensibly about Bh¯ıma, narrating his club-battle (gad¯ayuddha) with Duryodhana at the end of the war. However, the majority of the text centers on Duryodhana. As the narrative progresses, it brings into focus his point of view in the wake of the battle, through a series of dialogues and monologues as he wanders kuruks.etra, enters the lake, and eventually fights with and is defeated by Bh¯ıma. With such an emphasis placed on Duryodhana, one might query: who is the real hero of this work? In this presentation, I will investigate this question through a close reading of key sections of the SBhV, focusing on the text’s narrative structure and characterization of Duryodhana. Rather than follow the lines of earlier scholarship, which have attempted to justify Duryodhana’s role as a protagonist in Mah¯abh¯arata-themed k¯avyas in terms of ´s¯astric understandings of the Sanskrit drama or dharmic values (Gerow 1985 and Gitomer 1992), I seek to read this text as a Kaurava k¯avya. My presentation will begin with a brief overview of the text’s structure and will then shift its focus to Duryod- hana’s eulogies over the corpses of Dron.a, Du´s´s¯asana, and Karn.a, during his journey through the battlefield (in a´sv¯asas 4 and 5). It is in these scenes that the Kaurava prince sees the carnage of the battle, while trying to find his brothers, teachers, friends and extended family, and reflects upon earlier episodes from the epic’s narrative in order to understand his present context. In doing so, the text, as I see it, reorients past events from the Mah¯abh¯arata and presents them from Duryodhana’s perspective. With such a focus on Duryodhana, one might suggest that the title of the work, “The Victory of Bh¯ıma’s Boldness,” in fact, reflects a hint of irony.

A. Ancient Near East IX: Science and Magic. Tzvi Abusch, Brandeis Uni- versity, Chair (1:00 p.m.–2:15 p.m.) King ∗

165. Gina Konstantopoulos, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University May the Evil Tongue Stand Aside: Concerning the Dispelling Language and Func- tion of Mesopotamian Incantations Mesopotamian texts are populated with supernatural figures, which can appear as either specifically identified and named creatures, or as more nebulously described threats. These figures belong in turn to the latter half of a well-established duality between the inhabited world of the city and the dangerous, uninhabited lands of the desert and mountains. Demons may thus intrude upon civilized world of the city, actions that texts such as incantations served to correct. Though the ability

– 87 – of incantations to cast out or dispel these threats is intrinsic to their structure and functionality, it is specifically articulated through particular verbs and the use of the terminative case, both of which have not been as closely studied in this context. Through an analysis of Sumerian and Akkadian incantations, focusing on the bilingual series Udug Hul, or “Evil Demons,” this study will investigate the particular language and verbs used to express the critical, often final, actions that dispelled the demon or illness afflicting the patient. This was accomplished by various means, from the more active “tearing out” to more passive command that the evil “stand aside.” Although the individual incantations aim for a similar result—the casting out of the malignant threat and thus the creation and enforcement of a protected space around the patient—the language utilized in them could differ significantly, even within one group of texts such as the Udug Hul series, and so reveal how even related incantations could be individually tailored to fit a particular threat. In doing so, these specific verbs and the actions they describe further reinforce the protected space of the city and civilization by firmly delineating its boundaries from the demon-inhabited wilderness.

166. M. Willis Monroe, Brown University Physical Markers of Textual Formatting in Late-Babylonian Astrology The micro-zodiac tables from Late Babylonian Uruk and Babylon contain a highly structured matrix of astrological information organized around the location of the sun and moon in the zodiac. The table in which this data is set is formally marked with incised lines demarcating rows and columns, and double lines marking sections, as well as headings written perpendicular to the main text. As part of my dissertation research I have had the opportunity to investigate all of the known exemplars in museum collections. Despite the highly structured nature of the micro-zodiac tables, there are points at which the formatting breaks down and the content spills over, or does not otherwise follow the layout of the text. By studying these points of irregularity a few conclusions about the source texts and method of transmission can be elucidated. In particular, the use of “break” glosses in certain sections of the text have meaningful implications for how the various parts of the micro-zodiac tables were transmitted into the tabular format. Likewise, the inclusion of content from outside of the micro-zodiac presents an interesting case study in the Late Babylonian tradition of astrological “handbook” tablets. These added sections are conspicuous because they do not follow the otherwise uniform layout of the micro-zodiac tables. Much can be learned from a text studied in its original layout, even more so when the physical layout of the text is integral to its understanding. By highlighting the points at which the content of the text breaks the otherwise rigid tabular structure of the text I hope to elucidate methods of transmission and access in Late Babylonian astrology.

167. Christopher Woods, University of Chicago The Abacus in Mesopotamia: Considerations from a Comparative Perspective It generally assumed, but rarely discussed, that calculations in early Mesopotamia were carried out not with cuneiform numerals, but—following a seemingly universal practice—with the use of an abacus of some kind. That is, the numbers so copiously recorded in cuneiform texts do not directly represent the calculations themselves, but

– 88 – are the results of computations carried out in another medium. The only recent dis- cussions that consider this issue in any detail have been by Høyrup (2002) and Proust (2000), who have investigated what calculation errors reveal about mathematical pro- cedures, and the implications that these have for the design of calculation devices in Mesopotamia. Although any conclusions remain necessarily provisional in the absence of an archæologically attested instrument, or textual descriptions for its use, this pa- per will explore what more can be said about early counting devices in Mesopotamia by drawing upon the scant but suggestive evidence presented by textual sources and numerical notation itself. The goal of this paper is primarily to highlight the central role these devices most likely played in Mesopotamian numerical life, and to explore their potential parameters by considering the evidence in light of crosscultural and historical parallels as well as the cognitive advantages and limitations posed by such counting aids.

Høyrup, Jens. 2002. A Note on Old Babylonian Computational Techniques. Historia Mathematica 29: 193–198. Proust, Christine. 2000. La multiplication babylonienne: La part non ´ecrite du calcul. Revue D’histoire Des Math´ematiques 6: 293–303.

B. Ancient Near East X: Literature. Petra Goedegebuure, University of Chicago, Chair (1:00 p.m.–2:15 p.m.) Isabella Stewart Gardner ∗

168. John Wee, University of Chicago An Esoteric Babylonian Commentary, Explained “An Esoteric Babylonian Commentary” was the name given by Biggs (1968) to a small tablet (23 lines) from Achæmenid or early Seleucid Kutha in a modern private collection, as well as his title for its editio princeps. The commentary is related to another tablet (LBAT 1601 = BM 34647), a comparison with which illumines themes and meanings in both texts. Ongoing interest in these tablets is evident from recent treatments by B¨ock (2000), Scurlock and Al-Rawi (2006), and Gabbay (2006). While Frahm (2011) did not consider the Esoteric Babylonian Commentary to be a “text commentary” (p. 56), uses of the difficult label .sˆatu in this tablet are reminiscent of its meanings for lexical lists and cuneiform text commentaries. Interacting with previous research, I propose fresh explanations for the logic and argumentation in the Esoteric Babylonian Commentary, demonstrating the ways it reconciles astronomical ideas with traditions of teratology, diagnosis, and physiognomics, as well as affirming its value as a witness to the interdisciplinary systematization of knowledge in scholarship of the late period.

169. Sam Mirelman, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University Towards a Model of Liturgical Literacy in 1st Millennium BCE Mesopotamia Various registers of writing and reading existed in ancient Mesopotamia, in different periods, regions and contexts. The role of writing in the case of liturgical composi- tions, for example, is entirely different to the administrative, or monumental (display) uses of physical texts. The study of literacy in ancient Mesopotamia has often been approached as a question of technical proficiency, i.e. a question of who was able to read and/or write certain types of texts in a specific period. In addition, valuable

– 89 – contributions to the study of literacy in ancient Mesopotamia by P. Michalowski, N. Veldhuis and others, have emphasized cultural and pedagogical aspects. This paper examines the role of writing and reading, specifically in the case of liturgical texts which represent vocal performance, such as incantations or prayers. We know that the compositions represented by such texts were certainly performed in certain contexts. But the role of writing and/or reading of liturgical texts, and the role of the physical text in the composition, transmission and performance of such compositions, is a more complex question. Only a few hints from ancient sources aid us, in any attempt to define precisely the role played by writing and/or reading in such scenarios. It is often unclear whether a physical text functioned exclusively or primar- ily within the performative, scholastic, pedagogic, votive or apotropaic realms. In an attempt to broaden the theoretical basis from which we may explore such questions, this paper explores alternative models of liturgical literacy, with particular empha- sis on ethnographic examples. Key concepts discussed include “phonetic literacy” vs. “comprehension literacy”, memorization, and the “lecto-oral” model of J. Goody. The paper argues, with specific reference to the Late Babylonian repertoire of the exorcist and lamentationpriest, that the role of the physical text even within such specific contexts, was varied and multi-dimensional.

170. Hannah Marcuson, University of Chicago The Function of Analogy in Hittite Ritual Hittite ritual language is primarily focused on projecting the practitioner’s physical actions onto intangible entities such as gods, demons, sorcery, and curses. One of the main methods by which this is accomplished is through analogy. Analogic incantations are used to calm angry gods, to dispel evil from patients’ bodies, to grant long life and fertility, and even to attack enemy sorcerers. Though these incantations have been studied from a syntactic perspective already, this talk will focus on the function of the analogies within the rituals themselves: what they are intended to accomplish, how they complement the ritual acts, and how they relate to one another and to other types of incantations in the extremely extensive Hittite ritual corpus. Overall, it can be seen that analogies use concretizing metaphors to create a physical environment in which practitioners can operate on the intangible world.

171. Harold Torger Vedeler, Central Connecticut State University Cognition and Divine Communication in Gudea A Building inscriptions make up a sizable fraction of Mesopotamian royal inscriptions from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. Many are laconic, but others display full narra- tives, usually following a basic sequence: god instructs king to act, king acts, god is pleased with king. Yet few of these narratives describe the precise way the deity com- municates his or her command to the king. Gudea A is thus exceptional: it expands the narrative to describe a dream as divine communication. Previous studies of dreams in Mesopotamia, and of Gudea’s inscriptions, tend to focus on what the texts tell us about social and religious belief. But because they can evoke pure emotional states, dreams also reflect a mode of cognition which is neither logico-scientific nor narrative (the two cognitive modes described by the psychologist Jerome Bruner), and so they are often difficult to express through conscious tools such as language, which is designed for those modes. Using our understanding of

– 90 – cognitive modes, this paper will consider Gudea A as an effort to translate Gudea’s mystical dream experience into a conscious, concrete narrative through the use of a dream interpreter, allowing him to share it and thereby justify his real-world action of rebuilding Ningirsu’s temple. Because the specific process of divine communication is smoothed over in later royal inscriptions, Gudea A therefore provides us with valuable insight into how Mesopotamian kings interpreted their relationship to the divine

C. Islamic Near East XV: Sh¯ı,¯ıStudies. Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter, Chair (1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m.) Kennedy 172. Paul E. Walker, University of Chicago An Islamic Typology Using the example of what went wrong with the Banu Israel, in the main as un- derstood through the Qur-¯an, to correct or condemn events in the history of the Muslim community is fairly common in Sh¯ı,¯ıliterature. It constitutes a search for “types” quite like that done in Christian doctrinal writings. The failings of the earlier prophetic peoples has its duplicate in the later, here, in Islam. Muhammad is said to have declared about his followers: “You will surely follow the customs of those who came before you inch by inch, cubit by cubit, exactly alike, to the point that, should they enter the burrow of a lizard, you would follow them into it.” In British Museum manuscript OR 8419, which lacks a title, an author and is incomplete at the beginning and end, we have a sustained exposition of a lengthy series of such failures, all care- fully lending credence to the righteousness of the Sh¯ı,a as the true heirs of the Islamic legacy and the wickedness of their Sunni opponents who have consistently perverted it. Internal evidence strongly suggests that it has come from an early (pre-caliphate) Ismaili authority in North Africa, and is a record of his preaching. 173. , Oxford University , Agents of the Imams M¯us¯aal-K¯az.im and Al¯ıRid.¯a The Twelver Sh¯ı,ah are distinguished from the Ism¯a,¯ıl¯ıby their recognition of M¯us¯a al-K¯az.im (d. Baghdad, 183/799) as the seventh imam in succession to Ja,far al-S.¯adiq (d. Medina, 148/765). M¯us¯awas responsible for transferring operations from Medina to Baghdad, also it seems for setting up a network of agents to report his instructions to the provinces and to bring contributions from the provinces to him. I propose to work out here how far his network can be reconstructed from the leading biographical dictionaries (especially al-Naj¯ash¯ıand al-Kashsh¯ı), also to document its collapse after , the death of Al¯ıal-Rid.¯a(d. Tus, 203/818). 174. Najam Haider, Barnard College/Columbia University The Remembered Imam: M¯us¯aal-K¯az.im and the Influence of Classical Rhetoric in Early Muslim Historical Writing This paper focuses on narratives of M¯us¯aal-K¯az.im (d. 183/799) preserved in three early Twelver Sh¯ı,¯ı sources: al-Kulayn¯ı’s (d. 329/941) Al-Us.¯ul min al-k¯af¯ı, , Ibn B¯abawayh’s (d. 381/991) Uy¯un akhb¯ar al-Rid. ¯a, and al-Shaykh al-Muf¯ıd’s (d. 413/1022) Kit¯ab al-irsh¯ad. The accounts of al-Kulayn¯ıand Ibn B¯abawayh provide insight into early disputes over the Im¯am’s authority and the community’s relationship to political power. They

– 91 – also reveal the influence of political and social changes on Twelver Sh¯ı,¯ıhistorical memory as narratives were subtly revised to fit contemporary circumstances. These are not trivial matters as they explicate a marginalized community’s sense of self and the ways in which it legitimized its interaction with governmental power through a reimagining of the Im¯am. Al-Muf¯ıd embodies a later consensus regarding the scope and nature of the Im¯am’s authority that permeates most subsequent biographical works. My analysis is predicated on the idea that Classical Rhetoric shaped the episte- mological assumptions of early Muslim historians. This differs from most modern scholarship which engages Muslim historical writing through pre-modern European historiographical standards/categories (i.e., veracity, fiction). I argue that historical narratives “were a matter of historical record; their outcome was already known to their audiences, but their meaning was geared both to contemporary and to general concerns.”1 As long as authors refrained from disguising their narratives as religious truths and remained within the bounds of plausibility, they were free to embellish in order to present a truthful (rather than true) rendering of a person or event. Along these lines, Twelver Sh¯ı,¯ıauthors utilized the biographical accounts of the Im¯ams to debate contemporaneous issues pertaining to the Im¯am’s authority. This process in- volved an interaction between audience and author that valued the transmission of meaning over that of chronology or factual information.

175. Edmund Hayes, Colby College Ibn Rawh. al-Nawbakht¯ı: Knowledge as Power in the Struggle for the Soul of Early Occultation-Era Imami Shi,ism

The career of Ibn Rawh. (or Ibn R¯uh.) al-Nawbakht¯ı, who lead the Imami com- munity between 305/917 and 326/938, was both the cradle and the grave of the institutionalization of the office of ‘Envoy’ (saf¯ır) of the Hidden Imam. This office had been based upon the pre-Occultation office of fiscal agent (wak¯ıl), but had ac- quired an expanded, quasi-Imamic authority. While Ibn Rawh. appears to have been firmly established in the role, and cemented powerful alliances with Qumm¯ıscholars and Baghdadi courtiers, the office lapsed six years after his death. Assessment of his career tends to concentrate on the assumption that he largely represents a Baghdad school of Nawbakht¯ırationalist theologians, largely based on his family connections (Newman), and a rather hostile assessment of his ‘cynical’ role in ‘concocting’ the position of Envoy of the Hidden Imam (Massignon and Klemm). However, there has been little careful analysis of his recorded statements, which are the key to under- standing his intervention as Envoy. In this paper I analyze Ibn Rawh.’s statements, letters, edicts, rescripts (tawq¯ı,¯at) and legal responsa (mas¯a-il), issued both in his name and in the name of the Twelfth Imam. This is intended as part of a larger longitudinal study of the different communicative genres that are recorded as having been transmitted between the Imami community and their leaders both under the Imams and during the Occultation, and the extent to which these were used to shape the Imami community. I argue that Ibn Rawh.’s communications provide evidence of an attempt to prove to the community (in particular the stringent touchstone of the Qumm¯ıscholars) that he, as well as the Imam he represented, displayed enough legal

1 Julie Meisami, “History as Literature,” 33 (2000), 29.

– 92 – and doctrinal knowledge to be considered legitimate, in the face of a threat like that of the charismatic ‘extremist’ scholar al-Shalmagh¯an¯ı.

D. Plenary Session: Travel. Beatrice Gruendler, Freie Universit¨at Berlin, Chair (2:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.) Alcott

176. Paul-Alain Beaulieu, University of Toronto Ancient Near East 177. Stephen West, Arizona State University East Asia 178. Everett Rowson, New York University Islamic Near East 179. Robert Goldman, University of California, Berkeley South Asia

A. Ancient Near East XI: Realia. Philip Zhakevich, Columbia University, Chair (9:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.) Alcott ∗

180. Shiyanthi Thavapalan, Yale University Color in the Glass Texts from Ancient Mesopotamia In Akkadian, color words often take their meaning from the brightness and luster characteristic of particular substances, such as stones and dyes. Although the words for such materials are often well attested in the textual record, precise identification of their color values remains difficult. This is because terminology for realia can rarely be concretely linked to archæological finds in ancient Mesopotamia. Glass offers a unique opportunity to correlate lexical and physical evidence since there are ancient glass recipes that record the colorants used to achieve artificially the visual appearance of precious stones. Some of these colorants, usually in the form of mineral ores, have been discovered in archæological contexts. This paper will examine one type of glass, duhshu, the color of which has been debated since the 1960s. Duhshu was one of the most important stone, wool and leather colors in the second millennium BCE, though its prestige seems to have diminished by the early first. By combining a philological examination of the glass recipes concerning duhshu with samples of ancient glass and recent scientific analyses, I will propose an identification for this key color. I will further show that the duhshu glass recipes preserved in Neo-Assyrian manuscripts were not an invention of the time but actually go back to a late Bronze Age scribal tradition.

181. Federico Zangani, Brown University Writing to the Great Kings, Sailing the Great Green: Combining Evidence from Amarna and Uluburun This paper sets out to elucidate patterns of exchange in the Late Bronze Age Near East and Eastern Mediterranean by combining the textual evidence from the Amarna letters with the archæological evidence from the Uluburun shipwreck. The latter was most probably a Levantine vessel carrying an extraordinary quantity of commodities

– 93 – and prestige objects from Egypt and the Near East to a major palatial center in the Aegean. Most of the scholarship has therefore taken the view that it represents an ex- change of the same type as those described in the Amarna letters, and that the Aegean world should be inserted in the same system of high-status gift exchange as the Near Eastern polities. What this scholarship has failed to acknowledge, however, is the fact that the Amarna letters do not report any contacts whatsoever between the Aegean and the major monarchies of the Near East. This paper, therefore, addresses this sig- nificant discrepancy between the textual and the archæological evidence and argues that those texts and the shipwreck, despite belonging broadly to the same historical context, may represent two different phenomena. The Amarna letters were essentially a diplomatic tool, and they report exchanges as a function of political contacts and negotiation of status between rulers, not as transactions of a purely economic nature. The Uluburun shipwreck, on the other hand, is situated outside of this diplomatic sce- nario, and is here interpreted as an exchange within a ‘command economy’, in which an Aegean palatial center imported goods and commodities and controlled their mod- ifications into finished products. This type of exchange was therefore, quite simply, beyond the scope of the Amarna letters.

182. Philip Zhakevich, Columbia University Ancient Hebrew Terms Designating Mud and Plaster This paper is a study of nine Biblical Hebrew terms designating mud, clay, plaster, a and whitewash. The lexemes examined are: b¯os., repeˇs, y¯aw¯en, ,¯ap¯ar,. tˆıt., h. ¯omer,. tˆı h. , t¯ap¯el, and ´sˆıd. While previous research has considered the etymology of these words, what is lacking is a study that presents the interrelationship between the meanings of these terms. The present study provides such a synthesis of these terms as belonging to one semantic group—one that includes all the words designating mud and plaster. By examining the etymology of these terms and their use in ancient Hebrew—and by considering the finds of various types of plasters from the ancient world in general and ancient Israel in specific—I attempt to map out the semantics of each of these lexemes. I will demonstrate that several terms either referred to unworked mud (e.g., b¯os., repeˇs, y¯aw¯en) or to workable mud (e.g., ,¯ap¯ar,. tˆıt., h. ¯omer), whereas a few lexemes a (e.g., .tˆı h. , t¯ap¯el , and ´sˆıd) designated plaster or whitewash. I will argue that of these nine Hebrew terms, it was specifically the lexeme ´sˆıd that was used in ancient Hebrew to refer to lime-based plaster.

183. Emilie´ Page-Perron´ , University of Toronto The Fishermen of Early Dynastic Lagash This paper is concerned with the work organization and practices of the fishermen that had a working relationship with the e-mi / e-Bau, important household of the end of the Early Dynastic period in the Lagash region, Mesopotamia. Englund (1990) has studied the administrative practices related to the fish industry of the Ur III period in detail. Some general publications discuss fishing in Mesopotamia (Salonen 1970 and Sahrhge 1999), and other studies concerned with economy and exchange do hint at the topic (e.g., Prentice 2010). However, these works do not provide a clear overview of the organization and practices of the fish industry in our specific context, namely in Girsu (Lagash region), in the Early Dynastic IIIb period. What are the dynamics governing the work structure? Is there a continuity of the practices in the

– 94 – e-mi /e-Bau archive and compared to subsequent periods? By studying a group of 150 tablets coming from the archive of the e-mi /e-Bau concerning mostly fish transactions, examining the prosopography, and creating a typology for these tablets, it is possible to answer these questions and infer useful information for comparative analysis. In this communication, I demonstrate the peculiarities of the fishermen’s work organization and their relationship with the patron household. I also demonstrate that the texts’ structure is useful to understand the workers hierarchy. In light of the results, there is apparently a continuity of practice in the 17 years covered by the e-mi/e-Bau but also with the Ur III period.

B. Ancient Near East XII: National and Social Identity. Sarah C. Melville, Clarkson University, Chair (11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.) Alcott

184. Jennifer Finn, Marquette University Wars with Time: Reconstituted Battle Narratives and Social Identity in the An- cient Near East A recent trend in scholarship of the ancient Greek world has been a focus on the social memory of warfare, and the ways in which these recollections contributed to formulating collective identity (e.g., Steinbock 2013). In this context, the battle of Marathon is of signal importance, as it became a marker of Athenian superiority over “the other.” This battle, mythologized and incorporated into every aspect of life— literary, material, performative, and architectural—became a rallying point around which Athenians reimagined their identity for centuries after the actual event (Zahrnt 2010; Gehrke 2010). In this paper, I will explore the utility of such a paradigm for Near Eastern texts and ritual. In the Ancient Near East, the reuse of past battle narratives appears in identifiable patterns during times of crisis or drastic change, as is the case also in Greek literature (e.g., Chaniotis 2005). With special attention to texts of the first millennium—most specifically Sennacherib’s account of the Battle of Halule (Weissert 1997), and the Bisitun Inscription of Darius I (Windfuhr 1994)—I will demonstrate the ways in which previous battle narratives are recycled and adapted for the purpose of expressing a newly imagined identity. Yet reconstituted battle narratives are not simply limited to literature, and can be important elements of ritual as well, as was most famously argued with respect to the Ak¯ıtu festival (Lambert 1963; also Ristvet 2015). Taken together, I will explore the ways in which these literary and religious renarrations of the past can provide important context, not just for the construction of royalty, but for community expectation and identity in the constituencies of first millennium Mesopotamian empires (e.g., Jonker 1995; Foster 2007).

185. Sarah C. Melville, Clarkson University Ideology, Politics, and the Neo-Assyrian Understanding of Defeat Although all Near Eastern cultures valorized warfare to some extent, most of them also recognized and warned against its destructive power. Through literature such as the Sumerian City Laments, the Babylonian poem, “Erra and Ishum,” and the He- brew Bible, many societies confronted the consequences of defeat. Applying theoreti- cal models adapted from sociology and psychology, recent scholarship has investigated those works as responses to collective trauma and war trauma (see, e.g., Lemos 2015,

– 95 – George 2013, and Sperl 2013).1 However, since the Assyrians did not usually acknowl- edge setbacks, but concentrated instead on victory and conquest, they have generally been omitted from such studies. This paper explores how the Assyrian conceptualized defeat and how their treatment of the vanquished affected their efforts to come to terms with their own military disasters, such as the death in battle of Sargon II in 705 BCE. 186. Lance Allred, Museum of the Bible Royal Veneration Names in the Ur III Period One of the most common personal name types in the Ur III onomasticon is the theophoric name—a name that venerates a god or goddess. A small subset of these theophoric names are devoted to the veneration of the king who, since early in the reign of Shulgi, was considered to be a god himself. Curiously, while Shulgi names appear throughout the chronological span of the Ur III corpus, names venerating kings subsequent to Shulgi—in particular Amar-Suen and Shu-Suen—appear largely during the reigns of those respective kings. This can only be explained either as a) parents naming their children after a crown prince in anticipation of his eventual ascension to the throne; or, more likely, b) that some people changed their names to venerate the king upon or soon after his actual ascension to the throne. This paper will investigate the evidence for these scenarios and their ramifications.

C. East Asia IX: Ming and Qing Novels. Stephen West, Arizona State Uni- versity Chair (9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.) Holmes-Brandeis ∗ 187. Mengjun Li, University of Puget Sound Enlightenment and Love: Existential Dilemmas and the Conflation of Genres in Dream of Returning to Lotus This paper examines new literary representations of the tension and dynamic be- tween the worldly pursuit of romantic love and the spiritual ideal of enlightenment after the Ming-Qing dynastic transition, the last one in imperial China. It looks at the religious dimension in the thematic and narrative configuration of Dream of Return- ing to Lotus (Guilian meng, 1670s). This largely-forgotten work demonstrates how a “deliverance story” in the form of a vernacular novel was informed and transformed by other fictional traditions of martial heroism and scholar-beauty romance in the late seventeenth century. The author, Su’an zhuren, a frustrated examinee who made a living as a private tutor and by writing fiction for the book market, seems to have become a lay Buddhist by the time this novel was composed. He presents religious enlightenment as the book’s ultimate agenda, and the novel traces the trajectory of a Buddhist deity, reborn as an unaware female mortal, who eventually reaches enlight- enment after failing in worldly pursuits. It explores the possibilities of military and romantic engagements only to reveal the transient and distracting nature of both. Ultimately, however, the religious agenda is deflated as a parallel storyline of a ro- mance between a talented scholar—pursued by, yet unavailable to, the heroine—and

1 T. Lemos, “The Apotheosis of Rage: Divine Anger and the Psychology of Israelite Trauma” Biblical Interpretation 23 (2015): 101–121; A. George, “The poem of Erra and Ishum: A Babylonian Poet’s View of War” in Kennedy, H. ed, Warfare and Poetry in the Middle East. London: 39–71; S. Sperl, “‘O City Set up thy Lament’: Poetic Responses to the Trauma of War.” in Ibid.

– 96 – a worthy beauty reaches its successful completion. I suggest that the novel is highly reflective of its time, both historically and from the perspective of literary history, as an allegory of the author’s conflated identity as both a Confucian scholar and a lay Buddhist. This specific case reflects a general existential dilemma shared by many literati in the early decades of the Qing dynasty.

188. Yiu Chun Lam, The University of Hong Kong The Concept of Qing in Honglou Meng, Its Lineage to the Late-Ming Sensitivity and Emotion Communion between Cao Xueqin and Zhi Yanzhai Despite its indispensability for deciphering the novel, Honglou meng, the concept of qing (love, feeling, emotion or sentiment) remains somewhat recondite. Among the scholarly attempts to unravel the treatment of the concept in the novel, little consensus has been reached. I believe the ambiguity of the concept lies in part in the evolution of its connotations, as well as the emergence of new interpretations throughout history, particularly in the cult of qing in late Ming and Qing; in part in the personal emotions and experiences of the author, Cao Xueqin (1715–1763?), his frustration as a failure and, his nostalgia for bygone days and his disillusionment with life. In the first half of this paper, I will outline the historical development of the concept of qing—its original relevance to nature and disposition, its acquisition of negative connotations in Dong Zhongshu’s amalgamation of yin and yang elements with Con- fucianism and how it is later expanded particularly in Neo-Confucianism. Then I will proceed to discuss the prevalent notions of the word in the cult of qing and pay special attention to the commonalities between the philosophy of Li Zhi (1527–1602) and Honglou meng, for Li is the groundbreaker who argues for the legitimatisation of desire and the concept of qing in Honglou meng essentially centres on desires. Fi- nally, I will compare Honglou meng with Mudan ting (Peony Pavilion) and Qing shi (The Anatomy of Love) and show how qing’s transcendence of the boundary between illusion and reality in the former and its paradoxical ability to spell destruction and redemption in the latter. In the second half, I will examine the commentaries of Zhiyan zhai (The Red Ink- stone) and argue that the uniqueness of qing in Hongloumeng is much attributed to qing-crazed image of Zhiyan zhai, and more importantly, the interaction between the author and the commentator, which sheds light on the author’s personal life

189. Jessica Moyer, Smith College Spatializing Labor, Ritual, and Emotion in Honglou meng and Honglou fumeng Building walls—of gardens, rooms, and houses—turns undefined space into particu- lar human spaces. As people create spaces, those spaces define those who live and work there. In the eighteenth-century novel Honglou meng (Dream of the red chamber), the iconic Prospect Garden and its buildings are a key element of the author’s artistic vision, illuminating the Jia family along with its members’ personalities and relation- ships. One of Honglou meng’s early sequels, Honglou fumeng (Dreaming again of the red chamber, 1799), incorporates and transforms this emphasis on significant spaces. Honglou fumeng uses household subspaces to balance its twin impulses toward orderly management and the full expression of qing. Household activities, ritual behaviors, and emotional closeness and distance are all mapped onto specific locations within the household. Within the plot, characters choose between different spatial logics to meet

– 97 – specific goals and maximize their own agency. On a macroscopic level, choice between different mappings of ritual, emotional, and economic practice lets the text reconcile competing ideologies. Honglou fumeng presents its clearly demarcated portrayal of household space as a corrective to the parent novel’s vagueness about place and time. Furthermore, the sequel’s depiction of the relationship between people and spaces is fundamental to its deeper critical work: redefining the nature of qing passion and its relationship to individual identity. This paper adds to previous Chinese and English scholarship on Honglou meng sequels, which generally treats them as a group and focuses on common trends (e.g., their resolution of the love triangle, their vindica- tion of Lin Daiyu, their fascination with continuity, and their importance to female readers). It shows that despite the commonalities of sequel writing as a phenomenon, different sequels such as Honglou fumeng use deeply individual strategies to achieve their characteristic goal of “fixing” the parent novel.

190. Ji Hao, College of the Holy Cross Gender and Sexuality in Xiyou ji The novel Xiyou ji (The Journey to the West) has been immensely popular in China and East Asia since the Ming dynasty. Modern scholarship has connected the novel to the long evolution of traditions loosely based on the historical Tripitaka’s pilgrimage to India and has investigated various aspects of the novel such as its an- tecedents, prototypes of the main characters, and conflicts among different versions. Nevertheless, little academic effort has been given to the representation of gender and sexuality in the novel and their significance. This paper will show how this focus enriches our understanding of the novel and its relationship with earlier antecedents in both Buddhist tales and Chinese folklore. Through the examination of the main characters Tripitaka and Sun Wukong (Monkey), this paper calls attention to a spe- cial textual mechanism that subtly operates in the novel and reveals itself through a different representation of gender and sexuality from earlier antecedents and other relevant texts.

D. Islamic Near East XVI: Literary Studies. Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Chicago, Chair (9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.) Kennedy ∗

191. Nuha Alshaar, American University of Sharjah/Institute of Ismaili Studies The Relationship between H. ad¯ıth and other Popular Literary Genres The study of the use and treatment of h. ad¯ıth in popular literary genres has been overlooked in scholarly research, particularly where their attestation serves as a foil to presenting literary and cultural motifs. This paper will explore the use of Prophetic utterances from the ironic adumbration of isn¯ad in the Maq¯am¯at of al-Hamadhan¯ı to the spontaneous citation of traditions in works such as Ibn ,Abd Rabbihi’s al-,Iqd al-far¯ıd and Ibn Qutayba’s ,Uy¯un al-akhb¯ar, and even popular prose works such as the qis.as. al-anbiy¯a-. It will focus on how these utterances are vehicles that invoke authority, an authority that sometimes emerges from the topos of the famous maxim that the Prophet had been endowed with “jaw¯ami, al-kalim”, a phrase that came to be interpreted as the ability to express himself with brevity, wit, and fluency. This paper aims to assess the context of the citation of traditions in popular literature and

– 98 – related literary texts, showing what current research reveals about various attitudes towards the traditions in classical literary circles and their æsthetic function. 192. Rana R. Siblini, M¨unster University “I wish I knew would I spend one more night”: the Calling of Nostalgia in pre- Modern Arabic Poetry The corpus of pre-modern Arabic poetry is full of recurrent motifs and images that appeared initially in the pre-Islamic poetry and traveled through time and place. The reason for this continuity could be either convention or literary value. Among these motifs for example is the camel journey in the desert as reflection of the poet, or the comparison of the women to a pearl or the metaphor of the sea as mamd¯uh. [patron], etc. Along these motifs developed as well some poetic expressions/verses that were es- tablished as patterns due to their frequent occurrences and circulations among poets. Some were considered as formulas having a specific function, such as (li-mani d-diy¯aru) [whose are the abodes] in the nas¯ıb opening of qas.¯ıdas. I treat here one remarkable expression of this nature: “al¯alayta shi,r¯ıhal ab¯ıtanna laylatan” [I wish I knew would I spend one more night] which is the first hemistich of a verse and appears in the openings of many poems or within. The aim of this paper is to show the development of this key expression into a thematic pattern of estrangement and nostalgia shaped by its various milieus. Nos- talgia is a prominent motif in Arabic literature, especially in poetry, and is expressed through various sub-motifs such as the abodes, the dove or the lightening and others, which were treated in several studies drawing especially on nostalgia as it appeared in Arabic literary compendia. The analysis here reveals four different dimensions of this motif, namely the geographical, temporal, social and emotional, through an in- ductive reading of a corpus of poetic selections based on the expression “al¯alayta shi,r¯ıhal ab¯ıtanna laylatan”, which is proven here to be an archetypal announcement of nostalgia. 193. Beatrice Gruendler, Freie Universit¨at Berlin Of Rats and Wise Men—Versions of a Chapter in Kal¯ıla wa-Dimna Translation across languages (which also means across religions and cultures) is what one Arabic classic exemplifies perfectly: the mirror of princes in the form of fables, Kal¯ıla wa-Dimna. Translated from a (lost) Middle Persian redaction—itself using Indian sources—it is, apart from a late 6th century Syriac translation and a fragmentary indirect tradition scattered in Arabic adab sources between the 9th and 11th centuries, only attested in full text since the 13th century. This coincides with its earliest European translations, notably into New Greek, Hebrew, and Old Span- ish (12th and 13th centuries). The received Arabic versions (thus one must refer to the puzzling variety of the manuscripts) have been sorted tentatively into six groups, or “families,” by Martin Sprengling in 1924, solely based on the sequence of chap- ters. Initial comparison of two chapters in the oldest manuscripts goes counter this classification, and the matter must be revisited. As an example, the contribution will focus on the short tale of rat and cat. Consulted as a point d’appui, the older Syriac version (which is close to the Middle Persian original) shows salient differences to all of the Arabic versions so far inspected. An

– 99 – initial diagnosis of the contents reveals a distinct shift in the parable’s interpretation. The gist of temporary friendship between enemies for mutual benefit remains the same. But in terms of the plot, the mouse turns into a rat, and he devises his strategy more carefully, such as leaving a “last rope” uncut. Most rewriting and insertions, however, concern the human emotions and conduct which the parable illustrates. The Arabic versions emphasize for instance the intrinsic instability of friendship and enmity. As to the nature of the friendship, the Older Syriac defines it simply as utilitarian without further reflexion. All of the Arabic versions devote much argument to the ending of temporary friendship, which seems to be a problematic issue, and oppose two social ideals, the premeditating “intelligent man” (al-,¯aqil) and the morally sound ”noble man” (al-kar¯ım), describing both with a number of added maxims. In their argument, the Arabic texts differ strongly, as each redactor-copyist inscribed his own emphasis and agenda. This short analysis demonstrates how a full appreciation of the work’s metamor- phoses must include its entire early history across all extant translations. Further benefit to be drawn from a review of the Greek, Hebrew, and Spanish translations, in as far as these reveal further (lost) Arabic Vorlagen.

194. Bilal Orfali, American University of Beirut Against Muslim Cities: On hij¯a- al-mudun in Arabic Literature In the pre-modern Muslim world, it was customary for a poet to praise his city of origin or cities of his patrons. This praise often utilized themes of nostalgia (h. an¯ın), estrangement (ghurba), and lament (rith¯a-). Some poets however did the opposite thing—they attacked their own cities or those of their patrons. This paper introduces the theme of hij¯a- al-mudun in Arabic literature and analyzes select poems directed against Muslim cities from the 3rd–4th/10th–11th centuries.

195. Ailin Qian, Independent Scholar Al-S.aymar¯ıthe Misanthrope The Maq¯ama of S. aymara by Bad¯ı, al-Zam¯an al-Hamadh¯an¯ı(d. 398/1008) has long been regarded as a maq¯ama of “anomaly.” It has double isn¯ads. The usual isn¯ad (,¯Is¯aibn Hish¯am related to us and said) is awkwardly followed by a second one (Sa,¯ıd , Ab¯ual- Anbas al-S.aymar¯ı). Therefore both the narrator and the hero are the same al- S.aymar¯ı(d. 275/888), the court jester of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil. Its episode contains seven consecutive plots enclosed in a moralizing frame, and was compared by W. J. Prendergast (the English translator of the Maq¯am¯at) to Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, because “the themes are identical.” Moreover, this maq¯ama features a mixture of saj, and plain prose, which, according to Julia Bray, could betray al-Hamadh¯an¯ı’s technique of “working up a prose sketch into saj,.” Before Shakespeare wrote his play, the great Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus teamed up with Thomas More to produce a new set of Latin translations of Lucian’s works, among which there was Timon the Misanthrope (T´ιµoν, ’`η Mισανθρ´ oπoς). Lucian was born in Syria around 125 C.E. He was much admired and studied in Byzantium. Manuel Chrysoloras (d. 1415), the first officially appointed teacher of ancient Greek of the Renaissance, had brought a manuscript of Lucian’s works to Florence and Timon the Misanthrope was among the first two works to be translated by him. In this paper, we argue that the Maq¯ama of S. aymara was based upon a plain

– 100 – prose translation of Lucian’s Timon and medieval Muslims were certainly aware of “the great works of Greek literature.”

E. Islamic Near East XVII: Shi,a in History. Edmund Hayes, Colby College, Chair (9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.) Isabella Stewart Gardner ∗

196. Patrick Scharfe, Texas Tech University , Friendship over Sect: The Abbasid Caliph al-T. ¯a-i, and his Patronage of the Alid Poet al-Shar¯ıf al-R¯ad.¯ı The hegemony of the Sh¯ı,¯ıBuyid dynasty (945–1058 CE) over the Sunn¯ıAbbasid caliphate has long been an awkward topic in modern scholarship. Originally regarded as a sort of Babylonian captivity for the Abbasids, historians now recognize the care- fully choreographed reverence for the Abbasid caliphs performed by the Buyids in their court ritual. Just as significant, however, is the (heretofore unnoticed) evidence that certain Abbasid caliphs reciprocated a great degree of respect not only for the Buyid am¯ırs, but also for the Alid notables linked to the Buyids. The reign of the caliph al-T. ¯a-i, (r. 974–991) provides a striking example in this regard. The Alid naq¯ıb (i.e., chief notable among the descendants of ,Al¯ı) was in some ways a natural rival to the Abbasid caliph as a focus of religio-political esteem, but this did not prevent al-T. ¯a-i, from forming an unusual alliance with the naq¯ıb Ab¯uAh.mad b. M¯us¯aand especially his son, the young poet al-Shar¯ıf al-R¯ad.¯ı(d. 1015). Enchanted by the young Alid’s glowing panegyrics, al-T. ¯a-i, awarded al-R¯ad.¯ıever more prominent posts in ad- ministration. In addition to the naqibate, the caliph granted al-R¯ad.¯ısupervision of religious endowments as well as oversight of the mosques of Baghdad, an extraordinary appointment for a Sh¯ı,¯ı. Drawing on Arabic chronicles, letters, and the poetry of al- R¯ad.¯ıhimself, this paper will document a rich and ambiguous moment in the history of Muslim sectarianism, the memory of which was largely obliterated due to the aggres- sively Sunn¯ıpolicy of the succeeding caliph, al-Q¯adir (d. 1030). Modern scholars such as Wilferd Madelung have previously noted the policy of accommodation followed by Sh¯ı,¯ıintellectuals (including the naq¯ıbs) in this period; we must also recognize that at least for a time, the Abbasids followed a similar strategy with genuine sincerity.

197. Rachel Howes, California State University, Northridge Contemporary Literary and Intellectual Reactions to the Egyptian “Great Crisis” of 1058–1074CE/450-466AH The Great Crisis of the Fatimid period in Egypt, which lasted roughly from 1058 to 1074CE (450–466H), was a combination of famine, administrative collapse, and civil war that had a profound effect on both the politics of the Fatimid state and Egyptian society of the time. Despite its importance, it has been little studied, largely due to the lack of traditional historical sources contemporary to the period. I propose in this paper to examine this crises through a variety of sources that are not often considered by historians, but which do happen to be relatively abundant for this period. These include sermons, poetry, scientific works, and other literary works. I hope to present a picture of how the intellectuals of Egypt, whether Ismaili Shii or not reacted to this crises. While some of these works refer directly and clearly to the major events of this crises and to the traumas suffered or witnessed by their authors, many other these

– 101 – literary works refer only obliquely to these events. Therefore the historian is forced to do considerably comparative work to determine the extent to which this crisis effected the writers of the Fatimid era. While not precisely based on the works themselves, the first and most obvious effect is the number of intellectuals who fled or died in the crisis itself. In looking at biographical dictionaries and histories, it is clear that many left Egypt for more stable areas in Syria and Iraq, and that some simply died. Secondly, we see and profound focus on the unity of Ismailis in writings of the Ismaili elite. Finally, among authors who are not writing Ismaili religious texts, we can see a focus on human beings as helpless victims of nature and the tides of fate.

198. Mohammad Sagha, University of Chicago Daylami Dynastic Formations, Military-Factionary Politics, and the Zaydi Ima- mate of the South Caspian This paper examines the influence of the Zayd¯ı Im¯ams of northern Iran on the military-political organization of the Daylam¯ı/G¯ılite people from the 3rd/9th–5th/11th centuries in order to understand the trans-regional and trans-tribal patterns of loyalty, institutions, and authority which were formed during this period. This study asserts that the Zayd¯ıIm¯amate movement in the south Caspian created factions within pre- existing local dynastic elites and acted as the main fracture line for political order based on choosing resistance or cooperation with ,Abb¯asid and S¯am¯anid powers. Fol- lowing the contributions of Vladimir Minorsky, Wilferd Madelung, C. E. Bosworth, and M. S. Khan, this paper enriches scholarship on the Zayd¯ı Im¯amate of north- ern Iran and the “Daylam¯ıintermezzo” by asserting a new theory that the factions within existing elites and dynasties which chose to resist and organize militarily with the Im¯ams against the ,Abb¯asids and their allies formed the core of the new future military governments of the B¯uyid, Ziy¯arid and Mus¯afirid dynasties. This influence was accomplished by reiterating and conceptualizing resistance to the ,Abb¯asid Em- pire through the formation of supra-dynastic armies based on Zayd¯ıarticulations of opposition. This drive for independence, in turn, formed divisive partisanship based on military and the cultivation of a class of elite military officers which in- fluenced the future Daylam¯ıdynastic regime types by placing militant politics and ex- pansionism at the core of their governing apparatus and dynastic rule—a phenomenon which saw these dynasties ruling from the Caucuses to the borders of Central Asia. More specifically, the Zayd¯ıIm¯amate centralized pre-existing, yet disjointed, local power networks and empowered the rise of Daylam¯ıelites who did not form the basis of their political organization and identity on political sponsorship of the ,Abb¯asids or their vassals. Although these dynasties could cooperate or even support the ,Abb¯asids, they were not dependent on ,Abb¯asid political sponsorship for the basis of their inter- nal cohesion and military-dynastic structure. In particular, I engage deeply with Ab¯u Ish.¯aq al-S.¯ab¯ı’s al-Kit¯ab al-T¯aj¯ı in conjunction with Khan’s detailed prosopographi- cal research which he conducted in his translation of the work, in order to map out factions and leading families which were key actors during this period.

– 102 – F. Islamic Near East Islamic Near East XVIII: Islamic Readings of the Bible. Adam Bursi, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Chair (10:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.) Isabella Stewart Gardner ∗

199. Clint Hackenburg, Denison University Contextualizing Early Biblical Testimonia of Muh. ammad: A Study of Ibn al- Layth’s Ris¯ala

In S¯urat al-S. aff (61:6), Jesus is said to have spoken of a future prophet, whose name is “Ah.mad.” Throughout the medieval period this qur-¯anic prediction became a focal point of many Muslim refutations of Christianity, particularly those works concerned with the corruption of the Bible (tah. r¯ıf ). Additionally, this verse became indispensable to the Muslim defense of the prophethood of Muh.ammad. During the , ninth century, Al¯ıal-T. abar¯ı(d. ca. 860) and Ibn Qutayba (d. 889) greatly expanded upon the previously collected biblical testimonia of Muh.ammad that had been gath- ered by the Muslim community during the first two centuries of Islam. However, it is a less-known fact that these two authors were building upon the testimonia estab- lished by Ibn al-Layth (d. ca. 819) in his Ris¯alat Ab¯ıl-Rab¯ı, Muh. ammad ibn al-Layth allat¯ı katabah¯ali-l-Rash¯ıd il¯aQustant.¯ın malik al-R¯um (The Letter of Ab¯ul-Rab¯ı, Muh. ammad ibn al-Layth Which He Wrote for al-Rash¯ıd to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine). This epistle can be dated to between 790–797, making it one of the earliest surviving works of anti-Christian polemic. In addition to his use of biblical testimonia, Ibn al-Layth helped establish several lines of polemical argumentation that would be repeated throughout the ,Abb¯asid and later medieval period. By properly contextualizing this work within the larger polemical atmosphere of the first ,Abb¯asid century, this presentation hopes to accurately clarify how and why Ibn al-Layth uti- lized the Bible, specifically biblical testimonia, in his Ris¯ala. This analysis will include an discussion of possible sources.

200. Samuel Ross, Yale University A Survey of Tafs¯ır Evidence for Medieval Muslim Engagement with the Bible Our knowledge of medieval Muslims’ engagement with the Biblical text is still in its infancy. In a recent address summarizing the state of the field, Sabine Schmidtke has suggested that prior to the 12th century, Muslims appear to have accessed the Biblical text largely indirectly. Several lines of evidence argue in favor of this interpretation: medieval Muslims frequently made mistakes when quoting the Bible, they often quote different translations of the same Biblical verse within the same work, and the total corpus of cited Biblical verses is relatively limited. After the 12th century, by contrast, we see evidence for a rise in direct engagement with such figures as al-Ja,far¯ı(d. 1270), al-T¯uf¯ı(d. 1316), and al-Biq¯a,¯ı(d. 1480), a trend possibly related to the so-called “Golden Age of Coptic Literature in Arabic.” In an effort to bring greater clarity to the history of Muslim engagement with the Biblical text, I present the results of a survey of 129 published tafs¯ırs in multiple lan- guages and representing a variety of exegetical approaches including tradition-based, linguistic, legal, S. ¯uf¯ı, Sunn¯ı, and Shi,ite from the past fourteen centuries. Using quanti- tative and qualitative methods, I then analyze and compare the extent of commentator engagement with the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.

– 103 – My survey suggests several important findings, whose potential interpretations I explore: (1) Despite the obvious relevance of the Biblical text for commenting upon the Qur’an, Biblical quotation remained a rare and isolated phenomenon within both Sunn¯ı and Shi,ite tafs¯ır for centuries after the initial stirrings of Muslim Biblical scholarship in the 12th century; (2) There are significant instances of commentators who quote from the Bible in their polemical and historical works, but not in their Qur’an commentaries, raising important questions about the genre of tafs¯ır and the nature of access to the Biblical text.

201. Ryan Schaffner, Ohio State University The Bible through a Qur-¯anic Filter: Scripture Falsification (Tah. r¯ıf ) in Early Muslim Polemical Thought The Islamic doctrine of Scripture falsification (tah. r¯ıf ), as it is currently artic- ulated in academic discourse, is supposed to have developed along two tracks— misinterpretation (tah. r¯ıf al-ma,n¯a) and textual corruption (tah. r¯ıf al-nas..s). Further, it is asserted that misinterpretation was the position advanced by earlier Muslims, while accusations of textual corruption were a later development. Analyzing Muslim and Christian disputational literature from the eighth and ninth centuries, I argue that this current scheme for categorizing Muslim views on the authenticity of the Bible is flawed in the following ways: (1) it is anachronistic and ill-fitting; (2) It ignores or explains away arguments for textual corruption in early Muslim polemical texts; (3) it relies on a fallacy of composition, whereby what is true for part is transferred im- properly to the whole; (4) it insufficiently accounts for implicit arguments for textual corruption in early texts; and (5) Christian disputational literature during this period refers to Muslim accusations of textual corruption. As an alternative categorization scheme, I argue that Muslim polemicists evaluated the authenticity of the Bible by the extent to which it conformed to their qur-¯anic and Islamic expectations for it. Within this scheme, one should view Muslim approaches to the Bible as though they are passing it through a qur-¯anic filter—and in doing so they are attempting to uncover the qur-¯anic Inj¯ıl contained therein. This framework allows flexibility for an author’s specific needs to determine the manner in which he understands and utilizes the Bible for his purposes. In re-categorizing Muslim views on the Bible in this way, we are equipped with a more reliable framework from which to account for the variations and nuances of individual texts.

G. South and Southeast Asia IX: Theology and Poetry. Vidyut Aklujkar, University of British Columbia, Chair (9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.) King

202. Jonathan Edelman, University of Florida An Examination of the Mantr¯arthad¯ıpik¯a (MAD) by Vi´svan¯atha Cakravatin: an th Early 18 Century Gaud.¯ıya Vais.n. ava Hindu Theologian This paper provides an examination of the Mantr¯arthad¯ıpik¯a (MAD) by Vi´svan¯atha th Cakravatin, an early 18 century Gaud.¯ıya Vais.n.ava Hindu theologian. Although Vi´svan¯atha is a major figure in the GV tradition, and although the MAD is an impor- tant discussion of many Vais.n.ava tantric texts, the MAD has never been translated, al- though it has been recently edited and discussed in a Hind¯ıcommentary by Kr.s.n.ad¯asa B¯ab¯a. The MAD is Vi´svan¯atha’s attempt to make sense of the k¯ama-g¯ayatr¯ı-mantra

– 104 – and in doing he comments on a number of Vais.n.ava Sam. hit¯a-s and Tantra-s, many of which are lost or require archival research for recovery. Like many tantric texts, the MAD attempts to describe the nature of the deity’s body, clothing, virtues, etc. in re- lation to fundamental sounds from b¯ıja-mantras and the Sanskrit alphabet, as well as the meditative process for apprehending deity through the contemplation and recita- tion of potent sounds. While David Haberman’s Acting as way of Salvation: A Study of R¯ag¯an¯uga Bhakti S¯adhana (1988) provides important information on GV meditative practices and esoteric theologies, there remains a need to connect the contemplative praxis with Vais.n.ava tantric textual sources, texts that provide descriptions for vi- sualizations, mantras, their interpretations, and the said process of transformation. While GV thinkers (pre-colonial and contemporary) define the tradition as vaidika (their root text, the Bh¯agavatapur¯an. a, is called the “pa˜ncama-veda”), esoteric doc- trines about the nature of God are often from tantric not vaidika sources. While GV contributions to Ved¯anta and K¯avya are fairly well attested, there is little on their discussion of Tantra. The goal of the paper is not to solve the Vedic/Tantric balance in the GV tradition, but to provide new information about the variety of sources from which the GV theology was constructed.

203. David Buchta, Brown University The History of the Virud¯aval¯ı Sub-genre of the Sanskrit Stotra R¯upa Gosv¯amin’s (16th century) Govindavirud¯aval¯ı is the most well-known and earliest extant complete poem written in a distinctive stotra sub-genre, virud¯aval¯ı, a genre in which at least six subsequent works were composed. This genre, I argue, rep- resents an avant-garde of late medieval Sanskrit poetry. The parameters of the genre, defined by what I call phoneto-metrical criteria including the use of many meters not previously known in Sanskrit poetry, has been outlined in at least three theoret- ical texts, the earliest extant of which again is R¯upa Gosv¯amin’s Virud¯aval¯ılaks.an. a. Despite R¯upa’s prominent role in popularizing this genre, I demonstrate that S. K. De (and similarly Jan Brzezinski) are mistaken when they suggest that “the Ben- gal Vais.n.ava Biruda K¯avya...perhaps represents an original trend of literary com- position. The credit of elaborating it should go to R¯upa Gosv¯amin...” The paper traces the history of the viurd¯aval¯ı genre as far as it is possible to reconstruct, es- pecially examining the discussion of ks.udra-prabandhas in a series of ala˙nk¯ara-´s¯astra texts mostly from Andhra Pradesh, beginning with Vidy¯an¯atha’s early 14th-century Prat¯aparudr¯ıya. The paper also highlights the multiplicity of voices in theoretical lit- erature, indicating a virud¯aval¯ı tradition that preceded R¯upa. The paper conludes with a speculative but plausible suggestion given the available evidence: that the de- velopment of the virud¯aval¯ıgenre into the form described and exemplified by R¯upa and later authors, may likely have been centered in Orissa between the 14th and 16th centuries

204. Hamsa Stainton, University of Kansas Devotional Poetry and the Poetics of Devotion: On the History of Bhaktirasa in Kashmir The northern kingdom of Kashmir was a major center for Sanskrit learning, literary production, and religious innovation. Seminal works by Anandavardhana,¯ Abhinav- agupta, and Mammat.a, among others, dominated the discourse on æsthetics across

– 105 – South Asia for centuries and remain highly influential today. These authors gave æstheticized emotion (rasa) a privileged place in the analysis of literature. The nine rasas that came to be accepted in Kashmir, however, did not include devotion (bhakti) as a distinct rasa. While bhaktirasa became central in other traditions, most notably Gaud.¯ıya Vais.n.avism, the history of bhaktirasa among the Saivas´ of Kashmir remains uncharted. In this paper I move away from the prescriptions of poetic theorists to the practices of Kashmirian poets themselves. Looking specifically at the devotional poetry of Utpaladeva, Bhat.t.a N¯ar¯ayan.a, and Jagaddhara Bhat.t.a, I show how these authors deploy terminology from Sanskrit æsthetics, including bhaktirasa, in unique ways. Utpaladeva, for instance, appropriates key terms from Sanskrit æsthetics and retools them to describe the experience of non-dualistic Saiva´ devotion. In contrast, Jagaddhara is deeply invested in categories and standards of Sanskrit æsthetics, and he seeks to reinterpret the entire discourse itself within a Saiva´ devotional framework. As a whole, the history of reflections on bhaktirasa in Kashmir suggests that this was a vibrant, crucial, and contested category at the intersection of religion and æsthetics. While scholars have good reasons to study Vais.n. ava developments of bhaktirasa, this analysis of Saiva´ sources suggests that there are other stories about rasa and devo- tion that can contribute to our understanding of the relationship between Sanskrit æsthetics and religion in South Asia.

205. Aleksandra Gordeeva, Yale University Whispers in the Dramatic Works of the Jain Monk R¯amacandra This paper examines the stage direction “whispering in one’s ear” (karn. e evam) in the two plays of R¯amacandra, a twelve-century Jain monk and poet at the Caulukya court in Gujarat. Whispers in Sanskrit plays represent the only mode of dramatic communication that remains unheard by the audience, as the characters’ speech is camouflaged by the words “such and such” (evam eva, evam iva, or evam evam) that are spoken out loud. While Sanskrit works on poetics, including Bharata’s N¯at.ya´s¯astra and R¯amacandra and Gun.acandra’s N¯at.yadarpan. a, prescribe the use of the whisper to indicate the presence of a secret or to avoid unnecessary repetition, in dramas whispering is also often associated with contriving romantic trysts. In this paper, I show how in R¯amacandra’s Raghuvil¯asa and Kaumud¯ımitr¯ananda whispers acquire a novel function that is central to the construction and incorporation of malicious plots and false dramatic appearances (kapat.an¯at.akas). This paper argues that whispers, which appear consistently and frequently throughout R¯amacandra’s plays, create a very distinct viewing experience where, unlike in the usual dramatic configuration, the audience is less informed about what transpires in the play than the characters are and is consistently duped into false thinking, which is meant to evoke unpleasant emotions. Thus, whispering becomes a major plot device that makes the audience experience deception and the invariably cruel effects of illusion. The production of such unsettling emotional experience in the spectator is important in light of R¯amacandra’s views on æsthetic pleasure and the relationship between the real and fictive, true and false. This paper, therefore, enters and augments academic discussions on the nature of illusion, reality, and truth in Sanskrit dramas.

– 106 – H. South and Southeast Asia X: Poets, Poetry, and the Languages of Poetry. Sally J. Sutherland Goldman, The University of Cali- fornia at Berkeley, Chair (10:45 a.m.–12:00 p.m.) King ∗

206. Dolores Minakakis, Cambridge, MA She Has Become Like Apabhram. ´sa: Pr¯akrits in the Ary¯asapta´sat¯ı¯ The poet Govardhana, who wrote his sprawling Ary¯asapta´sat¯ı¯ in the Laks.man.asena th court around the 13 century, was certainly inspired by the earlier M¯ah¯ar¯as.t.r¯ı G¯ah¯asattasa¯ı, said to be compiled by H¯ala. Two years ago, I presented a paper that focused on both obvious and less obvious allusions to the earlier Pr¯akrit work that are visible in the Sanskrit compilation. In this paper, I will focus on Govardhana’s treatment of the Pr¯akrit languages themselves as evidenced in his verses. He seems to display an ambivalence in his attitude toward these languages and/or their literatures that may reflect the tension both in his own output and in the shifting literary norms of the day. Surprisingly for a poet who pays tribute to other great writers of the Sanskritic tradition (including, among others, Vy¯asa, B¯an.a, K¯alid¯asa, and Bhavabh¯uti) in a lengthy section of his introduction, Govardhana makes very slight mention of the debt he owes the earlier Pr¯akrit literary tradition. Later on in his work, he appears to touch upon a sort of linguistic tension between a rustic and/or non-Sanskritic tradition, in some verses arguing for the validity of the beauty of Pr¯akrit/rural songs, in another comparing a woman to the Apabhram. ´sa language due to her lack of sophistication and ornamentation. This paper will closely examine the examples in Govardhana’s writing where he refers to non-Sanskritic languages and/or their own poetic tradition—focusing on both commentaries on his work and some traditional views of Pr¯akrits in literature— and from there, further attempt to reconcile his attitude and position within the context of the contemporary cultural and literary changes occurring around him.

207. Richard Salomon, University of Washington Concatenation in K¯alid¯asa and Other Sanskrit Poets The poetic technique of concatenation, that is, strategic lexical repetition and link- age, has been studied with regard to classical Indian literature by, among others, M. Bloomfield and L. Renou (Vedic), N. Balbir (Prakrit), and especially W. Schubring for classical Sanskrit poetry. This presentation builds on Schubring’s brief article (“Jinasena, Mallin¯atha, K¯alidasa,” ZDMG 1955) in order to demonstrate that con- catenation in classical Sanskrit poetry, if given a broader definition than Schubring’s, is far more frequent and pervasive than was shown by his data. My analysis will focus on K¯alid¯asa’s Meghad¯uta and corroborated by comparisons with his other works, as well as those of other classical poets.

208. Li Jia, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Du Fu’s Follower in 1940s: Singapore Poet Pan Shou’s Anti-fascist Classical Po- ems Chinese literature in Singapore and Malaysia was already burgeoning back in the 1930s, when there was much emphasis on the local flavor. The invasion of China by

– 107 – Japanese troops in 1937, however, caused much concern among overseas Chinese for their land of origin, as well as worry for the safety of family and friends left behind, sparking off a certain sense of ethnic nationalism. This manifested as an ‘anti-invasion’ theme, and this became the dominant voice among different forms of writings during the period. Worries for the situation turned into a longing for freedom and justice among Chi- nese writers in Singapore. Pan Shou (1911–1999, ) was famous one of them. Under the ideological trend mentioned above, in 1940s he traveled China from South to North and wrote hundreds of classical poems. For the first time, this paper seeks to scrutinize those poems by the close reading. Firstly, Pan Shou inherited Tang poet Du Fu (712–770, ’s spirit of poetic history to record the chaos caused by War, his worries of the ethnic nationalism and anti-fascism mood through the classical poem writing. Secondly, Allusions in Shiji and Hanshu which have close con- nection with the ‘anti-invasion’ theme frequently appeared in his works. Thirdly, Pan Shou was used to writing in the long “gexing” style; the form of “jidushi” ( , collection Du-Fu’s poems); and the form of “tihuashi” ( , poems on paintings).

I. South and Southeast Asia XI: Veda. Jarrod Whitaker, Wake Forest Uni- versity, Chair (9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.) Hutchinson-Lowell

209. Ashok Aklujkar, University of British Columbia The Accent of sindhu-m¯atr. in the R. g-veda The compound sindhu-m¯atr. occurs four times in the R. g-veda: 1.46.2, 7.36.6, 9.61.7 and 10.78.6. In all these instances, it is accented on the first syllable in the accessible editions. This suggests that the compound is to be placed exclusively in the bahu- vr¯ıhi variety. My paper will show that the suggestion has doubtful validity in the case of 1.46.2 and that, in the case of 7.36.6, the original accent must must have been on the final syllable, thereby opening the possibility for a tat-purus.a interpretation. Both the conclusions indicate that the belief ’The current traditional recitation of the R. g-veda is like a tape recording handed down from a very distant past,’ which has been articulated more than once in the recent past, stands in need of qualifica- tion. To restrict ourselves to the second conclusion, it removes a block that has been thought to exist in the recognition of Sarasvat¯ıas a very important—probably the most important—river in the worldview of the R. gvedic people. 210. Joel Brereton, The University of Texas at Austin The Heavenly Sea In his great work on the god Varun.a, Heinrich L¨uders described the Rgvedic world as containing a vast heavenly ocean from which rivers flowed downward˚ to earth. In an article reflecting on L¨uders’ conception of Rgvedic cosmology, Karl Hoffmann (1954, rpt. in Aufs¨atze zur Indoiranistik I: 46–51)˚ showed that many of the passages that L¨uders cited to support the idea of a heavenly ocean and heavenly rivers more likely referred to rain and terrestrial waters. He concluded that L¨uders had significantly overstated the significance and frequency of Rgvedic references to heavenly waters. Hoffmann did not deny, however, that the Rgveda˚ does refer to a heavenly ocean; in- deed, he held that it unarguably did, citing˚ RV 3.22.3 in particular. In his recent book ˚ – 108 – Der Rgveda und seine Religion (2012), Thomas Oberlies has taken careful account of Hoffmann’s˚ critique, but has emphasized the place of the heavenly sea in Rgvedic cosmology. This paper takes up the discussion heavenly sea from Oberlies’s work.˚ It concludes that there is little certain evidence for such a seainRgvedic conception and verses taken to describe it are better interpreted without reference˚ to a heavenly sea.

211. Cohen Signe, University of Missouri “The Gods Love the Cryptic”: Secrecy and Knowledge in the Upanis.ads This paper examines the notions of secrecy, confidentiality, and concealment in the Upanis.ads and investigates how these texts articulate a form of secrecy that serves to create and uphold social boundaries. I am particularly concerned with what I will call the performance of secrecy in the Upanis.ads, or public claims that there exists a body of knowledge whose content can only be revealed to those who are “insiders”. I argue that this discourse of secrecy creates closed spaces of power and authority that are inaccessible, but still visible, to the larger public.

212. Andrea Gutierrez´ , Avian or Human? Brahmin-Bird Entanglement in the Taittir¯ıya S¯akh¯a´ I address the phenomenon of species-blurring and species transposition observable in certain Vedic and Brahmanical literary traditions. Such species shifts warrant an examination of ideas about “human” and “animal” in pre-modern South Asia that moves beyond the standard anthropocentric paradigm. In this paper I focus on the idea of the partridge (tittiri) as the contested origin of the Taittir¯ıya lineage. Previ- ous scholarship on the Taittir¯ıya is extensive, of course, treating both the Ved¯anta philosophy and Vedic studies more broadly, but has not considered what the question of the animal within animal studies can contribute to assessments of human and in particular Brahmin identity within these texts. I explore explanations of “taittir¯ıya” informed by P¯an.ini, the Taittir¯ıya Sam. hit¯a’s Anukraman¯ı, and later commentary, and I examine the Taittir¯ıya’s mythologized ori- gins as recorded in euhemeristic tales from the Vis.n. u, Bh¯agavata, and V¯ayu Pur¯an. as. These etiologies reveal contextual information concerning the community’s identity and anxieties, embodied in their understandings of species and enacted via human- animal transpositions. I posit a “Brahmin-bird entanglement” in order to help ac- count for these transpositions and for bird names used for ascetic practices, hymns, and Vedic lineages. In the case of the Taittir¯ıya tradition, envisioning birds (tittiris) as retainers of their knowledge systems is a figurative means of reflecting the values of such Brahmanical communities. These values include: 1) correct, “parroted” recita- tion, necessary for efficacious results from the ritual performance of mantras from the Kr..sn. a Yajurveda, 2) delicate attention to the minutia and musicality of the sung text, and 3) the absorption and regurgitation of recited text by both guru and ´sis.ya for the preservation of the lineage’s knowledge systems. Tittiris articulate all of these values in their bodily practices and production.

– 109 – Index of Abstracts

Abusch, Tzvi, 87 Calabro, David, 77

Adem, Rodrigo, 16 Cecil, Elizabeth Ann, 67 Ajotikar, Anuja, 20, 23 Chen, Jue, 51 Ajotikar, Tanuja, 21, 23 Chik, Hin Ming Frankie, 35 Akhtar, Ali Humayun, 8 Coghill, Eleanor, 69 Aklujkar, Ashok, 20, 108 Aklujkar, Vidyut, 84, 104 Coleman, Fletcher, 75 Allred, Lance, 96 Crisostomo, C. Jay, 30

Alshaar, Nuha, 98 Culbertson, Laura, 30 Anthony, Sean W., 55, 81 Cutter, Robert Joe, 33 Apple, James, 64 Armstrong, Lyall, 56 D’Alfonso, Lorenzo, 30 Baker, Sarah Lynn, 26 Daniels, Peter T., 25, 27 Balkwill, Stephanie, 76 Dann, Michael, 81 Baums, Stephan, 63 Davidson, Garrett, 82 Bdaiwi, Ahab, 37 Beaulieu, Paul-Alain, 93 Davis, Jr., Donald R., 43 Beguˇs, Gaˇsper, 1 Davis, Ryan Conrad, 45

Benfey, Thomas, 44 DeGrado, Jessie, 31 Benkato, Adam, 10 Dimitrov, Dragomir, 65 Bjøru, Øyvind, 27 Duthie, Nina, 9 Blankinship, Kevin, 15 Bonner, Michael, 13 Brann, Ross, 60 Edelman, Jonathan, 104

Brereton, Joel, 42, 108 Egan, Ronald, 51 Brick, David, 40 Eichler, Raanan, 46 Brill, Jo, 22 Eido, Issam, 82 Brisch, Nicole, 46 El Shamsy, Ahmed, 16, 18 Brooks, E. Bruce, 74 Buchta, David, 105 El-Tobgui, Carl Sharif, 57, 62 Bursi, Adam, 15, 103 Estiri, Ehsan, 63

– 110 – Felt, Jon, 10 Honarchian, Ani, 27 Ferrer I Serra, Jordi, 77 Hoover, Jon, 18, 19 Finn, Jennifer, 95 Hopley, Russell, 17 Fisher, Elaine, 66 Howes, Rachel, 101 Fleming, Christopher, 41 Huehnergard, John, 24, 69, 70 Fortson, Benjamin, 1 Frazer, Mary, 49 Jaffer, Tariq, 18 Fudge, Bruce, 62 Jamison, Stephanie W., 86 Fuller, Michael A., 52, 53 Jia, Li, 107 Jim´enez, Enrique, 39 Gauthier, Paul, 31 Jingyi, Qu, 34 Gertz, Steven, 56 Jorati, Hadi, 12 Goedegebuure, Petra, 1, 89 Judd, Steven, 17, 61 Goh, Meow Hui, 32 Goldman, Robert, 84, 93 Kamaly, Hossein, 38 Gordeeva, Aleksandra, 106 Kantor, Benjamin, 60 Green, Frederik, 8 Keegan, Matthew L., 80 Gruendler, Beatrice, 14, 93, 99 Kennedy, Philip F., 35 Gunkel, Dieter, 2 Key, Alexander, 78 Guti´errez, Andrea, 109 Khan, Geoffrey, 73 Kjær, Sigrid K., 28 H¨aberl, Charles G., 39, 72 Klein, Jared, 4 Hackenburg, Clint, 103 Knott, Elizabeth, 46 Hackett, Jo Ann, 43, 69 Koertner, Mareike, 83 Hagen, Gottfried, 58 Konstantopoulos, Gina, 87 Haider, Najam, 91 Kou, Lu, 34 Hao, Ji, 98 K¨u¸c¨uk, B. Harun, 59 Harb, Lara, 79 Hasselbach-Andee, Rebecca, 3, 70 Lam, Yiu Chun, 97 Hathaway, Jane, 58, 59 Lassner, Jacob, 13 Hauglid, Brian, 77 Lauinger, Jacob, 31, 48 Hayes, Edmund, 92, 101 Lerner, Judith, 11 Held, Pascal, 61 Li, Mengjun, 96

– 111 – Liu, Chen, 33 Pag´e-Perron, Emilie,´ 94 Liu, Cuilan, 74 Pat-El, Na’ama, 6, 72 Lorndale, Tim, 87 Paulus, Susanne, 29 Lubin, Timothy, 40, 41 Pearce, S.J., 60 Lundquist, Jesse, 5 Pearce, Scott, 9 Peschl, Benedikt, 26

Mandell, Alice, 29 Pfeifer, Helen, 58 Marcuson, Hannah, 90 Plantholt, Irene Sibbing, 44 McClish, Mark, 41 Qian, Ailin, 100 Melchert, Christopher, 91 Qutbuddin, Tahera, 76, 98 Melchert, Craig, 1 Melville, Sarah C., 95 Rao, Ajay, 67, 84 Michalowski, Piotr, 43 Reculeau, Herv´e, 48 Mikati, Rana, 76, 83 Richardson, Seth, 28, 50 Mikolajczak, Tytus, 29, 30 Richey, Matthew, 31 Miller, Jeannie, 79 Richter, Antje, 32, 74 Miller, Nathaniel A., 55 Richter, Matthias L., 53, 73 Milligan, Matthew, 64 Rizvi, Sajjad, 36, 38, 91 Ross, Samuel, 103 Minakakis, Dolores, 107 Rowson, Everett, 93 Minkowski, Christopher, 42, 86 Rutz, Matthew, 49 Mirelman, Sam, 89 Monroe, M. Willis, 88 Saba, Elias, 16 Moosa, Ebrahim, 36 Sagha, Mohammad, 102 Moyer, Jessica, 97 Salomon, Richard, 63, 107 Sanders, Paula, 13 Noel, Thomas D., 52 Sanker, Chelsea, 24 Noy, Avigail, 80 Sathaye, Adheesh, 23, 65 Schaffner, Ryan, 104 Obrock, Luther, 65 Scharf, Peter M., 21, 23 Olivelle, Patrick, 22, 40 Scharfe, Patrick, 101 Opper, Michael, 73 Schwartz, Jason, 42 Orfali, Bilal, 100 Sherraden, Aaron, 85

– 112 – Siblini, Rana R., 99 Wu, Zeyuan, 32 Signe, Cohen, 109 Wujastyk, Dominik, 22 Simmons, Richard VanNess, 7, 73 Spevack, Aaron, 19 Yang, Zhiyi, 7 Stainton, Hamsa, 105 Yates, Anthony, 1 Stewart, Devin J., 55, 71, 78 Z¨urn, Tobias Benedikt, 54 Stokes, Phillip W., 24 Zafer, Hamza, 14 Stratford, Edward, 50 Zaia, Shana, 45 Stuart, Daniel M., 68 Zaleski, John, 61 Sutherland Goldman, Sally J., 85, 107 Zangani, Federico, 93 Zhakevich, Philip, 93, 94 Thavapalan, Shiyanthi, 93 Zhang, Junlei, 51 Tong, Christopher K., 52 Zhang, Yue, 33 Trameri, Andrea, 48 Tucker, Elizabeth, 6

Valk, Jonathan, 50 van Bladel, Kevin, 10, 11, 71 van Lit, Eric, 37, 39 Vedeler, Harold Torger, 90

Walker, Paul E., 91 Wee, John, 89 Weiss, Michael, 7 Wen, Xin, 12 West, Stephen, 93, 96 Whitaker, Jarrod, 86, 108 Whitney, Lawrence, 53 Wilson-Wright, Aren, 47 Wingert, Michael, 28 Woods, Christopher, 88 Wu, Mandy Jui-man, 9 Wu, Shu-hui, 54

– 113 –