Fred M. Donner Continued His Work on the Translation of a Section of the Chronicle of Al-Tabari (D

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oi.uchicago.edu Fred M. Donner continued his work on the translation of a section of the chronicle of al-Tabari (d. 923), a cooperative undertaking organized by 72 T Bibliotheca Persica and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The section in question deals with the ridda wars (632-633 C.E.), during which the nascent Islamic state consolidated its control over the tribes of the Arabian peninsula. He submitted an article entitled n "Mesopotamian Trade from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Centuries C.E.," I which is to appear in a special issue of Jahrbuch fur Wirtschaftsgeschichte devoted to Mesopotamian trade in various historical periods. He also o completed two entries for the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the premier scholarly work of reference in the field of Islamic studies. The first was on al-Muthanna ibn Haritha, a seventh-century Arab chieftain who played an B important role in the early Islamic conquest of Iraq. The second was on the Arab tribe of Muzayna, which resided in the vicinity of Mecca and Medina I at the time of the rise of Islam. Donner also completed several reviews of scholarly books in the field of early Islamic history. In June, he conducted a workshop for teachers at Butler University who are planning to offer a course on Islamic civilization as part of that university's innovative "Change and Tradition" program. In addition, he engaged in his usual teaching and administrative duties and served as coordinator of The University of Chicago-University of Damascus faculty exchange program. This program has benefitted The Oriental Institute by bringing several outstanding Syrian scholars to Chicago for several months' research apiece, and by supporting Chicago faculty who have conducted archaeological, histori cal, or textual research in Syria. .

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