Wisdom's House, Heaven's Gate: Athens and Jerusalem in the Middle Ages (New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture)

Taking as its starting point an investigation into the physical topography and symbolism of the two cities of Athens and Jerusalem, this book offers a cultural history of the rival superpowers—the Byzantine Empire and Fatimid Caliphate—that between them dominated the Mediterranean world during the Central Middle Ages. It shows that the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on the orders of al-Hakim punctuated a century of heightened interaction resulting from changing patterns of warfare, trade and pilgrimage. Resettlement of both Christians and Muslims from Syria-Palestine in Asia Minor and the Balkans introduced these migrants’ host culture to new forms of religious and artistic expression. In Hellas, a flurry of building projects reinvented Athens as a New Jerusalem and the Parthenon as a New Temple. The Acropolis became famous for its miraculous lamp and elaborate liturgy. The clergy who performed the sacred mysteries justified them with reference to concepts of hierarchy, illumination and divinisation. These concepts were derived from a philosophical tradition over whose ownership the two superpowers competed. The resulting political theology was the creation of male intellectuals, but female patrons and worshippers also had an impact. Preface 6 A Note on the Rendition of the Names of People, Places, and Things 10 About the Book 11 Praise for Wisdom’s House, Heaven’s Gate 12 Contents 14 About the Author 15 Abbreviations 16 List of Figures 17 CHAPtER 1: Introduction: Reframing the Question of Athens and Jerusalem 32 The Survival and Transformation of Athens 39 Hellenic Learning in the Context of Rival Imperialist Ambitions 51 Chapter 2: The Parthenon from Temple to Church 62 The Church of the Theotokos 67 The Role of the Clergy 94 The Athenian Cathedral as a Shrine for Pilgrimage 102 A Liturgy of Illumination 107 Conclusions: Athens as a Rival to Jerusalem 121 Chapter 3: A Miracle of Heavenly Fire 125 The Jerusalemite Vigil of Easter Saturday and Sunday 128 Pilgrimage and the Miracle of Holy Light at Jerusalem 133 Muslim Participation in the Miracle and the Destruction of the Holy Sepulchre 143 Pilgrimage to the Imam-Caliph 151 The Light of the Imam-Caliph 161 Al-Hakim’s Messianism 169 Conclusions: Eschatology and Fatimid-Byzantine Conflict 175 Chapter 4: The Relocation of Jerusalem 181 Jerusalem in the Context of Imperial Involvement in Syria-Palestine 190 Travel and Migration from Syria-Palestine to Byzantine Territory 208 Arabic and Arabising in Athens 218 Building Jerusalem in a Pleasant Land 234 Conclusions: Jerusalem Re-Imagined ... and Plato’s Challenge 252 Chapter 5: The Light of Hellenism in Empire and Caliphate 260 Pagan and Christian Neoplatonism 266 The Arabic Translation Movement 274 Ismaʿili Theology and the Fatimid Daʿwa 280 al-Farabi 283 al-Sijistani 283 al-Kirmani 286 A Political Theology of Illumination 287 al-Ghazali and Suhrawardi 292 Spiritual Ascent and Religious Community in Byzantine Neoplatonism 295 Conclusions: A Contested Classical Heritage 306 Chapter 6: Wisdom: Lady of the Temple, Lady of the Red Thread 314 The Lady of the Temple: Athirat, Mary, and Fatima 323 Marian Imagery in Twelfth-Century Constantinople 329 A Komnenian Princess as the Unblemished Jerusalem and Form of the True Light 339 Maids of Athens as Imperial Role-Models 347 Conclusions: Female Wisdom 359 Chapter 7: Conclusion: The City on a Hill 371 The Role of the Fatimids 375 The Revival of Neoplatonism 381 The Afterglow 387 Bibliography 400 Material in Special Collections 400 Museum Holdings 400 Manuscripts 401 Published Sources 402 Arabic 402 Armenian 408 Catalan 408 Cuneiform 409 French 409 Greek 409 Hebrew 417 Italian 417 Latin 417 Persian 418 Russian 419 Syriac 419 Turkish 419 Studies 419 Index 469