The focus of this volume is a history of covenantal theology in the Dead Sea Scrolls. At the heart of the work the author provides new insight into the origins of the "new covenant in the land of Damascus" ("Damascus covenant") and of the Qumran community ("covenant of the community"). The "Damascus covenant" arose as a national restoration movement in 3rd century BC Palestine among Jews who traced their history back to the returnees from exile. The Qumran community emerged out of the Damascus covenant in the 2nd century BC as a refuge for the faithful when the Damascus covenant and the Teacher of Righteousness suffered the betrayal of some of their adherents. Other chapters explore the topics of dualism, the righteousness of God in the thanksgiving hymns, and covenant renewal.

‘A superb account of the 1860 Damascus massacres—much neglected nowadays but central to the creation of the modern Middle East’ Simon Sebag Montefiore ‘A stunning portrait of the Ottoman Empire and of Damascus during a time of crisis. Absolutely riveting’ Peter Frankopan This remarkable book recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East: the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story.

This volume examines twelve ancient and medieval manuscripts, ten from the caves at Qumran and the two so called Damascus Documents from the Cairo Geniza, presenting a new organization and understanding of these texts. The twelve manuscripts are in a composite form under the title Midrash haTorah haAcharon (MTA), the Midrash of the Eschatological Torah, a title which opens a new window into the understanding of the Jewish literary tradition during the period of the Second Temple, prior to the development of the Talmud and Christianity. Following the composite Hebrew text are a full translation, notes and commentary elucidating the MTA in light of the new evidence provided by these texts and retranslation.

Focussing on the Great Mosque of Damascus, this volume discusses the scope and significance of the building campaign undertaken by the Umayyad caliph al-Walid b. ‘Abd al-Malik (86-96/705-15), and its implications for the development of early Islamic visual culture.

The Damascus road encounter between Jesus and Paul is foundational to understanding the early development of Christology, and, indeed, Christianity, since it is the first appearance of the post-ascension Jesus contained in the earliest Christian literature. This study examines the encounter as it is described in Paul's epistles and the book of Acts. Since Paul interprets his experience within the Jewish tradition, this study begins with a survey of epiphany texts in the Old Testament and other ancient Jewish literature. This reveals two new categories for appearances of God, angels, and other heavenly beings: Divine Initiative and Divine Response. This survey also finds two distinct patterns of characterization for God and other heavenly beings. These findings are then applied to Paul's accounts of his Damascus road encounter. Paul depicts the encounter as a Divine Initiative epiphany. This conclusion is significant, since it argues against the current view that the encounter was a merkabah vision. Paul's Christology in the Damascus road encounter is also significant, since Jesus is characterized as divine. Such divine characterization is not typical for heavenly beings in first-century CE epiphany texts. Thus, a high Pauline Christology appears to be present at a very early point. The three accounts of the Damascus road encounter in Acts also fit the pattern of Divine Initiative--not merkabah--and exhibit the high Christology of Paul's accounts. In fact, the three accounts in Acts are shown to form an intentionally increasing sequence culminating in the revelation that Paul was called to be an apostle by Jesus himself on the Damascus road.