DS112.S55

Introduction 1 Prologue: From Constantine to Abd al-Malik 2 The Periphery of Dreams and Deserts 3 Recalcitrance, Riots, and Rebellion: The Samaritans and the Emergence of Intolerance 4 Contesting the Sacred: Forms of Ritualized Violence 5 Jerusalem: The Contrasting Eyes of Beholders 6 Contesting Scripture and Soil: Liturgical Dates and Seasonal Dieting 7 Flesh and Blood? Women in Palestinian Societies 8 Urban Stories: Caesarea, Sepphoris, Gaza 9 Epilogue

This book offers an unconventional study of one corner of the Roman Empire in late antiquity, weaving around the theme of conflict strands of distinct histories, and of peoples and places, highlighting Palestine's polyethnicity and cultural, topographical, architectural, and religious diversity. During the period 300–650 CE, the fortunes of the ‘east’ and the ‘west’ were intimately linked. Thousands of westerners in the guise of pilgrims, pious monks, soldiers, and civilians flocked to what became a Christian holy land. This is the era that witnessed the transformation of Jerusalem from a sleepy Roman town built on the ruins of spectacular Herodian Jerusalem into an international centre of Christianity, and ultimately into a centre of Islamic worship. It was also a period of unparalleled prosperity for the frontier zones, and a time when religious experts were actively engaged in guiding their communities while contesting each other's rights to the Bible and its interpretation.