Prof. Dr. Tilman Seidensticker
Alfried Krupp Senior Fellow
(April - September 2008)
Born 1955 in Göttingen
Studied Arab & Islamic Studies, Greek und Philosophy in Göttingen and Tübingen
Professor of Arab & Islamic Studies at the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena; Head of the Jena Centre for "Cataloguing the Oriental Manuscripts in Germany"
Allah and the Idols – North Arabian Religion before Muhammad
The religious situation in which Muhammad grew up around 600 CE and which he had to confront in Mecca and Medina is not at all clear. This is true both of the particular varieties of Judaism and Christianity in the west of the Arabian peninsula and of the paganism to be found there. In western academic discourse, the latter is fairly unanimously designated as a belief in a “High God”, and largely corresponds to the Islamic concept of Jahiliyya. This system, to which parallels have been identified in the ancient Orient and on other continents, consists of on the one hand a supreme god, above all a creator and nourisher, but too impersonal for a cult; on the other hand people are supposed to have believed in several numina subordinated to him, which could mediate between humans and the High God and were the objects of cultic veneration in certain places. The research project aims to revise this theory, as the sources also allow other interpretations.
(April - September 2008)
Born 1955 in Göttingen
Studied Arab & Islamic Studies, Greek und Philosophy in Göttingen and Tübingen
Professor of Arab & Islamic Studies at the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena; Head of the Jena Centre for "Cataloguing the Oriental Manuscripts in Germany"
Allah and the Idols – North Arabian Religion before Muhammad
The religious situation in which Muhammad grew up around 600 CE and which he had to confront in Mecca and Medina is not at all clear. This is true both of the particular varieties of Judaism and Christianity in the west of the Arabian peninsula and of the paganism to be found there. In western academic discourse, the latter is fairly unanimously designated as a belief in a “High God”, and largely corresponds to the Islamic concept of Jahiliyya. This system, to which parallels have been identified in the ancient Orient and on other continents, consists of on the one hand a supreme god, above all a creator and nourisher, but too impersonal for a cult; on the other hand people are supposed to have believed in several numina subordinated to him, which could mediate between humans and the High God and were the objects of cultic veneration in certain places. The research project aims to revise this theory, as the sources also allow other interpretations.
13/02/12
Features and Functions of Human gamma/delta T-Cells
Vortragsreihe „Molekulare Mechanismen elementarer Lebensprozesse“
17/02/12
Fachtagung "Auswirkungen des demografischen Wandels auf die Grundbedürfnissicherung der Bevölkerung in Vorpommern unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der kinder- und jugendmedizinischen Versorgung im Landkreis Vorpommern-Greifswald"
Zu Gast im Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg
