Religions of Silk Road and the Arab Conquests

200-800 CE

Cultural Geography before the “Middle East,” 6^th century

*Byzantine Empire

Syria, Palestine and Egypt

Greek Language

Christian Religion

*Sasanian Empire

Iraq and Iran

Iranian Language

Zoroastrian religion

Arab-Islamic Conquests

"Rightly Guided Caliphs," 632-61

*Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750

Power base in Syria

*Abbasid Caliphate, 749-1258

Originate in Eastern Iran

Capital in Iraq

Sogdiana’s Overlords

First Türk Empire & W. Turks (552-659)

Tang Dynasty (659-ca. 700)

Turgesh (ca. 700-720)

Umayyad Caliphate, ca. 712-49

Culture in flux: Sogdian Diaspora Religion in China

Sogdian Zoroastrian Funeral

Orthodox (Persia)

Fire and dog

Inner Asian “Unorthodoxy”

Self-mutilation

Chinese “unorthodoxy”

"Zoroastrian" Burial

Kang Ye, d. 571, Chang’an

Tomb Design: Shi Hedan, 584-669

Funerary objects

Chinese

Inner Asian

Discussion: Religions of Silk Road: Golden 50-62; Foltz 56-84

*Nestorius (ca. 386-450)

*Mani (216-276)

1. Why does Foltz entitle Chapter 4 as “A Refuge of Heretics: Nestorians and Manichaens on the Silk Road”?

2. Why were Nestorian Christians considered heretics in the Roman Empire and sometimes in the Sasanian Empire?

3. Why were Manichaeans considered heretics in the Roman and Sasanian Empires (Mani 216-276 CE) ?

4a. Why does it appear to have been more acceptable to practice Nestorian Christianity and Manichaeism as minority religions in Sogdiana, Turfan (Qocho in Golden and Foltz), and the Tang capital of Chang’an?

4b. How did Nestorian Christianity and Manichaeism adapt to the religious and cultural traditions of these places? Consider:

“Great Hymn to Mani from Uighur Turfan (Foltz, p. 81)

Nestorian stele from Tang Chang’an (Foltz, pp. 82-83; also see Hansen pp. 249-50, 273-77 (doc. 29)