Arab Orthodox Christians Under the Ottomans 1516–1831

by Pheiffer Noble, Brittany; Noble, Samuel; Panchenko, Constantin Alexandrovich

• ISBN13: 9781942699606
• ISBN10: 1942699603
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-04-08
• Publisher: Holy Trinity Seminary Press

Summary

Over the past several decades, the world's attention has been drawn to the presence of significant minority religious groups within the predominantly Islamic Middle East. Of these minorities Christians are by far the largest, comprising over 10% of the population in Syria and as much as 40% in Lebanon. This work fills a gap in the scholarship of wider Christian history and more specifically that of lived religion within the Ottoman empire. The author traces the evolution of Arab Orthodox Christian society from its roots in the Hellenistic culture of the Byzantine Empire to a distinctly Syro-Palestinian identity. There follows a detailed examination of this multi-faceted community, from the Ottoman conquest of Syria, Palestine and Egypt in 1516 to the Egyptian invasion of Syria in 1831. The author draws on archaeological evidence and previously unpublished primary sources uncovered in Russian archives and Middle Eastern monastic libraries to present a vivid and compelling account of this vital but little-known spiritual and political culture, situating it within a complex network of relations reaching throughout the Mediterranean, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe.

Author Biography

Brittany Pheiffer Noble holds an M.A. in Religion from Yale University School of Divinity and a doctorate in Russian Literature from Columbia University, New York. She is the co-translator with Samuel Noble of Arab Orthodox under the Ottomans:1518-1831, Constantin Panchenko. Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Seminary Press, May, 2016. She lives in Leuven, Belgium. Samuel Noble is a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Theology and Religion Studies at the Louvain Centre for Eastern and Oriental Christianity at KU, Leuven in Belgium. He is the co-editor of The Orthodox Church in the Arab World: An Anthology of Sources, 700-1700 (Northern Illinois University Press,2014) and co-translator of Arab Orthodox Christians under the Ottomans: 1516-1831. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press,2016) Constantin A. Panchenko (1968-2024) was an Associate Professor in the Department of Middle and Near East History (Institute of Asian and African Studies) at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. He authored about 100 academic publications, including two monographs, collections of essays, articles and abstracts on the history of the Middle East. His major sphere of interest was the history of the Christian Arabs, particularly the Middle Eastern Greek Orthodox community in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period.

Table of Contents

Foreword Introduction 1. The Historical Context: Orthodox Christians Under Muslim Rule from the Sixth to the Fifteenth Century 1 2. The Political Background 3. Geography and Demographics 4. Shepherds and Flock 5. Monks and Monasteries 6. The State Within the State 7. The Holy Sites 8. Foreign Affairs 9. The Catholic Unia 10. The Culture of the Orthodox Orient Conclusion Appendix: Patriarchs and the Sultans Notes Glossary Bibliography Acknowlegments Index of Names Geographical Index