Imagining the End: Visions of
Apocalypse from the Ancient Middle
East to Modern America
Edited by Abbas Amanat and
Magnus Bernhardsson
I.B.Tauris
Publishers
L O N D O N • N E W YO R K
Published in
by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd,
Salem Road, London
Fifth Avenue,
New York
www.ibtauris.com
In the United States of America and in Canada distributed by
St. Martin’s Press,
Fifth Avenue, New York
Copyright © I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd,
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
A full
record for this book is available from the British Library
A full
record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress catalog card: available
Set in Monotype Ehrhardt and Franklin Gothic Heavy by Ewan Smith, London
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin
Contents
Preface
vii
List of Contributors
ix
Introduction: Apocalyptic Anxieties and Millennial Hopes in the
Salvation Religions
of the Middle East
Abbas Amanat
Par t I Origins
Mesopotamia and the End of Time
Benjamin R. Foster
Millennialism and Eschatology in the Zoroastrian Tradition
Philip G. Kreyenbroek
The Biblical Roots of Apocalyptic
Robert R. Wilson
Par t II Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Eschatological Dynamics and Utopian Ideals in Early Judaism
John J. Collins
The Messiah and the Millennium: The Roots of Two Jewish–
Christian Symbols
Harold W. Attridge
Messianism, Millennialism and Revolution in Early Islamic History
Said Amir Arjomand
Par t III Medieval and Early Modern Periods
Medieval Europe: Religious Enthusiasm and Social Change in
the ‘Millennial Generation’
R. I. Moore
Wrestling with the Millennium: Early Modern Catholic Exegesis
of Apocalypse
Bernard McGinn
Deciphering the Cosmos from Creation to Apocalypse: The
Hurufiyya Movement and Medieval Islamic Esotericism
Shahzad Bashir
Par t IV Modern Times
American Millennial Visions: Towards Construction of a New
Architectonic of American Apocalypticism