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The essays are a demonstration of the complexities inherent in the pilosity of the masculine visage. Ranging from Sumer to ISIS, this collection presents an historic and anthropological approach to the beard in Middle Eastern religious traditions. The twelve contributions cover the ancient Near East, Judaism, and medieval to contemporary Islam.

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Ranging from Sumer to ISIS, this collection presents an historic and anthropological approach to the beard in Middle Eastern religious traditions. The twelve contributions, along with a general introduction, cover the ancient Near East (Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Hittites), Judaism, and medieval to contemporary Islam. Since Antiquity the beard has been a symbol of masculine power, linked directly to ideologies of the male body. Whether the wearing of a beard is compulsory or prohibited, encouraged or mocked, it is a fundamental marker of identity and ideology, particularly in the Islamic world. The essays in Barbe et barbus are an elegant demonstration of the complexities inherent in the pilosity of the masculine visage.

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I. Mésopotamie. Monstres velus et rites pileux - Margaret Jaques: Monstres velus, monstres hideux en Mésopotamie - Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel: Poils et poilus des rituels dans l´ancienne Mésopotamie - II. Egypte. Barbes et postiches chez les dieux et les hommes - Rune Nyord: The Divine Beard in Ancient Egyptian Religious Texts - Youri Volokhine: Barbe et barbus en Egypte ancienne - III. Un regard vers le monde hittite - Alice Mouton: Beard and Hair in Hittite Religious Texts - IV. Monde arabo-islamique. De la barbe du Prophète à la barbe des hommes: Bruce Fudge: The Beards of the Ancestors: From the Prophet´s Companions to the "Islamic State" - Christian Lange: Beards of Paradise: Hair in the Muslim Eschaton - Thomas Bauer: Ambivalent Beauty: The beard in classical Arabic love poetry - Thomas Herzog: Beards and Hair of Sufi -dervishes: A Skandalon for Spiritual and Social Order - Silvia Naef: La barbe du Prophète : insigne de pouvoir et objet de vénération - Peter Dové: Barbe et barbus dans la littérature syrienne contemporaine : Junud Allah [Soldats de Dieu] de Fawwaz Haddad et al-Liha [Les barbes] de Zakariyya Tamir - V. Une incursion dans le monde juif - Misgav Har-Peled: " La gloire du visage " : masculinité, féminité et symbolisme de la barbe dans la littérature talmudique

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