3rd of series: "arab jewish timeline"

see 1st for series introduction.



Read left to right. The timeline begins before the arrival of the Prophet Muhammad and ends in modern history. Continuing the themes of Muslim protection of Jews in "judenraus" and their common heritage in "nations and people", this drawing shows that a relative coexistence was the norm for Jews in Muslim lands and seeks to highlight an ebb and flow of culture and economy between Jews and Muslims that made such coexistence not only possible but vibrant and profitable.

It is difficult to resist being romantic in this drawing. The need to make a point, the desire to honor Muslims and limitations of space, make it difficult to spend any more space clarifying what this "protected status" really meant for Jews. You could say... it's relative (and I did). But actually, in the context of this series, it's black and white. In one place genocide is possible in the other, it is not.

Meanwhile certain realities and facts of history are quite romantic for Jews, like an environment so comfortable and respectful of learning that it yields and protects the Talmud and its' subsequent manifestations.

The information and movement of the drawing becomes muddled towards the right, which was difficult to avoid. This confusion reflects the complex differences of perspective surrounding modern Middle East history as well as my own inability to be step out of my Jewish Perspective.

Perhaps this drawing is most effective when placed next to the "christian jewish timeline". Notable in the Arab timeline is the lack of a centralized religious or political power over long periods of time. This in turn results in an absence of linear and singular themes of dogma. The presence of these very same things in Europe sets the stage for a rooted anti-Semitism that has the continuity it needs to build upon itself, even as Europeans later try to reverse it.

absor"p"tion? who knew.