{"product_id":"religion-empire-and-torture-the-case-of-achaemenian-persia-with-a-postscript-on-abu-ghraib-paperback","title":"Religion, Empire, and Torture: The Case of Achaemenian Persia, with a Postscript on Abu Ghraib - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBruce Lincoln\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow does religion stimulate and feed imperial ambitions and violence? Recently this question has acquired new urgency, and in \u003ci\u003eReligion, Empire, and Torture, \u003c\/i\u003e Bruce Lincoln approaches the problem via a classic but little-studied case: Achaemenian Persia. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Lincoln identifies three core components of an imperial theology that have transhistorical and contemporary relevance: dualistic ethics, a theory of divine election, and a sense of salvific mission. Beyond this, he asks, how did the Achaemenians understand their place in the cosmos and their moral status in relation to others? Why did they feel called to intervene in the struggle between good and evil? What was their sense of historic purpose, especially their desire to restore paradise lost? And how did this lead them to deal with enemies and critics as imperial power ran its course? Lincoln shows how these religious ideas shaped Achaemenian practice and brought the Persians unprecedented wealth, power, and territory, but also produced unmanageable contradictions, as in a gruesome case of torture discussed in the book's final chapter. Close study of that episode leads Lincoln back to the present with a postscript that provides a searing and utterly novel perspective on the photographs from Abu Ghraib.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBruce Lincoln\u003c\/b\u003e is the Caroline E. Haskell Professor of Divinity at the University of Chicago, where he is an associate at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and sits on the Committees on the History of Culture and the Ancient Mediterranean World. He is the author of nine books, including \u003ci\u003eTheorizing Myth: Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHoly Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11\u003c\/i\u003e, both published by the University of Chicago Press.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 192\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.6 x 8.9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 20, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47292321202425,"sku":"9780226251875","price":52.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/v_Q5W9VhL9780226251875.webp?v=1769170451","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/religion-empire-and-torture-the-case-of-achaemenian-persia-with-a-postscript-on-abu-ghraib-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}