SEAN W. ANTHONY, PH.D.

Assistant Professor of Islamic History

Department of History
309 McKenzie Hall
1288 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1288
swanthon@uoregon.edu
(773) 315-6930
EDUCATION
The University of Chicago,
Chicago Chicago, IL
A.M., Ph. D., with honors, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, August 2009
Specialization: Islamic Thought and Early Islamic History
Dissertation Title: The Caliph and the Heretic: Abdallh ibn Saba, the Sabaya, and the Origins of

Shism between Myth and History

Dissertation Committee: Profs. Wadad Kadi (advisor), Fred M. Donner, and Wilferd Madelung
The American University in Cairo,
Cairo Cairo, Egypt
M. A., Middle East Studies, June 2003
Lee University,
University Cleveland, TN
B. A., Religious Studies, August 2000
LANGUAGES
Arabic, Persian, Syriac, French, and German
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Religion and Society in Late Antiquity and Medieval Islam
Comparative Apocalypticism and Messianism
Early Canonical Literatures of Islam
Statecraft in the Early Islamic, Umayyad and Abbsid periods (ca. 600-1250 C.E.)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2010- present University of Oregon,
Oregon Department of History, Assistant Professor of Islamic History
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Courses Taught:
Classical Islamic Civilization: The Birth of a Global Civilization, ca. 600-1000
Medieval Islamic Civilization: The Turko-Mongol Transformation, ca. 1000-1600
Introduction to the Modern History of the Islamic World
Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians in the Classical Islamic World
Shism and Revolution
Muammad and the Origins of Islam

Lectureships and Instructorships:

University of Chicago,
Chicago Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Chicago, IL

Islamic History and Society, c. 600-1150 C.E.: The Rise of Islam and the Caliphate
(Fall 2009)

Intermediate Arabic, 1-3 (Fall 2009 Spring 2010)

Graham School of General Studies, Chicago, IL

Near Eastern Perspectives on the Crusades (Fall 2006)

Illinois Institute of Technology,
Technology College of Science and Letters, Chicago, IL

Jihd in Islamic Thought and History: Critical Perspectives (Spring 2010)

DePaul University,
University Department of History, Chicago, IL

History of the Muslim World I Foundations of the First Global Civilization, c.

600-1100 (Fall 2007)
History of the Muslim World II Sultans, Khans and Shaykhs: Medieval Islamic
History, c. 1000-1500 (Winter 2008, Winter 2010)
History of the Muslim World III The Gunpowder Empires, c. 1400-1920
(Spring 2008)
The University of Illinois at Chicago,
Chicago College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Chicago, IL
Judaism and Islam Interactions and Intersections (Spring 2008)

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CURRENT PROJECTS
English translation and critical Arabic edition of the Kitb al-Maghz of Mamar b. Rshid (d. 770) according to the
transmission of Abd al-Razzq al-ann (d. 827), to be published in NYU Presss Library of Arabic Literature (under
contract)
[Based in large part on his notes from his sessions with his teacher, Ibn Shihb al-Zuhr (d. ca. 741),
Mamars Maghz constitutes one of the earliest, integrally preserved biographies of the prophet
Muammad]

The Apocalyptic Origins of Sh Esotericism

[A study of the origins in the Umayyad period and development of two key Shite doctrines, al-ghayba (the
occultation of the imm) and al-raja (the return, i.e., the resurrection of the righteous dead to usher in the
eschatological millennium) in the 7th and 8th centuries C.E., with an annotated translation of two Shite
apocalyptic texts: the Jbir Apocalypse and the Mufaal Apocalypse]
PUBLICATIONS

Monographs
The Caliph and the Heretic: Ibn Saba and the Origins of Shism, Islamic History and Civilization 91
(Leiden: Brill, 2011)
[Arabic translation in preparation : , to be published by Dr
al-Bashir al-Islmiyya]
Co-Authored:
Harald Motzki with Nicolet Boekhoff-van der Voort and Sean W. Anthony, Analysing Muslim Traditions:
Studies in Legal, Exegetical, and Maghz adth, Islamic History and Civilization 78 (Leiden: E.J. Brill,
2010), ch. 7, Crime and Punishment in Early Medina: The Origins of a Maghz-Tradition.
*Awarded the World Award for the Book of the Year by the Iranian
Iranian Ministry of Culture (2011)
Reviews:

Arabica, vol. 58, no. 5 (2011): 446-456 (Viviane Comerro)

Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 131, no. 3 (2011): 473-476 (J.A.C. Brown)
Islamic Law and Society, vol. 18, nos. 3-4 (2011): 440-443 (Ahmed El Shamsy)

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Articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited works:

1. Sayf ibn Umars Account of King Paul and the Corruption of Ancient Christianity, Der Islam, vol. 85,
no. 1 (2008), pp. 164-202.
2. The Domestic Origins of Imprisonment: an enquiry into an early Islamic institution, Journal of the
American Oriental Society, vol. 129, no. 4 (2009), pp. 571-596.
3. The Prophecy and Passion of al-ri ibn Sad al-Kab: Narrating a Religious Movement from the
Caliphate of Abdalmalik ibn Marwn, Arabica, vol. 57, no. 1 (2010), pp. 1-29.
4. Dionysius of Tell Mars Syriac Account of the Assassination of Umar ibn al-Khab, Journal of Near
Eastern Studies, vol. 69, no. 2 (2010), pp. 209-224.
5. The Legend of Abdallh ibn Saba and the Date of Umm al-Kitb, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3rd
ser., vol. 21, no. 1 (2011), pp. 1-30.
6. The Mahd and the Treasures of al-laqn: Zayd Imms and Imm-Shite Apocalypticism, Arabica, vol.
59, no. 1 (2012), pp. 1-25.
7. Who was the Shepherd of Damascus? The Enigma of Jewish-Messianist Responses to the Islamic Conquests
in Umayyad Syria and Mesopotomia. In: Paul M. Cobb, ed., The Lineaments of Islam: Studies in Honor of
Fred McGraw Donner (Leiden: Brill, forthcoming in mid-2012)
8. Chiliastic Ideology and Nativist Rebellion in the Early Abbsid Period: Sunbdh and the Jmsp-Nmah,
Journal of the American Oriental Society (forthcoming 2011, accepted for publication)
9. Ibn al-Zubayrs Meccan Prison and the Imprisonment of Muammad ibn al-anafiyya. In forthcoming
Festschrift in honor of Prof. Wadad Kadi, edited by Sean W. Anthony, J. A. C. Brown, Wen-Chin Ouyang,
and Maurice Pomerantz.
10. The Dye of God or the Baptism of God? Further Notes on the Word ibgha in Q. 2:138. under review

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Encyclopedia articles:
In Encyclopdia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yartshater (New York: Encyclopdia Iranica Foundation, 1983-):
o Kaysniya, (vol. 16, fasc. 1, c. 3,500 words);
o Nawbakts. (forthcoming, c. 2,500 words).
In Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, ed. Gerhard Bwering et al. (Princeton: Princeton UP,
forthcoming 2012):
o Al (c. 599-661 C.E.), fourth caliph;
o asan (c. 624-669 C.E.), son of Al;
o Umar (c. 580-644 C.E.), second caliph; and
o Uthmn (c. 580-656 C.E.), third caliph.
In Cambridge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, ed. Eric Orlin, et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge
UP, forthcoming):
o Abbsids,
o Ahl al-Bayt,
o Al ibn Ab lib,
o Alids,
o Bar,
o Battle of Karbal,
o Ghult,
o al-usayn ibn Al,
o Imam,
o Sha,
o Walya.

Book reviews:
Review of David Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology (Leiden: Brill, 2008); in International
Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 42, no. 2 (2010), pp. 342-344.
Review of Ruth Glasner, Averros Physics: A Turning Point in Medieval Natural Philosophy (Oxford:
Oxford UP, 2009); in HOPOS, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011), pp. 175-178.
Review of Christian Lange, Justice, Punishment, and the Medieval Muslim Imagination (Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 2008); in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 71, no. 1 (2012), pp. 102-104.
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Review of Camilla Adang, Wilferd Madelung, and Sabine Schmidtke, Baran Mutazilite Theology: Ab Al
Muammad b. Khallds Kitb al-ul and its reception, Islamic History and Civilization 85 (Leiden: Brill,
2011); in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (forthcoming)
CONFERENCE PAPERS (PAST AND UPCOMING)
Was Behfard a Zoroastrian Rebel? Notes on the historiography of early Muslim-Zoroastrian religious
syncretism in the late-Umayyad and early-Abbsid periods, invited paper to be presented at the 34th
International Conference of ARAM Society for SyroSyro-Mesopotamian Studies,
Studies Zoroastrianism in the Levant
(including Iran), University of Oxford (5-7 July, 2011).
Damnatio ad crucem in the Early Islamic Polity: Interpreting the Umayyad Institution of Crucifixion (?) in
Its Late Antique Context, invited paper to be presented at Judicial Pluralism
Pluralism and Interactions between
Institutions in Medieval and Modern Islam,
Islam Institut Franais du Proche-Orient (Beirut, 23-24 May, 2012)
The Mahd and the Treasures of al-laqn, paper presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Middle
East Studies Association,
Association Washington, DC (2 December 2011)
Al ibn Ab lib and the Prophet Elijah: A Study in an Early Shiite Apocalyptic Typology, paper
presented at the Qurn and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective panel, International Meeting of
the Society of Biblical Literature,
Literature Kings College, London, UK (6 July 2011)
Who was the Shepherd of Damascus? The Enigma of Jewish-Messianist Responses to the Islamic Conquests
in Umayyad Syria and Mesopotamia, paper presented at the 221st Annual Meeting of the American Oriental
Society,
Society Chicago, IL (12 Mar 2011)
Sectarianism and the Anxieties of Influence in Early Islam: Ibn Saba and the Jewish Origins of Shiism,
Middle East History and Theory Workshop,
Workshop the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (11 February 2011)
The Passion of al-rith ibn Sad: The Historiography of a Syrian Revolt in the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik
ibn Marwn, paper presented at the 219th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society,
Society Albuquerque,
NM (13 March 2009)

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The Domestic Origins of Imprisonment: an inquiry into an early Islamic institution, paper presented at
the 218th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society,
Society Chicago, IL (16 March 2008)
HONORS AND AWARDS
National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship (2012-2013)
(awarded for annotated English translation of Mamar ibn Rshids Book of Expeditions)
Zahid Ali Award of the Institute of Ismaili Studies (2011)
Junior Faculty Development Grant (Summer 2011)
Whiting Dissertation Year Fellowship (Fall 2008 Summer 2009)
Martin Marty Center Dissertation Fellowship (Fall 2007 Spring 2008)
Provosts Summer Fellowship, University of Chicago (Summer 2007)
University Unendowed Fellowship, University of Chicago (Fall 2006 Spring 2007)
Grant for Persian Language Study, American Institute of Iranian Studies, Tehran, Iran (Summer 2005)
Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (Fall 2004 Spring 2006)
Foreign Language Area Studies Summer Fellowship (Summer 2004, Summer 2006)
Frank G. Wisner Award for Outstanding M. A. Thesis, Religion in Egyptian Society and Western Ideas of
Progress, American University of Cairo (Spring 2003)
University Fellowship in Middle East Studies, American University in Cairo (Fall 2002 Spring 2003)
ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS
American Oriental Society
Middle East Studies Association
Middle East Medievalists
Society of Biblical Literature
UNIVERSITY AND ACADEMIC SERVICE
Peer-reviewed monographs and articles for:

Journal of Near Eastern Studies

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
Yale University Press
E.J. Brill Publishers
Arabic Lecturer Search Committee Member, Dept. of Religion, University of Oregon (2010-2011)
Ancient World/Late Antique Search Committee, Dept. of History, University of Oregon (2011-2012)
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REFERENCES
Wadad Kadi
Prof. of Islamic Studies, Emerita
The Oriental Institute
1155 East 58th Street, 209
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 702-2589
w-kadi@uchicago.edu

Fred McGraw Donner

Prof. of Near Eastern History
The Oriental Institute
1155 East 58th Street, 224
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 702-9544
f-donner@uchicago.edu

Orit Bashkin
Associate Prof. of Modern Middle East History
Pick Hall 223, 5828 S. University Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 834-8346
oritb@uchicago.edu

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