Islamikon Verlag

Islamikon Verlag is delighted to introduce a remarkable new volume in its series Contributions to the Cultural History of the Near East:

Schuh-Symbolik im Orient - Wirkkräfte, Rituale und magische Praktiken
by Jürgen Wasim Frembgen

The latest publication in the series addresses shoes as cultural signifiers. Shoes have played an important role in the Orient from prehistory through antiquity to the Islamic-influenced present as carriers of power. It was not least for this reason that the American president George W. Bush was pelted with two shoes in 2008. In the present diachronic cultural-historical study, the author analyzes the shoe as a fundamental and, in particular, magico-religious symbol. Following introductory reflections on aspects of purity and impurity, the archaic significance of soles and footprints, and barefootedness, the multivalent symbol of the shoe is examined within three thematic complexes: shoes as emblems of power, authority, and sanctity; shoes as symbols of fertility; and shoes as bearers of good and ill fortune. These aspects are illustrated by numerous images.

Please note that this book is published in German.

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The retail price of the book is €49.