The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (7 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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al
al-D
n
(Saladin) in 1171 (AH 567). One survivor of the massacre of the Umayyads, ‘Abd al-Ra
m
n, made his way to Spain (al-Andalus) and founded an independent dynasty with its capital at Cordoba.
In 1258 (AH 656) the Mongols captured and sacked Baghd
d, rolled up the body of the last caliph in a carpet and rode their horses over it. Thus the ‘Abb
sid caliphate came to an end, although another branch reigned in Cairo 1261–1517 (AH 659–923), when they were supplanted by the
Ottomans
.
Abbaye
(late 3rd/4th cent. CE).
Jewish Babylonian amora. As head of the
academy
at
Pumbedita
, he debated legal points with the most prominent scholars of his time. Abbaye was the first to make explicit the distinction between the literal and the figurative meaning of a text.
Abbé
(French). Title for a clergyman.

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