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O'Meara, Simon (2023) 'Mecca and other Cosmological Centres in the Sufi Universe.' In: Lange, Christian and Knysh, Alexander D., (eds.), Handbook of Sufi Studies. Vol. 2: Sufi Cosmology. Leiden: Brill, pp. 205-233. (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East, Volume: 154/2)

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Abstract

Cosmological centres are places where different levels of cosmic reality are said to converge and become accessible to the human being. In the Sufi universe, Mecca is the principal place of convergence, but others exist, too, including Medina and Jerusalem. This chapter demonstrates that such places have been ritually replicated in this universe, most especially Mecca.

Item Type: Book Chapters
Keywords: Kaʿba; Mecca; Medina; Jerusalem; Prophet’s tomb; saint’s tomb; Dome of the Rock; cosmogony; pilgrimage; Hajj; ziyāra; navel; omphalos; axis mundi; space; place; sacred and profane; Eliade; arkān; replica.
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of Arts > Department of the History of Art & Archaeology
ISBN: 9789004389823
Copyright Statement: This is the version of the chapter accepted for publication in Lange, Christian and Knysh, Alexander D., (eds.), Handbook of Sufi Studies. Vol. 2: Sufi Cosmology. Leiden: Brill (2023). Re-use is subject to the publisher’s terms and conditions
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004392618_012
Date Deposited: 09 Aug 2021 16:00
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/35437

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