CAPAS RESEARCH PROJECT - SASSON CHAHANOVIC Ottoman Apocalypticism and Early Modern Eschatological Enthusiasm
I propose to study the imbricate relationship between Ottoman imperial apocalypticism, Islamic mysticism, and esoteric prophecy in the Eastern Mediterranean as set forth in my PhD thesis. But my project is not exclusively Islamic in religious focus or imperial in its appeal. The pseudonymous prophet Ps.-Ibn al-ʿArabī who composed The Tree of Nuʿmān, one of the most intriguing esoteric apocalypses of the Ottoman world, should not be left standing alone; he is the product of a world in which many other prophets, preachers, and messiahs across religious lines and social categories lived. Thus, as part of my CAPAS project, I propose firstly to publish my PhD research along with a translation of my primary text The Tree of Nuʿmān (ToN). Second, I will publish an article that expands on the concept of Ottoman eschatological enthusiasm to include the remarkably influential messianic career of Sabbatai Sevi (d. 1676). Third, I will organize an art exhibition on Islamic apocalypticism from the Early Modern Period up to the present day.