The Kingdom of Jordan stands strategically amidst the countries of the Near East, bordered by Israel, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. A small country, poor in resources, it is torn by conflicting tensions and policies and by strife between pro-Western and pro-Soviet elements. This study of Jordan in the English language surveys all aspects of Jordan's life: the land, the people, their history, politics, economy, society, and culture. Mr. Patai fully considers the issue of Westernization versus traditionalism and its probable bearing on Jordan’s future.Originally published in 1958.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In this monumental work, Raphael Patai opens up an entirely new field of cultural history by tracing Jewish alchemy from antiquity to the nineteenth century. Until now there has been little attention given to the significant role that Jews played in the field of alchemy. Here, drawing on an enormous range of previously unexplored sources, Patai reveals that Jews were major players in what was for centuries one of humanity's most compelling intellectual obsessions. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

First published in 1977, The Jewish Mind is a sweeping intellectual history of the Jews. Raphael Patai takes readers on an insightful journey through three millennia; examines six great historical encounters between the Jews and other cultures; and analyzes the manner in which each of them left its mark on the Jewish mind. This historic venture is followed by another journey, perhaps even more fascinating: a journey into the depths of the contemporary Jewish mind, involving the exploration of Jewish intelligence giftedness, and genius; of the phenomenology of special Jewish talents; of Jewish personality and character; and of the physical and mental health of the Jews. Patai concludes with a note of optimism by emphasizing that basic Jewish values, which for two thousand years have been constants in the Jewish mind, contain the promise of the Jewish future.

Product Description: ONE OF THE GREAT LANDMARKS OF CULTURAL STUDIESFirst published in 1973, revised in 1983, and now updated with new demographic information about the Arab world, The Arab Mind takes readers on a journey through the societies and peoples of a complex and volatile region...read more

Examines selected Biblical passages for their mythological references and their anthropological value

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Product Description: LOS MITOS HEBREOS

Product Description: This frank autobiography covers the first twenty-two years of the life of Raphael Patai, famous anthropologist and biblical scholar. Patai shares meticulously researched genealogical narratives and historical and sociological observations, mixed freely--and with engaging frankness--with portions of an intensely personal and intimate nature...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Product Description: The tribulations experienced by the five Patais (Raphael, his father, mother, brother, and sister), as well as their interactions with many well-known Jewish leaders, authors, and scholars of the 1930s both in Hungary and Palestine, spring to life in fascinating detail in the letters presented in Between Budapest and Jerusalem...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Raphael Patai' s (1910-1996) lifelong fascination with Arab folktales began on a Ramadan night in 1933, at a cafe in Jerusalem where, for the first time, he heard a famous qassas, a storyteller, tirelessly relate story after story from his vast repertoire of Arab folktales...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

On Jewish Folklore spans a half-century of scholarly inquiry by the noted anthropologist and biblical scholar Raphael Patai. The essays collected in this volume, some of which are presented for the first time in English translation, provide a rich harvest of Jewish customs and traditional beliefs, gathered from all over the world and from ancient to modern times. Among the subjects Dr. Patai has investigated and recorded are the history and oral traditions of the now-vanished Marrano community of Meshhed, Iran; cultural change among the so-called Jewish Indians of Mexico; beliefs and customs in connection with birth, the rainbow, and the color blue; Jewish variants of the wide-spread custom of earth-eating; and the remarkable parallels between the rituals connected with enthroning a new king as described in the Bible and as practiced among certain African tribes. Perhaps the most controversial essay is "the Goddess Cult in the Hebrew-Jewish Religion," in which Dr. Patai summarizes the hotly debated findings of his book The Hebrew Goddess.

Vintage paperback