Brian Ulrich

@brianjulrich

Professor of History @ShippensburgU, focused on Middle East since the rise of Islam, author of The Medieval Persian Gulf ( views are my own

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Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jun 6

Sometimes I feel trapped

A domestic short hair cat lounging on a person lying on a couch

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jun 2

This was just in The Economist

An Economist article about Indian restaurants under threat in Japan

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· May 27

Reading my @kevinmkruse.bsky.social while visiting family

A copy of Kevin Kruse's One Nation Under God and a mug of coffee outside on a deck

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Apr 12

The island of #Hormuz is actually known for its colors. This is from my book The Medieval Persian Gulf - I really hope to see them myself in better times. #Iran #PersianGulf #ArabianGulf

Because of the different colours of its stone and earth, the island stood out to travellers for its panoply of colours. According to Ma Huan, who travelled with the fleets of Zheng He, it was "a great mountain of colors different on each of the four sides…green as rock salt, white as gypsum, red as blood, and yellow as clay." Today the "Rainbow Valley" is still noted as an attraction in tourist publications. The different coloured salt was also used locally to make tableware and lamp pedestals, and Fei Xin, another Chinese traveller with Zheng He noted that the salt from the dishes rubbed off onto the food, which as a result was always salty

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Nov 25

Loot from #MESA2025 - the bottom two were actually free, as presses were finding ways to give away display copies while offering free shipping on discounted online orders

Ilkhanid Capital Cities on top, on the bottom Iran and Persianate Culture in the Indian Ocean World and An Unruly Classic about Kalila wa Dimnah

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Nov 24

#MESA2025

An X post from Joshua Landis that Vahid Abedini was seized by ICE while traveling to the Middle East Studies Association

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Oct 16

Nap time #cats

A sleeping cat curled into a ball next to human's leg

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Sep 27

Nap time for #bobcats at ZooAmerica in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Two bobcats sleeping next to each other on a ledge stretched out in opposite directions

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Aug 6

Finally reading @vhtroyansky.bsky.social's book!

Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jul 7

A cat and her package

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jun 30

A tortoiseshell cat lay on me with arm extended while I lie down

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jun 14

#NoKings #CarlislePA

No Kings protest on Carlisle, Pennsylvania square

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jun 1

Facebook memories tell me I was in Bellinzona a year ago today #Switzerland #castle

A castle in Switzerland on a gorgeous day

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· May 30

Current status

An outdoor black metal lattice table with a cold brew coffee a Beth Berkowitz's book Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· May 27

Reading and thinking about political power in eastern Arabia

A cup of Denim Coffee, a book on a folder, and open laptop with a background picture from Dammam, all on top of a small coffeehouse table

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· May 26

Alert in the front yard

A green eyed tortoiseshell cat in a gray harness in a yard with grass and mulch, looking mostly to the side towards the camera

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Mar 18

Time for some reading

A copy of Rachel Schine's Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race and a coffee in a Denim Coffee to go cup on a table

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jan 24

You are on my library's new book shelf

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jan 19

Good grief

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Jan 4

Seeing @lollardfish.bsky.social and @profgabriele.com at Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Dec 19

Here is mine

Brian Ulrich@brianjulrich· Dec 12

I am guessing that this alleged Qarmatian "proto-socialism" comes from accounts of what was really a distributive state. Here is the relevant paragraph from my book.