Special Issue: Receptions of Ancient and Late Antique Narrative in the Eastern Mediterranean, edited by Koen De Temmerman and Mara Nicosia

Jesus’ Bat and Echoing Narratives

Authors

  • Ali B. Langroudi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21827/an.20.43226

Abstract

This paper explores the origins and evolution of a story about Jesus creating a bat, as recorded in Muslim literary tradition. It examines Arabic and Persian sources to reveal a complex transmission process and discusses associated challenges, starting with the identification of the bat as a bird in two Quranic verses. The research highlights how various pre- and post-Quranic narratives were expanded by Muslims in their diverse accounts of Jesus creating the bat. It also illuminates Muslim adaptations of pre-Islamic stories about the bat and shows how pre-modern ornithological observations, as reflected in Arabic and Persian media, influenced stories about Jesus and the bat.

Author Biography

Ali B. Langroudi

Ali Langroudi is associated with the Department of Jewish Studies at the University of Munich, where he conducts research in the Cluster of Excellence "Cross-Cultural Philology" and at the Munich Research Centre for Jewish-Arabic Cultures. He previously worked at the Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture - Simon Dubnow in Leipzig. His main academic interest is Persian translations of the Bible. Langroudi earned a Ph.D. in Iranian Studies from the University of Göttingen, a second M.A. in Ecumenical Studies from the University of Bonn, and his first M.A. in the History of Religion from the University of Rome, Sapienza.

Published

2026-01-21 — Updated on 2026-08-18

Versions

Issue

2026: AN 20

Section

Special Issue: Receptions of Ancient and Late Antique Narrative in the Eastern Mediterranean, edited by Koen De Temmerman and Mara Nicosia
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