“Out of Love for You”

Abstract

This article approaches gender and power through the study of emotion as a means of refreshing and updating the study of Rūs gender using Arabic geographical sources. Considering Arabic geographical and historical sources on the Rūs that deal with the concept of funerary sacrifice, in particular those that posit the possibility of male as well as female sacrificial victims, I examine the conditions attached to the practice of sacrificing men in these sources. I do so primarily by focusing on the semantic usages of ḥubb (love) as it relates to the Rūs, exploring the potential for wider emotional exploration within geographical discussions of the Rūs and in the context of their use by researchers today.