Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East

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Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East Page 38

by Gerard Russell


  photo of, 207

  Deir al-Jarnoos, 215–216

  Demetrius of Phalerum, 183

  Deuteronomy, 167

  Devil, 60, 62. See also Satan, Sheitan.

  Dinkha IV, Patriarch Mar, 260

  Diocletian, Emperor, 182, 208

  Diodorus, 81

  Dionysus, 229

  Divorce, 214, 251

  Diwan (Hafez), 97

  Dome of the Rock, 156

  Drasa da Yehia (Book of John), 10, 23

  Drower, E. S., xxviii–xxix, 67

  magic and, 29–30

  Mandaean community and, 28

  planets and, 27

  Druze, 71, 115, 121, 127, 161, 266, 268, 270

  blue and, 69

  criticism of, 128–129

  folk mythology of, 141

  Freemasons and, 135–136

  Hizbullah and, 133

  illustration of, 137 (fig.)

  immigrant, 132, 271

  Islam and, 118, 122, 128, 129, 144

  Knights Templar and, 136

  leadership of, 118

  Lebanese civil war and, 138

  Maronites and, 135

  number of, 120, 139

  Palestinians and, 120

  Pythagoras and, 114, 115, 117, 122, 143, 145–146

  reincarnation and, 123, 140, 141–142, 142–143

  Shi’a and, 129, 132–133

  Sunnis and, 140, 142, 192

  theology of, 130

  Druze clergy, 131–132

  Druze militia, 120, 129

  Druze Mountain, 139

  Druze religion, xx, 117, 121, 123, 127, 131–132, 136–137, 138

  conversion to, 141, 142, 270

  Easter, 59, 155, 191

  Ebeid, Amin Makram, 201

  Ebeid, William Makram, 199

  Egeria, fish and, 44, 45

  Egypt

  Byzantine Empire and, 195–196

  Islamization in, 202

  reform/modernization of, 197

  Egyptian Museum, 189

  Eid al-Sawm, 43

  Einstein, Albert, 32

  el-Shalaby, Israel, 154

  Elagabalus, 12

  Elias, Khidr, 274

  Eliot, T. S., 124

  Elphinstone, Mountstuart, xii

  Emanationism, 124–125, 145

  Era of Martyrs, 181, 182

  Erbil, 56, 70, 71

  growth of, 57–58

  Esfahan, described, 95

  Esh Shalaby, Jacob, 174

  Euclid, 114

  Euripides, 94

  Eve, 6, 23

  Evil eye, avoiding, 193

  Ezid, Sultan, 58

  Fakhreddin, 133–134, 142

  independent territory and, 133–134

  Fakhry, Abeer, 214

  Faqir, Khidr, 274

  Farouq, deposing of, 200

  Farsi, xviii, 56, 74, 110, 111

  Fatimah al-Maasoumah, 92

  Fatimid Empire, 126

  Female genital mutilation, 193

  Ferdowsi, 92

  Festivals

  Arab-American, 263

  Egyptian, 191–192

  Kalasha, 232, 236–237, 238, 239–240, 241, 244, 248

  Mandaean, 19, 22

  Samaritan, 157, 169

  Zoroastrian, 105, 108

  Fire temples, 109, 110, 261

  photo of, 103

  visiting, 102–103

  Fisk, Pliny: on Samaritans, 154

  Ford, Henry, 262

  Fravahar, 81, 102, 111

  photo of, 82

  Freemasons, 248

  Druze and, 135–136

  Funerals

  Egyptian, 192–193

  music for, 183

  Zoroastrian, 102–104, 108, 110–111

  Galen, 14, 94

  Gandhi, Mahatma, 106

  Ganzibra, 22–23, 26, 27

  Garden of Eden, 2, 13, 60

  Garden of the Prophet (Gibran), 114

  Gardner, Alexander, 221

  Gattan, Nadia, 18–19, 20, 21, 23–24, 36, 37, 38

  baptism of, 24 (photo), 27–28

  discrimination and, 35

  education and, 35

  festivals and, 19, 22

  Hadeel death and, 37

  inequality of the sexes and, 22

  Mandaeans and, 21

  religious name of, 25–26

  rules violation by, 19–20

  sabbath and, 34

  spells and, 30–31, 32

  Gibran, Kahlil, 114, 263

  Gibson, Mel, 257

  Gilgamesh, 4, 43, 190, 278

  Ginza Rabba, described, 10

  Gladstone, William Ewart, 107

  Gnostics, 14

  God, xxix, 62

  Messiah and, 52

  Goliath, David and, xxv

  Good Samaritan, parable of, 149–150, 151, 163

  Gospel of Luke, 13

  Gospel of Matthew, 77

  Governments, weak, xxiii–xxiv, xxvi

  Great Flood, 22

  Great Game, 222

  Great Life, 10, 11

  Greek Orthodox, 265, 266

  Greek philosophy, xxix, 11–12, 116, 117, 122, 123, 140, 146

  Christianity and, 131

  Islam and, 126, 131

  Middle Eastern culture and, 124

  Greeks, 79, 194

  Egypt and, 194

  Persians and, 80

  Grom

  photo of, 235

  visiting, 235–236

  Gross, Anthony, illustration by, 137 (fig.)

  Gul, Zarmas, 241, 243

  photo of, 241

  Gushnasp fire, 87, 88, 89

  Hadeel, death of, 36–37

  Hafez

  magi and, 99, 111

  poetry of, 96–97

  tomb of, 98 (photo)

  Haidar, Ahmad Mohammad, 53

  Halawi, Sheikh Abu Aref: Neoplatonism of, 123

  Hallaj, Hussein ibn Manosur al-, 61, 63

  on monotheism, 62

  Satan and, 62

  Hand of Fatima, 193

  Hand of Horus, 193

  Handshake, 48, 73

  Hanukkah, 166

  Har Brakha, 161–162

  Hariri, Rafiq: assassination of, 119

  Harran, xxii, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 196

  Harranians, 52, 53, 131

  beans and, 69

  Muslims and, 50

  planets and, 49

  prayer by, 54

  Pythagoras and, 117

  reincarnation and, 49

  shrine of, 54

  theology of, 49

  Hassan (driver), 109, 131, 132, 134

  on Kamal Jumblatt, 137–138

  Jumblatt castle and, 137

  on Zoroastrians, 105

  Hassan, Sheikh, 42, 212

  Hataria, Maneckji Limji: on Zoroastrians, 100

  Hayek, Salma, 262

  Hebrew, 148, 161, 185, 257

  Hebrew University, 167, 171

  Hebrews, 150

  Helú, Carlos Slim, 262

  Hermes (Tresmegistus), 117, 146

  Herodotus, 27, 97, 103, 114, 186, 193

  on Magians, 78

  Persians and, 88

  Hibil Ziwa, 10, 18

  Hindu Kush, 219, 227, 230, 231

  Alexander the Great and, 220, 221, 228–229, 232

  Hinduism, 12, 250

  Hinnels, John, 107, 108

  Hitti, Philip, 136

  Hizbullah, 130, 133, 142

 
; Holy fire, 89, 111, 126–127

  Holy Sepulcher, 126–127

  Homer, 4, 114

  Horus, 192, 207, 209

  House of the Sect, 121, 131, 132

  Hussein, Imam, 19, 91, 92, 99, 102

  death of, 22, 76

  tomb of, 75

  Hussein, Saddam, 3, 5–6, 70

  Babylon and, 5

  Iraqi Marshes and, xxiv, 7, 8

  Kurds and, 55

  Mandaeans and, 32

  statues to, 83

  support for, 35

  Yazidis and, 40–41

  Ibn al-Nadim, xxii, 17

  Ibn Taymiyyah, xxiii

  Druze and, 128–129

  Pythagoras and, 117

  Ibn Wahshiyyah, 7, 27

  Ibrahim, 45

  Immigration, 132, 262, 271, 277, 278

  Immortality, 77, 79, 104

  Indian National Congress, 106

  International Order of Gnostic Templars, 275

  Iranian clerics, astronomy and, 95

  Iranian revolution (1906), Zoroastrians and, xxiii, 100

  Iranians

  Parsees and, 110

  Zoroastrianism and, 89

  Iraq War (2003), 60, 83

  Iraqi Marshes, xxiv, 7, 8, 14, 19–20, 40, 84

  Babylonians and, 9

  photo of, 8, 20

  Isaac, son of Abraham, 149–150, 170

  Isaac of Nineveh, 62

  Ishak, George, 207, 208, 209, 211, 215, 216, 217

  on Mubarak, 203

  Sadat and, 202

  on Sa’eed, 213

  Ishtar, 4–5, 26, 30

  Isidora, tomb of, 214

  Isis, 12, 191

  Islam, 46, 47, 50, 58

  Arabs and, 89

  conversion to, 100, 109, 153, 161, 214, 226, 227, 249–250, 251, 254

  Druze and, 118, 122, 128, 129, 144

  Greek philosophy and, 126, 131

  intolerance towards, 262, 277

  Kalasha and, 250

  language of, 184

  mob violence and, 249

  non-Arabs and, xxii

  spread of, 90

  tolerance in, 8

  understanding of, 217

  Zoroastrian challenge to, 62

  See also Muslims

  Islam Is of the Devil, 262

  Islamabad, 219–220, 232, 234

  Islamic Brotherhood, 200, 203

  Islamic law, 168, 199

  Islamic Revolution (1979), 82, 83, 96, 108

  Islamists, xxv–xxvi, xxvii, 194, 200, 201, 204

  Ismail

  Copts and, 198

  religion and, 197–198

  Ismail, Mirza, 41, 53, 54, 58, 69, 70, 272, 274, 275

  birth of, 40

  four elements and, 43–44

  described, 39

  migration of, 73

  photo of, 40

  on Shams/sun, 53

  sheikhs and, 42, 43

  Yazidi rights and, 271

  Israel

  Judah and, 149, 150, 155

  Palestine and, 161

  Israelis, 159

  houses of, 164

  Palestinians and, 147, 160, 162, 176–177

  Samaritans and, 177–178

  Israelites, 115, 150

  Izzeddin, Najla Abu: on Druze religion, 117

  Jacob’s Well, 149, 151, 164, 175

  Jaffa, 161, 267

  Samaritans in, 167, 168

  Jawad, Abu Mohammed, 135

  Jefferson, Thomas, 147

  Jerusalem, 155, 158, 159, 267

  optimism in, 148

  Palestinians and, 160

  sacking of, 151

  Jestak, 243

  photo of, 246

  Jestakhan, 243, 247

  Jesus, 80, 127, 130

  Copts and, 195

  John and, 1

  language of, 257

  Mohammed and, 52

  Moses and, 140

  rejection of, 14, 18

  Samaritans and, 149, 151

  Zoroastrians and, 77

  Jewish Temple, 135, 156, 160

  destruction of, 151, 155, 177

  ruins of, 164

  Samaritans and, 150, 151

  Jews, 50, 162, 185, 264

  Babylonian exile of, 12

  Christians and, 177

  converts and, 270

  Egyptian, 201

  Iraqi, 33–34, 37

  kingdom and, 155

  Koran and, 152

  liberation of, 80

  Mandaeans and, 13, 29, 34

  monotheism and, xxi, 152

  Muslims and, 8, 34, 152

  Orthodox, 264

  Palestinians and, 161

  Samaritans and, 149–150, 151, 153, 154, 165, 176

  Syrian, 271

  tolerance for, 90, 152

  Jinnah, Mohammed Ali, 106

  Jizya tax, 100, 197

  Job, Prophet: tomb of, 133 (photo)

  John the Baptist, 1, 10, 275

  John the Evangelist, 1

  Jones, Sir William, xxix

  Jones, Terry, 262

  Joseph, Samaritans and, 154, 164

  Joseph’s Tomb, 161

  Judah, Israel and, 149, 150, 155

  Judaism, xxix, 47, 127, 141, 152, 201, 271

  conversion to, 12, 161

  See also Jews

  Julius Caesar, 115

  Jumblatt, Kamal, 10, 137

  death of, 137–138

  Jumblatt, Walid, 118, 121, 130, 132, 133, 137, 142, 144

  Arslan and, 143

  Assad and, 138

  Druze militia and, 120

  Lebanese civil war and, 138

  meeting with, 138–139

  Sunnis/Shi’a and, 129

  Jumblatt castle, 134, 137, 138

  Justinian, Emperor, 116, 117, 152

  expulsion by, 95

  Kabul, 291, 221, 228, 232, 251

  arrival in, 229–230

  Kafiristan, 220–227, 229, 248, 250

  annexation of, 233–234

  Kafirs, 220–221, 233, 248, 252

  adultery and, 251

  bairas and, 250

  conversion of, 227

  freedom and, 225

  idols of, 222

  principles of, 236

  religion of, 223

  Kafirs and Glaciers (Schomberg), 234

  Kakais, 57

  Kalasha, ix, 223, 228, 229, 231, 242, 244

  clothing of, 235, 250

  conversion of, 227, 249–250, 251, 254

  dancing and, 240–241

  described, 239–240

  diplomacy and, 253–254

  divorce and, 251

  Islam and, 250

  Muslims and, 238, 249, 253–254

  photo of, 238, 245, 246, 254

  religion of, 238

  traditions/customs of, 236–237, 240, 243

  virtues of, 250–251

  Kalasha River, 234, 238, 252

  photo of, 252

  Kalasha valley, 232, 234, 243

  photo of, 235

  Kam, 223, 233, 242, 243, 248

  blood feuds and, 224

  social ladder of, 224

  Kasravi, Ahmad: anticlerical writers and, 95

  Kemal, Mustafa “Ataturk,” 54

  Khadhouri, Moshe, 34

  Khadhouri, Yvonne, 34

  Khamenei, Ayatollah, 85, 105

  Khan, Abdur Rahman, 225, 226, 248

  Khan, Gordana, 221

  Khan, Reza, 100
/>   Khatami, President, 84

  Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah, 82, 83, 93–94

  penal laws and, xxvii

  Plato and, 95

  poem by, 97

  power for, 86

  secularism and, 85

  Zoroastrians and, 94

  Khorramiyah, 90

  Khosro, 89, 97, 99

  Khoury, George, 266–267, 268, 270

  Kipling, Rudyard, 248

  Knights Templar, 136, 275

  Koran, 8, 10, 19, 32, 49, 50, 65, 81, 95, 97, 122

  burning, 215

  Egypt and, 198

  Jews and, 152

  language of, 184

  pharaohs and, 196

  Satan and, 62

  Zoroastrians and, 102

  Kurdish language, 54, 56

  Kurdistan, 55, 56, 57, 58, 65, 71

  Kurds, 39, 45, 57, 86, 258, 260

  Arabs and, xxiv

  described, 56

  independence for, 55

  Turks and, 54

  Yazidis and, 40–41, 61, 65–66, 70, 71, 274

  Kurmanji language, 39, 45, 47, 54, 66, 272

  Labib, Claudius, 198

  Lalish, 42, 43, 58, 69, 73, 118, 277

  described, 67, 273

  temple at, 65 (photo)

  visiting, 44, 64, 66

  Yazidis around, 71

  Lalish Cultural Center, 64

  Lawrence, T. E., xii

  Layard, Austen Henry, 61

  Lebanese civil war, 118, 119, 120, 129, 138

  Druze and, 132–133, 138

  end of, 113

  Lerounis, Athanasios, 227, 228

  Levi, 153, 154, 165

  Lewis, C. S., 78

  Light-World, 1, 2, 11

  Lord Sin, 4, 42, 48

  Lost Tribes, 147, 149, 153, 156, 169

  Louis XVI, King, 25

  Loulan Beauty (mummy), 228

  Lucifer, 60, 64

  Lupieri, Edmondo, 270

  Lyde, Samuel: Alawites and, 52–53

  Maccabee Wars, 151

  Macnaghten, Sir William, 227

  Magi, 77, 78, 79, 97, 99, 111

  Magic, black, 29–30, 79, 205

  Maimonides, 152

  Makarem, Sami, 145, 146

  Man Who Would Be King, The (Kipling), 248

  Mandaean Human Rights Group, 37

  Mandaean priests, 1, 26

  Mandaeanism, 12–13, 19, 271

  converts to, 23

  Iran/Iraq and, xxvi

  Mandaeans, x, xix, xxviii, 8, 14–15, 32, 40, 43, 50, 71, 192

  asylum for, 279

  Babylonians and, 11, 27, 28–29

  baptism of, 2 (photo), 10, 11, 23, 23–24, 24 (photo), 27–28, 271

  blue and, 69

  celibacy and, 14

  Christianity and, 18

  cleanliness of, 27, 273

  curses by, 32

  descent of, 2

  described, 20–21

  emigration of, 37–38, 279

  festivals of, 21–22

  harassment of, 9, 35

  holidays of, 29, 30

  holy books of, 7, 19

  Jews and, 12–13, 29, 34

  language of, 10–11, 25

  number of, 18

  photo of, 21

 

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