From The Holy Mountain

by William Dalrymple

  masjid: Mosque,

  medresse: An Islamic college.

  mihrab: Prayer niche in mosques, indicating the direction of Mecca, minyan: The minimum quorum of adult males without which Jews may not celebrate the more solemn prayers and rituals in a synagogue,

  misericord: Projecting ledge on the hinged seat of a Western choirstall serving as a support to a standing singer. They are often beautifully carved and decorated.

  Monophysite: (lit. 'one nature') The belief that there is only one divine nature in the person of Christ, as opposed to the Orthodox position that Christ has a double nature, at once human and divine. Monophysi-tism was declared heretical at the Council of Chalcedon (451 a . d .), after which the Coptic, Syrian and Armenian Churches all separated from the rest of the Christian community. Today all these Churches regard the term Monophysite as pejorative, and claim it represents a misunderstanding of their theology.

  Monothelite: A compromise definition of the nature of Christ suggested by the Emperor Heraclius in 638 a.d., in an attempt to end the split between Orthodox and Monophysites which was then threatening to break apart the Empire. The definition maintains that Christ has one divine energy and one will. Rejected out of hand by all the parties it was trying to reconcile, the only sect to subscribe to the doctrine were the unfortunate Maronites, who thus came to be regarded as heretics by both the Monophysites and the Orthodox. Persecuted accordingly, the Maronites fled to the heights of Mount Lebanon, where they still remain.

  moshav: A small collective farm in Israel.

  muezzin: Muslim prayer leader. In the old days used to chant the azan (q.v.) from the minaret five times a day, but a bit of an endangered species since the advent of the cassette recorder. Mukhabarat: Secret police (in Arab countries).

  Mukhtar: (lit. 'the man chosen' in Arabic) Village headman, narthex: Railed-off western portico or antechamber to the main body of an Orthodox church, for the use of women, penitents and catechumens.

  Nestorian: An adherent to the doctrines of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople in 428 a . d ., who asserted that Christ had two quite distinct divine and human persons, as opposed to the Orthodox position that the incarnate Christ was a single person, at once God and man. Nestor-ianism was characterised by the rejection of the term Theotokos (q.v.). Nestorius was expelled from the Orthodox Church at the Council of Ephesus (431 a.d.) and his followers declared heretics. Modern Nestori-ans revere the memory of Nestorius but deny that their Church was founded by him, claiming instead that their traditions go back to the apostle Addai who led a mission to Edessa and the Persian Empire soon after Christ's death. They therefore prefer to be known as the Church of the East, the Assyrian Church or the East Syrian Church. Once a major religious force in Asia, with churches dotting the Silk Route from Eastern Turkey to China, the Nestorian Church is now small and internally divided. It is based mainly in Iraq, where its adherents suffer from persecution, although refugees have spread the faith to Syria, India, England, Australia and the US.

  nomisma: A Byzantine unit of currency, roughly equivalent to ten pence.

  Panaghia: (lit. 'the All-Holy' in Greek) Orthodox honorific for the Virgin Mary.

  Pantocrator: (lit. 'All Mighty' in Greek) The image or icon of Jesus ruling as Christ the King, generally placed in the apse or dome of an Orthodox church.

  Sassanian: (or Sassanid) The dynasty which ruled the Persian Empire from 211 to 651 a . d . In the early seventh century the Sassanians invaded and occupied most of the Byzantine Levant, sacking Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, until being driven back and defeated by the Byzantine Emperor Heradius in 651 a.d. servis: A shared taxi in Arab countries.

  shabab: (lit. 'young men' in Arabic) Now generally used in the English-language press to refer to the young stone-throwers of the Palestinian intifada (q.v.).

  shalwar: Baggy 'Turkish' trousers (or 'Allah catchers'), simandron: The wooden stick 'rung' in Eastern Christian monasteries to summon the faithful to prayer. Introduced after the advent of Islam, when Christians were forbidden from ringing bells,

  skete: A minor monastery or large hermitage.

  stylite: Byzantine monk or hermit who, following the example of St Symeon Stylites, chose to live on top of a pillar. St Symeon originally mounted his pillar to stop pilgrims attempting to pluck hairs from his cloak or person, but subsequent stylites chose to live up pillars as a specific form of rigorous asceticism which symbolised their attempt to come as close to God as was humanly possible. Stylitism spread as far north as Georgia and as far west as Trier, but it remained most popular in the vicinity of Antioch where, in the fifth and sixth centuries a.d., pillars dotted most of the highest hilltops.

  Suriani: The name given to the Syrian Orthodox (q.v.) community in Turkey and Syria.

  Syrian Orthodox: At the Council of Chalcedon in 451 a . d ., the Church of Antioch was condemned for Monophysitism (q.v.). It broke from the orthodox mainstream and set up a new hierarchy of its own. Surviving persecution first by the Byzantine Emperors, then by a succession of Muslim rulers, the remnants of the Church still survive in eastern Turkey, Syria and parts of southern India. It is also known as the lacobite Church, while in Turkey and Syria its members are referred to as the Suriani (q.v.).

  Tau cross: T-shaped bishop's staff used in Eastern (and Celtic) Churches.

  tell: (Arabic) A mound or tumulus covering an archaeological site, tetrapylon: A ceremonial arch with openings on all four sides. Theotokos: (lit. 'The Mother of God' in Greek) A title of the Virgin Mary adopted at the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon (431 and 451 a.d. respectively) as an assertion of the doctrine of the divinity of Our Lord's person.

  wadi: Arabic for valley. A riverbed or gorge, usually dry except in the wet season.

  wahde: Arabic for 'gently'.

  Yezidis: A rare and esoteric religion, perhaps originally an offshoot of some Gnostic Christian or heretical Muslim sect. Yezidis believe that Lucifer, having extinguished the flames of hell with the tears of his penitence, has been forgiven by God and reinstated as the Chief Angel. Now known as Malik Tawus, the Peacock Angel, he superintends the daily running of the world. Abused as devil-worshippers by their enemies, the Yezidis get on surprisingly well with the Syrian Orthodox, in whose villages many of the Turkish Yezidis live, and whose saints the Yezidis also venerate. The Yezidis can also be found in Georgia, Armenia and Iraq.

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