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
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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