Forty Days of Musa Dagh

by Franz Werfel

  Münadir -- drummer herald.

  Mutessarif -- civil administrator of a sanjak or region; equivalent in military ranking of a colonel.

  Nahiyeh -- administrative sub-district; subdivision of a kazah.

  Nargileh -- plpe for smoking through water.

  Oka -- Turkish measure of weight, about 2-3/4 lbs.

  Onbashi -- sergeant-major.

  Padishah -- one of the Sultan's titles; as an adjective, equivalent to "imperial."

  Para -- coin worth 1/40 of a piastre, or 1/9 of a cent.

  Pasha -- an honorary title placed after the name, given to officers of very high rank both civil and military. The stress falls on the second syllable.

  Piastre -- silver coin worth about 4-1/2 cents.

  Raki -- ardent spirits usually flavored with anise.

  Redif -- military home guard.

  Sanjak -- large administrative region, coming in order of scope between a kazah (district) and a vilayet (province).

  Saptieh -- gendarme.

  Selamlik -- the reception-room of the Turkish house.

  Seraglio -- residence of the Sultan, or official palace of the government.

  Seraskeriat -- the War Ministry.

  Shalwar -- baggy Turkish trousers.

  Sublime Porte -- the government of the Turkish empire.

  Sura -- a chapter of the Koran.

  Tar -- Armenian guitar.

  Tarbush -- turban made by wrapping a scarf around a fez or red cap.

  Tekkeh -- Moslem cloister.

  Teskeré -- passport for travel in Turkish interior.

  Tonir -- brick oven dug into the earth.

  Türbedar -- holder of exalted office, "guardian" of the tombs of sultans and holy men.

  Ulema -- a Mohammedan college or body composed of the hierarchy.

  Vartabed -- Armenian ecclesiastic.

  Vilayet -- chief admiaistrative division of the Ottoman Empire; a province.

  Wali -- civil governor or prefect of a vila yet or province; equivalent in military ranking of a general.

  Weli -- Islamic holy man.

  Yailadji -- mountaineer.

  Yayli -- two-horse coach.

  Yüs-Bashi---major.

  Zikr exercises -- Islamic devotions, practised by dervishes.

  Zilgith -- ancient Turkish battle cry.

  They were

  butchering

  tyrants!

  For months the ruthless Turks had waged

  a campaign of terror against the Armenians

  -- hanging, looting and raping.

  And now, in 1915, they embarked on a cam-

  paign of complete extermination.

  Faced with certain death, the Armenian vil-

  lagers revolted. It fell to Gabriel Bagradian

  to lead some five thousand of them into the

  impenetrable mountain area of Musa Dagh.

  Here they constructed primitive but almost

  impregnable fortifications.

  The tough, courageous villagers -- poorly

  armed and with meager provisions -- looked

  out across the rocky slopes to see the first

  Turkish patrols inching slowly up the

  mountain.

  The bloody battle of

  Musa Dagh was about

  to begin!