Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms (53 page)

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

baira
s 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