Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms (56 page)

Sebastianus, 17

Secularism, 85, 109, 261

Seth, 2, 10, 191, 207

Shabak, 57

Shafiq, Ahmad, 205

Shahnamah,
78, 89, 92

Shahristani, on Harranians, 49

Shahrvini, Laal, 99, 100, 106, 108

memorial service for, 110–111

as midwife, 101

purity and, 75–76

Zoroastrianism and, 77, 80, 107

Shahrvini, Shahin, 108, 278

Shahrvini, Shahriar, 101, 108

memorial service for, 110–111

wounding of, 106

Zoroastrians and, 107

Shakira, 262

Shalala, Donna, 263

Shalhoub, Father, 265, 278

Shamash, xxii, 4, 42, 43

Shamm al-Nessim, 191, 194

Shams, Sheikh, 42, 43, 53

Shapur, 78

Shatt al-Arab, 83, 84

Shavuot, 169

Shechem, 148, 161

Sheikhs

Alawite, 51, 52, 53

Druze, 121, 131, 132, 135, 139–140, 143, 144, 269

Edizi, 42, 43

Sheitan, 60.
See also
Devil, Satan.

Shenouda III, Patriarch, 182, 202, 203, 204, 214

Shi’a, xxiv, xxv, 3, 19, 51, 58, 91, 92, 93, 99

Ashura and, 21–22

disillusionment with, 95

Druze and, 129, 132–133

government and, 95

massacres of, xxiii

processions of, 22

Shihab, Farhan, 272

Shihab, Naalin, 273, 275

Shiraz, described, 95–96, 96–97

Shirazi, Ali, 95–96

Shouf Mountains

Druze and, 129–130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 142–144

photo of, 133

Sidhom, Youssef, 202

Sizdah Bedar, 90

Smith, Haskett, 135, 136

Socrates, 114

Pythagoras and, 116

Solomon, King, 88

Spells, casting, 29, 30–31, 32, 205

Sphinx, 124, 196

Strauss, Richard: Zarathustra, 80

Sufis, 7, 62, 97, 99, 186

conversion by, 58

Sphinx and, 196

Sukkot, 170, 176

Sun, 26

as god, 65

Sunnis, xxiii, xxv, 3, 51, 91, 99, 126, 261

Druze and, 129, 140, 142

Syriac, 45, 258

Syrian Orthodox Church, 195

Tahrir Square, 187–188, 189, 191, 197, 198, 204

Tahtawi, 197

Taliban, 226

Talmud, 12, 150

Tamerlane, xix, 220, 225

Taqammus,
122, 123

Tawheed, 127

Tel Aviv, 148, 151, 157, 158, 159, 161, 163

Temple Mount, 160

Ten Commandments, 153, 165

Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
See
Lost Tribes

Thabit ibn Qurra, 50

Thermopylae, 82, 84

Thesiger, Wilfrid, 20–21

photo by, 20 (fig.), 21 (fig.)

Thor, xix, 26

Thoth, 182

Three Wise Men, 77, 106

Tirghan, 108, 278

Tolerance, ix, xxii, 90, 152, 255

spirit of, xxiii, 8, 9

Torah, 80

photo of, 172

rules of, 166

Samaritan, 165, 169, 170, 173

Trajan, Emperor, 85

Tsadka, Sophie, 168

Tsedaka, Benyamim, 157, 158, 164–165, 179

marriage of, 167

Passover and, 170, 176–177

sabbath and, 167

Samaritan history and, 166–167

Samaritan tradition and, 169–170

Samaritans and, 167, 178

Tsedaka, Miriam, 167

Tsedaka, Yefet, 167

Turkmen, 57

Turks, 40, 45, 56

blue and, 69

Kurds and, 54

Tutankhamun, 4, 134, 192

Twelfth imam, 91

Typewriters, photo of, 33 (fig.)

ul-Haq, Zia, 233

ul-Mulk, Ghazala, 234

ul-Mulk, Shahzada Siraj, 234, 237

Unani-tibb
(Galen), 94

Uniate “Chaldean” Church, 259

Uniate church, 185, 210, 259

United Nations, sanctions by, 31

Universal Mind or Intellect, 123, 125, 127, 145, 268

Universal Soul, 127, 145

Utnapishtim, 3

Vansleb, Johann, 196, 198

Virgin Mary, 102, 130, 182, 258

Vishtaspa, 97

Wafd Party, 198

Wahba, Youssef, 198

Wanat, battle of, 226

Warner Brothers, 82

Watani,
202

West Bank, 157, 158, 159, 161, 162, 177

conquest of, 160, 176

Palestinians and, 148

White Days, 21, 21–22

Wolff, Joseph, 154

Woolley, Leonard, 4

Wordsworth, William: paganism and, xii

World of Darkness, 18

World Zoroastrian Organisation, 108

Wotan, xix

Xerxes, 81, 84

Yahweh, 45

Yaish, Adli, 164

Yazd, 75, 76, 81, 107, 108

dakhma
in, 104 (photo)

fire temple at, 109

photo of, 76

Zoroastrians in, 99, 100, 101, 102, 105, 109

Yazidis, ix, x, 52, 53, 58, 59, 64, 67, 118, 144

attacks on, xxiv, 70–71, 129

beliefs of, 39–40, 42, 43, 54, 276

challenge for, 72–73

Christians and, 41

cleanliness of, 273

creation and, 42

education of, 71

fish and, 54

folklore of, 276

handshake and, 48, 73

identity of, 66, 274

Kurds and, 40–41, 61, 65–66, 70, 71–72, 274

Melek Taoos and, 60–61, 63

missionary work and, 69

Mithraists and, 47

Muslims and, 39, 60

Ottomans and, 71

photo of, 60

prayer/fasting by, 43

reading/writing and, 42

refuge for, 41, 279

reincarnation and, 44

rights of, 271

scripture of, 43

shrines of, 41, 66

sun and, 44, 65

Yemeni, 138, 139, 264

Yoannis, Father, 211, 212, 213, 215, 216

Yohannan bar Penkaye, 64

Yom Kippur, Samaritans and, 169

Zaghloul, Saad, 198, 200

Zagros Mountains, 84

Zamalek Island, 188–189

Zarathustra, 92, 97, 102, 110

immortality and, 77, 79

moral law and, 80

Zendan-e-Soleyman, 87, 92, 106

temple at, 88 (photo)

Zenobia, 23

Zoroastrian priests, 79, 90

Zoroastrianism, 46, 52, 88

conversion to, 109, 110

free choice and, 78

human history and, 84–85

Iranians and, 89

liberal interpretation of, 108

modern, 109–111

Muslim practices of, 89–90

signs/emblems of, 81, 82

Zoroastrians, 8, 60, 61, 62, 64, 77, 81, 83, 86, 87, 91, 96

animals and, 78–79

Baha’i and, 107

in Britain, 106, 107, 108

cleanliness of, 101, 104, 105

customs of, 99–100

disrespect/hostility for, 80

encountering, 109

Gabri language and, 76

Hafez and, 97, 99

Jesus and, 77

monotheism and, xxi

Parsee, 106

talking with, 111

wine and, 97

Zulfikar (photographer), 234, 237, 239, 240, 242

on Kalasha, 255

Table of Contents

Praise

Half Title Page

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Foreword

Timeline

Map of Forgotten Kingdoms

Introduction

Chapter 1: Mandaeans

Chapter 2: Yazidis

Chapter 3: Zoroastrians

Chapter 4: Druze

Chapter 5: Samaritans

Chapter 6: Copts

Chapter 7: Kalasha

Epilogue

Source and Further Readings

Index