From The Holy Mountain: A Journey Among The Christians Of The Middle East (1999) - Plot & Excerpts
William Dalrymple sets out with his backpack, pen and paper and a copy of the book 'The Spiritual Meadow' to travel to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt over six months in 1994, to take a look at the Christian communities that live there and to see what has become of them and their heritage. The inspiration for the journey comes from the book he was carrying, which was written by John Moschos, a sixth century Byzantine monk, who did a somewhat similar journey and recorded his impressions in 'The Spiritual Meadow'. What Dalrymple finds turns out to be sad and heartbreaking and we get the picture of a gradual disappearance of Christian life in the Middle East. Persecution, discrimination and insecurity have driven most of them out, to emigrate to Brazil, US, UK, Australia and Canada. The ultimate irony for Dalrymple occurred when he wanted to meet some remaining Nestorian Christians in Syria. He was told that the largest community of Nestorian Christians can be found in the suburb of Ealing in London!Given the problems in the Middle East nowadays, one would have assumed that the Christians of the region would be mainly threatened in their existence by Islamic Fundamentalism. But, Dalrymple's travels and experiences show that the reality is a lot more complicated than this. In fact, the problems faced by the Christians is quite diverse. Let us look at what the author says of the situation in each of the five countries that he visits.In Turkey, the Syrian Christians are caught in the crossfire between the rival nationalisms and religion of the Turks and the Kurds. Both the ethnic groups see Christians as neither Turks nor Kurds and certainly not as co-religionists. In the past, during the First World War, starvation, deportation and massacre decimated the Suriani Christians in Turkey. The Armenian story is also heartbreaking, with whole villages having been massacred in early 20th century by the Turks. Dalrymple says that Armenian churches have steadily been destroyed and that there is an attempt to erase all traces of Armenians ever having existed in Turkey.In Lebanon, even though there are substantial number of Christians, the author blames the violent militancy of the Maronite Christians and their refusal to compromise with the Muslim majority for the ensuing civil war, which has resulted in mass emigration of Christians. This has contributed to the dimunition in the power of the Maronites themselves. In addition, there is the complication of Israel being a neighbor and the Muslims regarding the Christians as 'not Arabs'.In Israel, the author's account of Christians is a shocker. Since Israel is strongly backed by the West, which is pre-dominantly Christian, I would have thought that Christians as minorities would have it easier in the Jewish state. On the contrary, Dalrymple says that they are treated as second-class citizens and are viewed with suspicion and contempt by the Israeli authorities. In Jerusalem, the pressure on Armenian, Greek and Arab Christians to sell their land is continuous and unyielding. As a result, most Palestinian Christians, being well-educated, have emigrated to the West. They allege that Israel has been at work trying to diminish the Christian heritage in Jerusalem and promote the Jewish heritage of the city. In 1922, the old city of Jerusalem had a 52% Christian population. In 1994, when Dalrymple visits Jerusalem, it was 2.5%.In Egypt, the author finds that the Coptic Christians are threatened by the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism. But they are also the largest Christian community in the Middle East and this helps a bit in their survival. In 1994, the threats were mostly limited to specific Cairo suburbs and some towns and villages in Upper Egypt. Today, with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, we see the insecurity of the Copts rising sharply.Finally, it is only in the much-maligned Syria that the author finds the Christian population looking happy and confident and in good numbers. Even here, they were insecure about the future when the Alawites eventually lose power and the Sunni majority assumes the mantle. Again, current events bear witness to such possibilities.Overall, contrary to popular imagination in the Islamic world, the picture that emerges is that Western countries are largely indifferent to the plight of these Eastern Christians and have lent them neither financial nor political support during all these decades of their decline. Even on the issue of emigration, perhaps the over-riding factor would have been their high levels of education and employability rather than affinity of religion.Readers of the book who are of Turkish or Israeli origin might not agree with the description of the treatment of Christian minorities in their countries. However, I feel that one should see this book NOT as an account of history but rather as a travelogue, where Dalrymple has recorded his impressions and conclusions based on his experiences during those six months. It must be said to Dalrymple's credit that he emphasizes the fact that relations between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East was quite healthy under the Ottoman Turkish Empire.The author's final conclusion now, however, is that he has seen the beginning of the end of Christians in the Middle East.A great travelogue!
An interesting look at an aspect of Middle Eastern history that is not discussed much - the history and state of Christianity in the Middle East. The book is loosely structured as a travelogue built around an account of a journey by two monks it the 6th century. Dalrymple sets out to follow their root and compare the churches, monasteries and Christian communities John Moschos and his companion visited 1400 years ago.Dalrymple's travels and comments bring up a number of interesting points or threads which he explores in detail. Some of ones that caught my eye were:1) You get a strong sense of Christianity as essentially a middle eastern religion with historically a very strong presence in the region. This is something ignored by European and American christian churches, as if they wanted to forget its essentially Arabic origins. This also explains the indifference of western churches to the plight of Christian communities in Israel and Egypt (amongst other countries) where governments are working to eliminate Christianity from the country and its history. You can include Turkey in this mix, but there the process of elimination is almost complete (and is strongly tied to ethnic issues also). This indifference also I think points to the narrowness of the various Christian sects and their lack of acceptance of other branches of the faith; perhaps also to the strong historical link between nation states and organized religion.2) The strong link between Islam and Christianity - there are early orthodox sects that pray in the same way Muslims do, except they also cross themselves while genuflecting.3) Links between early church liturgy and Arabic/middle eastern culture. The music of some of the Syrian orthodox sects sounds so much like Arabic vocal music - there's lots on Youtube.4) The fact that Syria has historically been a haven for middle-eastern Christians pushed out of other countries. Unfortunately, due to their strong ties to the Assad family, with the Syrian revolution this may no longer be the case -we could be looking basically the end of Christian communities in the middle east. Especially when you add in the current situation with the Copts in Egypt.5) Just the simple fact that large parts of the middle east were essentially Christian at one point in time.6) His travels and encounters in Israel and Jerusalem dovetail perfectly with Ilan Pappé's account of Israel's policies and actions in relation to Palestinians regardless of whether Christian or Muslim. (You can also add Armenians to the list when considering Jerusalem.) Dalrymple in fact reaches many of the same conclusions about the nature of Zionism.7) Archaeologically, the Muslim take over of Byzantine middle eastern lands does not seem to have created much of an archaeological, cultural or economic break in the historical record. Any cultural and population shifts were very gradual - this was no barbarian horde wreaking havoc as they moved through.8) The strong relation between Syrian monks/monasteries and the church in England - one of the first Archbishops in Canterbury was Syrian. There also seems to be a link between the illustrated manuscripts produced in Syrian monasteries and the early illumination work of Irish monks (now that's travelling...)Includes a decent bibliography
What do You think about From The Holy Mountain: A Journey Among The Christians Of The Middle East (1999)?
Very promising beginning which soon detoured into ruminations on geopolitics and along the way found it self stretched in the muddy fields of scripture and doctrine. The geopolitics appears dated, of course, which is no one's fault. The scripture and doctrine appear methodical, which I regard as alarming. If it wasn't for the encounter with Robert Fisk I would've aborted the book while it was in Lebanon. It is a revealing view into the incestuous proximity between Islam and Christianity, even if the lengths explored lapse into Rorystewartism. That said, a neutral can appreciate the symbiosis of these desert faiths.
—Jonfaith
As in the previous book I reviewed, a traveler decides to go on pilgrimage. Inspired by the writings of the monk John Moschus (ca. 550-619), William Dalrymple, a Scottish journalist and travel-writer, sets off to retrace the route this pilgrim and his friend Sophronios of Jerusalem had traveled so many centuries before.Dalrymple's book is an attempt to rediscover the traces of ancient Christian history in the Middle East, some of them surviving in unexpected ways, some of them tragically disappearing fast. He travels through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. In each place he discovers Eastern Christian communities and attempts to piece together what has brought them to the situations in which they currently find themselves. There are curious cases of (relatively) peaceful co-existence and cooperation between various religious communities, of the type described in some of the novels of Louis de Bernieres. I had always thought his description of Turks and Greeks living happily cheek-by-jowl was idealistic and humorous but probably exaggerated for dramatic effect. I was surprised and pleased, on reading Dalrymple, to find that, as late as 1997, such situations did indeed exist.Sadly, ethnic conflict, political upheaval, civil war and fundamentalism have contributed to some tragic situations, especially for the Syrian Orthodox, the Maronites, the Palestinian Christians, the Armenians and the Copts. Dalrymple shows, however that the fault usually does not lie all on one side. So the picture is never black and white, and no one party is totally innocent or totally guilty.The style is very engaging. The author knows a lot about history, religion, iconography, chant and archaeology. As we accompany him on his travels, he introduces us to a colourful and variegated cast of clerics, monks, drivers, crooks, politicians, border-guards, hotel managers, refugees and others. From the Holy Mountain was published in 1997, so by now the political situations have further altered. Some of the monuments displayed in the photographs have been further damaged or destroyed. So the book is also important as a snapshot of a certain moment in time when these storms were still gathering.
—Richard
Magnífico libro de viajes, alrededor de Turquía, Siria, Líbano, palestina y Egipto. El autor, un inglés del 65, cristiano católico, comienza su viaje en el Monte Athos. Primero consigue el permiso para pernoctar allí y poder revisar los manuscritos de un monje del siglo VI, Juan Mosco. Su escrito "El Prado espiritual" le servirá como guía de los viajes que realizó el referido monje por todo Oriente Próximo. El autor lo emula en el siglo XXI, y nos describe la situación de estos territorios, con especial incidencia en la situación de los cristianos en la época de Juan Mosco y ahora. Las enormes dificultades que tienen en Turquía, especialmente los armenios, la situación más tranquila en Siria, gracias la régimen más permisivo del gobierno Baaz, el destrozado país del Líbano y la controversia con los líderes de los maronitas y las dificultades experimentadas por el éxodo palestino (cristiano y musulmán), los campos de refugiados en Israel, para terminar su recorrido en el alto Egipto, en el monasterio que linda con el desierto, Deir el Abiad.Libro muy ameno, que combina las vivencias de hace 1500 años con las de ahora, y en las que podemos ver cómo la vida de los cristianos nunca ha sido fácil en estos territorios. Como libro de viajes consigue contagiar la ilusión de repetirlo, y atesorar la vivencia. Insalah!
—Peregrino
