Travel to Middle East

From the Holy Mountain: A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East

Format: Paperback
Author: William Dalrymple
ReleaseDate: 15 March, 1999
Publisher: Owl Books
Rating:

Inspirational
Though we treated them largely as doctrinal heretics and schismatics, they were lifeless groups and sects in the pages of our medieval church history text books. As a seminary student, I had been exposed to many of the groups Dalrymple visited during his journey. "From the Holy Mountain" brought those people to life in ways that I had not experienced before.

In addition to the narratives that draw you in, the author's keen eye for details and his ability to weave multiple threads together make you *feel* this book rather than read it. I came away feeling almost as if I had made the journey myself, and what more can we ask for from a book like this?

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A book transcending itself
The part of its' history from Byzantine times, meaning the presence and history of Christian settlements, is easily forgotten or at least figures in the background only. A trip through the Middle-East is most of all getting to know the Muslim world. After having read this book the Middle-East will never be the same to me again. With the exception of the Armenian genocide, I was hardly aware of all tragedies which happened but most of all: which are today still happening to the very old Christian communities of these countries. Not only are they in permanent danger of being killed, often with no punishment of the perpetrators from the authorities, and have they already been driven out of places where they lived since a 1500 years, also their ancient buildings, art, manuscripts, possessions of huge historic meaning, are being destroyed. As these communities and their material heritage represent much of the roots of Western civilization, this loss is a huge loss for the history of mankind. What's going on is a complete annihilation of the wonderful mosaic of different civilizations this world once produced. As since many years but now more than ever the Middle-East is the focus of world politics, "From the Holy Mountain" should be read by a much wider group of people than lovers of good travelogues or lovers of these countries only. A most important and readable study, implicating a plea for tolerance and respect, it should be a must-read for all politicians in the world.
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Zeal For Ecclesiastical Arcana
Dalrymple's journey through the middle east, retraces the Byzantine traveller-monlk, John Moschos, author of, The Spiritual Meadow'. Yes! My title nabbed from the Amazon reviewer. In the late C6th, accompanied by his pupil, he set to gather the wisdom of the desert fathers from Mt Athos, to Kurdisatan, then south through Syria, the Lebanon, Palestine, and on up the Nile. Dalrymple's trip in the early 90s was frought with tensions which today would cause an angel trepidation. The book was a revelation to me, filling in considerable gaps about the foundation and correlations of so many parties in the fermenting region. Muslim fundamentlists provide stiff opposition to Dalrymple's historical and current enquiries. But they are not unique in this. His evocation of place is crisply poetic and touched with memorable detail. His feel for people is very sympathetic. A work justly applauded.

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