29425PFXIV When I read about Arab geographers ~~~~

29425PeterFrankopanANewHistoryOfTheWorldTheSilkRoads
WHOSE
WORKS WERE
ACCOMPANIED BY CHARTS
THAT SEEMED UPSIDE DOWN
AND PUT THE CASPIAN SEA AT ITS CENTRE,
I WAS TRANSFIXED - AS I WAS WHEN I FOUND OUT
ABOUT AN IMPORTANT MEDIEVAL TURKISH MAP IN ISTANBUL THAT HAD AT ITS HEART
A CITY CALLED BALASAGHUN, WHICH I HAD NEVER HEARD OF, WHICH DID NOT APPEAR ON ANY MAPS,
AND WHOSE VERY LOCATION WAS UNCERTAIN UNTIL RECENTLY, AND YET WÀS
ONCE CONSIDERED THÉ CÈNTRE ÒF THÉ WÒRLD?'

I wanted to know more about Russia & Central Asia,
about Persia & Mesopotamia! I wànted to understand the origins of Christianity
when viewed from Asia; ànd how the Crusades looked to those living in the great cities of the MIDDLE AGES -
Constantinople ànd Jerusalem, Baghdad & Cairo, for example; I wanted to learn about the great empires
of the east, about the Mongols and their conquests in order to understand
how two world wars looked when viewed not from Flanders
or the eastern front, but from Afghanistan and India!!

I was extraordinarily fortunate therefore
that I was able to learn Russian at school,
where I was taught by Dick Haddon, a brilliant man
who had served in Naval Intelligence ànd believed
that the way to understand the Russian language and DUSHA, or soul,
was through its sparkling literature and its peasant music! I was even more fortunate when he offered
to give Arabic lessons to those who were interested, introducing half a dozen of us to
Islamic culture & history, and immersing us in the beauty
of classical Arabic! Thèse languages hèlped unlock
a world waiting to be discovered,
or, as I soon realised,
to be rediscovered by
those of us
in the
west.
03 okt 2017 - bewerkt op 05 okt 2017 - meld ongepast verhaal
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Asih, man, 80 jaar
   
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