Middle East – VoVatia (original) (raw)

Category Archives: Middle East

Dividing Canaan

The current war between Israel and Palestine is obviously horrific, and I can’t say I really know enough about what’s going on there to properly write about it. I’ve certainly seen valid points for and against both populations, but also … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Conspiracy Theories, Current Events, Fundamentalism, History, Islam, Judaism, Middle East, Politics, Prejudice, Religion | Tagged 2 thessalonians, abraham, benjamin netanyahu, bible, british mandate for palestine, dispensationalism, donald trump, exodus, ezekiel, gog, hal lindsey, hamas, israel, jerusalem, jesus, joshua, judah, king david, king solomon, magog, palestine, prophecy, rapture, revelation, scofield reference bible, second coming, terrorism, zionism |

Heka Heka Egyptian Magic

The main villain in Lin Carter’s Kesrick is a wizard named Zazamanc, who’s been around for quite a while, although not much is known about him. He originates in a story from what’s known as the Westcar Papyrus, named after … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Animals, Arabian, Cartoons, Christianity, Comics, Egyptian, History, Islam, Judaism, Language, Magic, Middle East, Mythology, Names, Religion | Tagged abanazar, aladdin, aladdin and his wonderful lamp, arabian nights, balaam, bible, black panther, book of thoth, caliph harun al-rashid, crocodiles, djadjaemankh, djedi, egyptian tales, exodus, flinders petrie, frogs, genie, georges posener, golems, hathor, henry westcar, heqet, imaginary lives, isis, jafar, jafar ibn yahya barmaki, jannes and jambres, jinn, kesrick, khaemwaset, khnum, khufu, king solomon, lin carter, magicians, marcel schwob, marvel comics, mehusekhe, merire, meskhenet, moghrabi sufrah, nebka, neferkaptah, nephthys, pantomime, papyrus vandier, parzifal, ptah, quran, rededjet, setne, si-osire, sisobek, sneferu, tabubu, tales of the magicians, thief of bagdad, thoth, ubaoner, westcar papyrus, wizards, wolfram von eschenbach, zazamanc |

Quran So Far Away

I’ve now read through the Quran, mostly using this translation. I know it’s really only considered authentic in Arabic, but I can’t read that language. Discussing Islam can be kind of awkward, especially because the amount of Islamophobia in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Arabian, Book Reviews, Christianity, Gnosticism, History, Islam, Judaism, Language, Magic, Middle East, Mythology, Religion | Tagged abraham, adam and eve, angels, antisemitism, bible, demons, elephants, ezra, heaven, hell, homosexuality, iblis, islamophobia, jesus, jihad, jinn, jorge luis borges, joseph, king solomon, mecca, muhammad, paradise, quran, sabbath, satan, satanic verses, the book of imaginary beings, virgin mary, war |

Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child

Beth has mentioned to me that she really likes the Coventry Carol, which I can’t say I was particularly familiar with. It’s a very bleak sort of song, which makes sense considering what it’s about. But we both know it … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Christmas, Donkey Kong, History, Holidays, Mario, Middle East, Music, Mythology, Plays, Religion, Roman Empire, Tori Amos, United Kingdom, Video Games | Tagged benjamin, bethlehem, bible, coventry carol, epiphany, genesis, gospel of matthew, gospels, greensleeves, jeremiah, jesus, john henry hopkins jr., joseph campbell, king herod the great, massacre of the innocents, moses, nativity, rachel, thomas paine, three wise men, we three kings, what child is this?, william chatterton dix, world war ii |

Is Saul Also Among the Prophets?

It’s pretty obvious that the Bible contains a lot of contradictions, although those who believe the whole thing to be the totally accurate Word of God tend to either ignore them or come up with convoluted workarounds. The way I … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, History, Judaism, Middle East, Mythology, Politics, Religion | Tagged aaron, asherah, bible, canaan, deuteronomistic history, deuteronomy, exodus, genesis, israel, jacob, jeremiah, jerusalem, josiah, judah, judges, moses, priests, prophets, samuel, saul, twelve tribes of israel |

A Day for Esther

Purim ends at sundown today. I can’t say I grew up knowing much at all about Jewish holidays. I wonder if kids growing up in New York City do, or if they just know that they’re days some people get … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Hellenistic Greece, History, Holidays, Judaism, Middle East, Prejudice, Religion, Roman Empire | Tagged belshazzar, bible, esther, gabriel, genocide, haman, joshua, king ahasuerus, king artaxerxes i, king cyrus, king xerxes i, midrash, morality, mordecai, persia, purim, septuagint, vashti |

The Simple Life

Something I’ve been looking into recently is the idea that the book of Genesis has, at least in parts, a bias against civilization. I don’t mean so much in the sense of polite behavior, but as in the more historical … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Ethnicity, Food, Gender, History, Judaism, Middle East, Mythology, Religion, Semitic | Tagged abraham, adam and eve, agricultural revolution, agriculture, babylon, bible, cain and abel, cities, civilization, garden of eden, genesis, herding, how to read the bible, hunter-gatherers, isaac, israel, jacob, james l. kugel, judah, kenites, neolithic era, nomads, tower of babel |

The Bible Says a Lot of Things

One thing I’ve found is that, when someone discusses the Bible from a secular perspective, there will be devout believers who get angry about it, even though no one is actually attacking their faith. I guess part of the problem … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Fundamentalism, Greek Mythology, History, Judaism, Middle East, Mythology, Norse, Religion | Tagged adam and eve, archaeology, ark of the covenant, bible, biblical inerrancy, divine inspiration, enoch, exodus, hittites, israel, jason, judah, judas iscariot, king cepheus, king david, medea, nephilim, nimrod, queen cassiopeia, queen of sheba, tel dan stele, theseus, trojan war |

Resistance Is Blasphemous

I sometimes wonder if there’s a connection between being deeply religious and following authority without question. In the most popular holy books, God does often come across as a rather cruel, petty dictator. Of course, that’s not really how it … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Fundamentalism, History, Judaism, Middle East, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Roman Empire | Tagged authority, bible, gideon, high places, israel, jeremiah, jesus, jezebel, john of patmos, judah, judges, king ahab, king david, king saul, nebuchadnezzar, obedience, priests, prophets, revelation, romans, samuel, st. paul, the family |

I Have Learned the Value of Human Sacrifice

Human sacrifice is a quite controversial subject, as a lot of the information we have on it was provided by enemy cultures that might have been trying to slander other groups. It kind of seemed to me that people who … Continue reading →

Posted in Greek Mythology, History, Judaism, Mesoamerica, Middle East, Mythology, Religion, Roman Empire | Tagged abraham, agamemnon, aztecs, bible, genesis, genocide, holy war, human sacrifice, iphigenia, isaac, jephthah, phoenicia, ritual, sacrifice |