#Harun al-Rashid

[arunparia]

Arun al-Rashid

Mannheim, 2017

This clean-shouldered bottle of baby oil, the smell of jasmine with the child-proof cap came for three euros. For another three and a half a warm döner from a Turkish döner shop

to halt the grumble of an empty stomach. The day’s weariness — The carping of the empty pocket doused with the cheap charred meat. When the shop girl of Netto asked my name.

When I was only killing time. Oh, but I’m only killing time. Yes, yes, lady, I’m only killing time. Wait, how much this oil?

Thereon the smell of baby on me. This year’s winter is dim — infectious. Dry meat is boiling in the kitchen in an unfragrant night of plague. Making me feel unloved, like an imp, who’s aching to burn down this city after repeating his name:

Arun al-Rashid, Arun al-Rashid, you are in a jasmine dream.

(The poem was first published in Outlook India: https://www.outlookindia.com/culture-society/five-poems-about-people-across-the-world-weekender_story-328626)

[leroibobo]

cao'an (thatched hermitage) and its manichaean remnants in jinjiang, fujian, china. though cao'an is on its surface not too different from other buddist temples, it was also manichaean, and may still be manichaean in secret. it's also one of the last standing historical manichaean places of worship in the world. this place has quite the history, so i placed it under a read more:

manichaeism is a former world religion of babylonian origin, reaching as far west as the roman empire and as far east as han china at its greatest extent. it combines elements of several other prominent religions and philosophies - the most notable factor of this is that it reveres founder mani as the final prophet in a line consisting of zoroaster, the gautama buddha, and jesus christ. it went mostly extinct due to persecution of followers throughout its multi-continent laity. manichaean places of worship were either entirely destroyed or appropriated in other parts of the world. it lasted much longer in china (until ming dynasty times) and still exists in some parts of fujian and zhejiang. these believers prefer to remain private about their current practice. what outsiders know about the religion is solely through historical records; because of its comparative longevity in china, many of those records come from there.

manichaeans tended to draw more from the religious/philosophical influences on manichaeism that were most familiar to them. (for example, while manichaeism in jerusalem may have looked more abrahamic, manichaeism in istakhr may have looked more zoroastrian.) in china, manichaeism assimilated to both buddhism and taoism; in the former case, much of it was adapted to be stylistically buddhist, and mani received the title of "buddha of light" and a life story resembling the gautama buddha's.

cao'an was constructed during the song dynasty era (specifically in the 960s), when persecution against manichaeans had been ongoing from emperor wuzong of tang's suppression of all foreign religions. (the same policies had affected zoroastrians, eastern syriac christians, and buddhists, but continued for manichaeans after.) at this time, many manichaean temples had buddhist or taoist affiliations, or disguised themselves as buddhist or taoist only. it became officially buddhist after manichaeism was banned in 1368. since abandoned, it was revived for explicit buddhist usage for a short period in the early 20th century. it's preserved as a cultural monument today.

cao'an has managed to preserve remnants of its manichaean affiliations. one is that, instead of a nianfo phrase usually seen in chinese buddhist temples, an inscription on a nearby stone dating to the 15th century reminded worshippers of "purity, light, power, and wisdom". this mantra is an adaption of manichaean cosmology in chinese manichaeism. the original stone was destroyed during the cultural revolution but the phrase was re-inscribed on another after. another is a statue that seems to portray the buddha, but is thought to actually portray mani. unlike other portrayals of the buddha, this one has long, straight hair which is worn down, different facial features and hand/head postures, and, at one point, facial hair. (this was filed off in the early 20th century by a buddhist monk to make him look more like the buddha.) it's also consistent with other portrayals of mani in chinese manichaean art.

[annachum]

Basically

Broke : Helen of Troy literally caused the Trojan War

Woke : While Helen of Troy may have played a part in causing the Trojan War, it was Menelaus and Paris who actually mobilized Spartan and Trojan troops at each other and thus all 3 played a part in causing near total devastation of the Grecian Realms in the Trojan War

Also

Broke : Queen Guinevere caused the fall of Camelot

Woke : It is actually King Arthur's increasing pride that inadvertently driven Guinevere and several of his knigbts away, and Lancelot and Guinevere grew closer over the shared disappointment and dismay in what Arthur has become. Arthur's increasing over pride literally becomes a single and major factor for the fall of Camelot

Also

Broke : Scheherazade single handedly saved the Abbasid Caliphate with her stories

Woke : While Scheherazade's stories may have played a focal part in ceasing the Abbasid Civil War, it is actually also all the royals and nobles siding with Harun AL Rashid and Shahryar ( and Shahryar himself ) then learning to take responsibility and commence efforts in repairing the Abbasid Civil War, after literally waging a civil war at each other over how one of Harun's younger cousins, who is Shahryar's 1st wife, cheated on him with a cook who plotted for Shahryar's demise from his Persian throne.

[thevictorianghost]

Royal Menageries: How an Elephant Wound Up in Charlemagne’s Court

From Ancient Rome to Charlemagne’s court to the Tower of London and beyond, roaring lions and trumpeting elephants have been travelling across Europe for thousands of years

My new article is out! I’m super proud of this one, too, especially since I love animals so much! This is a niche topic, I know, but I think I’ve been very through and I really enjoyed writing it :)

[gazanarchive]

This magnificent house, which was called (Harun al-Rashid) for its luxury, which Golda Meir inhabited in the Talbieh neighborhood, west of occupied Jerusalem, belongs to the Palestinian Hanna Bisharat, who appears in the picture with his family in front of their stolen house. The Palestinian "Hanna Bisharat" built his house in Jerusalem in 1926 for his large family (pictured in black and white). After they were expelled during the Nakba, Golda Meir, the PM of Israel who declared "There were no such thing as Palestinians" stole this home and used it as her residence.

[hyperions-fate]

Your morning alarm goes off again. You scramble to hit snooze, afraid of the day and its corporate labours. But you look at your phone screen and see that, this time, it is no alarm; Harun Al-Rashid is calling you. He wishes to meet you at the caravanserai. You are sought to join him and his party of philosophers, dream-alchemists, and wine-poets as they journey through the pleasures and metaphysical wonders of the Silk Road. You can do nothing but accept the call.

[caesarsaladinn]

Charlemagne could have married Irene… Irene was looking for marriage alliances because she was in hot water after losing a bunch of fights with the much larger empire of Harun al-Rashid… Charlemagne should have cut out the middleman and married Harun al-Rashid

[medieval-elephants]

Golden oldie A little golden elephant hangs out in the corner of the table of contents for the gospel of St Mark in the Lothair Gospels, made between 849 and 851 for Lothair I, Charlemagne's grandson. This manuscript is extraordinary in many ways-- there's lots of expensive purple and gold, a portrait of Lothair himself, the works-- but one of the most interesting features is this tiny elephant, because it is recognizably an elephant. (It can be contrasted with some other attempts at drawing "elephants" from Northern Europe on this blog.) So why did these artists get it right?

Well, people were still alive in the Frankish realms who had actually seen an elephant! In the early 800s, the Abbaids caliph Harun al-Rashid sent Lothair's grandfather, Charlemagne, an elephant called Abul Abbas. Charlemagne had allied with the Abbasids (based in Baghdad) against the Umayyads (based in the Iberian peninsula), who were the rival power along Charlemagne's southern border and who were the descendants of the dynasty the Abbasids had overthrown in order to claim power. You can read more about this in Sam Ottewill-Soulsby's new book, The Emperor and the Elephant. Side note: these Carolingian illuminators were into pink and blue 1000 years before Taylor Swift entered her Lover era.

Materials: Parchment, pigments, gold, ink Origin: Abbey of St Martin, Tours (overseen by Sigilaus for Lothair I) Date: 849-851 Now Paris, BnF latin 266, f. 74r

[artifacts-archive]

Coin (dirham)

Viking, 800-1100 CE

Islamic silver coin minted in 808/809 in Madinat al-Salam (modern-day Baghdad in Iraq) for the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809). On the reverse side the word ‘God’ is inscribed in runes. The inscription is made over the Islamic creed.

[theadventurerslog]

Quest For Glory II: Trial by Fire | Part 2

Day 2 in Shapeir with more exploring and shopping. Hopefully I won't get so lost this time but the map shows where I am on it, so that'll help a lot.

I started the day with some breakfast. Shema also told me she would be dancing this evening and would be pleased if I came. I ate and left with another reminder from Shameen that Shema would be dancing. They really want to make sure I know and come.

And I walked into Alichica's advertising.

It made me snort in an ouch sort of way given the apparent not-so-good state of Raseir.

I bought a bouquet of flowers from Lisha the katta. And in the fountain plaza I bought a pot. I don't know what I'll do with the pot or flowers but if it's going to let me buy them I figure they'll have a use. My bargaining keeps working out very well.

Then it was apothecary time where there were plenty of things to examine including punful urns.

And a bookshelf with many books including "The Pizza Elemental: Fact or Fiction?"

The apothecary owner is Harik. He has vigor, healing, poison cure and mana pills for sale for 5, 10, 12 and 15 dinars respectively. Cheaper than the potions in QFG 1. He warned that if I ever go to Raseir I should stock up on pills here as the apothecary there was taken over by the new Emir and such things may not be available anymore. Other talk and questioning led him to offering to buy scorpion venom and ghoul claws off me for 20 and 15 dinars respectively. Something to keep in mind when I'm less afraid of monsters.

Okay, there are probably some things I could handle just fine. Even with a higher stat cap I'm not a total wimp here. But I'm still scared.

I was looking at the map trying to figure out where to go and it turns out the fighter's plaza and palace are already marked so I can fast travel to those places immediately. I decided to check out the fighter's plaza.

A place to buy waterskins was there, so it was a good thing I went as I'm going to want those for desert exploration. I bought two for a total of three. Maybe overkill but I'd rather be safe. I just need to watch my carried weight. I also bought a cloth bag from Kiram, who turned out to be the uncle of Shameen, nice! Love those little connections in NPCs. Said I was smooth of tongue when I successfully bargained.

I popped into the weapon shop. I don't really need a weapon, but I have to see all the things, and met Issur, who's kind of a grump.

And flexes randomly, so a grump and a show-off?

The weapons on the wall were fun to examine.

Look out wood-chucking woodchucks...

The other half of this plaza has the guild hall!

The lion fellow is a liontaur named Rakeesh. The woman is Uhura and her baby is on the floor playing with Rakeesh's tail.

The Sultan summoned Rakeesh to aid against the Dark Magic hovering near the city, but fears he's not the hero he once was. Perhaps I'll be the hero they need. Of course! There are rumours that in Raseir laws have become more important than men and it's become a crime to think. Few go there and fewer return.

I went to check out the notice board for quests and whatnot.

1000 dinars will be given to the one who restores Emir Arus Al-Din to the palace of Raseir, by order of the Sultan Harun Al-Rashid.

Harik needs some stuff but I already discovered that myself at the apothecary.

Keapon needs the whirling part of a Dervish for a Spell of Great Power, so I needed to go inquire about that.

"The Way of the Paladin: To seek. To learn. To do." - Paladin is a class to pursue but not necessarily something I'll be doing as a wizard? I don't know; we'll see what happens. I kind of just want to be a pure wizard though.

And there's a general note that services to the city and land of Shapeir will be rewarded. By order of the Sultan.

I spoke to the lady next, Uhura. She trains warriors. She's working at the guild until her baby, Simba, is old enough for them to travel back to their homeland. She likes Rakeesh whom she thinks is a kind, wise and strong warrior, though his leg had been once been broken and never healed right. You can practice with her to get your combat skills up. I did one bout until my stamina ran out. Magic is more my thing, but you know, MP runs out. Nice to have a spot that won't kill me to get a bit more strength and weapon skill.

I did wipe out my stamina though, so I returned to the inn to sleep for an hour before continuing my explorations and returning to ask Keapon about the Dervish. The ability to just go sleep and recover your stamina is glorious.

Of course returning to the inn meant more advertising from Alichica.

Keapon wants the whirl of a Dervish and will pay 1500 centimes, or 15 dinars, for it. The Dervish is at an oasis somewhere south and a bit east of Shapeir.

Then I wanted to go visit Aziza and got some directions from Alichica. I was still confused half the time between his directions and the map, but I fumbled my way there.

At her door I had to answer some questions then a riddle.

"My first is the first, My second the last, Next comes Myself, Then back to the end, And beginning again. Who am I?"

A riddle of which the last question is all you really need if you already know her name. But I suppose if you didn't learn of her before finding her place this is another way to figure out her name. That said the first time I saw this in the let's play I was puzzled too. I thought it'd be a word and was something along the lines of the LOVE riddle in King's Quest VI. But nope just her name.

So with "Aziza" stated, I entered.

She invited me to sit and have some tea and we had some discussions. Info time!

She mainly works with water magic, "that of knowledge and true seeing." She can reflect magic back to the casters. Noted there is much magic in the land, some very dark.

The city is built around a magic fountain, and protected by mountains and the desert, has only known peace prosperity. UNTIL NOW.

Once again learned that things are bad in Raseir, that had once been like a twin to Shapeir. There's a darkness over the city she can't see through with her magic. She reiterated on the missing Emir and having been overthrown by his brother.

If I want to the find the Wizard's Institute of Technocery, I have to use magic.

And finally I asked her about Elementals and got treated to a neat little show with my explanation.

Elementals are made from magic shaping elements into beings like living creatures. Elementals are very powerful and destructive and but can be weakened by their opposing element, though not destroyed. But, when they're weakened they can be captured and their powers turned to helpful uses. Good to know!

I will no doubt be back with more questions but I said farewell for now. And examined her shelves a bunch. She had lots of stuff to look at.

Lots of jokes.

I just think she's kinda neat, and I will no doubt be back, but for now I had more city to explore.

With Detect Magic I got shiny arrows to direct me to the Wizard's Institute of Technocery which made finding it much easier than anything else in this city.

It led me to a seeming dead-end until casting again to reveal the door. Then Open spell to open it of course.

Portraits! We've got Aziza and someone I'm not sure of on one side and on the other: Genesta! from KQIV, Erasmus and I'm pretty sure that's Zara from the first game, the one who owned Spielburg's magic shop.

Voices reached out to me to ask who I was and what I wanted. My name is Cinder Win and I wanna be a pirate wizard! But I needed a sponsor and had the choice of who to request, and I'm kicking myself because of course I leapt on Erasmus as the funny choice, but he is the right choice, so I didn't get to see the responses of any of the others and I forgot to save before entering. So, I'll maybe have to load an older file at some point.

They were surprised I'd request such a... "whimsical Wizard" because they apparently have no taste. They don't appreciate his jokes or his 'levity', hmph.

Anyway, he was totally on board with taking me in. I would need to pass a pre-test and then the main test.

First the pre-test. I needed to pick the correct object and move it to a stand then cause it to ring with only three spells.

Simple! Detect Magic to find the right bell, Fetch to move it and Trigger to ring it. Which resulted in a celebratory brief little firework style display showing Erasmus and Fenrus' names before Erasmus himself. Glorious.

See? Erasmus is the best choice!

Then I was ready for the WIT's trial of Initiation which would test my skills under time-critical and life-threatening situations.

It's a pretty area! A spinny blade thing appeared! I promptly fell off the bridge! And got booted back out into the street to try again when I've perhaps practiced more.

I was actually glad to end things there though because it was getting late in the day. I will go back another day earlier in the day. I mainly had just wanted to get it on my map.

Before I went back to the inn I went to see the sauruses and met Ali Fakir....

And I'm just... gonna let some screenshots speak for themselves with this man.

Yes I groaned appreciatively at "The Saurus".

I bargained for one and got a green fellow who licked my face in greeting.

Cutie...

But I was most definitely not ready to head into the desert when night was about to fall at any moment. In fact as soon as I entered town again it was night.

So, it was inn time to see Shema's dance...

And I guess I was too late to get dinner...

But I wasn't too late to get some spell practice in, not save part way, get spotted by a guard and get arrested again! I had saved right before but had do all my practicing again. One of these nights I'll practice without getting caught.

Then it was bed time. Day 2 in Shapeir complete. Day 3 here we come.

[catdotjpeg]

In the past 24 hours, Israeli forces committed eight “massacres” in various areas of the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health on Telegram, killing at least 76 Palestinian martyrs and injuring 110 people. Since October, Israel has killed 29,954 Palestinians and injured 70,325 others. Thousands of civilians remain under the rubble.

Wafa news agency reported that an Israeli bombing of Gaza City killed six people and injured 22 others overnight. They were waiting for aid trucks to arrive at Harun al-Rashid coastal road, west of Gaza City, when bombs’ shrapnel fatally injured them. They later died in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Israeli forces also bombed Al-Zaytoun, Al-Sabra and Al-Rimal Al-Janoubi neighborhoods in Gaza City. It also bombed the eastern parts of Khan Yunis and the southern Rafah town with artillery shells, close to shelter points.

Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it rescued 34 Palestinians, following an Israeli bombing of two houses in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. PRCS released footage of crews with torches searching for survivors amid concrete debris and shattered and cracked walls. Both the Nasser Hospital and Al-Amal Hospital are still coping with horrific conditions under Israeli siege, without electricity, enough food, or drinking water. In north Gaza, medical staff at the Al-Awda Hospital had to cancel all orthopedic and plastic surgeries after the Israeli bombing destroyed two operating rooms.

Al-Awda’s director, Muhammad Salha, told Al-Jazeera that this meant “all medical services related to obstetrics and gynecology have stopped completely.” “We were the only hospital in northern Gaza for orthopedic surgeries … There is no other alternative place in northern Gaza or Gaza City because the health ministry’s hospitals are out of service completely,” he said.

-- From "‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 145" by Mustafa Abu Sneineh for Mondoweiss, 28 Feb 2024

[annachum]

A moodboard I did of Disney's Scheherazade ideas

🤩🤩🤩🥺🥺

[partisan-by-default]

The incident unfolded at about 04:30 local time (02:30 GMT) on Thursday, when people congregated at Harun al-Rashid Street in Gaza, where aid trucks carrying flour were believed to be on the way.

A convoy of aid trucks passed through the checkpoint, heading north, as people started gathering in large groups. According to the Israeli military, a convoy of 31 trucks entered Gaza but nearly 20 entered the north on Monday and Tuesday.

As people gathered in large groups waiting for much-needed aid, they were shot at by all kinds of military equipment, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reported from Rafah. According to a report by the Associated Press, people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks.

After the first round of shooting stopped, people returned to the trucks, only for the soldiers to open fire once more.

[andthefact]

I think you'd look really good in a cage 👀

-Emperor Charlemagne in 797 when being presented with a gift Asian Elephant by the caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, to add to his Royal Menagerie

[kwebtv]

Arabian Nights - ABC / BBC One - April 30, 2000 - May 1, 2000

Fantasy (2 episodes)

Running Time: 175 minutes total

Stars:

Mili Avital as Scheherazade

Dougray Scott as Shahryar and Amin the Beggar

Alan Bates as The Storyteller

James Frain as Schahzenan and Sultan Haroun Abraschild (character based on the historical Caliph Harun al-Rashid)

Peter Guinness as The Chief Executioner

Jason Scott Lee as Aladdin

Pik-Sen Lim as Aladdin's Mother

John Leguizamo as The Genie of the Lamp and The Genie of the Ring

Vanessa-Mae as Princess Zubaïda

Hugh Quarshie as Mustappa

Jim Carter as Ja'Far

Amira Casar as Morgiana

Rufus Sewell as Ali Baba

Tchéky Karyo as Black Coda

Andy Serkis as Kasim

Alexis Conran as Prince Ali

James Callis as Prince Ahmed

Hari Dhillon as Prince Hussain

Alexei Sayle as BacBac

Oded Fehr as Robber #2

[hyperions-fate]

Of all the minor characters in Ulysses, Harun al-Rashid makes the best appearance. He figures as a prophetic guide in Stephen's yearning for freedom and his eventual linking to Bloom, becoming a sort of talisman of dreamy flight and escape.