For 1;400 years; two colossal figures of the Buddha overlooked the fertile Bamiyan Valley on the Silk Road in Afghanistan. Witness to a melting pot of passing monks; merchants; and armies; the Buddhas embodied the intersection of East and West; and their destruction by the Taliban in 2001 provoked international outrage. Llewelyn Morgan excavates the layers of meaning these vanished wonders hold for a fractured Afghanistan. Carved in the sixth and seventh centuries; the Buddhas represented a confluence of religious and artistic traditions from India; China; Central Asia; and Iran; and even an echo of Greek influence brought by Alexander the Great’s armies. By the time Genghis Khan destroyed the town of Bamiyan six centuries later; Islam had replaced Buddhism as the local religion; and the Buddhas were celebrated as wonders of the Islamic world. Not until the nineteenth century did these figures come to the attention of Westerners. That is also the historical moment when the ground was laid for many of Afghanistan’s current problems; including the rise of the Taliban and the oppression of the Hazara people of Bamiyan. In a strange twist; the Hazaras—descendants of the conquering Mongol hordes who stormed Bamiyan in the thirteenth century—had come to venerate the Buddhas that once dominated their valley as symbols of their very different religious identity. Incorporating the voices of the holy men; adventurers; and hostages throughout history who set eyes on the Bamiyan Buddhas; Morgan tells the history of this region of paradox and heartache.
#867161 in Books 2011-11-29 2011-10-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.27 x 1.30 x 6.42l; 1.61 #File Name: 0674047281384 pages
Review
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating historyBy Monique SueAs I'm still early on in the book cannot give it a complete review. But what I've read so far is not only very well written; but is describing Jewish personalities and life in such a way that I can much better appreciate the vast culture that was destroyed by the Nazis and their willing helpers across Europe.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. An-sky and Ethnography!By Wendy Bat-SarahI am so delighted that An-sky's ethnographic questionnaires have been mostly translated. Deutsch's introduction and notes are also quite remarkable.5 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Jewish Life and Customs in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries in Tsarist RussiaBy Jan PeczkisConsistent with the premise that the Jew answers every question with another question (p. 1); the bulk of this work consists of a set of 2;087 questions raised by An-sky (Shloyme Zanvil Rappaport). They touch on virtually every imaginable aspect of Jewish life; including childbirth; infancy; child rearing; marriage; education; social status; senescence; death; etc. Deutsch characterizes An-sky's work as a kind of folkloric Talmud for the twentieth century. (p. 15). Religious issues assume only a small part of An-sky's 2;087 questions. There is an interesting section on the afterlife. (pp. 307-313). It contains speculations about reincarnation; but also features concepts of heaven and hell that seem to parallel their Christian counterparts.Of course; arcane details require explanation for the non-specialized reader. Accordingly; the editor comments on An-sky's questions; for the benefit of the reader; and in considerable detail; on almost every page of An-sky's text.Although An-Sky was in no sense what some call a self-hating Jew (to the contrary); he repeatedly voiced support for the premise that the Jewish role in Russian society is an unmistakably exploitative one. This must energetically be corrected. (p. 4).Now consider divorce. Although it was declining among Jews throughout the 19th century; the divorce rate among the Jews of tsarist Russia was higher than that of other religious communities. (p. 248).Let us now focus on prostitution. (pp. 242-243). In the late 19th century; Jews; at 4% of the population of the entire Russian Empire (including the Russian-ruled part of Poland); accounted for 7% of registered prostitutes. Deutsch adds that; "Within the Pale of Settlement as a whole; Jewish women ran a full 70 percent of the brothels." (p. 243).An-Sky elaborated on how Jews sometimes injured themselves in order to avoid military service in the tsarist Russian Army. (pp. 191-192). Interestingly; KHAPPERS (those who forcibly supplied Jewish boys to the Army) were often Jewish themselves. (p. 193). Also interestingly; the cited work of Yohanen Petrovsky-Shtern rejects the premise that Tsar Nicholas I's policy; of drafting Jews; was motivated by converting Jews to Christianity. Rather; it stemmed from an "Enlightenment agenda". (p. 345). If so; then Jewish resistance to the draft owed less to fears of Jews converting to Christianity and more to a desire to avoid integrating into Russian society.The title of this book derives from the attitudes of western Jews towards the OSTJUDEN--deemed a huge and backward community. (p. 29). Deutsch quotes Martin Buber as thinking of the eastern European Jew as one that; notwithstanding the passage of many centuries; "has remained an Oriental". [Ironically; Endeks and other authors among Poles (e. g.; Feliks Koneczny); have been condemned for opining that Jewish culture is essentially an Oriental one--moreover one essentially foreign to Poland's Latin culture.]Interestingly; Endeks were not the only one with less than positive attitudes towards the Litvaks (Litwaks). Deutsch points out that Polish Jews often called Lithuanian Jews derogatory terms such as LITVAK KHAZIR ("Lithuanian pig") and LITVAK TSEYLEM KOP ("Lithuanian cross head"). (p. 151).The editor considers An-sky a NARODNIK. This Jew was thus a Russian populist who rejected the Marxist premise that societies necessarily had to go through an industrial capitalist phase before they could enter the revolutionary mode. (p. 2).Deutsch (pp. 180-181) states that Purimspiels were; in his words; "extremely popular" among Jews of the Pale. He cites some works that discuss them; but does not mention Christians as the "bad guy" Haman.The editor touches on the Haskalah (Jewish enlightenment). Interestingly; he cites a work that rejects the common view that the Haskalah originated among German Jews and later spread to eastern European Jews. Instead; it appeared simultaneously at several centers of Jewish life in both central and eastern Europe. (p. 183).Finally; Deutsch (p. 169) mentions; but glosses over; an important scholarly article. I elaborate on it below:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Torah Study on Christmas Eve"; by Marc Shapiro. 1999. THE JOURNAL OF JEWISH THOUGHT AND PHILOSOPHY 8:319-353. (This entire article; at the time of this review; is freely available online.)The Jewish custom of refraining from Torah study; on Christmas Eve; goes back at least a few centuries; even though it was shrouded in oral tradition in order to try to hide it from the Christians. (p. 346). Many; though not all Jews; observed this custom; both Hasidim and non-Hasidim; including well-known Talmudists. (p. 331).Shapiro rejects the common explanation; for not studying the Torah on Christmas Eve; as merely a stay-indoors policy of self-protection from possible violence from Christians on this night. After all; the prohibition also applied to studying the Torah in private at home! (p. 346).The motive; based in part on Sanhedrin 90b; is described by Shapiro; "It is possible that one may study something which Jesus himself studied. This in turn would be of assistance to his soul; which remains in hell." (p. 331; see also pp. 346-347). This motive refutes the contention that Jews had no concern for Christianity other than a source of persecution.Marc Shapiro also clarifies other Jewish teachings about Jesus Christ; as he writes; "The notion that Jesus is condemned to crawl through the latrines on Christmas eve is quite significant; as will soon be seen. The closest parallel is found in TOLEDOT YESHU...presumably; a passage in GITTIN 57a is relevant in this regard and may even be the origin of the notion that Jesus must crawl through the latrines. According to this passage; it has been decreed in heaven that Jesus is punished with boiling hot excrement." (p. 355).Shapiro puts all this in broader context as he states that; "Of course; even without a clear halakhic prohibition; Jews were accustomed to use derogatory expressions in speaking of elements of the Christian religion." (p. 320). He also notes that the dog was used as an image; of bad things in store for the Jews at Christmas-time; owing to the popular Kabbalistic identification of Jesus with a dog. (p. 329).
