From The Holy Mountain (2 page)

'His biggest book yet: a large, scholarly, funny, meandering and
passionate tome . . . Dalrymple's enthusiasm is infectious, and
his gentle osmotic supply of theological and historical back-
ground to Byzantine culture means that by the end any reader
feels half expert'
                               
nigel
spivey
,
Business Weekly

'From the Holy Mountain
is a remarkable travel book, beautifully written, alive to the politics of the day, and informed on the history and theology of the region'
adam
ford
,
Church Times

'Neither the panache of William Dalrymple, nor the allure of the places he describes - Mount Athos, Damascus, the Egyptian desert - are what makes
From the Holy Mountain
so compelling. Its secret is the sense of history derived from the author's decision to base his journey on
The Spiritual Meadow,
a guide to the monasteries and holy men of the eastern Roman Empire, written in the sixth century by the monk John Moschos.
Following in his tracks, often to the same churches, the author travels through the Levant, listening to the prayers and fears of
the region's Christians . . . Dalrymple describes his encounters with monks and murderers with a combination of humour and scholarship'
         
philip
mansel
,
Country Life

'An eloquent, poignant and courageous account of a journey
that pits the idealism of the past against the hatred, disposses-sion and denial of the present'
karen
Armstrong

'Fascinating, compelling and deeply moving'

william
barlow
, Catholic Herald

'Memorable
...
William Dalrymple's raw and direct approach is something new, and despite its author's eye for humour and irony, Dalrymple's West Asian travelogue is harder, bleaker and expressed with an equality of spirit absent from the accounts of typical English romantics. As a result,
From the Holy Mountain
makes a profound impression'

Christopher
walker
,
Times Literary Supplement

'An assured blend of travelogue and history . . . Dalrymple is a born travel writer, with a nose for adventure and a reporter's healthy scepticism. His quirky, exhilarating mosaic will appeal to readers of all faiths'
            
Publishers Weekly

'Outstanding
...
To be a good writer takes courage. To be a good travel writer may take more. Dalrymple is a good writer in an absolutely unpretentious way. The trouble with many good modern minds is that they ignore the past. Dalrymple does not, and by telling us of the past as it is enveloped by the present he is also telling of the future. He is not a prophet, simply one of the very few good, honest writers left'       
dom
moraes
,
Outlook

Also by William Dalrymple

in
xanadu
:
a
quest

city
of
djinns
:
a
year
in
delhi

the
age
of
kali

Indian
travels
&
encounters

From the Holy Mountain

A JOURNEY IN THE SHADOW OF BYZANTIUM

WILLIAM DALRYMPLE

Flamingo

Flamingo

An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London w6 8
b
www.fireandwater.com

Published by Flamingo 1998 9

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPufcfo/iers 1997

Copyright © William Hamilton-Dalrymple 1997 Map and illustrations © Olivia Fraser 1997

The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Author photograph © Giovanni Giovannetti

isbn
0
00
654774 5

Set in Postscript Linotype Minion with Photina display

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd St Ives plc

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

ILLUSTRATIONS

The oldest surviving manuscript of
The Spiritual Meadow,

Monastery of Iviron, Mount Athos.

Byzantine fops watching chariot racing.

Obelisk of Theodosius,

the Hippodrome, Istanbul.

The domes and semi-domes of Haghia Sophia, Istanbul.

Turkish workmen converting the Armenian cathedral into a

mosque, Urfa (Edessa).

Fesih, Rehman and Lucine.

The last Armenian of Diyarbakir,

with her two Kurdish guardians.

A monk of the Monastery of Deir el-Zaferan, Tur Abdin,

Turkey.

The last two monks of the Monastery of Salah, Tur Abdin.

Suriani woman at the fortress church of Ein Wardo.

The Mausoleum, Cyrrhus, Syria, looking out over the olive groves of the Kurd Dagh.

Qala'at Semaan, the basilica of St Symeon Stylites, Syria.

Deserted Byzantine buildings, Serjilla, Syria.

 Late antique pyramid tomb, al-Barra, Syria.

The Convent of Seidnaya, Syria. Drive-in Armageddon, Beirut.

The Monastery of Koshaya, Qadisha Valley, Lebanon.

Sculpture from the Temple of the Sun, Ba'albek.

John Moshos's home monastery, Mar Theodosius, near Bethlehem.

The watchtowers of Mar Saba in the wilderness of Judaea.

The Monastery of Mar Saba.

Fr. Theophanes, Guest Master of Mar Saba, at the monastery gate.

St Paul and St Antony breaking bread.

Detail of icon at thebMonastery of St Antony, Egypt.

The same scene carved on a Pictish symbol-stone, St Vigeans, Dundee.

Fr. Dioscorus discusses the latest sighting of St Antony,

Monastery of St Antony, Egypt.

The desert between Asyut and the Great Kharga Oasis.

The Monastery of Simopetra, Mount Athos.

Fr. Christophoros and his cats, Monastery of Iviron, Mount Athos.

Haghia Sophia and Haghia Eirene, Istanbul.

The Fishponds of Abraham, Urfa (Edessa).

Qala'at Semaan, the Basilica of St Symeon Stylites, Syria.

A flock of sheep in the wilderness of Judaea.

The ancient fortress, Monastery of St Antony, Egypt.

The necropolis of Bagawat, the Great Kharga Oasis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The journey recorded in this book took place over a single summer and autumn, but incorporates a few episodes from two visits, to Israel and Egypt, made earlier in the year. The identity of a great many people has been disguised, particularly in those sections dealing with Turkey, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Egypt. I sincerely hope that no one comes to any harm through what I have written.

A great many people have helped me during the four years this book took to write. I would particularly like to thank the following, without whom it could not have come into being: Abbas, Mohammed Sid Ahmed, Canon Nairn Ateek, Abdullah and Noah Awad, Leila Badr, David Barchard, Andrew Berton, Robert Betts, Gaby Bostros, Dr Sebastian Brock, Derek and Eileen Brown, Yvonne Lady Cochrane, Con Coughlin, Alkis Courcolas, Hew Dalrymple, Fr. Jock Dalrymple, His Beatitude Diodoros I Patriarch of Jerusalem, Abouna Dioscuros of the Monastery of St Antony, Alistair Duncan, Eustathios Matta Rouhm Metropolitan of the Jazira and Euphrates, Mike Fishwick, Robert Fisk, Kadreya Foda, Robert Franjieh, Archie Fraser, Jenny Fraser, John Freely, Patrick French, Dr Nicholas Gendle, Sami Geraisi, David Gilmour, Charlie Glass, Philip Glazebrook, Giles Gordon, Juan Carlos Gumucio, Malfono Isa Gulten, Harry Hagopian, Roy Hange, Milad Hanna, Richard Harper, Bernard Haykel, Sarah Helm, Dr Isabel Henderson, George Hintlian, Jill Hughes, Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim Metropolitan of Aleppo, His Holiness Mar Ignatius Zaki Iwas Patriarch of Antioch, Fr. Jeremias of the Monastery of Iviron, Walid Jumblatt, Mansour Khaddosh, Nora Kort, Robert Lacey, Fr. Emmanuel Lanne, Dominic Lawson, Tony Mango, Dr Philip Mansel, Peter Mansfield, Philip Marsden, Sally Mazloumian, Dr Otto Meinardus, Sam Miller, Bishop Mesrob Mutafian,

Mark Nicholson, Maggie Noach, John Julius Norwich, Anthony O'Mahony, Dr Andrew Palmer, Dr Philip Pattendon, Fr. Michele Piccirillo, Hugh Pope, Rebecca Porteous, Tom Porteous, Annie Robertson, Max Rodenbek, Sir Steven Runciman, Dr Bernard Sabella, Assem Salam, Dalia Salam, Archbishop Georges Saliba, Professor Kamal Salibi, Victor Samaika, Anthony Sattin, Neville Shack, His Holiness Pope Shenoudah III, Antoun Sidhom, Fania Stoney, Jane Taylor, Fr. Theophanes of the Monastery of Mar Saba, Timotheos Metropolitan of Lydda, Tony Touma, Christopher J. Walker, Bishop Kallistos Ware, John Warrack, Zhogbi Zhogbi.

I would particularly like to thank Alan and Brigid Waddams, who not only looked after me in Damascus but also lent their house in Somerset, where much of this book was written and edited.

I am also very grateful to Cistercian Publications (Kalamazoo, Michigan and Spencer, Massachusetts) for kind permission to quote from
John Moschos: The Spiritual Meadow,
translated by John Wortley, © Cistercian Publications,
1992.

My greatest thanks are, however, reserved for Olivia, friend, lover, adviser, illustrator, editor-in-chief, occasional travelling companion and beloved wife.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the unique contribution of my daughter Ibby, born soon after the return from this journey, who provided a many-splendoured distraction throughout its writing, but for which this book would certainly have seen the light of day at least six months earlier.

william
dalrymple

Provis, Somerset, November 1996

Anyone who wishes to offer practical support to some of the Christian communities mentioned in this book might like to get in touch with - or send donations to - Sabeel, a charitable organisation working primarily with the Palestinian Christians: Sabeel UK,
46
Timms Lane, Liverpool
L37 7
nd
, or to PO Box
1248
Jerusalem, or e-mail
[email protected]
.