Land of the Lion and the Sun Personal Experiences
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we will marry a man not a war who is afraid of robber y and mu der the y often j o i n m en in plunder Kurds genera y are a strong health y we bui t peopl and ive to a good old age Their chi dren are as a rule light complexed and rose checked and yo g women are models of phys i cal beauty When I saw one of the many handsome Kurd i h gir sa y s M i ngen her co m plexion gave me an idea of w at must have been the b oom of the forb i dden apple of the terrestria Paradise Her eyes of a dark chestnut shon i k e brilliants t ough the ve i of her thic k lo g ash s while nose and m outh were perfect in t eir de i cacy of shape Though the garments she wore were of a s perior sort yet through heir folds her g ce f u form could be detected but what above contribut d to make her rea y charming the calm im p e so to say a i r which dist i ng i ed her ance and the whole of her dem anor Their women do not vei the m e v es v y tr i ct y whe abroad and their standard of mora t y i s h i gh among the M s em races of the cou tr y and from v irtue on the part of a marr i ed woman be i ng u e pu i ed b y death and her part er i n i share the same fa e Such pun i shment is cons i dered high y mer i tor i ous among the Kurd i sh peop e as a mea s of promoting the morality of their race T he K ds b eing nominally M lems the marriage contract is made in the p ese ce of a sheik The bride groom accompa ied b y number of relatives come to the house of the brides fathe and after the cere monies and festi vi ties are co cluded takes her home th on horseback A Kurdish f neral is not so ceremonial as the Turk ish and Persia funerals I f the deceased has been a pe son of gh standing milita y standards are borne in the procession and in some places the bod y is companied to the grav with music and singing When the funeral leaves the house men and women rush out wild y uttering cries and shri ks ome ra i ses their hands to h ave others bow themselves to the earth and cas du t upon their heads expressing both in sound and gesture the highest degree of grief T he Kurds ha v e no organ i ed go v ernment but are s im p y a band of robbers and mu derers The y do not k now how to ser v e God but they do know how to wor h i p the i r shei k instead of the A ght y and dr i nk the water in which he washes h i s b dy for the remission of their ins Oh how happy is a so which is was ed in the b ood of the Son of God How happy i s a n tion whose Sa vi our Jesus Christ is Oh happ y wou d b e a hr i stian who could br i ng of these lost sheep i nto o k of hrist Yes i ndeed the j o y wou d be reat v e to e o f or y AP T A A S T he Ar m e an name is derived fr m King Aram der whose ru natio achieved consider ble power Some of the Armenians wish to called and their country after Hai k the son of Togar mah the of Gomer the of J the of Noah The origin of their langu ge was cal ed Aryan from Ir a am give to P rsia b y the nat iv es at the reig of D rius B C Accordi g to th ir tr ti n H ik established the ki gdom v icinity of Ararat from that time they were a powerfu peop e but quently th y were attacked by other k ingdo m more power f u than th y I n the latt r part of the th i rd centur y the Ar m accepted Christia t y Furthermore Ar m enian say in the time of Christ the king of Edes a i n Mesopotamia t s king ha ing h ard of the miracles performed by Christ desiring to see and be cured by him of a di ease with which he was a i cted nt C ist letter which i n ver i on of Eu eb i u read thus king o f Edessa to J sus the good a v ior who appeareth at Jerusa em gre t i ng I have be n i nformed conce ning T hee and T h y cures which are perfor m ed w i thout the use o f m e i c i n or erb ascens i on I wi l send one of my disciples who w cur thy d i sease and give ife unto thee and that are with th e The king l st ned to preaching of Thad e s of sevent who wer s nt for h by Christ and was healed by of his seas Then the k ing accept d the Ch istian f ith and baptized with all fam ily His successor refused to follow in t ps p rsecuted all Ch istia s In the time utad the Christia doct i e accepted by Arm ia s as atio al religio they cl im to st n tion that accepted Christia ty national religion St Gregory called The was the founde the A me ia chu ch was prince of the reign f mily of the who ha v ing bee con v ert ed to Christianity was eager for the conv rsio of h i s count yme He had his patriarchal th one at Etch e r E iva I n ussia and now the place whe thei spiritu l ther once lived is lov d by all Th i church was simil to the C eek church in a ly days but is now reformed s p rated into sects The fasts and the feasts the p gr m ages to churches the saints the m sses performed for the s u s of the d parted and the omanish like services are sti l conducte b y them at the present time Th i ch che ghly b ilt but v ry solid construction decorated with a considerab e quant i t y of t i n el and g otesque paintings picture also are com mon on the walls The men according to the custom of the East uncove their feet instead of their heads all s i t cross legged on mats or rugs spread on the floo or a cushion which they brin with them The la es so not to d stract the attentio of the male part of the co g egation in their prayers are hidden behind a clos ly wove partition of trellis work thr ugh which they stare at pleasure without being themsel v es obser v ed It appears to be an excellent and sens i ble custom and was i nstituted so as to prevent the house of worship from bei g used as a place where young men and m id s if ngled together for le gth of time might take advantag of that circum tance in rder to make love to one another I n point of doctrine there is very little d i erence b tween Arme ian the Greek churches the aid of s ints and martyrs is n v oked as in the Latin and Greek church The natio al Arme an church b e iev very strange trad i tions and holds them as Biblica facts The fo lo ng one concerning the creation fall of may serve as a speci m en God took earth from seven mountains and water from seve rivers to make the clay w i th which to fash the body Adam As so n as the reator had completed his w rk the horse approached the new being and xa m in d it Know i ng by instinct that th i c eature would desire to mou t him he aimed at Ada m a k ick ga oped hoof truc k Ada between h i s feet and caused the cle f there which tain to prese t day When God the Father had formed the body of Adam God the took cha ge of his mainte ance and God the Holy Ghost b eath d into the breath of ife God lov d Adam but the chief of the angels was j alous of this p efer nce What said fuming with rage is it p ssibl that th i pl yt ng of yester day is preferr d to me so wrathf was he that he r f sed to pres t himself b fore God one whe is was rn to ador serve Him This eb l and his sy pathize s w e in co seq ce precipitated from high st heave transfo m d into d v i s Thos of them stopped midw y in air and began to s ng the old Armen an hy n of the Stabat ed am of s spe ded devils S tan the swore to compass Adam s fa nder the fo m of a serpent he pp oached him and him to of f rbidde fruit The apple proved d icu t to swallow and struck the middle the thro t Adam who made fr t e s e orts to dislodge it And t s is the origin of the protrusio se in thro ts of many men and hence ca led Ada m s apple The set for the first ti m e on the day which saw Adam driven out from Paradise He who n ver known d rkness grop d about in the gloom for some ti m e bes de h i ms lf w i th terror At last he fe asleep and saw in a dream Chr i t on the cros Awa k eni g Adam conso ed her by press i g her tender y to h i s heart Th s k iss gave b i rth Abe On the fol ow i ng day Adam said w i fe T ho d t lo v e me when I cou d lay at thy feet Eden and its de ights What are thy though s towards me now s i nce from a king I have become a beggar Eve p i ed I love thee st i And Adam rej oined T h y love ma k es me forg t Paradise But the ser ent b ehind bush ssed out She loves thee becau there is no other man Eve blushed and Adam stroked forehead sadl y day Eve called Cain and Ab who sti i tt e children were playing on the grass She he d out to her born her right ar m and to her second son eft and said Bite them I com and you T he elder boy bit ti he drew blood but Abel merely impr i nt d long inger ng k s on mother s arm Then a i d Eve to her husband Cain wil be a w i c k ed m an One Cain saw Satan k i i ng a raven with a point ed black pebble Cain picked up stone and cut the throat of brother w i th it and then washed hands But the stain sti on hands even when he had washed hand day after day And so lo g as Ca i n ived he was never ab e to get rid of the b ood of brother from his hands Adam was not tempted by the fru i t of the appl tree but by that of the banan called Adam s fig by and Persians When God had fi i shed the bod y of Ada m there mained sti a little arth in hands his he threw at fe t of Adam and it turned into gold so b held gold on first day of xi te ce has clung to it ever s i nce Little by ittle Arm ans wer scattered far fr m Consta ti ople othe large towns he ce th y cou d not take part the the l gic l c nt ve sies of the early centuries b c me ignora t of the growth of the spiritual i f church and s nk into sup beliefs til they declared the elves decid in favor of the Monophysit doctri e of ures and person of Christ Th y wo d accept i struction at the ha ds the wester ch ch having means of educati themselv s formalism naturally took the place of spi itu l lif saddest p rt of that from the b gin ng they we e d r the lue ce doctrine and the rule the Moslems It seemed quite atur l to th m to adopt thei la guag r ligion we th ir customs m nners the T urks a savage people sho o d their fami es chi d e then the A me i ns b c m a w ndering p ople v r Asia Minor the north r slopes of Taurus Others wandered astward of the Cauca which was th n n the Persia Sh h Abbas G at c g iz d them as subj cts gav them a d trict r sid in as rly as in the s ve teenth ce tury Even unto the present da y there about Arme ans in Persia among whom I have ma y s i ncere f i end T hey were oo k ed upon as a hrist i an nat i on and yet Arm i ns as the Moslem tribes carry their st a ge b li fs with them wh rever they go Th y claim that they acc pted Christian faith long ago and sti supe stitiousness has a very strong on their b ins It wi be interesting to mentio a of th i superstitious beliefs which wi give an idea of their Christianity ong the Armenians ceremo es play a great part Ch istm s bser a c s and on the eve of ev ry importa t festival On C istmas eve the fire is piled up as gh as the safety the h se wi per t as this is supposed to eutr li e all ev i e ects for the com ng yea A large log is brought home at set the fam y will rise and greet it ith these words Welcome our log God has d stined thee fire Bring g od luck to us and to our an m s And then a sm ll quantity of food f om ev ry dish is placed bur ng log On the eve of Epiphany is kept alight all ght mo ing the cha acter of the coming seasons is prophesied f om the set of w i nd I f a south wi d blows it in cat s a fu harvest and sick ne s if the w i nd i s from the a ca ty harvest and healthy year are predicted if from the orth a late spring the rst Feb ary St day it is con l cky to wo k in the fi lds but in the vine y a d On the the first of March a leaf is thrown On the first da y of Lent the ogs aught and ec ive a caref b eating to prevent th i r mad uring the ye r the last day of February the women will b eat copper pans all over the house i n order to rid the house of i sects and snakes and wi ca out at the same t i me Out with you s akes scorpions flies bugs and fleas of these pans is then t k en up with a pair of t gs car ied into the court yard if to induce the c e tures mentioned to follow i t of evil eye are emoved b y spri kling the pati nt w i th unspoken over water wat r drawn from the well or fou tain in si ence and carr i ed hom without the bea er spoken or been spoken to on way is believed to posse s highly uta y virtu s th three nettle stalks b eing di ped into it for th t pu pos given the patient to eat Or t k s i x grai s of s lt place th m on the eyes of the a licted p so th n cast them into the fire or t ke three piec of red hot cha coal place them in a gr en dish pour w ter ver them with one hand while making v r them with the th r the s i gn of the cross D ink som of the wate wash your ha ds w i th rest and then throw it the grou d outside the house On the la t of February take the heads of forty small fishes thread th m on a red and white st i g and hang th m up to dry I f any pers has be a ected by the evil soak the heads in water let the pati nt drink the decoction It is be ie v ed any of the above remedies will cure this most preva ent of ma ad i e heu m at i s m i n the hands feet i s cured by bat ng the a ected member three ti m es warm wat r rubb i ng i t w i th sa t and fina y p ssing over it the blade of a k fe with the words As t s salt melts so may the e v i melt The house is then swept th a new broom the sweeper saying as the dust is swept out So may all e vi be swept away In the year the attenti of the Brit i sh and Foreign B i ble Society was rected to the spiritual needs of the Armen i ans and t s society began printing the ible in the modern language of these p ople The copies of the Scr i ptures in the ancient Armenian lan guage were extr mely rare and expe sive co sequently not o y the people but most of their p iests co d not even read the Scriptures When the Bible was t ans lated into th i r mother tongue it was recei v ed with great favor The peopl began to meet together for the study of the Word which gave th m k owledge the hidden tre sure As yet no missi ary had settled amo g them sti divin Spi it their teach under His bl sse guida ce m y ceived the truth But whe s cta ian ssionaries ngled with them tri d to change the i r doctrine it caused great numbers to go astray altogether For as so as th y had gained some now ledge of the Word of God sects t i d to teach them new doctrines as tural they beg to say if the hrist i an religion is right why do so many of repres ntatives tr y to teach new teachi gs and a good many drew b k either to follow M oha mm ed they kept away from the churches nti ely I do not m an to judge perso s but a ow to say th t if all th se who go to the heathe la ds ca ied with th m the pure teachings of L rd Jesus Christ many wou d f ult with C risti ity ndeed th re are no faults mistakes in the W d of God but they at fa t who te ch Bible in th ir own ways who give more atte tio to th ir own ideas than to the Bibl Furthe m re young A m n ans had attended the schoo s of P ris and i th y brought back a craz for French lit ratur b st but the w rst With t s cam a revolt g in t r i n It b ecame fas onable to be known as fr thi ers and free th k g did m an liberty but lic s of thought and of life ch rch and n tio thus became d graded Eve ind vidual frie dship lost its bi d ing tie of l ve o ly amo g themselves but amo g othe tio lso The r s t is that much is ch rished among both meni s and other nat i ons Arm nians w l hav nothing to do with Greeks and Greeks are bitt rly opposed Armenians A menians hate those of the r own races connected with the oman Catho ic ch rch the G e ks despise Bu g rian although another b ch of th ir gener l faith N Ch ld ns J striv g i st ach other At fi s th were l ok d u o mer l as one add i t i on l I n the marr i age bser v ances of the A m en i n mong the better class of people Eur pean m anners are more or less cultivated But in their leading feat ures the natio al customs connected with the ceremony itself have very ittle cha ge I f the parties are fou d not to be relat d w i thin seven generations and match i s deemed uitable the be rothal may at once take place I n many cases the Download 24 Kb. 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