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A Byzantine Secret worth Billions
There is no doubt that the Byzantines have bequeathed us a culturally rich, and, at times, mysterious, legacy. Emperors came and went, but tradition and culture were passed down, leaving aspects of Byzantine history which yet linger, in legend or Eastern Orthodoxy, even to this day. Legend, you may ask? Certainly! Greek fire: a Byzantine invention (despite the misnomer). What proved to be a fearful weapon against their enemies also served as hazardous for Byzantium’s own forces, so it was eventually disregarded, and the secrets of its alchemy have been lost to us.
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2012 : les Printemps arabes ou un islam universel
Du royaume chérifien à la Syrie s’est élevé un vent de liberté. Maroc, Tunisie, Lybie, Égypte, Syrie… Autant de pays, autant de diversités. Mais un point commun : l’islam. Déjà au viie siècle, l’islam était composite. Pensons aux diverses grandes familles du sud de l’Espagne, comme les Nasrides ou les Almoravides. De l’islam, de cette civilisation brillante, depuis Gibraltar jusqu’au fin fond de l’Inde, en passant par l’Indonésie, il nous reste des témoignages d’un art islamique vivant et qui sut composer avec des traditions locales. Pensons par exemple à l’Alhambra, à la grande mosquée de Kairouan, à celle de Damas, au Taj Mahal ou encore à des villes comme Khiva,…
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War and art…
War, what is it good for? An age old question to which I can say: certainly not preserving art or cultural artefacts, nor fostering an atmosphere which might encourage visitors despite the destruction and neglect of surrounding areas caused by war. After developing an affinity for the images of mosques, madrasahs, and minarets of Central Asia, I find myself torn at the idea of crossing war paths to follow cultural trails. Consider, for example, the seventh-century crisis in which Constantinople (now Istanbul) already faced with natural disasters and civil wars, as it struggled with religious and political strife. The Ottoman’s further decimated the already under-populated and decimated city in the…
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