The tragic destruction of the Fortress of Alamut, stronghold of the Assassins, expressed as a charming historical engraving/ironically juxtaposed caption mashup, for your viewing pleasure.
Background, from DamnInteresting:
The story of the Hashshashin, or Assassins, is cloaked in mystery, and much of the truth about them was long ago lost to war and time. Their influence, however, changed the course of history and spawned the very word we use today to describe calculated, politically-motivated murder.
The Hashshashin were formed by Hassan-i-Sabah, a follower of the Isma’ili sect of Shi’ite Islam. Hassan left his home in Cairo over a succession dispute between two heirs to the Fatimid Caliphate. After choosing the wrong heir to support, Hassan found himself escaping to Persia after spending a short period in a political prison. Determined to avenge himself upon the Fatimids while also wiping out his traditional Sunni enemies, Hassan sought and found the ideal stronghold: the fortress of Alamut, also known as “The Eagle’s Nest.” Located northwest of Tehran, just south of the Caspian Sea, Alamut was an imposing sight. Nestled atop a 2,100m mountain with only one near-vertical approach to the fortress, the Eagle’s Nest was nearly impregnable.
Nearly.
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This story is old, and probably apocryphal.
Ooh good post, me likey. Some shi’ite having a bad heir day.
Um, all historical stories are old.
The Fortress exists, and the record of its fall has been corroborated by both sides of the fight.
There was an interesting prog on R4 yesterday am about 9ish presented by Melvyn Bragg (there’s a listen again facility I think) all about the Arabian Nights story. It was facinating in that the book apparently encompasses persion and arabic and indian tales. But it is persian – the names Shehrazade (sp?) etc. being persian and it came out of Iraq I think. Anyway, I thought the tales interesting (and of course the real thing is not the disney version we all know) and thought I’d mention it.
I cannot BEAR to listen to Melvyn Bragg; what is it with the Brits that they prefer presenters with speech impediments?
I don’t actually know the Disney version; I only know the version excerpted in the Collier Junior Classics. I’m such a snob!