When Richard the Lionheart, King of England, landed in Cyprus in 1191, he intended only to make a brief stop on the way to defend the Norman Kingdom of Jerusalem from the sieging Saracen forces. At that time the island was ruled by a local tyrant named Comnenus who had declared independence from the Byzantine (Greek) Empire and called himself King. When Comnenus refused hospitality to Richard's party, Richard landed his forces and overthrew Comnenus, annexing Cyprus to his Norman holdings.
Over the next year, the defeated Norman King of Jerusalem was offered Cyprus as a fief. The new ruler of Cyprus was Guy de Lusignan. The Lusignan (or Frankish) Dynasty ruled Cyprus until lost to the Venetian Empire in the 1400s. One of the first acts of the new Frankish government was to establish the Roman Catholic Church as the official church (where it had never had any followers or influence).
The Latins forced the Cyprus Orthodox Church to acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope. Roman Catholic priests began to arrive a few years later. The Orthodox Church survived despite persecutions during this time.
Since Orthodox call the Roman Church the Latin Church, they call this period of Western domination the Latin Period. Non-Greek Cypriot Christians here are still officially referred to as Latins, and are given ethnic representation in Parliament under this name.
The large Maronite (Syrio-Lebanese) Christian community, whose church is in full communion with the Roman Catholic ("Latin") Church, are separately represented. Evangelical Christians make up a miniscule proportion of the population, even counting foreigners.
In 1571 after the Ottoman Turks conquered the island, they reestablished the Orthodox Church as the official church of the island, which had then become a province of the Ottoman Empire. The Latin Church leaders were expelled and their churches turned into mosques. The Lala Pasha Mosque is a former Latin Church in Famagusta, Cyprus, that is now a prominent mosque.
See my photos of Cyprus Churches and other sites
Read more about Cyprus and the Orthodox Church on my website:
Cyprus: Notes and Perceptions
Read more about the Orthodox Church in my article
More on Cyprus
Cyprus - Wikipedia
Cyprus - CIA - The World Factbook
Orthodox Church of Cyprus
More on the Maronites
Maronite - Wikipedia
Maronite Church - Wikipedia
The Maronites and Lebanon, A Brief History
Present state of the Maronites - Catholic Encyclopedia
01 February 2012
17 January 2012
What’s in a Name?
The western mind-set causes us to think every name, or noun, refers to some objective reality. This causes us to start with the name then try to describe or define the category, to see who goes into it. This is very confusing when you find different writers using the same word to refer to different cultural or ethnic entities.
It can lead you in the wrong direction when you assume 2 different names must refer to two distinct people groups. This confusion can lead to inadvertent discrimination when one tries to forcibly place some ethnic or social community into a predefined formal category.
Others can use their poor grasp of the factors involved to coerce or mislead others to support their prejudices against some other segment of people, defined by location, language, physical features or even economic group. In the current financial troubles, for instance, we see various groups commonly blaming the problem on foreigners or speakers of some language or other demographic definition.
Labeling with a name does not tell you much. A name can be used by multiple groups, and various human groups with separate self-identities may be broadly known by the same name. Different ethnic groups may speak the same language, as we find in Europe, USA and Africa.
It can lead you in the wrong direction when you assume 2 different names must refer to two distinct people groups. This confusion can lead to inadvertent discrimination when one tries to forcibly place some ethnic or social community into a predefined formal category.
Others can use their poor grasp of the factors involved to coerce or mislead others to support their prejudices against some other segment of people, defined by location, language, physical features or even economic group. In the current financial troubles, for instance, we see various groups commonly blaming the problem on foreigners or speakers of some language or other demographic definition.
Labeling with a name does not tell you much. A name can be used by multiple groups, and various human groups with separate self-identities may be broadly known by the same name. Different ethnic groups may speak the same language, as we find in Europe, USA and Africa.
A more productive approach is to ask how a certain word or name is used by various individuals or groups. You can find overlapping usages by different writers or inconsistencies, older terms and newer ones, etc. Especially you need to be aware of the vague lines between what we would like to be clearly different people groups. Groupings overlap.
This was the problem with the Kurds, since many sources were published before extensive updates in 1996. Even our report is now somewhat outdated, since language analysis and updates continue constantly. There is still extensive and valuable information in the chart compiled at that time.
Check out my analysis of the Kurdish cluster of people and cultures. This shows how confusing and overlapping names can be. Some groups are referred to by the name of their religious sect, locale, tribe or language. All of these designations overlap.
See also our introduction to the Yazidi people and religion, a part of the broader sphere of culture in Turkey and Mesopotamia.
A listing by ethnic name and language can be a better reference point. This is what is meant by the term "people group." This basic reference identification can then be cross-referenced to country, town, language and sect for communication access purposes.
Check out these links to resources on my website to explore the relationship between names and ethnicities, ethnicities and languages and related factors.
This blog article includes some comments originally published in February 2001 in Research Highlights, a research and culture newsletter, published in Nicosia, Cyprus
01 January 2012
Your Hand - A Blessing or an Offense
A correspondent wrote to tell of an odd experience she had in Massachusetts. An African gas station attendant became incensed when she handed him her money with his left hand. She was puzzled and asked him to explain what was wrong. This only made him more angry.
Several years ago, a missionary friend in Kenya told me of an experience he had with a Maasai acquaintance. Working with a group of church musicians in a training setting, he was getting their names. As my left-handed friend wrote the name of one of the Maasai men, the man expressed with a mildly surprised tone, "You are writing my name with your left hand!"
Many peoples of the world consider the left hand a shameful hand. This was true for many African tribes we came into contact with. Likewise in Arab culture, you must be careful how you use your left hand.
In some cultures, it is considered an offense to hand someone something with your left hand. This concept is alive in Middle East. This ancient concept is demonstrated by the name of the biblical Jacob's favorite son, Ben-Yamin (Benjamin), the Son of my Right Hand, indicating this favored position.
Read more about this concept of the shameful Left Hand of Cursing and the honored Right Hand of Blessing:
Gas-Pumping and Finger-Pointing Fiasco
The Right Hand Of Blessing
Across Cultures
How to Learn a Language and a Culture
Analyze and Compare Your Worldview
Several years ago, a missionary friend in Kenya told me of an experience he had with a Maasai acquaintance. Working with a group of church musicians in a training setting, he was getting their names. As my left-handed friend wrote the name of one of the Maasai men, the man expressed with a mildly surprised tone, "You are writing my name with your left hand!"
Many peoples of the world consider the left hand a shameful hand. This was true for many African tribes we came into contact with. Likewise in Arab culture, you must be careful how you use your left hand.
In some cultures, it is considered an offense to hand someone something with your left hand. This concept is alive in Middle East. This ancient concept is demonstrated by the name of the biblical Jacob's favorite son, Ben-Yamin (Benjamin), the Son of my Right Hand, indicating this favored position.
Read more about this concept of the shameful Left Hand of Cursing and the honored Right Hand of Blessing:
Gas-Pumping and Finger-Pointing Fiasco
The Right Hand Of Blessing
Across Cultures
How to Learn a Language and a Culture
Analyze and Compare Your Worldview
29 October 2011
Sabbath or Sunday, Seventh or First Day?
A few years ago, at an international meeting in Korea, I met one person who told me he belonged to the Seventh Day Baptists, and asked me if I had heard of them.
As it happened, I knew of the group, a Christian group that is Baptist in faith and practice, except that they still honor the old Hebrew Sabbath, worshiping on the 7th day of the week instead of the 1st, as most Christians do.
In North America, I knew that the Seventh Day Baptists participate in the North American Baptist Fellowship and the Baptist World Alliance, like most other Baptist groups in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Most people will be familiar with another Sabbath Christian group, the Seventh Day Adventists, a better-known church that also worships on the Sabbath. Though better known for their apocalyptic beliefs, the Adventists observe more of the Hebrew requirements and practices than other Christians. Even so, they have become more closely allied with "evangelical" denominations in North America in recent years.
Most Christians worldwide observe the first day of the week as the Lord's Day in honor of the resurrection of Jesus. The pattern was set even before the New Testament Gospels and letters were written, as indicated in the book of Acts, the strong admonition in Hebrews (Hebrews 10:25) and other New Testament references.
As the Greek-speaking peoples gradually became Christian, this led to the first day of the week, their worship day, being named "The Lord's Day." This is the Greek name even today for that first day of the week.
But the first followers of Jesus the Messiah ("Christ" in Greek) were often meeting every day of the week, including Saturday. The first messianic believers continued observing the Sabbath as well as worshiping on Sunday and other days throughout the week. Jewish followers of Jesus continued worshiping in the synagogues and the temple until its destruction in AD 70.
What are the factors about worshiping on Saturday or Sunday? I recently thought through this question again in some detail and have posted a recent article discussing this topic. I also list here other related topics among my resources.
Sabbath, Sunday and Covenant Relationships – The Sabbath for the Christian: Thoughts on Commandment Four
Sabbath and Sunday
Keeping The Torah By Nature – Life Instruction
Related:
The Gospels in their Jewish Setting
When Paul Studied with Gamaliel
As it happened, I knew of the group, a Christian group that is Baptist in faith and practice, except that they still honor the old Hebrew Sabbath, worshiping on the 7th day of the week instead of the 1st, as most Christians do.
In North America, I knew that the Seventh Day Baptists participate in the North American Baptist Fellowship and the Baptist World Alliance, like most other Baptist groups in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Most people will be familiar with another Sabbath Christian group, the Seventh Day Adventists, a better-known church that also worships on the Sabbath. Though better known for their apocalyptic beliefs, the Adventists observe more of the Hebrew requirements and practices than other Christians. Even so, they have become more closely allied with "evangelical" denominations in North America in recent years.
Most Christians worldwide observe the first day of the week as the Lord's Day in honor of the resurrection of Jesus. The pattern was set even before the New Testament Gospels and letters were written, as indicated in the book of Acts, the strong admonition in Hebrews (Hebrews 10:25) and other New Testament references.
As the Greek-speaking peoples gradually became Christian, this led to the first day of the week, their worship day, being named "The Lord's Day." This is the Greek name even today for that first day of the week.
But the first followers of Jesus the Messiah ("Christ" in Greek) were often meeting every day of the week, including Saturday. The first messianic believers continued observing the Sabbath as well as worshiping on Sunday and other days throughout the week. Jewish followers of Jesus continued worshiping in the synagogues and the temple until its destruction in AD 70.
What are the factors about worshiping on Saturday or Sunday? I recently thought through this question again in some detail and have posted a recent article discussing this topic. I also list here other related topics among my resources.
Sabbath, Sunday and Covenant Relationships – The Sabbath for the Christian: Thoughts on Commandment Four
Sabbath and Sunday
Keeping The Torah By Nature – Life Instruction
Related:
The Gospels in their Jewish Setting
When Paul Studied with Gamaliel
06 October 2011
Cyprus, Afrodite and the Holy Virgin
A few years back, I had the awesome experience of living in Cyprus for 3.5 years. I loved the small island country, the warm family-oriented people and the ancient history all around us, with about 3500 archaeological sites and dozens of museums tucked in the old medieval streets of all the towns.
Aphrodite (also transliterated Afrodite) is a major figure in the history and culture of Cyprus. It is said that she was born out of the foam of the sea where the Mediterranean crashes against the great rocks of a bay near Paphos, on the western coast of the island.
Note Homer's comment on Afrodite:
"And laughter-loving Afrodite went to Paphos in Cyprus where she has her sacred precinct and fragrant altar."
-- Odyssey VIII 362
Afrodite is a great tourist focus with sites like Afrodite's Bay and Afrodite's baths in the Pafos district. Replicas of the classical figures of Afrodite as well as many of the old Greek gods are sold. The stories of these gods are told in the literature with the same historical tone as other historical stories. It is hard to tell how seriously these are taken.
This focus on the pagan past is surprising in light of the strong Christian identity of Cyprus, and the great struggles of the Christians against their pagan opponents and persecutors until about AD 400. Afrodite's ties with traditional Cyprus is a great money-earner.
Of course commercial interests are the context for much of the reproduction of classical art work representing the ancient Greek religious scenes and characters from the myths.
Stories
These ancient "myths" (Greek mythos for "story"), further, are the symbolic history of the Greek peoples. Like other ancient and current oral-relational peoples of the world, the Greeks encapulate and transmit their identity and origins and pre-history in story form.
The story flow and relationships of the characters are in focus, not necessarily (not usually) literal, specific objective "facts" like moderns have come to prefer. Think of Aesop's Fables, and compare with the Germanic Grimm's fairy tales, and stories like Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood in the Black Forest of Germany.
But such stories convey quickly whole categories of wisdom and truth in story form, notably guidance for life, personal safety or moral values.
Prayer Bows
In Cyprus, bits of cloth are tied to branches and stems of bushes and trees in certain areas, as prayers for fertility (originally, and apparently still so intended). These bows on the bushes were originally prayers to Afrodite, and now are considered prayers to Mary Mother of Jesus (the God-Bearer theotokos). These are found on trees or bushes in church yards, as well as more genral public areas.
As in the rest of the Christian world, other previously pagan celebrations have been reinterpreted into Christan themes. For instance, the annual celebration of Kataklysmos. This originally-pagan holiday also originally honored Aphrodite.
Kataklysmos is now supposed to be a celebration of the deliverance from the Flood (kataklysmos). This is usually celebrated in Cyprus at the same time as Pentecost Sunday, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Day of Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection. Kataklysmos is celebrated with traditional dances and fairs all weekend and Monday. The most famous venue is the Larnaca seafront boardwalk fair.
Learn more about Cyprus and its fascinating, deep-history culture at these links on my website:
Across the Greek Divide
Cyprus: Notes and Perceptions
Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy Presentation
Prayer for Cyprus
History and Art in Cyprus
Italians, Etruscans and Greeks: Genetics and Ethnicity
For More on Cyprus
History of Cyprus
The Church of Cyprus - Official Site
The Church of Cyprus - Religion Wiki
The Church of Cyprus - Wikipedia
Aphrodite (also transliterated Afrodite) is a major figure in the history and culture of Cyprus. It is said that she was born out of the foam of the sea where the Mediterranean crashes against the great rocks of a bay near Paphos, on the western coast of the island.
Note Homer's comment on Afrodite:
"And laughter-loving Afrodite went to Paphos in Cyprus where she has her sacred precinct and fragrant altar."
-- Odyssey VIII 362
Afrodite is a great tourist focus with sites like Afrodite's Bay and Afrodite's baths in the Pafos district. Replicas of the classical figures of Afrodite as well as many of the old Greek gods are sold. The stories of these gods are told in the literature with the same historical tone as other historical stories. It is hard to tell how seriously these are taken.
This focus on the pagan past is surprising in light of the strong Christian identity of Cyprus, and the great struggles of the Christians against their pagan opponents and persecutors until about AD 400. Afrodite's ties with traditional Cyprus is a great money-earner.
Of course commercial interests are the context for much of the reproduction of classical art work representing the ancient Greek religious scenes and characters from the myths.
Stories
These ancient "myths" (Greek mythos for "story"), further, are the symbolic history of the Greek peoples. Like other ancient and current oral-relational peoples of the world, the Greeks encapulate and transmit their identity and origins and pre-history in story form.
The story flow and relationships of the characters are in focus, not necessarily (not usually) literal, specific objective "facts" like moderns have come to prefer. Think of Aesop's Fables, and compare with the Germanic Grimm's fairy tales, and stories like Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood in the Black Forest of Germany.
But such stories convey quickly whole categories of wisdom and truth in story form, notably guidance for life, personal safety or moral values.
Prayer Bows
In Cyprus, bits of cloth are tied to branches and stems of bushes and trees in certain areas, as prayers for fertility (originally, and apparently still so intended). These bows on the bushes were originally prayers to Afrodite, and now are considered prayers to Mary Mother of Jesus (the God-Bearer theotokos). These are found on trees or bushes in church yards, as well as more genral public areas.
As in the rest of the Christian world, other previously pagan celebrations have been reinterpreted into Christan themes. For instance, the annual celebration of Kataklysmos. This originally-pagan holiday also originally honored Aphrodite.
Kataklysmos is now supposed to be a celebration of the deliverance from the Flood (kataklysmos). This is usually celebrated in Cyprus at the same time as Pentecost Sunday, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Day of Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection. Kataklysmos is celebrated with traditional dances and fairs all weekend and Monday. The most famous venue is the Larnaca seafront boardwalk fair.
Learn more about Cyprus and its fascinating, deep-history culture at these links on my website:
Across the Greek Divide
Cyprus: Notes and Perceptions
Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy Presentation
Prayer for Cyprus
History and Art in Cyprus
Italians, Etruscans and Greeks: Genetics and Ethnicity
For More on Cyprus
History of Cyprus
The Church of Cyprus - Official Site
The Church of Cyprus - Religion Wiki
The Church of Cyprus - Wikipedia
06 August 2011
Welcome, South Sudan, to the Family of Nations!
On 9 July 2011, a new nation-state came into being, when the Republic of South Sudan was proclaimed. After two generations of oppression and war, a new Nation was born as Southern Sudan became independent.
The new South Sudan was created geographically out of three former provinces of the Sudan, Bahr-el-ghazal, Equatoria and Greater Upper Nile. These territories are now configured into 10 states of the new republic.
There was a great wave of exultation and hope across the world in expatriate communities of Nuer and Dinka, the two largest ethnic groups, and others as South Sudan joined the world family of nations.
The previous decades of exploitation, devastation, destruction and exploitation were made even worse by extensive drought and famine in long, repeated periods. Over the years thousands of refugees fled into neighboring countries and into rescue centers in other continents.
About 25,000 Nuer alone are in the United States. Many will remember the "Lost Boys," mostly Nuer and Dinka children who walked incredible distances to escape their light.
One source comments:
"Approximately 25,000 Nuer were resettled in the United States as refugees since the early 1990s, with many Nuer now residing in Nebraska, Minnesota, Sag Harbor, NY, Iowa, South Dakota, Tennessee, Georgia and many other states, and some of them living in Canada, mostly in Toronto, Kitchener, Edmonton, and Calgary."
The source says another 20,000 went to Australia.
See my updated cultural profiles of the Dinka and Nuer, with a map and extensive links to other sources:
The Dinka People of South Sudan
The Nuer People of South Sudan
For more on South Sudan, the Nuer and the Dinka:
Nuer - Nethelper
Sudan - Wikipedia
Nuer and Sudan - Dual B Gony
South Sudan – Wikipedia
The new South Sudan was created geographically out of three former provinces of the Sudan, Bahr-el-ghazal, Equatoria and Greater Upper Nile. These territories are now configured into 10 states of the new republic.
There was a great wave of exultation and hope across the world in expatriate communities of Nuer and Dinka, the two largest ethnic groups, and others as South Sudan joined the world family of nations.
The previous decades of exploitation, devastation, destruction and exploitation were made even worse by extensive drought and famine in long, repeated periods. Over the years thousands of refugees fled into neighboring countries and into rescue centers in other continents.
About 25,000 Nuer alone are in the United States. Many will remember the "Lost Boys," mostly Nuer and Dinka children who walked incredible distances to escape their light.
One source comments:
"Approximately 25,000 Nuer were resettled in the United States as refugees since the early 1990s, with many Nuer now residing in Nebraska, Minnesota, Sag Harbor, NY, Iowa, South Dakota, Tennessee, Georgia and many other states, and some of them living in Canada, mostly in Toronto, Kitchener, Edmonton, and Calgary."
The source says another 20,000 went to Australia.
See my updated cultural profiles of the Dinka and Nuer, with a map and extensive links to other sources:
The Dinka People of South Sudan
The Nuer People of South Sudan
For more on South Sudan, the Nuer and the Dinka:
Nuer - Nethelper
Sudan - Wikipedia
Nuer and Sudan - Dual B Gony
South Sudan – Wikipedia
13 July 2011
What Makes a Dialect a Dialect?
Sometimes people would ask about our African home, What dialect do they speak over there? In Kenya, about the size of Texas or France, there are about 85 languages. Then you want to look into the dozens of dialects of all those languages?
Do some people speak a language while others speak only a dialect? Hmmmnnn. Do you speak a dialect or a language? Why do the Kikuyus speak Kikuyu? Why do the Kumam people of Uganda speak differently from the related Acholi people?
Have you noticed that all (or most) people growing up in the same place speak the same way? Well, sure you have. Why is that? How did you learn the phrases you use, the words you choose in certain situations and purposes?
Why is it that the language children learn is the language of their parents! And why is that some children learn two or three languages at the same time, without even thinking about it?
Way back in our language learning prehistory the pattern operates. No, I don't mean when your ancestors were cavemen. No I mean yours and my own personal prehistory. Can you remember learning English? Me neither. Our brains just knew what to do.
But how did our brains know how to do it? How did our subconscious Learning Acquisition Device know what to "teach" us? Well, you brain is an amazing implement that just works on what it finds around us.
We talk like the people where we grew up because that is the Model of speech communication our ears heard. We learned the patterns and models available to us! This is what leads to our regional accents, and what makes the dialect of one area different from the speech of another.
Human communication is complex, frustrating and fascinating. Ever wonder which people speak a language and which people speak a dialect? Look into all this in my latest article on the question:
Accent, Dialect and Language
Mentioned or related to this Blog Topic:
Accents - Developing and Changing Them
Dialects, Languages and Ethnicity
Living and Working in Kenya
The Kikuyu People of Kenya
The Kumam People of Uganda
Do some people speak a language while others speak only a dialect? Hmmmnnn. Do you speak a dialect or a language? Why do the Kikuyus speak Kikuyu? Why do the Kumam people of Uganda speak differently from the related Acholi people?
Have you noticed that all (or most) people growing up in the same place speak the same way? Well, sure you have. Why is that? How did you learn the phrases you use, the words you choose in certain situations and purposes?
Why is it that the language children learn is the language of their parents! And why is that some children learn two or three languages at the same time, without even thinking about it?
Way back in our language learning prehistory the pattern operates. No, I don't mean when your ancestors were cavemen. No I mean yours and my own personal prehistory. Can you remember learning English? Me neither. Our brains just knew what to do.
But how did our brains know how to do it? How did our subconscious Learning Acquisition Device know what to "teach" us? Well, you brain is an amazing implement that just works on what it finds around us.
We talk like the people where we grew up because that is the Model of speech communication our ears heard. We learned the patterns and models available to us! This is what leads to our regional accents, and what makes the dialect of one area different from the speech of another.
Human communication is complex, frustrating and fascinating. Ever wonder which people speak a language and which people speak a dialect? Look into all this in my latest article on the question:
Accent, Dialect and Language
Mentioned or related to this Blog Topic:
Accents - Developing and Changing Them
Dialects, Languages and Ethnicity
Living and Working in Kenya
The Kikuyu People of Kenya
The Kumam People of Uganda
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