Why read Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms?

Book cover of Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East

Book description

Despite its reputation for religious intolerance, the Middle East has long sheltered many distinctive and strange faiths: one regards the Greek prophets as incarnations of God, another reveres Lucifer in the form of a peacock, and yet another believes that their followers are reincarnated beings who have existed in various…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Zachary Wingerd

Author

Like most Americans I grew up with a simplistic view of the Middle East. From Western news it is easy to assume that the "Arab world" is filled almost exclusively with Muslims who live and die in an Islamic world. Gerard Russell, a former British and UN diplomat, disproves this oversimplification with his detailed travelogue in which he recounts his journeying among "forgotten" religions and civilizations such as the Mandeans and Ezidis (ancient Gnostic communities of Iraq), the Zoroastrians ("fire worshippers" of Iran), and Coptics (a pre-Islamic civilization of Egyptian Christians whose language harkens back to the Pharaohs).

From Zachary's list on The best books about Christians in the Middle East.