{"id":46988,"date":"2018-03-15T17:03:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T23:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=46988"},"modified":"2018-03-22T20:35:30","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T02:35:30","slug":"urgent-news-along-old-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/03\/urgent-news-along-old-news.html","title":{"rendered":"Some urgent news, along with some very old news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"I've<\/a>
The Vancouver British Columbia Temple (LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rather late notice \u2014 I\u2019ve been very busy over the past few days \u2014 but I\u2019ll be speaking in West Jordan, Utah, tonight (Thursday, 15 March 2018) at 7 PM, on the topic of \u201cThe Temple and Ascent to God.\u201d \u00a0My remarks will focus largely but not quite entirely on the ancient and medieval Middle East.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can learn more about the lecture<\/a> here:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cruiselady.com\/learn-our-religion-lecture-series\/<\/p>\n

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***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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A bit more from The Manuscript:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saladin established a dynasty in Egypt and Syria, but it never quite measured up to the qualities of its founder. I am more inter\u00adested in what followed. Like earlier rulers in the Islamic Near East, Saladin brought in fresh warriors from central Asia to serve in his army. These slave soldiers were known as mamluks<\/em>.[1]<\/a> The word mamluk <\/em>means \u201cowned,\u201d and it is a common term used in Arabic to describe slaves. Saladin\u2019s successors followed him in this practice of importing mamluks. <\/em>But when the dynasty began to run out of steam, something unusual and highly interesting took place. The slave soldiers took charge. Thus arose what is often, and quite mis\u00adleadingly, called the Mamluk <\/em>dynasty of Egypt.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To explain, the rulers of Egypt and their leading associates bought central Asian mamluks <\/em>to serve in their own personal armies. When these owners died, the mamluks <\/em>were considered free. (To fully understand the situation, we need to get out of our minds any pictures of slavery as it existed in the American South. We are not talking here of plantations and the like. Even when they were still slaves, the mamluks <\/em>were highly trained in their business of war and often lived extremely well. It was simply that they owed obedience to their master.) They owed no particular allegiance to the children of their owner, unless for some reason\u2014perhaps by reason of affection for their late master\u2014they chose to do so. And that was rare. They would then begin to buy their own mamluks, <\/em>if they had not already done so. When the dynasty founded by Sala- din dissolved, the mamluks <\/em>of the last sultan took control in their own behalf.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But the regime that they founded should not, properly speak\u00ading, be called a dynasty. Only rarely was a father succeeded by his son. A mamluk\u2019s <\/em>children were not themselves mamluks. <\/em>More importantly, perhaps, it was considered that the children of a mamluk, <\/em>who had grown up in the relatively posh conditions of Egypt rather than in the tough warrior-producing steppes of cen\u00adtral Asia as their father had, were too soft to be real warriors. Thus, there was no succession within the mamluk <\/em>system. When\u00adever a mamluk <\/em>sultan of Egypt died, there would be a struggle among the other mamluks <\/em>to see who would succeed him. Eventu\u00adally, one would triumph over the others, and the regime would go on.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> The word is pronounced \u201cmam-<\/em>LUKE.\u201d Indeed, it is sometimes spelled that way (mamluke<\/em>), particularly in older English books and articles.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Incidentally, somebody has evidently established a phony Facebook page with my name and photo on it, and is using it to try to sell things.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Please don\u2019t be fooled.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u2019re welcome, of course, to send me as much money as you would like. \u00a0(I\u2019m always open to that<\/em>.) \u00a0But I\u2019m not selling anything. \u00a0If something shows up with my name on it, trying to market a commercial product of some sort, it\u2019s not from me<\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 It\u2019s rather late notice \u2014 I\u2019ve been very busy over the past few days \u2014 but I\u2019ll be speaking in West Jordan, Utah, tonight (Thursday, 15 March 2018) at 7 PM, on the topic of \u201cThe Temple and Ascent to God.\u201d \u00a0My remarks will focus largely but not quite entirely on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[951,66,207,945,987,990,993],"class_list":["post-46988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-egypt","tag-islam","tag-islamic-history","tag-mamluk","tag-saladin","tag-salah-al-din","tag-syria"],"yoast_head":"\nSome urgent news, along with some very old news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"      It's rather late notice -- I've been very busy over the past few days -- but I'll be speaking in 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