Adonis Diaries

“Satan, Azazeel” by Yussof Zaidan

In 5th century Alexandria (Egypt), the Greek language was the official administrative language and the one used for knowledge and culture.  The Egyptian Copt language was spoken and written everywhere else.

Apparently, Christian Copt monks and priests were persecuted in 284 AC and hundreds were killed “martyrs”. The Christian Copt sect then adopted a calendar starting at date zero as of this year.  In around 410 AC, the non-Christian Hypatia was the most learned woman philosopher and mathematician; she gave lecture in the open air Great Theater every Sunday Morning, as her arch-enemy Archbishop Cyril was holding mass and preaching from his golden chair, his gold cross, and golden attire.

A young Copt monk, originating from upper Egypt,  was studying theology and medicine in Alexandria and witnessed the murder of Hypatia by zealot Christians.

After mass, Christian zealots, lead by a certain Peter, were galvanized by Cyril to express their power over the governor and the “heathen” and they invaded the main streets claiming to be the soldiers of God Christ.

Hypatia had finished her lecture around noon and was in her carriage.  It happened that people had disbanded and there were no soldiers accompanying Hypatia. The zealots got hold of the famous philosopher, grabbed her by her long hair and dragged her on the streets until her skin was torn out; they brought shells from the seashore and endeavored to totally skin her alive and then they burned her still alive around 420 AC.  The monk fled cruel Alexandria and took the name Hypa in respect for Hypatia.

Cruel and extremist Archbishop Cyril inherited the position from his cruel uncle Archbishop Theophilus.

For many centuries before Christianity became the official religion of the Byzantium Empire, the wealthy and professional Jews in Alexandria made sure to keeping the indigenes Egyptians and Christians off city limits.  The Egyptians would work during the day in Alexandria and then leave the city limits to dwell in shantytowns outside the western walls.  Consequently, as Christians acquired power then, the Jews were sent packing outside the eastern city walls.  Christians of Alexandria persecuted the Jews and the non-Christians relentlessly.

In 375, the Egyptian Christians from Alexandria assassinated archbishop Georgius of Cappadocia because he favored the dogma of the monk Arius of Alexandria who was excommunicated in 325 by the new official Christian church of the Byzantium empire during Constantine.  Arius believed that Jesus was a man and not God incarnate as was the dogma in ancient Egyptian idolatry religion and that Christians in Egypt emulated the concept.

Around the North-Western region of Aleppo (Syria), ruins stretch for three kilometers on the main road to Antakia (situated in Turkey).  This road was the last link of the famous “Silk Road” coming from China.  In one of those ruins were found 30 parchments or leather rolls, still intact, written in Syriac or the Aramean language spoken by Jesus.  These rolls were signed by Hypa the monk, an autobiography of his peregrinations from Egypt to the Orient.  Hypa was already 40 years old when he finished his writing.

Apparently, this Egyptian monk was a follower of Archbishop Nestor who was excommunicated by the conclave held in Ephesus at the time of the writing of these parchments.  Nestor was born in Meresh (Germanica) in Syria and was the right hand of archbishop Theodosius.  Nestor became the Pope or Patriarch of Constantinople at the age of 48.

Later, Cyril of Alexandria coordinated with the Pope of Rome for arranging a conclave in Ephesus; both Archbishops ex-communicated one another before the arrival of the Emperor.  The Emperor was angry that these activities took place in his absence and excommunicated the two archbishops and then, he changed his mind and retained the one on Nestor. The Nestorian sect would later expand eastward and translated their Bible to Chinese and built monasteries and churches along the Silk Road before the advent of Islam.

The dogma of Cyril of Alexandria was that Virgin Mary was mother of god and Jesus the son of god.  Nestor saw in Mary just the mother of Jesus and that Jesus was a man born normally with a holly message and who resurrected from death.

The father of Hypa used to offer the pagan priests, secluded in their Great Temple near the town of Elephantine in upper Egypt, half his catch of fish every two days .  Hypa’s mother was a zealot Christian who incited her ignorant Christian relatives to assassinate her husband.  They killed Hypa’s father in the presence of the 8 year-old kid.  The mother then married one her killer relatives.  Hypa’s uncle sent him to study at Akhmeem (Panopolis) at a convent.  Hypa learned Greek, theology, and philosophy before he ventured to Alexandria to study medicine.

A week after his arrival to Alexandria, Hypa listened to Hypatia lecture who said: “After my lecture on philosophy, I will entertain the mathematicians and engineers on the latest theory of Diophantus on the arithmetics of unknown numerical values.”  She resumed: “Comprehension is a mental process, but truths that we reach through logic and mathematics remain cold facts until we assimilate them spiritually.  We have to understand that philosophical issues cannot be correct unless it is supported on mathematical foundations.”

Hypa crossed the Sinai desert for three months then he toured Palestine for three years, he visited with monks living in grottos around the Dead Sea and then spent three years in Jerusalem as a healing monk.  He then spent 5 years in a monastery in northern Syria and founded a library and cured the sick.  He fell in love with young Martha who had to leave in order to sing in Aleppo.

Hypa fell sick with fever for 20 days and he decided to write his autobiography and finish it at the end of 40 days of fasting.  Then, Hypa had decided to quit monastic life after he finishes what he had to testify on his life and period.

Note 1:  The harsh monastery life is imported from ancient Egypt customs and it spread in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey.  The oriental monks were not as harsh in their devotion or waited for people to bring them food.  They worked hard and cultivated the land in the step shape garden (Babylonian style) and raised livestock of goats, sheep, and cows.

Note 2:  The dozen of Christian sects persecuted one another for over one thousand years, after Christianity became the religion of the Byzantium Empire, and displaced one another far more frequently and more cruelly than the other religious sects or idolaters religions did to them.

Note 3:  The Patriarch of Alexandria called himself the Pope of Egypt and was a powerful personality who extended his domination to the five cities in Libya, all of Egypt, and Ethiopia.  The Byzantium Emperors were very lenient with the Pope of Egypt because Egypt was the bread basket of the Empire and Byzantium barely controlled the main cities on the sea shore.

Note 4:  Every period is dominated by major paradigms in sciences, religious dogma, and set of values.  The next generations resolve part of the controversy by adopting alternative paradigms.  Maybe only reason, experiments, and knowledge resolve real life problems, but it is the peace of mind (relying on a few “truths” within the realm of belief) that gives courage to persevere in the investigation.  This sort of individual “peace of mind” is what I call personal passion.

Fact is, most cruel and bloody battles (in sciences and religions) are wars of passions emanating from individual passions wrapped into “collective spirituality.”  It is a mankind process to preserving “peace of mind” in order to get the courage to resume resolving the thousands of questions that have no ready answers.

The passions of the learned people are the decision makers, initiator, and planners of the cruel engagements and the passion of the ignorant are the executioners of the sordid deeds, massacres, and revenge attacks.  Maybe our individual purpose in life is to get ready and prepared mentally for the signs and then the consequences of passion outbursts in order to keeping our sanity and learning to enjoying the few moments of positive and compassionate attitutdes.