#antoura

[theideasoundingboard]

On an old picture

On an old picture

I wrote a couple of posts on Lebanon recently, back to back, and it drained me out. I’ve never been good at managing sorrow or anger. So I thought I would write about something else for a change. And then I saw this long forgotten picture on social media… It was taken 27 years ago. A class of 12 year-old kids. People with whom I would be graduating some years later. It had been forgotten in the…

[armeniangenocidehistory]

During World War I, the Lazarist college at Antoura, in the mountains of Mt. Lebanon north of Beirut, was taken over by Cemal Pasha to be used as an orphanage for Armenian and Kurdish orphans. Turkish feminist Halide Edip recounts in her memoirs that the time she spent as director of the orphanage during the war was among the happiest periods of her life. In this episode, Professor Selim Deringil discusses his new project, a film about the Antoura orphanage and its orphans during the war, painting a very different picture from that which emerges from Edip's memoirs. The film, entitled "After This Day," is produced and directed by Nigol Bezjian.

[k-tarkovsky]

CAPRICIOUS

by May Ziadeh

Grandiose in the deep sky,

the sun said its customary goodbye

to the river, the palm trees,

the sands of this place,

and walked toward the other world.

Then the horizon sent up a sigh

and the heavens were tinged

with lilac and rose

quivering colors where rests azure

and the breath of the zephyr softens.

Cairo was hidden beneath a fine mist,

the trees swirling on the

brown banks of the Nile.

The shadow fell everywhere,

finding no danger

and covered over safely

the plains and the foam.

O Pyramids! Then it is

That, lifting up my thinking head,

I tend to wander upon your strong flanks

The echo of some plaintive voice;

But What! would it be within you

That an orphan mourns his mother?

Is it a hymn, is it a prayer,

Is it a divine moan?

But already the silence returns

Around the big black monument.

A time—my heart trembles, leaps,

Hovering with the evening breeze…

Suddenly the sounds are heard,

O God! But where do they come from?

A sweet harmony blends in…

It is the voice of Alexander.

An echo? Napoleon’s?

Is it the saber that shimmers?

Is it your statue, O Memnon,

Who falls in a moist grave?

Is it the sigh of a soldier

Deceased? A horse that rides?

Is it the cracking of a marble

Who’s been lying there for centuries?

Answer, Monuments! High Pyramids,

Centuries gone, O silent memory!

Are these songs of love

or warlike commands

that your belly purifies?

No, on your desolate coasts

It is no longer the Imperial Eagle

Who marks your sacred lands

Steps of his fiery horse—

Oh! Your flags are barely seen…

And Muhammad Ali is no longer;

All things are English.

These long, floating echoes

tickle my soul

like a breath of a breeze,

a breath of azure, a maternal kiss,

a sad and pure look,

a flash of a subtle flame,

a child’s reaching finger

that caresses my forehead,

a bird chirping, a river whispering,

a friendly smile, a cry from nature

or from the sun, a golden ray…

It was the distant marching band

that played ���God Saves The King;”

It was the sure vibration of hearts

valiant and full of faith:

Museums, Beauties, Beloved Fine Arts,

Oceans, rivers, greenery,

immense azure, golden stars

who from heaven is the adornment

to you, my young ones,

to you my young intelligence,

my love and my trust,

To you, my blue and white dreams!

But no more transports.

See you soon, Pyramides,

And you, Lebanon, Beirut,

Dear Antoura, hello!

My Syria, Salvation!

As soon as I can, I’ll go back

to your clear horizons.

—May Ziadeh

pub. Is. Copia

Fleurs de Reve

“Flowers in a Dream”

(1911, Cairo)

May Ziadeh’s poem, “Capricious” published in French in Cairo, Egypt in 1911, trans. Jade Nicole beals

[venicepearl]

Alphonse Mucha Portrait of Halide Edib Adivar

Halide Edib Adıvar (11 June 1884 – 9 January 1964) was a Turkish novelist, nationalist, kemalist, teacher and political leader for women's rights. She was best known for her novels criticizing the low social status of Turkish women and what she saw from her observation as the lack of interest of most women in changing their situation.

During World War I, Halide Edib ran an orphanage with Djemal Pasha at the former Saint Joseph College in Antoura where orphans of the Armenian Genocide were forcibly converted to Islam and Turkified.

She was a Pan-Turkist and several of her novels promoted Turanism.

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

A father to the fatherless

By Jonathan Monfiletto

Ray Travis never married nor had children, but it is said more than a million descendants can credit their existence to him. Not the direct descendants of Mr. Travis, of course, but instead the descendants of the more than a thousand Armenian children he – termed in a 2016 newspaper article as “The humanitarian of Himrod” – helped protect and defend in the aftermath of World War I.

If there were ever some sort of Yates County hall of fame – perhaps celebrating county natives who went on to do heroic and noble deeds in their lives, whether in or out of the area – then I have no doubt Ray Travis would be inducted in the first class. Even if few people nowadays know his name. Our family files contain a plethora of information about this courageous man, and our archival collections include a box of Mr. Travis’ personal letters and papers. But a June 22, 2016 article in The Chronicle-Express – capturing the moment at the Yates County History Center when a great-nephew of Mr. Travis met a brother and sister who are grandchildren of an orphan who survived the Armenian genocide, much like the orphans Mr. Travis helped rescue a century before – paints the picture of Mr. Travis’ story the best, both detailed and succinct at the same time.

According to the article, Mr. Travis – about 25 years old when World War I began in 1914 – was teaching about 20 children in a one-room schoolhouse in Himrod. Though he was older than the required age of conscription, Ray volunteered for the war in France; because of his career as a schoolteacher, he was assigned as an Army quartermaster. When the war ended and the Ottoman Empire surrendered, Ray sought and received special permission to leave the Army and become a relief worker in the Near East.

During the war, the Ottoman Turks turned on the native Armenian Christian population living in east and central Turkey; the nationalist Turkish revolution against the Ottoman Empire caused even more suffering to the Armenian people. Ray was the headmaster of one of the orphanages – often containing children whose families had been killed while fleeing Turkey or had died as refugees in Syria – and he fought, literally, to protect the children under his care and eventually led them and their teachers to safety in Lebanon.

Karning Panian, one of the orphans in Ray’s charge, describes this kind and loving yet strong and stern headmaster in his memoir “Goodbye, Antoura.” When ethnic unrest came to the city where Ray’s orphanage was located, he put his military training to use by barricading the building, turning it into a fortress under siege, and welcoming into the grounds any Armenians – not just orphans – who needed a safe place. As an American, Ray was able to travel to a nearby French army base and secure rifles, ammunition, and even grenades to defend the orphanage. He evacuated the orphans to a nearby cave once shelling began and took his place among his fellow teachers and other men to defend them there.

Once the Turkish Nationalists officially toppled the Ottoman Empire, Ray and his orphans evacuated to Lebanon, traveling on foot and then by truck and train and gathering more orphans and teachers and others who were fleeing along the way. Eventually, the group of refugees spent several weeks in tents before finding a new home in a ruined building in Lebanon. Whether in a cave or in tents or in a ruined building, though, as Panian remembered, Ray made sure the orphans’ school lessons continued on schedule.

After the new orphanage was rebuilt out of the ruins and the 1,200 orphans were safe and secure in their new home, Ray returned to the United States in 1923 and worked as a division director for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, first in Texas and Arizona and later in Syracuse and Buffalo. He visited his family in Himrod on the weekends, helping out with groceries during the Great Depression and bringing new bicycles for the children. Before his retirement in 1954, Ray helped many immigrants secure their residency and citizenship, continuing a commitment to duty and kindness he had begun overseas.

After his retirement, Ray moved back to Himrod to care for his sister, Fanny, who was widowed and blind. Ray died in 1965, remembered by his great-nephew as generous but stern and fastidious. The article in The Chronicle-Express sums up Ray’s legacy this way: “(He) did have children, thousands of them, and all of them boys. And those children’s children owe their very lives to his life and the devotion he showed all those orphaned boys nearly a century ago.”

[assassinnovice]

Prologue

                                                      Prologue

You have been told that about the bloodline of the Daughters of Eden. How they fought to protect.

Nora, The first daughter of Eden, Assassin of the Third Crusades, killing all Nine Templars and her own Grandmother, become Altair's second in command, then later married Mailk and died of old age.

Nymphilna, The Assassin of the Renaissance age, the adopted daughter of Ezio Auditore, she fought to cleanse Italy of the taint of the Borgia family and understanding a little of Those that came before and of herself and her heritage, she meet and married her first love, Antonio Antouras, she retired of her Assassin life and died along with her husband.

Juliet, An Assassin of America left by her parents of an old Assassin, trained from childhood and became a warrior, only because that was the only thing she knew, but a native came into her life and changed everything. They both fought together to save the land from the British and New England, giving birth to a land called America, she married the native and live out her life on the land she fought and bled for.

Nifria Andrews, Pirate and Assassin of the Seven seas, broken from the betrayal of her beloved and mother, became a pirate to strike back, giving way for women’s strength, drowning herself in sex, alcohol, and killing, but Dante Valentine came and healed her of her wounds and help her find her closure, she left her pirate life and retired to England with Dante.

Bernetta, Colonial Assassin betrayed by the Creed she swore to serve, but her Assassin brother that was now a Templar stayed true and honest to her, never betraying her and they sought to protect the world from the Assassins that unknowingly seek to tear contains apart, hunted down and killed their Assassin brother and sisters and stopped the last of the Assassins from making a grave mistake. She then left the colony with her beloved, Marco and returned to her homeland in France, starting a family and life from the war of the Templars and Assassins, but she was hunted down by an Assassin and both her and her husband were murdered.

Elizabeth, Assassin of France. Trained to be a killer, a weapon of the brotherhood. Emotionless, but her adoptive Templar father and sister, raised her to just be a proud woman, but another force took him away from her, pulling her back into her Assassin life, that dragged her best friend Arno Dorian in as well, they fought for the Assassins. Killing for them, Arno treated her like his friend, giving her a reason to live, but her reason was tearing for the deaths of her brothers in arms. Then exiled her refusing to obey the brotherhood, then torn for the loss of her Templar sister. She vanished from the city and was lost, then Arno came back into her life. They found the will and love to fight for their home once more, but Elizabeth never returned to the Assassins, she life as a shadow. Then retired with her husband and raised their child, dying a peaceful death.

Alexandria, Assassin of London. A living exile of the Creed and formed her own creed in London, took on two appearances and they fought back against the Templar that tries in taking control, but the Frye twins entered her life and turned everything around for her and she fell for Jacob Frye and help them take the city back from the Grand Master and stops him from having a peace of Eden. She continued her life as an Assassin, keeping her home safe. Even married Jacob Frye, giving him twins of his own, but in her 40s, she was wounded and cared for by Jack the Ripper that loved her like a son would love his mother. After his death, she retired and lived her last remaining years, by her husband’s side.

Annabeth, The Modern Assassin, trained since she was a child, her cousin, Desmond Miles ran away when he was 17 and was never heard from since. Betrayed, Andy continues with her training, become the best and most dangerous Daughter of Eden to ever live. She searched for her cousin and fought him in Abstergo’s hands. She fought her way in and took her cousin back and stayed by his side, trying to stop the end of days, trying to save humankind from extinction, they found a way, but it came at a price, Desmond sacrifice himself to save the planet, but Andy was heartbroken from this and cut herself from the Assassin, finding her own way to bring him back, but an ex-Templar named Danial stops her and heals her of her pain and wounds, helping her stops Juno from returning to the world and finish what her ancestors started.

But how did the Daughters of Eden become to be in this world? How were they apart of the Assassins? Who was there at the beginning of the war? Well, we have to go back. Back to where it all began, who started to white hooded killers, the Birth of the creed and who was the Mother of Eden.

~8~8~8~

Siwa Oasis, 45 BCE

Bayek, Aya, and Ahmose were protoling on the edge of Siwa, they watch as the animals were hurrying along the fields, Ahmose smirks as he places his bow away and looks at the sky, “It’s a wonderful day today, perfect for a hunt.” he informs the two. They both smile at him and continued, “Have you found a wife yet, Ahmose?” Bayek asks him, he scoffs and looks away from him, “I have no interest in taking a wife, just yet.” he answers and Aya chuckles. “You might have a change of heart,” she tells him and Ahmose chuckles to himself. “Maybe I will and I won’t, but as of now. I will not,” he tells them and Aya sighs a little at him, but then they felt the ground shaking, they stop and look at their feet. “What is happening.” Bayek questions, then Ahmose looks ahead of them, “Move. Move!” he shouts and they saw a herd was heading towards them, they dived out of the way as the herd ran past them. Then once the herd was gone, they pull themselves back onto their feet and Senu flew over them. “Senu, find out where they came from.” Bayek calls out and Senu flew off, the three lookouts any more surprises, “What causes them to run?” Aya asks and Ahmose looks around with his bow out and ready. “Something must of frighten them.” he states as Senu then came back, “Senu.” Bayek calls out and she hovers over them, “Show the way.” he calls out and she did so and the three followed her. “The animals must of sense something powerful, I pray to Orsis that whatever this is, that we can stop it from causing any harm on Siwa.” Ahmose states, “Be not afraid, Ahmose. We will see what caused the animals such a fright.” Aya assures him, he nods at her and saw Senu hover over a field, they hurried and were in awe as they arrived, the once dead patch of grass, tree and dried pond was once again flourished with life. “What causes this?” Aya asks as she ran her hand along the grass, “It’s rich with life, so sudden as well.” Bayek agrees, Ahmose looks around the green grass and found a glowing body. “Bayek, Aya! Come look at this!” he calls out. They both look and hurried over to him. They stop and look down at him. He looks up at them then down at the body.

A young woman, dressed in white, with long black hair, dark skin like theirs and faded white markings. “Is she alive?” Aya asks as she kneels down next to her, “I do not know.” Bayek answers her. Bayek kneels down next to them and places his bow down, and places his hand over her mouth, “She breathes.” he informs them and they look down at her, then Bayek places his hand on the side of her face, brushing her golden bangs from her face, her markings glow under his hand, Ahmose gently held her in his arms as the woman then groans “She’s waking.” Aya mutters as she flutters her eyes open, her vision was blurry as she turns her head and looks up at them. “Are you well?” Bayek asks her, “Where did you come from? How did you come to be here?” he asks her, she just looks up at them, colored eyes, one right blue and one golden. “Help…” she whimpers to herself then past right out. “We must get her back to Siwa.” Aya tells him, “She is right.” Ahmose agrees with her. Bayek nods at her. “Come, let us hurry.” Bayek tells them, “Here, I will carry her.” Ahmose said and gently pulls her into his arms and they stood up and hurried to Siwa.

~8~8~8~

The woman tossed and turn in her sleep, remembering everything. Her power-hungry kind, the reaction of the Eden, the creation of the human race, giving two humans will and life of their own, her sister’s betrayal and the eternal darkness she was left in. the woman gasps an awake as an old woman took a hold of her shoulders “Easy, easy. it’s okay. You’re safe.” she tells her. The young woman looks around, seeing that she was now in a house. “Easy, easy.” the woman tells her, she pants and looks at her, “Where… where am I?” she asks her, “Siwa, you’re safe.” she assures her. The woman pants as she swung her legs over and forces herself to stand, “Careful, tifl, you are unwell.” the old woman tells her. “No, I cannot. I have to return. The war, I have to stop them.” the younger woman said as she grunts and struggles to stand up. “What war do you speak of, tifl?” the older woman asks her, the younger woman stood up and looks at her, “My people, the tyrants. They will destroy everything, I must stop them.” she tells her and started to walk. “Lay back down, tifl. You are not ready to move.” the woman tries to shoves her back on the bed. “Please, you must not stop me. I have to-” she states, but then Ahmose appears in front of her as he entered the house with food in his hands, “What are you doing up?” he questions the woman as he sets the food down and picks her.

The woman gasps and swung her fists at him, “Unhand me! I have to save the others! Put me down!” she shouts, Ahmose rolls his eyes at her, setting her back down the bed, took a hold of her wrist and pins her down, “Rabiah, go get Bayek and Aya.” he tells her, the old woman called Rabiah nods and took off. “Stop fighting me!” he tells the woman, she growls at him, “Never! I have to save the others! I will stop that traitor from taking over the world!” she shouts at him. This confuses him, giving the woman a chance to free one of her wrists and she shoves her hand into his face, but they both gasped as the markings on her skin glowed and she saw all of his memories, his birth, his parents, his training as a Medjay, the land he has explored, his home, Siwa and within Egypt, his friends and brothers and sisters in arm, right up to where they found her. The woman pulled her hand back, the glowing stops and they both looked at each other, tears well up in the woman’s eyes as she then pulls her hand up and covers them. “They’re gone. All of them, my friends, my home, culture. Everything I knew and love, gone. It’s all gone.” she weeps, Ahmose looks down out her, letting go of her other wrist, places his hand on her waist and pulls her to him, wrapping her in his arms and she weeps on his shoulders. “Shh, shh.” he shushes her.

Rabiah returns with Bayek and Aya and they saw that the woman was weeping on Ahmose shoulder, “Is she alright?” Bayek asks him, he looks at them and shrugs. “I am not sure. But she is in pain,” he answers them, Aya looks at Bayek and she walks over to the two and rubs the woman’s back. Her cries were reduced to sniffles and hiccups, then Ahmose pulls back and brushed her hair back, “Tell me, what year is it?” she asks them, “Year 45 BEC.” Aya answers her. The woman nods as she swung her legs over and sat on the bed, “I’ve been in darkness for that long?” she mutters then sniffles. Then Bayek walks over and knees down in front of her. “Tell us, what has happened to you?” he asks her, and she looks at him, “The last thing I remember was, there was a war, the ancients were fighting humans, I was fighting alongside the humans and I was stealing the Orb of Control, but someone I once called sister, that was helping me, she betrayed me and somehow locked me within the orb and I was locked away, lost in eternal darkness for a millennia. That’s all I remember.” she answers him. Bayek nods and looks at his friends. “I am not lying, I have no reason to lie to anyone of you.” she assures them and Ahmose nods at her, “We believe you,” she tells her and she exhales with relief. Then Rabiah walks to them and offers her the food. “Thank you,” she mutters and took the food.

Then Aya, Bayek, and Ahmose step away from the two, “Do you think she is a spy?” Aya asks them, Bayek shook his head, “No, she is very confused right now, but I do not think she is lying.” he answers her, “He’s right when she… I do not know how to explain it, but she got in my head, saw my memories and when she saw everything, the look in her eyes, they were full of horror, hurt and loss. I believe she is telling the truth about her past. She knows nothing about the world today.” he informs them, “Excuse me.” the woman calls out and they look at her, “Did I have these markings on me when you found me?” she asks showing them her arm, Bayek walks back and gently took her arm. “Yes. Were they not here before?” he asks her and she shook her head. “No, these must be the work of the Orb of Control, etched into my skin. Even my hair and eyes have changed too.” she states looking at her bangs, then Aya walks over and sat down next to her, “Do you remember your name?” she asks and the woman looks at her, “My name…” she mutters and looks away, “My name… my name… my name is… um, it’s…” she mutters, pressing her hand to her forehead head. “You can not remember your name?” Aya asks her, the woman looks at her and shook her head, “No… I cannot remember.” she answers, Aya bites her lip and a name pops into her head. “Salyian. You are Salyian,” she informs her, the woman looks at her in surprise. Aya just smiles at her, “You are now Salyian of Siwa and you are our friend now, we will teach you all about our home.” she promises her. This makes the woman smile as Bayek and Ahmose walk to them and they smile down at her. “Salyian, I’m Salyain,” she mutters and cries tears of joy.

~.~.~.~.~

Here it is, the story of the beginning, how the daughters of Eden came to be. the Mother of Eden. I’m going to have so much fun, but idea and suggestions are well to make this story fantastic. send me zhe ideas

[sariaghjik]

i think one of the most emotional responses i’ve ever had to the history of the genocide is reading about the post-genocide effort to rescue kidnapped women and children from turkish, kurdish, and arab families that had abducted them. also just the situation of children in general--for example, antoura. what a horror.

[leitwolf]

“Goodbye, Antoura: A Memoir of the Armenian Genocide” by Karnig Panian

10/10 book, would 100% recommend reading it

[jsokhn]

College Saint Joseph Antoura since 1657 #Lebanon #super_lebanon #ig_lebanon #antoura #livelovekesserwan #livelovelebanon #livelovebeirut #wearelebanon #school #knowlegde #dji #aerialphotography #phantom #gopro (at Collège Saint Joseph Antoura)

[pkurukgy]

Oh #Antoura,We Love You. (Taken with instagram)

[armeniangenocidehistory]

“Djemal Pasha, followed by his aide-de-camp Nusret Bey and Hassan Bey, Director of Deportation, reviewing the Armenian orphans at Antoura”

[wearelebanon]

A cold night at #Antoura by Maher Najm #WeAreLebanon (at Antoura)

[sariaghjik]

yall the people who ran the antoura orphanage were straight up evil

[wearelebanon]

Good Morning from #Antoura School by @jadsafi #WeAreLebanon (at Antoura)

[wearelebanon]

Have a peaceful night from #Antoura, #Lebanon by Digi #WeAreLebanon (at Antoura)

[pkurukgy]

Oh #Antoura We Love You (Taken with instagram)