www.PilgrimsOnTheSilkRoad.com In Pilgrims on the Silk Road, Ratliff has brought to light a fascinating but little known chapter in the history of European involvement in Central Asia, along the silk road. His portrait of the Mennonite mission to Khiva makes…
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Film
Lost Army Found in Egyptian Desert
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http://www.pilgrimsonthesilkroad.com/ It’s amazing when a shift of the wind uncovers the truth behind a legend. The Greek historian Herodotus (484 – 425 B.C.) once wrote about more than 50,000 Persian soldiers who vanished without a trace in a Saharan sandstorm. The event was…
Film
News from the Nowhere Farm
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www.PilgrimsOnTheSilkRoad.com When it comes to tight writing, it helps to be a poet/songwriter. Linford Detweiler from Over the Rhine is the master when it comes to family letters. He does a great job of evoking scenes without being overwrought. Here is…
Film
Bees That Drink Human Tears
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http://www.pilgrimsonthesilkroad.com/ Howdy! Listen everyone, plant lots of flowers…if we run short the bees will go for your eyes! Well, not necessarily. But this item from the Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society seems a bit unsettling. From the abstract: Lisotrigona cacciae,…
Film
The Time Zones Are A-Changin’
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http://www.pilgrimsonthesilkroad.com/ In America, you change the time. In Mother Russia, time changes you! Enjoy that clock rollback Sunday morning. In Russia some lawmakers are losing sleep over the country’s eleven time zones. (The continental United States has a measly four time zones). They want…
Film
The Sea That Disappeared
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www.PilgrimsOnTheSilkRoad.com Massive hulks of ships lie rusting in the desert sun more than a hundred miles from any water. Harbor towns that were once hubs of commerce crumble into the landscape. Sandstorms choke the air with toxic dust. Its a scene that…
Film
Ancient Castles of Khiva
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www.PilgrimsOnTheSilkRoad.com The World Monuments Fund recently released their list of endangered places for 2010. Among them are the Ancient Desert Castles of Khorezm, the medieval name of Khiva when the kingdom was at its height. The ruins date from the golden age of the…
Film
Christians on trial in Uzbekistan
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Uzbekistan remains on the list of “Countries of Particular Concern” issued by the the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. In the 1880′s, Mennonites fled the Russian empire to this region in search of religious liberty. Below is an interesting…
Film
Star Trek and the Ten Commandments
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http://www.pilgrimsonthesilkroad.com/ Speaking of great Treks…. Gene Roddenberry was no fan of religion, but the folks at Beliefnet just parsed his Star Trek franchise for parallels to the Ten Commandments. Very entertaining. Now someone needs to write about seeing the Beatitudes…
Film
Uzbek Film Industry Flourishes
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Here’s an article you might enjoy about the rebirth of the Uzbek film industry. Like many countries in the region, piracy remains a problem. Nevertheless, small film studios are beginning to crank out films for Uzbek audiences. What should this industry…
