Author Archive for admin

The Secret History of December 25th

http://www.pilgrimsonthesilkroad.com/ (Adoration of the Magi – Fourth century Sarcophagus) Around this time of year, questions about the exact date of Jesus’s birth pop up in sermons and over dinner tables everywhere. The most common explanation I hear is that Jesus was likely…

The first book endorsements are in!

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…

Lost Army Found in Egyptian Desert

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…

News from the Nowhere Farm

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…

Bees That Drink Human Tears

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,…

The Time Zones Are A-Changin’

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…

The Sea That Disappeared

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…

Ancient Castles of Khiva

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…

Christians on trial in Uzbekistan

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…