Ever heard of the Saracen people?

[Adisa]

I have been reading a book titled, The Discovery of Freedom.  I have enjoyed reading this book and continue to learn a great deal being exposed to the information contained in this book.  There was a particular chapter that referred to a group of people called the Saracens.  It spoke of the freedoms the Saracens not only enjoyed but also encouraged.  

 

As I continued to read about the Saracens and some of the things they accomplished, I began to get confused.  I became confused because some of the things this group of people accomplished, I learned were accomplished by a different group of people identified as Moors.  I continued to read, and I knew I had to do some searching about the Saracen people when I read that after converting to Christianity, Saracens were then called Moriscos.  The reason being, I also learned that once Moors converted to Christianity, they too were then identified as Moriscos.

 

In my search I discovered an article written by Ellen M. Harrell Cantrell, titled The Moors of Spain.  This is what I found in her writings about two groups of people.  .

      "Like a match dropped on oil, this appeal to mankind for spiritual and temporal authority, fired the fanaticism of the Arabs, and like a mighty conflagration they swept over the northern states of Africa, and formed a new and powerful empire which took the name Saracen.  This is by mediaeval Christian authors supposed to be derived from Sarai, the wife of Abraham, by others from the Arab saraca (to steal), or from the Hebrew srak (poor), but the opinion which now prevails is that it came from the Greek sareknoi (eastern people), from which the Romans derived their word Saraceni.  As they spread over Morocco, then called Mauritania, they took the name of Moors, from mauri, meaning dark.  While the Arabs or Saracen conquerors invaded Spain, they were, naturally enough, called Moors, so that in Spanish history the terms Arab, Saracens and Moors are synonymous.”

 

Interesting information, I will continue to seek out more.  As I typed this post, my eyes continue to find, “sareknoi (eastern people).  Eastern people?  This brings more questions to me such as what exactly does this imply?  How far east?  Anyone else find this interesting or have interesting information to fit this puzzle together?   

 

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/eagle/congress/cantrell.html

[Robert Chism]

Very interesting indeed. I always see people posting about moors,but never saracen people. I also recall reading,and seeing different movies during the second crusades maybe? That the european christians were going into the holy land to fight and kill the saracen people,who seemed to be moorish/arab after I learned a little about the third crusade. I never took it any farther to see if they were the same people. 

[Charles Cartwright (Neo)]

Yes indeed Brother Adisa this is as Brother Al and Dr. Black conversation when are we going to stop thinking that wearing a disiki or the correct spelling and changing our names with out knowing this information you posted here.

I myself will do some research on this subject matter, Thank you for your research and posting and I hope to see this thread grow.

Peace & Power

C.

[Clifford Black]

Saracen, Moor, Moros and a dozen more labels from different tongues of different Lands that get turned into what u call english.  Can be quite confusing to the unlettered mind.

B.

[Adisa]

In the Medieval Romance languages (such as Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian), the Latin word took such forms as mouro, moro, moir, mor and maur. From denoting a specific Berber people in western Libya, the name acquired more general meaning in the Romance languages during the medieval period, partly developing a general meaning of "Muslim", partly (much like "Saracens") taking a religious meaning of "infidels" in the context of the Crusades and the Reconquista.

[Adisa]

Funny how after being introduced to a new word or words, you hear them or start to notice them. I was watcing a movie titled "Revalation," which was about the occult.  There was a scene in the film when one of the actors spoke of the Saracens and the Turks.  I found the same to be true with the word occidental, I started finding it all over. 

I was searching through the 1937 Webster's Universal Dictionary, and looked up a few words on this topic and found a few interesting puzzle pieces.

Moor, n. [Latin. Maurus; Greek. Mauros, a moor from Maurus, black or dark.]

Definition #2: A member of any of the African or Asian dark races adopting the Mohammaedian religion; in history a Saracen or an Arab.

Saracen, n. [LL. Saracenus, from LGr. Sarakenos; Ar. sharqiy, oriental.]

Orient, a. [L. oriens, from oriri, to arise whence also origin, (ab) ortion; root or, seen in Gr. ornynai, to raise]

Strange how the words oriental, asian, arab, turkish now give an image of non "black or dark races." 

 

[Adisa]

Variants of the term "Moor" have been used by many Europeans since ancient times as a general description for indigenous Africans. Contrary to popular belief, the term is not synonymous with "Islamic" or any specific Arab or African religion, civilization, or ethnicity.

The origin of the English term, "Moor," is the Greek word, "μαυρο" or "mavro" which literally means "black, blackened or charred" and has long been used to describe black or very dark things such as, "Mavri Thalassa" which refers to the Black Sea or "mavri spilia" which means "black cave." Ancient Greeks used the term to describe the complexion of Africans and (even today, some Greeks use "mavro" to refer to Africans, although in a pejorative manner).

http://www.taneter.org/moors.html

[Adisa]

I was looking around at a few things yesterday and my eyes fell upon some information regarding Henry Ford.  I learned of some pretty interesting things regarding Henry Ford, the one thing in particular interest to me was regarding an award Heny Ford received an award from Nazi Germany and he was even mentioned by name in Hitler's Mein Kampf.  The award Henry Ford received is named the Grand Cross of the German Eagle. 

 

The Grand Cross is based on the Maltese Cross with German Eagles at each corner carrying a swastika.  The Maltese Cross is known in Italy as the Amalfi Cross and is the cross symbol associated with the Knights Hospitaller aka Knights of Malta and by extension with the island of Malta.  Malta is located in the Mediterranean Sea and its location as a naval base proved to be a strategic asset throughout commercial history, used by the Phoenicians, Romans, Moors, Normans, Aragonese, Habsurg Spain, Knights of St. John, France and Britian have all controlled this island at various times.  The Maltese Cross is a modern symbol of Amalfi.   

 

Amalfi is located on the western coast of Italy near Naples.  Amalfi was first mentioned in the 6th century and in the year 848, sent fleets to the assistance of Pope Leo IV against the Saracens. 

 

The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language. The most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, "honey".^[22] The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη (Melitē) meaning "honey-sweet" (which was also, inter alia, the name of a Nereid^[23]), possibly due to Malta's unique production of honey; an endemic species of bee lives on the island, giving it the popular nickname the "land of honey".^[24] The Romans went on to call the island Melita,^[25] which is the latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη.^[26] Another theory suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth meaning "a haven."  Malta played a significant role during the Punic Wars.   

  

[Charles Cartwright (Neo)]

Wholeness Adisa and over the past few months I have been researching and listening to Miles Davis and he to also was awards the Knight of Malta thank you for your research to continue to uncover or discover 

Neo 

[Adisa]

Peace Lord!

[Clifford Black]

@Adisa-Namaska, can you see how much easier it is to make sense of information, once you know how to use the tools.  The humanoids who continue to understand without knowing and also to know without doing "the work" are causing a lot of problems.

B.

[Adisa]

The Maltese Cross is a variant of the eight-point star, a star polygon in geometry; named an octagram.   

[Clifford Black]

@Adisa, I dare to say, that you, now, at this point, are starting to develop insights, that the average student of history is not able to grasp.  This is the power that can be employed by the ONE that can read, and those who DO.

 B.