The country is, unsurprisingly, Turkey, and
the story of the headscarf -- as told by Muazzez Ilmiye Cig -- is sexy enough to
insult the people:
Muazzez Ilmiye Cig, ... a 92-year-old academic who specializes in Sumerian culture and history, went on trial on charges that she “insulted the people” and incited hatred in a book last summer in which she wrote that the head scarf was first used in religious rites by women who worked in Sumerian temples to initiate young men in sex, in order to differentiate them from women who worked as priests. Ms. Cig, who has translated about 3,000 stone tablets and published a number of books and papers, faces a prison sentence of up to three years if convicted of all charges.
Here's an article from last February quoting her, as an expert on the Sumerian language, explaining the oldest love poem:
"They did not have sexual taboos in love," she said. "Instead, they believed that only love and passion could bring them fertility, and therefore praised pleasures."
In the agriculture-based Sumerian community, she said, lovemaking between the king and the priestess would have been seen as a way to ensure the fertility of their crops, and therefore the community's welfare, for another year.
Ms. Cig said she worked with Professor Samuel Noah Kramer in 1951, and that he had identified the tablet, among 74,000 others, during years of studies in the Istanbul museum. Their translation of this tablet also shed light on the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament, she said, because some phrases are similar to poems sung during Sumerian weddings and fertility feasts. "This filled the missing link between religious texts of the different periods," she said...
As she held the transcription of the poem, Ms. Cig smiled. "After all these years, very little has changed," she said. "There's still jealousy, unfaithfulness and sexuality in affairs of love as in the times of Sumerians. I just wished whoever has written the poem could see how popular the tablet has now become."
Having written all that, I Googled for an update and see
she was acquitted today!
In a trial that lasted less than an hour, Cig rejected the charges saying: "I am a woman of science. ... I never insulted anyone," private NTV television reported.
The court ruled in her favor on grounds that her actions did not constitute a crime....
The trial against Cig was initiated by an Islamic-oriented lawyer...
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9 comments:
Recent events in Turkey indicate that the country has a decided desire to, at the least, be acceptable to western society. No doubt part of the motivation is entry into the EU, a Turkish project for about twenty-five years now.
Several of my friends and acquaintances have visited Turkey within the past few months. One couple went there some three months ago and reported that many Turks were at pains to tell them how much they loved the Americans...and their tourist dollars. More recently, a colleague who has visited Turkey many times--and written several books about the country, visited again and reported that there was more tension, more fear created by radical Islamic elements, than has been present before.
A real battle over whether Turkey will be a pluralistic democracy or a radical Islamic state is bubbling below the surface. Orhan Pamuk's recent acquittal, along with that of Muazzez Ilmiye Cig, indicate that progressive forces are working to tip Turkey toward the democratic vision.
My mother-in-law visited Turkey, spending a lot of time in Ephesus, last year. She has traveled all over the world over the past seven years or so. She says that there is no place more beautiful or interesting than Turkey.
Mark
They have the problem of bad laws on the books exacerbated by the bad procedure of allowing lawyers initiate prosecutions
the bad procedure of allowing lawyers initiate prosecutions
That's what struck me about the article. Imagine if that were the case in the USA! One half of congress would continually be prosecuting the other half. As it is, we only have to put up with DAs pursuing nonsense in their quest to be elected.
Anyone know the history behind this custom in Turkey? I assume it has something to do with do-nothing judges/Distric Attys.
The trial against Cig was initiated by an Islamic-oriented lawyer.. I would have never guessed
This contains good advice on one way to convince my wife that there is a better technique to insure that her gardens will flourish. The wisdom of the ages!
But Dave, until the secular Turks use the apparatus of the state to destroy the political will of Islamism, it will remain a danger, not just a harmless minority subculture.
And if there is any movement that could use a little relaxation of sexual mores, it's the "Islamist-oriented" movement! I am waiting, waiting for Western feminist theorists to analyze the crippling misogyny and sexual repression of this once vibrant culture...
Until then, I salute the valorous Ms. Cig.
Fenrisulven:
Yes, the observations I hear, including those of a young man now in a doctoral programming focused on Turkish history, indicate that the Turks are very frustrated they appear to be getting from Europe. My feeling is that, especially with Iran and an unstable Iraq so close by, the Turks need to be helped with integrating into Europe and the West. Turkey is an example of how democracy can take root in Islamic soil, but it's far from a done deal.
Dave:
Great insights!
Mark
Let me try translating what I just wrote into the English language...
Fenrisulven:
Yes, the observations I hear, including those of a young man enrolled in a doctoral program focused on Turkish history, indicate that the Turks are very frustrated by the cold shoulder they appear to be getting from Europe. My feeling is that, especially with Iran and an unstable Iraq so close by, the Turks need to be helped with integrating into Europe and the West. Turkey is an example of how democracy can take root in Islamic soil, but it's far from a done deal.
Dave:
Great insights!
Mark
Turkey is an army dictatorship masquerading as a democracy.
To join Europe, Turkey will have to become more democratic. That is, the army will have to give up its veto.
If Turkey becomes democratic it will become Islamic. Ataturk figured out how to get on the tiger, but not how to get off.
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