In preparation of trying to run a campaign based on, to my understanding, Persia, I've been collecting and reading books on Persian history and culture. I really, really want Katapesh to feel like a world apart, not just 'Tolkien with Sand and Camels'.
***** Obviously, 1001 Arabian Nights is a must read.
*** I've also read a short book called The Cat and the Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales. I'd give it a "somewhat interesting, but not required" rating. But at $0.99 for the Kindle addition it was worth it. I haven't checked, but it might be available on the web someplace for free.
***** My favorite so far is Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia: With Notes on Russia, Koords, Toorkomans, Nestorians, Khiva, and Persia . It is a travel-log written by the wife of a British Ambassador to Persia. She describes her travels through Russia, Georgia, what is now Afghanistan. She goes into great detail on life and customs in Persia. It was written in the mid-19th century, but I think the cultural info, the tone and especially the little anecdotes are all simply fabulous for someone who wants get a westerner's view of pre-industrial Persia. Due to the period, there is a quite a bit of Islamic culture in there, but is surprising how much Persian culture survived the arrival of Islam. I give it a huge five-star rating if you are into that sort of thing.
Here's an excerpt:
HERE then we were at length in Persia, the land of Cyrus, Darius, and Alexander. We think of the millions of Xerxes, the Great King; we contemplate the barren scene spread before the eyes, and ask where they all came from. Sterile indeed was the prospect, and unhappily it proved to be an epitome of all the scenery in Persia, excepting on the coast of the Caspian. A desolate plain, or rather valley, bounded on each side by rocky or chalky mountains still more desolate–not a tree visible excepting the few willows, poplars, and fruit-trees surrounding the villages thinly scattered over the waste.
Such is Persia and her scenery in general, excepting that sometimes a fine village is to be seen smothered in immense gardens, orchards of the most delicious fruits, and vineyards. These bright spots are, however, not numerous; and the curt description of a Scottish traveller of what he saw in Persia is not altogether devoid of truth. According to him, the whole land is divided into two portions–one being desert with salt, and the other desert without salt. Fruit, nevertheless, is abundant and cheap, owing to extensive cultivation in the neighbourhood of towns. Near the villages corn is so widely cultivated that extensive plains of wheat and barley are spread on all sides; for desolate as looks the soil, all it wants is population and water to make it fruitful. Sometimes the traveller passes for miles through a plain, or over mountains far remote from human habitation, covered with aromatic plants, from which the most delicious spicy odours are exhaled. Yet the general aspect of the land is one of extreme barrenness; one may often, and very often, travel twenty or thirty miles without seeing a habitation or a blade of verdure; and in some parts of Persia these distances amount to hundreds of miles.
From whence, then, did the enormous hosts of yore proceed–the millions of the weeping Xerxes? Greek and Persian exaggeration and bombast, in which both nations are still supereminent, might account for much; still the country must have been in a very different state from what we behold it to admit of even a distant approach to the numbers recorded by historians as having marched to the invasion of Greece. The incursions from Tartary have no doubt contributed to reduce the country to its present depopulated state. Blood marked their track: above all, the generals sent by Chengeez, the leaders of the Moghul hosts, seemed to have been incarnations of Izraeel and Israfeel, the Angels of Death. Submission or resistance seems to have been equally fatal; and slaughter–the indiscriminate slaughter of the young and the aged, of man and of woman–was the lot of the wretched population in both cases. In this way the inhabitants of the immense city of Reï, near Tehran, were exterminated. Toos, in Khorassan, suffered the same desolation. Hostile armies, and the slow though sure hand of oppression, have laid waste these lands, and reduced them to a scanty population, or, to a dreary solitude, where the useless wandering Toork and Lek erect their miserable habitations.
There's also such nice bits of information as the prices, general treatment and social structure of slaves in the region. I was quite surprised to see the differences in prices for different ages and genders of slaves. And that many people in the region would ask to be sold into slavery in hopes a better life! Also, the Kindle edition is <$4 if you are lucky enough to have one :)
*** Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings - Considered the quintesential Persian book. It is poetry (in the original language) and difficult to read, but the bit that I've been able to get through is interesting reading. I haven't purchased it yet since even the Kindle version is expensive, but there are several excerpts of other translations available on the web.
Just thought I'd share some things I'm reading. I really am enjoying the Glimpes of Persia book. Anyone finding other good sources of cultural info on the region?
I just discovered a couple of enjoyable reads for Ancient Egypt, though they are hardly new books (they are new editions) and may be old news to a lot of folks:
Metz, Barbara. Temples, Tomb, and Hieroglyphs: A popular history of ancient Egypt. 2nd ed. William Morrow: NY, 2007.
_____. Red land, black land: daily life in ancient Egypt. 2nd ed. William Morrow: NY, 2008.
Erik mentioned Napoleon's survey of Egypt in one of his recent interviews. Above is a site that allows you to page through the volumes and look at the engravings. (OK, and read text too, s’il te plaît.)
What really pains me is, while I was searching for the site, I discovered that about two and half years ago, there was a gallery here in Dallas that exhibited and sold engravings from the volumes, and I heard nothing about it until now. Oh well, at least I've seen Tut twice.
Can anyone recommend books involving genies? I've never really liked them, can't seem to get the Disney Aladdin version out of my head but I'd like to read something to get a better outlook on them.
Go to the original, 1001 Arabian Nights. Some translations are better than others, but you get a really awesome feel for what they were meant to be :)
((Not to say I don't like Disney's Genie, but he won't be the scarey dude I need in Legacy <G>))
I really enjoyed Haddawy's translations of the Arabian Nights. Is that too obvious? Of course, you can probably find the unexpurgated Richard Burton (more old-fashioned language) translation online somewhere, as I believe it is in the public domain.
And Gamer Girrl has hoisted me with my own petard!
ADD: My daughter recommends the Bartimaeus trilogy. Yeah, it's back in young folk's literature, but if I remember correctly, the genies there are not sweetness and light at all.
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***** My favorite so far is Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia: With Notes on Russia, Koords, Toorkomans, Nestorians, Khiva, and Persia . It is a travel-log written by the wife of a British Ambassador to Persia. She describes her travels through Russia, Georgia, what is now Afghanistan. She goes into great detail on life and customs in Persia. It was written in the mid-19th century, but I think the cultural info, the tone and especially the little anecdotes are all simply fabulous for someone who wants get a westerner's view of pre-industrial Persia. Due to the period, there is a quite a bit of Islamic culture in there, but is surprising how much Persian culture survived the arrival of Islam. I give it a huge five-star rating if you are into that sort of thing.
Lady Mary Sheil was covered in a course I took way back when but I can't for the life of me remember what it was or where the source material for it came from. She was a cool lady.
What with her copyright expiring ages ago you can get a very broken up/ poorly formatted free version of her book here: http://bahai-library.com/books/glimpses.persia.txt
In preparation of trying to run a campaign based on, to my understanding, Persia, I've been collecting and reading books on Persian history and culture. I really, really want Katapesh to feel like a world apart, not just 'Tolkien with Sand and Camels'.
It's actually closer to Moroccan culture, but to Westerners, these would probably seem very similar anyways.
Let me see if I can dig up some appropriate material...
As for books, the content below can pretty hefty reading. For DMs who want the quick and simple, see my movie recommendations since film has played as much of an influence on D&D Arabian Adventures as literature has.
Written Sources
A History of the Arab Peoples, Albert Hourani
The Middle East, Bernard Lewis
Film Sources
Golden Voyage of Sinbad (my personal favorite)
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger
Arabian Nights (another favorite)
Please do not watch the Disney version of Aladdin if you're looking for D&D-esque depictions of Arabian culture
Overall, as someone of Middle-Eastern descent, what I recommend is to stress that the civilization is a place of mixing cultures. The Middle East was the place where western culture and eastern culture collided. There was also a VAST amount of trade going on, so the protection of that trade was paramount to most governments. In pre-Islamic Arabia, the government sanctioned as many gods/goddesses as they could from surrounding cultures to increase trade from worshippers of those gods.
If you have any specific questions on language or culture, I'd be happy to answer.
Also found this interesting link. Definitely some good stuff there.
If you're looking for some background music while you game, try these...
Heh-heh. This is who this thread was waiting for -- Veector. Good stuff, thanks.
Just my two cp's from my PhD gateway seminar on Islam (really, you paid the money and did the work, you want to be able to toss that off at some point): Bernard Lewis, good. While most of his works are concerned with the centuries more on this side of the divide that is most relevant to medieval-type fantasy, it's solid stuff. And of course I have to agree on the Harryhausen movies, which made a big impression on me as a kid, and has already been referenced by the Paizo staff as an influence.
There's also this short article.
This is why I love Paizo.com.
Some musings about alternative races in a Middle Eastern setting:
Elves could very easily be stereotyped as night-time caravan traders since their low light vision would make traveling at night ideal. Instead of a focus on nature (as wood-elves would be) they could be focused on Astronomy and the stars for their inspiration. They could also live a more ascetic outlook due to the loneliness of the desert in the evening.
Dwarves, instead of the typical miners/blacksmiths, could be craftsmen of any type. I could see Dwarven Rugs being of extra fine quality.
Just some thoughts...
Really great ideas on the elves, Veector. I can really see astronomer/astrologer, star mystic, and star navigator elves in the desert.
The dwarven craftsmen/rug makers sound a bit more like Pf gnomes to me, though. There still was mining in the ancient Near East: the Sinai used to have important turquoise and copper mines (as apparently did Persia), gold was mined in Nubia and the Sudan, silver and tin in Asia Minor. Stone quarries for building would create a significant demand for dwarves. And salt lakes are not uncommon in arid lands, so dwarves could work lakes for salt and other minerals. Some scholars seem to think that the transition from bronze to iron was very deleterious to Egypt. And having skilled smiths sometimes caused power imbalances in the ANE.
For more inspiration on the cultural setting of this AP, see:
Resources for Running LoF.
Similarly bumped.