Gaven Lok'ri
Amarr PIE Inc.
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Posted - 2008.09.23 23:29:00 -
[1]
Edited by: Gaven Lok''ri on 23/09/2008 23:30:44
Quote:
I'm told by people more knowledgable in such things than myself that what we know of the Amarrian language seems very Persian. Also, what we know of their scripture tends to be somewhat poetic, and there is some other evidence to suggest the poetry is an important part of Amarr culture. It is my understanding (possibly incorrect) that this would support Arabic links. I have also been told that the Qu'ran is rather poetic.
Arab doesn't equal Persian. I know of few to no Arab elements in the Amarrian culture, as opposed to a vast number of Persian/Mesopotamian elements.
Only some Amarrian scripture is poetic. This is in keeping with most religious texts. Not really much to get from it.
The best proposed history I have seen is that they represent a near eastern branch of a much larger christian church. This fits the timeline and the eastern character of the Amarrian race.
The Christian roots are pretty much unarguable, (look at the front of the classic bestower) though I would say that anyone playing that up in their roleplay needs to seriously think what having 20,000 years of development would do to a religion. Just for an example: their scriptures are weird by modern standards as they consist of hundreds of thousands of square meters of volume for a single full copy. (we had to move one once, this was before freighters, it was annoying.) There is much more than just a "bible" in that. More like the entire Vatican library.
Of course, what Amarr really is is something more like:
CCP took an ancient Persian/Mesopotamian model of government and culture. They then added a monotheistic overlay. The result is something to which the closest real life comparison is the middle stages (I would say early to mid 11th century) of the Byzantine Empire.
Its history incorporates both of these traditions. The whole city of God episode is a thinly disguised transfer of an episode in Egyptian history. The slave culture is also very ancient near eastern in nature.
The single biggest thing to remember in Amarrian religion is that there is no concept of separation of church and state. The dichotomy does not exist.
This has an effect that seems alien to modern religious conceptions. Professions of faith are not really something I would consider "amarrian." Everyone is Amarrian if they are a non-Foriegn member of society, no need to make a point of saying you believe. Tradition is vital. If you don't follow tradition, you become a deviant. If you become a deviant people wonder what is going on with the religion.
I have a RL example of how this sort of dominance of a religion can work: In the 12th century (IIRC) a son of a french duke went off on crusade. While he was there, he converted to Islam. When he returned, there was no problem with this until he insisted that he would not share the friday fast.
I think Amarr is very much like this example. You are assumed to be Amarrian in faith until you start doing things that seem unamarran.
There is also a great deal of evidence that Amarr is a shame culture and not a guilt culture. It is not the thought that counts in Amarr. It is what you do. And even then, its not just what you do, its what you do in public (which would be any place your peers can see.)
Anyhow, that's probably enough rambling from me on Amarrian stuff.
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