William Weathersbee

5/1/16

Professor Fitch

World History

The Gardens of Light

The Gardens of Light book written by Amin Maalouf is an historic novel,that

follows the life of Mani and this takes place in 200 AC. He was a Mystic who founded

the Manichaean religion(a combination of religions such as Buddhism,Zoroastrianism

and Nazarene).He taken against his will when he was 5 by his father to live with the

white-clad Brethren of his Fathers repressive religious community. The White-Clad was

a very extremist religious group. In midst of the extreme beliefs, Mani starts to develop

his own religion.

The religion teaching consisted of emphasizes of tolerance and nonviolence.

Mani eventually escapes the cult,he manages to convert many to his belief. He then

somehow becomes an counsel to persian King Shapur l. The King listen to his beliefs.

However the head priest of the Zoroastrianism wasnt pleased with Mani spreading his

belief around so he has him put in prison then executed.

I decided to focus on scene one. In this scene we see why Mani is taken against

his will and Platek(Manis father) interaction with the White Clad. Platek leaves his

home before Mani is born and does trails to join the Zoroastrianism group. He is

baptised and reborned an zoroastrians. He than is forced to take his kid from his

mother.
 If it was a girl she would had stayed with her mom but if its boy Platek will take

him to be raised with White garment. Platek went back to his old home to check the

babys gender. He founds out it's a boy then gets worried about his ex wife.Platek gives

Mani a little more time to spend with his mother, hes taken at least when hes was 5.

This scene is important because it gives background on how Many ended up being

raised by white clad and it highlight the diversities that he faced that help him shape his

religion. For example he was taken away from his mother and raised by extremist

religious group that is narrow minded. Being around that gave blossom to his religious

ideas,that he spreaded across the world to his followers.

There are many items in the book that has significance that I could choose. So I

decided I will be talking about water, facial hair, garb, house and fruit. I choose these

because these particular objects stood out to me when I was reading the novel.I will talk

about each items importance and how characters would react to them.

What is happening in the scene that I am focusing on is that Platek is trying to

take Mani from his mother.The main characters of this scene is Platek and Mani.The

white garment said if it was a girl it would've stay with his mom but if it's a boy he will

be taken away to be raised by monks of Nazarene.

This scene is very significant to the book's main plot. This scene is significant

because it show us all the adversities Mani had to face when growing up. In the midst of

all the chaos Mani had to endure, he somehow created a new religion called

Manichaean,with a few aspects from other religions. Also there is a big difference that is

being highlighted. Platek is narrow minded follow the White-Clad beliefs only, While

Mani is open minded and creates a religion. He doesn't declare just one religion right he
takes into account all religions and used all the aspects, he thought was the best from

each religion,then created his own.

I googled Sassanid facial hair and looked under the images and the beards

looked like how I pictured them (Wordpress.com, 2011).The facial hair looked exactly

how I pictured them. I think if a character saw these beards they would think they were

normal and pretty common. I think the characters would be comfortable with wearing

this facial hair style since it's common to theyre era. Facial is important in this book,in

the Zoroastrian ritual to be reborn,one has to get rid of their facial hair to complete the

ritual.

I googled sassanid garb I looked under the images. It showed two men wearing

a garb.(Peck,1992)I think the garment was being used for religious reasons and it was

important essential piece of clothing for the White Garments. I think if characters from

this book was wearing this that they wouldnt feel well dressed because the robes isnt

similar to what they would wear in that time era.

I google water in Sassanid Empire and found images of lakes,river and

structures around the water. The White clad wouldnt had found this strange because

they believed water was very scared. That it could purify anything and that it is from

water that all life is born(pg.20). As a result of this belief they would perform baptisms

with water in order for a person to be reborned.Also they builded living spaces and

structures near water because it was precious to them. So they would definitely would

be pleased if they seen or lived in this environment because it has so much water

around it.This type of environment would be perfect for a member of the White Clad.
 I googled rituals in Sassanid Empire and found a image of zoroastrianism

monks worshiping fire in the fire temple of Baku on wiki. Rituals are very important this

novel, many rituals are being performed to appease each particular religion god.

Zoroastrians Always needs some type of fire when praying because they see as sacred

element of life. I think Zoroastrians would love this temple because of their love of fire

worship. However the white-clad wouldnt like it because they worship water only so,this

temple wouldnt benefit theyre group at all,as it would the Zoroastrians.

In conclusion this scene obviously was to give a background on Mani,when he

was creating a new religion. The chaos he was amidst helped, when creating the beliefs

of his religion. He created his religion by taking the aspects of other religions to make

his own. His religion beliefs consist of tolerance and nonviolence. If it hadnt been for

the chaos in his life he wouldnt had created this religious system. Also this definitely

highlights the difference between father and son. Platek is narrow mind and is apart of

the White-Clad , while Mani is open-minded . Platek strictly follows the White- Clad

religious values while Mani follows values from many different aspects from religion,

then created his religion Manichaean.

As I was doing my research on this project,it really made me think about life in

this time period. For example since this book is mainly about religion and that other

religions were threaten by Mani religion, such as the Zoroastrians. Religion definitely

rule this time period. Mani dad took him away from his mother because his religion told

him so. Another example is that Mani becomes counsel to the king,this shows that

religion is kept in high regard.Another example is Mani being executed by the

Zoroastrians.The zoroastrian magi was threaten by his religion so he had him

imprisoned then executed. After I reading this religion definitely run things in that current

era,not money,royalty or land.

Another thing I thought about was women importance in the era. In the book

women was showed no respect.For example the White clad will only eat food grown by

the community.Outside food was banned and was called female food, this was so

because women were banished and were only mention if theyre name represented a

tragedy of the sort.Women definitely clearly werent shown any respect and was seen

as inferior.

Bibliography

"Persian Sassanid Emperor Hormizd II with a Roman Prisoner." The Lost Treasure Chest.

N.p., 28 July 2011. Web. 02 May 2016

"Encyclopdia Iranica." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.

Maalouf,A.(1999). The Gardens of light: A novel.New York: Interlink Books.

Adonis Diaries." Adonis Diaries. N.p., 22 Oct. 2008. Web. 02 May 2016.
 http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-boat-lake-mountains-ancient-arches-

taq-e-bostan-kermanshah-iran-site-large-rock-relief-era-sassanid-image47127718

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/USSHER(1865)_p012_BA

KU,_FIRE_TEMPLE.jpg