Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Holy Hijab


I first read about the plight of Muazzez İlmiye Çığ in the Jerusalem Post last year. In a nutshell, Dr. Çığ, a noted 93-year-old expert of Sumerian archeology, stood trial last year in Istanbul, Turkey for "inciting hatred based on religious differences". Thankfully, the jury acquitted her in less than an hour and she was set free.

And why, you might ask, was she charged to begin with? Because Dr. Çığ, one of the world's leading authorities on ancient Mesopotamia, maintains that the traditional veil of conservative Islam, the hijab, can be traced back much further than Islam. The veil was worn by the priestesses of Sumer who initiated boys into manhood via sexual intercourse.

At her trial Dr. Çığ maintained, "I am a woman of science ... I never insulted anyone."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a story! Fundamentalism again rears its ugly head. Of course the horrendous intolerant overreaction to her theory is what made news, thereby spreading the word of her research rather than squelching it. Good thing people who advocate ignorance are often too stupid to realize that their ruthless tactics are their own undoing.
Score one for women, for free speech and for intelligent, open discourse!

Anonymous said...

CHEERS TO THAT SUSAN!

Jaid Black said...

Agreed Susan & Marcia. And I'm glad everything turned out all right for Dr. C too. Poor woman.