Andrzej Flis, Beata Kowalska, The Forgotten Brothers. The Dying World of the Near Eastern Christians [Zapomniani bracia. Ginący świat chrześcijan Bliskiego Wschodu], Wydawnictwo WAM, Kraków 2005.
The region of the Near East is the cradle of Christianity. This was the starting point for the apostolic mission and this was the place which witnessed the emergence of the name Christianoi denoting the followers of Jesus. In short, this was the place where, over two thousand years ago, our civilisation was born. The fact that we stand on the threshold of the third millennium is an important occasion for reflecting upon the roots of our culture and meeting our "forgotten brothers".
The Near East is still inhabited by the communities which were the first to respond to the message of Jesus. For the last fifteen centuries they have remained outside the Christian mainstreams and as such have experienced numerous disasters. The origins of these communities extend to James of Nisibis and Eugene the Great, Ephrem, Simon the Stylite and other Eastern saints who left their mark on European spirituality.
The Christian communities of Syria – established by the apostles Peter, Paul, Jacob and Thomas – inhabit the terrains of modern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Iran and Israel. There, despite the hostility they encounter, the shortage of schools and cultural institutions, they still cherish the ancient traditions, customs and faith as well as the Aramaic language, which is extremely similar to the one in which Jesus Christ delivered his teachings two thousand years ago.
The present book is an example of visual anthropology. It speaks not only in words but also in pictures and both of these media complement each other. The text conveys information about the world which is foreign and close to us in equal measure. The images reflect the climate, colours, shades and subtleties of the Orient – whose the purpose could not be achieved through any words.
"Each picture tells a story" and "each picture has its story" – these are two basic assumptions of visual anthropology. The second part of the book contains 152 stories about the Christians of the Near East and their neighbours: the Muslims, Yazidis and Mandaeans. The first part in turn provides the historical context for each of these stories thus presenting – as if in a polygonal mirror – the truth about man, the religion of Jesus and Christian civilisation which are so eagerly identified with the Western world.