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Simeon
Simeon Stylites was a Syrian Christian ascetic in 5th century AD. He enjoyed people but abhorred physical contact. So he set himself on a small platform atop a tall pillar beside a major road in northern Syria that linked the Orient and Mediterranean worlds. There he lived for over 30 years, achieving fame far and wide. Soon after his death in 459, the Byzantine Emperor ordered a magnificant basilica to be built around the pillar named Qalaat Simaan. Over the years thousands came to venerate the site, as did I. Known locally as the Jinn, Simeon was still giving comfort 1500 years later to those uprooted by the politics of the Middle East.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 4, 2026
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October 22, 2024
A brilliant imaginative historic journey
SIMEON by Sarah Searight
This is a brilliant and magical book, using all the author’s deep knowledge and love of the history, landscapes, peoples and cultures of Syria and its neighbouring territories to construct a rich narrative centred around the 5th century ascetic known as Simeon Stylites (the ‘pillar squatter’) but interwoven with her personal journeys and contacts over many years linking the past and the present. The story of Simeon’s search for spiritual grace is told from his early struggles with his own sensual urges to his excessive self-deprivation and descent into a ragged and smelly holy man, and eventually his elevation above the adoring crowds on his raised platform. The world he lives in is described with vivid detail with references to all the varied peoples who passed on that well-worn route from the coast through Antioch and Aleppo – merchants, invaders, occupiers, preachers. Romans, Arabs, Persians, Turks, Huns…Sarah Searight’s rich imagination and descriptive gifts evoke all the aromas, sights, sounds and tastes of the area then and now, with plenty of memorable incidents, characters and lively narrative, interspersed with insights into the schisms and power struggles of a Christian world balanced between Rome and Constantinople and a region whose way of life was increasingly threatened by a world in disorder, as it is now. The author describes the book as a work of imagination, which it certainly is, but grounded in research and factual veracity, as one would expect from someone with a background in journalism who has also written scholarly works on the Middle East. A wonderful achievement and a great read.
SIMEON by Sarah Searight
This is a brilliant and magical book, using all the author’s deep knowledge and love of the history, landscapes, peoples and cultures of Syria and its neighbouring territories to construct a rich narrative centred around the 5th century ascetic known as Simeon Stylites (the ‘pillar squatter’) but interwoven with her personal journeys and contacts over many years linking the past and the present. The story of Simeon’s search for spiritual grace is told from his early struggles with his own sensual urges to his excessive self-deprivation and descent into a ragged and smelly holy man, and eventually his elevation above the adoring crowds on his raised platform. The world he lives in is described with vivid detail with references to all the varied peoples who passed on that well-worn route from the coast through Antioch and Aleppo – merchants, invaders, occupiers, preachers. Romans, Arabs, Persians, Turks, Huns…Sarah Searight’s rich imagination and descriptive gifts evoke all the aromas, sights, sounds and tastes of the area then and now, with plenty of memorable incidents, characters and lively narrative, interspersed with insights into the schisms and power struggles of a Christian world balanced between Rome and Constantinople and a region whose way of life was increasingly threatened by a world in disorder, as it is now. The author describes the book as a work of imagination, which it certainly is, but grounded in research and factual veracity, as one would expect from someone with a background in journalism who has also written scholarly works on the Middle East. A wonderful achievement and a great read.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review