An Archaeology of Persecuted Peoples

Book excerpt: This book examines the pasts and presents of some of the world’s most persecuted peoples, in search of answers to the question of why minorities living in Asia’s Highlands, with ancient roots in their homelands, have been continually oppressed by both historical and modern governments. The role of religious beliefs and practices is crucial to their story of isolation, tenacity, and resistance in the mountains of Asia. The Rohingya, Uyghurs, Hazara, Yazidis, Armenians, and Samaritans were among the earliest adopters of monotheist religions in their respective regions. The chapters devoted to each of these ethno-religious minorities explore the archaeological evidence for their millennia-old presence in South, East, and West Asia, their historical trajectories, and the more recent events that have decimated their populations and destroyed their ways of living. Examining both the parochial and universalist roots of their beliefs and practices as they evolved from the Axial Age teachings of Zoroaster, the Israelite prophets, and Ancient Greek philosophers, this book explains how the people of the Arakan, Tienshan, Hazarajat, Sinjar, Tauru,s and Gerizim mountains came to be regarded as perennial enemies of empires and nations.