The stunning pre-quel to Zibawi's The Icon Mahmoud Zibawi's stunning book takes the reader on a journey to spiritual galaxies that have been too long neglected, although they are Christian universes and fiercely faithful to what was given at the beginning. With a majestic sweep, it presents, through both images and texts, a breath-taking view of Middle Eastern Churches - past and present - specifically in Syria, Armenia, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Many of these icons have never before been seen in print; most will appear new - and unique - as they differ in style from their Greek cousins."Today these Churches, which are whole cultures, whole worlds, are diminished and threatened. Their art, including the present-day attempts at renewal, has been debased by the invasion of the second-rate products of Western pietism. At the very time the spiritual desert spreads, Mahmoud Zibawi reminds us - and this reminder is as good as a promise - that throughout the Christian and Muslim worlds of the East, and even farther, over deep Asia, a unique and diverse river of beauty once flowed, bringing peace and light, and that, therefore, it can do so again, provided we learn, in the very movement of the great Western 'quest,' to rediscover its source." - from the preface.