From Persian lands afar

We all know about Egypt from children’s Bible illustrations of bulrushes, and from films like The Prince of Egypt.

We know a certain amount about Babylon from songs like ‘Dare to be a Daniel’, and from Rembrandt’s depiction of Belshazzar’s Feast.

Fewer of us probably know about Persia. Yet a huge amount of the Bible was set or written in the Persian Empire – Esther, Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi, large bits of Ezra and Nehemiah etc.

So, for the next two years, all Wycliffe’s biblical expositions and Communion sermons will be those bits of Scripture – it’ll easily take two years. We got off to a fantastic start this past term with N T Wright expounding his way through Isaiah 40 – 55. And in Week 2, our Tuesday Communion featured a great sermon from Revd Esther Prior on Daniel 5 – the end of the Babylonian Empire and the beginning of Persian rule. This was followed by a superb lecture from Professor Peter Thonemann on Cyrus the Great – not quite the early human rights paragon he has sometimes been made out to be, sadly.

And after the lecture, a Belshazzar’s Feast-themed Guest Night, with photos of Temple furnishings projected onto the walls, and Rembrandt’s great painting at the climax. Our wonderful catering manager, Richard, and his team recreated the oldest recipes in existence – from Babylonian clay tablets dating from the second millennium BC. We confined these to the first course in case they were horrible – but they were delicious. The Principal made a speech, but for once he didn’t Babyl -on! We were delighted to have the Vice Chancellor with us for the whole event.

So, for biblical ignorance at Wycliffe Hall, the writing’s on the wall!

Photos from the Belshazzar’s Feast-themed Guest Night

	MESOPOTAMIAN TASTER BOARDS being prepared by Catering Manager, Richard Mann   Photo credit: Marius Halchin
	PERSIAN STARTER PLATES comprising: humous,  lemon and mint falafel honey and black lime feta pickled watermelon grilled peppers, lemon and fennel seed aubergine dip   Photo credit: Marius Halchin
	A THEMED TABLE DISPLAY incorporating regional ingredients   Photo credit: Marius Halchin
	GUEST NIGHT DINERS   Photo credit: Marius Halchin
	THE VICE-CHANCELLOR, IRENE TRACEY pictured at Guest Night with the Principal   Photo credit: Grace Jeon