ABSTRACT

For centuries, Marco Polo's legends of the Old Man of the Mountain, his paradise garden, and his assembly of assassins have fascinated readers. Modern scholarship, however, has demonstrated that these are a fanciful history of the Nizari Ismaili Muslims of the state of Alamut. This article analyses the causes and motivations for the persistence of these tales and their trappings. The trope permeates popular culture ranging from medieval fables to the multi-billion dollar Assassin's Creed video game franchise. More surprising, the offensive “assassin” moniker and its associated images are strangely resilient within academia itself, long after Orientalist portrayals of the Muslim world stopped being fashionable. The study also introduces several little-known works, often newly discovered, which emanate from the state centred at Alamut. These allow us a rare glimpse into the community's self-perception. The steady recovery of such long-lost sources sheds new light on the Nizaris, revealing the life of a community that is equally fascinating, if less fantastic, than the “assassins” of Marco Polo's imagination.

摘要

几个世纪以来，马可·波罗关于山中老人、他的天堂花园和他的刺客集结的传说一直让读者着迷。然而，现代学术研究表明，这些都是阿拉穆特州尼扎里伊斯玛仪派穆斯林的虚构历史。本文分析了这些故事及其陷阱持续存在的原因和动机。这种比喻渗透到流行文化中，从中世纪寓言到价值数十亿美元的《刺客信条》视频游戏特许经营权。更令人惊讶的是，在东方主义对穆斯林世界的描绘不再流行很久之后，令人反感的“刺客”绰号及其相关形象在学术界内部却出奇地有弹性。该研究还介绍了一些鲜为人知的作品，这些作品通常是新发现的，来自以阿拉穆特为中心的州。这些让我们能够难得一睹社区的自我认知。这些失落已久的来源的稳步恢复为尼扎里人提供了新的线索，揭示了一个与马可·波罗想象中的“刺客”同样令人着迷的社区生活，尽管不那么神奇。