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We have noticed a larger number of references to the Middle East world than expected within the universe of H.P. Lovecraft and it seemed to us a quite ambitious and interesting off-topic. Let’s start with “The nameless city”, a mysterious place hidden in the Arabian desert
The Nameless City
An unknown explorer ventures into a remote Arabian desert town where incredible secrets and treasures seem to be hiding. After having explored some temples, being struck by the very small sizes, suitable more to house reptiles than humans, he will be struck by a gust of wind, thus ending up entering the last sanctuary, the most “precious”
Here he will find a mysterious staircase that will lead him to the abyss of the earth, eventually ending up meeting mysterious mummies, similar to crocodiles and seals, but with strange horns that make them more like satyrs. Here he will remember the ancient couplet of Abdul Alhazred, discovering the ancient horrors of that cursed place.
In the Arabic desert
The story, in addition to being the first quote from Abul Alhazred and the Necronomicon, is also one of the few texts by the American writer set in the Arab world. H.P. Lovecraft, in fact, to give origin to this text he used his memories of “The Thousand and One Nights”, contextualizing them however to his imagination and taking inspiration from some very popular legends and stories of these places. Inside the Rub al Khali desert, in fact, it seems that there are ruins of ancient cities, never fully explored due to the very difficult living conditions in those places. The latter have given rise to stories such as Iram of the Pillars, also mentioned in the Quran. Lovecraft was aware of this story, to which he refers right here, but he will add his touch to make everything unique.
“The Nameless City” is in fact older than the latter, being already old when Babylon arose, and it never seems to have been inhabited by humans, much more by “humanoids”. The protagonist will never find images of human beings, perceiving that place as even more unknown and thus marking the de facto birth of the cycle of Ctulhu, a beast thanks to which the author has become globally known.
A first step in the Lovecraftian imaginary
We have noticed a larger number of references to the Middle East world than expected within the universe of H.P. Lovecraft and it seemed to us a quite ambitious and interesting off-topic. This week we will focus mainly on the Necronomicon and its author, Abdul Alhazred, recurring elements in the imagination of the American and actually linked to phenomena and stories really present in these places.
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