>
> Impressive... that long-haired human being in the background, is it
> meant to be a man or a woman? I ask because I wonder whether your world
> obviously has a classical Arabian design, its dominating religion not
> seems to be Islam - otherwise women would be veiled in some way. Or it
> is in fact a long-haired man...
>

Good question. I feel I have to reveal some of the background to this 
series of images about Gancaloon and Iskander.

The "Tale of Iskander" which is the framework within which I create 
these images is set in a parallel world where Alexander the Great did 
not die young but continued until a ripe old age to increase and manage 
his empire. As a consequence, the Mediterranean world remained 
Greek-dominated, with only Carthage as principal rival in the west. The 
Romans never built any empire at all but were incorporated into 
successive Etruscan kingdoms. While Jesus was indeed born, he was of 
course never crucified, and Paul died on the road to Damascus when he 
fell from his horse. So, no Christendom, only an obscure Judaic sect 
confined to remote arid regions of the Middle East. Something resembling 
Islam emerged as it did in our world, but it never attained the fervour 
nor the impetus we know from our history. In this parallel world, the 
main religion is a kind of philosophical pluralism tending to 
monotheism, based on Apollo and Athena as main vessels; Judaism is 
restricted to the province of Judea; influences from the East, 
particularly India, are found in Gancaloon.

As the Tale is dated around our 11th/12th century, the area is 
politically dominated by the Turks, while Greek influence dominates the 
western part of the Mediterranean. Constantinople was never built. 
Instead, Alexander the Great built Neoilion, more or less on the site of 
Troy but more to the North, and made it his capital. Towards the North, 
Europe shows a mixture of Celtic and Germanic kingdoms in perpetual 
fluctuation.

So, this is not a real Islam-dominated region. It is highly cosmopolitan 
in all aspects with many polytheistic elements included.

Iskander (the Turkish version of Alexander) is the name of my tale's 
hero, a sailor of Greek/Armenian origin, brought up in Neoilion.

And to answer your first question, the figure in the background is male 
indeed. Women can or cannot be veiled, according to circumstances and 
(partly) to social class.

"The Tale of Iskander" is a kind of novel (in my head) which I shall 
never write but only illustrate as time goes on. Think of the originally 
illustrated novels of Jules Verne and you will have an idea of what I am 
after. The Tale, centered around Gancaloon is - of course - a tale of 
power and intrigue  ;-)

Thomas

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