The Muslim Statue of Liberty
Bill McGurn ·
Feb 16, 2011 at 2:49pm
Yesterday I devoted my Wall Street Journal column to a little known story about the Statue of Liberty: that Lady Liberty started out as a Muslim peasant who was to stand at the entrance to the Suez Canal. That was the plan that Bartholdi proposed to Egyptian rulers, and he called it "Egypt Bringing Light to Asia." I first read about this in Michael Oren's book Power, Faith and Fantasy: America's Role in the Middle East from 1776 to the Present . Here's the relevant excerpt.
In this case a picture truly is worth a thousand words. Check out the illustration with that excerpt.
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Comments :
Dec '10
Re: The Muslim Statue of Liberty
She's hot.
Feb '11
Re: The Muslim Statue of Liberty
An excellent title, and fascinating idea had it come to pass - might I also recommend:
The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776-1815.
Oct '10
Re: The Muslim Statue of Liberty
Vastly interesting, albeit odd in some ways considering todays events.
May '10
Re: The Muslim Statue of Liberty
Wow. She's not even veiled. I guess times have changed since the 1870's.
Oct '10
Re: The Muslim Statue of Liberty
Wow indeed. Somehow seems more like fiction than reality.
May '10
Re: The Muslim Statue of Liberty
The light that Egypt brought to Asia went out eons ago.