Didja Notice?

 

The issue opens in the ruins of the ancient city of Ras Shamra (mistakenly spelled Bas Shamra in the first panel), north of Tripoli, in the land of the Alaouites. Ras Shamra is an actual historical site (often referred to by its earlier name Ugarit) in what is now northern Syria. Tripoli is a city in neighboring Lebanon. At the time of this story, Syria and Lebanon were part of the French Mandate of "Syria and the Lebanon" (1923-1943). The Alaouites are an ethno-religious minority mainly concentrated in Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey who practice a branch of Shia Islam.

 

Indy comments that the Ugarits had the earliest known alphabet, at 3,000 years old. This is not true at all, as far as I can determine. Even in 1938, the Proto-Sinaitic script had been found between 1904 and 1905 by the archaeologist Sir William Flinders Petrie at Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai Peninsula, dated to the 19th–16th centuries BC.

 

Indy remarks he's been wanting in on the Ras Shamra digs since Schaeffer started them 8 years ago. "Schaeffer" refers to Claude Schaeffer (1898-1982), a French archaeologist. But he began the Ras Shamra excavations in 1929, so it is 9 years prior.

 

Indy and the French officer discuss Indy's time working for French intelligence during the Great War. This refers to episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, where Indy was seen working for them in the war years. The "Great War", of course, refers to what we now call World War I, which lasted from 1914-1918.

 

Khamal refers to Indy as effendi. This is a title of respect in the Middle East (though mostly in Turkey).

 

Khamal feels a bit insulted when Indy calls him "kid", asking, "Why do you call me a small goat?" "Kid" was originally (and still) a term for a juvenile goat, later becoming a slang or informal term for a human child.

 

On page 5, the police officer says, "Oh regrette..." This is French for "Oh sorry..."

 

On page 6, Indy uses the nickname "Ham" for young Khamal (maybe to stop himself from calling him "kid"!).

 

On page 6, the hotel concierge uses the title m'sieu for Indy. This is a French abbreviation for monsieur, "sir".

 

Indy's flight east towards Nepal is seen to fly over Baghdad and Basra. These are both cities in Iraq.

 

Washington has asked for Indy to investigate the situation in Nepal. "Washington" refers to the U.S. capital, Washington D.C.

 

On page 7, Indy lands in Delhi, India where he and Khamal board a train to the Nepalese border.

 

In the last panel of page 7, Indy and Khamal enter the Tarai lowlands on the border of Nepal and India and their guide tells them horses and mules await them at Tikapur. Tarai is an actual region of the area and Tikapur is a city of southwestern Nepal.

 

On page 8, Indy and Chandra discuss Buddha, and Indy asks "...wasn't he born near here?" It is true, Gautama Buddha was born around 624 BC at what is now the holy site of Lumbini. Buddha was the Indian spiritual teacher Siddhārtha Gautama whose teachings began the Buddhist religion popular in the East.

 

On page 10, jambon is French for "ham".

 

On page 13, Sophie refers to Van Aaken as a "boer". This is a slang term for a Dutchman, originating as a term for the employees of the Dutch East India Company during their domination of Southern Africa.

 

Sophie reveals to Indy that she has found some ancient Sanskrit scrolls in a cave and Indy recognizes it as Mahayana scripture. Sanskrit is an Indian language at least as old as the second millennium BC. Mahayana is one of the major branches of Buddhism, along with Theravada.

 

From the scrolls, Indy reads, "I will beat the drum of the immortal in the darkness of the world," and attributes the quote to Buddha. Buddha is said to have made this declaration after achieving enlightenment and vowing to become a teacher of the way to enlightenment.

 

On page 16, the holy one tells Indy and Sophie they sit now beneath the Bodhi tree of enlightenment. A Bodhi tree is a sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa) under which Buddha attained enlightenment, making it a profoundly sacred object in Buddhism.

 

The holy one tells Indy and Sophie that, while meditating, he had a satori. This is a Japanese Zen Buddhism term for "enlightenment".

 

The pistol Van Aaken uses appears to be a Luger P08.

 

On page 20, Indy and Sophie meet with the Prime Minister and Maharajah of Nepal at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu. In 1938, these figures were Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana and Maharajah Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev. Singha Durbar was the palace of the Prime Ministers of Nepal and still exists today, though largely rebuilt due to severe damage from a fire and an earthquake in subsequent decades.

 

On page 22, Indy and Sophie have assembled a team of Gurkha warriors and Sherpa mountaineers in their quest for the Covenant of Buddha. The Gurkhas are soldiers of North India and Nepal. The Sherpa people are an ethnic group native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, India, and Tibet.

 

The expedition's train runs through the Khyber Pass of Afghanistan. The Khyber Pass is an ancient and historically important mountain pass linking the countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan, along the old Silk Road trade route.

 

Back to Indiana Jones Episode Studies