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To: nickcarraway
'Assassin' is Arabic in origin, not Indo-European, AFAIK.

The Assassins (Arabic: حشاشين Ḥashshāshīn, also Hashishin, Hassassin, or Hashashiyyin) were an order of Nizari Ismailis, particularly those of Persia and Syria that formed around 1092. Posing a strong military threat to Sunni Seljuq authority within the Persian territories, the Nizari Ismailis captured and inhabited many mountain fortresses under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbah. The modern word "assassin" is derived from their name.

6 posted on 07/14/2012 8:03:36 PM PDT by James C. Bennett (An Australian.)
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To: James C. Bennett

They smoked hashish to fortify themselves for their murderous missions, didn’t they? Hence the name?


8 posted on 07/14/2012 8:13:38 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (let me ABOs run loose, lew)
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