No - I'm not talking about the Holy Quran reading in OoT's Fire Temple music or the names Sheik and Sahasrahla. I'm talking about the Tower of Hera.
The Holy Quran mentions the miraculous event of ancient history which occured in the 'towering' Cave of Hera. Prophet Mohammed (May Peace be upon Him) and his friend Abu-Bakr Alsidiq hid from the tribe of Qureesh (non-beleivers) in this cave located in the mountains of Makkah. The cave and the mountains still exists today.
The location and the name are the only elements which are similar; Zelda's Tower of Hera is located above a mountain, and Makkah's Cave of Hera is also above a mountain. I wonder if the in-game origins of Zelda's Tower of Hera is actually related to this real-life event. Well, we'll only know once another Zelda games is released.
An Arabic/Islamic reference in Zelda you never knew about...
Started by
SwordBreaker
, Nov 19 2004 01:03 PM
8 replies to this topic
#1
SwordBreaker
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Posted 19 November 2004 - 01:03 PM
#2
Chukchi Husky
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Lone Wolf
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Posted 19 November 2004 - 01:53 PM
I never knew that!
I always thought that the Tower of Hera had a relation to the Greek goddess Hera, but your theory has more associations than my thought,
I always thought that the Tower of Hera had a relation to the Greek goddess Hera, but your theory has more associations than my thought,
#3
MikePetersSucks
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Posted 19 November 2004 - 08:05 PM
Wow, good find! Although, despite this being a good connection, I'm going to have to say that they probably based this off the actual Goddess, because back in the day, Nintendo was super-kiddy, and a religious reference would land them in some serious trouble. Although, you MAY be right. Try emailing NOJ ^^
#4
Kairu Hakubi
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Posted 20 November 2004 - 03:54 PM
Veiled religious references make the best fantasy names/locations. 
#5
Darunia
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Posted 21 November 2004 - 06:25 AM
Both are religious relations if I'm not mistaken...
#6
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Posted 21 November 2004 - 04:36 PM
Well, Islam is marginally less ridiculous than ancient Greek mythology and no-one really believes in it any more, so it's okay to use it to put together something like a video game dungeon.
You've got to be a lot more careful with Islam. Especially if you've got it associated with anything negative. Look at what happened to that poor Dutch documentarian, for example. This is why the most recent versions of OoT have got all that vaguely Arabic iconography from earlier versions removed (most obviously the Gerudo star and crescent moon) and the versions before had the (vaguely) Islamic chanting in the Fire Temple removed from the versions before even them.
Good find, in any case. Although I'm still inclined to believe that it was the Greek Goddess the name came from.
You've got to be a lot more careful with Islam. Especially if you've got it associated with anything negative. Look at what happened to that poor Dutch documentarian, for example. This is why the most recent versions of OoT have got all that vaguely Arabic iconography from earlier versions removed (most obviously the Gerudo star and crescent moon) and the versions before had the (vaguely) Islamic chanting in the Fire Temple removed from the versions before even them.
Good find, in any case. Although I'm still inclined to believe that it was the Greek Goddess the name came from.
#7
Kairu Hakubi
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Posted 22 November 2004 - 10:03 AM
Blasphemy! May Zeus strike thee with his thunderbolt, forged by Vulcan!
#8
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Posted 28 November 2004 - 07:14 AM
And may Typhoeus cut out all of your knees and headbutt the moon.
#9
MikePetersSucks
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Posted 28 November 2004 - 01:23 PM
May Din burn your eyes, Nayru kiss your boo-boos, and Faore give you a tree
