Here’s a funny little factoid from the archives.

The word “assassin” originally derives from a medieval order of Muslim fundamentalist hit men – the Assassins - whose chief object was to assassinate Christian Crusaders. Al Salih, the twelve-year old ruler of the coveted Mediterranean coastal city of Aleppo and another mysterious murder attributed to the ruthless Saladin, called upon the Assassins when he felt the Christian army breathing down his city’s neck. Though religious salvation was the uber-ultimate prize for doing Al Salih’s bidding, the hit men demanded one other, shall we say, “perk of the trade…”

“Assassin” is derived from the word “hashshashin” – literally, “eaters of hashish.” The Assassins were so gangsta’ that they absolutely refused to go into battle without getting drugged out of their skulls first.

After protecting Aleppo from seizure, the Assassins crept into the sleeping quarters of Saladin in the early hours of the morning in order to leave him a note, notifying him that it would be his blood sought by them the following day. Can’t you just imagine it? This group of Assassins, passing the hookah, stoned out of their gourds, rolling on the floor with laughter, poking at each other’s ribs, screaming, “I can’t wait to see the look on his face in the morning!”

Man, I love history.

“History is little more than the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.”
-Edward Gibbon