DOCSLIB.ORG

Ethiopian Pilgrim and Monastic Presence in 14Th-16Th Century Egypt and Jerusalem

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ethiopian Pilgrim and Monastic Presence in 14Th-16Th Century Egypt and Jerusalem ARAM, 18-19 (2006-2007) 723-738.A. doi: O'MAHONY 10.2143/ARAM.19.0.2020750 723 ‘MAKING SAFE THE HOLY WAY’ ETHIOPIAN PILGRIM AND MONASTIC PRESENCE IN 14TH-16TH CENTURY EGYPT AND JERUSALEM ANTHONY O’MAHONY (Heythrop College, University of London) ETHIOPIAN PILGRIM AND MONASTIC PRESENCE IN JERUSALEM AND EGYPT The Ethiopian community in Jerusalem, from the 14th to the 16th century, was linked to other monastic and pilgrim communities formed along the pil- grimage route from their homeland to the Holy City.1 Enrico Cerulli in his monumental Etiopi in Palestina: Storia della Communita Etiopica di Geru- saleme2 established documentary evidence for a ‘rule’ that governed the life of the monastics and pilgrims for the following Ethiopian communities in Egypt.3 (i) Qusqam, near Dayr al Muharaq, the Ethiopian church of the apostles until the 16th century. (ii) Harah Zuwaylah, at Cairo, where the Ethiopian church, near the Coptic Church of the Virgin, was dedicated to St George by the 15th century. Later, in a document of the 16th century, the chapels of Mary Queen of Heaven and St Maria are mentioned. (iii) The Ethiopian presence in the desert of Scete, which was centred on by the 15th century, the monastery of Bahat, near the Coptic monastery of John Colobus, dedicated to the Prophet Elijah and afterwards, from the start of the 16th century, a new convent dedicated to St Mena (Dayr Abü Minä). 1 See also my other studies on the history of Ethiopian presence in Jerusalem and the Holy Land: ‘Between Islam and Christendom: The Ethiopian community in Jerusalem before 1517', Medieval Encounters: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Culture in Confluence and Dialogue, Vol. 2 (1996), pp 140-154; ‘The Ethiopian community in Jerusalem: Pilgrims, Politics, Diplomacy and Holy Places until 1840’, Chronos, no. 2, 1999, pp. 29-53; ‘Pilgrims, Politics and Holy Places: the Ethiopian Community in Jerusalem until ca.1650’, Jerusalem: Its Sanctity and Cen- trality to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Edited by Lee I. Levine, New York, Continuum, 1999, pp. 467-481. 2 Enrico Cerulli, Etiopi in Palestina: Storia della Communita Etiopica di Gerusaleme, Rome, Collezione scientifica e documentaria a cura del Ministero dell’Africa italiana, Vol. I 1943; Vol. II, 1947. 3 Cerulli, Etiopi in Palestina: Storia della Communita Etiopica di Gerusaleme, Parte II: ‘Statuti degli Etiopi in Palestina ed Egitto (dal secolo XIV ai nostri giornie), Capitolo I: Gli ordinamenti delle communitá etiopice dei Pellegrini dal secolo XIV al secolo XVI’, Vol. II, pp. 353-432. 06-8819_Aram 18-19_38_Mahony 723 06-26-2007, 18:53 724 ‘MAKING SAFE THE HOLY WAY' (iv) A small Ethiopian community presence within the famous Coptic mon- astery of St Antony of the Desert. The two communities of Qusquam and Harah Zuwaylah had relations with that of Jerusalem. The community of Scete was a little outside the usual pil- grim route from Ethiopia in Jerusalem; but anyway the result was that within documents cited by Cerulli its members were counted as part of the Qeddusan and therefore part of the Jerusalem community and had statutes the same as these of the two larger communities mentioned above. Cerulli only mentions one document making reference to Ethiopian pres- ence at St. Antony of the Desert which comes from the 16th century. We know nothing precise about the patterns, which eventually linked the community of Jerusalem with these Ethiopian communities, than we do of Jerusalem with the Ethiopians Mt. Lebanon or on the island of Cyprus.4 However these communi- ties were affiliated to that of Jerusalem and besides, it should be noted that in one document there is reference to the participation of pilgrims of the commu- nity of Säm (Arabic Sham), which might mean here Syria, at a meeting in Qusquam. This might indicate a well used route for pilgrims and Qeddusan who journeyed between the different Ethiopian communities along the route to and from Ethiopia and Jerusalem; and who brought news and traditions from one community to another.5 THE JURIDICAL LINKS BETWEEN THE ETHIOPIAN COMMUNITY IN JERUSALEM AND THE PILGRIMS How were the links between the Jerusalem community and the Ethiopian communities of Egypt given concrete form? All the members of those com- munities, Egypt and Jerusalem, had the name of pilgrims or Naggadyan. The Pilgrims enjoyed rights assured by statutes and by custom. In communities; first amongst these, as we shall see, was the right to participate in the assembly of each of the individual communities. On their return to Ethiopia, they re-en- tered their respective monastic communities of origin; but, if sent to undertake ‘missions’ on account of Jerusalem or the Egyptian communities, they were treated with particular honour and enjoyed equal consideration as foreign mis- sions. The documents give the title Naggadyan or pilgrims to the Ethiopians of Jerusalem and those of Harah Zuwaylah, Qusquam and of Scete indiscrimi- nately. 4 Renato Lefevere,‘Roma e la communita etiopica di cipro hei secoli XV & XVI’, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, Vol. I, 1941, pp. 71-86. 5 For a general account of the Ethiopian monastic presence in Egypt see, Otto Meinardus, ‘Ethiopian Monks in Egypt’, Publications de l'Institut d' Études Orientalés de la Bibliotheque Patriarcale d' Alexandrie, Vol. XI, 1962 pp 61-70; ‘Ecclesiastica Aethiopica in Aegypto’, Jour- nal of Ethiopian Studies, Vol. III, 1974, pp. 23-35. 06-8819_Aram 18-19_38_Mahony 724 06-26-2007, 18:53 A. O'MAHONY 725 The pilgrims were also called Qeddusan, or saints. What was the difference between these two categories? Pilgrims were those who participated in the community for the period of their pilgrimage in the Holy Land, they were seen as temporary members to the community in Egypt or Palestine. The Qeddusan, or saints, on the other hand, were those who were settled with a vow to stay in Jerusalem, or in the linked Egyptian community, for life. The link between Jerusalem and the Egyptian communities of Naggadyan or pilgrims, or Qeddusan, or saints, is also confirmed in penal terms in the sense that expulsion from one of the communities meant expulsion from all. And it is a particularly serious, because the guilty person was cut from the re- turn route to his home in Ethiopia. This general expulsion was therefore ex- plicitly announced in the documents for the most serious cases “on pain of ex- communication because none of the Ethiopians would receive him; neither those of Härah Zawaylah, nor those of Qusquam nor those of Jerusalem” or with the even more serious words “whoever of the Pilgrims, whether in Jeru- salem or Harah Zuwaylah or Qusquam, takes communion with Za-Selläsë del Danot [the expelled man]…should be excommunicated”.6 The Naggadyan or Qeddusan, participated as of right in the assembly of each. Thus, the participation of the pilgrims of other communities is men- tioned emphatically in the documents to give greater value to the deliberations. A document of the 16th century fixed the rule that the cross which the head of the community carried in his hand as a sign of his post, in the case of the death of the leader himself, prior or rector, of the communities in Jerusalem, Qusquam and Harah Zuwaylah, would be inherited by the community of Jeru- salem. The community of the Holy City thus had recognition of its symbolic importance over the other Ethiopian communities. The goods of one community could be transferred to another. We have the record of an assignment of the goods of the community of Jerusalem to the female community in the holy city. In this record the prior of Jerusalem as- signed to the abbess goods from Qusquam and Harah Zuwaylah. The colophon of a codex of the 16th century contained the deed of gift of the book of the prior of Jerusalem to the community of Qusquam and Harah Zuwaylah, al- though the wording is less explicit, another codex of 16th century records a gift from Jerusalem to Harah Zuwaylah. Another important link had been established, all the communities by their general obligation celebrated the consecration of dead pilgrims on a fixed day, (Ethiopian Calendar, 29 teqemt). It must be noted that the value of the tazkar in the religious and civil life of Ethiopia; and therefore the communal feast (29 teqemt,) is the object of the gravest admonitions in the documents. 6 Cerulli, Etiopi in Palestina: Storia della Communita Etiopica di Gerusaleme, Vol. II, p. 356. 06-8819_Aram 18-19_38_Mahony 725 06-26-2007, 18:53 726 ‘MAKING SAFE THE HOLY WAY' THE INTERNAL ORDINANCE OF THE COMMUNITY: POWERS OF THE PRIOR The powers of the community were divided amongst: (a) The Prior and the Rector (b) The Administrator (c) The Saints or Qeddusan (d) The Assembly The leader of the community has various titles. In Jerusalem he had the Ara- bic title of rayis, a possible transcription of the Ethiopian rayyïs according to Cerulli. The head of Qusquam community had the same title; while that of the community of Hara Zuwaylah was called equally in Arabic qä-im, transcribed qäym in Ethiopian. In a related document to the head of the Scete was desig- nated abbot, aba-menet, that was analogously carried by the prior of Jerusalem in an ancient statute The head of the community had a cross as his insignia, which he bore in his hand and over which the Jerusalem community had particular rights. Here arises the question that the representation of the sovereign of Ethiopia who ‘held in his hand a cross as if it were a sceptre’ in the medieval accounts de- rived, in the final analysis, from this custom of the Jerusalem community of which the western pilgrims had spoken.7 The head of the community, that we will from now on call the prior, was present at the assembly and his presence at this is explicitly mentioned in the documents.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download the PDF File
    The presence of Orthodox Ethiopians Across the Archives: in Jerusalem is attested at least from the twelfth century. At the beginning of the New Sources on the nineteenth century, Ethiopian monks Ethiopian Christian were mainly present in Dayr al-Sultan monastery, which they shared with Coptic Community in monks, with a few other Ethiopians Jerusalem, 1840–1940 accommodated in Armenian or Greek communities. However, in the middle Stéphane Ancel and of that century, Ethiopian monks came Vincent Lemire into conflict with the Coptic community concerning the occupation and the management of Dayr al-Sultan monastery. Troubles arose between Ethiopian and Coptic monks and gradually the coexistence of the two communities in the same place came to be seen as impossible, with Ethiopians and Copts each claiming full ownership of the monastery. Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, monks and authorities from the two communities fought each other. Concerning as it did the last institution in Jerusalem to host Ethiopian monks, this conflict could have jeopardized the Ethiopian presence in the city. But during the same period, the Ethiopian Orthodox community in Jerusalem saw a great revival: the number of Ethiopians increased in the city and a number of buildings (churches and houses) dedicated to them were bought or erected. In 1876, Ethiopians received as waqf a house located in the Old City (on the same street as the Ethiopian monastery) and in 1896, a new church and monastery were completed outside the walls of the Old City (on Ethiopian Monastery Street, presently in West Jerusalem).
    [Show full text]
  • Some Observations on Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts in the Islamic Tradition of the Horn of Africa
    Some Observations on Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts in the Islamic Tradition of the Horn of Africa Gori, Alessandro Published in: One-Volume Libraries: Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts Publication date: 2016 Document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Citation for published version (APA): Gori, A. (2016). Some Observations on Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts in the Islamic Tradition of the Horn of Africa. In M. Friedrich, & C. Schwarke (Eds.), One-Volume Libraries: Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts (Vol. 9, pp. 155-169). De Gruyter. Download date: 02. okt.. 2021 One-Volume Libraries: Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/11/16 1:35 PM Studies in Manuscript Cultures Edited by Michael Friedrich Harunaga Isaacson Jörg B. Quenzer Volume 9 Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/11/16 1:35 PM One-Volume Libraries: Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts Edited by Michael Friedrich and Cosima Schwarke Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/11/16 1:35 PM ISBN 978-3-11-049693-2 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-049695-6 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-049559-1 ISSN 2365-9696 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia Amélie Chekroun, Bertrand Hirsch
    The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia Amélie Chekroun, Bertrand Hirsch To cite this version: Amélie Chekroun, Bertrand Hirsch. The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia. Samantha Kelly. A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea, Brill, pp.86-112, 2020, 978-90-04-41943-8. 10.1163/9789004419582_005. halshs-02505420 HAL Id: halshs-02505420 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02505420 Submitted on 9 Apr 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. A. Chekroun & B. Hirsch, “The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia” in S. Kelly (éd.), Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea, Boston, Brill, 2020, p. 86-112. PREPRINT 4 The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia Amélie Chekroun and Bertrand Hirsch Given its geographical situation across the Red Sea from the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf of Aden, it is perhaps not surprising that the Horn of Africa was exposed to an early and continuous presence of Islam during the Middle Ages. Indeed, it has long been known that Muslim communities and Islamic sultanates flourished in Ethiopia and bordering lands during the medieval centuries. However, despite a sizeable amount of Ethiopian Christian documents (in Gǝʿǝz) relating to their Muslim neighbors and valuable Arabic literary sources produced outside Ethiopia and, in some cases, emanating from Ethiopian communities themselves, the Islamic presence in Ethiopia remains difficult to apprehend.
    [Show full text]
  • Identity in Ethiopia: the Oromo from the 16Th to the 19Th Century
    IDENTITY IN ETHIOPIA: THE OROMO FROM THE 16 TH TO THE 19 TH CENTURY By Cherri Reni Wemlinger A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Washington State University Department of History August 2008 To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the thesis of Cherri Reni Wemlinger find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. ___________________________________ Chair ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT It is a pleasure to thank the many people who made this thesis possible. I would like to acknowledge the patience and perseverance of Heather Streets and her commitment to excellence. As my thesis chair she provided guidance and encouragement, while giving critical advice. My gratitude for her assistance goes beyond words. Thanks are also due to Candice Goucher, who provided expertise in her knowledge of Africa and kind encouragement. She was able to guide my thoughts in new directions and to make herself available during the crunch time. I would like to thank David Pietz who also served on my committee and who gave of his time to provide critical input. There are several additional people without whose assistance this work would have been greatly lacking. Thanks are due to Robert Staab, for his encouragement, guidance during the entire process, and his willingness to read the final product. Thank you to Lydia Gerber, who took hours of her time to give me ideas for sources and fresh ways to look at my subject. Her input was invaluable to me.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethiopia and Nubia in Islamic Egypt: Connected Histories of Northeastern Africa Julien Loiseau
    Ethiopia and Nubia in Islamic Egypt: Connected Histories of Northeastern Africa Julien Loiseau To cite this version: Julien Loiseau. Ethiopia and Nubia in Islamic Egypt: Connected Histories of Northeastern Africa. Northeast African Studies, Michigan State University Press, 2019, pp.1-8. hal-02909941 HAL Id: hal-02909941 https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02909941 Submitted on 31 Jul 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Special issue « Ethiopia and Nubia in Islamic Egypt. Connected Histories of Northeastern Africa », J. Loiseau (ed.), Northeastern African Studies 19 (2019): Introduction Ethiopia and Nubia in Islamic Egypt: Connected Histories of Northeastern Africa* Is a global history of northeastern Africa in the Middle Ages achievable? The global Middle Ages have been added to the agenda of medievalists about a decade ago.1 In the case study of northeastern Africa, the long-term history of Christianity in the area alone seems to justify such a challenging undertaking. Christian kingdoms resisted the seventh-century Arab conquests and the pressure of the Islamic empire south of the first cataract of the Nile and maintained their presence in Nubia until the fourteenth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Italian Land Policy and Practice in Ethiopia, (1935-1941)
    Haile M. Larebo THE MYTH AND REALITY OF EMPIRE BUILDING: ITALIAN LAND POLICY AND PRACTICE IN ETHIOPIA, (1935-1941) A Thesis Submitted To University Of London In Fulfilment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy School Of Oriental And African Studies February 1990 ProQuest Number: 11010607 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010607 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 TO ADAMA, IY ANN A, MANITO, PAULINE AND BELOVED PARENTS ABSTRACT Apart from being Italo-centric, the vast majority of scholarly work on the short-lived period of Italian occupation of Ethiopia is mainly preoccupied with political events and particularly with their repercussions on international diploma­ cy. With the exception of a few pioneering studies, Italian rule and its impact on Ethiopia is given marginal importance. The present thesis confines itself to one specific key area of Italian policy - land. Search for an outlet to settle Italy’s excess population and deploy its surplus capital, had sustained Italian imperialist ambitions from the 19th century and justified the conquest of Ethiopia against quasi universal international opposition.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Twenty-Seven Catholic Europe's Road to the Renaissance
    Chapter Twenty-seven Catholic Europe’s Road to the Renaissance In twelfth- and thirteenth-century Christendom the excitement over the new religious movements all but obscured the beginnings of more secular interests, which in the very long run have been far more consequential. Ultimately they undermined both Christianity and Judaism, and led to the replacement of Christendom by Western (a better adjective is “modern”) civilization. In order to appreciate the twelfth-century seeds of this great change we must see it in perspective. The First Crusade permanently widened the horizons of Catholic Christendom, and the widening brought with it a revival of learning. The “pilgrims” who went to the Holy Land saw parts of the world whose inhabitants were much better off than were the pilgrims themselves or the communities from which they had come. In addition, the leaders of the First Crusade set up kingdoms or counties in the Levant. Some of these crusader kingdoms survived for only a few decades, and none of them for more than a few generations. Ephemeral as they were, however, they allowed Christians of northern Europe and Italy to come into continuing contact with the Dar al-Islam. What seemed especially to differentiate easterners from westerners in the early twelfth century was the sophistication of the former: in the Byzantine empire and especially in the Dar al-Islam the pilgrims encountered societies much more complex and advanced than anything they had seen at home. For centuries western Christians had been focused on Heaven and Hell and had been generally satisfied with (or resigned to) the conditions of earthly life that they had inherited from their parents and grandparents.
    [Show full text]
  • Fostering Ethnic Reinvention
    Cahiers d’études africaines 157 | 2000 Varia Fostering Ethnic Reinvention Gender Impact of Forced Migration on Bantu Somali Refugees in Kenya Invention de l’ethnicité et modification des rapports de genre chez les réfugiés somali du Kenya Francesca Declich Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/2 DOI: 10.4000/etudesafricaines.2 ISSN: 1777-5353 Publisher Éditions de l’EHESS Printed version Date of publication: 1 January 2000 Number of pages: 25-54 ISBN: 978-2-7132-1346-5 ISSN: 0008-0055 Electronic reference Francesca Declich, « Fostering Ethnic Reinvention », Cahiers d’études africaines [Online], 157 | 2000, Online since 20 November 2013, connection on 19 April 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ etudesafricaines/2 ; DOI : 10.4000/etudesafricaines.2 © Cahiers d’Études africaines Francesca Declich Fostering Ethnic Reinvention: Gender Impact of Forced Migration on Bantu Somali Refugees in Kenya* This article assumes the process of displacement due to natural or human generated disasters, as a condition which, in spite of constantly changing contexts, entails similar structural characteristics generally determined by the constant way international aid is provided. Such structural aspects influence the negotiation of power within groups by occupying spaces of uncertainty created by the very process of forced displacement. In fact, despite the different geographical, historical and political conditions in each case, a change in production/reproduction relationships often, if temporarily, occurs within a group for some period of time following displacement. It is during this very period that the patterns to control and manage people in conditions of displacement are often very similar everywhere as applied by humanitarian agencies; such standard patterns may have a strong influ- ence in terms of inter-gender power relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Maria Nallino (1908-1974) and the Birth of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Ca’ Foscari
    150 Years of Oriental Studies at Ca’ Foscari edited by Laura De Giorgi and Federico Greselin Maria Nallino (1908-1974) and the Birth of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Ca’ Foscari Ida Zilio-Grandi (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia) Abstract This essay, based on bibliographic and archival material, focuses on the academic figure Maria Nallino, a scholar whose voluminous body of work ranges from classicism to modernity with equal fluency and expertise. Daughter of the famous Orientalist Carlo Alfonso Nallino (1872-1938), whose work she gathered and actively promoted, her arrival at Ca’ Foscari (1962) inaugurated Arabic and Islamic Studies in Venice. Keywords Arabian Studies. Ca’ Foscari. Nallino. Arabic language. Islamic Studies. The story of Maria Nallino at Ca’ Foscari begins on 27 October 1962, with the report1 that the selection board of the competition for the first chair of Arabic Language and Literature at the Higher Institute of Economics in Venice sent to the Minister of Education. Until then, Ca’ Foscari had only seen ‘free’ Arabic classes, held first by Raffaele Giarue, a priest from Aleppo, between 1869 and 1899, and then, between 1912 and 1929, by Garabed Tchorbadjan.2 The document is signed by prestigious names for Italian and also Eu- ropean Oriental Studies. The board chairman was Giorgio Levi Della Vida (Venice 1886-Rome 1967) of the University of Rome. Della Vida was among the leading experts of Semitic Studies at the time; in addition to Arabic and Islamic Studies, he was also a recognised scholar in Syriac, Jewish, and Neo-Punic Studies. Being one of the eleven academics dismissed from teaching in 1931 for refusing to swear allegiance to the fascist regime, Del- la Vida emigrated to the United States in 1938.
    [Show full text]
  • UCLA Ufahamu: a Journal of African Studies
    UCLA Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies Title Poetry and Camels in Somalia: Reflections on Suugaanta Geela by Axmed Cali Abokor Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/64n1q7d9 Journal Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 17(2) ISSN 0041-5715 Author Andrzejewski, B.W. Publication Date 1989 DOI 10.5070/F7172016888 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California REVIEW ARTICLES Poetry and Camels in Somalia: Reflections on Suugaanta Geela by Axmed Cali Abokor. Uppsala: Scand~navian Institute of African SlUdies, 1986,95 pp. What sounds would feature in an acoustic image created to embody one's strongest impressions of rural Somalia? Dominant, surely, would be the sound of voices chanting alliterative verse, counterpointed by the low-pitched bellowing camels and the clanering of the wooden bells hanging from their necks. In Somalia poetry is everywhere; it is the main an, providing entertainment and aesthetic pleasure, it is the vehicle of reflective thought and it is a storehouse of the communal memory ofpast events. I In the structure of the Somali hierarchy of values, poetry occupies an elevated position only surpassed by the supreme claims of Divine worship and the powerfully strong bonds of kinship. The prestige which the poets enjoy and the influence which they exert over their public would inspire the envy of lheir confreres in Western Europe and North America, whose work reaches only a fraction of their compatriots. In Somalia, poetry reaches the masses. and though much of it is high an it is by no means an elitist pursuit. What is more, poets are commentators on current affairs and use their influence in situations of conflict, whether as an effective offensive weapon or as a means of bringing reconciliation and peace.
    [Show full text]
  • League of Nations
    LEAGUE OF NATIONS Communicated to C .357.M.182.1935.VII the Council and Members of the Geneva, September 14th,1935 League. DISPUTE BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND ITALY. REQUEST OF THE ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT. Note by the Secretary-General, The Secretary-General has the honour to r'-rsmsjiit to the Members of the Council the following communication which he has received from the Ethiopian Government, Geneva, September 4th, 1935 To the Secretary-General. On several occasions the Italian Government has referred in its Memorandum against Ethiopia to the scientific authority of M. Marcel GRIAULE. The Ethiopian Government has already signified its determination to co-operate loyally with the League in the impartial enquiry for which it has asked. It has therefore requested M. Marcel GRIAULE to make an independent and scientifcally impartial survey of the accusations contained in the Italian Memorandum, The Ethiopian delegation sends M. Marcel GRIAULE*s scientific report to your Excellency for communication to the Members of the Council, In a few hours’ time the Ethiopian delegation will hand to you its own reply to the Italian Memorandum. I have the honour, etc. (signed) P, TECLE-HAWARIATE Ethiopian Minister. The map annexed to this Memorandum will be issued as soon as possible. - 2 - COMMENTS 3Y M. MARCEL GRIAULE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS DEALT WITH IN "THE ITALIAN GO VERNIRENT S MEMORANDUM ON THE SITUATION IN ETHIOPIA. No te. - These comments relate to the second part of Volume I, "Report", They do not form an exhaustive criticism of the Memorandum. (map annexed.) I. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. (1) The value of the Italian Memorandum as a col­ lection of documents would have been enhanced had the chapters on ethnography, sociology and legislation been amplified by experts on these subjects s Italy has an Oriental Institute at Naples with trains each year a large number of Distinguished students interested in Ethiopian affairs„ Their assistance would undoubtedly have given a scientific character to a work of this importance- and would have made it clearer end more convincing.
    [Show full text]
  • Geographic and Cartographic Encounters Between the Islamic World and Europe, C
    Mapping Mediterranean Geographies: Geographic and Cartographic Encounters between the Islamic World and Europe, c. 1100-1600 by Jeremy Francis Ledger A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in the University of Michigan 2016 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Diane Owen Hughes, Chair Professor Michael Bonner Associate Professor Hussein Fancy Professor Karla Mallette Professor Emilie Savage-Smith, University of Oxford © 2016 Jeremy Francis Ledger All Rights Reserved To my parents ii Acknowledgements It is with a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation that I recall the many people who generously shared their time, knowledge, and friendship during this dissertation’s composition. First, my greatest thanks go to my advisor, Diane Owen Hughes, who has guided, supported, and taught me throughout my graduate studies at Michigan. Her intellectual brilliance and breadth of knowledge has shaped this dissertation and my own thinking in so many ways. I could not have asked for a better mentor. I also want to give a special thanks to my dissertation committee. I learned much from long discussions with Michael Bonner, who shares my enthusiasm for the history of medieval and early modern geography and cartography. His advice on sources to consult and paths to follow has been instrumental in the completion of this project. I thank Hussein Fancy, for stimulating conversations and for always pushing me to think in new ways. I have further benefitted from my other committee members, Emilie Savage-Smith and Karla Mallette. Their careful reading and thoughtful critiques have been invaluable to me. At Michigan, the Department of History, the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program, the Eisenberg Institute, and the Rackham Graduate School have provided an intellectual home as well as funding for my research and writing.
    [Show full text]