Electronic Library of
Scientific Literature Electronic Library of
Scientific Literature
Volume 9 / No. 1 / 2000
IN HONOUR OF PROFESSOR LADISLAV DROZDÍK
Stanislav Segert
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California, 376 Kinsey
Hall, Los Angeles, California 90095-1511, U.S.A.
Various relations between Ugaritic and classical Arabic can be observed: cf. consonantal writing, phonology, pronouns, formation and inflection of nouns, verbal system, syntax. Both these conservative languages, attested in poetry and in religious texts, are closely related, in spite of distances, temporal – two millennia – and geographical. Ancient tradition about Phoenicians coming from the shores of Eritrean Sea may be mentioned. Arabic can be used as effective tool for learning Ugaritic.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 4–15
Jaroslav Oliverius
Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies, Charles University, Celetná 20, 110 00
Prague, Czechia
Comments on Two Autobiographical Works of Luwis cAwad
This study deals with two works of memoir writings of the Egyptian literary critic and writer Luwis cAwad. In his first work (Mudakkirat talib bacta), cAwad (as a young grantee) reflects his experience and observations acquired during his study stay in England. The interpretation of the second work (Auraq al-cumr) is particularly concerned with the way cAwad has perceived crucial years of his intellectual development upon the background of the political circumstances in Egypt of 1920s and 1930s.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 16–23
Andrzej Zaborski
M. Zebrzydowskiego 1, 34-130 Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Poland
The Arabic, Canaanite and Modern South Arabian definite article has a common origin and goes back to an original demonstrative pronoun which was a compound inflected for gender, number and probably also for case. It can be reconstructed as *han(V)- for masc. sing., *hat(V)- for fem. sing. and *hal(V)- for plural. Assimilations of -n- and -t- to the following consonant (including -n-l- > -ll- and -t-l- > ll) neutralized the opposition of gender and number and led to a reinterpretation of either hal/’al- or han/’an->’am- synchronically as basic variant. In Aramaic the suffixed definite article was due not to simple suffixation of ha but to a resegmentation of the postposed compound demonstrative ha-ze-[n(a)] and suffixation of enclitic ha > -a which has been generalized.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 24–35
Rudolf Veselý
Institute of Oriental and African Studies, Charles University, Celetná 20, 110 00 Prague,
Czechia
Exchange of Letters between Egypt and the Qaramanids in the 14th Century
This present study brings information on the complex of 31 documents and letters
written in Arabic which are presented in an anonymous corpus of documents in the Leiden
collection of manuscripts under the title Zumrat an-nazirin wa-nuzhat an-nadirin.
These documents represent a short extract from the hitherto not documented correspondence
between the Qaramanid princes of Larende and the Egyptian Mamluk sultans. These documents
deal predominantly with political affairs and witness the leading role of Egypt in eastern
Mediterranean. Of special importance are those letters which were repeatedly exchanged
between Emir Ala’uddin and the Sultan Barquq concerning the menace of
Timur’s attacks. The topics of received letters are by no means limited to
questions of cooperation in the field of policy and war, but sometimes also refer to
explicitly private affairs of the subjects: arrangement of accommodation for a sheykh with
his students in Cairo, sending back a kidnapped youth.
It may be stated that this volume is a copy of documents from the Qaramanid archives which
was drawn up by a professional office clerk for an unknown purpose.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 36–44
Ján Pauliny
Faculty of Arts of Comenius University, Gondova 2, 818 01 Bratislava, Slovakia
On the Bazaar Laughter Culture in 1,001 Night
In this article, the author points out that in 1,001 Night, in particular, the laughter culture of the bazaars is represented, that is humour which had its social hinterland in the middle and low strata of the Islamic towns. When he uses (in connection with 1,001 Night) the special expression street or bazaar laughter culture (including among others also all frivolous and vulgar stories), the author does not intend to belittle the niveau of jokes or humour in this collection. The author’s main aim is to trace this humour back to its roots or nursery from which it has developed.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 45–50
Sami A. Hanna
2625 SE Market Street, Portland, OR 97214-4946, U.S.A.
The war of Granada, one of the decisive milestones of the defeat of the Andalusian Arabs and their final departure from Spain in the fifteenth century is here commemorated by an Andalusian elegy.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 51–56
Luboš Kropáček
Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies, Charles University,Celetná 20, 110 00
Prague, Czechia
Quotations are an indispensable part of our post-modern culture. The concept itself has acquired a wide range of meanings; quotations are a valid device for a strategy of convincing presentation and for adornment in both scientific and literary texts as well as, understood metaphorically, in music, architecture, cinema and all ramifications of the visual arts. The present article, rather an essay than a result of systematic research, undertakes to examine variform patterns of use, meaning and function of quotations in the Islamic culture: in the fundamental religious texts, in the Muslim medieval science, as well as in the Arabic medieval belles-lettres. Whereas in the former domains a predominant trend is to confirm one’s own truth and to manifest the superiority over previous, partly adopted and remoulded knowledge, in the latter group of texts the main purpose is to arouse interest and to please. In conclusion the article, by describing a practical experience, points to the ambivalence of the post-modern gusto, since an appreciated device can be viewed from another angle as a burden.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 57–66
Eduard Gombár
Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies, Charles University, Celetná 20, 110 00
Prague, Czechia
Contemporary professional Arab historiography is represented by a number of schools. After Egyptian and Lebanese historiography, which played a leading role, Syrian historiography is one of the most important schools. In spite of the existence of historical writing in Syria in the 1920s and 1930s, professional historiography emerged only after the establishment of Department of History at Damascus University in 1948. Among the founders of the Syrian professional historiography were Muhammad Duhman, Muhammad Kamil cAyyad, Qustantin Zurayq, Nur al-Din Hatum, cAbd al-Karim Gharayibah, and Ahmad Badr. A number of Syrian historians had been brought up under the influence of the Egyptian historical school, especially in the era of union between Syria and Egypt: Ahmad Tarabayn, Muhammad Khayr Faris, Tawfiq cAli Birru, and Layla al-Sabbagh. The Egyptian school remained a very productive source in the 1970s as well. Yusuf Jamil Nacisah, Khayriyya Qasimiyya, Amina Bitar, and cAdil Zaytun represent the middle-aged historical generation at Damascus University. A strong school of Syrian historiography was based on British academic traditions. cAbd al-Karim Rafiq, who was given his PhD in London, is today one of the best known Syrian historians in Ottoman history of Syria. In the field of medieval Islamic history, the most prominent historian is Suhayl Zakkar. The first and the best known Marxist historian is cAbdullah Hanna, who obtained his training at Leipzig University. A number of historians with French professional background are paying scholarly attention to the contemporary history of Syria, for example cAli Sultan, and Najah Muhammad. The new generation of historians mostly educated in Syria is represented by associate professors and lecturers specializing in medieval Arab and Islamic history.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 67–75
Karol R. Sorby
Institute of Oriental and African Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Klemensova 19, 813
64 Bratislava, Slovakia
The Lebanese conflict of 1958 – like other crises in the postwar Middle East – had closely internal, local, and international dimensions. Only by examining these three sources and by surveying the whole landscape can the Lebanese crisis and the following civil war be understood. On the domestic front, a struggle for power between the opposition and President Kamil Shamcun was polarizing Lebanese society and politics. Kamil Shamcun, a staunchly pro-Western Maronite politician, was determined to assert his political will at all costs.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 76–109
Ceylan Tokluoglu
Department of Sociology, Middle East Technical University, 06531 Ankara, Turkey
During the early republican period Turkish nationalism, Islam, ethnicity, and regionalism all served as competing sources for the formation of new identities which in turn influenced the nature and the form of the new state. Ideological and cultural factors and internal struggles, especially non-class movements such as national, religious and ethnic struggles, shaped the policies developed by the state. This study aims to analyse the link between various movements of resistance such as social banditry, military desertion, ethnic and religiously inspired uprisings, and non-Muslim and non-Turkish opposition and the formation of the new Turkish state.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 110–120
Michael H. Dietrich
Stitzenburgstraße 17, 70182 Stuttgart, Germany
West – Lady Hina’s Broken Leg
A certain symbol that looks like a broken leg is taken as a basis to explain and help
understand how traditional myths were used to unveil the meaning of Rongorongo, as were
ancient artifacts from the Pacific used as patterns or models for numerous symbols.
The author presents further evidence for his theory that Rongorongo is not a script.
(Please find in this publication of three sequences further details under the title
”Little Eyes” on a Big Trip. Star Navigation as Rongorongo Inscriptions.) In the new
conception there are further details and understanding of the symbols in ”Nothing is
ever itself”. The broken leg as a symbol for ”west” comes from the Hina myth which
can be found in many different versions all over the Pacific. A new understanding is
deepened for the symbols as signs for stars and planets, for wind and cardinal points.
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 121–138
Marián Gálik
Institute of Oriental and African Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Klemensova 19, 813
64 Bratislava, Slovakia
Asian and African Studies, 9, 2000, 1, 139–144