{"title":"Bibi Hajar, Izmam and Zamzam: Myth and Ritual Among Qashqadarya Arabs","authors":"Anna Kudriavtceva","doi":"10.31250/1238-5018-2023-29-1-49-57","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The present article analyses the preserved and recorded narratives of the Qashqadarya Arabs, obtained through the linguistic fieldwork of I. Vinnikov and G. Chikovani from the 1930s to the 2010s. The study sheds light on the ancient beliefs about the origin of the Qashqadarya Arabs. The meaning behind the terminology, together with references to tangible culture, has made it possible to trace a series of ancient myths. These were reborn as a female rite of passage and as an example of female adornment — the septum nose ring (izmam) — which remains the most important symbol of local Arab identity to this day. The traditional legends provide important material for dialectological research, while serving as an autonomous source of historical and cultural information. The study opens up new perspectives for further research into the cultural heritage of the Arabs of Uzbekistan and for maintaining the Russian academic tradition of Arabic studies.","PeriodicalId":37666,"journal":{"name":"Manuscripta Orientalia","volume":"86 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Manuscripta Orientalia","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.31250/1238-5018-2023-29-1-49-57","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Arts and Humanities","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The present article analyses the preserved and recorded narratives of the Qashqadarya Arabs, obtained through the linguistic fieldwork of I. Vinnikov and G. Chikovani from the 1930s to the 2010s. The study sheds light on the ancient beliefs about the origin of the Qashqadarya Arabs. The meaning behind the terminology, together with references to tangible culture, has made it possible to trace a series of ancient myths. These were reborn as a female rite of passage and as an example of female adornment — the septum nose ring (izmam) — which remains the most important symbol of local Arab identity to this day. The traditional legends provide important material for dialectological research, while serving as an autonomous source of historical and cultural information. The study opens up new perspectives for further research into the cultural heritage of the Arabs of Uzbekistan and for maintaining the Russian academic tradition of Arabic studies.
期刊介绍:
I have an honor to present Manuscripta Orientalia. International Journal for Oriental Manuscript Research. It began in 1995 by "Thesa Publishers" (Saint-Petersburg) on initiative of a group of Peretsburg orientalists as undependant scientific publication, operating on basis of self-finance and is an English-language quarterly containing 72 pages. Now it is published in cooperation with Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the State Hermitage Museum. It is the first and only international journal entirely dedicated to issues of Oriental textology, comparative codicology, and palaeography. It regularly features articles by scholars who work with sources in Oriental languages and manuscripts preserved in the rich collections of the famous St. Petersburg museums, libraries and archives. The journal also acquaints its readers with materials on little-known collections of Oriental manuscripts from various museums and academic centers in Russia and the countries of the former USSR. It serves as a forum for the research of colleagues in the United States, Germany, Norway, Holland, Italy, Czech Republic, France, Iran, Great Britain, Japan and many other countries. Publications in the journal are subjected to a stringent selection process (double-blind peer review) to ensure that they meet the demands of an international community of specialists. Our subscribers include leading centers in the humanities and libraries in nearly 30 countries.