Nubian Ceremonial Life Studies in Islamic Syncretism and Cultural Change

by Kennedy, John G.; Fernea, Robert A.

• ISBN13: 9789774249556
• ISBN10: 9774249550
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-01
• Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press

Summary

The building of Egypt's High Dam in the 1960s erased innumerable historic treasures, but it also forever obliterated the ancient land of a living people, the Nubians. In 1963--64, they were removed en masse from their traditional homelands in southern Egypt and resettled elsewhere. Much of the life of old Nubia revolved around ceremonialism, and in this remarkable study, John G. Kennedy and other leading anthropologists from around the world reveal and discuss some of the most important and distinctive aspects of Nubian culture. Since its original publication, Nubian Ceremonial Life has become a standard text in the fields of anthropology and cultural psychology. In addition to basic ethnographic data, this groundbreaking study contains a number of theoretical discussions on topics of interest to students of comparative religions: the psychology of death ceremonies, the nature of 'taboo,' theories of circumcision rituals, and the importance of trance curing ceremonies. The book also presents information about a village of Nubians who had been resettled some thirty years earlier, thereby providing some clues regarding the possible patterns of future culture change among these recently relocated people. With a new foreword by Robert Fernea, this edition brings back into print a major work of scholarship on the unique ceremonial traditions of a changed and changing Nubian world. Contributors: Hussein M. Fahim, Armgard Grauer, Fadwa al-Guindi, Samiha al-Katsha, John G. Kennedy, and Nawal al-Messiri.

Table of Contents

List of Photographs	vii
Foreword to the 2005 edition	ix
Robert A. Fernea
Acknowledgments	xii
Introduction	xiv
John G. Kennedy
Nubia: History and Religious Background	1	(18)
John G. Kennedy
Ritual of the Salat al-Jum'a in Old Nubia and Kanuba Today	19	(22)
Hussein M. Fahim
Dhikr Rituals and Cultural Change	41	(20)
John G. Kennedy
Hussein M. Fahim
The Sheikh Cult in Dahmit	61	(43)
Nawal al-Messiri
The Angels in the Nile: A Theme in Nubian Ritual	104	(10)
Fadwa al-Guindi
Evil River Beings	114	(11)
Armgard Grauer
John G. Kennedy
Mushahara: A Nubian Concept of Supernatural Danger and the Theory of Taboo	125	(26)
John G. Kennedy
Circumcision and Excision Ceremonies	151	(20)
John G. Kennedy
Changes in Nubian Wedding Ceremonies	171	(32)
Samiha al-Katsha
Nubian Zar Ceremonies as Psychotherapy	203	(21)
John G. Kennedy
Death Ceremonies	224	(21)
John G. Kennedy
Bibliography	245	(6)
Index	251