John G. Kennedy
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774249556
- eISBN:
- 9781617970955
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774249556.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
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 the period 1963–64, they were ...
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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 the period 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 this study reveals and discusses some of the most important and distinctive aspects of Nubian culture. Since its original publication, this book has become a standard text in the fields of anthropology and cultural psychology. In addition to basic ethnographic data, this study contains discussions on the psychology of death ceremonies, the nature of “taboo,” 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.Less
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 the period 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 this study reveals and discusses some of the most important and distinctive aspects of Nubian culture. Since its original publication, this book has become a standard text in the fields of anthropology and cultural psychology. In addition to basic ethnographic data, this study contains discussions on the psychology of death ceremonies, the nature of “taboo,” 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.
Nicholas S. Hopkins and Sohair R. Mehanna (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774164019
- eISBN:
- 9781617970382
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774164019.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This is a retrospective look at a major investigation of the culture of a displaced people. In the 1960s, the construction of the Aswan High Dam occasioned the forced displacement of a large part of ...
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This is a retrospective look at a major investigation of the culture of a displaced people. In the 1960s, the construction of the Aswan High Dam occasioned the forced displacement of a large part of the Nubian population. Beginning in 1960, anthropologists at the American University in Cairo's Social Research Center undertook a survey of the Nubians to be moved and those already outside their historic homeland. The goal was to record and analyze Nubian culture and social organization, to create a record for the future, and to preserve a body of information on which scholars and officials could draw. This book chronicles the research carried out by an international team with the cooperation of many Nubians. Gathered here into one volume are chapters, which are reprinted, that provide a valuable resource of research data on the Nubian project, as well as photographs taken during the field study that document ways of life that have long since disappeared.Less
This is a retrospective look at a major investigation of the culture of a displaced people. In the 1960s, the construction of the Aswan High Dam occasioned the forced displacement of a large part of the Nubian population. Beginning in 1960, anthropologists at the American University in Cairo's Social Research Center undertook a survey of the Nubians to be moved and those already outside their historic homeland. The goal was to record and analyze Nubian culture and social organization, to create a record for the future, and to preserve a body of information on which scholars and officials could draw. This book chronicles the research carried out by an international team with the cooperation of many Nubians. Gathered here into one volume are chapters, which are reprinted, that provide a valuable resource of research data on the Nubian project, as well as photographs taken during the field study that document ways of life that have long since disappeared.
John G. Kennedy and Hussein M. Fahim
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774249556
- eISBN:
- 9781617970955
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774249556.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter presents a discussion and description of the Nubian cultural and religious change as exemplified in the village microcosm of Nubian culture. As in most parts of the Islamic culture area, ...
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This chapter presents a discussion and description of the Nubian cultural and religious change as exemplified in the village microcosm of Nubian culture. As in most parts of the Islamic culture area, an important feature of the religious life of Egypt and Sudan is the dhikr (or zikr), the most important ritual of the Ṣūfi brotherhoods. Despite the wide geographic extent and historical depth of Ṣûfism in this part of the world, it is rare to find in the literature any but the briefest accounts of the dhikr. In essence, the dhikr is a ritual means of attaining an ecstatic state of spiritual union with God by verbally or mentally chanting certain litanies in concert with repetitive body movements. This chapter describes two actual dhikr performances as observed among the Nubians of Egypt, one in Old Nubia and another in Kanuba.Less
This chapter presents a discussion and description of the Nubian cultural and religious change as exemplified in the village microcosm of Nubian culture. As in most parts of the Islamic culture area, an important feature of the religious life of Egypt and Sudan is the dhikr (or zikr), the most important ritual of the Ṣūfi brotherhoods. Despite the wide geographic extent and historical depth of Ṣûfism in this part of the world, it is rare to find in the literature any but the briefest accounts of the dhikr. In essence, the dhikr is a ritual means of attaining an ecstatic state of spiritual union with God by verbally or mentally chanting certain litanies in concert with repetitive body movements. This chapter describes two actual dhikr performances as observed among the Nubians of Egypt, one in Old Nubia and another in Kanuba.
Hussein M. Fahim
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774249556
- eISBN:
- 9781617970955
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774249556.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter outlines the principal Orthodox ritual as practiced by some Nubians. It describes rituals to changing conditions in the resettled village of Kanuba. Jūm'a (pronounced gūm'a in Kanuba) or ...
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This chapter outlines the principal Orthodox ritual as practiced by some Nubians. It describes rituals to changing conditions in the resettled village of Kanuba. Jūm'a (pronounced gūm'a in Kanuba) or Friday prayer is the weekly congregational prayer performed at noon. This chapter is an intensive microstudy of the important ritual of on the Salāt al-Jūm'a among Muslims of a Nubian community as it is related to their daily activities and concerns. It shows that change in the form of salāt al-jūm'a reflects in large part a trend toward conservative Islamization, in accord with orthodox teaching, rather than simply representing a unitary movement towards secularization. These interpretive analyses have some pertinence to understanding change in Nubian culture generally.Less
This chapter outlines the principal Orthodox ritual as practiced by some Nubians. It describes rituals to changing conditions in the resettled village of Kanuba. Jūm'a (pronounced gūm'a in Kanuba) or Friday prayer is the weekly congregational prayer performed at noon. This chapter is an intensive microstudy of the important ritual of on the Salāt al-Jūm'a among Muslims of a Nubian community as it is related to their daily activities and concerns. It shows that change in the form of salāt al-jūm'a reflects in large part a trend toward conservative Islamization, in accord with orthodox teaching, rather than simply representing a unitary movement towards secularization. These interpretive analyses have some pertinence to understanding change in Nubian culture generally.
