Voices from the Past The Arab traveler Ibn Battuta once described an audience between an African king and his subjects: “When [the king] calls one of [his subjects] while he is in session the man invited takes off his clothes and wears patched clothes, takes off his turban, puts on a dirty cap, and goes in raising his clothes and trousers up his legs half-way to his knees. He advances with humility looking like a beggar. He hits the ground with his elbows, he hits it hard. He stands bowed, listening to what the king says. When one of them speaks to the king and he gives him an answer, he removes his clothes from his back and throws dust on his head and back, as a person does when bathing with water. I used to wonder how they do not blind their eyes.” —Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, Said Hamdun and Noel King, eds., 1975 Because most African societies did not have written languages, much of what we know about these societies comes from descriptions recorded by foreign visitors, like Ibn Battuta.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 05:54:38 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015