Travels in Arabia Deserta

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Travels in Arabia Deserta (dt. Traveling in Arabia Deserta ) is a travelogue in two volumes of Charles Montagu Doughty from the year 1888 .

background

In 1876 Doughty traveled with a Muslim caravan of pilgrims from Damascus south to Mada'in Salih . In 1878 he accompanied the butter caravan on to Mecca and came to Jeddah . His 21-month stay in central and northern Arabia brought numerous scientific discoveries. Doughty discovered numerous inscriptions and monuments that became significant for the study of ancient Arab history.

In the same year he returned to England and began to write down his travel experiences. The work with 600,000 words on 1,100 pages was at that time the most important and most influential travelogue about the Arab world and the Bedouins of the deserts there and had a great influence on research on Arabia. This travel work is characterized by keen observation of the geographical , natural history , archaeological and ethnographic conditions. Unlike many of today's travelogues, which are erratic and change places quickly, Doughty takes a lot of time to describe everything he sees and experiences as an accepted part of Bedouin culture, such as: B. from the way camels chew to the special rites like the special shape like pouring coffee sheikhs .

contents

Volume I ( first volume )
  • Chapter I .: The Peraea; Ammon and Moab. [ Ammon , Moab ]
  • Chapter III .: The Haj Journeying in Arabia. [ Hajj ]
  • Chapter IV .: Medáin [The "Cities" of] Sâliḥ. [ Mada'in Salih ]
  • Chapter VI .: El-Álly, El-Khreyby, Medáin.
  • Chapter VII .: Return of the Haj.
  • Chapter VIII .: The Nomad Life in the Desert.
  • Chapter IX .: Life in the Wandering Village.
  • Chapter X .: The Nomas in the Deserts; Visit to Treyma.
  • Chapter XI .: The Fukura Wandering as Fugitives in another Dîra.
  • Chapter XII .: Peace in the Desert.
  • Chapter XIII .: Medáin Revisited. Passage of the Harra.
  • Chapter XIV .: Wandering upon the Harra with the Moahîb.
  • Chapter XV .: Nomad Life upon the Harra.
  • Chapter XVI .: The Aarab Forsake the Harra, and Descend to Their Summer Station in Wady Thirba.
  • Chapter XVII .: The Moahin Summer Camp in Wady Thirba. Visit to El-Álly.
  • Chapter XVIII .: The Fukara Summering at El-Héjr.
  • Chapter XIX .: Teyma.
  • Chapter XX .: The Date Harvest.
  • Chapter XXI .: The Jebel.
  • Chapter XXII .: Hâyil.
Volume II ( second volume )
  • Chapter II .: Life in Hâyil.
  • Chapter III .: Depart from Hâyil: Journey to Kheybar.
  • Chapter IV .: Kheybar. "The Apostle's Country".
  • Chapter V .: The Kheyâbara.
  • Chapter VI .: The Medina Life at Kheybar. [ Medina ]
  • Chapter VII .: Galla Land. Medina Lore.
  • Chapter VIII .: Deliverance from Kheybar.
  • Chapter IX .: Desert Journey to Hâyil. The Nasrâny is Driven from Thence.
  • Chapter X .: The Shammar and Harb Deserts in Nejd. [ Shammar ; Najd ]
  • Chapter XI .: Journey to El-Kasîm: Boreyda.
  • Chapter XII .: Aneyza.
  • Chapter XIII .: Life in Aneyza.
  • Chapter XIV .: The Cristian Stranger Driven from Aneyza; And recalled.
  • Chapter XV .: Wars of Aneyza. Kahtân expelled from El-Kasîm.
  • Chapter XVI .: Set out from El-Kasîm, with the Butter Caravan for Mecca. [ Mecca ]
  • Chapter XVII .: Ṭâyif. The Sherîf, Emir of Mecca.
  • Chapter XVIII .: Wady Fâṭima.

reception

TE Lawrence , who studied the book for over 10 years, described it as something special, a "Bible of Arabia", and referred to it again and again.

Rory Stewart emphasizes the social change that the Arabs made in a generation or two: from desert Bedouins to owning a very oil-rich land. Anyone interested in the cultural customs and traditions (of the Bedouins) should read this book.

expenditure

  • Travels in Arabia Deserta (2 volumes, Cambridge 1888) ( digitized volume 1 , volume 2 )
    • The revelation of Arabia. Arabia Deserta. Paul List Verlag, Leipzig 1937 (translated from the English by Hertha Federmann)
    • German, edited, shortened and translated by Hans-Thomas Gosciniak: Arabia Deserta. Migrations in the Arabian Desert 1876–1878. With an introduction by Lawrence of Arabia . DuMont, Cologne 1979, ISBN 3-7701-1045-5 .

literature

  • Stephen E. Tabachnick (Ed.): Explorations in Doughty's Arabia Deserta. University of Georgia Press 2012, ISBN 9-780-8203-4003-6.
  • Katharina Pink: Identitas Oriens. Discursive Constructions of Identity and Alterity in British Orient Travel Literature. Ergon-Verlag, Würzburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-95650-070-1

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Ben East: Charles Doughty's Travels republished in Arabia Deserta. In: The National. August 26, 2013, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b ALN No. 35: Excerpt: Travels in Arabia Deserta by Charles M. Doughty (1843-1926). In: The University of Arizona. Retrieved June 20, 2020 (English).