An Ethnography of Fragrance (Islamic History and Civilization) (English and Arabic Edition)

301 Pages·2010·4.107 MB·English, Arabic

by  Dinah Jung

An Ethnography of Fragrance
Bi-smi-llāh (In the Name of God); formula often expressed at the moment of
beginning (an important part of) the perfumery work (engraving in a mosque
in Zabīd—a place where some Luhụ̄ j went for their education)

Islamic History
and Civilization
Studies and Texts
Editorial Board
Sebastian Günther
Wadad Kadi
VOLUME 84
An Ethnography of Fragrance
The Perfumery Arts of ʿAdan/Lahj̣
By
Dinah Jung
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
Cover Illustration: Old maʿshara
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
An ethnography of fragrance : the perfumery arts of ‘Adan / Lahij / edited by
Dinah Jung.
p. cm. — (Islamic history and civilization ; v.84)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-90-04-18725-2 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Perfumes—Social aspects—
Yemen—Lahij (Lahij) 2. Perfumes industry—Yemen—Lahij (Lahij) 3. Islam and
culture—Yemen—Lahij (Lahij) 4. Lahij (Lahij, Yemen)—Social life and customs.
I. Jung, Dinah.
GT2341.Y4E87 2011
391.6’3095335—dc22
2010040041
ISSN 0929-2403
ISBN 978 90 04 18725 2
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
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Fees are subject to change.
*
ﱃا
ﺔﻴﺑﺮﻌﻟا ةﺮﻳﺰﺟﱃا بﻮﻨﺟ ﻲﻓ ءﺎﺴﻨﻟا
For
the women in South Arabia
*

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ............................................................................ xi
Notes on Transliteration, Translation, and Editorial Decisions xiii
List of Maps, Figures, and Illustrations ......................................... xv
Chapter One Perfumery ................................................................ 1
The Burden of Orientalism .......................................................... 2
Fragrances ....................................................................................... 8
The Anthropological Background .............................................. 12
A Fine Art ....................................................................................... 18
The Ethnographic Venture .......................................................... 25
Chapter Two Bilqīs ......................................................................... 29
Around the Garden of Eden ....................................................... 29
The Frankincense Road ................................................................ 40
The Yemeni Mother ...................................................................... 52
Chapter Three Royal Histories ..................................................... 59
The Cultural Melting Pot ............................................................. 59
Sultanate of Laḥj ............................................................................ 71
Literary Fragrances ........................................................................ 80
Chapter Four Her Achievements ................................................. 91
Women’s Unwritten Worlds ....................................................... 92
Disparity and Symbiosis ............................................................... 98
Houses of Perfume ........................................................................ 104
Chapter Five Precious Secrecies ................................................... 111
The Bohorā Sūq ............................................................................. 111
Bābū Handā .................................................................................... 123
The Golden Times ......................................................................... 129
Exodus ............................................................................................. 133
Nationalization ............................................................................... 140
Excursus Perfumery on the Arabian Peninsula ........................ 149
Chapter Six Productional Attributes ........................................... 153
Poesy ................................................................................................ 153
Luminary’s Name .......................................................................... 158