May 26th, 2023 — One of the things I appreciate so much about the SCA is that — despite not being associated with an academic program anymore — it gives me a forum to explore and present my historical interests and experiments. Over the years, I've steadily added to the list of projects I wanna do. Here's an incomplete list:

Current Projects in the Works:

• gathering Amazigh names from period sources and present them on a map of the region

• coordinating the inaugural African Track for Pennsic University

• developing a class for Storvik Novice called "Uncharted Territories: Studying Lesser-Known Cultures in the SCA" that focuses on strategies for researching less common cultures in the Society

• developing a class for Pennsic called "Sijilmassa: Gateway to the Sahara Desert" in which I talk about the role of the great city in the development of Maghribi society and the trans-Saharan trade network

• creating a couple new favors for my partner, Ben (Pete, modernly)

• working with a newcomer to the Society who wants to teach Arabic, which would free up my time to do other things

• several minor Arabic translations for friends and acquaintances

• lucet cord factory for use by TRHs, Prince Ragnarr and Princess Mary Isobel

• several aesthetic consultations for North African, Mongol, and Levantine-themed scrolls

• creating a bibliography of primary and secondary sources for Scadians studying North Africa

• creating a quick-reference dictionary of period Arabic words and phrases from primary sources

• creating a quick-reference dictionary of period Tamazight words and phrases from primary sources
  
  

Back-Burner Projects:

• teach a class on the city of Fes, highlighting the role it played in local, regional, and global history

• build a water clock/clepsydra like the one in the dar al-magana of Fes from the 14th century

• play my rebab that was generously made & gifted to me by Master Marcellus Capoziello da Napoli (see photo below)

• learn to sing more persona-appropriate songs in Ladino, Arabic, and Tamazight

• plant a garden with species that would've been found in and around 14th century Fes

• finish my research on Amazigh titles and submit them to the SCA for inclusion in their alternate titles webpage

• finish my research on Tuareg titles and submit them to the SCA for inclusion in their alternate titles webpage

• gather Tuareg names from period sources so newcomers have options when they start creating a Tuareg persona

• write up summaries on all the major medieval Amazigh tribal confederations, tribes, and clans

• create a sankey diagram of all the major medieval Amazigh tribal confederations, tribes, and clans

• make an interactive Google map with tribal regions loosely demarcated

• facilitate a twice-monthly philosophy salon

• coordinate semi-annual royal gift baskets from the Atlantian Madrasa Guild

• enter the Persona Pentathlon in the Kingdom of Atlantia

• teach my North African philosophy classes again — and expand my existing classes on Ibn Khaldun and Maimonides

• create more stamped tiraz bands as gifts for friends (reference)

• learn about mushroom use and fungal life in Tamazgha; then experiment with the historical uses and methods

• get back into Arabic calligraphy (reference)

• learn how to make zellij tiles, and make a miniature fountain as was found in every neighborhood of the city of Fes

• Get back to my heraldry work with semitic names in Oscar, goaded by amazing Mistress Juliana de Luna

• Recreate more color pigments from the medieval Muslim world, based on translated period sources (reference)

• continue hosting regional A&S solars or  —  "Library & Lounge," as I've called it in the past (reference)

• learn to do North African naalbinding

• teach a class on all the unexpected famous Amazigh people present in world history
  
  

Just reviewing this project list excites me immensely! I'm gradually learning to be satisfied with getting things done more slowly and steadily, in line with the demands of my new physical limitations. Special "thanks" to my Laurels and apprentice sisters in addition to many other members of the SCA for their constant encouragement and support.

Marinid Fes: an Overview of Urban Spaces

May 16th, 2023 — I've been pretty brainfogged recently, so I haven't been able to organize my work on Amazigh (aka, "Berber") tribes, names & titles. Therefore, I'm moving down the pyramid of Bloom's Taxonomy to less-demanding cognitive processes. Today, I'm reading a bit about medieval Fesi architecture. I'll highlight anything that stands out to me, and I'll incorporate additional knowledge and observations from my many explorations of the city.

"Places affect subtle hearts [...] just as spiritual dwellings differ in excellence, so, too, do bodily ones."
-Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 1240 CE)

Medieval Islam placed great emphasis on physical form, particularly as stressed in non-figural modes like architecture and design. Fes generally fits the ideal of a Muslim city: It had a towering citadel and a royal quarter, complete with residences, administrative offices, and space for personal troops. It also comprised a central, urban complex with markets, mosques, and housing for the elite. A fourth area housed the rest of the city's residents. (Browse the carousel below for some photos I took of of artisans' corners in the old souk, or "market" of Fes.) The souk is still organized in a compartmentalized, labyrinthine way; just as it was during the Marinid Dynasty. Indeed, it is partly because of the Marinids' significant impact on Fes — evident through the many public works projects, patronage of art & education, and a unique architectural style — that I chose this beautiful, palatine city for my SCA persona.

Some historical context: Fes sprang up quietly as an unremarkable, regional city without a unique identity. In fact, it wasn't even a single city, but two walled cities separated by a river. Those two Idrisid cities, Madinat Fes and al-'Aliya, were merged by the Zenatas in the 11th century before the Almoravids took over the expanded city a couple decades later. From 1069-1146 CE, the Almoravids also left their mark on Fes. They expanded and enclosed walls. They built artificial canals throughout Fes to channel water to the city's many fruit trees and gardens, 20-some public baths, and more than 300 mills. As the city was no longer seen as a backwater, new peoples came to Fes to build a life. The city became known for its numerous scholars (particularly those studying Maliki law), and a vigorous community of Jewish tradespeople. During Almohad rule (1120-1269 CE), Fes gradually continued building its reputation as a center for culture and learning — but it wasn't until the city became a dynastic capital of the Marinids in 13th century that Fes entered its golden age.

Marinid Fes (1248 - 1465 CE): The enclosed part of Marinid Fes was approximately 210 square hectares (0.81 square miles), within which lived about 80,000 people. On a trip I took to Fes in 2010 with an approved Ministry of Culture guide, I was informed that every medieval neighborhood of Fes contained several key features: a mosque, a bread oven, a fountain, and a hammam ("bathhouse"). Many (but not all) also had madrasas ("schools"), which were built and expanded upon with enthusiasm during Marinid rule. Much more was built and maintained during the 12th century; as the Customs and Excise supervisor (mushrif) noted, there were:

• 785 mosques (masajid)

• 42 chambers for ritual ablution (dür al-wudü')

• 80 fountains (sigäyät)

• 93 hammams ("bathhouses")

• 472 watermills (arha al-ma')

• 89,236 houses (dür al-sukna)

• 17,041 adjoining, smaller houses (masari)

• 74,469 funduks or khinät ("inn," "warehouse," caravanserai)

• 2 gaysariyyas ("textile markets"), one on either bank

• 9,082 shops (hawanit)

• 2 mints (där li-al-sikka), one on either bank

• 3,094 embroiderers (atriza)

• 47 soap factories (dür 'amal al-säbun)

• 86 tanneries (dür al-dabbagh)

• 116 painting workshops (dür li-al-sabbagh)

• 12 iron and copper foundries (dür sabk al-hadid wa al-nahas)

• 11 glass factories (dür 'amal al-zujaj)

• 1,170 bakeries (afrän al-khubz)

• 400 stone papermaking machines (ahjär 'amal al-käghid)

Walls to demarcate spaces and separate people: One cannot talk about the city of Fes without mentioning its walls. There were two types of walls: those that surround the city (hä'it; pl. hitän), and party walls that help build the internal structure of the city (jidär; pl. judrän). Walls were also differentiated in Islamic law as structures that separate the lawful (haläl) from the forbidden (haräm). This is the origin of the word "harem," and though the seclusion of women in Fes was not absolute, as haräm spaces were partially defined as such to delineate spaces meant for women. More broadly, haläl and haräm spaces indicated private and public areas, respectively. In 1319 CE, a qadi named Abn al-liasan al-Saghir said the following about women's movement within the city: 

"At the time when Shaykh Sidi Abi al-Hasan al-Saghir became qadi of Fes, the women of the city used to leave [their houses] a great deal. So he placed agents on every main thoroughfare (shari') to prohibit their exit. Fearing for the corruption of the agents through their direct contact with the women, he put vats of glue on these thoroughfares for the agents to soil the clothes of those women who ventured out. The women stopped [going out]." 

That said, the woman-free thoroughfares the qadi mentions are distinct from the zagäq or darb, which are neighbourhood passages and alleyways. It is thought that the qadi wished for women to remain in their neighborhoods, not necessarily their houses. Interestingly, because some of the city's tall minarets offered a view into residents' haräm/private spaces, that muezzins were specifically chosen for their chastity, in the hopes that they would avert their eyes whenever reciting the call to prayer during daylight hours. Eventually, however, a market inspector ordered minarets to be lowered below the height that would allow anyone at the top to see into residents' houses.

It wasn't only women's worlds that were separated by walls in Fes. Since the time of Idris II (early 9th century), the Jewish community of Fes was concentrated near Bab Guissa, in the neighborhood known as Fundouk el-Yihoudi ("hotel/warehouse of the Jew"), where the original Jewish cemetery was also located. The Marinids later helped concentrate Jewish residents into an area called a "mellah." The Fesi mellah was the first of its kind, thereafter being replicated throughout North Africa, particularly in what is now Morocco. The mellah residents were grateful to avoid the religious oppression they experienced in Fes al-Bali (the old, walled city). It is also said that the Marinid sultans wished to control and leverage the skills of Jewish residents' craftsmanship. As elsewhere in the Muslim world, the Jewish population lived under the protected but subordinate status of dhimmi; they were required to pay a jizya tax if they did not convert to Islam, but they were able to move about the country with relative freedom.

Conclusion: The years between 1276–1554 CE are oft-considered to be a golden age for Fes, and the Marinids and related Wattasids left an indelible mark on the city during this time through urban design, growth, and architecture. My persona would've been born late in the 13th century to coincide with this apogee. Much of what was created then persists in the modern-day (e.g., including the labyrinthine layout of the souk in the Fes al-Bali neighborhood, the well-known leather tannery, the underlying structure of the city's hydraulic water clock). Further examinations of Marinid-era Fes will delve more deeply into daily life in the city, filtered through the lens of my persona.

To learn more: An Architectural Investigation of Marinid and Wattasid Fes Medina (674-961/1276-1554), In Terms of Gender, Legend, and Law, doctoral dissertation by Simon M. O'Meara, 2004; Reading Jewish Fez: On the Cultural Identity of a Moroccan City; Space and Muslim Urban Life at the Limits of the Labyrinth of Fes, by Simon O'Meara. 

April 26th, 2023 — During the initial Plague Years, I worked on building out my persona: what her life would've been like in the day-to-day, what she would've seen/known/thought, and how she would've occupied her time. 

To that end, in 2020, I began learning songs from the 14th, 15th & 16th centuries, mostly from Andalusia, which was largely populated by Imazighen from North Africa. Indeed, one of the activities that women would've engaged in for recreation is singing (though there were slaves who were forcibly made to perform; more on the Qiyan another time). Free communities of women in Andalusia and North Africa learned songs from each other, and they performed them in private settings to avoid the disapproval of religious leaders who frowned on women showcasing their voices in liturgical or "proper" settings. Mothers passed songs down to their daughters, though well-to-do women may also have had a voice tutor. In keeping with the elevated status of my persona, I have been able to take advantage of singing lessons from the remarkably-talented Magistra Iselda de Narbonne in the Kingdom of Atlantia.

I started my persona-appropriate bardic adventure with the song, "La Rosa Enflorece," which is written in the Ladino language. Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish, was a mix of Hebrew and Spanish spoken by Sephardic Jews in the Iberian peninsula and North Africa. While heavily influenced by the Spanish of the time, it also borrowed heavily from Hebrew and Aramaic. The precise origins of "La Rosa Enflorece" are unclear, but it is believed to have been written sometime in the 15th century. In truth, many of the documented Ladino songs from period are thought to have been written in the two centuries after my persona lived, but the provenance of Ladino songs is hard to pin down due to the persecution and expulsion of Sephardic and North African Jews, particularly around the time of the Reconquista. It is entirely possible that, while I can't yet find songs specifically dated to the early 14th century, my persona would've sung songs very much like those written in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

"La Rosa Enflorece" tells the story of a rose that blossoms and withers away, serving as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of life and love. It has been interpreted in many ways over the years — some seeing it as a lament for lost love or a celebration of the beauty of life. Apropos of the song's theme, I am re-learning to sing after a sudden disability severely impacted my ability to breathe, vocalize, and generally stay upright. Hence, I call the following recording "practice" as I continue to rehabilitate and retrain my body. Here are the lyrics in English: 

The rose blooms in the month of May
My soul darkens, suffering from love
My soul darkens, suffering from love

Nightingales sing, sighing of love
And the passion kills me, my pain increases
And the passion kills me, my pain increases

Come more quickly, my dove, more quickly to me
More quickly you my soul, because I feel myself dying
More quickly you my soul, because I feel myself dying

To learn more: How women contributed to the medieval music scene (article), Sewing by the Window: Women in Judeo-Spanish Folk Songs (article), The Qiyan of al-Andalus (article), Judeo-Spanish song: a Mediterranean-wide interactive tradition (article), La Rosa Enflorece (lyrics & translation)

April 25th, 2023 — I previously differentiated the Arab-influenced ruling structures of medieval North Africa. But — how did those leadership structures play out in the areas where my persona would've lived (Fes, Morocco), and how did they gain legitimacy of rule when implementing novel leadership structures? 

Before the Amazigh dynasties: The Rāshidūn Caliphate conquered Egypt by 642 CE, and they commenced spreading across the Libyan coastline through 661 CE. The Umayyad Caliphate then spread across the Maghreb after that, collapsing in the mid-8th century in every region except for Spain, where the remaining Umayyads formed the Emirate of Cordoba. This emirate was so successful that it inspired the model for subsequent rulers in the Muslim West. Contemporaneously in the Maghreb, there were multiple, non-universal imamates that were usually centered on specific cities and supported by select, regional tribes. In the 9th century CE, the next iteration of Arab rule (the Abbasid Caliphate) came to power, though they were never fully recognized in the West. Instead, there were two rival caliphates, including: the Fatimid Caliphate in Tunisia, which arose around 909 before transferring to Egypt (972 to 1171 CE); and the Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba, which was a transformation of the previous emirate. Essentially, once people started claiming they were caliphs in areas other than Baghdad (capital city of the Abbasids), the Umayyad dynasty decided to follow suit with their own caliphate in 928 CE. It should be noted that there was a sharp, sectarian rivalry between the Fatimids and the Umayyads, as the former were Shīʿa Muslim, and the latter were Sunni Muslim, and these two caliphates competed for control over Morocco throughout the 9th & 10th centuries CE.

The Amazigh dynasties: While not the 1st Berber (aka, Amazigh) dynasties, the Almoravids, and Almohads and the Marinids comprised some of the most well-known and influential leaders and scholars of the middle ages. The Imazighen instituted novel leadership structures that were influenced by their personal values & beliefs, and tailored to complement the socio-political realities of tribal leadership in the region.

• Almoravids: The Almoravids (1040 to 1147 CE), claimed to be delegates of Abbasids in the East, and they ruled as a sultanate, though they called themselves Amīrs. Like sultans, they instituted ultimate political and military authority over their region; and like many caliphs, they [initially] instituted a religious hardline in regard to adherence to Islam. Almoravid Amīrs were advised by a council of religious scholars and military commanders, known as the Shura. This council played an important role in decision-making and policy formulation. The Almoravids probably chose this leadership style because it allowed them to maintain a centralized government while still respecting the traditional authority and autonomy of local tribal leaders. By incorporating tribal leaders into their political and military structure, the Almoravids were able to unify and gain support from many of the Amazigh tribes under their rule.

• Almohads: The Almohads (1121 to 1269 CE), led by Ibn Tumart, were religious hard-liners, and they denounced the impiety and increasing decadence of the Almoravids in the mid-12th century. As their fervor grew, the Almohads gained more territory through military conquest, and they set up a caliphate with Ibn Tumart as the caliph. Ibn Tumart saw himself as a mahdi, the Muslim equivalent of a messiah. So, when he died, his successors were the leaders of their independent caliph, not successors to the Prophet Muhammad, as was the traditional structure in the rest of the medieval Muslim world. The Almohads' caliphal model would've been considered heretical to many Muslims in the East, since it essentially reinvented the very idea of a caliphate.

• Marinids: (This is when my persona would've lived!) Starting in the mid-13th century, the Marinids (1244 to 1465) — a sub-group of the Zenata Amazigh Tribal Confederation — gradually migrated from Figuig in Algeria across the Moroccan plains near the Rif Mountains and down to Fes, Morocco. The Marinids were initially looking for places to graze their animals, but their ambition increasingly grew as the Almohads suffered multiple, high-profile military defeats (e.g., the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 CE), which created a power vacuum the Marinids were keen to fill. Because the Marinids followed the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, there was increased tension with the Almohads' Zahirism. The Marinids abandoned the idea of caliphates and returned to a sultanate structure.
  
  

Establishing legitimacy of rule: Amazigh leaders employed a variety of strategies to claim or earn legitimacy over al-Maghreb. By 1250 CE, there were several, established strategies that garnered a positive response from the local populations:  

1. Urban planning & palace construction: This usually meant capital investment — it made the populace proud of their cities (as construction was usually concentrated on urban areas), and it practically improved the lives of local people, as they had growing access to roads, schools, etc.

2. Public ceremonies & rites: Like in modern times, these demonstrations and ceremonies helped shore up legitimacy through the projection of power.

3. Establishing a genealogical link to the Prophet: Maghribi people — not only the Imazighen — thought a ruler should be of Arab ancestry. Imazighen, therefore, have a long history of inventing stories or myths about their own Arab heritage and ancestry. 

4. Marrying into the Prophet's line: More specifically, Muslim people came to believe that their rulers should descend from the prophet, or at least that leaders marry a woman who descends from the prophet. This strategy worked better in the rural, Amazigh areas than it did in the the more Arab, urban areas, as the Imazighen valued matrilinity.

5. Exhibiting piety: Even if there were a rural, Amazigh ruler who was more of a military strongman than a spiritual or religio-political leader, he was still expected to humble himself and show deference to Islam.

6. Territorial expansion and demonstration of military might: Just like in the East, it was important for Muslim rulers to continually perform jihad, or warfare meant to protect (and expand) their borders.

So, how did the Marinids specifically gain legitimacy? Because they destabilized the Maghreb during the tumultuous downfall of the Almoravids, the Marinids were sometimes described as "a flood" or "a plague of locusts," even in pro-Marinid sources. They were not seen to be legitimate rulers at first. 

To shore up their legitimacy, they initially claimed to be representatives of the Hafsids in Tunisia, but as this claim was not universally accepted, the Marinids employed several other successful strategies from the list above. They supported chroniclers who rewrote the history of the city of Fes, interweaving their lineage with their capital city. The Marinids described themselves as heirs to the Idrisids, who were Arab and part of the regional aristocracy. And — as the Marinids continued taking over cities, they were increasingly seen as monarchs and less as tribal nuisances. Like the Mamluks in Egypt, the Marinids carefully recorded every raid as jihad in order to continually legitimize their rule. 

Also like the Mamluks, the Marinids are responsible for most of the urban monuments we see today in Morocco, including: politico-military installations, religious structures, and some commercial buildings. They mostly built structures in the palatine cities (Fes, Marrakech, etc.), but they also built new cities next to the established ones. Historians think they did this because they wanted to continue differentiating themselves as the new dynastic force, but it is also possible that they felt the need to hedge their bets with popular support as they fortified their legitimacy of rule. Lastly, it's also possible that they needed space to house their active military troops.

The Marinids also had some trouble establishing legitimacy of rule because they were recent converts to Islam, and they were not seen as having a deep understanding of the faith they practiced. To this end, the Marinids financed and built ribāṭs across their territory which were meant to house and feed holy men. This was probably an attempt by the Marinids to co-opt a popular form of religiosity at the time (maraboutism) to emphasize their piety in the eyes of the people they ruled. In addition to these building projects, Marinid rulers often married Arab women from the line of Muhammed, thereby helping to legitimize themselves among the most religious of their people.

Concluding thoughts: While this is a very brief introduction to the power structures of medieval North Africa, in future posts, I will be providing more detail on Amazigh leaders and scholars, with special emphasis on those who lived during the time of the Marinids.

To learn more: The rise of Islamic empires and states (article), Dr Amira Bennison: Architecture & Design in Medieval Morocco: the building strategies of the Marinid sultans (video)

April 12th, 2023 — I made this document several years ago to help scribes differentiate North African styles of calligraphy and illumination (CnI) from styles that are more Persian, Turkish, Mughal, or Mongol in style. At times, the differences are quite pronounced; and this makes sense, considering how many thousands of miles North Africa (particularly Fes, where my persona lives) is from Ottoman Turkey, Persia, etc. There are also Andalusian (Spanish) influences included in the associated document, as the expansionist push into the Iberian peninsula came from North Africa.

April 5th, 2023 — This will be my 2nd SCA website. My 1st site, created on Wix, was ambitious, but in retrospect, it looks like it was designed in the 1990s by a noob who got excited by all the special features and borders; so she misguidedly used all of them. I'm going for a much more streamlined UX/UI this time with the hope that it'll be easier for me to update. I've also chosen a free platform to ensure I can stick to it regardless of financial issues. 

I'm looking forward to using this blog to record my ongoing thoughts and projects. 

March 25th, 2023 — Just having a bit of irreverent fun while comparing Maghribi philosophers. With which scholar would you rather study? I would've liked to study with Ibn Rushd or Maimonides.

#philosophy #philosophers #maimonidies #IbnTumart #IbnBattuta #IbnKhaldun #IbnTufayl #IbnRushd #Averroes