"Greetings as numerous as the
It is not only the politicians who havedifficulty defining the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia,although the local tribes probably shake their collective heads indisdain at anyone foolish enough to think such a dreamed-up linecould possibly matter. Should you want proof that northern Yemenand southern Asir are culturally continuous, a casual glance at thisvolume should settle the matter in a hurry.
Abha Bilad Asir is an extraordinarypicture book compiled by three Saudi women. The princess Noura bintMuhammad (who is listed in the volume as President of the SouthernWomen's Charitable Society in Abha) and al-Jawharah Muhammadal-'Anqari (who received a B.S. in anthropology at AUB in 1976)compiled the text, while Madeha Muhammad al-'Ajroush (now living inNew York) took the photographs. As noted in the introduction (p.17), "What a single lady cannot achieve because of certaincircumstances, a group of ladies can collectively achieve." Theachievement of this book is a photographic survey of Asiri culturewith a descriptive text alongside. The list of chapters sums upthe specific contents of the volume: geographical features,historical features, the city of Abha and the inhabitants of theregion, characteristics of the traditional house, traditional dressand ornaments, traditional methods of perfuming and medicaltreatment, popular foods and drinks, social aspects of thetraditional environment, aspects of popular literature, aspects ofeducational and literary life past and present, aspects of theeconomic environment, infrastructure and development.
The Asir ('Asir) region of southwesternSaudi Arabia is part of the famous Sarat mountain chain extendingnorth from southern Yemen. The area today is about 300 km long andsome 25-35 km wide with a population estimated in the mid-80s at overa million people in some 4000 settlements. This book introduces thereader to a variety of traditional customs in the region, from theuse of herbs in medicine to architecture. One of the unique aspectsof the Asir region is the age at which boys are circumcized. Unlikemuch of Yemen, where this takes places soon after birth, boys hereare generally circumcized between 15 and 20 years of age. Thefollowing description is provided (pp. 186-188):
"Circumcisions were performed on several young men in a single day, due to the costs involved. The young men of the village were gathered as well as those who had reached the age of circumcision from a neighboring village. The people of the village, family members and relatives as well as members of the tribe and tribal division, even those from other areas, would gather to attend this major celebration. Even women and girls would attend to witness the courage of the young men. A specialized person would perform the operation without using any anaesthetic material of any kind. The young man was not allowed to move or show his pain or else he would be reminded of the disgrace all his life. After the circumcision, flour mixed with water was boiled and poured whilst hot onto the operation site until the bleeding stopped. Thereafter the young man would dance and sing songs in which he boasted of his family, tribal division and tribe and demonstrated his courage and the manhood and boldness he would enjoy in the future... When the bleeding stopped, fat was poured and salt, herbal powder or the crushed leaves of al-Qadamah or al-'Ar'ar trees were sprinkled on the operation area. Should any infection have occurred, dried camel dung or disinfected leaves would be placed over a pit filled with smouldering embers. The circumcized man would sit over the pit and some tree leaves, previously smoked in boiled fat and salt until they were soft, were tied around the site of circumcision. As a protection from the evil eye or envy, the people of the village used to spray fat from the place of circumcision to the house."
To my mind, however, this is first andforemost a book of photographs. Ms. al-'Ajroush is referred to inthe text as an amateur photographer. In February, 1994, a showing ofher photos entitled "Window to Our World" was given at JaditeGalleries (413 West 50th St., NY); she is no ordinary "amateur" asthis volume will attest. The color quality is generally quite goodin this volume, although several of the landscape photos are a littlewashed out (e.g., on p. 32) and a few are inappropriately out offocus (e.g., bottom p. 34). Overall, however, the photos are nicelyframed and provide an interesting camera-view of the region and itstraditional culture.
I will take the liberty to comment on a fewof the photos that caught my particular attention. There is a verylively photo of an old woman hammering incense (p. 153). Her faceis covered by a sloping straw hat, which matches sympathetically thestraw baskets holding the various herbs and other items. But thecenter of attraction in the photo is the hammer, which is frozenfuzzily just within striking distance. Here there is a strikingsense of motion that almost jumps out of the page. I am also takenby a shot of a group of baboons "within the city of Abha" (p. 37). As they are all staring off to the left of the frame, I cannot butwonder what caught their attention or at least kept them sittingquietly enough for the photographer to do her work. An agame lizard,called wahrani in al-Ahjur of central Yemen, is poised on p. 36. Ofthe numerous architectural scenes, I took a fancy to "Shi'ar Castle"(p. 59), where prickly pear is growing over the roof. There are anumber of exquisite portraits (pp. 67-79), including a man (p. 67)with such good teeth that I would know he is not Yemeni from thisalone.
At times the photographs can legitimately becalled "avant-garde," as the circular for the 1994 showing announced. There is a very impressive shot (p. 99) of a painted staircase withan out-of-focus man with a long headdress climbing into the picture. The colors on the double spread (pp. 102-103) of a painted house wallcome alive. A television in a cupboard (p. 260) seems appropriatelyto be a frame within a frame, a richly detailed one atthat.
Some of the photos are clearly made toappease the more Wahhabi-minded of the readers. For example, theangle of a woman in traditional dress (p. 128) could be in Vogue ,except that her left arm is conveniently angled to cover her profiledface. A few pages later, the straw hat is turned down, PonchoGonzales style, to achieve the same lack of visual contact. Indeed,while there are portraits of men and children, no adult female's faceis shown in its entirety. Here is another reason I know this book isnot about "Yemen." Another candidate for Vogue is the picture of awoman's hands with henna and a large pyramidal bracelet as shecrushes herbs on a stone quern.
This is a beautiful volume to have aroundfor the quality of the photographs as well as for the interestingdiscussion of the local culture. While the private distribution willkeep this volume out of most people's hands and most libraries, Istrongly recommend you try to get a copy. In fact it would beperfect for your local public library as well.
[Abha Bilad Asir, pp.214-217]
The Abha area is rich in popular sayingswhich form an important part of the Arab heritage as a whole. Wepresent below a number of popular sayings which are still in use,taken from the book Popular Sayings in the Southern Area and from ourfield research:
If God loves the host, he will have hisguests come together. This is said on occasions where more thanone guest arrives. It probably hints at the economic savings to bemade by having all the guests at one time rather than one guest at atime.
Keep to your ape lest a worse ape shouldcome to you. This indicates the necessity for being content withwhat one has. It is also said when a man wishes to marry anotherwife...
Exhausting the legs is better thanangering the mind. This indicates the necessity for pursuingone's ends vigorously instead of being thoughtlessly lax andindifferent...
How much is a locust and how much is itssauce? This expresses the scarcity of things and theinsufficiency in terms of what can be obtained from them.
Turbanned head but nude buttocks. This describes a person who has his head covered but keeps hisbackside naked, suggesting unbalanced deeds. The word buttocks isused frequently in many sayings and is not deemedimproper...
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