Sophie Méry
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 285299 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Sophie Méry |
| PRENOMES | Sophie |
| SOBRENOME | Méry |
| ASSINATURA | MÉRY S |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2724-7727 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 45 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 190 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 45 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1989 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2024 |
| ÍNDICE H | 8 |
Shell tool technology and new insights into techno-cultural strategies during the Neolithic in Eastern Arabia. An initial case study from Umm al-Quwain (United Arab Emirates)
Domestic food practice and vessel‐use at Salūt‐ST1, central Oman, during the Umm an‐Nar period
Investigations into everyday food practices during the Umm an‐Nar period (c.2700–2000 bc ) in the Oman Peninsula are limited. We studied lipid residues in pottery from Salūt‐ST1, an Umm an‐Nar stone tower in central Oman, to understand domestic practices and vessel use in locally‐produced Sandy Wares, regionally‐produced Fine Red Omani Wares and imported Indus Black‐Slipped Jars between c. 2460–2150 bc . Degraded animal fats were found in a major…
Intensive exploitation of marine crabs and sea urchins during the middle holocene in the eastern Arabian peninsula offers new perspectives on ancient maritime adaptations
Maritime adaptation is a key component of the Neolithization process in Eastern Arabia. It is expressed by the development of diversified fishing techniques, the exploitation of hard marine animal materials (e.g., seashells, shark teeth, stingray's barbs, etc.) for both tools and personal adornments production, advanced seafaring, and colonization of offshore islands. Although a diet based mainly on the consumption of marine fish and mollusks, th…
Umm an‐Nar settlement pottery from Dahwa 7 (DH7), northern al‐Batinah, Oman
This research focuses on studying the pottery sherds collected in the period 2018–19 from settlement DH7 in the northern al‐Batinah region in north‐eastern Oman. The material mainly comes from stratified contexts from the largest building at the settlement, building S42, whose function is interpreted as a warehouse. Three main classes of pottery are recognised: The Indus red micaceous ware, the Umm an‐Nar fine red ware and the Dahwa sandy buff wa…
Analysis of archaeological fish remains provides new insights into seasonal mobility in Eastern Arabia during the mid-Holocene. The subsistence fisheries of UAQ36, Umm al-Quwain lagoon (United Arab Em…
L’archéologie française à l’étranger
Les nouvelles de l’archéologie sont depuis leur première livraison un lieu de réflexion collective et d’échanges sur l’archéologie française à l’étranger : on retrace à travers les livraisons successives l’histoire récente de la recherche, des équipes et des institutions impliquées dans des programmes de recherche extra-métropolitains. Une revue de la recherche par grandes aires géographiques met en relief les évolutions récentes et les enjeux au…
The Prehistoric Fisheries of Akab Island (United Arab Emirates)
The Neolithic period in Eastern Arabia (especially from 5500 to 3100 BC) is better understood due to recent excavations of stratified sites stretching from Kuwait to the Sultanate of Oman. When oasis agriculture developed from the Bronze Age onwards, herding, shellfish gathering, and fishing became the primary modes of subsistence, and despite strong regional aridity, coastal shell middens provide the best preservation conditions in the Persian G…
A first note on the excavations at UAQ38, a new Neolithic site in the Emirate of Umm al‐Quwain
At the end of 2018, the first season of excavation was carried out at the shell midden site of UAQ38. The site occupies the top of a sand dune not far from UAQ36 and UAQ2, two other recently investigated Neolithic shell middens. Several well‐stratified anthropogenic levels were excavated at UAQ38, which can be dated mainly to the 5th millennium BC, although the recorded artefacts suggest a possible older date for the lowest levels. Food waste, po…
Integrating a complex late prehistoric settlement system
Carnelian, agate, and other types of chalcedony
The Jebel al‐Ma'taradh and its surroundings contain exceptional deposits of lithic raw materials, including flint and chert, but especially chalcedony, agate, carnelian, and chrysoprase. These deposits were intensively exploited during the Neolithic, and some of the artefacts produced entered the trade network that included settlements on the coast and inland, sometimes as far as 300 km. During earlier periods, probably as early as the Pleistocen…
A multi-proxy analysis of the Holocene humid phase from the United Arab Emirates and its implications for southeast Arabia's Neolithic populations
Neolithic material cultures of Oman and the Gulf seashores from 5500–4500 BCE
The coastal sites of the UAE and the Sultanate of Oman in the sixth–fifth millennia BCE share a number of features in their material culture. In addition to lithic techniques, the populations shared particular technologies, such as architecture using load‐bearing pots or the production of specific fishing material and ornaments in shell and mother‐of‐pearl. This corresponds to populations that were already Neolithic, with domestic animals and pra…
Pearl fishing in the ancient world
The oldest pearl in the world was found in the United Arab Emirates and dates from 7500 BP . Gemmologists and jewellers have popularised the idea that the oldest pearl in the world is the 5000‐year‐old Jomon pearl from Japan. Discoveries made on the shores of south‐eastern Arabia show this to be untrue, as the archaeological pearls that have been found are 2500 years older. In this region, pearls still hold an important place. Indeed, today they …
Initial results from the programme of petrographic analysis of Iron Age pottery from the United Arab Emirates
This article presents the results of petrographic analyses of a collection of sixty potsherds from various sites of the Iron Age period in south‐eastern Arabia. Several macroscopic groups were identified during previous research. The fine red painted ware and the sandy buff ware appear to be homogeneous in composition and might represent two groups of production. Compositionally, fine red painted ware recalls Bronze Age pottery groups in Oman. Sa…
Analyse technologique et expérimentations
Les premiers résultats de l’étude technologique et expérimentale d’un assemblage céramique de la fin de l’âge du bronze ancien mettent en évidence la variété des méthodes techniques et des chaînes opératoires en usage à la fin du IIIe millénaire en Arabie orientale. La pratique du colombin tourné, sur base tournée ou non, était maîtrisée par les potiers de cette région mais pas le tournage en une seule pièce, cette technique étant en revanche att…
Un chef est un requin qui voyage par terre »
During the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, many teeth of large sharks ( Carcharhinus leucas ) and stingray spines were transformed into projectile points in south‐eastern Arabia. These points were probably used for fishing. Deriving from dangerous and/or toxic animals, shark teeth and stingray spines were certainly markers of prestige
Food for eternity? The analysis of a date offering from a 3rd millennium BC grave at Hili N, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
A dugong bone mound
The authors present a remarkable site with a remarkable interpretation: a structured platform of dugong bones, containing skulls laid in parallel and ribs in sets, together with artefacts of the Neolithic period. They propose that the bones have been symbolically arranged and the mound as a whole had a ritual purpose - an interpretation endorsed by analogy with dugong platforms noted in the Torres Strait in recent times
Rewriting the end of the Early Bronze Age in the United Arab Emirates through the anthropological and artefactual evaluation of two collective Umm an‐Nar graves at Hili (eastern region of Abu Dhabi)
The Hili archaeological complex in Al Ain (U.A.E.) is important for its wealth of third‐millennium BC Umm an‐Nar burial and settlement sites. Two of the most significant burial sites are Tomb N at Hili and Tomb A Hili North. The latter is a classic circular Umm an‐Nar monumental grave, while Hili N is a pit‐grave, one of only two Umm an‐Nar period pit‐graves discovered so far in the U.A.E. Both of these tombs contained the remains of hundreds of …
First evidence of shell fish‐hook technology in the Gulf
The technology of shell fish‐hooks and line fishing is well attested in the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean during the Neolithic period (fifth–fourth millennium BC). Their presence in the coastal area of the Arabian Gulf is now confirmed by new findings from Akab (Umm al‐Qaiwain) and Shimal (Ra's al‐Khaimah) in the United Arab Emirates
A pottery workshop with flint tools on blades knapped with copper at Nausharo (Indus civilisation, ca. 2500 BC)
Évolution paléogéographique du Ja'alan (Oman) à l'Holocène moyen
Les fluctuations climatiques, eustatiques et tectoniques qui ont caractérisé la côte orientale de l'Arabie à l'Holocène moyen ont régulièrement modifié les équilibres entre les populations néolithiques et le milieu littoral. Le bilan des données géoarchéologiques de la région orientale du Ja 'alan (Sultanat d'Oman) indique de nombreuses variations dans la dynamique des écosystèmes côtiers (mer, lagunes, mangroves). Elles nécessitent de la part de…
Des coquillages… outillages des Ichtyophages? Mise en évidence d'industries sur Veneridae, du Néolithique à l’âge du Fer (Yémen, Oman, E.A.U.)
From Yemen to the Arabian/Persian Gulf the coastal societies of Arabia developed an industry utilising bivalve shells (Veneridae). From the Neolithic to the Iron Age these shells were transformed into knives or scrapers, the latter sometimes having a characteristic notch. The majority of these tools are manufactured from the left valve, probably selected by right‐handed people. The shell tools are very standardised and did not replace stone tools…
New Approaches to a collective grave from the Umm An-Nar Period at Hili (UAE)
In the Oman peninsula, the Umm an-Nar circular tombs, easily seen in the landscape because of their monumental architecture, have usually been robbed for building stones and for their objects. This was not the case for a pit-grave discovered at Hili (United Arab Emirates) in 1984, which presented a stratigraphy nearly 2 meters deep, with 4 phases of main funeraiy deposits dating to the end of the Umm an-Nar period (ca 2 200-2 000 ВС). Such a stra…
Étude paléodémographique et utilisation du feu à Hili N, une sépulture collective en fosse de la fin de l'âge du Bronze ancien aux Émirats Arabes Unis
In 1983, next to one of the monumental circular tombs considered to be diagnostic for the Umm an-Nar Period (ca 2700-2000 BC), a collective burial in a pit-grave was discovered. The first objective of the present study is to establish whether this structure, dated to 2200-2000 BC, i.e. the end of the Early Bronze Age in the region, is associated with a specific funerary practice or to a selection of the buried individuals. The second is to define…
First evidence of shell fish‐hook technology in the Gulf
The technology of shell fish‐hooks and line fishing is well attested in the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean during the Neolithic period (fifth–fourth millennium BC). Their presence in the coastal area of the Arabian Gulf is now confirmed by new findings from Akab (Umm al‐Qaiwain) and Shimal (Ra's al‐Khaimah) in the United Arab Emirates
Évolution paléogéographique du Ja'alan (Oman) à l'Holocène moyen
Les fluctuations climatiques, eustatiques et tectoniques qui ont caractérisé la côte orientale de l'Arabie à l'Holocène moyen ont régulièrement modifié les équilibres entre les populations néolithiques et le milieu littoral. Le bilan des données géoarchéologiques de la région orientale du Ja 'alan (Sultanat d'Oman) indique de nombreuses variations dans la dynamique des écosystèmes côtiers (mer, lagunes, mangroves). Elles nécessitent de la part de…
Un chef est un requin qui voyage par terre »
During the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, many teeth of large sharks ( Carcharhinus leucas ) and stingray spines were transformed into projectile points in south‐eastern Arabia. These points were probably used for fishing. Deriving from dangerous and/or toxic animals, shark teeth and stingray spines were certainly markers of prestige
Neolithic material cultures of Oman and the Gulf seashores from 5500–4500 BCE
The coastal sites of the UAE and the Sultanate of Oman in the sixth–fifth millennia BCE share a number of features in their material culture. In addition to lithic techniques, the populations shared particular technologies, such as architecture using load‐bearing pots or the production of specific fishing material and ornaments in shell and mother‐of‐pearl. This corresponds to populations that were already Neolithic, with domestic animals and pra…
Food for eternity? The analysis of a date offering from a 3rd millennium BC grave at Hili N, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
Hameçons en nacre et limes en pierre d'Océanie et de l'Océan Indien
Charpentier Vincent, Méry Sophie. Hameçons en nacre et limes en pierre d'Océanie et de l'Océan Indien : analyse d'une tendance. In: Journal de la Société des océanistes, 105, 1997-2. pp. 147-156
The Prehistoric Fisheries of Akab Island (United Arab Emirates)
The Neolithic period in Eastern Arabia (especially from 5500 to 3100 BC) is better understood due to recent excavations of stratified sites stretching from Kuwait to the Sultanate of Oman. When oasis agriculture developed from the Bronze Age onwards, herding, shellfish gathering, and fishing became the primary modes of subsistence, and despite strong regional aridity, coastal shell middens provide the best preservation conditions in the Persian G…
Mangroves of Oman during the late Holocene; climatic implications and impact on human settlements
Rewriting the end of the Early Bronze Age in the United Arab Emirates through the anthropological and artefactual evaluation of two collective Umm an‐Nar graves at Hili (eastern region of Abu Dhabi)
The Hili archaeological complex in Al Ain (U.A.E.) is important for its wealth of third‐millennium BC Umm an‐Nar burial and settlement sites. Two of the most significant burial sites are Tomb N at Hili and Tomb A Hili North. The latter is a classic circular Umm an‐Nar monumental grave, while Hili N is a pit‐grave, one of only two Umm an‐Nar period pit‐graves discovered so far in the U.A.E. Both of these tombs contained the remains of hundreds of …
East Africa and the Middle East relationship from the first millennium BC to about 1500 AD
Dans cet article, l'auteur tente de montrer les relations existant entre l'Afrique de l'Est et le Moyen-Orient depuis le début du premier millénaire av. J.-C. jusqu'à la moitié du deuxième millénaire ap. J.-C. Il s'appuie sur des données textuelles et archéologiques qui reflètent la fluctuation des liens culturels et économiques entre les deux régions selon les époques et les conditions politiques sur les rives de la mer Rouge et du nord de l'océ…
New Approaches to a collective grave from the Umm An-Nar Period at Hili (UAE)
In the Oman peninsula, the Umm an-Nar circular tombs, easily seen in the landscape because of their monumental architecture, have usually been robbed for building stones and for their objects. This was not the case for a pit-grave discovered at Hili (United Arab Emirates) in 1984, which presented a stratigraphy nearly 2 meters deep, with 4 phases of main funeraiy deposits dating to the end of the Umm an-Nar period (ca 2 200-2 000 ВС). Such a stra…
Harappa et Mohenjo-Daro
Black slipped jars from the Indus, containers used to transport commodities of an as yet unknown nature, are important tracers of exchange with the neighboring regions of the Oman Peninsula and the Gulf during the second half of the 3rd Millennium B.C. Chemical analysis of samples of these jars recovered at several habitation sites in Pakistan and on the Oman Peninsula, has identified at least two potential zones of production in Pakistan. One of…
Initial results from the programme of petrographic analysis of Iron Age pottery from the United Arab Emirates
This article presents the results of petrographic analyses of a collection of sixty potsherds from various sites of the Iron Age period in south‐eastern Arabia. Several macroscopic groups were identified during previous research. The fine red painted ware and the sandy buff ware appear to be homogeneous in composition and might represent two groups of production. Compositionally, fine red painted ware recalls Bronze Age pottery groups in Oman. Sa…
Analyse technologique et expérimentations
Les premiers résultats de l’étude technologique et expérimentale d’un assemblage céramique de la fin de l’âge du bronze ancien mettent en évidence la variété des méthodes techniques et des chaînes opératoires en usage à la fin du IIIe millénaire en Arabie orientale. La pratique du colombin tourné, sur base tournée ou non, était maîtrisée par les potiers de cette région mais pas le tournage en une seule pièce, cette technique étant en revanche att…
A pottery workshop with flint tools on blades knapped with copper at Nausharo (Indus civilisation, ca. 2500 BC)
Les cités-États swahili et la puissance omanaise, 1650-1720
Between 1650 and 1698, some Swahili cities or factions saw the emerging Omani power as an ally to back their struggle against Portuguese imperialism; Oman was a trading partner in full expansion and, at time, a source of political support. However, after 1698, when the Swahili Coast had come under Omani control, a strong resentment spread against the new occupying force which was accused, as were Portuguese, of threatening the political and econo…
Les Swahili
À partir de différentes sources (données archéologiques, historiques et linguistiques, récits de voyageurs et traditions orales), cet article tente de montrer comment les populations swahili se sont constituées, et de dégager les composantes sociales et culturelles qui font leur originalité et leur spécificité
Umm an‐Nar settlement pottery from Dahwa 7 (DH7), northern al‐Batinah, Oman
This research focuses on studying the pottery sherds collected in the period 2018–19 from settlement DH7 in the northern al‐Batinah region in north‐eastern Oman. The material mainly comes from stratified contexts from the largest building at the settlement, building S42, whose function is interpreted as a warehouse. Three main classes of pottery are recognised: The Indus red micaceous ware, the Umm an‐Nar fine red ware and the Dahwa sandy buff wa…
Carnelian, agate, and other types of chalcedony
The Jebel al‐Ma'taradh and its surroundings contain exceptional deposits of lithic raw materials, including flint and chert, but especially chalcedony, agate, carnelian, and chrysoprase. These deposits were intensively exploited during the Neolithic, and some of the artefacts produced entered the trade network that included settlements on the coast and inland, sometimes as far as 300 km. During earlier periods, probably as early as the Pleistocen…
Pearl fishing in the ancient world
The oldest pearl in the world was found in the United Arab Emirates and dates from 7500 BP . Gemmologists and jewellers have popularised the idea that the oldest pearl in the world is the 5000‐year‐old Jomon pearl from Japan. Discoveries made on the shores of south‐eastern Arabia show this to be untrue, as the archaeological pearls that have been found are 2500 years older. In this region, pearls still hold an important place. Indeed, today they …
Origine et production des récipients de terre cuite dans la péninsule d'Oman à l'Âge du Bronze
L'émergence, à la fin du 4e millénaire, et le développement de la production céramique en Oman, jusque vers 1300 av. J.-C, ainsi que les circuits d'échanges en Asie Moyenne et leur évolution au cours de l'âge du Bronze sont mis en évidence au travers de l'étude des récipients de terre cuite découverts dans une trentaine de sites des Emirats Arabes Unis et du Sultanat d'Oman et comparés à d'autres trouvés à Bahrein, en Arabie Saoudite, en Irak, en…
Production and Exchange of Ceramics on the Oman Peninsula from the Perspective of Hili
M. James Blackman, Sophie Mery, Rita P. Wright, Production and Exchange of Ceramics on the Oman Peninsula from the Perspective of Hili, Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Spring, 1989), pp. 61-77
Intensive exploitation of marine crabs and sea urchins during the middle holocene in the eastern Arabian peninsula offers new perspectives on ancient maritime adaptations
Maritime adaptation is a key component of the Neolithization process in Eastern Arabia. It is expressed by the development of diversified fishing techniques, the exploitation of hard marine animal materials (e.g., seashells, shark teeth, stingray's barbs, etc.) for both tools and personal adornments production, advanced seafaring, and colonization of offshore islands. Although a diet based mainly on the consumption of marine fish and mollusks, th…
Étude paléodémographique et utilisation du feu à Hili N, une sépulture collective en fosse de la fin de l'âge du Bronze ancien aux Émirats Arabes Unis
In 1983, next to one of the monumental circular tombs considered to be diagnostic for the Umm an-Nar Period (ca 2700-2000 BC), a collective burial in a pit-grave was discovered. The first objective of the present study is to establish whether this structure, dated to 2200-2000 BC, i.e. the end of the Early Bronze Age in the region, is associated with a specific funerary practice or to a selection of the buried individuals. The second is to define…
Rites de mort aux Comores et chez les Swahili. Entre islam savant et culture locale
Les rites de mort chez les Comoriens et les Swahili en général constituent une « institution » à travers laquelle se manifeste toute une série d'aspects de leur culture. Or, ils sont contestés par les wahhābīya de la région sous le prétexte qu'ils sont contraires à des origines. Nous voulons, entre autres, montrer que la prétention des wahhābīya à une des pratiques islamiques est une illusion car le fiqh (droit islamique classique) a dès son appa…
Production and Exchange of Ceramics on the Oman Peninsula from the Perspective of Hili
Analysis was conducted for purposes of defining provenience of the raw material for three ceramics types: “domestic,” “black-on-red,” and Emir grey wares selected from Periods I and II at Hili 8 settlement and Hili North Tomb A on the Oman Peninsula of the 3rd millennium B.C. Combined thin section petrography and neutron activation analysis indicated that the “domestic” and “black-on-red” fine wares conform to the geological setting of the Oman P…
Production and Exchange of Ceramics on the Oman Peninsula from the Perspective of Hili
M. James Blackman, Sophie Mery, Rita P. Wright, Production and Exchange of Ceramics on the Oman Peninsula from the Perspective of Hili, Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Spring, 1989), pp. 61-77
Origine et production des récipients de terre cuite dans la péninsule d'Oman à l'Âge du Bronze
L'émergence, à la fin du 4e millénaire, et le développement de la production céramique en Oman, jusque vers 1300 av. J.-C, ainsi que les circuits d'échanges en Asie Moyenne et leur évolution au cours de l'âge du Bronze sont mis en évidence au travers de l'étude des récipients de terre cuite découverts dans une trentaine de sites des Emirats Arabes Unis et du Sultanat d'Oman et comparés à d'autres trouvés à Bahrein, en Arabie Saoudite, en Irak, en…
Hameçons en nacre et limes en pierre d'Océanie et de l'Océan Indien
Charpentier Vincent, Méry Sophie. Hameçons en nacre et limes en pierre d'Océanie et de l'Océan Indien : analyse d'une tendance. In: Journal de la Société des océanistes, 105, 1997-2. pp. 147-156
Harappa et Mohenjo-Daro
Black slipped jars from the Indus, containers used to transport commodities of an as yet unknown nature, are important tracers of exchange with the neighboring regions of the Oman Peninsula and the Gulf during the second half of the 3rd Millennium B.C. Chemical analysis of samples of these jars recovered at several habitation sites in Pakistan and on the Oman Peninsula, has identified at least two potential zones of production in Pakistan. One of…
L'errance d'Imrû'l-Qays
La figure à demi légendaire du poète antéislamique Imrû'1-Qays n'est pas inconnue des Touaregs sahéliens. Ceux-ci le citent dans leurs poèmes, ainsi que dans des récits où il apparaît comme un héros culturel, inventeur de la poésie et de j'alphabet touareg. Il y est opposé à un personnage en qui on peut reconnaître une version sahélienne d'un autre poète antéislamique : 'Antara. L'article propose de retrouver dans certains documents arabes médiév…
Légendes du pays de Kae, Zanzibar
The legends of Majipeponi and of Mnyali Mungu, collected at Kae, in the southern part of Zanzibar island, allow for a better understanding of the mizimu cult or ancestor worship. It is the expression of a traditional rural religion which is currently manifest in separate rituals: visits to holy groves, spirit worship initiations and new year celebrations (mwaka). Although despised by town dwellers who prefer to value their Islamic membership, the…
Les périples de l'obsidienne à travers la mer Rouge
Knapped obsidian currently represents the first documented evidence for exchanges between Southern Arabia and Eastern Africa across the Red Sea, dating back to the Neolithic, at least 8.000 years ago. Although obsidian sources are known in Yemen, particularly in the Isbîl and al-Lîsî mountains, the results of a discriminant analysis, bearing on 122 samples from 14 archaeological sites, analyzed for trace elements using the fluorescence method XRF…
L'Afrique oubliée des noirs du Qatar
Notwithstanding a number of social markers, the black people of Qatar do not make claim to an identity distinct from that of white people. They hold equivalent opinions regarding the purity of blood and claim their ties with the Arab people. They are nevertheless aware of their place in society with respect to whites. Their will to create their own identity follows in the footsteps of the government's aspiration to make citizens of all Qatari
Al-Shihr, un port d'Arabie face à l'Afrique
Al-Shihr is mentioned by many sources as one of the most important harbours of the medieval Yemen. Ibn Khurradâdhbih, in the IXth century, mentioned it as a call between Oman and Adan and also al Hamdânî, Muqaddasî, Ibn Hawqal and the anonymous author of Kitâb 'Ajâ 'ib al-Hind, in the Xth century. These authors teach us that it was the capital of Mahra and the centre of the trade for frankincense. The city is also mentioned by Ibn al-Mujâwir (Ta …
Mangroves of Oman during the late Holocene; climatic implications and impact on human settlements
The Music of Zenj
Beginning with early evidence of crossover in the music of Zanzibar, the paper considers reflections of Middle Eastern and Arab culture contact in the music of this Indian Ocean island. The paper describes rhythms closely associated with the Hadramawt and usage of instruments more or less generic to the so-called dhow countries. It explores too the connections between the Arabic mawwal (referring broadly to a poem in colloquial Arabic with instru…
Knowledge, Astrology and the Power of Healing in Zanzibar
This paper explores Zanzibari understandings and practices of astrology. In popular milieus in Zanzibar Town, astrology and cosmology are associated with Islamic knowledge and constitute a form of Arabian scholarship that does not necessarily include formal education. One also notes traces of Hindu influence, although no explicit reference to it is ever made. Knowledge of sacred and non-human agency is considered to be of great value. The person …
Du Hadramaout aux Comores et retour
Dans la ville de Shihr, située dans le Hadramaout en bordure de l'océan Indien, la pratique de la migration est ancienne. On sait de longue date que les communautés hadramies ont eu un impact sur la vie économique, politique et sociale de leurs sociétés d'accueil. En parallèle, la communauté de migrants a également joué un rôle majeur dans le Hadramaout. Dans une société où la stratification sociale est énoncée de manière particulièrement rigide,…
L'art de la guerre chez les Swahili
This contribution concerns the role of war among the Swahili and offers a functional interpretation of the fortifications of Kilwa and Pemba within the framework of the relationships between the Swahili, the hinterland populations and the traders from Arabia, Persia or India
From Moroni to Mukalla
Hadhramis on the island of Ngazidja (Comoros) have taken advantage of the specificities of the local social structures to develop strategies that enable them to integrate with the Ngazidja population while at the same time retaining a distinct identity as a community. This is particularly evident in marriage patterns, but also in their participation in the costly aada system. Maintaining an identity as a community is both facilitated by and permi…
East Africa and the Middle East relationship from the first millennium BC to about 1500 AD
Dans cet article, l'auteur tente de montrer les relations existant entre l'Afrique de l'Est et le Moyen-Orient depuis le début du premier millénaire av. J.-C. jusqu'à la moitié du deuxième millénaire ap. J.-C. Il s'appuie sur des données textuelles et archéologiques qui reflètent la fluctuation des liens culturels et économiques entre les deux régions selon les époques et les conditions politiques sur les rives de la mer Rouge et du nord de l'océ…
Les Swahili
À partir de différentes sources (données archéologiques, historiques et linguistiques, récits de voyageurs et traditions orales), cet article tente de montrer comment les populations swahili se sont constituées, et de dégager les composantes sociales et culturelles qui font leur originalité et leur spécificité
Les cités-États swahili et la puissance omanaise, 1650-1720
Between 1650 and 1698, some Swahili cities or factions saw the emerging Omani power as an ally to back their struggle against Portuguese imperialism; Oman was a trading partner in full expansion and, at time, a source of political support. However, after 1698, when the Swahili Coast had come under Omani control, a strong resentment spread against the new occupying force which was accused, as were Portuguese, of threatening the political and econo…
Rites de mort aux Comores et chez les Swahili. Entre islam savant et culture locale
Les rites de mort chez les Comoriens et les Swahili en général constituent une « institution » à travers laquelle se manifeste toute une série d'aspects de leur culture. Or, ils sont contestés par les wahhābīya de la région sous le prétexte qu'ils sont contraires à des origines. Nous voulons, entre autres, montrer que la prétention des wahhābīya à une des pratiques islamiques est une illusion car le fiqh (droit islamique classique) a dès son appa…
Étude paléodémographique et utilisation du feu à Hili N, une sépulture collective en fosse de la fin de l'âge du Bronze ancien aux Émirats Arabes Unis
In 1983, next to one of the monumental circular tombs considered to be diagnostic for the Umm an-Nar Period (ca 2700-2000 BC), a collective burial in a pit-grave was discovered. The first objective of the present study is to establish whether this structure, dated to 2200-2000 BC, i.e. the end of the Early Bronze Age in the region, is associated with a specific funerary practice or to a selection of the buried individuals. The second is to define…
Des coquillages… outillages des Ichtyophages? Mise en évidence d'industries sur Veneridae, du Néolithique à l’âge du Fer (Yémen, Oman, E.A.U.)
From Yemen to the Arabian/Persian Gulf the coastal societies of Arabia developed an industry utilising bivalve shells (Veneridae). From the Neolithic to the Iron Age these shells were transformed into knives or scrapers, the latter sometimes having a characteristic notch. The majority of these tools are manufactured from the left valve, probably selected by right‐handed people. The shell tools are very standardised and did not replace stone tools…
New Approaches to a collective grave from the Umm An-Nar Period at Hili (UAE)
In the Oman peninsula, the Umm an-Nar circular tombs, easily seen in the landscape because of their monumental architecture, have usually been robbed for building stones and for their objects. This was not the case for a pit-grave discovered at Hili (United Arab Emirates) in 1984, which presented a stratigraphy nearly 2 meters deep, with 4 phases of main funeraiy deposits dating to the end of the Umm an-Nar period (ca 2 200-2 000 ВС). Such a stra…
Évolution paléogéographique du Ja'alan (Oman) à l'Holocène moyen
Les fluctuations climatiques, eustatiques et tectoniques qui ont caractérisé la côte orientale de l'Arabie à l'Holocène moyen ont régulièrement modifié les équilibres entre les populations néolithiques et le milieu littoral. Le bilan des données géoarchéologiques de la région orientale du Ja 'alan (Sultanat d'Oman) indique de nombreuses variations dans la dynamique des écosystèmes côtiers (mer, lagunes, mangroves). Elles nécessitent de la part de…
A pottery workshop with flint tools on blades knapped with copper at Nausharo (Indus civilisation, ca. 2500 BC)
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