SECOND CHAPTER: THE FORM OF THE EARTH AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF ITS CLIMATES

p88 …………………..

According to others, the inhabited part of the Earth is 120 years of walking: 90 for Yagog and Magog (1), 12 for Negro country, 8 for Roum, 3 for Arabs and 7 for all other peoples. It is further said that the world is divided into 7 parts, 6 for Yagog and Magog (1) and 1 for all the rest of men; That the Earth is 500 years of march, of which 300 for the seas, 100 for desert lands and 100 for inhabited countries; That the extent of the land is 24,000 parasanges (3), of which 12,000 for the country of the Negroes, 8,000 for Roum, for the Persians 3,000, and 1,000 for the Arabs (132). According to Ouahb ben Mounabbeh (4), the inhabited part of the Earth would be, in comparison with the uninhabited part, like a tent in the desert. Ardechir ben Tabek (5) says that the Earth consists of four parts, one of which belongs to the Turks, the other to the Arabs, the third to Persia, and the last to the Negroes. There are 7 climates, 4 cardinal points; There are 45 regions, 10,000 towns and 256,000 villages, cities and fortresses numbering 21,600. In the first climate there are 3,100 large cities; In the second, 2,713 towns and large villages; In the third 3,079 towns and villages; In the fourth, which is that of Babel, 2,974 cities; In the fifth, 3,006 cities; In the sixth, 3408 cities; And in the seventh, 3,300 cities spread over the islands………….

p90

Abu Zayd Aḥmad ibn Sahl al-Balkhi(133) says: The length of the Earth from the farthest point east to the farthest point west is about 400 day’s journeys. Its width from the inhabited part in the north, which is where the (peoples of) Gog and Magog live, to the inhabited part in the south, (which is where) the Blacks (live), is 220 day’s journeys. Everything (beyond), from the steppes of Gog and Magog all the way to the Surrounding Sea in the north and from the steppes of the Blacks to the Surrounding Sea in the south, is desolate without human habitation. The extent of that is said to

be 5,000 parasangs, but these are assertions which cannot be proven.

p99

…………….. As for the other climates, their inhabitants are much inferior in qualities, and much less elevated in virtues, because of the deformity of their bodies and the wickedness of their nature; Such are the Zings and the Abyssinians.

p101

Furthermore, the inhabited quarter of the Earth with its different regions is distributed among seven great nations, namely, the Chinese, the Indians, the Blacks, the Berbers, the Greeks, the Turks, and the Persians. The south east of the Earth is in the hands of the Chinese, its north is in the possession of the Turks, the middle of the Earth’s south belongs to the Indians, the middle of the Earth’s north is occupied by the Greeks, in the south west of the Earth are the Blacks, and in the north west of the Earth live the Berbers, while the Persians are in the center of these kingdoms, surrounded by the other six nations.

p103

Ibn Khurradadhbih (also) says:(134) It takes seven years to travel through the lands of the Abyssinians and the Blacks. Egypt is one-sixtieth (the size) of the land of the Blacks, and the land of the Blacks is one [sixtieth] part of the entire Earth.

CHAPTER FOUR: LIMITS AND ORIENTATION OF EGYPT

p106 …………………..

Abu 's-Salt Omayah bin Abd el-Aziz (6), in his book on Egypt, says that this country is entirely situated in the inhabited earth, part in the second climate, part in the third, but in the latter for the greater part. Those who have occupied themselves with the annals and history of Egypt report that its limit extends in length from the town of Barca (7) on the southern coast of the sea of Roum (2) to Ailat (8) on the gulf formed by the sea of Abyssinia, the Zings, India and China. This distance represents approximately forty days of walking…………….

CHAPTER SIXTH: OF THE SEA OF ROUM (Rome)

p115

Facing the Indian Sea, to the west, is a sea that starts from the enveloping Ocean, to the west of the land of the Zings, and which ends around the mountain of Qomor; it is in this sea that the Nile flows which crosses Abyssinia, …..

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MEANING OF MISR

p128

Ham’s oldest son was Canaan son of Ham. He is the one who was conceived in sin, in the Ark, so that Noah cursed him and he was born black. Harshness, autocracy and tyranny prevailed among his descendants. He is the ancestor of all the Sudanese and Abyssinians. (Ham’s) second son was Cush son of Ham; he is the ancestor of the people of the Sind and India. His third son was Phut son of Ham, who is the ancestor of the Berbers. And his fourth, and youngest, son was Bayṣar son of Ham, who is the ancestor of all the Copts.

CHAPTER THIRTEENTH: THE CHARACTER OF THE EGYPTIANS. THEIR MANNERS AND THEIR TEMPERAMENT

p248

 (Ibn Abbas said)…some qualities are not known to some people: the generosity of the Romans, and to fulfill the Turk, and courage in the Copts, and sadness in Zinj.

…I know that from the All-Encircling Ocean when the river of India has come out of it, separates a piece is called Zinj Sea it starts from: the country of Yemen and the Berbers Sea.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE SOURCE OF THE NILE AND ITS COURSE

p253-268

As we have said above, the ocean which surrounds the inhabited earth, after having formed the sea of India, is divided into two parts: one of these parts takes the name of the Zing Sea, in the vicinity of Yemen, and the other the sea of the Berbers. In this part of the sea there are a large number of islands, among others the island of Qomr;(10) This island is also called Malay Island; Its length is of four months' march, and its breadth twenty days, and sometimes less; it faces the island of Serendib (9). There are many villages, among others that of Qomryeh which gave its name to the bird qomri. There is said to be a tree from which boards can to cut sixty cubits (11) long and which can hold 160 peoples. Since this country had become too narrow for its inhabitants, they were building houses on the mainland, at the foot of the mountain to which they gave their name and which was called "mountain of Qomr" ………

………….(the mountain) originally bears the name of El-Mogarrad (12); It runs west and ends at 65 degrees from the extreme west; It is there that of the main massif stands the branch of Qomr in which is the source of the Nile and where one meets these dazzling stones like polished silver, to which the name of laughter has been given to be astonished, for all those who look at them are laughing till they die. This stone has also been called the magnet of men.(129)

From the mountain of Qomr starts a branch, called Asiqi, the inhabitants are like wild beasts; Then the mountain has in the west a second branch which extends to the Ocean sea and which is called the mountain of beasts, for it is populated by lions equipped with long dangerous horns. Beyond this branch, other chains are detached from the Mountain of Qomr two of them head to the equator, squeezing the bed of the Nile to the east and west. The eastern chain, known as mount Qaqoul, is interrupted at the equator; The western branch, called Admariah (14) is bathed by the Nile of the Negroes, also known as the Nile River Damadem (15); This mountain stops at the point where it meets the plains of Abyssinie between the cities of Safrah and Himi (16)……….

…………In the region of Qomr there are three rivers: one flows to the east of the mountain on the site of Qanturah (17) and Ma'la; The other, which goes to the west, leaves the mountain named Foot of Adam, wins the city of Saba, waters that of Fardaraet, in the vicinity of the latter, forms a lake to the south of which is the town of Kima, populated by black cannibals; The third river which flows also to the west leaves the mountain and, following many detours, surrounds the town of Dahma (18) and makes of Dahma (18) a peninsula; This town is in fact situated in a loop of the river which envelops it to the east, south, and west, which makes it like a peninsula; (Continuing its course) to the north, the river flows into the Indian sea; Near its mouth and to the west of the river is located the city of Qouarah.

From the mountain of Qomr comes the Nile whose waters formerly were lost on the surface of the ground; But when Naqraush (20) the valiant, son of the first Misraim, son of Markabil, son of Douabil, son of Arbab (21), son of Adam (20), came to Egypt, followed by a great number of the Banu Arbab (21), they populated the country, Built the cities of Amsous (22) and others, and dug the Nile which they directed to the cities. The river before had no regularity in its course; It was spreading in puddles on the ground and its waters were lost. This state of affairs lasted until the time when Naqraouch (23) sent an expedition to Nubia, which dammed the river, and derived from it numerous canals intended to water the new towns; Among other things, a canal which brought the water of the Nile to the town of Amsous (22). Egypt, had been overthrown by the flood, till Budchir (24), son of Qpft, son of Masr, son of Bensar, son of Ham, son of Noah, once again put the banks of the Nile in order who were destroyed by the cataclysm.

………Then Budchir (24), a valiant king…….It is reported that he sent the Egyptian priest Hermes (25) to the mountain of Qomr, from the foot of which the Nile leaves. Hermes's (25) mission was to raise (at the source of the river) statues of brass (128) and to put a lake where the waters of the river flow. It was said to be the priest who restored the two banks of the Nile, whose waters were then lost on the ground and whose course was sometimes interrupted.

The palace where the statues were erected contained eighty-five figures (128) erected by Hermes (25) to unite the water of the Nile, by means of conduits and tufts through which the water flowed. When it came out of the mountain of Qomr, the water entered the statue (128) and came out through the mouth; Hermes then establishes a carefully graduated scale in known cubits (11). All the water was thus brought back to the different beds of the river, which led to two lakes, from which it came out, and threw itself into another lake, where all the waters flowing from the foot of the mountain were united. By means of these statues Hermes (25) regularized the course of the river, which was to bring fertility and welfare to Egypt, and thus became useful, harmful as it was.

The level of the waters had to reach eighteen of these cubits (11), each of which contained thirty-two fingers, so that they might be beneficial. All the surplus was directed, by means of channels, to the right and left of the statutes (128), and spread in the sands and across the country beyond the equator, where they were not used. Without this precaution, the waters of the Nile would have submerged the country they watered.

El-Oualid (27), son of Darmi, the Amalite with a numerous army………….The idea came to him of visiting the sources of the Nile and of knowing the peoples who inhabited its banks. The preparations for the expedition lasted three years, at the end of which he set out at the head of a considerable army, annihilating the peoples whom he passed. He crossed over the country of the Negroes, and having passed it, reached the Gold Region, where the golden stems were seen to rise from the ground. Continuing his march, he reached the lake where the Nile is formed, formed by the waters which rise from the foot of the mountain of Qomr. This is a very high mountain, to which the name of Qomr has been given, because the Moon never rises above it, the mountain is situated beyond the equator. Budchir (24) saw the Nile emerging from the mountain and flowing through streams and channels to the two lakes from which it emerges into two rivers which will meet in another lake. After having passed the equator, the Nile receives as a tributary a river which comes from the region of the river Mehran (26), in India, river who also came out of the mountain of Qomr, and who, from the beginning, is on his way to the Nile. The river Mehran (26) is said to be similar to the Nile; It grows and decreases like it; Like it, it is peopled with crocodiles, and the fishes found there are similar to those of the Nile. El-Oualid (27), son of Dauma, found the palace of the statues of brass (128) built by the first Hermes (25) in the time of Budchir (24), son of Qantarim, son of Qobtim, son of Misraim.

……………………

Arriving at the mountain of Qomr, the historian adds, El-Oualid (27) saw that it was a very high mountain and used a ruse to reach its summit and see what lay behind it. He discovered a black sea like pitch and stink, and the Nile which flowed down the mountain into narrow streams. From this sea came the miasma (28), which destroyed a great number of the companions of El-Oualid (27), and the latter, having nearly succumbed, hastened to descend. Some authors assert that there is neither sun nor moon, but only a reddish gleam like that of the setting sun.

………………..

Qodamah ben Ga'flir,(29) in his book about taxes, says: The Nile is born in the mountain of Qomr beyond the equator; There is a spring from which ten rivers escape; Each group of five rivers flows into a lake; From each lake come two streams that flow into a large single lake in the first climate. From this last lake emerges the Nile. The author of the book entitled: Charm of those who love to traverse the horizons (Edrisi)(30) says that this lake is called Lake Kouri,(31)  named after a tribe of negroes who inhabit its shores; These negroes are savage and eat the men who fall into their hands. From this lake flows the river Ghana and the river of Abyssinia. On leaving the lake, the Nile crosses the country of the Kouris and that of the Yanahs, Negro tribes who live between Katem and Nubia. Arrived at Dongola (32), city of Nubia, the river makes an elbow in the second climate; It is here that the cultivated lands of Nubia extend on both banks. There are large islands covered with towns and villages; Then the river resumes its course towards the east and towards the cataracts.

I have seen in Geography (of Ptolemy)(33), says Ma'sudi (34), a map showing the Nile coming out of the foot of the mountain of Qomr; It is formed, at its origin, by twelve springs flowing towards two lakes, and then, coming out of these two lakes, the waters unite, traverse sands and mountainous regions, and water the territory of the blacks beyond of the country of the Zing, giving birth to an arm which will throw itself into the Zing Sea (35). The Nile flows to the surface of the ground for a length of nine hundred parasanges (3) or a thousand parasanges according to another opinion; It crosses fertile lands and barren regions, inhabited countries, others which are deserted, and finally arrives at Aswan (36) in the Said.(37)

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CHAPTER SIXTEENTH:

REFUSAL OF THOSE WHO THINK THAT THE NILE FLOODING IS NOT DUE TO A TORRENT

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p270

Argument 14: Another argument is that the portion of the Nile which flows through the land of the Abyssinians, namely, the headwaters which come to it from the Mountain of the Moon, does not flood, as the Nile does, for three months and does not remain on the land for the same length of time as the Nile. But, when the river is swollen (at other times), it submerges its banks to the extent that they are low and flat, and once its substance has run off, it is again contained in its bed. Hence, if the Nile’s inundation were the result of a sudden torrent, conditions would have to be identical for both, since both come from one and the same source.

p271

The Egyptians are ignorant about the flood of the Nile because they have not seen the sources and have not been able to observe its origin in the mountain of Qomr, the latter being situated in an uninhabited country……………..

p272

I say: The upshot of what has been advanced above is that the Nile issues from the Mountain of the Qumr, and that its rise is due to nothing but the flux of the sea at high tide. As to its origin being at the Mountain of the Qumr, that is an indisputable fact, for no one contests it. But that its rise should be caused solely by the backflow of the sea on account of a high tide occurring in it, that is not so. …………

p273

Customarily, the torrential streams which are the cause of the increase of the Nile’s water are produced by the abundant rainfalls in the south. The southern rains occur only during the summertime and no one has ever experienced a rise of the Nile in winter. But the clearest proof that the rise of the river is caused by a torrential stream flowing in it is the fact that it rises gradually, depending on how many rain-swollen streams shed into it.

p276

It is told that the Nile is formed by ten streams which flow from the above mentioned Jabal al-Qamar – each five streams gathering into one tributary. Then the ten streams flow into two lakes - five streams into one lake; then a river (bahr) flows from the eastern lake smoothly (latif), eastwards near Mount Qaquli (or: Qaqul, Qaqarli)(38) and passes by the towns of that region, until it enters the Indian Sea. From the two lakes, six rivers flow, i.e. three rivers from each lake; the six rivers unite in a vast lake which is called: The Swamp (al-batiha); on it there is a castle (qasr) which resembles a mountain round which the waters divide into two streams. One of them flows out from the western side of the Swamp, and this is the Nile of the Sudan which becomes a river (bahr) and is called the Great River of the Damadim (bahr ad-Damadim)(15). It turns towards the west between Samghara (39) and Ghana, passing south of Samghara (39) and north of Ghana, it touches the town of Barisa (105), then disappears under a mountain south of that town beyond the equator as far as Rafila, after which it forms a lake in that region, then the remainder of the water continues flowing westwards till the lands of Malli and Takrur (40) and ends in the [western] ocean, south of the town of Qaltabu (Qalab.tu?, Qalb.twa.F.l.su.?). The other half begins on the northern side and flows northwards as far as to the east of the town of Jimi (Himi)(16); there it divides into two branches, one branch flows eastwards to the town of Sahart, then turns south, then again southeast, to the town of Saharta (Sahriyya ?), then to the town of Marka (41), and ends at the equator at Long. 65°, where it forms a lake (buhairah); as for the main branch [of the Nile], from the place where it parts from the [Sahart] branch, east of the town of Shimi (16), it continues its course in the northern direction, passes by the borders of the country of the Habasha, then flows north on the countries of the Sudan to the town of Dumqala (42), until it falls over the cataracts to Aswan (36) and from the foot of these cataracts waters the country of the Said (37) as far as the town of Fostat-Masr;(43) Finally, continuing his course he will throw himself into the sea of Syria. It is commonly believed in the Sudan that the Nile descends from black mountains, which at a distance seem crowned with clouds, and then divides into two rivers, one of which flows into the ocean in the southern part of the sea of Darkness, while the other bathes Egypt and flows into the sea of Syria. It is said that in the extreme south it divides into seven rivers which penetrate into the uninhabited desert, and then, joining together, form only one in the Sudan.

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CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH: MEASURING THE NILE AND ITS FLOOD

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p248

Abu ‘l -Salt (6), concerning the origin of the Nile, says: This river begins beyond the equator and leaves a mountain situated in these regions and known as the mountain of Qomr. The waters begin to grow during the month of Abib (44)……..

Others, moreover, say that this flood is due to the persistence of certain winds, called winds of Moltan, which carry rainy clouds on the other side of the equator; The rain falling in Sudan, Abyssinia, and Nubia, the mass of these waters reaches the land of Egypt, and the Nile increases. In addition, the sea stops the water of the Nile and holds it until it has watered the country…………….

CHAPTER NINETEENTH: OF WHAT HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT THE WATER OF THE NILE IN PRAISE OR IN BLAME.

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p297-298

The Qadi Ala el-Din Ali ben Abu 'l-Harim ben Nafis (45), in his Commentary to Cano (of Avicenna), says: The qualities in question are not properly qualities but mere conditions which help to make water better. One of these conditions, the distance of the source, necessarily renders the water more subtle, as we have shown, on account of the perdition of its motion. The Nile, in fact, emanates from a mountain situated beyond the equator, by 11 ° 30 'of the measurements of the greatest terrestrial circle divided into three hundred and sixty degrees. This mountain extends from 46 ° 30 ' to 61 ° 50' longitude, measured from the extreme west, over a length of 15 ° 20 ', of the three hundred and sixty degrees included in the largest terrestrial circle. From this mountain come out ten rivers produced by springs located in the interior of the mountain. Each bundle of five of these rivers flows into a large circular lake. The center of one of these lakes is situated at 50 ° longitude (from the extreme west) and 7 ° 31 ' south latitude. The center of the second lake lies at the intersection of the 57th degree of longitude and the 7 ° 31 of south latitude. They are equal (in surface) and the diameter of each of them is five degrees. From each of these lakes flow four rivers, which flow into a small circular lake situated in the first climate, the center of which is 53 ° 30 'west and the equator 2 °, the lake being in the first Climate south of the equator. The diameter of this lake is two degrees. All these eight rivers flow into a single lake, from which flows a single river, which is the Nile of Egypt……………….

p304-305

Some people have denigrated the water of the Nile. Abou Bekr ben Ouahshia in his treatise of Agriculture of the Nabateen (46), says: The waters of the Nile originate in a mountain beyond the country of the Negroes, called the mountain of Qomr;

………. And Ibn Riḍwan says: The Nile passes through (the land of) many black tribes. Then, having washed off the dirt and filth in the land of the Blacks, it reaches Egypt and plows its way, from south to north through the middle of it until it flows into the Byzantine Sea.

CHAPTER TWENTY: THE WONDERS OF THE NILE

p316

Another Nile animal is the crocodile. Ibn al-Bayṭar says: The crocodile is a well-known animal which lives in large rivers. There are many crocodiles in the Nile. It is also found in the Indus River. And it may be found in the land of the Blacks, where it is called the “Nile lizard.”

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE: THE CHANNELS COMING FROM THE NILE

p329-330

Towards the beginning of the 30th year of the reign [of the Egyptian King Nadares b. Sabin b. Qobiim](47), the Zanj and the Nuba branches of the Sudan carried out a raid on his kingdom, troubled and pillaged it [Nadares] gathering his armies from the districts (a'mal) of Egypt, prepared boats and sent a general called Filutus (Bilatus?, B.: Philotheos) with 300,000 men and another general with another similar army. He sent 300 boats up the Nile. On each boat there was a magician (kahin), each one capable of doing a special miracle. Then he himself set out with a numerous army, met the multitude of the Sudan who numbered about one million, defeated them, killed a great number and took many prisoners: his armies pursued them until they arrived at a place where elephants are found, in the country of the Zanj. He captured a great number of these animals, as well as leopards (numur) and other wild animals and sent them to Egypt, where he had them tamed.

SECOND PART: CHAPTER II: OF THE CITY OF AMSOUS (22), ITS WONDERS AND ITS KINGS

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Master Ibrahim b. Wasif Shah (48) tells us in his book: Stories and Marvels of Egypt that the old [town of] Misr (Misr al-qadima) was called Amsus (22) and that the first king of the land of Egypt was Naqrawus (19), the powerful, (al-jabbar), son of Miṣraim, and [that] the meaning of Naqrawus (19) is king of his own people.

p15

It is said that it was this king who straightened the bed of the Nile. Formerly, [this river] spread between two mountain ranges. He sent an expedition [of men] to the country of the Nuba to straighten the Nile bed (handasu-ha). They dug a large canal (nahr) flowing from it and built towns along it and planted many trees. He also wished to know the sources of the Nile: he therefore set out [on an expedition] and travelled until he arrived beyond the equator and found himself at the shore of the Dark Lake of Pitch (al-bahr al-aswad az-ziftī) where he saw the Nile welling up to the surface of this lake like a network [of streams]. From there the streams entered Jabal al-Qamar, flowed out of it and ended in [some] swampy lakes (bata’ih). It is also said that it was he who erected the statues (128) which are found in that region. When he returned to Amsus,(22) he divided his kingdom among the children. ……….

p16

 After him ruled Naqrawus, son of Naqrawus. Like his father he was versed in the science of the priests and in talismans. He was the first to build a colossal edifice in Egypt in which he set up images of the seven planets. On the statue of each planet he inscribed its beneficial and its harmful influences. He had all of them draped in splendid robes and appointed servants and custodians for them. He set out from Amsus, heading westward, until he reached the Encircling Sea. Along its shore he erected massive columns with idols on top whose eyes would shine brightly at night. He then proceeded across the land of the blacks all the way to the (source of the) Nile. He ordered the construction of a wall alongside the Nile and built in it gates from which the water would issue.

p19

………………. reigned Eiqam (49), the one who had held his place. There are among the Egyptians legends that reason refuses to believe. It is in his time, as it is related, that Edris (50) appeared, thanks to which Eikam was able to foresee the deluge and to have built a palace of copper on the other side of the Equator on the plateau of the mountain of Qomr. Where eighty-five copper statues (128) were erected through the mouth of which water flowed from the Nile, first falling into a lake and then heading towards Egypt……………..

CHAPTER III: OF THE CITY OF MEMPHIS AND HIS KINGS

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p43

(Malik El Budsir)(24) This same king sent Hermes (25) to the Mountain of Qomr, whence came the Nile; Hermes (25) erected statues of copper (128) , and regularized the banks of the Nile, which formerly flowed in places and everywhere, interrupting its course; Then he marched towards the West to see what was beyond…………..

p60

…………………. The Amalekite El Oualid (27) bin Duma, having set out on an expedition with a considerable army, sent one of his servants, named Fara'un, to Egypt; The latter conquered it, and El Oualid (27) came in his turn, subdued the Egyptians, and, having seized their treasures, continued his march to stop at the sources of the Nile; He visited the mountain of Qomr, and remained there in the retreat for forty years, after which he returned to Egypt……………

p53

(………. After him ruled his son Sa. It is said that Ṣa was the son of Marqunis)

He was followed as king by his son Badaris (B.: Todras) who extended his power over all the provinces.

He carried out a raid in the land of the Zanj and the Habasha (branches) of the Blacks (Sudan). He sent 300 boats (safina) down the Nile, met the Sudan who were about one million in number and defeated them; he killed the majority of them and took a great number of them prisoners. He also took back to Egypt elephants and leopards (numur). On the frontiers of his country he built light-houses (manarat), on which he engraved his name, the account of his journey and of his victory.

p54

In this time, God sent His prophet Ṣaliḥ to the Thamud. It is said that it was he who settled the Nubians where they are now. The story is that, as he was pressing deep into the land of the Abyssinians, killing the nations of the Blacks, he found among them a nation that could read the scrolls of Adam, Seth and Enoch. So he was kind to them and settled them at a distance of about a month’s journey from the land of Egypt. They were called al-Nubah, the Nubians. He died in Memphis.

p66

She [Daluka, the Old Lady], in order to protect Egypt against the enemies, built a wall which extended from the frontiers of Rafah (51)(other manuscripts say zinj) to Ifriqiya (52), the Oases and Nubia. All along this wall there were gates with guards watching day and night, keeping fires alight continually. She had this wall (jidar) built around Egypt within six months; this is the wall known tinder the name of the Wall of the Old Lady.

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CHAPTER XXXI: OF THE COURSE OF THE NILE FROM THE PROVINCE OF ALOUAH AND THE DIFFERENT PEOPLES WHO LIVE ON ITS BANKS

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Inserted in the middle of Ibn Salim's al –Asuwani (al Ouswani) account of Nilotic Sudan (which has been preserved by Maqrizi) is a passage concerned with the sea route to Quanbalu. Although displaced and difficult to interpret, it seems reasonable to suppose that it derives from Ibn Salim, who went on a mission to King George of Maqurra in AD 969. It says nothing about Quanbalu itself except that it is in the country of the Zanj and is the city of their ruler. The route is clearly to Bilad az Zanj, through the text seems distorted, but one can confirm its relevance to this coast by reference to such sailing indications as those given for a journey to East Africa by Al Hamdani (945) This is the text as given by Marcel Devic: 

p286

Travelers who visited the land of the Zendjs gave me the details of the road they keep to get there. They sail on the Sea of China, with the help of the northern wind, close to the continental shore of the peninsula of Egypt till they reach the place they call Ras Djafari (53), which they see as the end of the peninsula of Egypt. From there keeping their eyes on a star that will guide them they go towards the west, then they turn right to the north and follow constantly that direction till they reach Qabila,(54) the capital of the Zendj. From thence they turn towards Djidda (55) in their prayers. Some of these four rivers (tributary rivers of the Nile), says Selym, come from the country of the Zendj, because the zendj wood is floated down by them.

I've had the occasion, to see many people from different tribes in the region of the upper Nile. Most of them recognize a God creature and ask him for help through the intermediary of the moon, sun, or stars. Others do not believe in God and pray to the sun or the fire, others a tree, an animal, everything that fits them.

….and to Sham son of Noah came the south following the land of Egypt and the Maghreb, and his descendants are in of Abyssinia and Zinj and the Copts of Egypt and the people of the Nuba and the African people of African and Berbers…

CHAPTER XXXII: OF THE BEDJAHS,(74) WHO ARE OF THE RACE OF THE BERBERS

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P287

On the far end of their country (=S. Sudan) one finds date palms, grapes, aromatic plants, and other things that grow wild. All sorts of wild beasts live there: lions, elephants, leopards, cheetahs, monkeys, caracals, civet cats, and an animal resembling a gazelle, hand-some-looking, with two horns the color of gold, but of little stamina when hunted.

p305

Al-Hamdani says: Canaan (56) son of Ham married Artil, the daughter of Batawil son of Tiras son of Japheth, and she bore him Khafa and the dark (races): Nubah, Fazzan, the Zanj, the Zaghawah, and (all) the races of the Sudan. It has been said that the Beja are descended from Ham son of Noah, and others have claimed that they are descendants of Cush son of Canaan son of Ham.

CHAPTER LXXXI THE CITY OF THE EAGLE (135)

Ibn Wasif Shah relates: The Amalekite al-Walid ibn Dawmaʿ had set out with a numerous army, moving from country to country and vanquishing their kings, and when he got to Syria, he sent out one of his slaves by the name of ʿAwn, who marched on Egypt and conquered it. Later on, (al-Walid himself) got under way (to Egypt) and was received by ʿAwn. He entered Egypt, (took possession of it) and despoiled its people. Then it occurred to him to explore the source of the Nile, and he set out with a numerous army, after having appointed ʿAwn his deputy over Egypt. He remained absent for forty years.

Taken from : Livre des admonitions et de l'observation pour l'histoire des quartiers et des monuments ou Description historique et topographique de l'Égypte. 3e-4e partie. Translated by M. Paul Casanova

THIRT PART

ABOUT FOUSTAT (43) MISR

(as the Franks were attacking 564 AH) Unable to defend Foustat (43) and Kahirat (Cairo) at the same time, the vizier orders the people to abandon Foustat and to consecrate on defending Kahirat (Cairo)…..on the orders of the vizier the black slave soldiers put Foustat (43) on fire. The fire lasted for more than 50 days… 

THE SIEGE OF KASR AND THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT

(In the year 20 AH) The Muslims had put siege on Bab alioun (57) where there were Rum troops and the principal Copts and their leaders and as their head was the Moukaukis (58)….

Amrou ibn al Asi (59) send then ten individuals among whom was Oubadat ibn as Samit…… Oubadat was black…. Oubadat comes forward and the Moukaukis (58) being afraid of his blackness screams: Take that black away from me and have somebody else coming to talk to. But all said together: That black is superior to us in judgement and knowledge, he is our superior, the best of us, our chef, we all conform ourselves to his word and his judgement. The emir, excluding us special orders and informed us to stand with him his suggestions and his discussions. So you accept that he is superior to you and it is normal that he is superior to you. As black as he is as you see, he is our superior in this situation in the faith, intelligence, and judgement. With us there is no discontent of the blacks. Then the Moukaukis (58) says to Oubadat: O black one, come closer and speak to me softly, because your blackness frightens me and if your language is hard, my fear will double. Oubadat comes closer to him and says: I heard your speech. There are among my companions a 1000 blacks that are more black than me, who look more horrible. If you would see them, you would get even more affright. As to me I am becoming old and my youth is gone; but Thanks God, I am not afraid of 100 man among the enemies, even if they all attack together. Just like all my companions. Our only aim is the holy war to receive the grace from God, and if we attack our enemies who are the enemies of God, then it is not for worldly ambitions are to get rich……

Al KATAI AND THE DYNASTY OF THE BANU TOULON

(Ibn Toulon Reign: 254-270AH)…………Al Katai was a group of public houses where the slaves of Ibn Toulon lived as well as the soldiers and the guards. Every Katai was owned by one of the troops. It was said: the Katai of the blacks, of the Rum, the katai of the Farrach (police)…..

Ibn Toulon asked for the taxes and employed those who fitted. He bought slaves of Rum and Blacks, got all what was needed and left with a big army…..

(Khoumaraweih son of ibn Toulon Reign: 270-282AH) …When they marched, in front of him and in good order and when the different groups of the army had passed they were followed by the Blacks, about a thousand of them with breastplates of artistically worked iron, black clothes and turbans, the once seeing them thought about an black ocean spreading over the land because of their skin and the darkness of their clothes and which became, because of the clearness of the breastplates, the brightness of the swords, and the white in their faces under the turbans a great show…..

The people of Misr complaint to Ahmad ibn Toulon of the problems of the masdjid djami (60)(of Amrou) on Fridays caused by his army of Blacks. He ordered then to build the masdjid djami (60)on the mountain of Yachkour (61)(in 264-266AH)

(Mohammed ibn Suleiman Reign 292-292AH ) …. He made a big massacre of the blacks who lived in the Katai.

TRADITIONS TRANSMITTED ON THE RUIN OF EGYPT

According to Wahb ibn Mounabbih (62) who has said…………Constantinople will be concurred by a man of the Banu Hachim.(63) The ruin of Andalusia will come from the Zandj; the ruin of Ifrikiat (52) through Andalusia…………..

THE RUIN OF AL FOUSTAT (43)

(Under Al Mustansir Reign: 427-487)

Violent engagements took place between them (the Turks  and the Black slaves) in the neighbourhood of Kom Charik (64), where many slaves died and the survivors fled. That affected a lot the mother of al Moustansir because it was through her that the black slaves were that numerous in Misr. That is because being a black slave, she like multiplying the people of her race by buying them from all places. People knew her being predisposed in favour of them and brought those people to Misr to the point that there were in Misr more then 50.000 black slaves. When the battle of Kom Charik (64) took place she reinforced the slaves with money and weapons. ….This was the beginning of the end for Egypt….The Turks (in the end) beat them and had them fled to the Sa’id (Upper Egypt)

….. The whole year (459AH) passed with war against the slaves.

PART FOUR
HISTORY OF THE FATIMIDS

(In 415AH) The army of Ibn Djarrah (65) was raised at al Farama (66), whose population fled to al Kahirat (Cairo). Egypt was reduced to the saddest state by diseases, mortality, high prices, lack of food. There was much to be feared by the assault of the rascals; Thus when the banquet was set up for the Feast of Sacrifice in the Palace, the black slaves assailed the banquet, shouting for hunger and put their hands on everything that was there. The villages were sacked; the greed of black slaves increased as well as their looting. There was shameful things happening on the side of the populace. Adh Dhahir (67) needing a loan, someone from the dynasty brought him money; but others opposed it. Nearly a thousand black slaves gathered, driven by hunger, to plunder the country, and it was shouted that anyone who was being attacked by a black slave should kill him. The people organized for the defence of the country and the people took up arms. In the Sahil region (Syria coast) there were looting and battles with black slaves, where the population was forced to protect themselves by ditches and barricades in the streets and highways. Mi'dad went out at the head of an army, put them to flight, and captured a number whose heads were cut off. The black slaves began to search al Djardjarai (68) and other great figures of the dynasty……

Taken from: al-Mawa'iz wa al-'i' tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar كتاب المواعظ والاعتبار بذكر الخطط والآثار    [المقريزي]  (Al-Maqrizi)  al-maktaba.org

FIFTH PART

THE PALACE OF THE CALIPH AND THEIR VIEWS AND EXPLOITS
They had bought them in Egypt when the precious objects were sold that were found in the palace of the Caliph (Mostanser).
Other coffers in big amounts who contain inkpots of different forms, round and square, small and big, gold, silver, sandal wood, aloes, ebony from Zindjes, ivory and wood of all kinds, enriched with stones, gold, silver or remarkable by the perfection and the elegance of the work.

THE IMPORTANT MOSQUES

(the satanic Mu'tazilis)(69) … claimed that Zinj and the Turks and Indians are able to produce the like of this Qur'an, said Abu Ali and his son Abu Hashem: faith is obedience imposed….

OTHER IMPORTANT MOSQUES

And from Liham ibn Noah (70) in the south following the lands of Egypt the Maghreb to Morocco, and from his offspring are the Abyssinia, Zinj and Copts, the inhabitants of Egypt, the people of Nubia, the Africans and the Berber races.

THE COPTS OF EGYPT AND THEIR ANCIENT RELIGIONS

The descendants of Ham descent from his four sons; that is: Kusc, Misraim, Futh and Kanan. From Kusch come the Habash and the Zindsch, from Misraim the Copt and Nubi, from Futh the Africans and up to el-Magrib el-acsa (71), and from Kanan the people of Syria……and also many Berbers that do not exist anymore.

Taken from: Hamaker, Specimen catalogi codicum MSS orientalium Leiden.

The appendices on the translation by Gaudefroy Demombynes on the book Masalik el absar fi mamalik el amsar by al-Umari.

Note: The only manuscript which contains the fragment, in the very incomplete one from the Leiden university and is missing in all other surviving copies of al-Khitat (Dierk Lange, in texte de Maqrizi sur “Les races du Sudan”, Annales Islamologiques, xv (1979))

The races of the Sudan: (Al Khabar an ajnas al Sudan)
Be it known to you that the Sudan are the people of the Second Clime and what lies beyond it as far as the farthest part of  the first, or rather the end of the inhabited world. They are continuous from west to east for they lie against the land of the Berbers in the Maghrib and Ifriqiya (52) and the lands of the Yemen and the Hijaz (72) and Basra and the lands of India which lie beyond those (in the east). They are of various kinds (sinf), branches (sha'b) and tribes (qabila). The best known in the east are the Zanj, the Habasha, and the Nuba. The Habasha are the offspring of habash b. Kush b. Ham, the Nuba are the posterity of Nuba b. Kush b. Kan'an b. Ham, and the Zanj are the offspring of Zanji b. Kush and that all the other blacks are descendants of Fut ben Ham. Their tribes are 19 in number. The Zenj live on the coast of the Indian sea, they have a town called Mombassa, they are mages (fire worshippers) and under the caliph d'El Mo'tamid,(73) they revolted in Basra with the da'i (chiite). After that is Berbera. Islam is common among its citizens. They have a town Magadiso (Mogadishu), on the Indian Ocean. In the south east live the Demdem (15) who are completely naked. They have invaded the land of the Nubians and the Abyssins, at the same moment when the Tatars (Mongols) invaded Iraq. They destroyed a lot and then returned home.
Their neighbors are the Abyssins who are the most important people among the blacks. They are close to Yemen, on the shores of the western sea. They are Christians.
North of the Zendj and the Abyssins are the tribes of the Beja (74) who are Christian or Muslim, and who possess the island of Souakin.(75)

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Maqrizi: Al Bayaan wal E'raab Amma Be Ard Misr min al A'raab (about the Arab Tribes in Egypt)

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 Taken from:www.islamport.com

(period between 698-754 AH)

And the fierce battles between… and Mamluks, the killing of the two sides…. and chased the Arabs to the country of Sudan, no Bedouin was left in Upper Egypt… Moreover, the princes who went after the Bedouin who escaped the march of seven days even entered the limits of the country of Zinj, then came back to the princes and the sultan to the Mufti (100) of Egypt.

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Maqrizi: Ilmam bi-ahbar man bi-ard al-Habasa min muluk al-Islam

(The book of the true knowledge of the History of the Muslim Kings in Ethiopia) (1436)

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Taken from: Encyclopaedia Aethiopica by Siegbert Uhlig

The Ilmam consists of three chapters of unequal length concerning:

1) the land of al-Habasa (Abyssinia);

2) the land of Zayla; (101)

3) the history of the Walasmac dynasty (102), including the wars between Ifat (103) and Christian Ethiopia (ca. 1275-1550).

They are followed by short notes on: the southern part of the earth, which is [the land of] the black (based on information mainly borrowed from Ibn Said (104) or provided by travellers): the towns of Gana and Barisa (105), Kawkaw (106), Sofala az-Zang, Barbara, Zagawa (107), Dunqula (Dongola)(32), Garmi (108), Maqdisu (Mogadishu), Zayla (101), Hadiyya (109) and Kanem.(110)

 In the sea of Zanguebar there is a big island that is four months of walking in longitude and 20 days walking wide, it lays opposite Ceylon; and between the different places that are within the island, there is one called Komriyya, from where the bird called komri gets its name.  This island is to small for its big population, its population immigrates to the continent, where they make several settlements on the coast that carries the name from them; the Mountain of Komr.

Taken from: Dissertation: The Spread of Islam and its impact in Abyssinia By Mohammed hamidin abdulsemed. (Arabic)

Know that the country of Abyssinia is the first from the east, which is inclined to the north, the Sea of India, which passes through Bab al-Mandab (111) to the country of Yemen, and through it passes a sweet river called Sihon (112) that extends the Nile to Egypt. Western Abyssinia ends in Bilad al-Takrur (40). From what follows Yemen the first of which is the cave of a place called Wadi Baraka (113), from which it reaches Sihr (114) It was the city of the kingdom in the old days and it is called Achshum (Axum) and it was of the Negus, then the region of Amhara (115), and it is now the city of the kingdom. It is also called Maradi (116), then Shawa (117) region (Showa), then Damot (118) region, Laman province (119), Sinhu region, then Zinj region, Amara’s province (115), Hamas region, Baria region (120), then the Islamic style region, which is called Al Zaila.(101)

Taken from: كتاب الالمام باخبار من بارض الحبشة من ملوك الاسلام

Mekdho (Mogadishu) depends of both the land of the Zendjs and Abyssinie, it is outside the first climate on the southern site, Mekdho is at the shore of the Indian Ocean, its people are Muslims. There is a big river there that resembles the noble one of Egypt.

(one page further is written)

A branch of the Nile of Egypt, passes close to Mekdho (Mogadishu) and goes close to the Indian ocean. Ibn al-Madj (121)(or Ibn-Almadjd) from Mosul calls Mekdho a big town of the Zendj and the Habacha.

Safalat al- Zunaj

…… south of the equator. Sofala is in the land of the Zanj. According to the author of the canon (122), the inhabitants are Muslims. Ibn Said (104) said that their chief means of existence are mining gold and iron, and that they dress in leopard skins. According to Masudi (34), horses do not reproduce in the land of the Zanj, so that the warriors go on foot or fight from the back of oxen.

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Maqrizi: Kitab al-Maqasid al-saniyyah li-ma’rifat al-agsam al-ma’diniyyah

(Treatise about Minerals)

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Taken from: Al-Maqrizis Traktat uber die Mineralien: Kitab al-Maqasid by Fabian Kas.

In India there are goldmines and also in Damadem (15) are goldmines. In Sufala al Zang there is a silver mine and

in India mines for iron from which the Indian swords are made. (140)

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Al-Maqrizi: an-Niza' wa't-Takhasum

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Taken from: http://www.danielpipes.org/7997/black-soldiers-early-muslim-armies#_ftn38

 …there were 4,000 Zanj slaves headed by a qa'id in the army of the provincial governor of Mawsil (Mosul) during the Caliphate of Abu Ja'far al-Mansur (754-775 AD) (141)

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Al Maqrizi: aleuqud alfaridat fi tarajum al'aeyan almufida

(Unique Contracts in Useful Librarian Studies)

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Taken from: درر العقود الفريدة في تراجم الأعيان المفيدة - ج 2 - ح - غ

792 - Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Umar ibn Abi Bakr ibn Abur, the king the son of King Muzaffar the son of King Mansour, lord of Makdashu. (123)

793 - Ali bin Ibrahim bin Ali bin  Aladdin …….

1281 - Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Muhammad, judge of Lamu city (126).  Namely one of the cities of the Zanj on the coast of the Sea of Berbera. It is located west (sic) of the city of Mogadishu for about twenty stages. Those who penetrated the south did not see a plant for several years, but the sand rose on some of their lands many fathoms. He came to Mecca as a pilgrim, while I was there in the year thirty-nine and eight hundred (1436AD), so, he had knowledge of jurisprudence according to the doctrine of Imam al-Shafi’i (124) and the statutes, so that the book "Al-Hawi" (125) is brought with worship and asceticism and his birth was in the year eighty-seven and seven hundred. He told us that the monkeys defeated the city of Mogadishu from about the year eight hundred, until people were bothered in their homes and markets. And they took pots and other things, God willing, monkeys attack people and take whatever food they find, so the owner of the house began to follow that monkey and still be kind to him to hand over the bowl after eating what is in it, if the monkey attacked the house and saw a single woman he would have intercourse with her. (130)

He said: It is customary for the Lord of Mogadishu to stand on the balcony, if they congregate, the window of the palace is opened, and the people of the state will fall to the ground, kiss it, and if they rise up they found the king supervising them from that territory, so he orders, ends, and disposes of the affairs of his state. When on some days they stood in the custom to serve, and when the window was opened, they kissed the soil according to their custom and rose up. So, a monkey has sat on the place of the king and supervises them, and as a whole he walks behind him in a steady manner

He said: They see that the monkey bullying them is a punishment from God Almighty for them for the sins they have fallen into. (130) He said: The sea throws amber to the coast of the city of Lamu (126), so the king takes it, and that the sea once threw a piece of amber weighing 1200 pounds .And the banana tree they have in big amounts, and several types, including a type of banana with the length of an arm, and they make of banana molasses; it lives for more than a year and they also makes candy from it.

Note: Dr. Muhammad Hussain Muallem Ali wrote in his article: Al-Maqrizi ... between Lamu and Mogadishu (2020) that the text of Maqrizi got messed up. This story of the Qadi of Lamu has a story of Mogadishu in it but ends again with a description of Lamu (126). As the description of the customs in Mogadishu as found by Ibn Battuta are very different from those described here; the story should not be attributed to Mogadishu. Dr. Muhammad does not conclude that it needs to be attributed to Lamu; only that a mess-up happened.

Note: Abu al-Mahasin by his writing on Lamu (2) gives evidence of the existence of old Lamu town. Today it is covered by a sand dune called Hedabu hill situated between Shela and present day Lamu. More evidence of old Lamu comes from the Pate chronicle and Archeology.

Taken from: درر العقود الفريدة في تراجم الأعيان المفيدة - ج 3 - ف – ي

988  - Mahmal bin Abi Bakr bin Nasser bin Ahmed Al-Abdari Al-Shaibi, Jamal al-Din, Sheikh bin Shaybah.

Crowned sheikhdom after Muhammad ibn Yusuf in Jamada al-Awwal (127) in the year forty-nine and seven hundred (1348AD), then other stook over with Abu al-Fadl in the year fifty-seven, then he was re-established (as sheikh), and he died in the year of seventy-seven and seven hundred (1375), and he was in the seventies, and he was a bold man of virility and high interest. He had heard the hadeeth and had gone to Misr, Muqdashuh (Mogadishu), and other (places). (131)

Taken from: درر العقود الفريدة في تراجم الاعيان المفيدة: تأليف تقي الدين ... by  مقرزي، ٱحمد بن علي

Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Ahmed Al-Maqdishi Bashin Mu’jamah. (139)

He was born in the year seven hundred and fourteen (1314AD). And he heard most of the “Sahih Muslim” (136) from Abu Al-Faraj Ben Abd al-Hadi (d. 749/1348), and he spoke of it, and there was humor in it. His companions nicknamed him the Chief of Judges because he used to often mutter about it with great integrity and a lot of worship and religion. He died on the sixteenth of the month of Rajab (137) in the year eight hundred and two (1400AD) (138), at the age of about Ninety years.

(1) Yagog and Magog: high North of the globe.

(2) Roum : Rome

(3) parasanges: 1 parasangs or farsakhs = 2.8 nautical miles/ about 5km.

(4) Ouahb ben Mounabbeh : Wahb ibn Munabbih was a Yemenite Muslim traditionist of Dhimar; died in 738. Among Wahb's many writings may be mentioned his "Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiya'" ("Story of the Prophets") and "Kitab al-Isra'iliyat" ("Book of the Israelites").

(5) Ardashir: Ardeshir-ibn-Babek: Ardashir I (l. c. 180-241 CE, r. 224-240 CE) was the founder of the Persian Sassanian Empire, which lasted from 226 A.C to 652 A.C. He was the son of prince Babak. Mentioned by:

-Japheth ben Ali ha-Levi (10th): Ardashir who reigned from India unto the land of al-Zanj.

-Al-Dimashqi (1325): Ardeshir-ibn-Babek divided the Earth into four parts, one belonging to the Turks, the other to the Arabs, the third to the Persians, the fourth to the Negroes.

- Nuwayri (1333); Dara the elder, son of Ardashir,(50) married the daughter of the king of Zinj.

- Maqrizi (1441): Ardechir ben Tabek says that the Earth consists of four parts, one of which belongs to the Turks, the other to the Arabs, the third to Persia, and the last to the Negroes.

(6) Abu 's-Salt Omayah bin Abd el-Aziz: Abu al-Salt (c. 1068—1134) was an Andalusian-Arab.

(7) town of Barca: ancient town on the coast of Libya.

(8) Ailat; Eilah: on the Gulf of Aqaba or Gulf of Eilat.

(9) Serendib: in Sumatra

(10) island of Qomr; This island is also called Malay Island : Madagascar; he talks about the boats they build.

(11) Cubits: Distance from fingers to elbow (45cm).

(12) El-Mogarrad: literally; the naked.

(13) Magnet of men: Pieces of the story of the tones Baht or Bahit brought by Alexander from the country of the Zanj and found in the mountains of the moon called the magnet of men or who make people laugh till they die and which story comes originally from Aristotle can be found in: al Maqrizi (1441); Suyuti (1445-d1505); Qadi Ibn Sasri Al-Shafi’I (1300); Al Umari (1349); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Al Zuhri (1137); Salamanca translator (1420).

(14) Admariah: a but later the name to the mountains given is Adamdamah

(15)  Nile River Damadem; Al-Dimashqi (1325) speaks of river of Demadem or of Maqdashou. Cowar el-aqalim (1347) also speaks pf the Nile of Demadem or of Maqdashou. al Maqrizi (1441): the Nile River Damadem.

(People of ) Demdem: Abulfida (1331) gives a lot of information on them. According to Reinaud these are among the people living between the White Nile and the lake Chad. Idrisi (1150) says Dendema is a town close to Sofala; and the country of the Demdems he situates more north in the African interior. According to Ibn Said (1250) these are the once who invaded Nubia and Abyssunie around 1220 AD (when the Mongols invaded Persia).

Demadem: Demadem; Damadim; Dandama: East African people living in the interior, close to the sources of the Nile; also mentioned by Al Masudi (916); Al Idrisi (1150); Ibn Said (1250); Ibn al Jawzi (1257); Harrani (1300); Qadi Ibn Sasri Al-Shafi’I (1300); Cowar el-aqalim (1347); al Himyari (1461); Abulfida (1331); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Said Abd al Aziz al Dairini (d1385); Ibn Khaldun (1406); Al Qalqashandi (d1418) and Ibn al Wardi (1456) speaks about Demadam.

Nil of Maqdishu: Nile of Mogadishu: This is the Shabelle River begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. Below Mogadishu, the river becomes seasonal. Al Zuhri : (1137) Makes the people divert themselves the Nile into a branch to the sea of Yemen; In Dimashqi (1325) it is called the river of Damadim; and he is the only one who kind of understands the river-system in South-Somalia. Salamanca translator (1420): calls it yellow Nile. Ibn Khaldun (1406) says it has nothing to do with the Nile. Nile of Mogadishu appears in Ibn Said al Maghribi (1250); Cowar el-aqalim (1347); Abulfida (1331); al Maqrizi (1441)he calls it River of the Damadim ; Hafiz I Abru (1420); Qoutb al-Din al-Chirazi (1311); Al Qalqashandi (d1418); Qadi Ibn Sasri Al-Shafi’I (1300) Cowar el-aqalim (1347).

(16) Himi: Jimi (Gimi), (Himi): al Makrizi (1441) mentions it on the Niger; abulfida (1331) and Ibn Said (1250) make it the kaptial of Kanim/Kanem (110). Al Umari (1349) has Jimi, Jamie, Chemi.

(17) Qanturah: literally incense.

(18) town of Dahma: Dimashqi (1325) calls it Dahma and Dahna; al Maqrizi (1441) has Dahna.

(19) Naqraush: also mentioned by Wasif Shah (1209): King Naqraus: Maqrizi (1441) has Naqraush; also mentioned by Suyuti (1505); Wasif Shah (1209) has: King Naqraus.

(20) Naqraush the valiant, son of the first Misraim, son of Markabil, son of Douabil, son of Arbab, son of Adam: Suyuti copies this literally.

(21) Banu Arbab: literally meaning Lords. He is better known as Abel.

(22) Amosus: several Pharaohs had the name Ahmose. Wasif Shah (1209) writes: “There was in old Misr, whose name was then Amsus ….” so it should have been an old name for Egypt. Murtada Ibn al-Afif (d1237) has Emsos; Nuwayri (1333): Amosus; al Maqrizi (1441): Amsus Amsous; Assus in Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th); Suyuti (1505): Amsous.

(23) Naqraouch: see Naqraush (nr 20) also written Néqraous. Wasif Shah (1209) has: King Naqraus.

(24) till Budchir, son of Qpft, son of Masr, son of Bensar, son of Ham, son of Noah:  Wasif Shah (1209): Al-Budashir: literally meaning form the Red House. Found in Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Wasif Shah (1209) has Al-Budashir; Nuwayri (1333) has Al-Boudsir, Ibn Khaldun (1406) Al-Boudashir Ibn Qubt; al Maqrizi (1441) has Budchir; Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th) has Berdashir; Suyuti (1505) has Budchir.

(25) Hermes: The first Hermes, was a "civilizing hero", an initiator into the mysteries of the divine science and wisdom that animate the world. Hermes is here a legendary Hellenistic figure that originated as a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth in the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.

(26) The river Mehran (Mekran): Mehran of al-Sindh: a local name for the Indus River in Sindh, Pakistan.

(27) El-Oualid, son of Dauma: Al-Walid: Ar-Rayyan ibn al-Walid ibn Dauma was an Amalekite king of Misr during the time of Prophet Yusuf (=Joseph)

Walid is mentioned in the following books: Al-Mas'udi: (916) Kitab al-Ausat; Ibn Babawayh (991); Maslamah ibn Ahmad Majriti (1050); Katib Marrakesh (12th); Wasif Shah (1209); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Nuwayri (1333); Maqrizi (1441) (Oualid); Ibn Abd'essalem al-Menoufi (15th); Suyuti (1505).

(28) miasma: The miasma theory held that epidemics were caused by miasma, emanating from rotting organic matter.

(29) Qodamah ben Ga'flir, in his book about taxes: see my webpage on Qadama (930) .

(30) Edrisi: see my webpage: Idrisi (1150).

(31) Lake Kouri: Lake Kuri: although many Arab geographers mention this lake the one that treads it the most is Ibn Said (1250). He mistakenly identifies the third lake of the Nile with it and with lake Chad.

(32) Dongola: Old Dongola is a deserted town in what is now Northern State, Sudan.

(33) Ptolemy: see my webpage Ptolemy (150-400).

(34) Ma'sudi: see my webpage Ma'sudi (916).

(35) an arm which will throw itself into the Zing Sea: This is the Nile of Mogadishu.

(36) Aswan: the southern border town of Egypt on the Nile.

(37) the Said: Southern part of Egypt.

(38) Mount Qaquli: also found in Suyuti (1505).

(39) Samghara: also found in Maqrizi (1441); Al Umari (1349).

(40) Takrur: at the border between Senegal and Mauretania. Already mentioned by al Bakri in 1067.

(41) town of Marka: here the town of Merca on the coast of Somalia. Most other authors call this the Nile of Mogadishu; Maqrizi calls it Nile of Demadem. The fact that it ends in a lake indicates that it did not reach the sea anymore as is the case today. Previous authors made it reach the ocean close to Mogadishu. See also note nr 15.

(42) town of Dumqala: must be Dongola: Old Dongola is a deserted town in what is now Northern State, Sudan.

(43) Fostat-Masr; Fustat-Misr now part of Cairo.

(44) month of Abib: The first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year.

(45) Qadi Ala el-Din Ali ben Abu 'l-Harim ben Nafis: see my webpage on Ibn al-Nafis (1288).

(46) Abou Bekr ben Ouahshia in his treatise of Agriculture of the Nabateen: see my website Ibn Wahshiyya (904).

(47) Egyptian King Nadares b. Sabin b. Qobiim: Nadares  ben  Saben Qobtim  ben  Misraim  ben  Beisar ben  Ham  ben  Noé. According to Wasif Shah he was one of the first kings to reign over the whole of Egypt.

(48) Ibrahim b. Wasif Shah: see my webpage Wasif Shah (1209).

(49) reigned Eiqam: known as Anqam  the Priest, this legend in repeated by Wasif Shah (1209); Nuwayri : Nihayat al-Arab (1333) and Murtada Ibn al-Afif (d1237); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335) and Makrizi (1441) have Eiqam; Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th) has Am Kaam. Anqam , son of Aram : Aram was a son of Shem son of Nun, and the father of Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash.

(50) Edris appeared: Idris: is an ancient prophet mentioned in the Quran, whom Muslims believe was the third prophet after Seth. He is the second prophet mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition has unanimously identified Idris with the biblical Enoch.

(51) Rafah: is an important city in North Sinai and Egypt's eastern border with the Gaza Strip.

(52) Ifriqiya; Ifriquia; Ifrikiat: Ifriqiya, was the area of eastern Algeria, present-day Tunisia and Tripolitania (today's western Libya).

(53) Ras Djafari: Hafouni: Ras Djafary or Cape Hafun; a promontory in the northeastern Bari region of Somalia.

(54) Qabila; Qanbuluh: The island of Qanbalu from where the Zanj slaves were imported till the great Zanj revolt in Basra. (Zanzibar or Pemba).

(55) Djidda; Jidda: Jeddah: town at the shore, close to Mecca.

(56) Kenan, the son of Ham, married Arteyt, the daughter of Benawyl Ibn Ters Ibn Yafeth. She gave birth to Haka and El Asawed, and the Nouba, and Koran, and Zendj, and Zaghawa, and all the tribes of the negroes: al-Maqdisi (966) has; Cham = Ham (Son of Noa) married Yakhleb, daughter of yareb, son of Aldermesil, son of Mahwil, son of Enoch, son of Cain, son of Adam, she got from him three children, Kouch, Fout, and Chanaan= Kenan.

Kuch became the father of the Abyssinians and the people of Sind and India. Chanaan from the Negroes, the Nubiens, the people of Fezzan, the Zendjes, the Dhaghal, the Zagliawa and the Berbers. Fout became the father of the Copts. These people are divided in 17 languages.

(57) Bab alioun: Byzantine fortress.

(58) Moukaukis: title of the governor of Byzantine Alexandria; however recent research revealed that the name of moukaukis was given to the Melkite patriarch of Alexandria.

(59) Amrou ibn al Asi: Amr ibn al-As al-Sahmi (c. 573 – 664) was the Arab commander who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664.

(60) masdjid djami: known as the Friday mosque of ibn Tulon.

(61) Yachkour: hill in Cairo.

(62) Wahb ibn Mounabbih: Ouahb ben Mounabbeh : Wahb ibn Munabbih was a Yemenite Muslim traditionist of Dhimar; died in 738. Among Wahb's many writings may be mentioned his "Qisas al-Anbiya'" ("Story of the Prophets") and "Kitab al-Isra'iliyat" ("Book of the Israelites").

(63) Banu Hachim: was a branch of the tribe of Quraysh (tribe of Mohammed).

(64) Kom Charik: is a locality situated in the north-west of the Nile-delta.

(65) Ibn Djarrah: Hassan ibn Moufarrih ibn Djarrah (a Suni) who just before was fighting at Tai against the commander of Ramleh in Syria. Hassan ibn Djarrah would through several years concur nearly the complete territory of Syria from Adh Dhahir (Ismaili).

(66) al Farama: was an important city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta.

(67) Adh Dhahir: literally one of the names of Allah: He is the First (nothing is before Him). Here it is the Fatimid caliph Az-Zahir (=Dhahir) Abu-l-Hassan Ali (1021–1035)

(68) al Djardjarai: Abu-l-Gassim Ali ibn Ahmad al-Jarjaraí, (Iraq,? - 1045) was a Fatimid vizier. Az-Zahir Abu-l-Hassan Ali (1021–1035) appointed him vizier in 1027. He held the post under his successor Al-Mustansir (1035–1094) until his death in 1045.

(69) Mu'tazilis: Originally; Those who would neither condemn nor sanction Caliph Ali or his opponents but took a middle position. Later: By the 10th century CE the term had also come to refer to an Islamic school of speculative theology in Basra and Baghdad.

(70) Liham ibn Noah: better known as Ham ibn Noah.

(71) el-Magrib el-acsa: Magreb-alacsa =Morocco

(72) Hijaz; Hedjah: Hedjaz or Hijaz: the province of Mecca.

(73) caliph d'El Mo'tamid: Al-Muʿtamid was the Abbasid Caliph from 870 to 892.

(74) Beja; Buja: in N Sudan. The Egyptians leaving from Aswan;  the southern border town on the Nile; have to cross their territory to reach the harbours on the Red Sea.

(75) Souakin; Suakin: or Sawakin is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port.

(76) Fatimid dynasty: was an Ismaili Shia caliphate of the 10th to the 12th centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa.

(77) Kanz ed-dauleh, governor of Aswan is mentioned in 1173 and 1175.

(78) al-Malik al-Adil: al-Malik al-'Adil Saïf ad-Din Abou Bakr; he was the seventh Ayyubid sultan to rule Egypt. Al-Adil II reigned from 1238-1240.

(79) Tukush: maybe Bektash ibn Toukati, prefect of Cairo.

(80) a patent of the emir of fifty horsemen: meaning the slave received this title of Emir of fifty horsemen.

(81) Bab al-Koullat gate: the gate connecting the palace with the military quarter.

(82) Emir Rokn ad-Din al-Hidjavi: he is mentioned from 1238 till 1246 when he is imprisoned by the sultan. (In 1241 he had changed sites and had joined the ruler of Damascus with a part of the Egyptian army).

(83) aloe wood: Aloe: An evergreen perennial, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula.

(84) Qumar: here Khmer (Cambodia).

(85) Kalah: very important harbour in Malaysia in those days.

(86) Djoumada: Jumada: Jumada II is the sixth month in the Islamic Calendar.

(87) King Mankou-Timour: Khan of the Tartars (Mongols) of Capdjak.

(88) Emir Izz-eddin-Aibek-Fakhri: the Emir gets mentioned several times between 1280 and 1307.

(89) SULTAN MELIK-NASER-MOHAMMED-BEN-KELAOUN: (1285–1341) was the ninth Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt who ruled during three reigns: December 1293–December 1294, 1299–1309, and 1310 until his death in 1341.

(90) Emir Burlughi-Aschrafi: one of the Emirs under Mamluk Sultan Melik Naser Mohammed Kelaoun. He gets mentioned by Maqrizi in 1304 and 1308.

(91) two sheriffs Abou'lghaib and Otaifah: the sons of Abou-Noumai who had been imprisoned by their two brothers after the dead of their father but had escaped and asked in Egypt for help. The two brothers were arrested and the two sheriffs established as Sheriffs in Mecca. They were assigned sufficient revenue.

(92) Emir Nougai: a mamluk of Selar the governor of Egypt.

(93) Shereef Homaidah: Sharif of Mecca died 1319. He belonged to the Catadidas dynasty, and was the son of Sherif Abu - Nami.

(94) Sultan al Salih Salih: (1337–1360/61) was the Egyptian Mamluk sultan in 1351–1354.

(95) al-Mujahid Ali (Yemen): Rasulid sultan(r. 1322-1363).

(96) Dahlak: island off the Eritrean coast.

(97) month of Shaban: the eighth month of Islam's Hijri or lunar calendar.

(98) Saada: north-western Yemen (but inland).

(99) Taiz; Ta’izz: is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni Highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea.

(100) Mufti: is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (fatwa) on a point of Islamic law (sharia).

(101) Zayla: Zeila in N Somalia close to Djibouti.

(102) Walasmac dynasty: The Sultanate of Ifat, or Awfat was a medieval Sunni Muslim state in the eastern regions of the Horn of Africa between the late 13th century and early 15th century. It was formed in present-day Ethiopia around Zeila. Led by the Walashma dynasty, the polity stretched from Zequalla to the port city of Zeila.

(103) Ifat: Muslim sultanate in Ethiopia.

(104) Ibn Said: see my webpage on Ibn Said (1250).

(105) Barisa: between Takrur and Ghana on the Niger.

(106) Kawkaw: Gao in Mali.

(107) Zagawa: also called Beri or Zakhawa, are a Sahelian Muslim ethnic group primarily residing in Fezzan North-eastern Chad, and western Sudan, including Darfur.

(108) Garmi: al-Zayyat (1058) has Yarma, an important city in Ethiopia, also found in Maqrizi (1441); as Garma in Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th).

(109) Hadiyya: is an ethnic group native to Ethiopia.

(110) Kanem: in West Africa.

(111) Bab al-Mandab: Bab al-Mandeb: is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa.

(112) river called Sihon: These four rivers are the rivers of Paradise: Pishon (Sihon), Gihon (Nile), Hiddekel (the Tigris), and Phirat (the Euphrates).

(113) Wadi Baraka: on the border with Sudan.

(114) Sihr; here the name of the Nile in Ethiopia.

(115) Amhara: are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to Ethiopia, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia.

(116) Maradi: in eastern Shawa declined in later medieval period.

(117) Shawa region (Showa): Shewa or Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region in central Ethiopia.

(118) Damot: Kingdom of Damot was a medieval kingdom just east of Shawa in Ethiopia.

(119) Laman province: also central Ethiopia.

(120) Baria region: The Kunama and Baria tribes inhabit north-west. Eritrea, Ethiopia.

(121) Ibn al-Madj: also found in Abulfida) (1331).

(122) author of the canon: see my webpage; Al Biruni; Al-Qanum al Mas'udi (1030) (Picture of the world).

(123) Ali ibn Yusuf ibn 'Umar ibn Anwar: this sultan of Mogadishu is mentioned in the Album Stephen list (see my webpage on Mogadishu Coins and Sultans.). This means he putted his name on the coins he had minted. Ibn Yusuf is also mentioned by Al-Sakhawi (1497); al Asqalani (d1448); Maqrizi (1441); Abd al Basit ibn Khalil (1490).

(124) Imam al-Shafi’i: Mohammed bin Idris Shafi'i: (767–820 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian, writer, and scholar, who was the first contributor of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence. His legacy on juridical matters and teaching eventually led to the formation of Shafi'i school of fiqh.

(125) the book "Al-Hawi": Al-Hawi or Kitab al-Ḥawi fi al-ṭibb translated as The Comprehensive Book on Medicine is a medical composition authored by Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi in the 10th century.

(126) city of Lamu: Lamu island with Lamu town, a tourist attraction in Kenya.

(127) Jamada al-Awwal: is the fifth month of the 12 lunar months in the Islamic calendar.

(128) 85 tamatil: or tamafil: the 85 copper or bronze statues build at the source of the Nile by Hermes. They are mentioned by the following authors: Maslamah ibn Ahmad Majriti (1050); Wasif Shah (1209); Murtada Ibn al-Afif (1237); Picatrix: (1256); Nuwayri (1333); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); al Maqrizi (1441); Ibn al Wardi (1456); Dhikr Kalam al-Nas fi Manba’ al-Nil (15th); Suyuti (d1505).

(129) Pieces of the story of the stones Baht or Bahit brought by Alexander from the country of the Zanj and found in the mountains of the moon called the magnet of men or who make people laugh till they die and which story comes originally from Aristotle can be found in: Al Zuhri (1137); Qadi Ibn Sasri Al-Shafi’I (1300); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Al Umari (1349); Salamanca translator (1420); al Maqrizi (1441); Suyuti (1445-d1505).

(130) the monkeys: Ibn Said (1250); Qadi Ibn Sasri Al-Shafi’I (1300); Al Marvazi (1120) mentions Aden, where female apes were offered for sale to visitors who could not afford to buy slave girls, Al Maqrizi (1441) copied by Abu al-Mahasin (1441) and  Al-Sakhawi (d1497) describes this same behaviour of the monkeys in the towns of East Africa, from where the monkeys supposedly were imported to Aden.). Al-Idrisi (1150) and Ibn Al Wardi (1456) has the merchants of Yemen use them as slaves to guard their belongings and money in their shops.

(131)  also mentioned by al Fasi (1430).

(132) These words are mostly attributed to Qatada (see my webpage: Umayr Ibn Qatadah 'Ubayd b. 'Umayr (d694)); and are repeated by: Ibn al-Fakih al Hamadhani (903); Al Garnati (1169); Abu Nasr Mutahhar al-Maqdisi (966); al Maqrizi (1441); Mudjmal al -Tawarikh (1126); Ibn al Jawzi (d1200) Yakut (1220) and many others.

Parasanges: 1 parasangs or farsakhs = 2.8 nautical miles/ about 5km. As the nautical mile is way closer to the real distance you see often the translation 24000 miles.

(133) A student of the philosopher al-Kindī and a prolific scholar and writer on falsafah and geography (see Fihrist, transl. Dodge, 303-04, for a list of his works) under the patronage of the ruler of Balkh; died 934. See “al-Balkhī” (D.M. Dunlop) in EI2.

(134) see my webpage Ibn Khordadbeh (886).

(135) The entire chapter is taken from al-Masʿudi, section 1 from his Muruj al-dhahab (Prairies d’or 2:382), sections 2 and 3 from his Akhbar al-zaman.

(136) Sahih Muslim is a 9th-century hadith collection and a book of sunnah compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (815–875).

(137) Rajab: is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar.

(138) 802AH = 1400AD

(139) is also mentioned by Muhammad al Fasi (1430); Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1448); Al-Sakhawi (1497); Al Maqrizi (1441); Abd al Basit ibn Khalil (1490).  But it is unsure that al-Maqdishi stands for Mogadishu.

(140) This statement comes originally from Idrissi (1150).

(141) This he copied from Abu Zakariyya al Azdi: Tarikh al Mawsil (History of Mosul) (d945).

(142) This is the curse of Ham which is repeated with variations by:

- Ibn Qutayba (880)

- Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (897)

- Al-Kisa'i (d904)

- Al Tabari (922): collects all that was already written about the subject (including denials).

- Eutychius of Alexandria (940)

- Muhammad Bal'ami (10th)

- Grandson of Muhallib bin Muhammad bin Shadi (1126)

- Al Jawzi (1200): he denies the curse.

- Al-Qazwini (1283) in Atar al Bilad

- Al Rabghuzi (1300)

- Al Dimashqi (1325)

- Ibn Khaldun (1406): he denies the curse.

- al Maqrizi (1441)

- Mirkhond (1495)

- Alf layla wa Layla (15th)

- Suyuti (1505): in some of his books refutes it in others he just repeats it.

And many others.

Note on: Mahmal bin Abi Bakr bin Nasser bin Ahmed Al-Abdari Al-Shaibi, Jamal al-Din, Sheikh bin Shaybah.

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This person is very important for the religious Somali; Dr Mohamed Hussein Moallin writes (2002):

We are the guardian of God's sacred house

….…. During my reading of some sources, I found the translation (of the live of) of Mr. Muhammad bin Abi Bakr bin Nasser bin Ahmed Al-Abdari Al-Shaibi Al-Mukki in more than one source, such as the book “Al-Aqd Al-Thamin fi Tarikh Al-Balad Al-Ameen” by Al-Faasi Taqi al-Din Abu al-Tayyib Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Ali al-Makki …. As well as the translation of al-Maqrizi Taqi al-Din Muhammad bin Ali in his book “Durar al-Aqd al-Faridah fi Tarajim al-Alam al-Mufida. However, El Fassi was singled out by saying: “...and he was born - as far as I was told - in the country of Mekdco: and he used to frequent it, and some of his children were born to him there.” End. While al-Maqrizi gave a very brief translation, including his saying: “He entered Egypt, Mekdco , and others places.” End. Perhaps he meant Egypt, Mekdco, meaning the country of Mogadishu. Al-Shaibi's relationship with his birthplace Mogadishu, and his first country Somalia, was permanent. Even when he moved away from it, he used to return to it, and his connection with it was not interrupted. And when he visited the holy places - Mecca and Medina - the homeland of his fathers and grandfathers, where he joined his cousins, the Banu Shaybah. Then after a while he was entrusted with the key of the Kaaba and the service of the Sacred House of God, “because of his religious and scholarly status,” and because of his lineage, the Banu Shaybah, “the people of the custodianship and the custodians of the key of the Kaaba since the Messenger of God gave it to them, and according to the noble hadith, only an unjust person takes it from them. Al-Fassi described: "Sheikh of the veil" and the conqueror of the Kaaba... that he was the guardian after Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Shaibi in the early Jamadi al-Awwal of the year seven hundred and forty-nine, before the death of Muhammad ibn Yusuf. He continued to do so until he died. End. However, he was dismissed from this service because of his absence from Makkah. Al-Fasi says: “...except that he was dismissed from that at the beginning of the year seven hundred and fifty-seven.”

Abu al-Fadl al-Shaibi was absent from Egypt...” It is over. He may have traveled to his hometown and the home of his family as well. Bin Abi Rajeh deputizes about it until he came back to Mecca. So restart at the end of Sha'ban or at the beginning of Ramadan of the aforementioned year. His death was in the year seventy-seven and seven hundred in Mecca.” He was seventy years old. And the people used to pay attention to him because of his boldness in speaking.”