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STÉPHANE ANCEL, Universität Hamburg

Review

Point, Cahiers d'études 5, 2011: Villes d'Éthiopie et d'Arabie

Aethiopica 17 (2014), 246–249

ISSN: 2194–4024

Edited in the Asien-Afrika-Institut

Hiob Ludolf Zentrum für Äthiopistik

der Universität Hamburg

Abteilung für Afrikanistik und Äthiopistik

by Alessandro Bausi

in cooperation with

Bairu Tafla, Ulrich Braukämper, Ludwig Gerhardt,

Hilke Meyer-Bahlburg and Siegbert Uhlig
Bibliographical abbreviations used in this volume

AÉ *Annales d'Éthiopie*, Paris 1955ff.

ÄthFor Äthiopistische Forschungen, 1–35, ed. by E. HAMMERSCHMIDT, 36–40, ed. by S. UHLIG, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner (1–34), 1977–1992; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz (35–40), 1994–1995.

AethFor Aethiopistische Forschungen, 41–73, ed. by S. UHLIG, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1998–2011; 74–75, ed. by A. BAUSI and S. UHLIG, *ibid.*, 2011f.; 76ff. ed. by A. BAUSI, *ibid.*, 2012ff.

AION *Annali dell'Università degli studi di Napoli “L'Orientale”*, Napoli: Università di Napoli “L'Orientale” (former Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli), 1929ff.

BSOAS *Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies*, London 1917ff.

CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 1903ff.

EAe S. UHLIG (ed.), *Encyclopaedia Aethiopica*, I: A–C, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003; II: D–Ha, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005; III: He–N, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007; (in cooperation with A. BAUSI), IV: O–X, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2010; A. BAUSI (ed. in cooperation with S. UHLIG), V: Y–Z, *Supplementa, Addenda et Corrigenda, Maps, Index*, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2014.

EFAH Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Orient-Abteilung, Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, herausgegeben im Auftrag des Instituts von NORBERT NEBES.

EMML Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa.

IJAHS *International Journal of African Historical Studies*, Boston, MA – New York 1968ff.

JAH *The Journal of African History*, Cambridge 1960ff.

JES *Journal of Ethiopian Studies*, Addis Ababa 1963ff.

JSS *Journal of Semitic Studies*, Manchester 1956ff.

NEASt *Northeast African Studies*, East Lansing, MI 1979ff.

OrChr *Oriens Christianus*, Leipzig – Roma – Wiesbaden 1901ff.

OrChrP *Orientalia Christiana Periodica*, Roma 1935ff.

PICES 15 S. UHLIG – M. BULAKH – D. NOSNITSIN – T. RAVE (eds.) 2005, *Proceedings of the XVth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Hamburg July 20–25, 2003* = AethFor 65, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

PICES 16 H. ASPEN – BIRHANU TEFERRA – SHIFERAW BEKELE – S. EGE (eds.) 2010, *Research in Ethiopian Studies: Selected papers of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Trondheim July 2007* = AethFor 72, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

PO *Patrologia Orientalis*, 1903ff.

RIÉ É. BERNAND – A. J. DREWES – R. SCHNEIDER 1991, *Recueil des inscriptions de l'Éthiopie des périodes pré-axoumite et axoumite*, I: *Les documents*, II: *Les planches*, Paris: [Académie des inscriptions et belle-lettres] Diffusion de Boccard.

RSE *Rassegna di Studi Etiopici*, Roma 1941–1981, Roma – Napoli 1983ff.

SAe Scriptores Aethiopici.

ZDMG *Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft*, Leipzig – Wiesbaden – Stuttgart 1847ff.
## Reviews

*Pount, Cahiers d'études* 5, 2011: *Villes d'Éthiopie et d'Arabie*, Bièvres: Les Éthiopisants Associés, 2012. 201 pp. Price: 24.—. ISBN: 978-29524-964-6-9.

More than 20 years after the publication of its last official volume, *Pount* journal was re-born in 2007. It was originally created by Robert Ferry in 1966 as the official bulletin of the *Société d'Études de l'Afrique Orientale* (SEAO). Over 20 years, *Pount* has published scientific articles on countries (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Yemen and Somalia) that are known for supposed involvement in the political and economical influence of Punt (PWNT, “Pount” in French), the flourishing ancient culture in the Horn of Africa mentioned in Ancient Egyptian sources. The themes of the articles were very heterogeneous and dealt with history, archeology, oral traditions, ethnology, etc. 16 volumes have been published between its first publication in 1966 and the retirement of Robert Ferry in 1981. A volume 17 has been published by a new scientific board in 1986, but volume 18 has never been prepared. In 2007, the association called “*Les Éthiopisants Associés*”, well known because of Alain Rouaud and Didier Morin, decided to start a new series of this valuable journal, under a new name: *Pount, Cahiers d'études*. The aim of the journal remains the same, namely to publish scientific articles on the peoples of the countries mentioned above. Four volumes have been published between 2007 and 2010 and the articles have dealt with linguistic, history, philology as well as literature, art and archeology. Each volume has proposed a main title such as “*Homage à Robert Ferry*” (“Tribute to Robert Ferry”, I), “*Eros en mer Rouge*” (“Eros in Red Sea”, II), “*Étranger*” (“Stranger”, III) and “*A l'ouest d'Aden: villes et espaces*” (“Westward Aden: Towns and Spaces”, IV) and has been completed with the publication of documents, other scientific articles (on other topics) and book reviews.

The volume reviewed here is the fifth one, published in 2011 and its main focus deals with towns in Ethiopia and Arabia (“*Villes d'Éthiopie et d'Arabie*”). The focus of the previous volume was on towns but in Eritrea and Djibouti and the present volume aims at completing this. The fifth volume of *Pount* gathers valuable articles on towns in Ethiopia, Yemen and Arabia and thus contributes improving our knowledge about urban processes in these countries. In addition, a note on documents from French archives and two articles on other topics complete the volume. All articles are written in
French. Fortunately each one has an English summary and colour illustra-
tions.

The first article is presented by Delphine Ayerbe, and is entitled “Addis-Abéba: la ville forêt” (“Addis Abäba: the Forest-City”, pp. 9–19) Ayerbe is a Ph.D. student in Geography at the University Paris I-Panthéon Sorbonne, and presents part of her research about the role and the place of Eucalyptus trees in urban Ethiopia, focusing primarily on Addis Abäba. Fortunately, the article is not one of the numerous contributions enumerating the usage of Eucalyptus wood in Ethiopian society. Ayerbe clearly analyses the relationship between Eucalyptus trees and the foundation and the development of the urban area in Ethiopia.

The following article is a contribution by Solène De Poix on “Mercato” (“märkato”), the market place of Addis Abäba, “Le Mercato d’Addis-Abéba: porte d’entrée et coeur de la ville” (“Addis Abäba Mercato: Gateway and Heart of Town”, pp. 21–41). De Poix is a Ph.D. student in Geography at the University Paris X-Nanterre, and is known for her impressive field research in Mercato between 2001 and 2005, already published in a remarkable article.<fnref n="1" /> In the present article, De Poix analyses an apparent contradiction: Despite health and social risks, Mercato is still the most attractive part of the town for migrants searching for a better life than in countryside.

The next article is entitled “Les vieux quartiers d’Addis-Abéba: une bidon-
ville pour patrimoine” (“Addis Ababa Old Areas: Slums as Heritage?”,
pp. 43–61). The author is Perrine Duroyaume, who is a PhD student in Geog-
raphy at the University Paris-VIII. The article presents a very interesting
analysis of the evolution of the so-called old areas of Addis Abäba. Despite
the title, the article does not really propose a link between heritage and slums.
But Duroyaume describes clearly the complex characteristics of the qäbäle
system, its consequences on the maintenance of both private and public hous-
es and the modernization process launched by the authorities after the build-
ing of condominiums in 2000.

The last article on towns in Ethiopia, “Quelques remarques sur trois
villes de l’Ouest éthiopien: Ambo, Gimbi et Dambi Dolloo” (“A Few
Notes about Three Towns in the Western Part of Ethiopia: Ambo, Gimbi
and Dambi Dolloo”, pp. 63–73) by Arco Sampieri, is a short article describ-
ing the role of local merchants in the development of secondary towns in
western Ethiopia and the coercive apparatus used by federal power for to
control the trade of crucial goods, such as coffee, sesame and different type

<footnote n="1">¹ S. DE POIX, “Heurs et malheurs du grand marché d’Addis Abeba face à l’ouverture éthiopienne, ou les dynamiques d’un espace locale en insertion dans le global”, *Ca-hiers d’Outre Mer* 237/1, 2007, pp. 41–66.</footnote>
of ore. Sampieri clearly exposes the issues at stake of the 2008 law on the exportation of coffee.

The next article deals with Yemen. It is written by Noha Sadek and is enti-
tled “Taez avant la république, esquisse d’un trace urbain” (“Taez before the
Republic: An Urban Outline”, pp. 79–99). Sadek proposes here a large over-
view of the history and the development of Taez from its first mention in
Arabic sources (11th century) to 1962. We especially have to welcome this
valuable work which provides us with deeper information of Taez history.

The article written by Philippe Pétriat and entitled “Les maisons des
grands marchands de Djedda, du XIXe au XXe siècle” (“Big Merchants
Houses in Jeddah, from the nineteenth to the twentieth century”, pp. 101–
119) is the last one of the volume. Also a Ph.D. student at the University
Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne, Pétriat presents a very interesting historical
analysis of the role of merchants’ houses in Jeddah in the economic, social
and political life of the city. Enjoying an economic prosperity, merchants of
Jeddah could increase their political influence on Ottoman administration.
As an elaborated residential and economical compound, their houses be-
came the incarnation of an important urban power.

The special topic of the volume finishes here and is followed by a short
article about the Christian cemetery of Jeddah. It is more an interesting note
than an article and presents information about this cemetery, which one can
find in documents from French consular archives located in Nantes. This
note is curiously signed by “Pount” which probably means that it was writ-
ten by members of the editorial board of the journal.

Then, Robert Beylot presents a short paper on the *Śərʿatä beta krəstiyan*
("the Rule of the Church") entitled "Les règles de l'Église (d'après le Ms.
éthiopien D'Abbadie 156) relues d'après de nouveaux documents, avec un
texte inédit sur les anges et les orders du clergé" ("The Rule of the Church
[according to the Ethiopian manuscript D'Abbadie 156], reread in the light
of new texts with an unedited text on angels and clerical orders", pp. 129–
137). Beylot proposes the edition and translation (in French) of a short un-
published contribution found in the Ethiopian manuscript D'Abbadie 156,
which contributes to our knowledge on the corpus of the *Śərʿatä beta
krəstiyan*. This little Gəʿaz text identifies angelic order with clerical orders
celebrating liturgy. The edition of unknown sources is always embraced and
even more so when a known figure of Gəʿaz literature studies, such as
Beylot does not limit himself to the sole edition but uses the text for a gen-
eral analysis. Thus, the author offers a very interesting introduction to his
edition in which he explains the characteristics of *Śərʿatä beta krəstiyan* and
the role of Angels in Ethiopian orthodox cult.
## Reviews

The last article of the volume is a contribution of Julien Dufour, a specialist of Arabic linguistic and associate professor at Strasbourg University. This is a review article of the book by Mark Wagner, *Like Joseph in Beauty* “A propos de Mark Wagner, *Like Joseph in Beauty*, contribution à l'étude des muwaššaḥāt de Sālim Šābazī” (“About Mark Wagner, *Like Joseph in Beauty*, Contribution to the Study of muwaššaḥāt of Sālim Šābazī”, pp. 139–187). In this impressive (and large) review article, the author emphasizes the crucial importance of Wagner's book on Yemeni vernacular poetry studies and therefore on Arabic literature studies in general. He then pursues Wagner's linguistic and metrical analysis of ḫumaynī poetry by refining the techniques required for the edition of such texts. The volume is completed by several book reviews.

Stéphane Ancel, Universität Hamburg

PAUL YULE (ed.), *Late Antique Arabia: Zafār, Capital of Himyar. Rehabilitation of a ‘Decadent’ Society. Excavations of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg 1998–2010 in the Highland of the Yemen* = Abhandlungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 29, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2013. XXVII, 313 S. Preis € 98.–. ISBN: 978-3-447-06935-9.

Am Anfang dieses Sammelwerkes finden sich unter einer getrennten Seitenzählung (S. I–XXVII) nach dem Inhaltsverzeichnis zunächst Danksagungen, ein Vorwort des Herausgebers des Buches und ein Vorwort des Herausgebers der Schriftenreihe, eine Liste der verwendeten Abkürzungen, Listen der Abbildungen, Tabellen und graphischen Darstellungen sowie eine Liste der Teilnehmer an den zwischen 1998 und 2010 durchgeführten Ausgrabungen.

Die beiden ersten Fotos (S. V) in dem hier zu besprechenden Buch zeigen Aufnahmen von Žafār/al-Ġaḥw; die eine stammt aus dem Jahre 1970 von der vom Rezensenten geleiteten Deutschen Jemen-Expedition, die andere vom Heidelberger Archäologenteam aus dem Jahre 2010. Daran kann man das Ausmaß der Zerstörungen und den Raubbau an der antiken Ruinenstätte innerhalb von vierzig Jahren ablesen, verursacht durch die Errichtung von Häusern unter Verwendung von Spolien, die Anlage von Wegen und die Erweiterung von Gärten.

In Kapitel 1 “Introduction” (S. 1–21) werden wir über die geographische Lage von Žafār und die im jemenitischen Hochland herrschenden klimatischen Bedingungen informiert, welche mit ausreichenden Niederschlägen in