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One of the most fascinating works to fall into obscurity almost immediately after its initial publication, this 1886 autobiography by EMILY RUETE (1844-1924)-born in Zanzibar as Salamah bint Said, a princess of that realm as well as of Oman-offers a surprising perspective on the experiences of women in the Arab world in the later 19th century. Translated by LIONEL STRACHEY (1864-1927) from the original Germany-Ruete settled in Europe after becoming a Christian-and first brought to readers of English in 1907-it gives us an intimate view on: [ life in an Arabian household [ the Arab love affair with horses [ divorce in the East [ ceremonies for newborn babies [ female fashions in Arabia [ the social position of women in the East [ Muslin festivals [ the author's escape to Europe [ and much more. In this era of renewed contention between East and West, this captivating book allows us a new historical outlook on a still-secretive culture.
Presents the reader with an intimate picture of life in Zanzibar between 1850-1865, and with an intelligent observer's reactions to life in Germany in the Bismarck period. Emily Ruete's writings describe her attempts to recover her Zanzibar inheritance and her homesickness.
Emily Ruete was born in Zanzibar (in modern day Tanzania) as Sayyida Salme, Princess of Zanzibar and Oman. She was the youngest of the 36 children of Sayyid Said bin Sultan Al-Busaid, Sultan of Zanzibar and Oman. Her extraordinary life story is the subject of Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar.
Memoirs of An Arabian Princess: An Autobiography is the memoirs of Emily Ruete (born Sayyida Salme) , princess of Zanzibar and Oman. It is believed to be the first autobiography of an Arab woman.
This unique book is the only autobiography written by a Princess of Zanzibar in the 19th century. Emily Ruete was born Sayyida, Princess of Zanzibar, in 1844. Zanzibar was then ruled by Omani Arabs and had grown rich from the slave trade and ivory from continental Africa and spices from the island of Zanzibar. They had spread their influence and swahili language as far west as Kisangani on the Congo river. It was a time of european traders and missionaries, harbingers of colonization and crusades against the slave trade. The Princess eloped with a German trader and moved to Germany, having been rejected by her family in Zanzibar. In this book, which she wrote to leave a record of her history for her children, she describes life in the Zanzibar royal palace and plantations, life in the harem, traditions, palace intrigues and overthrows, slaves, the status of women etc. This is a great book for anyone interested in Zanzibar or the history of Eastern Africa.
Emily Ruete was born in 1840 as Princess Sayyida of Zanzibar. Set against a backdrop of political intrigue in the great age of European colonialism, this memoir offers a portrait of 19th-century Arab and African life, not only in the palace, but in the city and plantations as well.
Princess Salme, daughter of Sa‘id ibn Sultan, ruler of Oman and Zanzibar, was born in Zanzibar on August 30, 1844. In 1866 she fled to Aden where she was baptized with the Christian name Emily and where she married the German merchant Rudolph Heinrich Ruete. In Hamburg three children were born. Her husband died in 1870, and after that she lived in several cities in Germany. In 1885 and again in 1888 she went to Zanzibar. Between 1889 and 1914 she lived in Jaffa and Beirut, and afterwards again in Germany. She died in Jena in 1924. The present work contains a short biography of Princess Salme/Emily Ruete and of her son Rudolph Said-Ruete, a new English translation of her Memoirs, and an English version of her other writings, unpublished so far: Letters Home, Sequels to the Memoirs and Syrian Customs and Usages.
The first major history of photography from coastal East Africa The ports of the Swahili coast—Zanzibar and Mombasa among them—have long been dynamic centers of trade where diverse peoples, ideas, and materials converge. With the arrival of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, these predominantly Muslim coastal communities cultivated and transformed the medium. The Surface of Things examines the complex maritime dynamics that shaped the photography of coastal Africa, exploring the pleasure and power of beautiful things and the ways people and their pictures transcended the boundaries of the colonial world. Immersing readers in the globally interconnected networks of eastern Africaâ...