Zar : spirit possession, music, and healing rituals in Egypt /
:
"Zar is both a possessing spirit and a set of reconciliation rites between the spirits and their human hosts: living in a parallel yet invisible world, the capricious spirits manifest their anger by causing ailments for their hosts, which require ritual reconciliation, a private sacrificial rite practiced routinely by the afflicted devotees. Originally spread from Ethiopia to the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf through the nineteenth-century slave trade, in Egypt zar has incorporated elements from popular Islamic Sufi practices, including devotion to Christian and Muslim saints. The ceremonies initiate devotees-the majority of whom are Muslim women-into a community centered on a cult leader, a membership that provides them with moral orientation, social support, and a sense of belonging. Practicing zar rituals, dancing to zar songs, and experiencing trance restore their well-being, which had been compromised by gender asymmetry and globalization.This new ethnographic study of zar in Egypt is based on the author's two years of multi-sited fieldwork and firsthand knowledge as a participant, and her collection and analysis of more than three hundred zar songs, allowing her to access levels of meaning that had previously been overlooked. The result is a comprehensive and accessible exposition of the history, culture, and waning practice of zar in a modernizing world"--Front flap of book jacket.
:
xi, 180 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations ; 24 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-171) and index. :
9789774166976
John the Physician's Therapeutics : a medical handbook in vernacular Greek /
:
The Therapeutics of John the Physician is a medical handbook from the thirteenth century, holding important new evidence on medicine as craft. Of particular interest is a vernacular version of the text, which also contains a commentary. Here, an unknown reviser vividly describes cases and medical procedures, a type of knowledge rarely encountered in scholarly texts. In the present volume, the Therapeutics is published for the first time, along with a translation and an introduction to the topic. Apart from insights into medical history, the text also yields a large quantity of new material on the medical terminology used in everyday language and brings to life the development from ancient to modern Greek. The editorial technique may be of interest to those working on digital humanities.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047430674 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.