Memoirs of an Arabian princess from Zanzibar / by Emily Ruete (born Salme, princess of Oman and Zanzibar) ; with a new introduction by Patricia W. Romero
Translation of: Memoiren einer arabischen Prinzessin.
Originally published: Memoirs of an Arabian princess. New York : D. Appleton, 1888.
Contents:
Bet il Mtoni -- Bet il Watoro -- A day at Bet il Sahel -- Our life at Bet il Watoro and at Bet il Sahel -- Removal to Bet il Tani -- Daily life in our house -- Our meals -- Birth and first years of the life of a prince and princess -- Schooling in the East -- Yearly outfit: toilet and fashion in our household -- A plantation -- My father's voyage -- Death-news -- Our mourning -- About some of my brothers and sisters -- Woman's position in the East -- Arab matchmaking -- The Arab lady's call -- The audience: visits between gentlemen -- The long fast -- The little festival -- the Great festival -- An offering at the spring Tshemshem -- Diseases and medical treatment: possessed people -- Slavery -- My mother's death: a palace revolution -- Kisimbani and Bububu -- My last residence in Zanzibar -- Great changes -- Sejid Bargash in London -- Re-visiting my home after nineteen years
Summary:
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.
