DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0213
The Kababish, a Sudan Arab tribe 151
as possible to the pubes and began with much trimming and digging in the depths of the
wound to carve away a triangular area, taking as it appeared the whole of the labia except
the extreme posterior part, i. e. the commissure, and cutting well out into the flesh on
either side. Search was made for the stump of the urethra, and this was further shortened.
The onlookers considered it a badly performed operation, and did not hesitate to express
their opinions while the process was going on. Once the child fainted for a moment or
two, but soon her cries were renewed. Finally the wound was plastered with flour, the
child’s legs tied together at mid-thigh, and the necklace coiled round her neck. Imme-
diately the operation was over her cries ceased; she was then carried off by one of the
women who had been holding her down.
Cheek-scars are of almost universal distribution in the Sudan except among negroes.
They are produced by making fairly deep incisions with a sharp knife. They heal cleanly
as a rule, and the cicatrices produced do not tend to hypertrophy. The commonest form
of cheek-scar is three more or less vertical hues on the cheek below the malar bone or
sometimes over the bone itself. Such scars, cut deep and long, so that the resulting
cicatrix is relatively broad and coarse, are common among the sedentary Arabs south of
Khartum and among the Bakkara. The Kababish, and some at least of the kindred
nomad tribes, make smaller scars; indeed they are often so much smaller and shallower
that they may be scarcely noticeable in men of middle age. Whatever may once have
been the case, at the present day the Kababish do not scar for the purpose of adding
beauty or distinction to the face. Although ultimately the scars may be derived from
the tasrit which Robertson Smith speaks of as the distinguishing mark of the inhabitants
of Mecca,75 there seems to be no reason to consider that at the present day the Kababish
practise a purposeful imitation of the Arabian custom.76
X. Food and perfumes. In their dry season quarters the Kababish eat a fair
quantity of meat, although sheep are only killed on the arrival of a guest, for a karama
(“sacrifice” or “thanksgiving”), or for an 'azuma (“feast”) of some kind. Such occa-
sions, however, arise frequently in a well-to-do ferik near important wells such as those at
Showa, where several divisions come to water their flocks and herds. Camels are slaughtered
only on important occasions, such as weddings. It may be assumed that less meat is
eaten in the wet season when weddings do not occur, and there are fewer occasions for
social gatherings. Kisra (native bread), dates, and merissa (native beer) are probably
76Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, art. ‘Mecca’, p. 951.
76 For some discussion of Sudanese face-scars see C. G. Seligman, ‘Some aspects of the Hamitic Problem in
the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan,’ (Jour. Royal Anthrop. Inst., vol. 43, 1913, p. 646 sqq.). Since this was written evidence
has come to hand indicating that cheek-scars in the Nile valley antedated Islam, and suggesting that they are
African in origin.
as possible to the pubes and began with much trimming and digging in the depths of the
wound to carve away a triangular area, taking as it appeared the whole of the labia except
the extreme posterior part, i. e. the commissure, and cutting well out into the flesh on
either side. Search was made for the stump of the urethra, and this was further shortened.
The onlookers considered it a badly performed operation, and did not hesitate to express
their opinions while the process was going on. Once the child fainted for a moment or
two, but soon her cries were renewed. Finally the wound was plastered with flour, the
child’s legs tied together at mid-thigh, and the necklace coiled round her neck. Imme-
diately the operation was over her cries ceased; she was then carried off by one of the
women who had been holding her down.
Cheek-scars are of almost universal distribution in the Sudan except among negroes.
They are produced by making fairly deep incisions with a sharp knife. They heal cleanly
as a rule, and the cicatrices produced do not tend to hypertrophy. The commonest form
of cheek-scar is three more or less vertical hues on the cheek below the malar bone or
sometimes over the bone itself. Such scars, cut deep and long, so that the resulting
cicatrix is relatively broad and coarse, are common among the sedentary Arabs south of
Khartum and among the Bakkara. The Kababish, and some at least of the kindred
nomad tribes, make smaller scars; indeed they are often so much smaller and shallower
that they may be scarcely noticeable in men of middle age. Whatever may once have
been the case, at the present day the Kababish do not scar for the purpose of adding
beauty or distinction to the face. Although ultimately the scars may be derived from
the tasrit which Robertson Smith speaks of as the distinguishing mark of the inhabitants
of Mecca,75 there seems to be no reason to consider that at the present day the Kababish
practise a purposeful imitation of the Arabian custom.76
X. Food and perfumes. In their dry season quarters the Kababish eat a fair
quantity of meat, although sheep are only killed on the arrival of a guest, for a karama
(“sacrifice” or “thanksgiving”), or for an 'azuma (“feast”) of some kind. Such occa-
sions, however, arise frequently in a well-to-do ferik near important wells such as those at
Showa, where several divisions come to water their flocks and herds. Camels are slaughtered
only on important occasions, such as weddings. It may be assumed that less meat is
eaten in the wet season when weddings do not occur, and there are fewer occasions for
social gatherings. Kisra (native bread), dates, and merissa (native beer) are probably
76Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, art. ‘Mecca’, p. 951.
76 For some discussion of Sudanese face-scars see C. G. Seligman, ‘Some aspects of the Hamitic Problem in
the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan,’ (Jour. Royal Anthrop. Inst., vol. 43, 1913, p. 646 sqq.). Since this was written evidence
has come to hand indicating that cheek-scars in the Nile valley antedated Islam, and suggesting that they are
African in origin.