The Palermo Cathedral which was partially built by Arabs and once was a mosque
It's mostly a mixture of Arab-Norman architecture. Also Byzantine architecture obviously. Quite something I have to admit. A World UNESCO Heritage Site as well.
Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral churches of Cefalù’ and Monreale
Description
COORDINATES
Palermo:
- Palazzo dei Normanni: 38°06'39N 13°21'11E
- Cappella Palatina: 38°06'39N 13°21'13E
- Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti: 38°06'35N 13°21'17E
- Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio: 38°06'53N 13°21'46E
- Church of San Cataldo: 38°06'53N 13°21'45E
- Cathedral of Palermo: 38°06'51N 13°21'21E
- The Zisa Palace: 38°07'00N 13°20'29E
- The Cuba Palace: 38°06'29N 13°20'35E
Cefalù:
- Cathedral: 38°02'24N 14°01'24E
Monreale:
- Cathedral: 38°04'55N 13°17'32E
DESCRITPION
The site denominated 'Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral churches of Cefalù and Monreale' is a collection of monuments with a decorative apparatus of mosaics, paintings and sculptures that resulted from a socio-cultural syncretism which, during the period of Norman domination (1071-1194), gave birth to an extraordinary artistic and architectural heritage of outstanding value.
Historic, geographic, political and cultural contingencies brought about an extremely unusual concentration of syncretisms on this site, generated by heterogeneous elements as they combined. The individual buildings we are putting forward are not merely an ensemble but a "stratum": the typical socio-cultural world of a place and a time, preserved in the memory of the stones and bricks of the buildings, and in the tesserae of the mosaics with which they are decorated.
From the Greek colonisation to the Unification of Italy, the history of Sicily has been marked by an uninterrupted succession of rulers who came from the greatest imaginable variety of other cultures, each of whom left behind their own physical traces that built up the incredible stratification that now gives this island its character. Other parts of Italy, too, were affected by the same periods of domination which, in a wider sense, also extended to cover an area that includes all the Mediterranean countries, but Sicily was especially influenced by the Islamic conquest (827-1091) and later by the ways in which the Norman domination of 1071-1194 was conjoined to it, and that led to the emergence of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multilingual culture in whose architectural and artistic expressions we observe its two components, the Western and the Islamic, admirably fused together - without forgetting that there was also a third Byzantine component.
The elements in the group. The group consists of ten buildings that strongly represent "Arab-Norman" cultural syncretism between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The components we have selected as the group are based on their excellent state of conservation (and this is one exceptional case in which buildings of the period have not degraded to the level of archaeology) and on the particular variations of the "syncretic" style that each of them assumed. In fact whilst each building is part of an organic whole, they individually assume unique characteristics that in each case are conjugated in new, different ways, each reflecting autonomously on the cultural traditions of this place, from the Islamic to the Byzantine, the Roman, and the Latin.
Of the ten buildings identified and which establish the configuration of the area as a whole, eight lie within the city of Palermo; the others are in the nearby cities of Monreale and Cefalù.
The ancient name for the fulcrum of Arab-Norman Palermo was
Panormos (the "all-port" city), founded by the Phoenicians in 734 BC. Never subdued by the Greeks, it was conquered by the Romans in 254 BC. The ancient
Panormos consisted of two fortified nuclei:
Paleopolis (the older of the two) and
Neapolis. They were built on a rocky peninsula bounded by two now-vanished rivers, the Kemonia and the Papireto, which formed a deep, well protected natural harbour where they joined the sea.
Under the Arab domination (9th-11th centuries AD), Panormoswas greatly expanded to become the principal urban centre of Sicily, one of the most important emporiums in the Mediterranean. Arab chroniclers have left us descriptions of a legendary oriental city richly filled with mosques, sumptuous palaces, and crowded markets piled high with valuable merchandise: a place comparable in size and splendour to Cordoba or Cairo, and reputed to number more than three hundred thousand inhabitants. Some signs of that Arab period are still visible in Palermo, particularly in its urban fabric, which still preserves some Islamic components. But very little remains of the buildings: only a few parts that survive because they were incorporated into Norman buildings. After the Normans conquered the city in 1071 they made Palermo an important place for trade and contact between the Byzantine East, Muslim Africa, and the Christian West. Amalgamating diverse artistic tendencies, they developed an original architecture known as Arab-Norman, in which Arabic architectural compositions, methods for constructing roofs, and decorative motifs of Islamic origin are combined with the rational equilibrium of Byzantine planning or the severity of Romanesque building. On the site of the ancient Paleapolis, the old
castrum of the Aghlabid era (9th century) was enlarged and equipped with towers and transformed into a palace worthy of its new rulers: Palazzo dei Normanni. On flat land behind it, stretching as far the first slopes of the hills, the Normans established a complex system of parks (the Genoardo), dotted with palaces such as the Zisa and the Cuba and with pavilions, fountains, and fishponds. The whole city became a vast construction site, in an aim to reinforce the authority of the crown and its alliance with the
cathedra of the bishop. Physical evidence of this activity is apparent in the numerous religious buildings of the period, most notably San Giovanni degli Eremiti, San Cataldo, the Cathedral, and Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio ("La Martorana"). Each of these is the product of a unique combination of heterogeneous elements. Assisted by Muslim, Byzantine, and Latin craftsmen, an extraordinary cultural, artistic, and architectural synthesis was able to flourish at this time, of which the highest expression is the Cappella Palatina.
Under the House of Anjou (1266-1282) Palermo entered a period of decline but then under the House of Aragon (1282-1513) there were ambitious building programmes and a general reorganisation of the urban structures was undertaken. Later in the baroque period, Palermo again underwent profound transformation; palaces, churches, monasteries, and oratories all flourished in a period of new construction that was intended to glorify those in power. After the city passed to the Bourbons in 1734, eventually becoming Italian in 1860, there was a neoclassical phase followed by an especially rich period of new Art Nouveau building. But even though Palermo experienced this highly articulated urban and architectural development from the Middle Ages onwards, it was above all the Arab-Norman phase that gave the city its basic configuration and equipped it with a founding ensemble of religious and secular buildings that as a group and a style are unique in the world.
The same historical phases that affected Palermo are also found further east at Cefalù, an indigenous centre that was inhabited in antiquity by the Greeks and was later conquered by the Syracusans and then the Romans. In the Byzantine period the inhabited part of the city was relocated further uphill; during the Arab conquest it was named
Gaflundi and incorporated into the Emirate of Palermo, and then in Norman times the inhabited part moved back down to the shoreline, where it reconnected with the pre-existing urban structure. Cefalù's most important buildings date from that time, of which the most outstanding is the Cathedral and its cloister, founded by Roger II as a place of burial for himself and his successors. In the interior of the basilica, the timber roof bears traces of pictorial decorations by Islamic craftsmen; the extraordinary mosaic decoration of the chancel walls, and the great middle apse with its imposing figure of Christ Pantocrator, are Byzantine.
Monreale is of Norman origin, if we exclude an earlier Arab settlement on the slopes of Mount Caputo. Located about 8 km south-west of Palermo, the whole of Monreale developed around a monastic Cathedral complex built by King William II in 1172 to meet his needs for prestige and security. The Cathedral follows typical Romanesque planning and is characterised by the imposing mosaic decoration of its interior, which is again Byzantine. The exterior is dominated by the quasi-Islamic motif of interlaced arches, and the cloister of the Benedictine convent exhibits a profusion and variety of forms, techniques and decorative motifs derived from various models.
Justification of Outstanding Universal Value
The ensemble of buildings that make up this Arab-Norman itinerary constitute an outstanding and universally valuable example of how diverse cultural components of heterogeneous historical, cultural and geographical provenance coexisted and interacted (cultural syncretism).
This phenomenon generated an original architectural style in which Byzantine, Islamic and Romanesque elements were admirably fused together, and in each case were able to generate unique, remarkably unified combinations of the highest artistic value.
Criteria met i) (ii)(iv)
Criterion (i):
The Byzantine mosaics of Palermo, Cefalù, and Monreale are among the most important and best preserved examples of Komnenian mosaic art. In particular, the mosaics in the Cathedral of Cefalù are a supreme example of mosaic art. The painted wooden
muquarnasceiling of the Palatine Chapel in Palermo is an artefact unique in the world; its combination of constructional expertise with the elegance of its forms and decorations mark it out as a masterpiece.
Criterion (ii):
At the time when the Normans were establishing their domain in Sicily, they had no cultural identity of their own to impose. There were already three principal cultural components existing on the island: the Byzantine, later reinforced by the arrival of Graeco-Oriental workers; the strong Arab presence, particularly well rooted inthe artisan classes; and a Latin element that was emerging via the monastic orders and the court. The residential and religious buildings of the period fully reflect this cultural situation.
The particular political and cultural condition generated in Sicily during the Norman kingdom, when peoples from different cultures coexisted (Muslims, Byzantines, Latins, Jews, Lombards, and French), favoured the development of a vibrant period of cultural syncretism that generated, in the arts, a conscious, original combination of architectural elements and artistic techniques taken from the Byzantine tradition, the world of Islam, and western culture.
Criterion (iv):
This original architectural re-elaboration gave rise to a wholly new conception of space and volume and brought about the development of innovative technologies in vaulted roof systems for buildings.
Arab-Norman buildings express the consistent use of an extraordinary artistic syntax, manifested externally in the compact massing of the buildings, in the modulations of the masonry, in hemispherical cupolas, and internally in a characteristic method of constructing the corner junctions of domes, in the mosaic cycles and decorations in
opus sectile, and in the frequent use of the
muquarnas decorative technique. The conjugation of all these aspects, which is an outstanding example in the medieval architecture of the West, strongly characterises the Norman period in Sicily.
This particular cultural climate also generated a new urban typology: the synergistic realisation of buildings and pavilions within a system of gardens equipped with water pools and fountains (the Genoardo).
This "syncretic" style went on to influence the architectural development of the Tyrrhenian coast of southern Italy.
Statements of authenticity and/or integrity
The authenticity of this "syncretic" character is what gives life to the group of buildings that most completely embody it, which we have denominated 'Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral of Monreale and Cefalù' and of which most parts are still in their original configurations, as are also the structural and decorative elements of each building in the group.
The integrity of each building or element in the group, and the group as a whole, is guaranteed by legal measures for the protection of monuments, and is overseen by regional bodies constituted for that purpose. Almost all of the parts of the group that lie within the city boundary of Palermo (except for the Zisa Palace) also fall within the area denominated "Historic Centre" which in turn is protected by specific municipal planning regulations. The sites of both cathedrals at Monreale and Cefalù have legal measures for the protection of landscape.
Finally, a landscape conservation plan is currently in preparation for the territories of Palermo, Monreale and Cefalù.
Comparison with other similar properties
When we compare Arab-Norman architecture, of which the proposed group embodies significant and exemplary testimony, with the architecture of any other aesthetically important setting in medieval western civilisation, it emerges as extremely unique because of how it fuses together different traditions: it is a witness to the crucible of civilisations that was twelfth-century Sicily.
The next section compares the site of 'Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral churches of Cefalù and Monreale' with a number of other sites in western culture at which, in a particular historical moment, elements of heterogeneous origin, particularly Islam, were grafted on to a purely autochthonous technological, formal and figurative heritage.
Listed UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The Mudejar Architecture of Aragon: influenced by the Islamic tradition, Mudejar art was the product of a particular political, social and cultural situation that prevailed in Spain after the Reconquista. But Mudejar art also reflects various contemporary European styles, particularly the Gothic, and could be described as reinterpreting western styles through Islamic influences. But in their general arrangement Mudejar buildings are essentially western; the ornamental Islamic element remains at an epidermic level, only as appearance. This is what principally differentiates it from "Arab-Norman" architecture, which is instead the outcome of fusing together a variety of forms and decorative systems that originate from different sources and creating an original, unified synthesis of three different traditions that is then able to establish its own new artistic expressions and thereby determine the genesis of singular, unique manifestations.
The Alhambra, Granada: this is an exceptionally important instance of fourteenth century Islamic Spanish art. Constructed in the medieval period as an Arab royal residence, it is a priceless Nasrid monument distinguished by the wealth of its decorative apparatus, particularly its sophisticated
muqarnas decorations. The same features are also found, albeit in more modest form, in the twelfth century buildings of Palermo, where they sometimes perform a structural function and sometimes a merely decorative one. In the context of western art the Alhambra can be understood as one example of an exotic style in which the architectural element is wholly unified with its decorative and naturalistic features, in accordance with the Islamic concept of the garden, and in Palermo this is also the distinguishing feature of the Genoardo (from the Arabic
Jannat-al-ard, heaven on earth): we find the same system of gardens, palaces and pavilions, of which there are various written accounts by Arab travellers and chroniclers of the time. The important buildings and monuments include the Fawar or Maredolce (Fresh Water), the Zisa Palace, the Cuba Palace, the Cuba Soprana and the Piccola Cuba. Another distinguishing feature at the Alhambra is the glazed ceramic tiles (
azulejos and
alicatados), notable for their virtuous interlaced geometric ornamental forms. In the group of buildings in Palermo we again find Islamic geometric motifs, fused n this case with the Byzantine
opus sectile technique. The marble inlays in these Arab-Norman buildings is the outcome of a synergy of different knowledges from different provenances and is in fact the antecedent, in stone, of the ceramic tiles at the Alhambra.
Other places
Elsewhere in southern Italy (in the Cathedral of Salerno and the cloister of the Cathedral of Amalfi) a few other buildings exhibit affinities with the Norman architecture of Sicily, or make use of some elements of the same formal language. But these affinities are not sufficient to imbue them with the complexity and variety of the Arab-Norman architecture of Palermo. They are of a lesser order not only because of the peculiarities of their design but because of their different size, their lesser degree of stylistic affirmation, and the different way in which these phenomena were diffused in those local settings. In any case the Cloister of Paradise at Amalfi (1266-68) refers to a different historic climate.
The complex of the "Arab-Norman" monuments in Palermo, Monreale and Cefalù is an organic whole which at the same time is diverse and multifaceted. Extraordinary of its kind, it represents the highest artistic expression of the Norman kingdom in southern Italy.
Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral churches of Cefalù’ and Monreale - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Some very useful links
Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Islamic influences on Western art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arab Science - A Journey of Innovation
Influence of Arabic and Islamic Philosophy on the Latin West (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Arab Influence on the Italian Renaissance
Saudi Aramco World :
The Arab Roots of European Medicine
Academia.edu | Documents in Islamic influences on European cookery - Academia.edu
See also "The Arab influence on Western European cooking" by Toby Peterson, 1980.
Sicilian cuisine was also strongly influenced by the Arabs, who added almonds, aniseed, apricots, artichokes, cinnamon, oranges, pistachio, pomegranates, saffron, sesame, spinach, sugarcane, watermelon and rice to the local palate. Today, raisins and pine kernels are fundamental to a host of pasta and fish recipes, many sweets are of obvious Arab extraction, while sorbets and granitas also owe their popularity to North African ingenuity. One of the most common dishes in western Sicily is cous cous, an obvious hangover from Arab times, celebrated each year at the end of September when San Vito Lo Capo hosts an international cous cous fest. The Zibbibo grape, used to make Passito di Pantelleria, the supreme dessert wine, was introduced by the Arabs.
And if all that weren't enough, Sicilian Arabs were the first to mass produce dried pasta - an undertaking of huge importance for the world as a whole!!
The Arabs in Sicily | Think Sicily
They ruled Sicily for two centuries and a few decades but their influence was nothing short of monumental. Under their administration, the island's population doubled as dozens of towns were founded and cities repopulated. The Arabs changed Sicilian agriculture and cuisine. Their scientific and engineering achievements were remarkable. More significantly, they changed society itself. To this day, many Sicilian social attitudes reflect the profound influence - often in subtle ways - of the Arabs who ruled a thousand years ago but who (with the Greeks and others) are the ancestors of today's Sicilians.
Sicilian Peoples: The Arabs - Best of Sicily Magazine - Moors and Saracens in Sicilian History
Arabic influences in Sicily
The effects of the Arab presence in Sicily are so evident and important - in the landscape, urban layouts, architecture, art, technological achievements and all brunches of culture - that any attempt to list them would be in vain.
Short historic outline
The Arabs conquered Sicily from 827 to 965. In 827 the Arabic army lands at Mazara del Vallo. With the conquest of Syracuse in 878 the Arabs became masters of great part of Sicily. Finally, in 965 Rometta, the last fortress of the Byzantines falls. The Arab replaced the Greek language and Islamism replaced Christianity. The cities that surrendered without fighting were put under protection: The inhabitants of those cities could keep on practicing the Christian religion but they could not build new churches and they could not make processions. The sword of the Islam dominated from Palermo, the new capital, which was called Balarm by the Arabs. The inhabitants of Palermo increased to 300.000 and the city was full of temples and gardens.
The city of Rometta
Lions and stars
Numerous proofs of the influence of Islamic art on Norman Christian architecture and inner church decoration can be seen in Palermo. Many churches in Palermo, as for instance Santa Maria degli Eremiti or San Cataldo have cupolas that give them an oriental look. The first of those two churches was built on the remains of a mosque. This is not at all surprising as such a phenomenon can be seen in most southern countries, the most famous example being, of course, the cathedral of Cordoba in Spain built inside the former great mosque – a stunning case of architectural forms melting together.
Moorish influences can be recognized in the general conception and outlines of the Norman buildings, which use cubic Arabic forms. But more striking is maybe the Islamic touch of inner details: the lion sculptures from the fountain in the inner courtyard of Palazzo dei Normanni wouldn’t be out of place in the Alhambra in Granada. In the famous roman cloister of Monreale, there is also a fountain, like in many Christian monasteries of the Middle Ages; but in its centre you can see a palm tree pillar which testimonies of north African influences. The columns too look as those from Egyptian palaces from the pharaonic times, though they are much slimmer and elegant.
You have to remember, of course, that Islamic artists never represent the human person – for religious reasons. So they have developed beautiful geometrical and floral decorations. If you look attentively at the inner decoration in Cappela Palatina in Palermo or in the Cathedral of Monreale, you will notice that it seems composed of two very different parts: the lower part is clearly inspired by Islamic art and uses geometrical forms in stunning colour combinations; on the other hand, in the upper parts of the buildings, the Norman artists have used all the magnificence of Byzantine mosaics to represent scenes from the Bible. One could add that in the Duomo of Monreale, the abbes has a window decorated with moons and stars as you could find them in Arab palaces.
So Norman architecture seems quite a perfect mixture of both worlds as was, in Spain, the Mozarab tradition. So it is difficult not to think about what historian and sociologist Bernard Lewis said about relations between Islam and Europe in the Middle Ages: that the people from Christian states were very curious and eager to learn from the Moors whereas the Arabs in these times used to consider European people as barbarians.
Palazzo dei Normanni
Orlando and friends
From the French Chanson de geste to puppet shows in Palermo. You might think there is no connexion at all between puppets and French knights from the Middle Age: but you would be wrong ! The stories and characters used in the Sicilian puppet theatre are inspired by the adventures of Charles the Great and his knights. Like the Chanson de Geste - epic poems from the Middle Age narrating the deeds of the French knights - the puppet theatre is an oral form of literature: the pupparo (that is to say the puppeteer) invents the words the characters will say while acting the play. The Sicilian puppet theatre stories are not directly adapted from the 'Chanson de Roland'; they are rather inspired by Italian poems and narratives from the end of the Middle Age and beginnings of the Renaissance: texts by Torquato Tasso and Ariosto ('Orlando furioso').
Just to give you an idea of what it is all about here is a short summing up of the play we could see when in Palermo. The story was about Milone, a French knight from whom I had never heard before and who doesn’t really occur in the 'Chanson de Roland': according to the pupparo, Milone is the father of Roland.
Banned by Charles the Great, Milone decides to flee to North Africa where he offers his services to a Moorish king, helping him by his exceptional courage, to defeat his enemies. But Milone did not tell the King who he really was; he presented himself as a knight errant; so he appears as a romantic character in the manner of Ivanhoe or 'el desdichado' from Nerval’s poem 'Je suis le veuf, l'inconsolé, le chevalier d'Aquitaine à la tour abolie...'). Unfortunately, one day, Milone's real identity gets revealed; discovering that he is a Christian knight, the moors decide to put him to death.
Let’s say these are stories about the eternal fight between good and bad. So fighting episodes are numerous and in some way, these plays are quite violent. The French students from about 12 to 16 years of age that also attended the puppet theatre that day particularly applauded the fighting scenes. They identified very easily with the hero representing the good. This I found really interesting, because it means that - unlike the 'Chanson de Roland' who was written as a type of propaganda for the crusades – these stories are purely symbolic: characters are to be understood as representations from good and bad rather than as real persons from different cultural or religious communities.
Palermo's Puppet Theatre
Some interesting Arabic influences in Palermo
- Norman Palace: cubic dungeon and Cappela Palatina
- Cathedral and Cloister in Monreale
- Many churches: San Cataldo, Eremiti, chiesa dei Leprosi, Chiesa Maione and cloister...
- Two other palaces from Norman Arab times: la Cuba, where an interesting exhibition about Arab influences in Palermo can be seen, and la Zisa, which has been restored a few years ago and is now the museum of Islamic art of Palermo.
East & west, Sicily is the best
Sicily's strategic position in the Mediterranean has made it a cultural crossroads washed over by successive waves of invaders. On this island, between the 9th and 12th centuries AD, two great civilisations - the Arabs and the Normans - met and mingled laying the basis of the Sicily of today. Palermo, whose very name - from the Arab Balarm - defines its origins. The eminent Arab traveller and explorer Ibn Hawqal described the city, a one - time Arab emirate, in 973 as 'the city of the 300 mosques'. Wherever you look there are signs of the city's heyday as a capital of the Islamic, and consequently Norman kingdoms. Modern Islamic culture occupies a much humbler place in Palermo. The 300 mosques have diminished to but 1 which is housed in a deconsecrated church in Palermo's inner city. The church, San Paolino dei Giardinieri, was badly damaged during and was given to the council by the diocese and is now run by the Tunisian government.
Its a short walk from the Mosque to Palermo's architecturally eclectic Cathedral built in 604 AD as a Christian temple it was given 'facelifts' by both Moors and Normans with the last (disastrous) restoration taking place in the 18th Century. Take a close look at the columns that flank the main entrance. Arab scholars will recognise verses from the Koran. Perhaps the finest example of Arab - Norman art in Sicily is the Capella Palatina in Piazza della Vittoria, a few minutes' walk from the Cathedral. The chapel is a magnificent showcase of Arab - Norman art with its breath - taking Byzantine mosaics rivalled only by those in Istanbul and Ravenna.
Ceiling of the Capella Palatina
Another church well worth a visit is Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti which was built on the remains of an Arab mosque. From there we then head towards La Zisa,the museum of Islamic art.Of what one was once the vast Genoardo Park, a Norman creation, there now remains a building of extraordinary value, something unique in the entire Mediterranean area, since nothing remains but a few ruins of any comparable palaces in North Africa. The Palace of la Zisa - the name comes from the Arabic Al - aziz (the splendid - meaning noble and magnificent) was originally a sumptuous summer dwelling of the Norman Kings, a place for the court’s leisures and pleasures. Its impressive outward aspect, the refined elegance of its numerous rooms, its location amid a vast park rich in water and with a fishpond at the front –everything conjures up the image of the Koranic Paradise. Work was started on the palace by William I and continued by William II, between 1165 and 1180. Over the centuries it was variously modified –it was fortified in the fifteenth century (hence its customary, though inaccurate appellation of castle) and transformed into the residential abode of the Sandoval family in the seventeenth century. In the main salon, the fountain Room, we can still see how water gushed out of the floor (honeycomb vaults), plus Byzantine Mosaics with hunting scenes above an eagle, surrounded by little corner columns. On the upper floor, the Belvedere Room, which originally was open to the sky, used to have a marble tank to collect rainwater. The interior has been laid out as a museum, with a number of significant items of Islamic origin from various Mediterranean countries, including elegant musciarabia - latticed wooden floors with refined lacework carvings - and everyday objects and ornaments such as chande liers, bowls, basins and mortals with engraved decoration embellished with gold and silver leaf. An extensive public park is in the process of being laid out all around la Zisa in order to preserve the memory of this Paradise Lost.
Mazara del Vallo
Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti
We now leave the capital and go southwest towards Mazara del Vallo this is where the Moors landed in 827 AD when they first set about their conquest of Sicily. Nowadays the town boasts some 5,000 Tunisians - an impressive 10% of the total population - most of whom live in the Kasbah, the old Arab quarter. The town's Moorish past is still evident in the remains of the original mosque, the streets and courtyards of the San Francesco and Giudecca Quarters, and the domes of two beautiful Arab - Norman churches: Sant'Egidio e del Carmine and San Nicolò Regale (which is known locally as Santa Niculicchia). Walk around and savour the sights, sounds and smells which seem to come straight from the pages of 'Arabian Nights'.
Catania's modern mosque
Our journey now brings us to Catania on the eastern coast of Sicily and into the modern world of Islam. Indeed Catania is home to Italy's first modern mosque, which was opened in 1980 and was shortly followed by the mosques in Milan (1988) and Rome (1995). The mosque, which is dedicated to Khalif Omar, was designed by an Egyptian architect and financed by the Libyan government but a local lawyer Michele Papa who recognised the need of the city’s Arab population promoted the initial idea. It's a pity that the Islamic congregation didn't appreciate the Latin dedication to Papa on the mosque's imposing entrance and chose to relocate to a somewhat shoddier structure close to the port.
Some other cultural traces in Sicily
We can see the Arabic or Islamic traces in the city names of Sicily. For instance, Erice. The name of Erice as We can see in the historical sources changed by Arabs emirates and renamed as Gebel - Hamed, means 'Mohammed’s Mountain' or 'Hameds Mountain', as we know 'Hamd' or 'Hamed' means 'thanks to God'. So it looking to possible to be said that 'Gebel Hamed' means not 'Mohammed’s Mountain' may be it means 'The Grace Mountain'.
Another well-known city in Sicily is Marsala. That word means 'Marsa Ali,' or 'Marsa Allah'. As we know Ali is the name of the son - in law of Prophet Mohammed. That means 'Port of God' or 'Port of Ali'. The other city is Caltanisseta. Caltanissetta's name shares the onomastic Arabic kal, indicating that a Saracen castle protected it. In Himera (or the other its historical name Te rmini) you can see a large stone slab with Arabic inscriptions written upon it, believed to have been suspended over the city gates of Termini during the period of Saracen domination.
Messina, the other name is the ‘The City of Ghosts’. One can see the twelfth - century Norman - Arab style of the Church of the Annunciation of the Catalans (Annunziata dei Catalani), on Via Garibaldi near Via Cesare Battisti, differs from the architecture of the other Norman - Arab churches in Sicily. Its exterior is more Byzantine than those of most of the other churches.
Annunziata dei Catalani
In Monreale we can to see many kind of Arab - Muslim influence. The history of Monreale can be summed up in the name of one man: King William II 'The Good.' The last of the Norman Kings of Sicily was the grandson of the illustrious Roger II. Prior to the construction of Santa Maria la Nuova, it is believed Monreale was a tiny Saracen hamlet named 'Ba'lat,' where local farmers would gather to cart their produce to the market, or 'souk' (in Arab it means street' down in Palermo. That outdoor market still exists to this day and is known as Ballarò. It is possible that Ballarò's name derives from an Arabic phrase meaning 'Ba'lat Market.'
In Segesta on one hill there is a amphitheatre and the other side of theatre there is a mosque and Arab - Style houses foundations.
Ironically, the 9th century Saracen invasion of Sicily brought prosperity to Sciacca. The conquest also brought the town a new name. 'Sciacca' is derived from an Arabic phrase, and although the exact meaning of the term is uncertain, most sources agree that it has something to do with the town's geographical position, possibly meaning 'Rocky Heights' or 'Seaside Cliffs.' Under Arab rule, Sciacca became the principal Sicilian port for the export of Sicilian grain to North Africa, and the town's fishing industry thrived as well. Sciacca was bequeathed by Count Roger I to his daughter, Juliet in 1101. She had Christian churches and monasteries erected in place of the mosques. A bloody feud spawned in Sciacca in 1400 between the Norman Perollo clan and the Catalan Lunas family and lasted for more than a century.
One more interesting monument one can see is La Cuba. A less elaborate version of Zisa, and not as well preserved, 'Cuba' is a Sicilian derivation of the Arabic Ka'aba, meaning 'cube' or 'square - shaped structure.' It has nothing to do with the Caribbean island of the same name. Built in 1180 by King William II, it was a kind of summer palace with royal gardens where the court came to escape the heat. A tall building with a rectangular plan, it is another magnificent piece of Fatimid architecture. The interior of the original structure had a hall that rose the full height of the building and was covered by a dome.
Sicilian music and Arabic influences
Many Sicilian kinds of music such as Serenades, lullabies, love songs, jealousy or prison songs; or just songs - in which the text is just an embroidery 'sewed' on the melody - and dances, like the 'tarantella', but also the 'fasola' and the 'capona', are based on tunes which taste of Arabia; the melodies, often unpredictable, are the result of a richness built on this influence during several centuries. Specifically, the use of quarter tones and other micro - intervals in sicilian melodies reflects a strong arabian influence.
Generally, Arabic music has had the greatest influence on the music formation of the West throughout history. Arabic music influenced this art through both political and intellectual contact. These kinds of contact brought a circle of bright oriental traditions and beliefs to Sicily. The borrowing from Arabic works or Arab teachers along with compilations and translations from Arabic works can trace the literary and intellectual contact of Muslim Sicily with Christian Sicily. This is when the literary contact became the designated driver of the Arabian influence.
Musical instruments were actually derived from the Egyptian civilization and disseminated in Europe mainly through the Arabs. The names of many well - known musical instruments have their linguistic roots in the Arabic language. The origins of the word guitar from the Arabic
qithara, is a well - known fact. Such examples clearly present the solid ties between music now and where it originated in the Arabic culture. The Arabic language was used to name musical instruments because of its deep involvement with the art.Among some important musical instruments of Sicilian folk music which reveal Arabic influence is the Tamburi a cornice: widespread in the whole Mediterranean area they are of different dimensions and can also be made with metal objects incorporated which play by resonance. Among these the oldest is probably the 'Daf', also called 'Myriam's tamburine', played by women and used for dance music, which is identical to the small and medium sized Sicilian tamburine.
Darabouka is a clay drum made in the form of a goblet with fish skin, which is common to all arabic countries and is used in both art and folk repertoires. It is traditionally played also by women. The use of the Darabouka in Sicily has been documented by historical and iconographical sources.
Editor(s): Anne Spicher, Despina Thrapsimi, Mustafa Cevik
Latest revision: 12. September 2008 10:37
Chain - Cultural heritage
Sicilian Peoples: The Arabs
by L. Mendola and V. Salerno
They ruled Sicily for two centuries and a few decades but their influence was nothing short of monumental. Under their administration, the island's population doubled as dozens of towns were founded and cities repopulated. The Arabs changed Sicilian agriculture and cuisine. Their scientific and engineering achievements were remarkable. More significantly, they changed society itself. To this day, many Sicilian social attitudes reflect the profound influence - often in subtle ways - of the Arabs who ruled a thousand years ago but who (with the Greeks and others) are the ancestors of today's Sicilians.
The Arabs, who in medieval times were sometimes called "Saracens" or "Moors," have been identified since antiquity (in Assyrian records dated to circa 850 BC), but until the Middle Ages they were not unified as a people. In the Early Middle Ages, it was Islam that united the Arabs and established the framework of
Islamic law, which may have influenced European legal principles as far away as the Norman Kingdom of England and its common law. Initially, most Muslims were Arabs, and during the Arab rule of Sicily their Islamic faith was closely identified with them. (Even today, many principles believed to be tenets of Islam are, in fact, Arab practices unrelated to Muslim ethics.) The rapid growth of Arab culture could be said to parallel the dissemination of Islam. Except for some poetry, the first major work of literature published entirely in Arabic was the Koran (Quran), the holy book of Islam, and one may loosely define Arabs by the regions where Arabic was spoken in the Middle Ages and afterwards. Arabs were a Semitic people of the Middle East. The
Berbers of northwest Africa and the Sahara were not Arabs although related with Arabs, though many converted to Islam, adopted Arabic as their language and assimilated with Arab society. Though most parts of Sicily were conquered by Arabs, certain areas where settled by people who, strictly speaking, were Muslim Berbers. Like many Berbers, some Arabs were nomadic.
With the emergence of the
Byzantine Empire, groups of Arabs lived in bordering areas in the Arabian peninsula and parts of what are now Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt. Their language, Arabic, is a Semitic tongue of various dialects related to Hebrew and Ethiopic, written in script from right to left.
Muhammad (the Prophet of Islam) was born in Mecca around AD 570 and his religious community at Medina eventually grew to dominate the entire Arabian peninsula. Following Muhammad's death in 632, caliphs (civil and religious leaders) succeeded him. Three families from Muhammad's tribe ruled the expanding Arabian empire for the next many centuries, namely the
Umayyads (661-750), the
Abbasids (750-1517) and the
Alids (
Fatimid dynasty in northern Africa from 909 to 1171). In practice, certain regions - including Sicily - were actually controlled by particular (if minor) families, or often under local emirs (there were several in Sicily when the Normans arrived in 1061).
Initially, the Arabs aspired to little more than some productive land in coastal areas and around the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, but within decades of the Prophet's death their objectives grew greater. With the growth of their society supported by conversions to Islam, the wealth sought by Arabs was precisely that which the Koran (3:14) discouraged: "The passion for women, the desire for male children, the thirst for gold and silver, spirited horses, and the possession of cattle and land, in fact all the pleasures of life on earth." Sicily offered all of these things in abundance.
By 650, the Arabs were making their way through Libya and Tunisia, and
what remained of the once-prosperous city of Carthage was destroyed in 698. The
Byzantines had already lost these areas, but they retained control of Sicily - despite numerous raids by Arab pirates - until 827. In that year, Euphemius, a Byzantine admiral and resident governor of Sicily who found himself at odds with the Emperor, offered the governorship of the island to Ziyadat Allah, the Aghlabid Emir of Al Qayrawan (in Tunisia) in exchange for his support. This fiasco resulted in the landing of over ten thousand Arab and Berber troops at Mazara in the western part of Sicily. Euphemius was soon killed and Sicily's Arab period had begun.
Three Arab dynasties ruled Sicily - first the
Aghlabids (a "minor" family based in Tunisia which had broken away from the Abbasids of Baghdad) and then, from 909, the
Fatimids, who entrusted much of their authority to the
Kalbidsin 948. In that year, Hassan al-Kalbi became the first Emir of All Sicily. By 969, the Fatimid dynasty (descended from the Prophet's daughter, Fatima) were moving their geographic center of power to Cairo, leaving their Tunisian capitals (Madiyah and Al Quayrawan) and western territories to the care of what in Europe would be called "vassals."
Islam spread quickly across the Mediterranean but in Sicily the Arabs' conquest was a slow one. Panormos, which was to become the seat of an emirate as
Bal'harm (Palermo) in 948, fell in 832. Messina was taken in 843. Enna (the Arabs'
Kasr' Yanni, also an emirate) was conquered in 858. With the violent fall of Syracuse in 878, the conquest was essentially complete, though Taormina and several other mountaintop communities held out for a few more years.
Byzantine society, culture and government were closely identified with Christianity, and the law was based largely (though not entirely) on Judeo-Christian ideas, but it would have been mistaken to consider the Byzantine state a theocracy. Moreover, as Christianity already existed in many regions (such as Sicily) in the Byzantine Empire, there was not always a need to introduce (or impose) it. Islam, however, was a way of life that could not easily be separated from society itself, and it was a religion formerly unknown in Sicily. This obviously influenced Arab society in Sicily and elsewhere, though efforts were made to retain something of the established order. In the early ninth century, Islam itself could be said to be in its formative stages socially, with certain literary sources (collections of
hadiths containing
sunnahs or "laws") still being written.
Arab administration, if not particularly enlightened, was not very harsh by medieval standards, but it was far from egalitarian. Sicily's Christians and Jews (Sicily was at least half Muslim by 1060) were highly taxed, and clergy could not recite from the Bible or Talmud within earshot of Muslims. Christian and Jewish women (who like Muslim ones were veiled in public) could not share the public baths with Muslim women -many of whom were ex-Christians converted to Islam to contract financially or socially advantageous marriages to Muslim men. Non-Muslims had to stand in the presence of Muslims. New churches and synagogues could not be built, nor Muslims converted to other faiths. A number of large churches, such as the cathedral of Palermo, were converted to mosques. (The Arabic inscription shown above is still visible on one of its columns.)
A degree of religious tolerance prevailed; there were no forced conversions. Yet, a new social order was soon in place. Except for a few merchants and sailors, there had been very few Muslim Arabs in Sicily before 827, but Byzantine legal strictures imposed upon them, and upon the Jews living across the island, cannot be said to have been as rigid as those imposed upon non-Muslims by the Arabs after about 850. At first, however, many Sicilians probably welcomed the prospect of change because they had been overtaxed and over-governed by their Byzantine rulers.
The Arabs introduced superior irrigation systems; some of their underground
qanats (kanats) still flow under Palermo. They established the
Sicilian silk industry, and at the court of the Norman monarch
Roger II great Arab thinkers like the geographer
Abdullah al Idrisi were welcome. Agriculture became more varied and more efficient, with the widespread introduction of rice,
sugar cane, cotton and
oranges. This, in turn, influenced Sicilian cuisine. Many of the most popular Sicilian foods trace their origins to the Arab period.
Dozens of towns were founded or resettled during the Saracen era, and souks (suks, or
street markets) became more common than before. Bal'harm (Palermo) was repopulated and became one of the largest Arab cities after Baghdad and Cordoba (Cordova), and one of the most beautiful. Construction on Bal'harm's al-Khalesa district built near the sea was begun in 937 by Khalid Ibn Ishaq, who was then Governor of Sicily. Despite later estimates of a greater population, there were probably about two hundred thousand residents in and around this city by 1050, and it was the capital of Saracen Sicily. Bal'harm was the official residence of the Governors and Emirs of All Sicily, and al-Khalesa (now the Kalsa district) was its administrative center. As we've mentioned, in 948 the Fatimids granted a degree of autonomy to the Kalbid dynasty, whose last "governor" (effectively a hereditary emir), Hasan II (or Al-Samsan), ruled until 1053. By then, Kasyr Yanni (Enna), Trapani, Taormina and Syracuse were also self-declared, localized "emirates." (This word was sometimes used rather loosely to describe any hereditary ruler of a large locality; in law Sicily had been a unified emirate governed from Palermo since 948, but by the 1050s the others had challenged his authority over them.)
Naturally, Arabic was widely spoken and it was a major influence on Sicilian, which emerged as a Romance (Latin) language during the subsequent (Norman) era. The Sicilian vernacular was in constant evolution, but until the arrival of the Arabs the most popular language in Sicily was a dialect of Greek. Under the Moors Sicily actually became a polyglot community; some localities were more Greek-speaking while others were predominantly Arabic-speaking. Mosques stood alongside churches and synagogues.
Arab Sicily, by 948 governed from Bal'harm with little intervention from Qayrawan (Kairouan), was one of Europe's most prosperous regions --intellectually, artistically and economically. (At the same time, Moorish Spain was comparable to Sicily in these respects, but its prior society had been essentially Visigothic rather than Byzantine.) With the exception of occasional landings in Calabria, the Sicilian Arabs coexisted peacefully with the peoples of the Italian peninsula. These were Lombards (Longobard descendants) and Byzantines in Calabria, Basilicata and Apulia, where Bari was the largest city.
Under the Byzantines' empire, Sicily enjoyed some contact with the East, but as part of a larger Arab empire having greater contact with China and India, Far Eastern developments such as paper (made from cotton or wood), the compass and Arabic numerals (actually Indian) arrived. So did Arab inventions, such as henna - though today's middle-class Sicilian obsession with artficial blondness is a twentieth-century phenomenon. Under the Arabs, Sicily and Spain found themselves highly developed compared to England and Continental northern Europe.
Byzantium hadn't forgotten Sicily, and in 1038
George Maniakes, at the head of an army of Byzantine-Greeks, Normans, Vikings and Lombards, attempted an invasion of Sicily without success. By the 1050s, the Pope, and some Norman knights from this failed adventure, were casting a long glance toward Sicily with an eye to conquest. This desire was later fueled by dissension among the island's Arabs, leading to support by the Emir of Syracuse for the Normans against the emirates of Enna and Palermo. Most of these internal problems developed after the ruling Fatimids moved their capital from Tunisia to Egypt, where they established Cairo (near ancient Memphis).
The Normans conquered Messina in 1061 and reached the
gates of Palermo a decade later, removing from power the local emir, Yusuf Ibn Abdallah, but respecting Arab customs. Their conquest of Arab Sicily was slower than their conquest of Saxon England, which began in 1066 with the Battle of Hastings. Kasr Yanni was still ruled by its emir, Ibn Al-Hawas, who held out for years. His successor, Ibn Hamud, surrendered, and converted to Christianity, only in 1087. Initially, and for over a century, the Normans' Sicilian kingdom was the medieval epitome of multicultural tolerance. By 1200, this was beginning to change. While the Muslim-Arab influence continued well into the Norman era - particularly in art and architecture - it was not to endure. The Normans gradually "Latinized" Sicily, and this social process laid the groundwork for the introduction of Catholicism (as opposed to eastern Orthodoxy). Widespread conversion ensued, and by the 1280s there were few - if any - Muslims in Sicily. Yet, the mass immigration of north-African Arabs (and Berbers) was the greatest Sicilian immigration since that of the ancient
Greeks, leaving today's Sicilians as Saracen as Hellenic.
While Norman government and law in Sicily were essentially European, introducing institutions such as the feudal system, at first they were profoundly influenced by Arab (and even Islamic) practices. Many statutes were universal, but in the earliest Norman period each Sicilian --Muslim, Christian, Jew-- was judged by the laws of his or her own faith.
When did the various Sicilian localities cease to be Arab (or Byzantine Greek)? There was not an immediate change. Following the Norman conquest, complete Latinization, fostered largely by the Roman Church and its liturgy, took the better part of two centuries, and even then there remained pockets of
Byzantine influence in northeastern Sicily's Nebrodi Mountains.
Had the Normans not conquered Sicily, it might have evolved into an essentially Arab society not unlike that which survived in some parts of Spain into the later centuries of the Middle Ages, and the Sicilian vernacular language (as we know it) would have developed later. It is interesting to consider that general functional literacy among Sicilians was higher in 870 under the Arabs and Byzantines than it was in 1870 under the Italians (at about seventeen percent). In certain social respects, nineteenth-century Sicily still seemed very Arab, especially outside the largest cities, well into the early years of the twentieth century.
About the Authors: Luigi Mendola is the History Editor of Best of Sicily and author of several books. Palermo native Vincenzo Salerno, who contributed to this article, has written biographies of several famous Sicilians, including Frederick II and Giuseppe di Lampedusa.
Sicilian Peoples: The Arabs - Best of Sicily Magazine - Moors and Saracens in Sicilian History
By Habeeb Salloum
"Islam may have disappeared after 1249 but an Arabic dialect is still spoken by the mass of population... The staunchly Catholic Maltese are concerned to play down the Arab nature of this dialect, which since the 18th century has been written in the Latin script and called ‘Maltese’. Its origin is commonly said to be composite, of Arabic, though it does contain a relatively high proportion of Italian loan words."
So wrote Maxine Robinson, in his book, The Arabs, when describing the Arab linguistic legacy of Malta - once a flourishing part of the Arab-Islamic world. Try as they could during the era of religious fervour in the Middle Ages, the Maltese did not succeed in erasing, not only in language, but in all other facets of life, their Arab heritage. Malta remains today a cultural part of the Arab world.
Typical Maltese Church Inspired by the cube-shaped Ka'ba
The Majmuna-a Tombstone of a Young Muslim Girl
Mdina-St John's Cathedral decorated with Arabesque
Consisting of three islands, Malta, Gozo and Comino, collectively known as Malta, the country has always, much more than its size belies, been important in the history of the central Mediterranean. Its 370,000 inhabitants - with an equal number of emigrés in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the U.S.A. - living in an area totalling 316 sq km (122 sq mi) - are descendants of a concoction of races, overwhelmingly Semitic.
Phoenician settlements on the islands date back to about 1000 B.C. In the ensuing centuries, the Carthaginians, descendants of these Semitic people, continued to occupy the islands. The Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spanish, Italians, French and British followed them - all leaving their imprints. It was, however, the Arabs who contributed the most enduring legacy, especially their indelible imprint on the Maltese tongue - a morphologically Arabic language of the North African branch.
In 869 Ahmad bin ‘Umar, an Arab-Muslim North African prince, occupied Malta for a short time before his forces were expelled. The next year a larger Muslim army under Muhammad ibn Hafagab, the Arab governor of Sicily, occupied the islands, being welcomed by the local Christian inhabitants as a deliverer from the agonizing Byzantine yoke. Subsequently, the Arabs ruled Malta until 1090 when the Normans defeated them. Under these Germanic conquerors the Christian and Muslims, at first, lived in harmony. However, later, between 1224 and 1250 the Muslims were totally expelled from the country.
The 220 years of Arab rule has left a lasting effect on the country's way of life. In this period of Malta's history the islands, known under three names: Malitah - the island's Roman name - Ghawdex and Chemmuna, enjoyed an unparalleled age of economic affluence, becoming a veritable land of plenty.
The Arab domination of the central Mediterranean and the country's strategic location made the islands a hub of trade and were instrumental in giving Malta great commercial prosperity. In addition, highly skilled in farming, the Arabs were responsible for the introduction of an advanced system of irrigation techniques, including the waterwheel and animal- powered devices for lifting water from wells. These made possible the widespread cultivation of citrus fruits and cotton - both introduced by the Arabs into the country. An Arab chronicler living in that period wrote: "Malta is rich in everything good... a blessing from God... well populated, with towns and villages, trees and fruits."
Besides the many economic benefits the Arabs brought to the islands, the advanced culture they carried with them greatly influenced all other aspects of Maltese life. They were tolerant rulers where Christians and Muslims lived in relatively harmony - an important achievement in that epoch of world history. Under the Muslims, known to the Europeans at that time as Moors, the Maltese had their own assembly called gemgha (Arabic jam’iya - an association) composed of both Christians and Muslims under an Arab hakim or governor.
Initially, many of Malta's Christian inhabitants converted to Islam and adopted numerous facets of Arab culture. As in the Arab lands, poetry flourished. Among others, the Arab poets Abu al-Qasim ibn Ramadan, al-Samiti and Ibn al-Susi became renowned throughout the Muslim world. Remnants of this love for lyricists remain with the country people today. L-ghana (Arabic ghina' -song), the traditional spontaneous songs of the countryside are no different than the zajal of our times, sung in the Greater Syria area. Strangely, Arab culture on the islands reached its epitome in the 12th century after Roger the Norman had occupied the country. For over a hundred years after the Norman Conquest Arabic remained a dominant factor in Maltese society.
Malta Mdina's St John's Cathedral
Malta Vedette at Senglwa Point
Today, from the illustrious Arab-Norman era there are little obvious remains. The only Arab testimonials are to be found in the walls of Fort St. Angelo in the Grand Harbour and in the walls of the city of Mdina (Arabic
madina or city) - re-named from Melita, the capital of Malta during Roman times. Also, some artefacts such as Berber-style pottery and Arab coins are to be found in the National Museum.
Crowning all the visible remains is the beautiful Majmuna tombstone found while excavating a cemetery at the gates to the town of Rabat (Arabic rabaEQ \O(t.) - a quarter of a city). A large marble stone inscribed with Arabic-Kufic-style letters it carries a sad lament of a grieving Muslim father for the death of his 12 year-old daughter.
However, Arab influenced architectural styles, to be found in all parts of the islands, are the most important of the perceivable Arab-Muslim legacy. Old churches echo the traditional Arab style of arabesque, pointed arches and tapered columns. The entire interior of St. John's Co-Cathedral of Mdina is decorated with Arabesque and village churches are usually built in the shape of cubes - an echo of the Kaaba, the Muslim sacred shrine located in the courtyard of the Great Mosque at Mecca.
Malta's Roman Catholic Church has, over the centuries, assimilated many Arabic/Muslim practices. Instead of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer five times a day from minarets, the island's churches call their faithful to prayer five times a day by the sound of melodious church bells. The Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, has been transformed by the Maltese to Randan, meaning Lent, the Arabic insha' Allah (if God wills) is the Maltese jekk Alla rieda (if God wills), and like the Muslim news announcers who open their day's news broadcasts with "In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful", the Maltese radio station begins the day with "Ave Maria".
More apparent to visitors are the majority of Malta's towns and cities which still carry their Arabic names. Bahar (sea - from the Arabic baEQ \O(h.)r); bir (well - bi'r); gebel (mountain - jabal); ghar (cave - ghar); marsa (harbour - marsan);ramla (sand - raml); ras (cape - ra's); and wied (valley - wadin) form a part of a great number of placenames on the islands. A few of the other place-names like: Ghajn il-Kbira (the great spring - from the Arabic `ain al-kubra); Gharb (west - gharb); Gharghur (juniper - ‘ar’ar); Gzira (island - jazira); Hagar Qim (standing stone - EQ \O(h.)ajar qama); Il-Maqluba (turned upside down - al-maqlub); Mellie£a (salt pit - mallaEQ \O(h.)a); M�arr (cavern - maghar); Migra l-Ferth (stream of joy -majaran al-faraEQ \O(h.)); Mosta (centre -wasaEQ \O(t.)); Munxar (saw - minshar); Nadur (summit - naEQ \O(z.)ir); Sliema(greetings - salam); and Zeytun (olives - zaitun) are totally Arabic appellations.
Above all, the Maltese language is still basically Arabic - the main Arab influence remaining on the islands. It is considered by linguists to be an offshoot of Maghrebine (North African) Arabic. Today's Maltese travelling in North Africa, especially Tunisia, are able to make themselves fairly well understood.
Modern day Maltese fisherman
Maltese has its roots in the Punic dialect of Phoenician, an allied Semitic tongue to Arabic. Hence, after the Arabs occupied the islands their language took over and it quickly became the vernacular of the land. In later centuries, some French, English and noticeably Italian words were added to the vocabulary, but it has remained essentially an Arabic tongue. Its
Grammatical inflexions and verbal forms remain no different than those of the Arabic Semitic language.
This sample of the language gives one an idea of how Maltese is only an Arabic dialect, not much different than the colloquial of Tunisia. Ag£laq (shut is from the Arabic ghalq); angas ( fewer - naqaEQ \O(s.)a); bajd (eggs - baiEQ \O(d.));barra (outside - barran); d£ul(entry - dukhul); fetah (to open - fatEQ \O(h.)); gara (to read -qara'a); g£id (EQ \O(c)§d);�ilda (skin - jilda); hobz (bread - khubz); huma (them - huma); ktieb (book - kitab); lbies ( clothes - libs); imar'a (woman - mar'a); mo££ (brain - muEQ \O(k_)EQ \O(k_)); ragel (man - rajul); sid (master - sayyid); triq (road - EQ \O(t.)ariq); weraq(leaves - waraq); and zokkra (sugar - sukkar).
The days of the week and the numbers are Arabic and physically the Maltese are close to Arab types. In parts of the Islands, the country people still refer to themselves as Gharab (‘arab -Arabs). One cannot quarrel with Charles S. Muscat's words when he writes in his booklet Arab Influence on Malta:
"Even though the Islamic notion of jihad, or `a great effort in behalf of Allah', especially to spread the culture and religion of Islam, was originally seen by the Maltese as a negative thing, the culture of Malta would not be as rich and unique as it is today without that same Arabic influence. In the words of the Koran, may Allah be praised or in Maltese ‘grazza Allah’ for the Arabic influence."
REFERENCES
Ahmed, A.,
A History of Islamic Sicily, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1975.
Aquilina, J.,
Maltese: A Complete Course for Beginners, Lincolnwood, NTC Publishing Group, Chicago, 1995.
Arberry, A. J.,
A Maltese Anthology, The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960.
Blouet, B.W.,
The Story of Malta, Faber and Faber, London, 1967.
Eadie, P.M.,
Malta and Goza, A&C Black, London, 1995.
Luttrell, A.T.,
Medieval Malta: Studies of Malta Before the Knights, The British School of Rome, London, 1975.
Muscat, C.S.,
Arab Influence on Malta, (Booklet), 1992.
Nantet, B.,
Malta, Editions Delroisse, Paris, France, 1979.
Owen, C.,
The Maltese Islands, David & Charles Publishers, Newton Abbot, Great Britain, 1969
Robinson, M.,
The Arabs, translated by A. Goldhammer, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1981.
Sacks, R.H.,
Malta and Goza, New English library, London, 1976.
Severin, I.,
See Malta and Goza, Format Books, London, 1978.
Historic Dictionary of Malta, Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, 1995.
Kalepin (Dizzjunarju) Malti-Ingliz Dictionary, Edited by Captain E.D. Busuttil, Progress Press, Valetta, Malta, 1977.
Nagel's Encyclopedia-Guide-Malta, Prepared by D. Chambry, Nagel Publishers, Geneva, Switzerland, 1978.
http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue29/features.htm
A few other articles:
http://www.academia.edu/1190888/Malta_and_the_Arabs
http://www.visitmalta.com/en/under-the-arabs
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/26/malta-mash-civilisations-eu-membership
Lastly the Maltese Language has to be one of the coolest languages out there. Any native Arabic speaker will probably smile whenever he hears it. A very unique language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_language
------------------------
In other news:
The word
mafia (Italian pronunciation:
[ˈmaːfja]) originated in Sicily. The Sicilian adjective
mafiusu (in Italian:
mafioso), roughly translated, means 'swagger', but can also be translated as 'boldness' or
bravado'. In reference to a man,
mafiusu in 19th century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising, and proud, according to scholar
Diego Gambetta.
[2] In reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form adjective
mafiusa means 'beautiful' or 'attractive'.
Because Sicily was once an
Islamic emirate,
mafia may have come to Sicilian through
Arabic, though the word's origins are uncertain. Possible Arabic roots of the word include:
- maha = quarry, cave;[3] especially the mafie caves in the region of Marsala, which acted as hiding places for persecuted Muslims and later served other types of refugees.[4]
- mahyas (مهياص) = aggressive boasting, bragging
- marfud (مرفوض) = rejected
- mu'afa = safety, protection[3]
- Ma àfir = the name of an Arab tribe[5] that ruled Palermo.[6] The local peasants imitated these Arabs and as a result the tribes name entered the popular lexicon. The word mafia was then used to refer to the defenders of Palermo during the Sicilian Vespers.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia
The etymology of the name is uncertain, undergoing various modifications from the
Ancient Greek Kouroullounè to the
Arabic Kurulliùn\Qurlayun of the
Emirate of Sicily, from
Latin Curilionum to the
Norman Coraigliòn, from the
Aragonese Conillon, Coriglione from which the
Sicilian Cunigghiuni originated. The modern name ascend from 1556.
Another belief is that the name derives from an Arab fighter named Kurliyun (Lionheart), who conquered it for the Aghlabids in 840.
[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corleone
Of course the very close ancient historical ties between the Arab world and nearby Southern Europe is nothing new. DNA has also confirmed the very close blood ties ages ago. If not for religion (although we are talking about 2 Abrahamic religions) and diverging histories, there would not be much of a difference. I can confirm due to familial ties in both parts of the world. The story is different with the remaining parts of Europe.
