Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry

by Bernard Lewis

  3. According to a story related by two tenth-century Arab geographers, in almost identical language, "in the outer reaches of the land of the Zanj there are cool highlands in which live white Zanj" (Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Istakhri, Kitab Masalik al-Mamalik, ed. M. J. de Goeje [Leiden, 1870], p. 36: lbn Hawgal. Kitab Surat al-Ard, ed. J. H. Kramers, vol. 1 [Leiden, 1938-39], p. 59).

  4. Ya`qubi, Kitab al-Buldan, ed. M. J. de Goeje, 2d ed., Bibliothecageographorum arabicorum, vol. 7 (Leiden, 1892), p. 345: French translation by G. Wiet. Les Pays (Cairo, 1937), p. 205; Kubbel and Matveev, Arah.skive istocniki (1960), p. 43; Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, pp. 302-3.

  5. Maqdisi, Kitab al-Bad' wa'l-ta'rikh, ed. and trans. (into French) Clement Huart (Paris, 1903), text 4, pp. 69-70, trans. p. 65; Matveev and Kubbel. Arabskiye istoeniki (1965), p. 14.

  6. Idrisi, Opus geographicum, ed. A. Bombaci, U. Rizzitano, R. Rubinacci, and L. Veccia Vaglieri, vol. 1 (Naples and Rome, 1970). pp. 61, 18. The earlier edition of the passage on the Zanj, by Youssouf Kamal, Monumenta Cartographica Africae et Aegypti, vol. 3, pt. 4 (Leiden, 1934), p. 831 (Matveev and Kubbel, Arabskive istocniki [ 1965], p. 258) is defective. The passage on Takrur occurs in Idrisi, al-Maghrib wa-ard al-Sudan, ed. and trans. R. Dozy and M. J. de Goeje (Leiden, 1964), p. 4 (Matveev and Kubbel, Arabskiye isto(niki [1965], p. 236). The reference to dates is paralleled in an Arabic proverb: "Blacks are caught with dates." Freytag, 1/2, pl. 651, n. 176. An external confirmation of this practice is provided by a twelfth-century Chinese author. who, apparently speaking of the people of an East African island, observes that "their bodies are black as lacquer and they have frizzled hair. They are enticed by (offers of) food and then captured and sold as slaves to the Arabic countries, where they fetch a very high price. . . . thousands of them are sold as foreign slaves" (Chou Ch'u-fei, cited in J. J. L. Duyvendak, China's Discovery of Africa [London. 1949], pp. 22-23).

  7. Ihn Battuta, Voyages (Tuhfat al-nuzzar), ed. and trans. C. Defremery and B. R. Sanguinetti, vol. 4 (1854; reprint, Paris. 1969), pp. 441-45; English translation in Ibn Battuta, Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354, trans. H. A. R. Gibb (London, 1929), pp. 336-37.

  8. Ibn Khurradadhbih. Al-Masdlik iva'l-momdlik, ed. M. J. de Goeje, Bibliotheca geographorum arabicorum, vol. 6 (Leiden, 1889), pp. 60-61, 170; Kubbel and Matveev, Arahskiye istocniki (1960), pp. 32-33.

  9. Ibn Qutayba, Al-Ma`arif ed. Tharwat 'Ukasha, 2d ed. (Cairo, 1969), p. 26 (Kubbel and Matveev, Arabskiye istoeniki [1960]. p. 21); Ibn Qutayba. `UvOn al- Akhht-ir, ed. Ahmad Zaki al-'Adwi, vol. 2 (Cairo, 1343-49/1925-30). p. 67. On the tiling of the teeth by African slaves in the eighteenth century, see W. G. Browne, Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria from the Year 1792 to 1798, 2d ed. (London, 1806), p. 396.

  10. Mas`Odi, Muruj al-dhahah, ed. Charles Pellat (Beirut, 1965-), vol. 1, p. 91; translated by Charles Pellat, Les Prairies d'or, vol. 1 (Paris. 1962). p. 69.

  11. Maqdisi, Kitah al-Bad', vol. 4, pp. 69-70.

  12. Hudud al-Alain, ed. M. Sotoodeh (Tehran, 1340/1962). pp. 195-200: English translation by V. Minorskv (London, 1937), pp. 163-66.

  13. See above, pp. 32ff.

  14. Tusi. Tasawwurat, ed. W. Ivanow (Leiden, 1950), pp. 52-53; cf. Ivanow's translation, pp. 57-58.

  15. In the translation of F. Rosenthal, Ibn Khaldun, The Mugaddimah, vol. 1 (New York, 1958), p. 301 (hereafter simply Rosenthal). For another English translation, see C. Issawi, An Arab Philosophy of History (London, 1950), p. 98. The original of this passage may be found in Ibn Khaldun, Mugaddima, ed. Etienne Quatremere, vol. 1 (Paris, 1858), p. 269; ibid. (Beirut, 1901), p. 148; ibid., ed. Nasr al-HUrini (Bulaq, 1274/1857), pp. 124-25 (hereafter simply Quatremere. Beirut, and Bulaq). French translations by M. de Slane, Les Prolegomenes d7bn Khaldoun, vol. 1, (1862; reprint, Paris, 1934), p. 309 (`II est vrai que la plupart des negres s'habituent fac- ilement a la servitude; mais cette disposition resulte, ainsi que nous l'avons dit ailleurs. d'une inferiorite d'organisation qui les rapproche des animaux bruts"); and by Vincent Monteil, Discours sur l'histoire universelle (AI-Mugaddima), vol. 1 (Beirut, 1967), p. 294 ("C'est ainsi que les nations negres sont. en general, soumises a l'esclavage, parce que les Noirs sont une humanite inferieure (nags al-insaniyya), plus proche des animaux stupides"). For parallel passages see Rosenthal, vol. 1, pp. 118ff., 168ff. In another passage in his Muqaddima (Quatremere, vol. 1, pp. 95-96: Rosenthal. vol. 1, pp. 118-19; Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, pp. 319-20), Ibn Khaldun, after describing the known peoples of black West Africa, observes that "beyond them to the south there is no civilization in the proper sense. There are only humans who are closer to dumb animals than to rational beings. They live in thickets and caves, and eat herbs and unprepared grain. They frequently eat each other. They cannot be considered human beings" (Rosenthal, vol. 1, pp. 118-19). In his historical work, the Kitdb al- 7bar (Cairo, 1867), vol. 5, pp. 433ff. (translation in Levtzion and Hopkins. Corpus, pp. 322ff.), Ibn Khaldun gives a lengthy account of the West African peoples and kingdoms. In another passage, Ibn Khaldun makes a more general observation about the inhabitants of the zones that are "far from temperate." Speaking of the blacks, he says: "Their foodstuffs are durra and herbs, their clothing is the leaves of trees, which they sew together to cover themselves, or animal skins. Most of them go naked. The fruits and seasonings of their countries are strange and inclined to be intemperate. In their business dealings, they do not use the two noble metals, but copper, iron, or skins, upon which they set a value for the purpose of business dealings. Their qualities of character, moreover, are close to those of dumb animals. It has even been reported that most of the Negroes of the first zone dwell in caves and thickets, eat herbs, live in savage isolation, and do not congregate, and eat each other. The same applies to the Slavs" (Quatremere, vol. 1, pp. 149-50; Rosenthal, vol. 1, p. 168); Issawi. Arab Philosophy of History, p. 44.

  16. For an edited, translated, and annotated example of late medieval Egyptian scholarship on black Africa, see Dierk Lange, "Un Texte de Maqrizi sur 'les races des Sudan,' " Annales Islamologiques 15 (1979), pp. 187-209.

  17. AI-Qalgashandi, Suhh al-A'shd, vol. 8 (Cairo, 1313-19/1895-1901), pp. 11617. A full translation may he found in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, pp. 347ff.

  Chapter 8

  1. 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani (Kitab Kashf al-Ghur ma, vol. 2 [Cairo 1370/ 1950], p. 216), rejects the idea outright. On the enslavement of Arabs, see Ibn Hisham, Kitab al-Sira, ed. F. Wustenfeld, vol. 2 (Gottingen, 1859), pp. 877ff.: English translation by A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (Oxford, 1955), pp. 592ff.; Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (Baltimore, 1955), pp. 130-32. For a description, ascribed to 'Umar, of the Bedouin as "the root of the Arabs and the stuff of Islam," see Abu Yusuf, Kitab al-Kharaj (Bulaq, 1302/1885), p. 8; English translation by A. Ben Shemesh, Taxation in Islam, vol. 3 (London, 1969), p. 47. On Arab privileges, see above, pp. 37ff. and 86ff.

  2. Aristotle, Politics 1254b20, 1255alff., 1255a8, 1278b23.

  3. Joel L. Kraemer, "The Jihad of the Falasifa," Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 10 (1987), p. 313, where further sources are cited.

  4. Al-Farabi, Fusul Muntazaa, ed. F. M. Najjar (Beirut, 1971), pp. 76-77.

  5. Abu]-Hasan Muhammad al-'Amiri (d. 992), Al-Sa'ada wa'l-Is ad, ed. Mojtaba Minovi (Wiesbaden, 1957-58), p. 188, cf. p. 363. On Muslim use of Aristotle's Politics, see, further, S. Pines, "Aristotle's Politics in Arabic philosophy," Israel Oriental Studies 5 (1975), pp. 150-66; Franz Rosenthal, The Muslim Concept of Freedom (Leiden, 1960). pp. 31-32; and, on natural slavery, S. M. Stern, Aristotle on the World State (Oxford, 1968), pp. 30ff.

  6. Aristotle, Politics I285a20.

  7. Cited in E. I. J. Rosenthal, Political Thought in Medieval Islam (Cambridge. 1958), pp. 154-55.

  8. Kirmani, Rahatu'l-aql [sic]. ed. M. Kamil Hussein and M. Mustafa Hilmy, (Cairo, 1953), p. 241.

  9. In the biblical version, as noted, the curse falls only on Canaan, and consists only of servitude. With the exception of one passage, neither the Babylonian
nor the Jerusalem Talmud departs from this biblical version. This exception is a curious story in both Talmuds (Sanhedrin, 108b; The Babylonian Talmud: Seder Nashim, ed. I. Epstein, trans. Jacob Shachter and H. Freeman [London, 1935], p. 745) and in a few midrashim which tells of how three creatures transgressed in the Ark: the dog, the raven, and Noah's son Ham. All three were smitten in punishment. Ham's punishment, in the Babylonian Talmud, was that laqa be"oro, (lit., "he was smitten in his skin"). In the Jerusalem Talmud, Ham is mefuham (lit. "charred," cf. peham, "charcoal"). Later commentators, including the Soncino translator, assume this to refer to blackness, perhaps under the influence of medieval versions of the story. There is, however, nothing in the text to indicate that the hereditary curse had been extended from servitude to blackness or that it was transferred from Canaan, who was white, to Kush, who was black. Neither Kush nor racial blackness is mentioned, nor is there anything to show that blackness as such was seen as a punishment, appropriate to the term "smitten." On the contrary. there are several passages in ancient Jewish literature indicating that "black is beautiful." The well-known verse in the Song of Solomon (1:5), which the authorized version, following the Latin, renders "I am black, but comely. 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem," reads, in the original Hebrew and unequivocally in the earliest Greek translations, both Jewish and Christian, "I am black and comely." The "hut" (sed in the Vulgate) appears to be the contribution of Saint Jerome. In Numbers 12. where Moses' sister Miriam denounces his marriage with an Ethiopian woman, she is punished by God for this offense. The punishment is leprosy-"Behold, Miriam became leprous. white as snow" (Numbers 12:10). Moses pleaded for his sister, who was let off with the lesser punishment of seven days' banishment from the camp, after which she returned, was forgiven, and, presumably, resumed her normal color.

  The discoloration of Ham occurs, in rabbinic literature, only in this rare and curious story in which he is associated with the dog and the raven. It does not occur anywhere else in the Talmud, and it is not linked with the curse of servitude. In the Babylonian Talmud-and in most of the few midrashic texts that contain the storythere is no explicit reference to any hereditary change of color. Nevertheless, on the basis of this single, equivocal reference, J. R. Willis has concluded that "though the `Curse of Ham' had its genesis in the Old Testament, its forcing bed was the Babylonian Talmud" (Slaves and Slavery in Muslim Africa, vol. 1 [London, 1985]. p. 8; reprinted from "Islamic Africa: reflections on the servile estate," Studia Islamica 52 [1980], p. 194).

  The earliest explicit reference to blackness as part of the curse inflicted on Ham for his offense against his father would appear to be a passage in the Bible commentary ascribed to the Syrian church father Saint Ephrem of Nisibis, according to whom Noah said: "Accursed be Canaan, and may God make his face black," whereupon the face of both Canaan and Ham became black (Paul Lagarde, Materialen zur Kritik and Geschichte des Pentateuchs, vol. 1 [reprinted Osnobruck and Wiesbaden, 1967], pp. 86-87, cited by M. Grunebaum, Neue Beitrage zur Semitischen Sagenkunde [Leiden, 1893], p. 86). This passage occurs in a late Arabic translation of some passages in Saint Ephrem's writings, and there may therefore be some question about its authenticity. No Syriac original for this passage has so far come to light; and the story may well be a later interpolation in the Arabic version, reflecting the current notions of that time. The idea also occurs in a later midrash (Bereshit Rabbah, 37, 7; English translation by H. Freeman, The Midrash Rabbah, vol. 1, Genesis [London, 19771, pp. 292-93), where, for the first time in a Jewish text, the curse included the words "and therefore his seed will be ugly and black [mefuham]." Saint Ephrem died in 373 A.D.; the anonymous Bereshit Rabbah was probably compiled in the sixth century A.D., with later accretions of which this may be one. By that time the Canaanites were no more than a remote historic memory. Neither version mentions Kush, who in biblical, rabbinic, and most Christian versions, is the ancestor of the dark-skinned peoples of Africa.

  The Qur'an tells the story of Noah and his Ark, and speaks of one of Noah's sons who had separated himself from his family and therefore perished (XI:42ff.). There is, however, no reference to Ham or to his curse, whether of servitude or of blackness, and of course no descendants. The story of Ham appears, however, at an early date in Islamic literature and is widely cited by historians, commentators, and traditionists. Their versions vary considerably. While most indicate that Ham offended against his father Noah, not all specify his offense; and those who do so differ. In some versions, Noah withholds his blessing from Ham; in others, he curses him. In some versions, the curse consists only of servitude; in others, of both servitude and blackness. The earliest explicit statement of the latter (a mention by Jahiz [see above, p. 32] of the idea of blackness as a curse or punishment may be an allusion to this story) would appear to be a passage in Ibn Qutayba (828-89), who says:

  Wahb ibn Munabbih said: Ham the son of Noah was a white man, with a handsome face and a fine figure, and Almighty God changed his color and the color of his descendants in response to his father's curse. He went away, followed by his sons, and they settled by the shore, where God increased and multiplied them. They are the blacks. Their food was fish, and they sharpened their teeth like needles, as the fish stuck to them. Some of his children went to the West [Maghrib]. Ham begat Kush ibn Ham, Kan'an ibn Ham, and Fut ibn Ham. Fut settled in India and Sind and their inhabitants are his descendants. Kush and Kan'an's descendants are the various races of blacks: Nubians, Zanj, Qaran, Zaghawa, Ethiopians, Copts, and Berbers. (Kitab al-Ma`trrif ed. Tharwat `Ukasha, 2d ed. [Cairo, 1969], p. 26)

  Ibn Qutayba cites as source for this story Wahh ibn Munabbih, to whom many dubious stories are attributed. Wahb was a South Arabian convert to Islam, according to some, from Judaism, according to others, from Christianity. As he is also quoted as an authority on stories about Jesus, the latter seems more likely (see, e.g., Ibn Hisham, Kitab al-Tijan ft Muluk Himyar [Haydarabad, 1347/1928-29], p. 27). He remains, in any case, a very problematic figure, and traditions ascribed to him are regarded, in Islamic religious literature, with reserve. In another version of the story (Muhammad b. `Abdallah al-Kisa'i, Vita prophetarum, ed. I. Eisenberg [Leiden, 1923], pp. 98-99), because Shem covered his father's nakedness, his descendants would be prophets and nobles (sharif), while those of Ham would be bondsmen and bondswomen until the Day of Judgment. Japhet's descendants would be tyrants (jababira), Chosroes (aka- sira), and kings (muluk).

  These Islamic versions depart in two significant respects from the biblical and rabbinic versions: first, that Ham, who is stricken by the curse, is presented primarily as the ancestor of the dark-skinned peoples; second, that the curse consists of the double burden of servitude and blackness. The curse of Ham also figures in medieval popular romances about the Arab expansion in Africa, notably the story of Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan, telling how he led the Muslim Arabs to victory against the infidel Ethiopians and blacks (Sirat Saif ibn Dhi Yazan [Cairo, 1322/1904-5], and other editions).

  As noted above, this story was by no means generally accepted by Muslim authors, and it was refuted in socio-historical terms by Ibn Khaldun and with legal arguments by Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu. But the curse was too useful to disappear. The enslavement and displacement of vast numbers of blacks continued-and indeed increased after the gradual extinction of the traffic in white slaves from the North. For the sellers and buyers of black slaves, the curse of Ham provided both an explanation and a justification. When sugar and cotton and the black slave to cultivate them were transplanted, via the Iberian Peninsula and the Atlantic islands, to the new lands in the Americas, the moral problem and the mythical solution came with them, and Christian defenders of black slavery found justification in this amended version of the biblical tale. A whole literature appeared to reassure pious Christian slaveowners of the moral rightness and biblical sanction of the enslavement of the blacks. More recently, a similar school of para-scholarly literature has emerged, the purpose of which, this time, is to shift the blame for the enslavement of black African
s from Islam and Christendom to the Jews. For a discussion, see Ephraim Isaac, "Genesis, Judaism, and the 'Sons of Ham,' " Slavery and Abolition 1 (1980), pp. 3-17. also published, in a slightly different version, in Willis, Slaves and Slavery, vol. 1, pp. 75-91; Ephraim Isaac, "Concept biblique et rabbinique de la malediction de Noe," Service international de documentation judeo-chretienne 11, no. 2 (1978), pp. 16-35. On the whole question of the use of the Curse of Ham story, see David Brion Davis, Slavery and Human Progress (New York and Oxford, 1984), pp. 86-87, 337, n. 144. The Jewish sources will be examined in detail and in depth in a forthcoming study by David Goldenberg, to whom I am indebted for some of the information cited above.