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Madeleine Mesure (Lille 1906 - Toulouse 1978) y Marie Claver (Compiègne 1890 - Toulouse 1985) fueron dos misioneras de nuestra Señora de África, “hermanas blancas”, que desarrollaron su labor en el Sáhara argelino. La primera permaneció entre 1930 y 1961 y tenía buenos conocimientos del árabe literal y argelino. La segunda de ellas desde 1914 hasta 1970, conocía muy bien el árabe argelino y literal y aprendió el amacige de los mozabíes. El original de la obra que editamos se encuentra en la Casa General de las Hermanas Blancas en Roma. Su contenido es, sobre todo, léxico, pero contiene también fraseología en árabe argelino e indicaciones y explicaciones en francés, después de los nombres en árabe argelino, sobre, por ejemplo, el tratamiento de enfermedades con plantas autóctonas, la ceremonia nupcial o el funcionamiento del telar. En su conjunto, podemos decir que es una descripción bastante amplia de la vida de las mujeres y hombres en el Sáhara argelino a partir de su variedad árabe y, en menor medida, amacige. Los dibujos que la acompañan fueron hechos por la hermana Claver. Reproducimos aquí el "Vocabulaire détaillé de la langue arabe" en las lenguas originales, francés, árabe y amacige, acompañado de una presentación en español.

Depuis quelques années, l’île tunisienne cherche à développer des activités culturelles pour se démarquer des autres destinations.

Zanzibari Muslim Moderns is a historical study of Zanzibar during the interwar years. This was a period marked by rapid intellectual and social change in the Muslim world, when ideas of Islamic progress and development were hotly debated. How did this process play out in Zanzibar? Based on a wide range of sources—Islamic and colonial, private and public—Anne K. Bang examines how these concepts were received and promoted on the island, arguing that a new ideal emerged in its intellectual arena: the Muslim modern. Tracing the influences that shaped the outlook of this new figure, Bang draws lines to Islamic modernists in the Middle East, to local Sufi teachings, and to the recently founded state of Saudi Arabia. She presents the activities of the Muslim modern in the colonial employment system, as a contributor to international debates, as an activist in the community, and more. She also explores the formation of numerous faith-based associations during this period, as well as the views of the Muslim modern on everything from funerary practices and Mawlid celebrations to reading habits. A recurring theme throughout is the question with which many Muslim moderns were confronted: who should implement development? And for whom?

Zanzibar Was a Country traces the history of a Swahili-speaking Arab diaspora from East Africa to Oman. In Oman today, whole communities in Muscat speak Swahili, have recent East African roots, and practice forms of sociality associated with the urban culture of the Swahili coast. These "Omani Zanzibaris" offer the most significant contemporary example in the Gulf, as well as in the wider Indian Ocean region, of an Afro-Arab community that maintains a living connection to Africa in a diasporic setting. While they come from all over East Africa, a large number are postrevolution exiles and emigrés from Zanzibar. Their stories provide a framework for the broader transregional entanglements of decolonization in Africa and the Arabian Gulf. Using both vernacular historiography and life histories of men and women from the community, Nathaniel Mathews argues that the traumatic memories of the Zanzibar Revolution of 1964 are important to nation-building on both sides of the Indian Ocean.

يعنى هذا العمل بالبحث في الإرث الإباضي بمدينة نفطة بالجنوب التونسي، وهو المذهب السائد بمجال بلاد الجريد خلال العصر الوسيط من القرن الثامن إلى القرن الثالث عشر ميلادي، باعتماد مدونة شفوية محلية (سرديات ومرويات وذهنيات) ثم مسائلتها بمؤلفات أعلام الإباضية ببلاد المغرب خلال العصر الوسيط (على غرار الوسياني والورجلاني والدرجيني) وبالمراجع، لاسيما التي تناولت بالدراسة المذهب الإباضي بجنوب إفريقية منها (صالح باجية، الإباضية بالجريد ومحمد المريمي، إباضية جزيرة جربة خلال العصر الحديث)، من أجل المقارنة والتحليل. ويعنى العمل الحالي أيضا بدراسة ميدان البحث، اجتماعيا وأثريا بالمعايشة والتدوين ويناقش عددا من الممارسات العقدية، في العبادة على وجه الخصوص، كمسألة سدل اليدين في الصلاة، ويبحث في الممارسات الاجتماعية والطقوس الموروثة عن بعض فرق الإباضية، وفي المصطلحات اللغوية والإثنوغرافية والطوبونيمية الحالية الراجعة إلى العصر الوسيط، التي صمدت رغم الطمس الاجتماعي والنفي الفكري الموجه. وينظر إضافة إلى ذلك في بعض الظواهر الاجتماعية المتداولة بمجال الدراسة، ليتساءل عن حقيقة انتمائها إلى المذهب الإباضي الأصلي. ويعتمد منهج البحث على الخروج عما هو متداول من أن المقاربة التاريخية ملزمة باعتماد مادي على المصادر والمراجع والآثار في حين يمكن أن تعتمد أيضا على الإرث الشفوي والأنثروبولوجيا ليكونا منطلقين لكتابة قطعة هامة من التاريخ المحلي لم تعره الدراسات السابقة العناية اللازمة.

Four species of Spheciformes wasps belonging to two families and two genera Crabronidae Latreille, 1802 (one species to the genus Tachysphex Kohl, 1883) and Philanthidae Latreille, 1802 (three species to the genus Cerceris Latreille, 1802) are reported for the first time from Djerba Island in Tunisia. The distribution in Tunisia and morphological description for reported species are given and illustrated.

The newly discovered Early Bronze Age site of Ibrāʾ South at the southern outskirts of the modern town of Ibrāʾ offers a range of archaeological features dating to the Umm an‑Nar period. In this paper, the results of the first season of fieldwork conducted by the Goethe University Frankfurt are presented, including a detailed surface survey and finds collection as well as small-scale excavations of two domestic buildings. The site also allows a study of different functional zones within the settlement, among others an area of copper processing and systems of water management, as well as indications of a planned settlement layout.

Research towards the reconstruction of various archaeological landscapes in the Al-Ḥajar mountains is still ongoing. Past investigations in the Wādī Tanūf canyon have revealed long-term transformation of landscapes of higher places, such as hilltops and a cave on a cliff. However, the function of the wadi terraces has not been sufficiently investigated. In the 2022–2023 season, we surveyed the site of WTN07 on a wadi terrace and documented 123 Islamic graves, as well as one probable Wādī Sūq tomb (Tomb 122). A detailed examination indicates that Tomb 122 is a rare collective tomb in North-Central Oman and has composite characteristics represented by a U-shaped chamber, a possible entrance corridor, and an attached annex with a few subsidiary tombs. Furthermore, we have identified eight non-mortuary features, including a newly discovered building (Structure 01) in Wādī Tanūf, as well as a platform (Structure 02) and a long wall (Structure 04). These findings highlight the importance of the terrace in the canyon, given the limited flat space available. We assume that the small terrace running along the river was a place for different activities over time, with most of the evidence related to the movement of people in the trans-Ḥajar region, since the canyon can be considered as a corridor.

The Bisya region is rich in archaeological heritage, with thousands of protohistoric funerary monuments (fourth–first millennium BC), making it an ideal place to study the diversity of burials in the region. This article presents the results of two survey and excavation seasons in the Bisya region. Remote sensing identified over 5500 tombs in a vast area, and ground surveys made it possible to document their variability and spatial distribution. The article discusses the architectural diversity, topographical location, and chronological assignment of these tombs and sheds light on the transition from the Hafit to the Umm an-Nar period as well as on further possible reuses. The excavation of three tombs (Tomb F4170, Tomb F2276, and Tomb F4169), revealed their architectural features and deposits and shed light on their possible dating. The imported pottery found in Tomb F4169 indicates connections with Mesopotamia, Iran, and Baluchistan. Beads, small objects, and copper alloy artefacts were recovered, providing further insight into the burial practices and trade networks of the time. This research in the Bisya region contributes with new data to our understanding of the burial landscape and socio-cultural development during the Early Bronze Age in the Arabian Peninsula, illuminating the architectural evolution and the trade and cultural networks in which the population was involved.

In 2023, a primary goal of the Archaeological Water Histories of Oman (ArWHO) Project fieldwork involved intensive mapping of architecture at sites near Yanqul, Oman to gain a better understanding of social relations during the Iron Age (1300–300 BC) in south-east Arabia. Small settlements (less than 2 ha) proliferated in remote mountainous areas during the Iron Age, reflecting broader changes in social organization. How were mountain communities organized, and what was their larger role in Iron Age societies that were engaged in wide-reaching networks producing and trading copper and softstone? Through mapping of architecture, surface collections, and test excavation, our ongoing research examines how small communities in the mountains and piedmonts were socially configured. Here we report on three of the four sites studied in early 2023: ʿAqīr al‑Shamūs, Ḥayy Ukur, and al-ʿAqar. Mapping of the fourth site, Raki 2, relies on alternative methods that are still being processed and will be reported in detail elsewhere. Our work has begun evaluating differences in the size, shape, abundance, and construction of architecture and surrounding water management and field systems. Preliminary results reveal a dense architectural plan with a possible public building at al-ʿAqar and broad similarities in architectural plans between ʿAqīr al-Shamūs, a specialized softstone production site, and Ḥayy Ukur, which lacks evidence of specialized production, suggesting autonomy as a likely social driver of the Iron Age settlement pattern.

Analyses of archaeological fuel remains can provide insight into pyrotechnologies, resource management, and the local environment. In this paper, we examine archaeological charcoals from Hafit period (3300–2700 BC) levels in Building V at al‑Khashbah (al-Khashaba), Oman, to understand fuel harvesting and burning preferences associated with early copper production. Building V is currently thought to be the earliest identified copper-production site in Oman based on the presence of abundant pyrotechnological remains, copper slag, and stratified radiocarbon results. Here, we build on previous anthracological work reconstructing woodland composition from the site. Anthracologists are increasingly recognising that fuelwood collection is often based on social or functional grounds rather than species availability. To that end, we have combined traditional taxonomic analysis with the application of dendro-anthracological methods to examine how intensive wood harvesting was for copper production and whether it had effects on the local vegetation. Dendrological reconstruction of wood calibre and condition at burning combined with spatial patterning of remains provides a more nuanced view of these preferences than can be achieved through taxonomic analysis alone.

The early Islamic period was marked by a resurgence in large-scale copper production in south-east Arabia. This is in contrast to the preceding era (early first millennium BCE to the mid-first millennium CE) and its notable lack of evidence of copper production. Various external and internal factors, including a flourishing Indian Ocean trade and environmental limitations, have been suggested as factors in this renewal and in its subsequent decline. However, the socio-political and economic factors that formed the framework for industrial growth during this transformative period are rarely considered. This paper delves deeper into the socio-political background of the early Islamic period in relation to industrial growth in south-east Arabia. To bridge the gap between historical and archaeological evidence, we also present new data from surveys and excavations conducted at early Islamic industrial sites in Wadī al‑Rākī, Oman. These findings offer new insights into the history of large-scale copper processing in the region.