plugin-the agricultural marker stars in yemeni folklore

8/6/2019 Plugin-The Agricultural Marker Stars in Yemeni Folklore

1/28

----------------------- Page 1-----------------------

DANIELMARTINVARISCOHofstra University,Hempstead, New York

The Agricultural Marker Starsin Yemeni Folklore

AbstractThis study focuses on a traditional star calendar still used in

Yemen to definethe seasons and timing of agricultural activities. Yemeni farmers

refer to thiscalendar as the maccllim al-zirclca, the "agricultural markers." Moder

n almanacsdepict this as a system of twenty-eight distinct star periods, and

relate these tothe lunar zodiac, the well-known astronomical model of the twenty

-eight lunar

stations. This association appears to be relatively recent, since a variety of othersystems for the Yemeni "agricultural markers" are recorded in h

istorical textsand in ethnographic research. T h e purpose of this study is to de

scribe how the"agricultural markers" system is supposed to work and compare the contem

poraryversion with one recorded in a seventeenth-century Yemeni text. A

glossary ofthese markers is appended to the article.

Key words: ethnoastronomy -agriculture -Yemen -zodiac -star

calendar -weather

Asian Folklore Studies, Volume 52, 1993, 119-142

----------------------- Page 2-----------------------

N Arab tradition there is a fairly substantial literature on star namesIand weather lore, especially for the Arabian Peninsula.1

Pre-Islamic poetry and early Islamic sources discuss terminolog

y and

provide some descriptive information on the activities of pastoralistsand farmers, both of which had the vast, clear night sky to survey themovements of the stars and planets. Although most of thisinforma-tion has been filtered through the hands of scholars over the centuries,it is still possible to reconstruct aspects of practical star calendars byutilizing earlier texts and the findings of contemporary ethnographicresearch. This is especially true for the largely agricultural

land ofYemen at the southwestern corner of the peninsula.

This study focuses on a traditional star calendar used in highla


2/28

ndYemen to define the seasons and the timing of agriculturalactivities.Yemenis refer to this calendar as the maciilim al-ziraca, the "agriculturalmarkers."2 I n its contemporary form as a star calendar oftwenty-

eight distinct periods it is often placed on modern calendars publi

shedin Yemen.3 These star periods are linked to the well-known manaxil al-qamar, the "lunar stations" of Arab astronomy. Despite the fact thatmost Yemenis now know of this system of reckoning and many

referto it, the twenty-eight marker system appears to be a relativelyrecentvariant of what must have been numerous locally relevantstar lists.The purpose of this study is to describe how the agricultural markers

function and to compare the contemporary system with adifferentversion recorded in a text attributed to ~ A b dal-Qldir ibnMuham-mad al-Hattar, who is believed to have lived in the seventeenth cen-tury.

Yemen has a long and rich agricultural tradition, no doubt the mostimportant on the peninsula.4 Because of the wide variation in Yemen'sgeography and environment, there is no one system of agriculture thatcharacterizes the country as a whole. In the coastal region, or Ti-

&ma, the main form of cultivation in the past was based on the seasonalflood flow (sayl) in the major wadis descending from the mountains.

[ 120I

----------------------- Page 3-----------------------

MARKER STARS I N YEMENI FOLKLORE121

These floods resulted from the two major rain periods in Yemen, oneduring early spring and the other during late summer. In the ruggedmountains of the Sariit chain, extending south from the CAsir region ofSaudi Arabia, the predominant form of farming was carried outonterraces literally carved into the slopes. In the broad central plainswider fields could be exploited, including gardens watered from hand-dug wells. Although springs were of local importance in the high-lands, most of the agriculture depended on rainfall; in areas whererainfall was barely sufficient, special techniques were used to harve

stthe runoff from nearby slopes and channel this to fields in need of extramoisture.


3/28

Until the relatively recent introduction of tubewells, the rhythmof agriculture in Yemen revolved around rain. Needless to say,theclimate differed from one region to another depending upon such fac-tors as elevation, wind patterns, regional impact from the monsoon

systems, and normal annual variations in rainfall. Yet in each partof

the country the focus of the farmers' attention was on the coming ofthe rains. I n the absence of published almanacs or televised weatherforecasts, which the country now has, it was natural that each localitywould devise a local seasonal reckoning system of practical value.

There were several ways to divide up the natural seasons ofa

particular locality, but the simplest was use of a natural sky clockestablished by the local farmers through repeated observation ofstarpositions and movements. Even those who were ignorant of formalastronomical knowledge, a science of great importance in the courtsofmedieval Yemen, could create such simple clocks to define the seasonalround for a particular location.

THETWENTY-EIGHTAGRICULTURALMARKERSOne of the earliest recorded listings of the twenty-eight marker sys

temcomes from an almanac poem of al-Hasan ibn JPbir al-CAffPri, who diedin 1710 [A.H. 11221(VARISCO1989a). Although the listing itself is prob-ably older than this, it has not been documented in the rich Yemenicorpus of medieval astronomical and agricultural texts (most of whichstem from the Rasulid era of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries). TheRasulid sources preserve so much Yemeni agricultural lore that it wouldbe surprising for such a systematic reckoning system to have beenignored. While the Rasulid texts mention a number of the individualagricultural-marker stars, there is no indication that these were relatedone-on-one to the twenty-eight lunar stations. Thus the listing men-tioned by Hasan al-~AffPrimust postdate the fifteenth century. It isdifficult to say when the present system of twenty-eight markers was

----------------------- Page 4-----------------------

122 DANIEL MARTIN VARISCO


4/28

fixed, but the list does not appear in extant texts before the seventeenthcentury.

Although there are minor differences in the recorded lists ofthis

twenty-eight marker system, the common theme is a direct link to theArab astronomical calendar of the lunar stations. The lunar sta

tionsrepresent an Islamic rendering of the earlier Indian concept of a lunarzodiac, the twenty-eight asterisms through which the moon wassaidto pass in its lunation or monthly orbit around the earth (VARISCO1991a). The concept of the lunar zodiac, like that of the solar zodiac,was thus a scholarly construct from abroad-neither zodiac roseout

of the indigenous folklore of pastoralists and farmers on the Arab

ianPeninsula. Although the lunar stations could be used for telling timeeither on a given night or for a period of twenty-seven or twenty-eightdays, its primary reference in the literature was astrological.Whilesuch esoterica inspired scholars, they held little observational value forthose trying to define an expected period of rain or special weather.

Early Islamic scholars combined the Indian lunar zodiacwithindigenous Arab folklore on certain stars used to mark seasonsand

rainfall. The linkage between the formal lunar stations and the twenty-eight markers is illustrated in figure 1, as noted by al-WPsici, a well-known Yemeni historian at the beginning of this century.

The lunar stations were well known to Yemeni scholars throughoutthe Islamic period, but, as noted above, the lunar zodiac is largely im-practical as an observational tool for defining seasons. There arefarmore obvious ways for observing stars, as is widely recorded in theliterature on Arab folklore. Nevertheless, certain of the stations involvesignificant stars that make convenient markers throughout the region,so it is not surprising that there are scattered references in medievalYemeni sources to particular stars of the contemporary twenty-eightmarker system. For example, the Yemeni term sawiib refers tostarsin Pegasus that also represent the lunar stations of al-fargh al-muqad-dam and al-fargh al-mugakhkhar. As early as the ninth century,theYemeni savant Abfi Muhammad al-Hasan AL-HAMDANI(893?-945 ?;

cf. 1884, 191) noted that the asterism of jawcib marked a period in Feb-ruary (Shubd?) as the sun entered the zodiacal sign of Pisces (hat).The


5/28

term ~awdbis not recorded outside of Yemeni dialect, althoughtheSquare of Pegasus was an important asterism in Arab ethnoastronomy.Other important marker stars, such as Sirius (Calib) and Canopus(suhayl), are among the brightest in the sky, although neither are zo-

diacal stars and thus not among the lunar stations. These two brightmarker stars are mentioned in the medieval Rasulid texts, but not aspart of a larger system of twenty-eight markers.

----------------------- Page 5-----------------------

MARKER STARS I N YEMENI FOLKLORE

Station Identification5Marker Star

1. sharatdn p y Arietis simik6

2. butayn Arietis ghurtib kdma

3. thurayyd Pleiades ghurtib al-thaw?

4. dabardn cu Tauri tultic kdma

5. haqca Rv1y2 Orionis tuliiCal-thawr

6. hanca y f Geminorztm tultic al-zulm

7. dhirdc a,9 Geminorum8. nathra E ~ CancriB9. turf n Cancri, R Leonis su

hayl10. jabha C y ~ Leonisa al-

rawdbic al-tildI 1. zztbra dB Leonis al-

rawdbic al-thdniya12. ~ a r f a /3 Leonis kh

dmis calldn13. cawwd /3rjy BE Virginis sd

dis calldn14. simdk a Virginis sd

bic calldn15. ghafr rnR Virginis fdr

ic16. zubdnd np Librae ra

biCkdma17. iklil pan Scorpii18. qalb a Scorpii na

jmayn19. shawla Ru Scorpii su

lm20. nacd3im ocpr~y8qSagittarii qa

lb

21. balda (vacant space) suhayl

22. sacd al-dhcibih a,@Capricorni al


6/28

-rawdbic al-tild23. saCdbulac Aquarii al

-rawdbic al-thdniya24. saCdal-suctid c1 Capricorni, ,@E Aquarii kh

dmis al-pwdb25. sued al-akhbiya y;r


7/28

every thirteen days a new station is said to rise with the sun in the eastat the same time that an opposite asterism sets in the west. Thesestations that rise with the sun (as opposed to those that simultaneouslyset) are generally referred to by Yemeni scholars as mancizil al-shams.

Since the asterisms noted in the system are not evenly spaced alongthe orbit of either the moon or the sun, this is an approximate system.An individual does not naturally observe, as a meaningful period, aparticular asterism rising in the east or setting in the west for thirteendays; as a seasonal calendar, the twenty-eight asterisms of the lunarstations are useful only as an arbitrary grid in which the year is dividedinto twenty-eight thirteen-day periods rather than fifty-two seven-day

periods.The arbitrary nature of the system is also evident for the Yemeniagricultural markers as listed in the twenty-eight marker system. Theasterisms referred to as the markers rise or set, as the case may be, atabout the times indicated, but the length of a marker period as thirteendays was not determined by observation-it merely constitutesanextension of the lunar stations grid. In no sense do the twenty-eightagricultural markers stand alone from the formal astronomical sys

temof the lunar stations. The names of the markers indicate a mixture oflocal star names and well-known star terms long established in Arabic.

As a whole, the twenty-eight marker sequence is not relevantforobservation at any particular locality in Yemen. Theoretically,thetwenty-eight thirteen-day periods represented by the marker starsare

equivalent to a year of 365 days.' A published calendar will indicatethe days elapsed in each star period, but no farmer could distinguishthis by observation. Indeed, without such a published calendarin

hand most Yemeni farmers would be unable to list the full complementof twenty-eight marker stars. Parts of the system do have practicalvalue, though, as is evidenced by the limited ethnographic documenta-tion of star calendars in Yemen (DOSTAL1983, 279; MAARSEand IDRISS1988, 38-39; MESSICK1978, 439; VARISCO1985, 62-63).8 These parts

----------------------- Page 7-----------------------

MARKER STARS IN YEMENI FOLKLORE125


8/28

include practical star calendars that are still known in specific regions;a number of these local sequences were included in the formal system.

An interesting example of the problems involved in adapting localstar lore to a formal astronomical grid is found in the sequence of mark-er stars from al-rawabic al-815 to siibic call6n.g The word callan, deriv

edfrom the pre-Islamic Himyaritic month name for September, survivesin al-Ahjur of the central highlands as a term for the late summer orearly autumn rains. In the marker system calliin covers the risingsinlate fall of three stars of the Ursa Major (baniit nacsh) constellation.In Arabic taxonomy, these are the three "daughters" that accompanythe funeral bier, or square of stars referred to here as rawabic.

Therising of the seven main stars of Ursa Major in the late summerandearly fall is of great importance in Yemeni agriculture, so much so thatthe names of the stars may be given to crops. Although the stars ofcall6n rise in the same general season, it is not the case that theindi-vidual stars rise at the intervals demanded in the marker system.1

The distinction between the setting (glzurcb) and rising (6~18~)ofthe Pleiades (kcma) in spring requires explanation. The Pleiadesstar

cluster, called thurayyii in Classical Arabic, figures much in Arab folkloreon the seasons. The first marker is a reference to the disappearanceof the Pleiades from the night sky (the cluster appears to be absentfrom the sky because it is obscured from view at this time by the raysof the rising sun). In Arab folklore it was commonly thought that thePleiades disappear from view for about forty days; in the Gulf, forexample, this period is often called arbaciiniyat or mirbic&ziyat,literally"fortv" (AL-SA~IDAK1981, 1 : 60, 148). The reference to thetulzic(rising) of the Pleiades is to its dramatic dawn rising, the functionalsignificance of tlzurayyl in the seasonal anw$ calendar. This isagainan arbitrary fit, since the marker for the rising of the Pleiadesdiffers

in the system by one position from the station.There is a totally separate star calendar in Yemen involving

thePleiades and the moon.ll This is a system that focuses on thecon-junction of the star cluster with the moon. This should not be

con-fused with the Pleiades as a lunar station, because the intent is not to


9/28

define the sequence of stars along the moon's course-the referencehere is actually to the normal lunar calendar based on the phases of themoon. The rationale for the system is that the Pleiades alignwiththe new moon once a year in May at the time that the star cluster disap-pears from view in the sky. In each preceding lunar month the co

n-junction is said to occur two days later than the start of the lunar monthor new moon. Thus, the month before the conjunction in May,theconjunction occurs three days after the new moon; the month before

----------------------- Page 8-----------------------


this the new moon is five days before the conjunction, and so on for a

period of about nine months. The basis for this reckoning is the sim-ple fact that the length of the lunation (from conjunction to conjunc-tion with the same star) is about 27 11, days, or almost two days shorterthan the average lunar month as based on the phases.

As an arbitrary calendar of the seasons, with a loose fit betweenspecific stars and the general time of year, the twenty-eight markerstars can be used as an almanac. T h e almanac poem of al-CAff5ri(VARISCO1989a)provides relevant seasonal information for each period,

although this is linked to the station rather than to the associated marker.Most of this information is from the scholarly almanac tradition ratherthan documented Yemeni lore. However, in the circular almanacchart of AL-SIRAJI(1959) the information for each station and periodcombines general almanac lore with specific regional informationonweather and agriculture in Yemen. I n both cases the authorsdidnot set out to document how specific Yemenis actually defined theseasons, but rather merged folklore into the arbitrary grid of the twenty-eight stations and markers. The result is a relatively recent scholarlyattempt to harmonize what was no doubt a mass of conflictingandfragmentary information into a coherent frame. This is far removedfrom the practical star calendars in use throughout Yemen overthelong course of its history.

ALTERNATIVEMARKERSYSTEMST h e twenty-eight marker system is not the only documented variant ofthe agricultural markers in Yemen. In addition to local variants

de--


10/28

scribed in the ethnographic literature, there is a comprehensive seasonalcalendar of markers recorded in a text by CAbd al-Qldir ibn Muham-mad al-HattZr, who is thought to have lived in the seventeenth cen-tury.12 This system is shown in figure 2.

A roughly similar sequence of periods is included in a late copy of

the Rasulid almanac of Abii al-cUqii113 and the seventeenth centuryalmanac of Ibn Jahhlf.14 As is readily apparent from the periodslisted in al-Hattlr's version, this listing bears little resemblance tothetwenty-eight lunar stations, although certain of the same asterismsdoappear in both listings. T h e basic division of the year is accordingtoseason, of which five are formally distinguished here. The first season

listed corresponds to the start of spring at about the time of the vernalequinox. This is referred to as the forty days of sayf,a term used inYemen to denote spring, not the summer of the four-season model inastronomy. The use of a forty-day period is common in the almanactradition and in ethnographic contexts. This particular forty-day

----------------------- Page 9-----------------------

MARKER STARS IN YEMENI FOLKLORE

T H EAGRICULTURALMARKERSACCORDING TO C AAL-QADIR~ ~ A L -H A T T A R ~ ~

Forty [days] of early spring (arbdcinal-sayf): from 23 Adhdral-farc al-awwal: 10 days, 23 Adhdr until 1Nisdnal-farc al-thdni: 10 days, 2-12 Nisknal-k-th-b (?):7 days, 13-19 Nisdnal-salmdni al-awwal: 7 days, 20-2718 Nisdnal-salmdni al-thdni: 6 days, until 2 AyydrAfter this are three days that the experts say are intended for cultivati

on ( t i l d ~ z ) , ~ ~but these three days are omitted in some areas.

Stars ofjabr [hot and dry part of summer] :shurziq: 7 days, 6-12 Ayydral-shurziq al-thdniya: 7 days, 13-19 Ayydrthawr: 7 days, 20-26 Ayydrjadi: 7 days, 27 Ayydr until 2 Hazirdnsarb: 7 days, 3-9 fZazirdnbayn: 7 days, 10-16 Hazirdn, this is the setting (ghurzib)of sarbcalibiya 7 days, 17-23 Hazirdn, this is the first day in which the sun re

turns fromthe north (al-qutb al-shdmi)

"alib7 days, 24-30 fZazirdnasad: 7 days, 1-7 Tammziz

suhayl: 14 days, the first seven being from 8-14 Tammziz and thelatter seven

from 15-21 Tammziz


11/28

After this are three days of naqcfda fromjahr and kharif; because theweak crop is

distinguished or marked (yuntaqidu)from the good crop.

Forty [days] of late summer (kharif),which are called the forty [days] of water(ma3):al-fasl al-awwal: 10 days, 25 Tammziz until 4 A b

al-rub"1-thrini: 10 days, 5-14 Abal-rubc al-thdlith 10 days, 15-24 A bal-fasl al-rdbic: 10 days, 25 Ab until 2 Ayltilal-khdmis: 14days, 3-16 Aylzilal-sddis: 10 days, 17-26 Aylzilal-sdbic: 10 days, 27 Ayltil until 6 Tishrin al-awwal

Stars of autumn (shitd3):al-pwdb al-awwal: 7 days, 7-13 Tishrin al-awwalal-sawdb al-thani: 7 days, 14-20 Tishrin al-awwalal-sawdb al-thalith: 7 days, 21-27 Tishrin al-awwalal-farc al-awwal: 7 days, 28 Tishrin al-awwal until 3 Tishrin al-thdni

al-farc al-thdni: 7 days, 4-10 Tishrin al-thdnithawr: 7 days, 11-17 Tishrin al-thdniSetting (maghib)of the Pleiades:18 18-24 Tishrin al-thdnisuhayl al-shita3: 14 days, the first seven being from 25 Tishrin

al-thani until 1Kdnzin al-awwal and the second seven from 2-8 Kdnzin al-awwal

bayn of winter: 14days, the first seven being from 9-15 Kdntin al-awwal and the

second seven from 16-22 Kdnzin al-awwal; on22 Kdntin al-awwal the sun returns from the north (al-qutb al-shimdli)

----------------------- Page 10-----------------------


Season of late winter (rabi": 14 starsawwal: 7 days, 23-29 Kdntin al-awwalthcini: 7 days, 30 Kdntin al-awwal until 5 Kcinzin al-thdnithdlith: 7 days, 6-12 KEntin al-thcinircibic: 7 days, 13-19 KdnCn al-thdnikhdmis: 7 days, 20-26 Kdnzin al-thdniscidis: 7 days, 27 Kcinzin al-thcini until 2 Shubdtscihic: 7 days, 3-9 Shubd?shamsiya: 7 days, 10-16 Shuba?~ a r c ~andi r qardqir: 3 days, 17-19 Shubi?al-@fir al-awwal: 6 days, 20-25 Shubatayydm al-cajCz: 26 Shubit until 4 Adhar; this is the last intensity of th

e coldal-?&fir al-thdni: 7 days, 5-1 1Adhciral-?-awdbal-awwal: 7 days, 12-17 Adhdral-sawdb al-akhir: 5 days, 18-22 Adhdr

period is divided into two ten-day periods, two one-week periods, andone six-day period. l'he later reference to six days for al-salmiini al-thiini clearly consists of an arbitrary drop of a day to make a total of

forty for the season.The second season is referred to as the stars ofjahr, a

Yemeni term


12/28

for the hot and generally dry period at the start of summer. l'hisconsists of ten units. The first nine of these are each a week indura-

tion, and the last (sulzayl) is two weeks. l'hroughout Yemen thedawnrising of the star Canopus (suhayl) marks the onset of the summer rains

and is thus one of the most important markers in the whole cycle.In-

cluded in this season is the midsummer rising of Sirius,a marker ofintense suminer heat throughout much of the peninsula.

The period of rain is known as the forty days of kharq, a termused in Yemen for the late suminer rains rather than forthe autumn

of the four-season model. Al-Hattiir adds that this time iscalled theforty days of water (m&), due to the expected rainfall.

The seasonbegins with a period called the first (awwal), a reference in thiscase tothe dawn rising of the first of the seven stars of Ursa Major, which isknown as baniit nacsh in Arab astronomy. There arein fact sevenperiods, from the first star through the seventh. Each ofthese lasts

for ten days except for the fifth (khamis), which is listed for two weeks.The forty days would literally apply to the first through

the fourthstars of Ursa Major, since the entire sequence of seven s

tars runs atotal of seventy-four days here. l'his implies that a season is missingin the listing. This season is ~allzn,which covers the risings of thefifth, sixth, and seventh stars of Ursa Major.19

Following the late summer rains and the early fall agriculturalactivities come the stars of shim, a term used in Yemen for the dry

----------------------- Page 11-----------------------


autumn rather than for the winter of the four-season model. Thisconsists of eleven weeks and ends with the winter solstice on 22 Kcinzinal-awwal (December) in al-Hatthr's reckoning. The final periodoffourteen divisions is rabic, which covers winter and ends at the vernalequinox on 23 Adhar (March). The early spring rains occur inthisperiod.

This alternative scheme of the agricultural markers is presentedas a star calendar equivalent to a solar year. The scholar al-Hat


13/28

thrsets up the system within the general astronomical framework of equi-noxes and solstices, events of little significance to Yemeni farmers.Within this framework three types of units are distinguished. Firstare ten-day periods, which are natural divisions for a defined fort

y-day span. This ten-day period also reflects a common methodoftime division in earlier Arab agricultural texts, which is simplya

division of the month into three units.20 Next are week periods, eitheras a single unit of seven days or a double unit of fourteen days.Aday or two may be dropped from a week unit in order to provide a fitwithin the overall number of days in the season. The third typeof

unit is a short in-between span of three days, which al-Hatthr placesat the end of ~ayfand jahr and within rabic. With these three units asbuilding blocks, the system is more or less arbitrarily adjusted to equala complete year.

Most of the periods delineated in this alternative system areinreference to a star or asterism, although no attempt is made to linkthese stars to the lunar stations. A few of the references are nottostars but to weather periods, such as ayycim al-cajfiz (the days of t

heold woman) in late winter or the rain period of sharn~i'ya.~~These"days of the old woman" are mentioned in the earliest almanacsandmuch of the early Arab weather lore. However, Yemeni farmers ap-pear to know of this period only from the scholarly tradition.

One of the problems arising from the system as presented byal-Hattar is how to interpret the seven units of kharif and the first sevenunits of rabic. As noted above, the seven units in the late summerperiod of kharif are based on the risings of the seven major starsinUrsa Major. Are the seven units in winter also based on the samestars? The evening risings of these non-zodiacal stars occur in Januaryand early February, whereas the stars are at midheaven somewhatearlier, as noted in Rasulid sources (VARISCO,in press). However,there is no evidence, either in the medieval sources or in contemporaryethnography, that these positions were relevant to Yemeni farmers.

The twenty-eight marker system also includes a winter sequenceattributed to the stars of ~awcib(Pegasus). Confusion appears to have

----------------------- Page 12-----------------------


14/28


arisen in the two versions between the references to Ursa Major andPegasus, perhaps because in both cases a readily recognizable squareof stars is involved. The confusion is not due to mistaking the sta

rsin the sky, but rather to the fact that the designated markers are basedon an arbitrary fit rather than on observation. I t is possible thatthefirst seven units in the rabic of al-Hattar's scheme exist mainly to bal-ance the seven units in kharZf at the opposite part of the seasonal round.This balancing of periods in opposite seasons is quite common in Arabfolklore.

CONCLUDINGREMARKSBoth the twenty-eight marker system and the system of al-Hattar

arescholarly products based on elements of practical star lore. The twenty-eight marker system is a merging of local star names onto the gridofthe formal lunar zodiac widely known in Arab astronomy and astrology.T h e sequence of markers elaborated by al-Hattar is also an adaptationof local star names, but this time into the framework of a 365-day solaryear.

Due to the wide circulation of printed calendars and almanacs(a relatively recent phenomenon in Yemen), most Yemenis now accept

the twenty-eight agricultural markers as the major seasonal calendarin their heritage; few people in Yemen today have any familiarity withthe alternative system given by al-Hattar, although variants are foundin handwritten texts. Since much of the local star lore has disap-peared in the last several generations, the formal twenty-eight markersystem represents a surviving tradition. Unfortunately, this alonedoes not prove that it functions as an observational calendar or thatitever worked as a system. I t is possible to find in both calendars partsof actual star sequences used by Yemeni farmers, but the system asa

whole has little or no observational worth. The result in both systemsis a generalization from specific sequences to arrive at a generalse-quence without specific applicability in any given context. I t isaninteresting intellectual exercise, but the information is far too general

to be of value to either farmers or pastoralists in the field.If neither the twenty-eight marker system nor that of al-Hat

tiir


15/28

represents a practical star calendar for Yemeni farmers, what value dothey have? Beyond this, how does a calendar that is unusableforobservation replace practical systems and become the major seasonalcalendar in published texts? The first conclusion about both calendarsis that they were intended primarily for other scholars and not as prac-

tical almanacs for farmers. This is not to say that the compilersdidnot discern practical value in such calendars. In the twenty-eight

----------------------- Page 13-----------------------


marker system, for example, it is only possible to plot the timing of the

markers day-by-day in relation to the lunar stations. While this tim-ing cannot be determined by actual observation, the calendar can serveas a functional reckoning grid for someone who knows the days in thesolar calendar. It is important to remember that the almanac

com-pilers, such as al-Hattar, were not trying to do ethnography or to docu-ment folklore for its own sake: the point was to fit local folklore intoamore general and widely distributed framework. Ultimately, thisis therationale for the general acceptance of any calendar.

Lluring fieldwork among highland farmers in the central highland

valley of al-Ahjur in 1978, I was told that everyone followed the officialcalendar version of the twenty-eight markers. A local experton starlore referred me to the text of AL-WASIC~(1947) rather thanhis ownfaulty memory. When I read the list in al-Wasici, which is shownabove in figure 1, I discovered that the local star calendar used bythestarlore expert was actually quite different (cf. VAKISCO1985, 63).

'l'helocal version in al-Ahjur, shown below in figure 3, only covers springthrough early autumn. 'I'hese are the months for cultivationof sor-ghum, the main crop in the traditional system. Each marker representsa period of about two weeks. While the sequence is in the samegeneral order as in the twenty-eight marker system, the two names ofthzbir and saf are unique to the local system. In this local variant thestar simak is important as a marker at the end of April, almost a month

later than in the version recorded by al-W8si". While virtually all thelocal farmers said the local star sequence was important, only


16/28

a fewadmitted that they bothered to observe it anymore.22

No farmer I knew could identify the full complement of twenty-eight marker stars, many of which would not have been relevant forthe al-Ahjur valley. 'l'oday informants will refer to the thirt

een-daymarker periods noted on their printed calendars, but only asan ar-

bitrary system similar to the lunar or solar months; no one can observethat it is the first day of a particular marker star. T h e concept is infact abstract, since it is devoid of context in a specific location. Justas it is impossible to define a single agricultural system for the countryas a whole, so it would be unwise to assume that any particular starcalendar in Yemen could have had practical value for observat

ion ina wide region. The local calendar for al-Ahjur, for example, assumedthat one would be observing the stars from a horizon cluttered by near-by mountains. Thus the dawn rising of Canopus (suhayl) would

notbe observable on the same day as in an area with an open horizon.

Theeasily observed summer rising of Canopus marked the possible comingof the rains in many parts of Yemen, but the timing of thisobserva-

----------------------- Page 14-----------------------

DANIEL MARTIN VARISCO

Season of sayf (spring)?d$r al-awwal (began ca. 1 April 1979)?d$r al-thdnisimcikthcibir

sttqzitttlllicsdf

Season ofja!~r (hot and dry period between rains)~ul?ncalib24

Season of kharif (summer rains)suhaylrawdbic awwala (zild)ruwdbic cikhira

Season of Calldn(autumn)khdn~iscalldnscidis calldnsabiC Calldn

tion would vary as much as the exact location of the rain itself.

'l'he vast majority of folklore on the seasons, includinghow starswere used to tell time, has disappeared from Yemen's heritage without


17/28

a trace. All that remains are the fragments of information recordedby scholars in the past and the faltering memories of the few old menwho still remember the old ways (though they rarely depend on themtoday). 'l'he debate is largely over the terms for the s

tars and whatshould be done at the rising or setting of particular stellar bodies.

Pro-verbs and sayings may be memorized, but these can quickly becomedivorced from reality when no one uses the stars involved.

The prob-lem is that the observation of stars is no longer necessary for markingthe seasons in any given locality. Why bother when there is a calendaron the wall and the date flashes from an inexpensive wrist watch?

Yemenis froin all walks of life now treat the twenty-eightmarkersystem as a traditional star calendar, yet few realize that

it is an ar-bitrary scholarly construct that was not used in a practical sense beforeprinted almanacs. I once visited a World Bank-funded

regional de-velopment office in Yemen and was surprised to find a technical expert,who was from Egypt, preparing a calendar for suggested farm activitiesaccording to the twenty-eight marker stars. The idea

was to placethese activities within a calendar that the local people

could readily

----------------------- Page 15-----------------------


understand. The expert assumed that since this system was pub-lished on Yemen calendars, it was the local star calendar that farmersused. Unfortunately, his painstaking efforts to pinpoint the dayinthe marker period on which to begin a certain activity were largelyinvain. No one would understand what time was indicated, exceptin

a very general sense, without consulting a published calendar. Modernfarming systems in Yemen do not depend on a particular star calendarbut are oriented towards time as reckoned in the solar calendar, nowwidely used in the country. The twenty-eight marker system,as

presented in the calendar year, serves as a bridge with the folklore of

the past, but it is very much a bridge rather than a functioning tradi-tional calendar.

The decline in use of indigenous folklore on stars and seasons i


18/28

san obvious loss to the cultural heritage of the country and region. How-ever, its value is largely an academic issue given recent socioeconomicchanges in rural Yemen. There is an inherent danger in any scholarlyattempt to reconstruct the history of a star calendar from the fragments

of information available, because so little is known about how suchcalendars were actually used. Part of the problem is that we have atendency to think that what survives must have been widespreadandwell known in the past. Yet it may be that the writing down of a calen-dar defining the essence of the agricultural markers as known in Yementoday inevitably compromises the practical value of the calendarforobservation. The evolution of the Yemeni marker stars, whichhas

only been sketched in the broadest terms here, ultimately tells us moreabout the thinking of scholars who recorded the information than farm-ers who felt a practical need to observe the stars and tell time.Forthe latter the historian of astronomy has no choice but to rely on thefindings of ethnoastronomy.

Glossary of Yemeni Markersz5

al-cajziu~,ayyiim"The days of the old woman." In Arab folklore this is a common

name for a period of seven days at the end of February (ShubGt) and thebeginning of March (Adh5). I t does not appear to be an indigenoususage in Yemen, although it was probably known through contact withother traditions and literature.

calibHighland Yemeni term for Sirius (al-shier5 al-cabzir), the brightest starin the sky. This is usually considered the dominant star of the hot and

----------------------- Page 16-----------------------


dry season of jahr. Al-Hattlr places it from VI: 24-30. However,al-Malik al-Ashraf in his thirteenth-century almanac called it oneof

the markers (CalZmdt) of abundant rain in Yemen. I n the twenty-eight marker system there is both a summer and winter period of calib.Note that this is marked as ~ i l bin some Yemeni texts and pronouncedculab near Dhamir (MAARSEand IDRISS1988, 61).

~alibiyaThe period immediately before the rising of Sirius. Al-Hattlr places


19/28

it from VI: 17-23. GLASER(1885, 93) reported this as a sixty-dayperiod.

call2nAutumn rain season. This term is derived from the pre-Islamic Him-yaritic month name of DhE callZn for September. In the twenty-eigh

tmarker system this represents three autumn star periods: khamis (fifth),sadis (sixth), and sabic (seventh). This reference is clearly to threestars of banat nacsh (ECR Ursae Majoris). Al-Hattir does not mentioncallZn, but does refer to the fifth, sixth, and seventh stars in autumn(kharif).

asadThis is the name for the zodiacal constellation of Leonis. It is a

ddedas a seven-day period between Sirius (ealib) and Canopus (suhayl)byal-Hattar; this falls from VII: 1-7, which is before the zodiacal monthof asad.

baynLiterally, "between." This is a seven-day period from VI: 10-16in

the hot and dry season of jahr and a fourteen-day period from XII:9-22 in winter, according to al-Hattir. A similar usage dates back

tothe Rasulid era when bayni referred to a variety of sorghum sown inJanuary and harvested in late March. Al-Malik al-Afdal (SERJEANT1974, 48) claimed that the variety was called in this way because it wassown "between" the third and seventh stars of Ursae Majoris.TheRasulid dates do not correspond with the marker system as elaboratedby al-Hattar.

fareIn the twenty-eight-marker system this is equivalent to simzk (probablySpica). Al-Hattir places two far^ in spring (sayf) from 111: 23 untilIV: 12 (i.e., for twenty days) and two in winter from X: 28 until XI:

----------------------- Page 17-----------------------


10 (i.e., 14 days). In Arab astronomy furlc al-jawxBc refers to an

asterism in Orion.

f2ric


20/28

This is a variant of fare, noted above. In the twenty-eight markersystem this refers to the marker associated with the rising of the stationghafr in late September.

jadiT h e reference in the scheme of al-HattPr is to a period of seven days

,from V: 27 until VI: 2. Jadi can refer to Polaris or Capricornus, neitherof which seems appropriate in this context.

k2maThis is a Yemeni term for the Pleiades, also known in Yemen as thuray-yB. It is sometimes referred to as kima (MESSICK1978, 44.0).Theterm is a variant of the Hebrew and Amharic. A distinction ismade

in the twenty-eight marker system between the evening rising o

f thePleiades in autumn and the disappearance and subsequent dawn risingof the Pleiades in spring.

k-th-bThe rendering and meaning of this term is unclear. In the systemofal-HattPr this is a period of seven days, IV: 13-19.

najmaynLiterally, "two stars." This is the period after thawr in spring, ac-cording to the twenty-eight marker system. IBN QUTAYBA(1956, 86)

noted that this term was used in pre-Islamic Arabia for Aldebaranand a nearby star or for any significant pair of stars. Perhaps this isrelated to the term kulaybayn (the two dogs) in the Arabian Gulf.

naqGdaI n al-HattZr this is a three-day period, VII: 22-24, so-called becauseit marks (yuntaqidu) the weak and poor crop from the strong and suc-cessful crop. The reference here is to the long-standing traditionre-garding the rising of Sirius and a fertility rite for knowing ifa crop

will be successful or not (cf. AL-QAZWINI1849 for 5 Tammiix).

qalbProbably n Scorpii; this is a lunar station which sets at dawn in lateMay. There is also qalb al-asad, a star in Leonis.

----------------------- Page 18-----------------------


qardqirThe term qurr refers to intense cold in Classical Arabic. This


21/28

usageparallels that of jariijir, discussed below.

rawdbicIn the twenty-eight marker system this is divided into al-rawdbic al-iilii and al-rawEbic al-akhira. Variants include al-rabic and al-r

iibicin.In the autumn, the first rawiibic includes np Ursae Majoris and the sec-ond refers to yff Ursae Majoris. T h e rawiibic of January may refer tothe evening rising of these same stars.

salmiiniAl-HattZr distinguishes a first and second star period by this name inlate April and early May. This same term is used in the central high-land region of al-Ahjur for a star in the spring. I t is a per

iod of sixdays in April near Dhamlr (MAARSEand IDRISS1988, 38).

jardjirThe term jirr is used in the Quran (surah ~ I m r l n ,117) for a cold andicy wind. The variant jarsar is used for cold winds in Classical Arabic(AL-HIMYART1980, 230). The usage parallels qardqir.

sarbAl-Hattir mentions this as a seven-day period in early June.It ap-

pears to be equivalent to julm. The origin of the term is notclear;

however, AL-THACALIBT (n.d. 143-44) noted that sirb refers to agroup

of gazelles, women, or sandgrouse. Cf. julm below.

~awiibT h e term sawdb has a long history in Yemeni dialect. ThesavantAL-HAMDAN~(1884, 191) mentioned this as a star at the timeof thezodiacal sign of Pisces. Al-Malik al-Ashraf (in VARISCO,inpress)defined this as a square of four stars rising in the path of Canopus andopposite the position of Ursa Major. This fits an identificationof theSquare of Pegasus, which includes the lunar stations of al-fargh al-muqaddam and al-fargh al-mu3akhkhar. Al-Malik al-Ashraf andother

Rasulid sources place the setting of the first ~awdbon 11: 9 and thesecond on 11: 15; these marked the first appearance of spring rainin

Yemen. In the twenty-eight marker system the stars of jawiib parallelthose of calliin (Ursa Major), while al-Hattlr distinguishes three weekly


22/28

periods of sawiib.

----------------------- Page 19-----------------------


shamshiyaThis is a classical term for a warm period of rain (Ibn KunZsa in AL-MARZDQ~(1914, 1: 200). It is similar to the usage of ramad or ramadiin some Arab almanacs.

shurcqThis term literally refers to a "setting." Al-HattZr cites two weeks ofthese periods at the start of the hotjahr season. T h e reference is prob-ably to the disappearance of the Pleiades from the sky in early Ma

y,as implied by ghurzib kcima in the twenty-eight marker system.

simcikThis is a variant for fare in the list of al-Haydara (in SERJEANT1954)and A L - W ~ ~(1947).S I ~ ~ I n al-Ahjur of the central highlands, a firstand second simcik are distinguished in the spring. The referenceisprobably to the April setting of the lunar station simik (a VirginisorSpica), which is al-simcik al-acxal in Arab astronomy. As such, t

hiswould be a scholarly addition and not based on observation.

suhaylCanopus (a Carinae). T h e rising of this important southern starinJuly has long been a marker of the late summer rains in Yemen.Inthe twenty-eight marker system a winter period of suhayl is alsodis-tinguished at the end of December. Al-Hatt5r makes a similar distinc-tion with each period lasting two weeks.

sulmIn the twenty-eight marker system this star has a morning risinginthe summer and an evening rising in the winter. I am convinced thatthis is a corruption of the term zulm, discussed below. The almanacof Abii alc-Uqiil equates sulm with sarb. Ross1 (1953, 354) notesa

variant of aslcim.

thawrThis is the classical term for the zodiacal constellation of Taurus. Th

ereference here is to one or more stars in Taurus, perhaps Aldebaran.The Rasulid almanacs consistently record a rain period of thawr


23/28

onV: 19. Al-Hatthr begins his seven-day period of thawr on V: 20.Inthe twenty-eight marker system there is both a spring and late autumnperiod.

----------------------- Page 20-----------------------


thurayydThis is the classical term for the Pleiades. Al-HattZr refers to theevening rising of the Pleiades in late November. The usage of maghibin al-HattZr's text is in reference to the dawn setting which occurs atthe same time as the evening rising. T h e use of the Pleiades as amark-

er star should not be confused with the Pleiades calendar based on theconjunction of the new moon and this asterism.

z2jirThis term is noted by al-Malik al-Ashraf as equivalent to

siPiqZn, aYemeni term for the classical muhlz$n (up Centauri).In nauticalastronomy these are equivalent to himiirzn. Al-HattZr separates thefirst and second z&$r with the seven days of the old woman (ayycimal-cajiiz) in late winter.

zulmT h e identification of this star is not clear, but I think the best fit is aOrionis. One Rasulid almanac equates the term zalim(sic!) withmankib Jabbar, or the shoulder of Orion. This usage should not beconfused with classical references of zalim to stars in Eridani, Piscesor Centauri (cf. KUNITZSCH1961, 119). Another Rasulid text indicatesthe rising of zulm on XI: 17. A star called aalmi is used in acentralOmani star calendar (WILKINSON1974, 47). There is some confusionbetween zulm and sulm, but the latter appears to be a corruption.

N O T E S

1. Only a limited amount of information has been published on the folkastron-omy of the Arabian Peninsula. Much of this focuses on the linguistic evidence ratherthan on the practical application of folk calendars. For information

on the pre-Islamic sources, see VARISCO1987, 1991a. The folk astronomy of the Arabian Gulf


24/28

is discussed in VARISCO1990.2. The first description of this calendar in a Western source

is that of GLASER(1885), which is also quoted in SERJEANT(1954, 437). Published listsof the agricul-

tural markers include al-eAffiri (VARISCO1989a, l l ) , al-Siriji (1959), al-Wisiei (1947,

42-59) and al-Waysi (1962, 126). Ethnographic data on the agricultural markerscan be found in BEDOUCHA(1986, 8), DOSTAL(1983, 279), DE LANDBERG(1923, 2:1092-1 1lo), MAARSEand IDRISS(1988, 38-39), MESSICK(1978, 439), VARISCO(1985,62-63). There are also references in collections of Yemeni proverbs and poetry, e.g.,C I ~ (1983,d ~ 184-85). Andre Gingrich (Museum fiir Volkerkunde,Vienna) is alsopreparing a study on this system based on his ethnographic study in the northern high-

lands of Yemen.3. One of the most widespread calendars in the past two decades in the northhas been that published by the Sanei3bookstore al-Jil al-Jadid. Before the revolu-

----------------------- Page 21-----------------------


tions during the 1960sin the north and south, the annual almanac of Muhammad al-

Haydara mentioned the twenty-eight periods (cf. SERJEANT1954).4. There are a number of sources on traditional Yemeni agriculture.

For sourceson the medieval period, see SERJEANT1974and VARISCO1989b,in press.

KOPP(1981)provides a geographical survey of Yemen's agricultural regions. For more sources, seeVARISCO1991b, 171-72, note 5.

5. The identification of the stations is based on KUNITZSCH(1961).Please note

that the marker star is not equivalent to the stars in the station. For the identificationof the marker stars, see the Glossary.

6. According to al-WZsici, the period of simdk begins on29 Adhdr (March).Each successive marker period begins roughly thirteen days later.

7. One of the marker stars is given an extra day, as is also the case for the lunarstations, so that the total number will in fact equal 365.

8. I plan to address the significance of these ethnographic examples of star cal-endars in a future book entitled Star Calendars o f Yemen.

9. These are equivalent to stations 10-14 in figure 1.10. The autumn rising of each of the seven stars is documented

in the Rasulid

sources. Al-Malik al-Ashraf, in his thirteenth-century almanac, records the rising ofthe first four stars during the Julian month of Ab (August), the f


25/28

ifth at IX: 14, thesixth at IX: 21, and the seventh at IX: 30. These times are basedon actual citingsrather than an arbitrary fit of thirteen days.

11. There is a star calendar in Yemen based on the conjunction of the moon andthe Pleiades, but this is not a formal lunar zodiac. For more informa

tion on this cal-endar, see GLASER1885and VARISCO1989a, 13-14.

12. I have not yet been able to find a biographical reference to al-HattHr. Thetext, entitled Qdcida fi maCdlimal-zirdea,consists of a single page in manuscript D252Arabo of the Ambrosiana Library in Milan, Italy. I am indebtedto Prof. David A.King for bringing this manuscript to my attention.

13. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Tabari, known as Abtial-cUqtil, flourishedaround the turn of the thirteenth century A.D. as a noted astrono

mer in the court ofal-Malik al-Mu3ayyad DHwiid. For the location of extant copies ofthis almanac, seeVARISCO198913, 152.

14. Ibn JahhHf's almanac can be found in several copies, as described by KING(1983, 46-47).

15. This is a direct translation of the text, which is a listing rather than a narrativeflow. Words in brackets are added for clarification. In Yemenidialect the seasonalterms do not correspond directly to the classic four-season model; I provide therelevant

seasonal term for the outside observer. Definitions of star names and periods areprovided in the Glossary. Note that all dates are expressed in Julian reckoning andmust be adjusted for comparison with the contemporary Gregorian calendar.

16. As numbered, the text reads "8 days"; clearly this is a transcription error.

17. In Yemeni dialect tildm refers to tillage and planting at the same time. Theclassical term tilm, with the sense of "furrow," has cognates in Hebrew and Amharic(RABIN1951, 26).

18. This is the dawn setting, which is equivalent to the evening rising. It is theevening rising that figures prominently in Yemeni folklore.

19. See note 9.20. The Rasulid texts refer to the best time to plant sorghum in the moun

tains as~ l - ~ a s hal-mukhtdrar (the ten select [days]) in the months of Nisdn

and Ayycir. TheGreek texts divide the zodiacal months into three deccans, or units of ten dayseach.

----------------------- Page 22-----------------------


21. Although al-EIattiir refers to these as stars, they are not.


26/28

22. This may be due in part to the fact that the farmers I studied reliedprimarilyon springs for irrigation. Farmers on rain-fed fields in the surrounding area weremore dependent on direct rainfall and needed to time their activities more precisely tocoincide with this. Farmers on irrigated land in al-Ahjur appeared to rel

y more on alocal shadow-scheme reckoning system.

23. This is one variant of the local system, which most of thelocal farmers hadforgotten by the time I arrived to do fieldwork in the valley. Thereare a number ofinconsistencies in the system as presented.

24. Some say that part of calih is included in the season of kharif.25. This is a brief discussion of the major markers mentioned in

the article. Acomplete study will appear in a future book, Star Calendars of Yemen.

REFERENCES CITED

Genevi6veBEDOUCHA,

1986 Une antique tradition chcz les hommes de tribu des hauts plateaux yemenites:

La culture du sorgho. Techniques et culture 8: 1-68.DOSTAL, Walter

1983 Egalitdt und Klassengesellschaft in Sudarabien. Wiener Beitrage zur Kultur-

geschichtc und Linguistik, vol. 20. Vienna: Ferdinand Berger and Sons.GLASER,Eduard

1885 Die Sternkundc der siidarabischen Kabylen. Sitzungsherichte der Akademie

der Wissenschaften Wien 91 :89-99.AL-EIA~~IDXN~,Abii Muhammad al-Hasan

1884 Geographic der Arabischen Halbinsel, ed. D . H . Muller.Leiden: E. J.

Brill.A L - ~ I I ~ ~ I Y"Is5A Ribn~ ,Ibrahim

1400/1980 Nizci~nal-gharil) f i al-lugha [Systemization of the unique in Arabic].

Damascus: Dar al-Maamfin li-al-Turith.IBNQUTAYBA,Abfi Muhammad "Abd Allah

1956 Kitrib al-Anzua3 [Book of weather lore stars]. EIydcrabad:MaybaCatMajlis

Dicirat al-Ma'-iirif al-cUthminiya.'INAN, Zayd ibn ?Ali

1983 al-Lalia al- Yamaniyaf i al-nukat wa-01-amthcil al-Sancciniya[Yemeni dialect

in Sanrini stories and proverbs]. Cairo: iUatbacat al-Sal'ida.KING,David A.

1983 Mathematical astronomy in medieval Yemen. A hiobihliographic survey.

Malibu: Undena.KOPP,Horst

1981 Agrargeographie der Arabischen Repzrhlilz Jemen. ErlangerGeographische

Arbeitcn, 11. Erlangen : Universitat Erlangen.


27/28

KUNITZSCH,Paul1961 Untersuchtrngen zur Sternnomenklatzir der Amber. Wicsb

aden: Harras-sowitz.

UE LANDBERG,Carlo1923 Glossaire datinois. Volume 2. Leidcn: E. J. Brill.

MAARSE, Lucy and Awadh IURISS

1988 Sheep fattening practices in the DI~arnarMoniane plains.Dhamiir, Y.A.R.:

----------------------- Page 23-----------------------


Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Range and Livestock Improvement

Project, Project Communication #25.A L - M A R Z ~AbfiQ ~ ,cAli

1914 Kitdb al-Azmina wa-al-amkina [Book of seasons and places]. Hyderabad:hlatbaCatMajlis UHCiratal-MaCBrifal-CUthmHniya.

MESSICK,Brinkley1978 Transactions in Ibb: Economy and society in a Yemenihighland town.

Ph.l>. dissertation, Princeton University.AI.-QAZWINI,Zakariyi ibn Muhammad

1849 Kitdb CAjd3ibal-makhlziqdt wa ghard3ib al-rnawjziddt [Bookof wonders of

creation and marvelous things]. Leiden: E. J. Brill.RABIN,Chaim

1951 Ancient West-Arabian. London: Taylor's Foreign Press.

ROSSI,Ettore1953 Note sull' irrigazione, l'agricoltura e le stagioni nel Yemen.

Oriente Moderno33: 339-61.

AL-SA~~DAN,Hamad Muhammad1981 Al-Ma3szica al-Kuwaytiya al-mukhtasara [The abridged

Kuwait encyclo-paedia]. Volume 1. Kuwait.

SERJEANT,Robert Bertram1954 Star-calendars and an almanac from south-west Arabia. Ant

hropos 49: 433-59.

1974 The cultivation of cereals in medieval Yemen. Arabian Studies 1:25-74.AL-SIRAji,Muhammad SBlih

137911959 H6dlzihi dd3irat mardlim al-zirdca al- Yamaniya ...[This is the circular

chart of Yemeni markers . . .1. $ancd3 (wall chart, published privately).AL-TH.~~ALIB~,Abti Manstir

n.d. Fiqh al-lugha wa-asrdr al-cArabiya [The understandingof language and

secrets of Arabic]. Beirut: ManshfirBt DBr Maktabat at-Hayfit.VARISCO,Daniel Martin

1985 The production of sorghum (dhurah) in highland Yemen.

Arabian Studies7: 53-88.

1987 The rain periods in pre-Islamic Arabia. Arabica 34: 251-66.


28/28

1989a al-Hisdb al-zirdcif i urjzizat Hasan al-CAffBri. Dirdsdt f i al-taqwim al-zirdci

al- Yamani [Agricultural reckoning in the poem of Hasan al-cAfffiri. Studies

in the Yemeni agricultural almanac]. al-Ma3thzirdt al-Shaebiya16: 7-29.198913 Medieval agricultural texts from Rasulid Yemen. Manuscrip

ts of the MiddleEast 4: 150-54.

1990 Folk astronomy and the seasons in the Gulf. al-Ma3thCrdt al-Shacbiya 19:

7-27.1991a The origin of the anwd3 in Arab tradition. Studia Islamica

74: 5-28.1991b The future of terrace farming in Yemen: A development di

lemma. Agri-culture and Human Values 811-2: 166-72.

in press Medieval agriculture and Islamic science: The almanac ofa Yemeni sultan.

Seattle: University of Washington Press.AL-WASI~~,cAbd al-WHsic ibn YahyH136711947 Kanz al-thiqdtf i Cilrnal-awqdt [The trustworthy treasurein the science

of timekeeping]. Cairo : MatbaCatal-Hijfizi.AL-WAYS,Husayn ibn cAli

138211962 al- Yaman al-kubrd [The great Yemen]. Cairo : MafbaCatal-Nahda

----------------------- Page 24-----------------------


al-CArabiya.WILKINSON,J. C.

1974 The organisation of the Falaj irrigation system in Oman. Oxford:School of

Geography.

plugin-the agricultural marker stars in yemeni folklore

Documents