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TRANSCRIPT
KHADIJA: THE CARAVAN OWNER
Presented by:
Martha Maxine Meilleur
ALM (Religion) candidate
Harvard University
4TH International Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS) Sri Lanka May 3-5, 2018
WHO WAS KHADIJA?
• The first wife of Mohammad, the Prophet
of Islam, who lived from ~555 to ~619
AD.
• Described by Mohammad’s biographers as “determined and intelligent” and a
“merchant woman of dignity and wealth” who owned “half the trade in Mecca.”
• In today’s terms, Khadija would be a multi-billionaire and CEO of her own
company! Yet little or nothing is known
about her life as a merchant woman.
OTHER RELEVANT FACTS ABOUT KHADIJA Khadija was a wealthy, twice married widow with several children and 15 years older than Mohammad when she hired him to be his Caravan Manager.
Despite many other offers of marriage, she pursued him for marriage.
Their 24 year marriage was monogamous and blissful. Khadija was arguably Mohammad’s soul-mate. The mere mention of her later in Mohammad’s life would make him quite emotional.
Khadija worked outside the home, made her own money, hired and directed men. Her legacy has been downplayed compared to that of Aisha, a later wife of Mohammad, who was a virgin much younger than Mohammad when they married and more known for not having an identity besides being a daughter and wife. As Aisha’s prominence rose with Muslim historians, Khadija’s fell.
MECCA: AN IMPORTANT POINT ON THE INCENSE TRAIL
Mecca has been known since well before the Roman
Era as a trading hub. It was also known as
pilgrimage site long before Islam and is mentioned
in books of the Old Testament and other early
texts. It was where Khadija lived her entire life.
WHAT DID IT MEAN TO “OWN HALF THE TRADE IN MECCA?” THERE WERE 2 CARAVANS YEARLY. SOUTH (2-3 MONTHS) AND NORTH (3-4 MONTHS)
THE CASH COWS: FRANKINCENSE AND CINNAMON
DEMAND, SCARCITY, AND PRICE Frankincense
Used as burnt offerings, at funerals
and as a domestic fragrance all over
the ancient world.
Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 AD/CE) wrote
that a kilo of frankincense was the
equivalent to 40 kilos of flour. Other
accounts included that its value was
equated to gold.
Nero burnt the annual stock when
Poppaea died in 65 AD/CE.
DEMAND, SCARCITY, AND PRICE
True Cinnamon (not Cassia!)
Used as embalming agent and
anointing oil.
Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 AD/CE)
reports that cinnamon could be 250
times the value of frankincense or 15
times the value of silver per weight!
There were fantastic tales
surrounding where cinnamon came
from.
THE STRUCTURE OF A 1,000 CAMEL CARAVAN
Caravan Manager
Assistant Managers
Guides/Scouts
Security (Armed Guards)
Several Cooks
Camel Pullers (1 per ~10 camels each
carrying 400 – 600 pounds of cargo)
400,000+ pounds (200+ tonnes) of
total cargo
Fee-paying Independent Merchants
and Passengers
FINANCING A CAMEL CARAVAN (KHADIJA: MECCA’S MOST PROMINENT VENTURE CAPITALIST)
Everyone (even the poorest people) in Mecca had a financial stake in the caravan trade. Everyone.
Caravans were more of a “profit-sharing business” than a “joint stock venture.”
Investors financed the buying of goods from the south to sell in the north. Credit was given for even the smallest amount and small merchants would pool funds and wares.
The literature shows NO REFERENCE TO ANY LOSS AT ANY TIME over the 10 centuries of the caravan trade.
Profit was assured. The only question was how much profit would there be…
WHAT WAS THE PROFIT POTENTIAL?
According to Pliny the Elder (23 – 79AD/CE) the value of frankincense increased 100 times its value from its origin in the Dhofar Highlands to the port city of Gaza.
Other accounts put it at 500%.
Mecca stayed the richest city in Arabia for centuries and cities such as Aleppo and Damascus had monuments made to caravan managers.
TAKEAWAYS….. If there are no questions, thank you for listening. Please read the full paper.
Khadija: The Caravan Owner
Khadija was a highly successful
merchant woman whose camel
caravans transported aromatics,
spices, and other luxury goods in
the 6th century AD/CE.
Not only her business acumen, but
also her 24 year monogamous
marriage to Mohammad makes her
the most overlooked woman in
history.