you could talk about Arabic some more......

[ Follow-ups ] [ Post Follow-up ] [ The Henna Page Discussion Forum ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on February 19, 2000 at 04:15:13:

In Reply to: Can't stop showing you guys pictures! posted by Kenzi on February 19, 2000 at 03:04:38:

Could you shed some light on the finer points of the word that
translates "ornaments" from Arabic? I've wondered about several
7th century Arabic and Koranic passages that refer to women's
ornaments (and whether or not it's cool for her to let folks see
them....)and it would help me figure some stuff out if I knew whether
"ornaments" referred to henna, tattooing or something else.....
because it's plausible in the context of these passages that henna
patterning or tattooing was being discussed.

Being thick as two short planks in languages, I always have to rely on
other people's translations .... and I think if I knew more languages,
I could learn more about the early traditions of henna.

For instance .... Kramer and Wolkstein, in "The Descent of Inanna"
translates something as Inanna dipping her fingers in myrrh (getting
ready for a heavy date with Dumuzi) .... and that truely makes no
sense at all. Myrrh don't dip. The deities similar to Inanna dipped
their fingers in henna ..... henna was available in the
Tigress-Euphrates area ..... I really wish I knew the original word
they were translating! I'd bet anything Inanna was dipping her
fingers in henna ... )there are a whole bunch of ancient word roots
for henna that seem to have been a source of confusion about what
plant was what and when .....)

Follow-ups:


Post a Follow-up

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

[ Follow-ups ] [ Post Follow-up ] [ The Henna Page Discussion Forum ] [ FAQ ]