Banana (1325-1354)

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WORKS ISSUED BY THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY
THE TRAVELS OF IBN BATTUTA
A.D. 1325-1354
VOL. 1
SECOND SERIES, NO. CX
ISSUED FOR 1956
Translated with revisions and notes from the Arabic text by C. DEFREMERY and B. R. SANGUINETTI
by H. A. R. GIBB
Cambridge: Published for the Hakluyt Society
At the University Press
1958

   What does OED do with books like this?  Cite them as 1300s?  1829?  1958?  Not at all??
   Ibn Battuta's _Travels_ is cited ("Lee's tr.") in OED's "colocana" entry.  The date--the first citation--is given as 1829.  No other date is given for the reader.
   Volume II wasn't to be found on the shelf...The Hakluyt Society publishes books on world travel, and I'm hunting the books for historical food items.

Pg. xiii:
   The first complete translation of these epitomes was published by Samuel Lee in the Oriental Translations series in 1829, under the title of _The Travels of Ibn Batuta translated (Pg. xiv--ed.) from the abridged Arabic Manuscript Copies_, with extensive notes by the translator.  In the following years, several copies of the full text haveing been found in the Maghrib, it was edited with a French translation by MM. C. Defremery and B. R. Sanguinetti for the Societe Asiatique in four volumes, Paris, 1853-8.

Pg. 31:  ...prayer-leader (_imam_)....
(OED has 1613--ed.)

Pg. 34:  That district abounds in date palms and fruit-trees, in sea fowl, and the fish known as (Pg. 35--ed.) _al-buri_.*
*The name of this fish, a species of mullet, is derived from the medieval town of Bura, on the coast to the north-west of Damietta.  It is from the buri that the Italian caviare (_bottargo_) is obtained; see also below, p. 37, m. 104.

Pg. 36:  The city of Dimyat lies on the bank of the Nile, and the people in the houses next to the river draw water from it in buckets.  Many of the houses have steps leading down to the Nile.  Banana trees are especially abundant there, and their fruit is carried to Cairo in boats.
(Maybe Andrew Smith knows more about this, or can share this with others for their comment.  From Alan Davidson's OXFORD COMPANION TO FOOD, pg. 54:
   The first serious European contact with the fruit came not long after in 1402, when Portguguese sailors found it in W. Africa and took it to the Canary Islands.  That is why the European name "banana" comes from a W. African word, the Guinean _banema_ or _banana_ (also _bana_, gbana_, etc. in neighboring regions).)
(But this "banana" is before 1402!  OED has the 1500s.  And the translators--four of them?--provide not a single note--ed.)

Pg. 36:  Sea-fowl (are sold) in this city in large quantities and are exceedingly fat; in it there are to be had also various preparations of buffalo milk, which are unequalled for sweetness (Pg. 37--ed.) and delicious taste, and the fish called _al-buri_*, which is exported from there to Syria, Anatolia, and Cairo.
(Footnote deleted--ed.)

Pg. 44:  ...shaikh (as superior)....

Pg. 45:  ...his spiritual director (_shaikh_).
(OED has 1577 for "sheikh"--ed.)

Pg. 58:  *The _Mahmil_ (colloquially pronounced _mahmal_) is an empty litter, with a pyramidal top covered with embroidered brocade and decorated with ornaments of gold or silver and jewels, which was sent annually from Cairo, to accompany the pilgrim caravan to Mecca and back.
(This is a long note.  The revised OED has 1678 for "mahmal"--ed.)

Pg. 74:  *The _jinn_ (genii) are a sub-celestial category of creatures akin to man, but created of fire, who are credited with superhuman powers.
(OED has 1641 for "jinn"--ed.)

Pg. 76:  ...a _mihrab_.
(OED has 1816--ed.)

Pg. 116:  It has (such an abundance) of cherries as is not to be found elsewhere, and in it is manufactured the _dibs_* which is called by its name.  It is a kind of thick fruit juice which they make from
*_Dibs_ is a grape paste or jelly, the manufacture of which is a traditional industry in Lebanon and Damascus (hence the common surname _Dabbas_=_dibs_, manufacturer).)
(OED has 1757, then 1841 for "dibs"--ed.)

Pg. 117:  grapes; they have a kind of clay which they add to this, with the result that it solidifies.  The jar into which the paste is put can then be broken and the contents will remain in one piece.  From this _dibs_ is manufactured a sweetmeat, into which pistachios and almonds are put, and which they call _almulabban_.  Another name which they give to it is "horse skin."*
*_Mulabban_ means "in the form of bricks or tiles."  "Horse-skin" (_jild al-faras_) is a popular name for the apricot paste (_qamar al-din_) manufactured at Damascus, and also called _mulabban_.  It is probable that Ibn Battuta has confused the two.  See on the latter Burton's note in his _Journey to al-Medinah and Mekkah_, I, 191.

Pg. 143:  ...bazaar.
(OED has 1340, but this should help.  "Bazaar" is several places in the book--ed.)