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In Delgo, I was invited to participate in a traditional Nubian wedding. On the evening before, the bride's and groom's families and friends get together. In the heavily incensed air, the women have their hands and feet elaborately painted with henna; the sharp, clean detail of the henna lines on the women's hands and feet is astonishing. In both households, the histories of the families are recited. Early the next morning, bulls and sheep are slaughtered for the celebratory feast. The bride is attended by an intimate group of women, who decorate her skin with henna. The women wear long, brightly colored gowns with matching mules. At the same time, the groom undergoes the jertik, a preparatory ritual in which his forehead is adorned with a gold crescent while family members and villagers give advice and tell stories. Lunch follows for the groom's family and friends. On the day of the wedding, all of us men were dressed in the traditional jellabia, stark white textured cotton gowns and embroidered caps. The ceremony begins with the women presenting the groom with a sword wrapped in red silk; he waves it in the air as they dance around him. Then they tie a ribbon bearing the image of a serpent around his forehead. His hands are covered with henna, his nails painted, his eyes rimmed with kohl.
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Excerpted from Wonders of the African World by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. © Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Used with permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House. Buy the book in The Africa Shop! |
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|| BLACK KINGDOMS OF THE NILE EPISODE ||
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