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LASER SCANNING SHIHRAZAD’S BATHS: 1001 TALES OF ZANZIBAR NIGHTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2020

Laura Basell ,
Abdallah Khamis Ali ,
Ella Egberts ,
Behnam Firoozi-Nejad ,
Nicholas Mellor  and
Mark Horton
Laura Basell
Affiliation:
Laura Basell, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK. Email: l.basell@leicester.ac.uk
Abdallah Khamis Ali
Affiliation:
Abdallah Khamis Ali, Department of Museums and Antiquities, Zanzibar National Museums, PO Box 4267, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Email: oleshanga87@gmail.com
Ella Egberts
Affiliation:
Ella Egberts, Preconstruct Archaeology, Unit 54 Brockley Cross Business Centre, 96 Endwell Road, Brockley, LondonSE4 2PD, UK. Email: ella_egberts@hotmail.com
Behnam Firoozi-Nejad
Affiliation:
Behnam Firoozi-Nejad, Department of Geography, Queen’s University, University Road, BelfastBT7 1NN, UK. Email: bfiroozinejad01@qub.ac.uk
Nicholas Mellor
Affiliation:
Nicholas Mellor, LSN Limited, 17 St James’s Gardens, LondonW11 4RE, UK. Email: nicholas.mellor@gmail.com
Mark Horton
Affiliation:
Mark Horton, Royal Agricultural University, Kemble Road, Stroud Road, Cirencester, GL7 6JS, UK. Email: Mark.Horton@rau.ac.uk
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Abstract

This article presents the first archaeological survey of the ornate Kidichi baths on Zanzibar. The baths were built either for or by Shihrazad, a wife of Zanzibar’s nineteenth-century ruler Said bin Sultan (1806–56). Laser scanning the ornate plaster stucco clarified two inscriptions, the precise meaning of which had been lost. By combining archaeological survey results with historical research and a translation of the inscriptions, a new narrative is presented in which the main protagonist is, unusually, female. Her story raises a host of questions relating to heritage, gender, religion and politics in modern-day Africa and beyond.

Keywords

ZanzibarTerrestrial Laser ScanningSultanKidichiPersian BathsIndian OceanAfricaGCRF
Type
Paper
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 100 , September 2020 , pp. 340 - 373
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and The Society of Antiquaries of London 2020

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