A Sound of al-Andalus. Muslim Spain; Echoes Today

The Sound of Al-Andalus 711-1492

Meet Ziryab, Paniagua.

Andalusian music then and now

One Ahmad al-Yamani became sick at Malaga, on the southern coast of then-Muslim Spain.  It was 1015 ACE.  He is not to be confused with a contemporary Ahmad al-Yamani, see http://sa.linkedin.com/in/alyamani. The individual of interest here is a traveler who felt ill-- in the 11th Century -- and could get no rest at any lodging.  There was too much music around him in Malaga --"strings of lutes, tunburs and other instruments vibrated from all directions, and different voices blended in singing." See http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201104/listening.for.al-andalus.htm.
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The tunbur may be the tanbur, see http://www.tanbursociety.com/history.htm. Mulberry wood, stringed instrument, long neck, two gut strings. Kurdish, Persian, ancient Babylonian. Roots, roots. Ancient Egypt, Zoroaster.

The music of al-Andalus fostered poetry forms, song, inspired troubadours and was heard echoing in the Renaissance. Imagine the melodic lines: Old Spanish, Gypsy, flamenco, Medieval.  There is a term for the interaction:   convivencia, a cultural tolerance, a complicated getting-along in al-Andalus.

1. Eduardo Paniagua, musician today in Madrid, is pursuing a blend of imagination and "musical archeology" to find threads and blend them into something new. Where does he look? manuscripts, old palace walls, poems, drawings.  How does his work sound?  Hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8s0Qqd0sjg.

2.  Ziryab, from Baghdad, and of north African or mixed heritage, descriptions of olive skin, thick black hair. He set up a music school in 822 in Cordoba, see this fantastic life at http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ziryab. Muslims brought slaves back from Africa, which could explain the tradition of his ethnicity. He had lived in Tunisia, Syria, many places. It is not clear how he came to Cordoba. 

Ziryab was a man of broad talents:  not only music, but fashion, astronomy, manners.  He introduced use of the tablecloth, deodorant, a toothpaste, and, in an era of middle-parted long hair, he cut his in long bangs in front, then longer hair pulled back with little spit curls at the sides.  He also made popular shaving among men. Women:  he opened a cosmetology and hair salon. He introduced asparagus as a popular dish, and started eating three course meals. Glass goblets, not metal. History!  Geography!  This man had it all, was it all. He also introduced the "banquet" form of dining.

Salute. http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0oG7kyaN01PHngALolXNyoA?p=Ziryab&fr=yfp-t-701&fr2=piv-web. More modern oud music, see http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0oG7jriXk1PxSQAzE1XNyoA?p=Ziryab%20oud&fr=yfp-t-701&fr2=piv-web.

Ziryab played the oud, think a form of lute, and added a fifth pair of strings. He was innovative, using an eagle's beak or quill instead of a wooden pick. See it at http://www.arabinstruments.com/112730/The-Oud-instrument:  11 strings, five pairs and a sole.  Here it accompanying Katy Perry in Firework at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGi5AOXBkwA.  This modern use of the oud adds another dimension to the melody, see the video's Hungarian roots of place, at http://hungaryroadways.blogspot.com/2011/02/shooting-flames-katy-perry-firecracker.html#!/2011/02/shooting-flames-katy-perry-firecracker.html.

Zaragoza - Zahar of the Red Hand. Ethnic History and Legend

 Tracing Zaragoza:

Who Were the Iberians Here

Before Rome

Looking at Legend

And Migrations from the Middle East - Languages of "isolates"

The easy part of history is found when people have records, organization.  The difficult part is figuring out what happened with earlier people who preceded the structured ones.

Zaragoza:

Rome.  

Usual tourist sites and history start with Romans, see ://uk.holidaysguide.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-124788-zaragoza_history-i/, with the legions invading Spain, and the town taking the name stemming from Latin Saragossa, and then Caesaraugusta.  See also http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Zaragoza,-Spain/, focusing on the Christian era: the Virgin Mary appearing to St. James the Great in the first century AD.  A work of word-name sources only refers to the Romans, and later the Arabs. See ://www.archive.org/stream/localetymologyde00char/localetymologyde00char_djvu.txt/

Before Rome.  Iberian. 

Keep going. Learn elsewhere that the site of Caesaraugusta is different from the Roman town. There was an Iberian village, with a newer town later nearby built by the Romans, Cesaraugusta, or Caesaraugusta. Not the same as the Iberian.  See ://fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/Zaragoza,_Spain/  Its name was Salduie or Salduba.

Linguistics.  And Iberian script resembles Phoenician.  See ://fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/Iberian_language/  There were Phoenicians all over the Mediterranean, including Phoenicians in Sicily, so this would not be unusual in itself. This language is not the same as other languages with Celtic roots. See ://fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/Celtiberians/  Egyptians attribute language with written characters is said to have originated with the Phoenician, Taautos, from Byblos, Phoenicia, see ://phoenicia.org/alphabet.html/ and the Semitic languages, as well as others, stem from the forms. More on linguistics, including comparative charts, at ://atheism.about.com/od/ancientmythologyreligion/ig/Lebanon-Phoenician-Photos/Phoenician-Alphabet.htm/ 

So were the original Iberians at Zaragoza Hebrew? Perhaps. This site thinks so, Hebrew Hispanic History, but are they authoritative, or moneymaking? see ://www.genealogyforum.com/messages/genbbs.cgi/  /New/37557/ This site agrees, showing "Iberia" coming from "Eber"-ia, the grandfather of Abraham (Hebrews, not Jews at that time) or Heberia, or Hebrewland. See ://jahtruth.net/britspan.htm/ The focus there is in exploring origins of Gibraltar, as "not Spain."

Does location help with possibilities. 

Look up Zaragoza, Aragon.  Find it at ://www.red2000.com/spain/region/index.html/  There are many references to its origins with the usual "Old Iberians, Romans, Goths, and Arabians."  See that list, for example, at ://www.red2000.com/spain/zaragoza/index.html/  A traverse from the Mediterranean at the northeast of Spain, crossing to Galicia, puts Zaragoza at a major point.

Derivation of Iberia. Eberia - Heberia - Hebrew
Remember:  Hebrew did not mean "Jewish" in earliest times.
It was one of many tribes

Something may or may not be missing. Where formal history is lacking, look at legend. This is an ext\p://jahtruth.net/britspan.htm

Legend of Zahar of the Red Hand 

There is legend here that is a far cry from staying satsified that all this area represents is a thriving Roman commercial and military center.  We have an unexplainable tribe and language, an "isolate" as they say, like the Basques, and other groups that seem to spring from parts unknown. 

This connection is suggested for the Iberian isolates:  Palestine, and even Egypt.  By legend, of course. Research old migrations of peoples from the Middle East to Iberia, and from there to Hibernia, even, there in antiquity,

Zahar of the Red Hand starts with a story in Genesis

It is said in legend that the Old Testament Zarah, twin son of Judah, who was himself son of Jacob / Joseph, went through these events, see The Red Hand of Ulster, at ://www.baronetage.org/redhand.htm:

• During Zarah's birth, he stuck out his fist first, causing the midwife to tie an identifying red cord around it to designate the first-born, for purposes of the inheritance; but

• Zarah then pulled it back, cord and all; and his brother Pharez was born, fully born, first, see Genesis 38:28-30; so 

• Zahar, with no inheritance, migrated from the Palestine area to (and here the stories vary) through Egypt first, or directly to Spain, Iberia, where 

• Zahar and the Zaharites of the Red Hand founded the city of Zaragoza.  Then,

• Zahar's descendants were pushed out to northern Spain and Galicia by the Romans and others; and from there went to Ireland, Hibernia.  Or "Hebernia" - for the Hebrew's new land. There,

• The Red Hand of the Zaharites remained the symbol of their settling.  

Of course, Ulster has an alternate legend, of the Red Hand of Ui Niall casting his self-severed hand to the beach to claim the territory ahead of others, but we are interested here in the Zahar idea.

Spain as the stopping off point for ancients from the Middle East:

This is of interest to us because we also found a tale of a Queen Scotia, buried in Ireland from antiquity, and said to be the daughter of a pharaoh, and that explains alleged Egyptian hieroglyphs on her grave.  Is any of this so?  Does it matter?  See Caledonia: Scotia and Scotland before Scotland. Queen Scotia, Ireland. See also ://www.irishidentity.com/extras/places/stories/martello.htm/

Those Old Testament roots are also in a highly partisan account of Irish origins, the story that recurs, at ://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/redhand.html/  Are we looking at descendants of Hebrews, migrating through other places, including Spain, to Ireland. Anything that gives enjoyment is not to be discounted, and we find this idea enjoyable. And as explicable as anything else.

Basques - History of a Culture. Behind Guernica; and Forward

Basque Country

Nation. A Nation. This Nation. 
Then, That Nation. Whose Nation has Rights.
Whose Nationalism Prevails.
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Force Decides, Temporarily, or Uneasily, or Permanently.
For How Long?

I. Basque country.


This site is a mini-course in Basque history, geneology, linquistics.  How else to communicate their unique qualities, the mystery of their origins.  Pablo Picasso immortalized their slaughter at the town of Guernica. See III below.

Pablo Picasso, portion of photograph at the Picasso Museum, Barcelona

Travelling north and east, from Burgos, between Bilbao and San Sebastian, well off the main highway, north, in mountains, is the town of Guernica, the old capital of the ethnic group. Do a maps search to find it.

If you are heading ultimately from Bilbao and San Sebastian, to the rowdiness of Pamplona , curved to the south from San Sebastian, it is all too easy not to explore the hills. Parts of the mountain area are called "the Basque Switzerland" - around the Alava valleys to the north, and vineyards to the south (think Rioja), see http://www.carmalaga.com/informacion-basque/alava.htm/  Three provinces make up the "Basque Autonomous Community" - Alava, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa. New to us, but a must go next time. The lakes of Laguardia are in Alava - LaGuardia Airport of New York Mayor fame?

But with our best meal of the trip in a Basque restaurant in Bilbao, and so many unanswered questions about the Basque country, this is our advance scouting for the next trip. Basques. Who, where from. Why the violence. We want to go back.


Basques: stop at flatland. Here, south of Bilbao 

The land south of Bilbao is flat, windmill farms, easy for invaders. Basques settled in the mountainous, green-hilly, rocky areas. Easier to defend, escape. Invaders gave up.




II. The Basques: A Group that considers itself its own race.

Theirs is a persistent history of the different, living in an area from time unknown, consistent, uninterrupted heritage, seeking independence from the later-enveloping Spain, the alien governmental amoeba, or from enveloping France on the other side of the Pyrrhees Mountains. Separatists, others call them. But they never asked to be surrounded by the aliens.  They resist absorption.  Think back to high school microscopes and the amoebas.  Gotcha. Farmers, herders, navigators, fishermen. They will not be absorbed.

Source and trigger of that interest in Basques suddenly, after a trip is over, this time: The novel, Guernica, by Dave Boling, Bloomsbury 2008, see http://www.daveboling.com/.  Emphasis at the outset.  The unique language. The card game mus. Find the rules at http://www.pagat.com/vying/mus.html/  Draw cards, then bet on who has the best hand. Bluff, insult and look at these rules! Go there. The winner is the mano.  Now. I love it. Must learn mus. Grande, chica, pares, juego.

Fair use: quote from Quernica, by Boling:

The creative Basques decided that cheating could be prevented by declaring it a legal part of the game. Accordingly, if one never recognizes the existence of a border, then carrying goods across it is not smuggling, merely nocturnal commerce. And if a race believes it has always lived in its own nation, then protecting its imaginary boundaries is a matter of patriotism, not separatism.

From page 3. We are hooked already.

Picasso's comment to a son, the son age 15 (says the book at page 83), while they passed through Basque country, France to Spain side:   How to check if Picasso said that? Or is this just a novelist being a novelist?   Will go to quotes sometime. This is from the book:

"I know many Basques.  Nobody works harder, or is more dedicated to his family. We used to say, 'Straight and tall, there goes the Basque. The ones I know could be stubborn and suspicious, but to have a Basque as a friend is something you can count on for a lifetime."

Apparently the Republicans (this is in the 1930's) wanted Picasso as a supporter, but Picasso saw himself as an artist, and art was about "other things" and not boring politics.  Page 83.

Dance.  Basques have a long history - this site says they themselves identify with Cro-Magnon peoples, see and some dances reflect the pagan past (everybody's was, if it not is, is that so?) http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_basque_witch_dance/.  The "witch dance" is the sorgin dantza.

Other dances: see mixed group with hoops http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF3QkdbRes8&feature=related/  All men, the ezpata dantza. solemn (what is the occasion?), with swords, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbg7qnaEWFU&NR=1/ Good view of flutes and drums. See a couple's dance, Arin Arin, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3oUfCBeKnU&feature=related

The novel references the "jota" dance, see and hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ustm1VmPGHU/and at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQRjgat5eSQ/  Go to Itxartu.com/ for the Itzartu Euskal Dantzari Taldea (traditional dance group - videos at http://www.youtube.com/itxartu); and for the North American Basque website at http://www.nabasque.org/  On Youtube videos are a series of lessons in the jota put up by the NaBasque group.

Euskara Language.

The language is not Indo-European. Hear Patricia speak it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl75VkdWO8M&feature=related/  Translation?  There is a Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada.  The language is called euskara. See background and FAQ's at http://basque.unr.edu/16/16.1t/16.1.1.faqs1.htm/  There are some similarities with these languages:  the Georgian in the Caucasus; the Berber family of languages, Africa; the Quechua, Latin America. See http://basque.unr.edu/16/16.1t/16.1.1.faqs1.htm/  

• Linguistics:  See this discussion of the languages related to Neolithic - Ice Age Cro Magnon, even possibly Paleolithic times, at Linguistic Connections, a Paleolithic Language, at http://www.atlantisquest.com/Linguistics.html/  Areas: Aquitanian (ancient tribe, central France), Lusitanian (western Iberia).  Cro Magnon types include the Basque, some Berber (including the blondish ones among the Rifians, some Tuareg, Mauritani, Bretani (even the names sound like the modern areas). This is not my field, but it sounds interesting.  The language is not related to others around, but is related to others in the group. 
•  Is this the ancient "Atlantic" language. Think Atlantis? More fun to consider, speculate.  Where did it come from? See inscriptions at the Linguistics site. Authentic? Also connected to Welsh, Erse and Gaelic? Much to read at the Linquistics site.

Creation and linguistics.  Are you ready for this?  This site connects roots of Basque and Basque-roots languages with Eden.

Go for it. Read at Basque Paganism at http://www.arcadia93.org/basqueengl.html/.  Follow any interest that arises, and then assess.  Cited as an authority is an Abhot, Dominique Lahetjuzan, 1766-1818.  He finds Basque origins in names.

The point is, with other references there, whether or not you accept all of them:  roots here are deep, deep, back to Romans, Greeks, others with contacts with these peoples.  Fascinating.

What are the rights of first occupiers. Anywhere. Where does "time" begin.

Read up there on the Spanish Inquisition, other oppressions, killing of millions of healers, etc. Understand the heritage here.  We forget. Also, refresh on divinities, early creation principles.  Basques.  A wealth of information on our earliest selves, before the nations, hierarchies and institutions tainted it all. Is that so?

Basque Geneology; Origins. 

Basque people are unique, we understand, in a number of ways.  Their blood carries a high RH Negative factor. Are they so different from others in the linguistic group?  Not sure.  Go back to linguistics - Origins are unclear, with Cro Magnon populations, or original Iberians, or even survivors of Atlantis all circulating in the stories.  See http://basque.unr.edu/16/16.1t/16.1.1.faqs1.htm/  This site notes an "innate reluctance" of members of these groups to interact, intermarry with others not in the group.
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They have fought off assimilation for thousands of years. See http://www.atlantisquest.com/Linguistics.html/ For Atlantis geeks, read http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=36137; and, of course, Plato: The Lost Cities of Atlantis, at ://www.geocities.com/ancients_uk/atlantis/plato.htm; and at Plato's Atlantis Dialogues, http://atlantis-today.com/Atlantis_Critias_Timaeus.htm/  Do a find for Atlantis to get to it. There was a wonderful and mighty empire, that conquered and built and shone forth in virtue and strength, see http://atlantis-today.com/Atlantis_Critias_Timaeus.htm#memorized/ and Solon's Tale continues:

But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island.

One Critias had memorized the story of Atlantis, and it continues at the site. Keep doing the find for Atlantis to speed it up. So, there is Atlantis. Did remnants survive? Mists, smoke ....
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Oak.  Then, reference to the symbolic oak in the center of town, an original and two successors that had been used as a gathering point for law-making or planning defenses, since the Middle Ages.  It survived even the destruction of 1937, but finally died in 1994, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3649397.stm/.

The first was planted in the 1300's, and lived some 400 years. The tradition is that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella swore under that oak in the 1400's to uphold the Basque ancient privileges.  It is a symbol of loyalty. BBC at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3649397.stm/ A replacement was to be planted.

Nationalist Anthem.  In the 1800's, one Jose Maria Iparraguerra composed a song, Gernico Arbola, and dedicated it to the tree, and that composition became the nationalist anthem for the Basques. BBC at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3649397.stm/  Here is an instrumental at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qE75kev4Dg

Flag.  The Ikurrena flag, red, white and green is banned. See it at  http://www.geographic.org/flags/new1/basque_flags.html - like a pattern from the Union Jack, red ground, white center cross side to side and up and down, superimposed on a green X full diagonals.

Flags courtesy of ITA's
Flags of All Countries used with permission. *

Since no map identifies Basque country, the language is a definer, as are the dances, the celebrations. Some say the Basques survived because of inaccessibility - rocky, stony coast; high mountains around. But was it instead the language, incoherent to all others. "Everything that has a name exists," from page 6. What have the words seen. This takes us to a look, because memory is hazy, at what happened here.
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III. A WWII history: Basques at the epicenter of civilian slaughter.


Guernica.

World War II; on one side.  The Spanish Civil War, on the other.  They met at Guernica, the ancient Basque capital. The Germans were eager to try out their Luftwaffe. In 1935, a German general published a book claiming that war is total and no segment of a population should be exempt, including civilians, and targeting them was legitimate in furthering the goals of the invader. Meanwhile, the Spanish civil war had begun in 1936, Guernica had held out. The Nationalist Franco was displeased, as he fought the Republicans.

Now the big names: Wolfram von Richtoven, cousin of the Red Baron from WWI, arrived with his Condor Legion, sent by Hitler. Bomb the city to see what would happen, since the city had not been involved in the civil war, and what would a bombing raid do to it. Send a signal to the Republicans of the power behind the Nationalist cause. An experiment, and a warning, with Guernica the tool. And get the troublemaker Basques in line. Richtoven chose it.

There were no defenses. The planes flew as low as 600 feet, destroying Guernica on market day. Dead: 1664. Wounded: 889. Political impact: England feared similar treatment on her shores, Chamberlain met with Hitler three times (appeasing?) in 1938, and modernized the air force. All this from The History Learning Site at Ask, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/guernica.htm/.

IV. The Picasso Painting, Guernica.  The Basque Apocalypse, Muralized.

Pablo Picasso memorialized this Apocalypse, at a town used for target practice, animals in the explosions, a slaughterhouse of people and chaos, in a huge painting, see http://www.guernicamag.com/features/6/the_painting_guernica/ Do an Images search if it is unfamiliar to you. Guernica. Picasso. Here it is, at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid (we only saw the Prado), and a fine article, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/artblog/2007/apr/26/picassosguernicabattlelives/

Without knowing the story, no wonder some moderns see nothing special in it, just another Picasso, see http://painting.about.com/od/arthistorytrivia/f/FAQ_Guernica.htm/ Learn the history, and nationalism and horrors are no longer abstracts.

III. Now back to the book.

To be continued. This section to include bits, such as this:  Did the Basques originate as the survivors of Atlantis?  Some of their traditions so suggest.

Other groups seeking self-determination: Thinking now also of Uighurs, any group surrounded, surviving, uncertain future in the way of the march of others.

IV. Current politics in Spain.

There are two Basque political parties: The EHAK, or Communist Party of the Basque Territories; and the EAE, or Basque Patriotic Action.  See recent activities (past several years) of the independence movement from Spain, at http://www.onesolutionrevolution.org/?cat=14&language=en/


 V.  Exonyms (!) - Endonyms.  Names in countries with foreign names. 

See the evolving and self-questioning site at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exonym/.  Where are Basque origins (the origins of the Basques is unknown, so all this is very interesting, trust me). Rats. Nothing turns up.  Stay tuned and we will keep looking.  Why does wiki link to Geneva, Bern and Basel. No idea.  See no connection with Basque.
Look at the x's in Basque words.  The sound of that.  History of a culture.  Takes digging.




.....................................................................................................

*To do that, we have to publish this exploration of Basques, as it is so far, and send the flag site an email, says their site, so we will do that. Publish. Get the URL. Then back to here. Is this worth it? No. The verbal description we think is enough, but the colors are striking. Bureaucracies. Turf. This flag is mine, say they at ://www.theodora.com/flags/. We want to separate! In the alternative, can we consider that this one permission covers future uses of flags? Or do we have to do this each time? No wonder the old ways, so simple, so common sense, lure us away from modern tickytacky. There must be another approach to copyright. Basques, good for you.

Conchita Cintron, Bullfighter - Women's Rights in Spanish Culture

Bull, Bahre name (real or not?)

Sometimes, a country transports its culture as much as its people. Here, bullfighting.

One of the first women bullfighters - a matador - was Conchita Cintron, who just died at age 86. Her obituary from the New York Times is at ://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/sports/othersports/20cintron.html/.

Apparently she began her vocation at age 13, and was from Peru, not Spain. Still, the sport is so tightly tied with Spain, and she was living in Portugal at the time of her death, we include here regionally and culturally, here - with Spain.

Her life and near death - in 1949, she was gored in the thigh during a bullfight in Mexico, was taken out of the ring, broke away from the doctors in the infirmary, and returned to the ring to kill the bull. That bull was one of 750 taken in her career. She then fell unconscious and was taken to emergency surgery.

Madrid - A Collage of History. Architecture. Christopher Columbus, Plaza Mayor, Prado, Don Quixote, Palace

ARCHITECTURE.

The idea of proportion comes across despite the many forms used. Recalling here an art history lecturer in college, who used a conductor's baton to tap out architecture - the base might be tap....tap....tap; one for each major aperture.

Then, the level above, with four apertures to each one below, might be taptaptaptap; and above it, two above the four, for tap tap; and a whistle and swoop for an arch with a tap, and BANG for the cupole on top of the dome. Gets under your skin.

Make your own sound effects as you look at buildings.




ROME REMEMBERED.

Here is Neptune, in a roundabout -

Some sites start Madrid's history with medieval times, see ://www.aboutmadrid.com/madrid/history.asp. Nuts. We like to do back and back. This one is better - 1000 BC, settlement by Iberian tribes, and Celts; and in 218 BC, in came the Romans with roads, many converging here. So, that is maybe why we have Neptune here. In the 4thCentury AD, Visigothic Kings took over after Rome fell. There is a whole park lineup of them. Very impressive, macho. Toledo was the capital for the Visigoths. See://www.world66.com/europe/spain/madrid/history.

CELTS.

Always surprised that the Celts were all over Europe, including Eastern and Central Europe, later pushed into England, Wales, Ireland. See ://www.watson.org/~leigh/celts.html. Need to research more on Celts and Visigoths.

ISLAMIC EMPIRE.

10th Century: Arab. Emir Cordova Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Rahman. This site says that the Muslims founded Madrid proper. See ://cuip.uchicago.edu/wit/2000/teams/cybertour/madridhistory.htmlThe full name is listed because we want to know what each part means - a lineage, a tribute?

Liberated 11th Century.

PLAZA MAYOR.
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Here is the great Plaza Major or Plaza Mayor - a huge space, cafes, and in the early evening the tapas gets going, with later evening (dinner starts about 11:00 PM) busy with crowds. Enter from a regular city street, up a staircase, through an arch and suddenly there it is - wide open. Wonderful.

Madrid became the capital and seat of the Royal Family in the 16th Century.

Many monuments to explorers, kings.


















Memorial to King Charles III?, 18th Century.

He also ruled Naples and Sicily - we often forget how fluid national boundaries were then. Find out after we get back. Reforms in sanitation, no more slops out windows, liked French dress, overall did well, says ://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Charles_III_of_Spain.

 

THE ROYAL PALACE.
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This is no longer used as a residence. Meet the Royal Family at ://personales.ya.com/fororeal/infresp.htm.
King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, and children.









DON QUIXOTE AND SANCHO PANZA


















CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

This memorial is so tall that it took two photos to get it all in. See Dan at the bottom for scale. Is is as high as Trafalgar Square?  There is a tradition that Cristoforo Colombo was a child out of wedlock, his childhood unknown, but piece together the stories and such support for it as you may choose to weigh, at Bogomilia, Shadow Children.

THE PRADO MUSEUM

If you arrive in Madrid on a Sunday and expect to see the Prado on a Monday, you will have to go elsewhere - and there are many alternative museums. Prado closes Mondays. Another choice is to hop one of the many sight-seeing buses where you get on and off all day, taking any of the many routes offered - just go all over for the price of one ticket. Great.

Pamplona - The Bulls

Pamplona, Spain. Dawn, by the Corral

Bull Runnings

Bullfighting has a long history, and worth learning about before going. See www.andalucia.com/bullfight/home.  Catalonia has moved to ban killing the bull, see http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1930746,00.html

Here is The Drill for watching a bull run at Pamplona. And a guide: ://www.spainguides.com/pamplona.html.

1.  Walk down the evening before to see the bulls arrive at the corrals; and plan where to go for the run the next day.

We were there when killing is the goal.  I tried not to think too much about it. The festival is in the name of Saint Fermin, Pamplona's first bishop, says this reputable site, http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-521104/Fiesta-de-San-Fermina. We had been told that he was a martyr, killed by bull-dragging or trampling.  He was first a bishop, then the martyr in the 1st Century AD, but those events occurred in Amiens France, see ://www.pptravel.com/eventhistory.asp?EventID=SF/.  The year traditionally was 257 AD (makes more sense than a cite to 1st Century). He was tied to a bull and dragged. See ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Fermin.

See a daily roster of events at www.pilotguides.com/destination_guide/europe/spain/pamplona_bull_run.php.

2.  Get up at 5 AM to walk walk walk from wherever you found a room, to claim the spot for viewing.

We had checked out where to go the night before, aiming to see the bulls safely, and we found a high spot at the starting section, at the top of a flight of stone steps leading to a square. We were at the beginning of the run.

Grab a coffee and bun as you go, watch people with the fire hoses washing down the streets, and washing the el inebriatos out of the doorways.

3.   Once you get your place, hold it - if you shift an inch, someone will slither in front of you - Viva Yo - and you lose. Or a big arm with an alien camera will suddenly block your view. Plan for it. That's life.

Pamplona, Spain. The Runners Amass

Look down and see everybody in the red and white customary attire - includes women these days. Hear the runners sing their Prayer to St. Fermin - that is a chanty singsong in honor of that St. Fermin who was martyred by bulls in centuries past.















4.  There goes the rocket.  Out come the bulls and up the street below.

Pamplona, Spain. The Rocket, the Bull Run, with a few oxen.




















5.  Then see the scatter.

Pamplona, Spain. The Great Scatter at the Bull Running

Everybody run.

Bulls and people tend to slip at the curves, on the cobbles; and are totally confused and panicked at the end of the run, to the tunnel into the ring.
Several oxen run with bulls in an effort to keep them calmer, but it is dangerous.

We heard many sirens, off an on, all during the run. At least in the tunnel, there are roll slots you can roll into and out of the way, or leap into cut-outs in the wall.

Meanwhile, in the ring, people have been entertaining the crows by clowning with calves, or female cattle that will not then be used in the ring, I think. The animals are smart and learn what to do fast. They don't get used or exposed to the ring twice, I hear.

The bullfights are on TV all the time, and to this outsider, there is nothing glorious and epic about the encounters I saw between man and brute forces that Michener wrote about in the old "Iberia." Capitalism took over. Advantage: to the people. Seldom not messy. But that is an outsider speaking. Limited. But there is a lot to learn about the tradition behind it, so do read and respect www.passports.com/trips/cityfact/cityfact.asp?city=The%20Spanish%20Bullfight.

Pamplona, Spain. Mounted Police, in Feathers. End of Day.













6.  Expect inebriation. Everywhere. You will also get wet. Very wet. Wine and beer are poured and sprinkled about at the end of the day. Set a meeting place in case you get separated. Practice locking arms. If the crowd squeezes and you can't move, then you can stay together.

Police on horseback to control everything.

Read Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" for a fine literary lookback. Here is an excerpt: at ://www.literarytraveler.com/authors/hemingway_pamplona_spain.aspx

Pamplona - Getting Older; and History

Festival of St. Fermin - Bull Running Agenda

For the July bull-running festival, there are parades during the day for the - large puppets over head. If you arrive in the middle of one, however, expecting to see macho, athletic young men flexing all over the place, think again.
Pamplona, Parade, Spain
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This has become family reunion time. All the strollers and spouses. There are plenty of young people, sleeping in the park like old Woodstock or something, and the partying goes on all night. Still, the impression is of middle aged people coming back to relive what they did or wished they did, or made up that they did, this time with the kids. All is red and white. For all ages and shapes. No place to go, so just turn off the ignition and let the parades flow around you. Get out and join in.

History: Plenty to do after the run. Pamplona was a Roman town 75 BC - near the Basque area and town of Iruna. It does not subdue - as the Visigoths and Moors found. Even Charlemagne and his Franks were stopped by the Basques at Roncesvalles nearby. In medieval times, there were three towns at that basic spot, with differing populations - Basque, French (see how close to the Pyrenees) and a mix of others. The French tried to take it definitively in 1521, lost, and Ignatius Loyola - who fought there - was wounded and later founded the Jesuits. For a long time, Pamplona was frontier. Walls, fort.

Listen. The Song of Roland at ://omacl.org/Roland/. Here is an online translation of this old French poem, about the son of Charlemagne and his death at Roncesvalles. At ://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/roland-ohag.html.

Muslim Spain - Contributions. Saracens. Fatimids. Granada.

Vast architectural structures. Islamic influence in so many places.

I believe this is in the town of Granada, not the palace, Alhambra, there. See where a later Christian influence (the Christians liked rigid squares and rectangles; or Gothic pointed arches) changed the original fluid, arched Moorish windows.

They made them look more Gothic, except for a few on the right that remained Moorish, with an Arab look if you scrunch up your eyes- see the flaring just at the arch, the scimitar shapes?

At this site, click on the main Islamic cities in Spain during the Muslim Occupation, and get overviews that help put the era into perspective - at ://lexicorient.com/spain/index.htm.. The main cities were Seville, Cordoba, Jaen, and Granada.

But who were the Saracens? The same as the Islamic conquerors of Spain? This site says the term was used generally for Muslims in the Middle Ages - see ://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9065721/Saracen.

Same as Fatimids?

No, the Fatimids were Shi'a, and this site has a fine, short history ://i-cias.com/e.o/fatimids.htm/ This is of interest because we learn of the Shiites in Iraq.

Note the focus of their history there, apparently in Egypt.

For a review of the Sunni - Shi'a divisions, see ://www.islamfortoday.com/shia.htm.

Looked up Catholic - Protestant in the same vein - and found a confusion of quasi-dogma and big words that would mean nothing to an outsider without a glossary and authority to support, at ://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/charts/catholic_protestant.htm.

Presenting another culture's beliefs. Trouble.

Perhaps Muslims feel the same way about how their divisions are represented. This historical view, from the Tudor period, was far more informative. Take a look at ://www.historyonthenet.com/Tudors/protestant_catholic.htm.

Remember, that is from the Tudor period, 1500-1700 or so, but deep roots are there.

Here is a map of the Fatimids, and Wikipedia's note that information needs brush-ups, at ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatimid.The Fatimids were Shi'a, of an Ismaili branch (?). Wikipedia notes a high degree of religious tolerance to non-Ismaili, Coptic Christian, Jew, or other Islamic persons.

Malaga - The Costa del Sol, The Sun Coast, Alcazaba

Picasso was born in Malaga. Update 2013: The Picasso Museum, now in its 10th year, is regenerating the center of town, the old Jewish Quarter where it is located. The building is a renaissance home, from the 16th Century - the Palacio de Buenevista. See the activity there in the Financial Times article, In the Footsteps of Picasso, Nov.2-3, 2013. See  ://www.andalucia.com/cities/malaga/home.htm.


Malaga, Alcazabe, Spain. Sun Coast.
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The Sun Coast, Costa del Sol, Malaga and great Islamic fortress dating to 1065, the "Alcazabe," is on the side of the hill. At the top of the hill is another, older Muslim fortress, the Gibralfaro. See http://www.travelinginspain.com/testweb.html. Malaga is on the way from Gibraltar to Ronda, a town on a deep gorge in the mountains.

Malaga is a vacation destination, highrises at the beach, and many flights  from UK, Germany, Scandinavia.  There are signs in many languages. And has large enclaves of expatriates not just vacationing, but retiring there.

Alcazabe, Malaga, Spain. Wall View.
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History:  Malaga was founded by Phoenicians, an ancient, sea-faring, trading people 1200-800 BC or so, who originated near Palestine. Main cities there were Tyre and Sidon, see ://home.cfl.rr.com/crossland/AncientCivilizations/Middle_East_Civilizations/Phoenicians/phoenicians.html.

Phoenicians are also known as the "Canaanite Phoenicians," see http://phoenicia.org/. Their alphabet formed the basis for the first transliteration of the Hebrew collections of stories over thousands of years that, in about 550-600 became a proto-Old Testament. Phoenicians - deserve great credit, often forgotten.
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• Even the old name "Malaka" is from the Phoenician for "salt" - for salting the fish there. In Arabic, it is Malaqah, from the Islamic Occupation. See ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1laga. 
• The musical work, "Malaguena," by Ernesto Lecuona, refers to the Gypsies of Malaga, all you pianists.

During the Muslim Occupation, this town of Malage grew as a "taifa" kingdom, and was formed as many did when the great Caliphate broke up (at Cordoba?) in the 11th Century. Supporting art and architecture was a way to show wealth - conspicuous visualization? see ://www.nyu.edu/gsas/program/neareast/andalusia/1_p11_text.html

Driving: Always look up. At most substantial-sized and small towns, there will be a castle on a hill, an Old Town below. Aim for either, then both.

Festivals, holidays, days for closings

We try to plan a trip when there will be a festival. Here is a website for Spain events: www.spain-info.com/Culture/festivals.

The usual festivals center on Seville at Easter, Pamplona in July for the bull runs, and there is a tomato throwing festival somewhere also that we missed. Crushing.

Bilbao, Museum of Modern Art, Spider on the Side

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Mondays are often closing days for museums. Check so that you are not at Bilbao for the Museum of Art, or only have a Monday left in Madrid, for the Prado. If you are in a city on a Monday, take the day on a bus hop-on-hop-off all day ticket - many routes usually color coded so you can see where each route goes, stay as long as you like, shift routes, all day, see everything but the inside. Many also have talking tour boxes and ear phones at each seat.