4.2. Análisis de los resultados: entrevistas
4.2.2. Metacategoría: aspectos relevantes de la práctica enfermera
rule of ZARA YAKOB(r. 1434 –1468). The kingdom report-edly gained its name from bright stars visible from its high perch on the Ethiopian plateau. During the 14 years Emperor Yakob lived at Debre Birhan, he transformed the isolated region into a renowned center of cultural and lit-erary achievement. Much of this cultural renaissance has been attributed to Yakob, who wrote many religious texts during his reign. Historians also cite the infusion of cul-ture generated by the building of the king’s palace and 58 Dauda, Sarki
surrounding structures. Many artisans, both from within and outside Ethiopia, were attracted to the region. After Zara Yakob’s death, in 1468, the site fell into disuse but was eventually reclaimed and restored by later successors of the SOLOMONIC DYNASTY.
Further reading: Harold G. Marcus, A History of Ethiopia (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1994).
Debre Damo
Monastic region of ETHIOPIAsituated east of Adowa, in the TIGRAY highlands. Founded during the fifth century by Abba Aregawi, one of the Syrian monks known as the NINE SAINTS, Debre Damo still remains an active place of worship. Access to the site is the same as in ancient times: monks and visitors use a rope to scale the steep cliff on which the original monastery was founded. Despite these limitations, over several centuries the positive efforts of the monks attracted to Debre Damo many devout Christians, who worked to establish a self-sustaining refuge by creating adjoining buildings and cul-tivating the grounds.Debre Damo’s remarkable architecture also provides an important glimpse of the distinctive style of the an-cient kingdom of AKSUM. One of the earliest churches built in the region by King Gebra-Masqal during the sixth century was constructed of stone and wood with an inte-rior ceiling pattern of cross-beams. The inteinte-rior of this church and other churches in the region characteristically have small recessed areas, archways, and carvings of ani-mals, plants, and abstract forms. Large crucifixes, com-plemented by intricate borders, dominate the church.
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A feature of the old Aksumite churches is their pat-terned windows and doors, many of which recall the towering stelae of the region. This corroborates a general belief that Aksum’s stelae were tombs or
“spiritual houses” built for deceased kings.
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See also: CHRISTIANITY, INFLUENCES OF (Vol. II);
ETHIOPIA (Vol. I); GIYORGIS, ST. (Vol. II); ZAGWE DYNASTY
(Vol. II).
Further reading: Harold G. Marcus, A History of Ethiopia (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1994). Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270 –1527 (Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1972).
Dendi
Region in the northwestern part of present-dayNIGERIAthat is the original home of the SONGHAIpeople.
Dendi also refers to the name of these people, a
sub-group of the Bariba people, and the language they speak.
The Songhai people, who emerged from the Dendi re-gion of Nigeria near the Niger River, are thought to have descended from the ZA kingdom of the eighth century.
By about 800, and possibly earlier, the Songhai had moved north, establishing the prosperous trading city of
GAO. Eventually, the MALI EMPIRE took control of both Gao and the Dendi region. When Sunni ALI (r. c.
1464 –1492) began the great expansion of the Songhai Empire about 1465, he regained control of the Dendi re-gion, and the Songhai people once again inhabited their homeland.
The SORKO people, who also speak a Songhai lan-guage, were known to have lived, fished, and traded in the Dendi region. The FULANI lived in the Dendi region during the time when Sunni Ali reconquered it for the Songhai Empire.
Diara (Zara)
SONINKEkingdom of the ancient GHANA EMPIRE of West Africa. Diara was influenced by Muslim traders, known as the DYULA, as early as the eighth cen-tury, when it appears that many of the MANDE-speaking Soninke natives converted to ISLAM. In the 11th century the ALMORAVIDS gained control of Diara. They also tookAUDAGHOST, a Saharan trade center to the north of Diara, and most of the Ghana Empire. Toward the end of the 15th century Diara fell to SONGHAIinvaders.
See also:SUDAN, THE(Vol. II); SONGHAI(Vol. III).
Dias (Diaz), Bartolomeu
(c. 1450 –1500) Portuguese navigator and explorerDias is considered by many historians to be the most important of the Portuguese explorers who explored the Atlantic Ocean during the 15th century. His voyages took him along the coast of Africa and across the Atlantic to the coast of Brazil. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa in 1488, he helped to open India to Portugal’s commercial ventures by showing his king, John II (1455 –1495), that a sea route to India was possible. Portugal then had the opportunity to control the shipment of trade goods from the East. These goods had previously been transported by caravan to Europe through Muslim-held lands.
See also: PORTUGAL AND AFRICA(Vols. III, IV, V).
Further reading: Eric Axelson, Congo to Cape:
Early Portuguese Explorers (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973).
Dibbalemi, Mai (Dunama Dibbalemi, Dab-balemi)
(r. c. 1210 –1248) Ruler of Kanem-BornuThe SEFUWA Mai (or King) Dibbalemi led the KA
-NURI people, a nomadic group that had migrated into Dibbalemi, Mai 59
KANEM, northeast of Lake Chad, around 1100. Born into Kanem’s ruling dynasty, Dibbalemi, like other Kanuri kings, was considered divine.
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Kanem means “south” in the Kanuri language.
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Dibbalemi mobilized Kanem’s considerable military forces, including more than 40,000 horses, in his efforts to establish a trading empire. Declaring a JIHAD, or holy war, against Kanem’s neighboring states, he successfully conquered the surrounding areas and gained control of the lucrative TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE ROUTESnorth of Lake Chad. As a result, CARAVANStraveling between the central
SUDANand North Africa had to pass through Kanuri terri-tory. The commercial activity that developed from this transformed the lifestyle of the previously nomadic Kanuri. Becoming more sedentary, the Kanuri began to focus on trade.
These conquests also encouraged Dibbalemi to fur-ther increase his empire’s territory through military ac-tion. Dibbalemi expanded his territory from east of Lake Chad to the north, adding Kawar and the FEZZANregion.
He also expanded the empire eastward to Wadai, west-ward to Bornu and KANO, and south to the Adamawa grasslands, in present-day CAMEROON. At its height, Dib-balemi’s territory, called the KANEM-BORNUor Kanuri em-pire, extended from LIBYA to Lake Chad to the HAUSA STATES.
Dibbalemi’s reign was both long and effective. In ad-dition to his military successes, he established diplo-matic relationships with sultans in North Africa. A devout Muslim, he was concerned with promoting reli-gious observances among his people and established a special hostel in CAIROfor those making the pilgrimage to MECCA.
To encourage and reward his military leaders, Dibbalemi gave commanders authority over the people they conquered. This system of power sharing, which helped motivate his armed forces, ultimately proved problematic because commanders attempted to pass their positions on to their sons. As a result these posts evolved into a new hereditary ruling class. Dibbalemi was able to control this during his lifetime, but after his death, dynastic feuds developed. These soon degener-ated into civil war. People in the outlying districts stopped paying tribute, and the great empire Dibbalemi built began to break apart.
Further reading: Augustin F. C. Holl, The Diwan Revisited: Literacy, State Formation and the Rise of Kanuri Domination (AD 1200 –1600) (New York: Distributed by Columbia University Press, 2000).
Dinka
Pastoralist people, closely related to the Nuer, who since the 10th century have inhabited an area on both sides of the White Nile in what is now the Republic of the SUDAN. The Dinka speak a language of the NILOTICsubgroup of the NILO-SAHARAN family; they are subdi-vided into independent peoples, including the Agar, Aliab, Bor, Rek, and Malual, each of which is segmented into smaller political patrilineal clans with great auton-omy. They are an intensely religious people whose rituals and practices permeate everyday life.
Dinka Religion The Dinka religious system is based on the pervasive relationship between the deity and humans, one that influences every facet of Dinka life.
Among the Dinka, the deity is recognized as Nhialic or Nhial, which has been translated as “the sky.” Access to Nhialic is accomplished through spirit possession.
Three primary ancestor figures also represent an im-portant aspect of the Dinka belief system. One, known as Deng, is the founder of the Dinka nation. As in other reli-gions that assign qualities of the natural world to specific deities, Deng is associated with thunder and lightning.
He is also worshiped at a large shrine known as Luak Deng. Other important deities are Garang, who repre-sents men, and Abuk, a female deity. These latter deities have often been compared to the myth of Adam and Eve associated with the Judeo-Christian tradition. In the ori-gin stories of the Dinka, which were created centuries be-fore the birth of Jesus, Nhialic warns the people about forbidden fruit and its consequences.
Many lesser deities are recognized by the Dinka and are divided into warrior or priestly clans. Described as totemic spirits, they included ring, or “flesh,” the spirits that give voice to members of the priestly clans. These priests, known as Masters of the Fishing Spear, derive their powers from Aiwel, or Ayuel, or Longar, who was the heroic figure of Dinka myths. The priests are recog-nized by their symbolic fishing spears, which are consid-ered the sacred tool of Longar, who, their myths explain, was conceived in the river. He was also credited with leading the Dinka to the site of their present nation.
According to Dinka origin myths, Longar, following a long period of drought, attempted to persuade the Dinka elders to relocate to new lands. Unfortunately, he failed.
In retaliation, he refused to find more water sources and simply traveled away from the region. At some point the Dinka attempted to follow him, and, when they encoun-tered obstacles such as mountains and rivers, they began to seek out his assistance. Longar apparently refused at first, even going so far as to kill several Dinka as they at-tempted to cross the river. Finally, however, a member of the priest clan wrestled his spear away. It was at this point that Longar began to stop fighting and started to help them across, giving his fishing spears to the first men to cross the river. These men formed the first mem-bers of the priest clan.
60 Dinka
One of the most important elements of worship among the Dinka is the large number of animal sacrifices they dedicate to their gods. The Dinka view bulls or oxen as significant gifts from Nhialic, which are returned to him through the act of sacrifice. It has been said that each of their cattle receives a name and its memory is pre-served in the naming process of newborn calves. Spear master priests are responsible for maintaining traditional acts of worship and prayer. They voluntarily relinquish their hold of the title when they grow too old to reign.
Dinka traditions called for them to give a final consulta-tion before being buried alive.
See also: NUER (Vols. I, III); PASTORALISM (Vol. I);
RELIGION(Vol. I).
Further reading: Francis Mading Deng, Africans of Two Worlds;: The Dinka in Afro-Arab Sudan (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1978); Francis Mading Deng, Dinka Cosmology (London: Ithaca Press, 1980).