2381/11791956.v1
Laura Basell
Laura
Basell
Abdullah Ali
Abdullah
Ali
Behnam Firoozi Nejad
Behnam Firoozi
Nejad
Ella Egberts
Ella
Egberts
Nicholas Mellor
Nicholas
Mellor
Mark Horton
Mark
Horton
Laser-scanning Shihrazad’s Baths: 1001 Tales of Zanzibar Nights
University of Leicester
2020
Uncategorised value
2020-04-15 11:02:02
Journal contribution
https://figshare.le.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Laser-scanning_Shihrazad_s_Baths_1001_Tales_of_Zanzibar_Nights/11791956
This paper presents the first archaeological survey of the ornate Kidichi baths on Zanzibar. The baths were built for or by Shihrazad, a wife of Zanzibar’s nineteenth century ruler Said bin Sultan (1806–1856). Laser scanning the ornate plaster stucco was used to clarify 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.