In Top 10 words that come from Arabic, Lexicographer Édouard Trouillez writes in Le Robert Dico online:
« 2. Nuba
A familiar and somewhat old-fashioned synonym for celebration, nuba in no way evokes military rigor. It was, however, borrowed in the 19th century from the Algerian Arabic nuba, which means “in turn” and “guard duty”. By metonymy, this word designates the music played periodically by the soldiers in front of the residences of the officers then, in a more general sense, “concert” and “fanfare, orchestra”. In French, the word nuba was first applied to the music of the Algerian skirmishers before taking on the meaning of “wedding, party” which was particularly used in military slang during the First World War (*1)”.
[*1 – Édouard Trouillez, Top 10 des mots qui viennent de l’arabe, Le Robert Dico en ligne, Publié le 17/07/2020 : https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/dis-moi-robert/raconte-moi-robert/top-10-mots-plus-etonnants/top-10-des-mots-qui-viennent-de-l-arabe.html]
Today, Ziryab remains in the collective memory as the one who made al-Andalus the center par excellence of knowledge in medieval Europe. By creating all the right conditions – of course with the blessing of Emir Abd al-Rahman II, the “Sovereign, Friend of Arts and Letters” -, and by promoting the arrival of foreign scholars.
About him, Christian Poché says this in summary on the cover of his book: “Exceptional singer; inventor of the “fifth” string of the “oud”, king of the instruments of oriental art music; creator of the first music conservatory in Europe; inspiration of the vocal techniques which will give birth to flamenco; explorer of Western traditions such as Gregorian chant to transpose it into Eastern music, Ziryab was also the master of elegance, fashion, the art of living: he codified the ornament of tables and the ordering of dishes as they are still respected today (*2)“.
[*2 – Christian Poché, Ziryab, musicien andalou – Histoire et légende, Jacques Erwan (Préfacier), Riveneuve, 2012]
Nuba or Nawba a musical genre existed long before its birth
Admitting that the Nuba or Nawba as a musical genre existed long before its birth, the question that can be asked is whether he knew the origin and the primary meaning of this term. Could it be that beyond the musical semantic field, Ziryab could have had knowledge in the language and culture of his Ancestors? It is impossible to answer this question with certainty. But with Ziryab, nothing should be ruled out. Because so many Slaves elsewhere in the Americas were able to keep over several generations heaps of things that linked them to their Ancestors, curiosity and the quest for self could have led him to the distant shores of Black Africa, always seeking more knowledge.
One comes, therefore, to wonder if Ziryab knew in Ancient Nubian what the word Nb or Nub meant, which is certainly not to be peremptory at the origin of Nuba or Nawba as a movement.
To better understand the origin of Nuba or Nawba, we must go back to the ancient languages of the Nile Valley, and more precisely those of Nubia and ancient Egypt.
“NUN: primordial liquid magma that existed before creation (chaos*). In its waters floated the seeds of all that must be begotten. Because of this, he is sometimes called the “Father of the Gods”. All forms of life come from it and the flood* is supposed to be an outflow. Chapter 714 of the Texts of the Sarcophagi* presents him as a doublet of Atum* (demiurge) at the moment of the emergence of creation (cosmogony*).
Pushed back to the confines of the formal world, the Nun remains an imaginary space, synonymous with a return to nothingness, but also at the place of gestation and purification of any creature coming into existence. At each dawn, the sun* is supposed to emerge revitalized from the waters of the Nun, as illustrated by the last scene of the Book of Gates*. Included in the Ogdoade* of Hermopolis*, it embodied liquid infinity (*3)”.
[*3 – Isabelle Franco, Nouveau dictionnaire de mythologie égyptienne, Pygmalion Editions, Paris, 1999, pp. 179-180]
From the etymological point of view
From an etymological point of view, the terms Nuba and Nubian have the same origin. They would come from an Egyptian root nb meaning ‘gold’, Sudan being considered by the Ancient Egyptians as the land of gold. Another possible Egyptian etymon is the root nbd, ‘those with plaited hair’ (Stevenson 1984:1). From this original meaning, the Egyptian root then referred to slaves (who often came from Sudan for the Egyptians). Thus, the word Nob designates in Meroitic (the ancient written language of the Nile Valley) both Nubians and slaves (Rilly 2017: 177, 314-315). It is a variant of this term which will then be used to name the non-Arab indigenous populations of southern Kordofan, in other words the Nubas, an ethno-geographical denomination distinct in French from the Nubians, which refers to people practicing languages of the Nubian family ( *4)”.
[*4 – Présentation générale – Brillhttps://brill.com › journals › fdl › article-p5_5]
Post Scriptum:
The name Nuba or Nawba is considered an “Arabic word” in France and in the West. I interviewed several SPECIALISTS in Arab-Muslim music or the Arabic language, but none could provide me with proof that the word Nuba or Nawba is indeed Arabic, at least originally. Apart from the fact that it is used to designate Arab-Muslim and Arab-Andalusian music in particular. And I am still looking for the oldest trace of the appearance of this word in the Arabic language…
By completing my historical essay on the Indo-African roots of Flamenco, I was convinced that if Ziryab is not the inventor of the Nuba or Nawba as music, he must very probably know that this word does not belong to the Arabic language itself and what it meant originally. Contrary to what we could say or what we still say. Rather, it can only be a borrowing from a language of the Nile Valley and certainly from a language of Sudan. And it is certainly no coincidence that Ziryab made the Nuba or Nawba a Concept in al-Andalus. Today, all my research concurs to confirm it. Like Nenuphar and many others, the term Nuba or Nawba is a loan from Arabic to the Egyptian-Nubian languages. And I have demonstrated this in my forthcoming Essay entitled: “ZIRYAB The Blackbird of Emir Abd al-Rahman II of Córdoba: an exceptional Andalusian musician and scholar in medieval Europe”.
All in all, the primary meaning of Nuba or Nawba means literally: “to appear”, “to descend from”, “to follow one another”, “to unfold”, “to flow”, “rolling”, “ordering”, etc. This meaning is still the same today in the language of the Natemba, as much as it was in the language of the ancient Egyptians and ancient Nubians. The movement in question is continuous until it is interrupted. And it is by using the same word “NUN” but with different tones that we know if the movement in question is continuous or if it is already interrupted.
And if ZIRYAB has made Nuba or Nawba not only in Music and other Performing Arts, in Fashion seasons and in the order of arrival of dishes at the Table, it is quite legitimate to believe that he must have known what this word Nuba or Nawba originally meant, which has remained more intimately associated with music.
Coming Soon:
“ZIRYAB The Blackbird of Emir Abd al-Rahman II of Córdoba: an exceptional Andalusian musician and scholar in medieval Europe”.
To this Ziryab, Freed Black Slave (first and above all, more Andalusian than African, Persian or Kurdish) and whose genius was exceptional, the Arab-Muslim Civilization and Western Civilization owe him a lot. He reminds us of this on a daily basis in our current modern world, even if we tend to ignore it.
It is no coincidence that the famous musician, Juan Carmona, has chosen to baptize his Album Zyriab 6.7. This eponymous album is one of the most beautiful tributes that have been paid to the genius of Ziryab, admittedly somewhat forgotten by our contemporaries, even though almost everything in our daily lives reminds us and links us strangely and inevitably to this exceptional man whom he was.
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Origin and meaning of the name of the longest river in Africa: the “NILE”
