Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
Mecca (Makkah al-Mukarrama)
Title
Drums beaten in front of the houses of the two amīrs of Mecca
Short description
Drums beaten in front of the houses of the two amīrs of Mecca, every day at the hour of the sunset prayer.
Text on source
وكانت إمارة مكة في عهد دخولي إليها للشريفين الأجلين الأخوين أسد الدين رميثة وسيف الدين عطيفة ابني الأمير أبي نمي بن أبي سعد بن علي بن قتادة الحسنيين، ورميثة أكبرهما سنٍّا، ولكنه كان يُقَدِّم اسم عطيفة في الدعاء له بمكة لعدله، ولرميثة من الأولاد أحمد وعجلان وهو أمير مكة في هذا العهد، وتقية وسند وأم قاسم، ولعطيفة من الأولاد محمد ومبارك ومسعود، ودار عطيفة عن يمين المروة، ودار أخيه رميثة برباط الشرابي عند باب بني شيبة، وتُضْرَب الطبول على باب كل واحد منهما عند صلاة المغرب من كل يوم. [ص. ١٠٥]
English translation
The emirate of Mecca at the time of my entry was in the hands of the two noble sharīfs, the brothers Asad al-Dīn Rumaytha and Sayf al-Dīn ʿUṭayfa, sons of the amīr Abū Numayy b. Abī Sa'd b. ʿAlī b. Qatāda, of the Ḥasanid line. Rumaytha was the elder of the two, but ʿUṭayfa's name was put first in the prayer for him at Mecca, owing to his sense of justice. Rumaytha had of children Aḥmad, ʿAjlān (he is the amīr of Mecca at the present time), Thuqba, Sind, and Mughāmis; ʿUṭayfa's sons were Muḥammad, Mubārak, and Masʿūd. ʿUṭayfa's house is to the right of Marwa, that of his brother Rumaytha in the convent of al-Sharābī, by the Gate of the Banū Shayba. Drums [ṭubūl] are beaten before the gate of each of them at the hour of sunset prayer every day.
Folios/Pages
214-215
Date
1326 circa
Observations on the events description
In the Muslim world, beating drums in front of the doors of rulers or officials served as an important part of public rituals, signaling authority and marking time for the local population (Cf. Beg, M.A.J. "Ṭabbāl", EI-2, Brill, 2012).
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "Drums beaten in front of the houses of the two amīrs of Mecca" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 04.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
