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harem

harem

The Oxford Companion to the Body | 2001 | | Copyright

harem The arabic word harem derives its original spelling and meaning from the Egyptian word harim, meaning ‘women’. Originally, it was in the women's part of a Mohammedan dwelling-house that its inhabitants and the place were seen as sacred.

The harem can also be referred to as a seraglio (meaning, ‘the walled palace’), wherein the sultan's wives, children, divorced wives, concubines, slaves, and eunuchs might live. As Alain Grosrichard states in Structure du serail (1979):
The order of the seraglio is set with the despot in view and according to his needs, and most of all for sexual pleasure which begins with the privilege of sight.Though an isolated domain, harems in the nineteenth century became known to tradesmen and merchants who would wait outside the main gates for an invitation to show their wares to the women indoors.

The harem and the odalisque (a reclining female nude or semi-nude) have increasingly become North Africa's cultural icons, dominating visual perceptions in the European mind. Particularly influential in visually capturing such images in the nineteenth century were a group of French and British painters known as The Orientalists. Artists included Eugene Delacroix, Jean–Dominique Ingres, J– L. Gerome, and Frederick Leighton.

Anne Abichou

Bibliography

Alloula, M. (1987). The colonial harem, (trans. M. Godzich and and W. Godzich ). Manchester University Press, Manchester.
Badran, M. (1987). Harem years: the memoirs of an Egyptian feminist, (trans. Badran). Feminist Press, New York.
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COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "harem." The Oxford Companion to the Body. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "harem." The Oxford Companion to the Body. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-harem.html

COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "harem." The Oxford Companion to the Body. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-harem.html

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Harem

Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa | 2004 | | Copyright

HAREM

The women's section of a home.

In Arabic, the word haram refers to that which is forbidden, and harim, or harem, means the women's section of a home, which is forbidden to males who are not unrelated to the household. This prohibition is maintained in order to protect female kin and family honor. Veiling and the seclusion of women are part of an ancient Middle Eastern social pattern that predates Islam and originated in antiquity with the rise of classes, cities, and states. The wives of the prophet Muhammad were secluded, yet played important public roles during and after his life. In Muslim societies where sexual segregation is practiced, women may form their closest bonds in the harem. Women who are relatives, friends, or neighbors visit in the secluded section of each other's homes. The streets in the traditional Arab-Muslim city are generally the province of men.

It is within the social setting of the harem where important family-related decisions are made informally. For example, marriages may be arranged first among women before they are negotiated by male kin. Within the harem, it would be determined whether a young woman is interested in and consents to a suggested marriage before any public announcement would occur.

See also clothing; gender: gender and law; gender: gender and politics; hijab.


Bibliography

Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.

Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn. Islamic Society in Practice. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1994.

carolyn fluehr-lobban

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Fluehr-lobban, Carolyn. "Harem." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Fluehr-lobban, Carolyn. "Harem." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3424601195.html

Fluehr-lobban, Carolyn. "Harem." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3424601195.html

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harem

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

harem [Arabic], term applied to women's apartments in a Muslim household. In the ancient Arab world women enjoyed a certain amount of freedom. However, with the advent of Islam, the veiling and seclusion of women into harems became more common. The most famous harem, that of the sultans of Turkey, dates from the 15th cent. and included the old and new palaces on Seraglio Point, Constantinople. It was abolished with the downfall (1909) of Abd al-Hamid II. The sultan's harem often contained several hundred women, all subject to the control of the sultan's mother and guarded by eunuchs. In India the harem is called a purdah or zenana; in Iran, andarun. Although the harem is rapidly disappearing in the 20th cent., there nevertheless are still some in existence in the more remote areas of the Muslim world.

Bibliography: See N. M. Penzer, The Harem (1937); D. Van Ess, Fatima and Her Sisters (1961).

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harem

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

harem the separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives, concubines, and female servants; the women living there. In extended usage, the word also denotes the wives (or concubines) of a polygamous man, and thus a group of female animals sharing a single mate.

The word comes (in the mid 17th century) from Arabic ḥaram, ḥarīm, literally ‘prohibited, prohibited place’, and from this ‘sanctuary, women's quarters, women’.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "harem." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "harem." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-harem.html

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harem

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

har·em / ˈhe(ə)rəm; ˈhar-/ • n. 1. the separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives, concubines, and female servants. 2. the wives (or concubines) of a polygamous man. ∎  a group of female animals sharing a single mate.

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harem

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

harem Women's quarters in a Muslim household. It contained a man's wives, concubines, and female servants. The most famous harems were those of the Turkish sultans in Istanbul, which often had several hundred women guarded by eunuchs.
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Harem

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms | 1985 | Copyright

Harem

a family of wives or concubines, female relatives, and servants, 1781; the occupants of a harem collectively.

Examples: harem of dear friendships, 1855; a literary harem [‘library’], 1872.
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harem

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

harem XVII. — Arab. ḥaram and ḥarīm (that which is) prohibited, (hence) sacred place, sanctuary, women's apartments, wives, women, f. ḥarama prohibit, make unlawful.
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T. F. HOAD. "harem." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "harem." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-harem.html

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Harem

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

Harem (ḥarīm): see ḤARAM.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Harem." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Harem." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Harem.html

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harem

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

harem •minimum • maximum • optimum •chrysanthemum, helianthemum •cardamom • Pergamum • sesamum •per annum • magnum • damnum •Arnhem, Barnum •envenom, venom •interregnum • Cheltenham • arcanum •duodenum, plenum •platinum • antirrhinum • Bonham •summum bonum • Puttnam •ladanum • molybdenum • laudanum •origanum, polygonum •organum • tympanum •laburnum, sternum •gingham • Gillingham • Birmingham •Cunningham • Walsingham •Nottingham • wampum • carom •Abram • panjandrum • tantrum •angstrom • alarum • candelabrum •plectrum, spectrum •arum, harem, harum-scarum, Sarum •sacrum, simulacrum •maelstrom • cerebrum • pyrethrum •Ingram •sistrum, Tristram •Hiram •grogram, pogrom •nostrum, rostrum •cockalorum, decorum, forum, jorum, Karakoram, Karakorum, Mizoram, pons asinorum, quorum •wolfram • fulcrum • Durham •conundrum • buckram • lustrum •serum, theorem •labarum • marjoram • pittosporum •Rotherham • Bertram

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