[Leica] PAW 3

[s.jessurun95 at chello.nl (animal)]

> We understand very little about these 'eggs' at present.  They do not
> appear to be organic, though there may be a clay slip over an actual
> goose egg shell.  The Arabic characters are incised into the surface and
> are almost certainly prayers, as "Allah" seems a repetitive motif.  The
> style of the decoration suggests a West African origin, though this is
> speculation.  Low-res x-ray reveals that they contain something metallic
> (and they rattle when shaken); we'll know more when they return from
> various x-ray and MRI examinations.  There're actually seven of them, a
> number that is significant in various African contexts, and we know as
> well that there're anthropological reports of similar objects in ritual
> use in North and West Africa into the early 20th c..  Dating is also
> approximate as we have yet to establish the archeological environment
> within which they resided, though we know a bit about the plantation,
> its owners, and its slaves. All of this is shaping up to be a pretty
> long-term project.
>
> It is a matter of some historical importance to establish the
> transmission of Arabic script literacy across the Black Atlantic and to
> demonstrate its persistence, no matter how corrupted, among Black Muslim
> slaves, of whom we no very little except that they existed.
>
> Cheers
seven is also significant in australia isn,t it calling the pleiades
constellation 7 sisters?