Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History

Chapter 8. Human sacrifice and the supernatural in Zanzibar

Chapter 8 Human sacrifice and the supernatural in Zanzibar Introduction Before becoming a part of the United Republic of Tanzania on April 26, 1964 Zanzibar had had a long history as a city state up to the end of the eighteenth century and during the nineteenth century as a sultanate under the Oman Busaidi family before it became a British Protectorate in 1890. The Zanzibar sultanate became a vibrant commercial empire that was driven by a plantation economy and the so-called long-distance trade that involved the procurement of ivory and slaves from the interior of east and central Africa. The plantation economy and trade in ivory and slaves earned Zanzibar’s sultans and elites enormous fortunes which they used in conspicuous consumption, including the construction of palatial residences. Beit el-Ajaib (the House of Wonders), the royal palace of Seyyid Barghash (1870–1888), is a four-story landmark in Zanzibar’s Stone Town. When it was completed in 1883 it towered then, as it still does, above the entrance to Zanzibar ’s harbor. In fact, it gained notoriety as the largest residential building in East Africa in the 19th century. The name derives from the building’s many unique characteristics. At the time it was the only building in Zanzibar with electricity, running water and an elevator (or lift). Its frame consisted of steel pillars and girders; its floors were constructed with fine marble and the walls were paneled. The construction of Beit el-Ajaib gave rise to rumor that slaves had been sacrificed and buried under each of the pillars supporting the edifice. In this chapter we examine the validity of this rumor in relation to what is known as foundation sacrifice. Before we proceed it is necessary to examine the subject of foundation sacrifice in a broader perspective. To begin with, in the construction business the soundness of any building depends on its foundation. What Lewis Dayton Burdick says about the significance of a building’s foundation is worth noting. He writes: 170 Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History The security of the foundation is the first consideration to the wise and conscientious builder in modern times, It is not only regarded as a matter of judicious economy, in the long run, that it should be so, but the builder is likewise held to be morally obligated to make reasonable provisions for the safety and security of the structure which he erects. This is one of the recognized ethical laws of civilized nations… . The builder is expected to possess a practical knowledge of the elementary principles of scientific construction , and to be guided thereby.1 However, in the early stages of civilization lack of scientific knowledge encouraged belief in magic and performance of rituals to guarantee the soundness and safety of buildings. The spirits of the land also had to be propitiated and this involved human sacrifice. It was believed that a foundation had to be laid in blood or the safety of the edifice would be compromised.2 This belief appears to have been universal. In Africa, many societies have legends that attest to builders’ rites and ceremonies that involved human sacrifice. A legend from ancient Mali has it that when the city of Djenne was founded the defensive earthen walls that were being built around it kept falling until a diviner told the builders the cause; the spirits of the land caused the walls to fall because they had not been propitiated. The builders were told that they must bury a maiden alive in the walls to obtain the jinni’s favor. When the sacrifice was performed the walls stood, and the tomb of the maiden can still be seen on the south side of the town.3 Early ethnographic studies indicate that other West African societies also engaged in construction rites which involved human sacrifice. A boy and a girl were formerly buried alive in Galam, Senegal, before the great gate of the city to make it impregnable.4 Human sacrifice was performed at the foundation of a house or village in Great Bassam, Ivory Coast, in Ashanti, and in Yorubaland.5 According to Burdick, with the blood of fifty girls, who had been put to death for the purpose, the King of Ashanti, in October, 1881, mixed the mud used in 1 Burdick, Lewis D. Foundation Rites with Some Kindred Ceremonies (London, New York, Montreal: The Abbey Press, 1901): 9. 2 Ibid, 10. 3 Belcher, Stephen, African Myths of Origin...