Book
The Masai: ethnographic monograph of an East African Semite people
Dietrich Reimer (Ernst Vohsen) • Berlin • Published In 1910 • Pages:
By: Merker, Meritz, Schütze, Frieda.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This extensive ethnography of the Maasai people was written by a Captain in the German 'Protectorate Troops' who, in his capacity as a military officer spent more than 8 years among the Maasai. Part One contains a discussion on the origins of the Maasai and presents Merker's hypothesis that the Maasai are descendants of the nomadic Semites whose ancestral home was on the Arabian peninsula. Part one also identifies what Merkert considers to be the three branches of the Maasai people, the Wakuafi (Kwafi), the Asa, and the Maasai proper, and discusses the sequence of their migrations from the Arabian peninsula to their current location. Part Two contains a thorough ethnographic description of the Maasai proper and the Kwafti, while Part Three contains a briefer, somewhat sketchy ethnography of the Asa. In Part Four, the author compares Maasai myths and traditions with those of the Bible and with traditions from Babylonia. The remarkable similarity between the traditions of these three peoples is used as corroborating evidence for Merker's belief in the common origin of the ancient Israelites and the Maasai.
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Maasai
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1996
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Soldier
- Government Official
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Helen Gunsher Bornstein ; John Beierle ; 1972
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1895-1907
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1895-1907
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kenya and Tanzania
- NotesAdditional notes
- Meritz Merker
- Translation of: Die Masai: Etnographische Monographie eines Ostafrikanischen Semitenvolkes.
- The original German text is not included
- As the Asa are currently considered to be a branch of the Dorobo, information in Part Three has been indexed only for the Dorobo (FL06) collection.
- Translated for the HRAF files by Frieda Schütze
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- ltf90027003
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Masai (African people)