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Harem

Encyclopedia : H : HA : HAR : Harem

For other uses, see Harem (disambiguation)}}}.
In the Arab tradition, imitated by other Muslim cultures, the harîm حريم (cf. haram) is the part of the household forbidden to male strangers.
Scene in a Harem, Guardi
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Scene in a Harem, Guardi

In Western languages such as English, this term refers collectively to the women in a polygynous household as well as the "no-males allowed" area, or in more modern usage to a number of women followers or admirers of a man.

Contents

Word history

The word has been recorded in the English language since 1634, via the Turkish harem, from the Arabic haram (wives and concubines), originally entailing "women's quarters," literally: "something forbidden or kept safe," from the root harama: "he guarded, forbade." The triconsonantal H-R-M is common to Arabic words entailing forbidden.

History

Spitzweg, Im Harem
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Spitzweg, Im Harem

Contrary to the common belief among some, a Muslim harem is the collective term for the wive(s)and in some cases concubines, only in the case of princes and the very rich it is generally part of a palace and its inhabitants do not necessarily consist solely of women with whom the head of the household has a sexual relation, their young offspring plus staff (women and eunuchs).

The Ottoman harem, in the Turkish Great Sultan's Topkapi seraglio (closed palace of probably the richest and most powerful Muslim dynasty) in the imperial capital Istanbul, typically housed several hundred women including wives (only four could be legal under Islam), the Sultan's mother, daughters and other female relatives, as well as eunuchs and slave girls to serve the aforementioned women. During the later periods, the sons of the Sultan also lived in the Harem until they were sixteen, when it might be considered appropriate for them to appear in the public and administrative areas of the palace. The Topkapi Harem was, in some senses, merely the private living quarters of the Sultan and his family, within the palace complex.

Harems existed in Ancient Persia as early as the Achaemenid dynasty and lasted well into the Qajar dynasty. The women of the royal harem played important though underreported roles in Iranian history, especially during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution.

Harem is also the usual English translation of the Chinese language term hougong, 後宮—literally meaning "the palaces behind." Hougong are large palaces for the Chinese emperor's consorts, concubines, female attendants and eunuchs. The women who lived in an emperor's hougong sometimes numbered in the thousands.

The institution of the harem exerted a certain fascination on the European imagination, especially during the Age of Romanticism (see also Orientalism), due in part to the writings of the adventurer Richard Francis Burton. Many westerners imagined a harem as a top-of-the market brothel consisting of many promiscuous women laying around pools with oiled bodies, with the sole purpose of pleasing the powerful man for whom they had given themselves for service. Much of this is recorded in art from that period, usually portraying groups of nude attractive women lounging by spas and pools, congregating nude together, leisurely. See Harem Art.

While some Muslims assert that the Islamic religion never proscribes the use of harems, and that it (re)emerged rather as an extension of Ottoman culture, the institution pre-dates Islam and even Christianity (obviously under other names), but the Prophet Muhammad and his followers practiced slavery, accumulating women as war booty. The Qur'an allots these captured women, married or not, as property "of the right hand," and sexual relations are said to be lawful with them. As such, while these women were not kept in harem-style sections of the household, the tradition existed from the start in Islamic slavery practices.

Harem Art

Harem Art
Terrace of the Seraglio, Gérôme, Jean-Léon, 1824–1904, French
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Terrace of the Seraglio, Gérôme, Jean-Léon, 1824–1904, French
 


Shopping in the Harem, Swoboda, Rudolf, 1859-1914. Austrian

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Shopping in the Harem, Swoboda, Rudolf, 1859-1914. Austrian






 


Harem Scene, Olleras Quintana-Blas, 1851-1919, Italian

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Harem Scene, Olleras Quintana-Blas, 1851-1919, Italian







 


Harem Pool, Gérôme, Jean-Léon, 1824–1904, French

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Harem Pool, Gérôme, Jean-Léon, 1824–1904, French









The Reception, Lewis, John Frederick, 1805-1875, English

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The Reception, Lewis, John Frederick, 1805-1875, English






 


The Harem Fountain,Bridgeman, Frederick Arthur, 1847-1928, American

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The Harem Fountain,Bridgeman, Frederick Arthur, 1847-1928, American








 



 



Lefebvre, Odalisque

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Lefebvre, Odalisque







 


The Harem Servant, Trouillebert, Paul Desiré1829-1900, French

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The Harem Servant, Trouillebert, Paul Desiré1829-1900, French












See also





Sources and references

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