Order in a Disordered World
391
^ig-7: Building an external ring
to enlarge a kitchen and trans
forming it in a main house. Gun-
dol (Asosa).
Us hari (10), atnasharawi (12), arbatasharawi (14),
Slt asharawi (16). The number of variants (seven) is
Probably not casual, given the symbolic relevance
°f this number among the Bertha. Usually, the
^rgest structures are used as guest houses (khalwa),
an d their size depends upon the number of fam-
% members that have to be sheltered in case of
Addings, funerals, or other relevant events. The
^taller buildings host unmarried boys or kitchens.
Rouses can grow as families grow. They are living
beings in perpetual transformation: an outer ring
bfay be added if children are born, or it might be
re moved if it is deemed no longer necessary - be-
Ca Use of a boy’s coming of age or the marriage of
a girl. Sometimes, the owner of the house decides
to build a new building and the old one is reused
as a storehouse or stall. Sometimes it is simply left
0 decay, after recycling some materials. The con-
bbntric house model is the most flexible of all and,
bus, the one most subject to changes (Fig. 7). Be-
^veen 2002 and 2005 I had the occasion to observe
f transformation of Gundul, a small quarter of
s °sa, parallel to the transformation of its inhabi
ts’ life (deaths, weddings, migration). In a sense,
e rtha houses and compounds are never finished,
bey are continually evolving; they have their par-
eular lives which are intimately intertwined with
°se of their inhabitants - for a similar perspective
^ ee Moore (1986: 91-98). Once again, this flexible
°Use model is structurally coherent with the soci-
, y of the area, since the people in the escarpment
Ve more dynamic and fluid existences - travel-
ling, changing of residence, and social upgrading
are easier - than those inhabiting the more remote
interior lands of Benishangul.
The two main reasons to found a new house
are a boy’s coming of age and marriage. Once a
child reaches adolescence (around 12 years old),
he usually builds a new hut for himself. For the
construction of this small hut, he receives no aid.
It is not a real emancipation, since the boy still
depends on his parents for his sustenance: only the
house with two hearths (one for cooking and one
for preparing coffee and for warmth) is a real house,
and the boy’s house has only one.
Collective work occurs when a married couple
needs a new family house - an independent main
house. However, the new home is not built imme
diately after marriage. After the wedding, the hus
band has to go to the village of his wife’s parents,
where he will reside in his father-in-law’s com
pound and work for him - a custom found among
other neighbouring groups, such as the Ingessana
(J§drej 1995: 22, 27; 2004: 719), where it is called
kalam (maybe related to the Arabic karamd). This
situation usually lasts a year, but it may take longer
(up to four years), depending on the needs of the
bride’s family. If there are no sons to help the father,
the son-in-law must help him longer. This is proba
bly a remnant of matrilinea! traditions, as has been
observed among other neighbouring Nilo-Saharan
groups (James 1979). A groom must usually build
a temporary house in his prospective father-in-law’s
compound before the wedding.
“■epos 101.2006