Utendi Wa Tambuka
''Utend̠i wa Tambuka'', also known as ''Utenzi wa Tambuk''aThe symbol ''d̠'' is a transliteration of the Arabic for the Swahili sound ''dh'' (). Often this sound is written simply ''z'', hence the different spellings. ("The Story of Tambuka"), ''Utenzi wa Hirqal'' or ''Kyuo kya Hereḳali'' (the book of Heraclius), is an epic poem in the Swahili language, dated 1728. It is one of the earliest known documents in Swahili. Known by various titles in English, including ''The Book of the Battle of Tambuka'' and ''The Story of Heraclius'', the story recounts numerous events of the Byzantine-Arab Wars and Byzantine-Ottoman Wars between the Muslims and Romans (the contemporary name for the Byzantines). The Byzantines were represented by the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Heraclius. The story covers a period from 628 (the Battle of Mu'tah) to 1453 (the Fall of Constantinople). "Tambuka" is the Swahili rendering of Tabuk, a city located in north-western Saudi Arabia. The oldest ...
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Utenzi Wa Hirqal (MS 45022a)
Utenzi or utend̠i is a form of narrative poetry in Swahili language, Swahili. Its name derives from the fact that it usually describes heroic deeds, like the medieval European ''Chanson de geste, gesta'' (lit. "deeds"). ''Utendi'', plural ''tendi'', meaning "act" or "deed", is derived from the Swahili verb ''ku-tenda'' "to do". Well-known examples of ''utenzi'' are the ''Utendi wa Tambuka'' by Bwana Mwengo (one of the earliest known literary works in Swahili, dated 1728), the ''Utenzi wa Shufaka'', and the ''Utenzi wa vita vya Uhud'' (the epic of the battle of Uhud) compiled around 1950 by Haji Chum. Reciting utenzi is a popular pastime on weddings and other ceremonies and feasts; often, specialized narrators are invited to do this. Utenzi verse form consists of four-line stanzas, with each line having eight syllables. The last syllables of the first three lines rhyme with each other, while the fourth line has a rhyme that is constant throughout the whole of the epic. This last rhym ...
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