Marah Durimeh
Encyclopedia
Marah Durimeh is a fictional character
from Karl May
's novels around Kara Ben Nemsi
. Her real identity is Ruh'i Kulyan (ghost of the cave). She is known as Es Sahira (the magician) to Kurds. Durimeh is a Kurdish
princess and widow of a famous king. She is said to have written several books.
Karl May intended to write several novels about her, similar to the Winnetou series, but he never got to it. The character changed from the wild and ugly creature of early publications to what he understood as the female Orient
counterpart to the Indian
chief Winnetou
, both personifying mysticism
and the ascent from a low, lustful person, rising to become a nobly spirited person. Several times it is referred to her as the soul of mankind. He states in his autobiography that he modelled the character after his own grandmother, with whom he was very close and who raised him in his early childhood, especially during his blindness.
There are many references to her:
meets these persons many times and also encounters her often. Durimeh and he have long discussions about religion.
More than hundred years of age, she has still retained her power and she is highly regarded by everyone. She ends violent fights between different ethnic groups.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from Karl May
Karl May
Karl Friedrich May was a popular German writer, noted mainly for adventure novels set in the American Old West, and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East . In addition, he wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America...
's novels around Kara Ben Nemsi
Kara Ben Nemsi
Kara Ben Nemsi is a fictional character in the works of Karl May, best-selling 19th century German writer...
. Her real identity is Ruh'i Kulyan (ghost of the cave). She is known as Es Sahira (the magician) to Kurds. Durimeh is a Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
princess and widow of a famous king. She is said to have written several books.
Karl May intended to write several novels about her, similar to the Winnetou series, but he never got to it. The character changed from the wild and ugly creature of early publications to what he understood as the female Orient
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
counterpart to the Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
chief Winnetou
Winnetou
Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written by Karl May in German, including the sequels Winnetou I through Winnetou IV....
, both personifying mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
and the ascent from a low, lustful person, rising to become a nobly spirited person. Several times it is referred to her as the soul of mankind. He states in his autobiography that he modelled the character after his own grandmother, with whom he was very close and who raised him in his early childhood, especially during his blindness.
Original German stories
- Durchs wilde Kurdistan (1892)
- Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen II (1898)
- Babel und Bibel - Arabische Fantasia in zwei Akten (1906, dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
) - Ardistan und Dschinnistan I (1909)
- Ardistan und Dschinnistan II (1909)
There are many references to her:
- Von Bagdad nach Stambul (1892)
- Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen III (1902)
- Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen IV (1903)
- Und Friede auf Erden! (1904)
- Winnetou IV (1910)
Durimeh's role in the novels
She is aunt of Abd el Fadl, great aunt of Pedehr, great grandmother of Shakira and a friend of Ustad. Ahriman Mirza thinks of her as his principal opponent. Kara Ben NemsiKara Ben Nemsi
Kara Ben Nemsi is a fictional character in the works of Karl May, best-selling 19th century German writer...
meets these persons many times and also encounters her often. Durimeh and he have long discussions about religion.
More than hundred years of age, she has still retained her power and she is highly regarded by everyone. She ends violent fights between different ethnic groups.
Movies with "Mara Durimeh"
- 1920 "Auf den Trümmern des ParadiesesOn the Brink of ParadiseOn the Brink of Paradise is a 1920 German film directed by Josef Stein and featuring Carl de Vogt in the title role of Kara Ben Nemsi. Béla Lugosi appeared in a supporting role...
" imdb.com Silent movie believed to be lost. - 1965 "Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen" imdb.com One of the German Karl May moviesKarl May moviesKarl May films are films based on stories and characters by German author Karl May . The characters Old Shatterhand, Winnetou, and Kara Ben Nemsi are very famous in Central Europe....
of the 1960s with the American actor Lex BarkerLex BarkerLex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...
.