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Textbook Africa and Mathematics From Colonial Findings Back To The Ishango Rods 1St Edition Huylebrouck Ebook All Chapter PDF
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Mathematics, Culture, and the Arts
Dirk Huylebrouck
Africa and
Mathematics
From Colonial Findings
Back to the
Ishango Rods
Mathematics, Culture, and the Arts
Series editors
Jed Z. Buchwald
Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA
Marjorie Senechal
Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA
Gizem Karaali
Pomona College, Claremont, CA, USA
The series Mathematics in Culture and the Arts publishes books on all aspects of
the relationships between mathematics and the mathematical sciences and their
roles in culture, art, architecture, literature, and music. This new book series will
be a major resource for researchers, educators, scientifically minded artists, and
students alike.
Cover illustration: First image: Africa Museum Tervuren, Belgium (General Register Number photo:
1969.59.636, negative G 4878).
Second image: photo by the author
Third image: Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Belgium.
Fourth image: drawing by the author based on an illustration in “Les Peintures Murales Intérieures des
Habitations du Migongo, Rwanda”, Africa-Tervuren XVII-2, 1972, by Celis G., and Celis Th., with
approval from the authors.
Fifth image: Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Belgium.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Foreword
Ishango. A name that sounds like a river, a continent, an era, or a lost people.
A river: close to the river Semliki, at the shores of Lake Edward, not far from two
historical routes, one following the Congo River, and one along the sources of the
Nile, an important axis for trade and exchange between civilizations.
A continent: Africa, the birthplace of human civilization on Earth.
An era: the time of the first human hunters and gatherers, several thousand years
ago. The epoch of exploration of the Ishango site in the middle of the twentieth
century by several Belgian expeditions and, later, by an international archeological
group.
A lost people: who were they, these early hunters and gatherers?
When Professor Jean de Heinzelin did excavations at the Ishango site, he brought
many apparently irrelevant objects with him. Later, this Belgian archeologist would
earn international fame. Among the findings was a tiny rod, seemingly without
major significance, but undoubtedly several thousand years old. Until a closer look
was taken at the carved lines on the rod. Suddenly, after being buried for about 200
centuries under many layers of earth, the rod was revived: it was studied, analyzed,
recorded in an inventory, discussed, and recognized as the undeniably oldest math-
ematical tool of humanity. What an honor! Suddenly the history of mathematics
shifted from the supposed cradle of civilization around the Mediterranean Sea to the
heart of Africa, not far from where, according to the commonly accepted hypothe-
sis, the human race was born.
Then, after this short moment of ephemeral glory, the Ishango rod fell again into
obscurity, to be forgotten for about 40 years in the depository of the Royal Belgian
Institute for Natural Sciences.
Until another scientist, Belgian mathematician Dirk Huylebrouck, took steps to
allow it to be recognized at its true value. A new era of intense activity surrounding
the Ishango rod was born. Recognized by the scientific community and the cultural
and political worlds, the Ishango rod resurfaced and enjoyed its deserved glory. The
government of the Brussels Region made it the symbol of its program to motivate
young people to get an education and in particular to choose a career in science.
The Ishango rod has become the subject of new studies and analyses. Innovative
v
vi Foreword
hypotheses have been raised about its mathematical interpretation, and many new
scientific papers have been devoted to it. Finally, it was displayed in the permanent
exposition of a museum, so that the public could admire it, in a separate arrange-
ment, dedicated solely to the study of the Ishango era and Ishango civilization.
I happened to meet Dirk Huylebrouck in 1994, in the Central African country of
Burundi, where he had invited me for some lectures at the University of Bujumbura.
This engaging and polite man, specialized in ethnomathematics and passionate
Africa enthusiast, had several projects in mind, including one to draw to the Ishango
rod the attention it deserves and its true worth recognized. Back in Europe, because
the outbreak of genocide in neighboring Rwanda had ended his contract, he exerted
considerable effort to bring to light this artifact of human civilization. The Ishango
rod, small in length, about 10 cm, but massive in terms of historical meaning and
value, is not a rod in the true sense of the word but rather a small bone, with remark-
able carvings, at regular distances and in small groupings, which makes it possible
to interpret the rod as humanity’s first calculating tool. Moreover, the Ishango rod
provides a space-time relation between, on the one hand, the first civilizations to
attempt calculations and develop mathematics and, on the other hand, our modern
technological civilization based on science and mathematics. It links the African
continent to the Western world.
This book sketches the discovery of the extraordinary Ishango rod and the differ-
ent scientific hypotheses regarding the object. The book can be read as a novel,
without many mathematical equations or proofs, and yet it explains in a simple way
how our African ancestors came to count in different systems, how the different
hypotheses about the rod were retained or rejected, and how the history of mathe-
matics was turned upside down. Bold conjectures, but eventually confirmed when
the existence of a second rod was revealed by the discoverer of the first Ishango rod,
Jean de Heinzelin, on his death bed.
Go and admire these little rods at the Museum of Natural Science. Somebody
used it to count some 22,000 years ago, like our children do at school to this day.
Vladimir Pletser
Former next astronaut for Belgium,
Director of Space Training Operations (2018–), Blue Abyss, United Kingdom
Chinese Academy of Sciences (2016 – 2017), Beijing, China
European Space Agency (1984 – 2016), Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Introduction
This first book about ethnomathematics in Central Africa groups several papers that
appeared in scientific and popular science journals. The text is also based on a series
of lectures for specialists as well as on talks for a larger lay audience. Other parts of
the book find their roots in various scientific publications, requiring high-level math-
ematics, sometimes up to the research level. However, the nonmathematical reader
can safely skip the few specialized mathematical passages, which are independent of
the other parts. These difficult notions were retained in the hope of winning the esteem
or at least a positive reaction for African mathematics. Mathematics released from its
utilitarian aspects often seems a more noble kind of mathematics, especially when
these applications are executed on muddy stones, silly little shells, or tiny bones.
Consequently, the few difficult passages seemed appropriate in order to avoid
having some readers look down on ethnomathematics and see it as mere recre-
ational mathematics, lacking any scientific grounding. Thus, some parts of the book
will seem too austere to some readers since a rigid style is usual in mathematical
writing, while to others many parts of the book will look too much like a populariza-
tion. Still, overall, an anecdotal approach was avoided as much as possible.
Numerous problems arise when translating names and words from certain African
languages into English. Examples include r/l-related sounds in some African words.
Sometimes, two sources both use an r or an l for the same word, not because the r or
l cannot be pronounced but because the actual sound is somewhere in between.
Another problem is that many African languages use prefixes that are not recog-
nized as such in English. In this connection, one should not talk about “Bantus” but
about “tus” because both the “ba” and the “s” point to a plural form. Literally,
”Ba-ntu” indeed means “human-s,” and the prefix “ba-” stands for the suffix “-s.”
vii
viii Introduction
Geographical Considerations
This book first appeared in Belgium, in Dutch and later in French as well, and so
there is a special focus on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (henceforth called
the Congo), Rwanda, and Burundi, since until 1960 Congo was a Belgian colony,
while the latter were territories mandated to Belgium until 1962. The book com-
pletes a gap in the ethnomathematical literature, since publications from France
tend to concentrate on Senegal and other West African countries, while English
publications often emphasize data about South or East Africa. For those historical
reasons, references to other continents are limited, though ethnomathematics covers
a large area, from the Andes Mountains to Siberia.
This geographical restriction to the Central African region raises another ques-
tion. Many remember the terrible genocide in Rwanda or the images spread through
movies such as Hotel Rwanda, while Congo is often associated with rebellions,
diseases, and misery. Thus, readers of this book may blame the author for neglecting
the tragic situation and only presenting a different view from a nonpolitical and
nonjournalistic point of view. Yet, for most dissertations about the history of the
exact sciences in the West, this is the case as well, and only seldom is a remark made
that no attention was paid to the Hundred Years’ War or to the rebels in the Balkans,
the Basque Country, or Northern Ireland. This book shows it is possible to discuss
Central Africa without falling into the customary political morass.
A more substantial comment about ethnomathematics points to the danger of
imposing a prejudiced view about ethnomathematics on readers. For that reason, the
first part of the book presents examples of situations where African mathematics
could have been used, so that the reader gets an idea about the typical setting. As the
reader progresses, he will thus be able to get into a frame of mind for personally
judging the value of the final chapters and the importance of the second part of the
book. However, this does not imply an intention to replace a refutable Eurocentrism
by an equally disprovable Afrocentrism. Of course, the focus on African realizations
is unavoidable here because it is the subject of the book, but while some chapters
could create the impression of an overenthusiasm for “Ishango mathematics”, other
chapters supply many counterarguments and critical observations. If some authors
quoted here criticize Greek mathematical realizations as if Hellenistic achievements
were “all stolen from Africa,” the author certainly does not share their point of view.
General Considerations
This book tries to deal with the nonmathematical backgrounds of African mathe-
matics in a similar way to how books about Western mathematics do. Accordingly,
just as books about European mathematicians contain some stories about the death
of Descartes at the court of Queen Christina, these stories, of course, matter very
little for the appreciation of Descartes’ mathematical work. Knowing whether
Introduction ix
Acknowledgments
xi
xii Contents
Part III Epilogue
12 Museum Visit, Teaching, Research �������������������������������������������������������� 191
Mathematical Tour Through an Africa Museum���������������������������������������� 191
A General-Level Ethnomathematical Quiz������������������������������������������������ 197
Answers to Quiz������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 201
A High-School-Level Ethnomathematical Quiz���������������������������������������� 204
University Level: Examples of Theses������������������������������������������������������ 206
Scientific Research������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 211
Dirk Huylebrouck worked at universities in the Congo for about 8 years until a
diplomatic incident between Belgium and President Mobutu of the Congo inter-
rupted his stay. Then he went to the University of Aveiro in Portugal and the
European Division of Maryland University, until the majority of his American (mili-
tary) students were sent to Iraq. He returned to Africa, specifically to Burundi, but
for only a short time, because of the genocide in neighboring Rwanda. In 1996, he
finally agreed to teach in the Faculty of Architecture of the KU Leuven (Belgium).
Fortunately, in his mind he can still escape abroad, as he has been editing a col-
umn titled “The Mathematical Tourist” in the journal The Mathematical Intelligencer
since 1997. However, he may soon have to flee abroad again, literally, because he
has become (in)famous in Belgium for his work in popularizing errors in, for exam-
ple, the Belgian Atomium landmark, the work of Leonardo da Vinci, a runway of the
Brussels airport, the interpretation of the forbidden fruit in the “Mystic Lamb” by
Jan and Hubert Van Eyck, and, most recently, in Norbert Francis Attard’s Fibonacci
artwork.
xv
Part I
Mathematics in the Heart of Africa
Chapter 1
Rationale and Sources
Corps volunteers to Liberia and wondered if there were any appreciable differences
between the mathematical skills of American and African students.
Gay and Cole subjected Liberian Kpelle people and groups of Americans to sev-
eral sets of mathematical problems. In this way, they obtained statistics showing
differences and similarities in “quantitative” skills such as estimating volumes or
distances, measuring time, and others. Thus, the Kpelle appeared to be very good at
visually estimating quantities, but they had more difficulties with counting large
quantities. These skills can be useful for doing elementary arithmetic, but to classify
Gay and Cole’s work as a study in the field of mathematics seems an exaggeration.
In any case, the illustration shows an example of how Gay and Cole asked about
estimating time intervals of 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, and 120 s. The Americans
probably used the well-known trick of saying “1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3
Mississippi”, and so on, until they hit 15, 30, and eventually 120, to count seconds.
Whatever the Kpelle’s method may heve been, the test showed no noticeable differ-
ence between the two groups for estimating longer periods.
This test was chosen here as an example because it contradicts a widespread
prejudice – that Africans have a “different notion” of time. Following Gay and Cole,
this is not so, at least for larger intervals of time. Note other experiments do indeed
reveal relevant differences in skills between the Kpelle and Americans (Fig 1.1).
20
10
0
15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
–10
–20
Time in seconds
Americans Kpelle
Teaching Geometry
round world, with only circular forms and without straight lines. However, as
Kenneth Brecher (USA) pointed out in a private conversation, this story seems to be
a apocryphal based solely on the exaggerated imagination of some overenthusiastic
anthropologists (Fig. 1.2).
Fig. 1.2 Some well-known “optical illusions” where Zulus note no oddity, unlike, probably, the
reader
Still, Martin Gardner too found it very surprising that some African traditions
point to a completely circular view of the world. Gardner was a well-known
American writer of popular mathematics books who earned a reputation through his
battle with pseudoscience such as numerology or parapsychology. He illustrated his
reflection by a few lines of a poem by John Updike: “Zulus Live in a Land without
a Square.”
When Zulus cannot smile, they frown,
To keep an arc above the eye;
When asked distances to town,
They say: “as flies the butterfly.”
surface area with the smallest circumference. Thus, mathematically, a round corral
seems a better solution, since in this way the smallest amount of fence will confine
the largest quantity of cattle (Fig. 1.3).
Fig. 1.3 The round universe of traditional rugo houses and corrals from Burundi
Around the world, students struggle with exercises of the kind “a train leaves town
A at a speed of 100 km/h, while another train leaves city B at the same time, but at
a speed of 50 km/h. If the distance between both cities is 450 km, when will these
trains cross?” Yet, in Burundi, for instance, there are no trains. Following some
ethnomathematicians, similar misguided problems about purchasing a fancy car or
planning a holiday cruise would serve as a bad (negative) model for those students
who can barely pay for their own studies.
Thus, these socially committed ethnomathematicians suggest mathematical
problems of a different kind be posed. A question adapted to Buganda culture would
read as follows:
Let 1 cow = 2500 shells;
1 male slave = 1 cow;
Consequences for Textbooks 7
Note that feminist readers will be amused to see that a woman is worth four to
five times as much as a man.
Of course, a similar argument would hold with respect to Western children, who
might not be very interested in questions that have nothing to do with their lives.
Some mathematics teachers propose changing textbooks by adding more socially
motivated exercises (Nelson et al., 1993; Lerman, 1994). For example, students
could be asked to compute the (low) percentage of the total sales price that goes to
a banana grower, or they could do compile statistics on social problems. Such exer-
cises have their merits but also many additional ramifications and indirect consider-
ations; they can distract students’ attention away from problems’ mathematical
content (Fig. 1.5).
8 1 Rationale and Sources
Fig. 1.5 Socially tinted mathematical problems: how much more does a cultivator get, proportion-
ally (left)? Play with statistical diagrams (right)
Ethnomathematical Studies
Cultural forms, religious traditions, and art forms of people in Central Africa in
traditional communities as they were known before colonization have been studied
extensively, but little has been said about those communities’ scientific achieve-
ments. Forging has received some attention, as has traditional medicine or medici-
nal plants.
10 1 Rationale and Sources
Fig. 1.7 Evolution of ground plans in Burundi; some elements, such as the location of the hearth
or the bed, are evident
Fig. 1.8 Front page and logo of one of the first editions of the African Mathematical Union
Regarding Central Africa, until about 30 years ago there was only one ethno-
mathematical article in an international journal. Of course, the lack of written docu-
ments is a problem for the collection of information about traditional societies, but
in addition, some people who still know these societies are getting older and are
more difficult to track down, often because of unstable regional situations. However,
several Africa museums possess numerous written testimonies, which are only
rarely consulted from a mathematical point of view.
Collecting Data
There are a few records by American authors about the vocabulary or the
mathematical abilities of newly arrived African slaves (two stories are given in this
book), but such items are very rare. Exceptional too are Greek written references to
Africa and to elements of (mathematical) knowledge on the continent. Perhaps the
Greeks obtained parts of their knowledge from the Egyptians: writings from
Herodotus (450 BC) to Proclus (400 BC) bear witness of Egyptian astronomy,
mathematics, and land surveying. Other Greek writers mention the priests of
Memphis as the true founders of science. Many suppose that Pythagoras (500 BC)
and Thales (546 BC) went to study in Egypt, and for Aristotle (350 BC), whose
teacher Eudoxos had studied in the land of the pyramids, “Egypt was the cradle of
mathematics.”
It is not surprising that the Greeks knew the location of the sources of the Nile.
Homer, Hekate, Herodotus, Aristotle, and Hipparchus all placed them in Central
Africa. Astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy put them south of the equator.
Ptolemy grew up in southern Egypt, which perhaps makes him more African than
his Greek name suggests. Many maps based on information given by Ptolemy use
the reference “Lunae Montes” or “Mountains of the Moon” to designate the region
of the sources of the Nile. Roman legends speak about Pygmy people living at the
sources of the Nile in these Lunae Montes, and Egyptian texts also refer to “little
men of the forest and land of the spirits at the foot of the mountains of the moon.”
Arab tales place the biblical Garden of Eden in the region of these mountains and
call them Jebel Kamar (Figs. 1.9 and 1.10).
Fig. 1.10 Map mentioning the Lunae Montes, or Mountains of the Moon, or, in an African lan-
guage of today, the Unyamwezi region
Today, Unyamwezi, or “region of the moon,” still refers to the area south of Lake
Victoria and north of the Tanzanian city of Tabora. The Efé are a Pygmy people who
live in a forest to the east of these mountains, which they call Baba Tiba. The African
names as well as the Latin and Arab denominations all refer to the “land or mountains
of the moon.” It is amusing that, according to some people, the word rugo, the term
for the traditional habitat in Burundi as described earlier, is related to urugo or
“corona of the moon”; thus, the Central African landscape is indeed that of the
“circles of moonlight.”
Oral History
The tradition of reciting long stories, from generation to generation, exists from
time immemorial in some regions in Africa. These stories constitute important
sources of information. The chronicles, songs, and verses are important oral testi-
monies of history. Yet, their content is sometimes doubtful, because the courtiers
who told these stories often preferred to please the sovereign instead of telling the
true factual history including possible unpleasant facts. Accordingly, some scholars
warn that the stories should be treated as legends rather than as trustworthy histori-
cal reports.
14 1 Rationale and Sources
For instance, there is the story of the Dogon and the star Sirius. Supposedly, the
Dogon knew it was a double star, long before the arrival of the Europeans and with-
out telescopes. The authenticity of the story is doubtful, and thus the Dogon chron-
icle was omitted here. Clearly untrue are some additions on maps “following
Ptolemy,” such as comments about the existence of a one-eyed African people called
the “monoculi” (Fig. 1.11).
Fig. 1.11 Another map “following Ptolemy” with the additions of the so-called monoculi
The correctness of the oral traditions can sometimes be verified quite accurately,
when astronomical phenomena like comets or solar eclipses are mentioned. For
instance, a story from Rwanda reveals a solar eclipse, or ibwirakabiri, occurred dur-
ing the first months after the accession to the throne of King Mibambwe III Sentabyo.
Modern computer software for maps of solar eclipses that could have occured in
Rwanda in that time span shows that a total solar eclipse indeed occurred on 13 June
1741, starting at 6h 29 min and ending at 11h 56 min. There were other eclipses in
the region afterwards though, that can be determined with a similar precision – in
1741, 1763, 1774, 1781, and 1792. In combination with the context and the estima-
tions of the ages of certain individuals, some have proposed accepting the earliest
possibility of 1741, while others have opted for the year 1792. In any case, this case
proves that the middle part of the eighteenth century is a good approximation for
dating the king’s accession to the throne.
Oral History 15
A more recent eclipse that is easier to compare with known events was that of
December 1889, when King Rutarindwa ascended the throne. In addition, the asso-
ciated stories can be indirectly verified: from a king in a neighboring region, Olimi
I, king of Nyori, one knows of a solar eclipse in 1506. Olimi’s son was at war with
Rwanda, and this provides another possibility for dating events in Rwandan stories
(Figs. 1.12 and 1.13).
Fig. 1.12 Map of 1741 eclipse. The meridians and parallels of latitude are represented each 10°.
Dotted lines: isomagnitudes of 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%, north and south of total eclipse
Fig. 1.13 Maps of eclipses of 1763 and 1792, used for dating an event in Rwanda
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HET
DORP
AMSTELVEEN.
Zo ons werk niet van dien aart ware, dat wij geene keuze konden
doen in de veele plaatsen welken in ons Vaderland voorhanden zijn,
(want ons plan vordert dat wij die allen, van hoe grooten aanzien, of
hoe gering ook moeten beschrijven;) zo wij deeze of geene plaats ten
voorwerpe van onze beschrijving konden verkiezen, ongetwijfeld
zouden wij het dorp Amstelveen de eer van den voorrang geeven;
want in veelerleie opzichten verdient het de aandacht van elk
Nederlander: niet alleenlijk is het aangenaam en wèl gelegen; maar
ook is het op verscheidene andere wijzen aanmerkenswaardig: het is
reeds een voorwerp van de gunst der Graaven geweest, en tevens
een voorwerp der blinde woede ten tijde dat Spanje bloedmiddelen
aanwendde, om de vrije harten en halzen van de wereldberoemde
Batavieren door en onder zijn juk te knellen; en wat het in onze
laatstvoorledene beroeringen, door het verschillen over de
denkbeelden van recht, gerechtigheid en vrijheid, heeft moeten lijden,
is nog in verscher geheugenis; ’t heeft ondervonden dat de
Nederlanders, spijt alle verbastering nog niet geheel van hunne
voorvaderlijke deugd ontaart zijn.… dan, daar van zullen op de
volgende en meer andere bladzijden van dit ons werk overtuigende
bewijzen genoeg gevonden worden, om er hier van te kunnen
zwijgen; wij twijfelen niet of men zal onze beschrijving van dit dorp
met genoegen leezen.
LIGGING.
Het vermaaklijk Dorp Amstelveen, (of Amsterveen, zo als het
doorgaands genoemd wordt,) eene Ambachtsheerlijkheid van
Amsteldam, is gelegen in Amstelland, omtrent twee uuren gaans ten
Zuid-westen van Amsteldam, hebbende ten Oosten de Haarlemmer-
meir, [2]ten Westen het dorp Ouderkerk, en ten Zuiden, Tamen of
Uithoorn: deszelfs ligging is zeer aangenaam; de weg die van
Amsteldam, of wel van den Overtoom, derwaards gaat, verschaft
eene verrukkelijke wandeling tusschen twee reiën lommerijken
boomen, achter welken, op verscheidene plaatsen, ruime boerderijen,
en aanzienlijke tuinen gelegen zijn: te recht zegt de zoetvloejende
Willink, dat de gemelde aangenaame weg loopt,
Amstelland, dat wij boven noemden, was weleer met het steedjen, ’t
welk, na nog geen twee honderd jaaren, tot de wereldberoemde
koopstad Amsteldam aangewassen is, eene bijzondere Heerelijkheid,
niet behoorende onder de eigendommen van de Hollandsche
Graaven, maar aan het geslacht der Heeren van Amstel: toen Heer
Gijsbrecht, van dien naam, als deelgenoot van den bekenden
moord aan Graaf Floris, het Land moest ruimen, werden zijne
goederen verbeurd verklaard, en werden deezen gevolglijk een
volstrekt eigendom van den Graaf; volstrekt, zeggen wij, want
Gijsbrecht was reeds vroeger, voor zekere handelwijze van hem
omtrent den Bisschop van Utrecht, door den Graaf gestraft,
daarmede, dat hij zijne goederen, waaronder ook Amstelland, aan den
Graave moest opdraagen, waarna hij dezelven weder als een Leen
van deezen ontving: Amstelland is volgends sommigen daarna een
Leen van de Utrechtsche Kerk geweest, doch ook weder aan de
Graaflijkheid gehecht; anderen ontkennen zulks geheel of ten deele.
NAAMSOORSPRONG.
De naam welke dit aangenaame dorp draagt, verklaart tevens
deszelfs afkomst; betekenende naamlijk het veen dat aan den Amstel
ligt, of Amstels Veen; waarom de eigenlijke naam niet Amsterveen,
gelijk wij zeiden dat het doorgaands genoemd wordt, maar
Amstelveen is. [4]
STICHTING en GROOTTE.
Wat de stichting betreft, daarvan kan, gelijk van veele andere dorpen,
enz. niets gezegd worden; zeer waarschijnelijk zijn dezelven hunnen
oorsprong verschuldigd aan ’t verblijf van eenige lieden, visschers,
landbouwers, of baggerders, welken hunne nooddruft uit de
grondsgelegenheid aldaar vonden, en bij wie misschien, door hunnen
welvaart van tijd tot tijd uitgelokt, zig veele anderen gevoegd, en zo
een buurt gemaakt hebben, welke, na verloop van tijd, in een dorp
veranderd kan geworden weezen.
’T W A P E N .
KERKLIJKE GEBOUWEN.
Den armen wees tot nut, bragt men dit huis tot stand,
Den ouden tot een stut, in Nieuwer Amstelland.
„De Heere houdt de Weezen en Weduwen staande: Ps. 126 vs. 9.”
Weleer stond boven de poort of ingang, naast het zelve huis nog een
versjen, ’t welk door ’t schilderen daarvoor van daan geraakt is: dus
luidde het:
Tot genoegen van onze Leezers, maar voornaamlijk tot genoegen van
de bewooners van Amstelveen, zullen wij hier eene kleine schets van
de levensbeschrijving diens voortreffelijken mans bijvoegen; ’t kan
gezegde bewooners tog niet onverschillig zijn te weeten wie hij
eigenlijk was die verdiend heeft, dat hun Kerkjen met zijn eereteken
pronkt.
REGEERING.
Deeze bestaat voor zo veel Amstelveen zelf aangaat, uit den Balliuw,
Schout en zeven Schepenen: eene Ambachtsheerlijkheid van
Amsteldam zijnde, is er ook eene Ambachtsheer over gesteld, die de
zaaken, het Ambacht bijzonderlijk betreffende waarneemt; bestaande
de crimineele rechtbank aldaar eigenlijk uit Bailluw en Schepenen
voornoemd; welke eerstgemelde ook Bailluw van Amstelland is.
Tot het bestuur der Polderzaaken, wordt volgends octrooi van keizer
Karel den Vijfden, dato 31 December 1520, een Dijkgraaf- en
Hoog-Heemraadschap opgericht, dat met en benevens het Gerecht
van Amstelveen het opzicht zoude hebben, over de dijken, bruggen,
dijkslooten en andere polderwerken; volgends deeze handvest,
zouden van de vijf Landrijksten, vier Heemraaden, en de oudste dier
vijf, tot Dijkgraaf verkoozen worden: de Keizer noemde hen Dijkgraaf
en Heemraden van de Landen en Dorpen van Amstelveen, doch
hedendaags noemt men dat Collegie Dijkgraaf en Heemraaden van
Nieuwer-Amstel; het aanstellen van dat opzicht is zijne geboorte
verschuldigd aan de klagten die eenigen der Landrijksten bij den
Keizer inbragten, daarover dat de vloeden der Zuiderzee, dagelijks
aanwiessen, en die van het sticht van Utrecht hunne wateren ook
dagelijks door molens uitwierpen, en deeden loopen op de landen van
Amstelveen, waardoor de opgezetenen aldaar, indien er niet in
voorzien werd, scheenen te zullen [11]bedorven worden, en ten
eeuwigsten dage verloren blijven, verzoekende derhalven dat
hetzelve door het aanstellen van het bovengemelde Collegie, om
desaangaande de noodige voorzorgen te doen neemen, mogt
voorgekomen worden; de Keizer het gewigt deezer klagten inziende,
willigde hun verzoek in.
VOORRECHTEN.
BEZIGHEDEN.
GESCHIEDENISSEN.
Tegen tien uuren des morgens kreegen de onzen op den dijk van
Ouderkerk nieuwe versterking van voetvolk, want hoe heet het ook
reeds toeginge, brandde men echter van verlangen, vooral te
Amsteldam, om zig tot versterking derwaards te mogen begeeven;
men hield zig van eene volkomene overwinning verzekerd—dan God
had het anders besloten——wij weeten niet waarbij het toegekomen
is, dat de Pruissen verscheidene geretrancheerde posten van de
onzen op den dijk naar Amstelveen en elders veroverden, de moedige
Patriotten aan het wijken [15]bragten, en tot binnen het dorp dreeven; ’t
welk aldaar geene geringe schrik veroorzaakte—eene en andere
omstandigheden waren dringend genoeg om den Colonel De Porte
te doen besluiten, zig naar Ouderkerk te begeeven, ’t geen met zo
veel spoeds geschiedde dat de Pruissen nu, gereed zijnde hen met
hun eigen geschut te beschieten, hen niet meer berijken konden.
Nog dien zelfden avond werd het plaatsjen zo wel als Amsteldam door
de Pruissen bezet, waardoor de inwooners, in de uiterste droefheid
gedompeld, nu den overlast des soldaats moesten draagen—dat
deeze overlast niet gering geweest is bevestigen honderden van
getuigen; en te geloofwaardiger worden dezelven, als men beseft,
welk haatelijk denkbeeld den Pruissen van de Nederlandsche
Patriotten ingeboezemd was geworden; ook hadden zij te veel van de
moedige verdediging van deezen moeten ondergaan, om geheel vrij
te blijven van den trek tot bijzondere wraakneeming. [16]
BIJZONDERHEDEN.
Hier onder behoort weder in de eerste plaats de kerk, met het graf van
Broekhuizen (zie boven bladz. 5.)
De droogmaakerij, (zie bladz. 3.)
REISGELEGENHEDEN.
LOGEMENTEN.
[1]
1 Om deeze reden stellen sommigen ook niet dat Holland zijnen naam zoude
ontleend hebben van deszelfs laage (Holle) ligging, maar van de menigte
bosschen (Holt, hout) die er gevonden worden. ↑
[Inhoud]
BUURTEN
ONDER DE BANNE VAN
AMSTELVEEN.
LIGGING
Ten westen van Amsteldam, aan wederzijde van een tamelijk breede
graft, de Overtoomsche Vaart genaamd, die uit de stads vest naar
den Overtoom loopt: de eene zijde der buurt is geheel digt
betimmerd en bestraat, de andere de Smalle of Stille zijde genoemd,
is niet bestraat, en ook op verre na zo aanzienlijk en digt niet
betimmerd; de eerstgemelde zijde is aan beide kanten met boomen
beplant, waardoor eene wandeling langs dezelve zeer vermaaklijk is.
[2]
NAAMSOORSPRONG.
Die van den eenen naam, welken deeze weg draagt, naamlijk
Heilige weg, hebben wij onder onze beschrijving van Amsteldam,
bladz. 7, reeds opgegeven; de andere naam, Overtoomsche weg,
draagt zij, om dat men langs dezelve van Amsteldam naar den
Overtoom gaat.
AANLEG en GROOTTE.
Wat de aanleg betreft, door het veelvuldig gebruik dat van dien weg
gemaakt werd, om de Heilige stede te Amsteldam te gaan
bezoeken, zijn ongetwijfeld eenige winkels van benodigdheden of
ververschingen aldaar aangelegd; deezen in getal toegenomen
zijnde, hebben weder anderen, als handwerkslieden, enz. aldaar
noodzaakelijk gemaakt, en op die wijze zal deeze aanzienlijke buurt
haare tegenwoordige gedaante bekomen hebben: zij strekt, gelijk
gezegd is, ter wederzijde van de vaart, van den gebiedpaal van
Amsteldam af 1 tot den Overtoom of Amstelveenschen weg toe; en
bevat veele huizen, waaronder eenige plaisiertuinen.