The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times July 2014 | Page 96

Mislimeri signifies the resting place of
the Emir (Manzil-Al-Emir);
Caltagirone, Caltanisseta, Caltabellotta
and Caltavuturo derive from the Arabic
calta meaning castle;
Tommaso Natale, a place which means
“Tommy Christmas,” has nothing to do
with the Arabs; I presume it got its name
simply because the Sicilians do
sometimes just let their sense of humor
get the better of them;
Mongibello, Gibilmanna and Gibellina’
stems are all in the mountainous,
expressed in the Arabic word gibil;
Regalbuto, Racalmuto and Regaliali
derive from rahl, meaning area or
village;

A qanat under the bay of Palermo
These tunnels, called Qanats, are
sometimes opened to members of the
public who have an abnormally high
level of resistance to claustrophobia.
Before being turned into Sicily’s number
one Terrifying Tourist Attraction, they
were sometimes used as escape routes
by the Mafia, who violently wrestled into
ownership of the citrus industry in the
1980s (ruining its profitability), bought
houses above the qanats’ entrances, and
took control of the extensive network as
a means of escaping the police.

PLACE NAMES: Sicily is full of
towns with Arabic names. For example:
Marsala, where the wine comes from, is
Mars’Allah meaning God’s Port;
Alcamo was founded by the Muslim
General Al-Kamuk;

CAKES: The Arabs and North Africans
sure do love their sugar! The Africans
brought sugar cane to Sicily and
cultivated it widely, including for export
back to Africa. They built sugar
refineries which stayed in business till
the 17th century, when global sugar
production moved over to the West
Indies.
The Moors also incorporated it into a
famous Sicilian ricotta cheese cake
known as qashatah in Arabic, which
means “cheesy” and which is now called
cassata in modern Sicilian.