Words And Years

Poul Anderson, The Boat of A Million Years (London, 1991).

Let's track down a few more less familiar words:

"...the Khalifa himself passed through..." (p. 70);

"...his charges bedded down not in a caravanserai but on a ground beyond the Philippian Gate." (ibid.);

"...Zenobia's bid for freedom -" (p. 71) (I thought it was a place);

"...his stocky form in the plain djellabah..." (ibid.);

"...a table of teakwood carven in foliate patterns and inlaid with nacre..." (p. 87).

In the unnumbered opening section of Chapter IV, Aliyat appeals to Nebozabad the caravan master for help on the ground that he has known her family all his life. He harks back forty years...

In Section 1, Aliyat's husband Barikai proposes to apprentice the ten year old Nebozabad.
In Section 2, Nebozabad informs Aliyat that her husband is stricken and she is present for his death.
In Section 3, Aliyat's son, Hairan, has a grandson.
In Section 4, Hairan arranges Aliyat's marriage to the widowed merchant, Zabdas.
In Section 5, Zabdas marries Aliyat, who conceals her age of ninety.
In Section 6, the caravan master Nebozabad representing Hairan visits Zabdas and speaks with Aliyat, noticing her beauty and offering help if needed.
In Section 7, Islam is founded. (Nebozabad had referred to Muslims in the opening section.) That is as far as I have reread.