THE PRIMAL HOME OF THE SARACEN
Who has not had the youthful imagination fired by the "Arabian Nights"?
The simplicity and lifelike reality of these interesting stories, made
even more fascinating by their Oriental color, appeal both to young and
old.
So great has been their popularity that few works have been translated
into so many different languages, while their influence on the
literature of the present day is felt in a marked degree. They are more
than the luxurious fancies of the Arab's mind, for they vividly set
forth the love and hate, the craft and hypocrisy, the courage and
revenge of his race. Moreover, they portray in a truly dramatic manner
the innermost life and thought of the Moslem, while they captivate the
senses by a magnificent panorama of exquisite banquets, lovely
characters, charming gardens, and beautiful palaces.
The country and the descendants of the race that created these masterly
storiettes are surely worthy of careful consideration. A region that is
the birthplace of a religion claiming nearly two hundred million
converts scattered all over the world must possess a special interest.
We are apt to look askance at everything Arabic as bordering on
ignorance and savagery; but if we study the past of this alert race we
shall find a profusion of historical side lights that are valuable; we
shall also find in Arabic literature much to admire. The Arab is poetic
and delights in imagery. There are Arabic poems dating back one thousand
years before the Christian era that for beauty of thought, vigor, and
polish are equal to those produced by any nation and in any age.
In the Middle Ages the Arabs led the world in commerce, exploration,
art, science, and literature. The secret of their successful conquests
was not in the number of their soldiers but in the courage inspired by
the Muhammadan religion. Death has no terrors for the fanatical Moslem,
for to him it is the vestibule of paradise where the pleasures of earth
await those who fight in the holy cause.
By nature the Arab is active, vivacious, and keen-witted. He is proud of
his lineage, earnest, and hospitable. The mother not only takes care of
the home but educates the children; and, strange as it may seem to the
outside world, illiteracy is practically unknown to Arabia.
To the Arabic race we are indebted for our knowledge of arithmetic, and
many of the principles of algebra and geometry. The pendulum, the
mariner's compass, and the manufacture of silk and cotton textiles were
introduced into Europe by the Arabs. They claim to have used gunpowder
as far back as the eleventh century. In the year 706 paper was made at
Mecca and from there its manufacture spread all over the western world.
To them we owe many of the useful arts and practical inventions which
were later brought to perfection by other nations.
[Illustration: Khaibar Pass, the gateway to India]
Now, no one is quite certain about the Saracens as a people because the
name has been very loosely used. It was applied by Roman soldiers to
several wandering tribes of Arabs who were much accustomed to mistaking
other people's flocks of sheep and herds of cattle for their own. Most
likely there never was a Saracenic Empire. But there certainly was a
time when Arabians controlled not only the Arabian peninsula, but also
Syria and the fertile plains of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as well;
and that great region became known as the "Land of the Saracens." From
Damascus to Bagdad, and from the Bab-el-Mandeb to the Gulf of Oman, the
Moslem was all-powerful.
Let us glance at the country itself. In the first place, Arabia is not a
nation but a country made up of petty states--some independent, some
controlled by the sultan of Turkey; two or three are included in the
British Empire. But the country itself is very far removed from the rest
of the world so far as accessibility is concerned; and although its
coast is scarcely a gunshot from the greatest trade route of the East,
Arabia is to-day one of the least-known countries in the world.
In general, the country is a moderately high table-land bordered by low
coast plains. Much of it is an out-and-out desert; all of it is arid.
Long ago it was divided into Arabia Petraea, Arabia Deserta, and Arabia
Felix--that is, the rocky, the desert, and the happy. It is needless to
say that Arabia the happy was the part receiving enough rainfall to
produce foodstuffs.
The coast-line of this great peninsula is nearly as great as that of the
Atlantic and Gulf coast of the United States; but in its entire extent,
not far from four thousand miles, there is scarcely a harbor in which a
good-sized fishing schooner could find safe anchorage. Even at Aden a
steamship cannot approach within a quarter of a mile of the shore. So
one will not be far out of the way in designating Arabia as an
impassable country with an impossible coast.
It is estimated that about seven millions of people live in the entire
peninsula. To say that these belong to the Semitic race is merely to say
that they are dark-skinned and black-haired. The Arab, whether a
merchant dwelling in a city along the coast, or a Bedouin wandering with
flocks and herds, is a product of the desert and of the teachings of
Islam. His black eyes twinkle with shrewdness and he is a past master of
craftiness. As a trader he is unsurpassed, and Arab traders control the
interior commerce of western Asia and northern Africa just as the
Chinese control the trade of southeastern Asia.
As a Bedouin of the desert the Arab is supreme in his way. Savage and
blood-thirsty by nature, if there is no caravan to rob or common enemy
to fight, neighboring tribes easily find cause for fighting one another.
Usually a quarrel over pasture lands in the same locality furnishes an
excuse for a feud that results in the extermination of one tribe or the
other.
A hatred of those who are not followers of the prophet is a heritage of
all Arabs. The merchant class, who are wealthy and usually educated, may
have trained themselves to conceal it, but they possess it. Even to the
most liberal Arab, one who is not of the faith of Islam is a "dog of an
unbeliever." Among Bedouins, not to rob the caravan containing the
belongings of a Christian would be a sin. There is one exception,
however; if a Bedouin sheik agrees to convoy a party of "unbelievers,"
together with their valuables, over a robber-infested route, he will
carry out his bargain faithfully.
Family ties among the Bedouin Arabs are much the same to-day as they
were two thousand years ago. The great-grandfather, grandfather, or
father, as the case may be, is the head of the family, and his will is
law. The tribe is governed by a sheik, who is simply a "boss." He does
not inherit his office, nor is he elected to it by popular vote; he
elects himself because he is the best man, and he "holds over" for the
same reason.
The family mansion of the Bedouin is a tent made of goat-hair cloth.
Some tents occupy as much ground as is covered by a small cottage. The
tent of a sheik may be richly furnished with rugs and silk portieres;
ordinarily, a coarse hearth-rug and a divan cover are about the only
furnishings. The cooking utensils are primitive--one or two kettles to a
family; and of tableware there is practically nothing more than one or
two platters. Meat is freely eaten and coffee is commonly a part of each
meal. In the place of bread, flour about as coarse as oatmeal is mixed
to a paste, rolled or beaten into thin cakes, and cooked in hot butter.
Dates are almost always a part of the food supply.
The camel has first place in the wealth of the Bedouin, but sheep and
goats in many instances form a part of his herds. The tents of a family
are pitched where the grazing is good and the families move about as
they will. All disputes are settled by the sheik, and he is apt to
emphasize his decisions by the free use of his lance shaft. Whenever it
becomes necessary because of poor grazing, the whole clan or tribe may
move to a distant place. All household goods are wrapped in packs or put
into saddle bags. Two or three camels will readily carry the tent and
luggage of a family. The women are carried in litters; the men ride
camels. Horses are rarely ridden at such times.
If a caravan is to be plundered, however, the best horses are used, and
in addition to his lance the raider carries a heavy knife. Perhaps a few
firearms may be carried, but they are generally either flintlocks or the
older matchlocks. It is only within a few years that the modern rifle
with metal cartridge has found favor with the Bedouin.
[Illustration: A group of Arabs with their dromedaries]
The great Arabian peninsula, seemingly so far out of the world, produces
many things, some of which the world cannot do well without. First of
all, it is the home of the camel. Perhaps a more awkward and ungainly
animal has not been domesticated, but certainly none is more useful. We
are told by students of natural history that the camel is the descendant
of the llama kind which seems to have originated in the South American
Andes. Just how or when the descent from the New World, which is really
the Old World, to the Old World, which is really the New World, was made
we are not informed; nevertheless, it looks as though the natural
history student has the right end of the argument. After the animal got
to Arabia it "developed." And while the result may not have been very
artistic, no one will deny that it was good workmanship; for the world
has never produced a more useful helper to mankind.
Practically all the riding animals are of the one-hump or Arabian
species. They are much larger and stronger than the two-hump animals.
One variety is slim and comparatively light in weight. These animals, as
a rule, are trained to a swift gait, and are used solely as riding
animals. They are called dromedaries, a word that means swift-runner.
Most of the other species are reared for the same purpose as domestic
cattle. Some are valuable as beasts of burden, others are shorn for
their coating, still others are kept for their milk and flesh. A
well-trained dromedary will sell for three hundred dollars and upward; a
pack animal rarely brings more than one-fourth as much. The milk of the
camel is equal to that of the best domestic cows and is greatly prized.
The hair of several species surpasses sheep's wool in texture and is
used in the finer kinds of cloth, and it is the most precious textile in
high-priced Oriental rugs and shawls. Ordinarily, however, camel's hair
is coarse and is used for the cheapest textiles. Arabia is the source
from which a large proportion of the camels used in the caravan trade of
Asia and Africa is obtained. Fermented camel's milk is much used all
over western Asia.
The Arabian horse has been famous in literature and in song for more
than two thousand years. The district of Nejd has been the chief
breeding locality for these horses for many centuries. Contrary to
tradition, however, even the finest animals are neither so large nor so
swift as American thoroughbred horses. The qualities that have made the
Arabian horse famous are its beautiful proportions, endurance, and
intelligence. Young colts mingle freely with their owners and
attendants, and they need, therefore, only the training to make them
saddle-wise; they require no "breaking." Brought up with the family and
treated with the greatest kindness from its birth the colt learns to
regard his master as his best friend.
Ordinarily but little water is given them, and they are so well trained
that a good animal will go a whole day in summer and two days in winter
without drink. The pure, full-blood Arabian is never sold. It may be
acquired only by gift, by capture in war, or by legacy. Animals of mixed
breed, however, are freely sold, most of them going to Turkey and to
India.
Mocha coffee is another product for which Arabia is renowned. The coffee
berry bearing this name is of the peaberry variety--that is, only one of
the two seeds within the husk comes to maturity. Most of the coffee is
grown in Yemen and the adjoining vilayets, and it received its name
because it was formerly marketed at the port of Mocha. Of late years it
has been shipped from Hodeida.
The business is in the hands of Arab merchants, and the coffee is
carried to Hodeida by caravans. On its way it is carefully sorted by
hand into three or more grades. The finest grade is sold to wealthy
Turkish customers at from three to five dollars per pound; the inferior
grades command prices varying from thirty cents to twice or three times
as much. Very little of the product ever passes outside of Turkey. All
the Mocha coffee grown in Yemen would not much more than supply New York
City.
The pearl fisheries along the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf are also
controlled by Arab traders. From there are obtained some of the finest
pearls to be found, and also many tons of mother-of-pearl shells. The
yearly product of the fisheries is thought to exceed more than two
millions of dollars in value. The pearls are found in a species of
oyster, and to obtain them the divers must go to the bottom in from
thirty to ninety feet of water. Expert divers can remain under water as
long as two minutes.
The oysters are taken ashore to be opened, and Turkish inspectors are on
hand to levy a tax on the product. A few pearls may escape him,
especially if he is temporarily blinded by the glare of several
piasters; but the pearl industry is taxed for about all that it is
worth.
Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, is the city to which
every disciple of Islam is supposed to make a pilgrimage at least once
in his lifetime. The chief income of the inhabitants of Mecca is
obtained by renting rooms and entertaining the visiting pilgrims who
flock thither.
In the centre of the city is the so-called Sacred Mosque, or area, which
is entirely enclosed by a covered structure of colonnades having
minarets and cupolas. Within the centre of this enclosed space is a
cube-shaped building called the Kaaba, which contains the famous sacred
Black Stone. This stone, probably of meteoric origin, gives to the
building its sanctity, and is an object of the greatest veneration to
every pious Moslem, who kisses it repeatedly. There is also within the
enclosure a building containing the holy well, Zemzem, the only well in
Mecca.
No unbeliever is permitted to enter the sacred enclosure, much less to
pollute the Holy Kaaba by his presence. A few infidels disguised as
pilgrims, at the risk of their lives, have visited this sacred place.
The preparations for pilgrimage are unique. The pilgrims assemble near
Mecca during the holy month and begin the sacred rites by bathing and
assuming the sacred garb. This suit consists of two woollen wrappers,
one worn around the middle of the body and the other around the
shoulders. With bare head and slippers covering neither heel nor instep
the pilgrim sets forth on his holy journey.
While wearing this dress he is admonished to bring his thoughts into
harmony with the sanctity of the territory he now traverses. He is not
to shave, anoint his head, pare his nails, or bathe until the end of the
pilgrimage. Among the various rites to be performed after reaching Mecca
is walking seven times around the Kaaba, first slowly, then quickly.
Before leaving the city the pilgrim drinks water from the holy well,
Zemzem.
Many pious pilgrims visit Medina, now the terminus of a railway, before
going on to Mecca. This is another of the sacred cities of Islam, since
it is the scene of Muhammad's labors after his hegira from Mecca; it
also contains his tomb. Formerly no unbeliever was permitted to traverse
the streets of Medina or look upon the tomb of the great prophet, but
tourists are now allowed within the gates. The city is enclosed by a
wall forty feet high which is flanked with thirty towers. Two of its
four gates are massive structures with double towers. Like Mecca, Medina
is supported chiefly by pilgrims.