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Transcriber’s Note:
This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.
Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. The footnotes
have been collected at the end of the chapter in which they are
referenced. Illustration captions have been moved to fall on paragraph
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There are a number of musical scores, in the text, which could not be
rendered in this version. The lyrics, however, are given with hyphens to
represent the phrasing. Several of the songs are followed by the
complete lyrics as poetry.
Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please
see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding
the handling of any other textual issues encountered during its
preparation.
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LANE’S MODERN EGYPTIANS
[Illustration:
THE DÓSEH. (Page 416.)
_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Frontispiece_
]
AN ACCOUNT OF THE
Manners and Customs of the
Modern Egyptians
Written in Egypt during the
Years 1833-1835
BY EDWARD WILLIAM LANE
Translator of _The Thousand and One Nights_
With Eighty Illustrations and Sixteen Full-Page
Engravings, and Biographical Notice of the Author
LONDON
WARD, LOCK AND CO. LIMITED
NEW YORK AND MELBOURNE
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION.
[Illustration]
Fortunately in recent years many educated, observant, and enterprising
Englishmen have studied Mussulman life and character in many parts of
the world. The names of Sir Richard Burton and Edward Henry Palmer stand
as types of the later generation of these men; but in the early part of
this century no man can be named who has greater claims to recognition
and gratitude for his labours in this direction than Edward William
Lane. To him we owe an admirable translation of “The Thousand and One
Nights,” with notes, which form a complete encyclopædia of Arab manners
and customs; selections from the Koran, which introduce the English
reader to its most valuable portions; an invaluable Arabic-English
Lexicon; and lastly the present work, which has been described as “the
most remarkable description of a people ever written.”
Edward William Lane, third son of the Rev. Theophilus Lane, a Prebendary
of Hereford Cathedral, and of Sophia Gardiner, a niece of Gainsborough
the painter, was born at Hereford, on Sept. 17th, 1801, and largely
educated by his parents, especially his mother, to whom he owed much of
his intellectual and moral training. Having shown equal mastery of
classics and mathematics, he intended entering at Cambridge with a view
to taking holy orders, but abandoned this intention after a short visit
to Cambridge. Immediately afterwards he found himself able to solve all
the problems in the mathematical tripos of the year except one, the
solution to which came to him while asleep, and was at once written down
on waking in the middle of the night. Joining his elder brother Richard,
an able lithographer, in London, he made great progress in engraving and
other branches of art, which were afterwards of much value to him in
Egypt. Through overwork and want of exercise, he injured his
constitution, and nearly succumbed to an attack of fever. His subsequent
ill-health led him to contemplate a residence in the East, to which his
now rapidly progressing studies in Arabic had already attracted him. In
July, 1825, he left England in a brig bound for Alexandria. On Sept. 2nd
the vessel nearly foundered in a gale off Tunis; the master proved
incompetent, and begged Lane, who knew something of navigation, to take
the helm; and, lashed to the wheel, he succeeded in taking the brig
safely into Malta.
Arrived at Alexandria, he resolved to throw himself _con amore_ into
native life, to adopt native costume, speak Arabic continually, and
penetrate the inner life of the people. Several months were spent in
Cairo; at the Pyramids he lived in a tomb for a fortnight, with bones,
rags, and mummies for his companions; in 1826 he ascended the Nile to
the Second Cataract; everywhere recording his exact impressions, making
plans and careful drawings, and taking all trouble to secure accurate
knowledge. He returned to England in the autumn of 1828, with a complete
“Description of Egypt,” as it then was, and 101 excellent sepia
drawings, made with the camera lucida. But Egypt was not yet known or
appreciated in England, and publishers would not incur the expense of
publishing the work and reproducing the drawings, though they were
universally praised by all who saw them. Fortunately that part of the
work which gave an account of the modern inhabitants was shown to Lord
Brougham, who at once recommended its acceptance by the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. But in order to perfect the book, Lane
undertook to visit Egypt a second time, to stay two years, and still
more completely enter into the life of the Egyptians. The book, when
ready, was illustrated by admirable woodcuts drawn on the blocks by his
own hand; it was published in December, 1836, in two volumes. Its
success was immediate and great; other editions followed, the third,
much improved, being published by Charles Knight in 1842. It is from
this that the present edition is reprinted. Later editions have
contained various modifications, but nothing can add to the book as we
present it, as a perfect picture of what Lane saw in Egypt in 1833-5.
Even twenty-five years later, the people and their habits had in many
ways altered more than in several preceding centuries. We can never
reconstruct Egypt as Lane saw it, except by reading Lane’s description.
It has a permanent value as history, and thus no attempt has here been
made to modernise it, or to alter the references which he made to
“recent” or “present” times. It bears the stamp of a character
singularly open to the realisation of the genius of a different race
from his own, and as such it has few parallels in literature.
A fresh translation of the “Arabian Nights” was Lane’s next great work.
Instead of the misleading and imperfect translation still,
unfortunately, current, he made a version which reproduces the true
Oriental impression, informed with knowledge of and insight into the
people described. To it he added a vast number of notes, encyclopædic in
their range over Arab customs and institutions, and full of interest to
all classes of readers. It was published in monthly parts from 1838 to
1840. Next he arranged a valuable series of “Selections from the Koran,”
published in 1843. He now entered upon the work which for scholars
surpasses all his other efforts, though it is unknown to the general
reader. No Arabic-English Lexicon of any value existed: Lane devoted the
remainder of his life to filling the void. The language of the Koran was
rapidly becoming deteriorated in common speech, and it needed careful
study of manuscripts still existing, but watchfully secured from
unbelievers, to become truly at home in the classic language. The great
Arabic Lexicon, Taj-el-’Aroos, a combination of all preceding lexicons,
had to be transcribed throughout, by the aid of a learned Mohammedan, in
Cairo, for thirteen years, and then elaborately studied and translated
and modified by the aid of all possible authorities. It was Lord
Prudhoe’s (afterwards fourth Duke of Northumberland) munificence that
first enabled this to be done. In 1842 Lane left England again,
accompanied by his wife, a Greek lady whom he married in 1840, and by
his sister, Mrs. Poole (author of the “Englishwoman in Egypt”), and he
lived as a close student in Cairo till 1849, when he returned to
England. After that date he settled at Worthing, entirely devoted to his
great work, a worthy successor of Dr. Johnson in his strenuous devotion
to his great Dictionary, but in other respects his antithesis. Its
publication in eight volumes was not completed at his death, and the
last parts were superintended by his nephew, Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, who
has written a brief life of his uncle, to which this introduction is
greatly indebted. Quiet, gentlemanly, courteous, genial, simple in
Christian faith and practice, while admitting the great critical light
which Semitic studies throw upon the Bible, earnest and pure-souled, “in
his presence a profane or impure speech was an impossibility; yet no one
was ever more gentle with that frailty for which the world has no pity.”
He died at Worthing, on August 10th, 1876. His name is imperishably
written among those of the giants of Arabic scholarship.
G. T. B.
PREFACE.
---
_Cairo, 1835_
During a former visit to this country, undertaken chiefly for the
purpose of studying the Arabic language in its most famous school, I
devoted much of my attention to the manners and customs of the Arab
inhabitants; and in an intercourse of two years and a half with this
people, soon found that all the information which I had previously been
able to obtain respecting them was insufficient to be of much use to the
student of Arabic literature, or to satisfy the curiosity of the general
reader. Hence I was induced to cover some quires of paper with notes on
the most remarkable of their usages, partly for my own benefit, and
partly in the hope that I might have it in my power to make some of my
countrymen better acquainted with the domiciliated classes of one of the
most interesting nations of the world, by drawing a detailed picture of
the inhabitants of the largest Arab city. The period of my first visit
to this country did not, however, suffice for the accomplishment of this
object, and for the prosecution of my other studies; and I relinquished
the idea of publishing the notes which I had made on the modern
inhabitants: but, five years after my return to England, those notes
were shown to some members of the Committee of the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, at whose suggestion, the Committee,
interested with the subjects of them, and with the novelty of some of
their contents engaged me to complete and print them. Encouraged by
their approbation, and relying upon their judgment, I immediately
determined to follow their advice, and, by the earliest opportunity,
again departed to Egypt. After another residence of more than a year in
the metropolis of this country, and half a year in Upper Egypt, I have
now accomplished, as well as I am able, the task proposed to me.[1]
It may be said, that the English reader already possesses an excellent
and ample description of Arab manners and customs, in Dr. Russell’s
account of the people of Aleppo. I will not forfeit my own claim to the
reputation of an honest writer, by attempting to detract from the just
merits of that valuable and interesting work; but must assert, that it
is, upon the whole, rather an account of _Turkish_ than of _Arab_
manners; and that neither the original Author, nor his brother, to whom
we are indebted for the enlarged and much-improved edition, was
sufficiently acquainted with the Arabic language to scrutinize some of
the most interesting subjects of inquiry which the plan of the work
required them to treat: nor would their well-known station in Aleppo, or
perhaps their national feelings, allow them to assume those disguises
which were necessary to enable them to become familiar with many of the
most remarkable religious ceremonies, opinions, and superstitions of the
people whom they have described. Deficiencies in their remarks on these
subjects are the only faults of any importance that I can discover in
their excellent and learned work.[2]
I have been differently circumstanced. Previously to my first visit to
this country, I acquired some knowledge of the language and literature
of the Arabs; and in a year after my first arrival here, I was able to
converse with the people among whom I was residing, with tolerable ease.
I have associated, almost exclusively, with Muslims, of various ranks in
society: I have lived as they live, conforming with their general
habits; and, in order to make them familiar and unreserved towards me on
every subject, have always avowed my agreement with them in opinion
whenever my conscience would allow me, and in most other cases,
refrained from the expression of my dissent, as well as from every
action which might give them disgust; abstaining from eating food
forbidden by their religion, and drinking wine, etc.; and even from
habits merely disagreeable to them; such as the use of knives and forks
at meals. Having made myself acquainted with all their common religious
ceremonies, I have been able to escape exciting, in strangers, any
suspicion of my being a person who had no right to intrude among them,
whenever it was necessary for me to witness any Muslim rite or festival.
While, from the dress which I have found most convenient to wear, I am
generally mistaken, in public, for a Turk. My acquaintances, of course,
know me to be an Englishman; but I constrain them to treat me as a
Muslim, by my freely acknowledging the hand of Providence in the
introduction and diffusion of the religion of El-Islám, and, when
interrogated, avowing my belief in the Messiah, in accordance with the
_words_ of the Kur-án, as the Word of God, infused into the womb of the
Virgin Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him. Thus, I believe, I have
acquired their good opinion, and much of their confidence; though not to
such an extent as to prevent my having to contend with many
difficulties. The Muslims are very averse from giving information on
subjects connected with their religion or superstitions to persons whom
they suspect of differing from them in sentiments; but very ready to
talk on such subjects with those whom they think acquainted with them:
hence I have generally obtained some slight knowledge of matters
difficult for me thoroughly to learn from one of the most lax, and of
the least instructed, of my friends; so as to be able to draw into
conversation, upon the desired topics, persons of better information;
and by this mode I have invariably succeeded in overcoming their
scruples. I have had two professors of Arabic and of Muslim religion and
law as my regular, salaried tutors; and, by submitting to them questions
on any matters respecting which I was in doubt, have authenticated or
corrected, and added to, the information derived from conversation with
my other friends. Occasionally, also, I have applied to higher
authorities; having the happiness to number among my friends in this
city some persons of the highest attainments in Eastern learning.
Perhaps the reader may not be displeased if I here attempt to acquaint
him more particularly with one of my Muslim friends, the first of those
above alluded to; and to show, at the same time, the light in which he,
like others of his country, regards me in my present situation.—The
sheykh Ahmad (or seyyid Ahmad; for he is one of the numerous class of
“shereefs,” or descendants of the Prophet) is somewhat more than forty
years of age, by his own confession; but appears more near to fifty. He
is as remarkable in physiognomy as in character. His stature is under
the middle size: his beard reddish, and now becoming grey. For many
years he has been nearly blind: one of his eyes is almost entirely
closed; and both are ornamented, on particular occasions (at least on
the two grand annual festivals), with a border of the black pigment
called “kohl,” which is seldom used but by women. He boasts his descent
not only from the Prophet, but also from a very celebrated saint,
Esh-Shaaráwee;[3] and his complexion, which is very fair, supports his
assertion, that his ancestors, for several generations, lived in the
north-western parts of Africa. He obtains his subsistence from a slender
patrimony, and by exercising the trade of a bookseller. Partly to profit
in this occupation, and partly for the sake of society, or at least to
enjoy some tobacco and coffee, he is a visitor in my house almost every
evening.
For several years before he adopted the trade of a bookseller, which was
that of his father, he pursued no other occupation than that of
performing in the religious ceremonies called “zikrs;” which consist in
the repetition of the name and attributes, etc., of God, by a number of
persons, in chorus; and in such performances he is still often employed.
He was then a member of the order of the Saadeeyeh darweeshes, who are
particularly famous for devouring live serpents; and he is said to have
been one of the serpent-eaters: but he did not confine himself to food
so easily digested. One night, during a meeting of a party of darweeshes
of his order, at which their Sheykh was present, my friend became
affected with religious frenzy, seized a tall glass shade which
surrounded a candle placed on the floor, and ate a large portion of it.
The Sheykh and the other darweeshes, looking at him with astonishment,
upbraided him with having broken the institutes of his order; since the
eating of glass was not among the miracles which they were allowed to
perform; and they immediately expelled him. He then entered the order of
the Ahmedeeyeh; and as they, likewise, never ate glass, he determined
not to do so again. However, soon after, at a meeting of some brethren
of this order, when several Saadeeyeh also were present, he again was
seized with frenzy, and, jumping up to a chandelier, caught hold of one
of the small glass lamps attached to it, and devoured about half of it,
swallowing also the oil and water which it contained. He was conducted
before his Sheykh, to be tried for this offence; but, on his taking an
oath never to eat glass again, he was neither punished not expelled the
order. Notwithstanding this oath, he soon again gratified his propensity
to eat a glass lamp; and a brother-darweesh, who was present, attempted
to do the same; but a large fragment stuck between the tongue and palate
of this rash person; and my friend had great trouble to extract it. He
was again tried by his Sheykh; and, being reproached for having broken
his oath and vow of repentance, he coolly answered, “I repent again:
repentance is good: for He whose name be exalted hath said, in the
Excellent Book, ‘Verily, God loveth the repentant.’” The Sheykh, in
anger, exclaimed, “Dost thou dare to act in this manner, and then come
and cite the Kur-án before me?”—and with this reproof, he ordered that
he should be imprisoned ten days: after which, he made him again swear
to abstain from eating glass; and on this condition he was allowed to
remain a member of the Ahmedeeyeh. This second oath he professes not to
have broken.—The person whose office it was to prosecute him related to
me these facts; and my friend reluctantly confessed them to be true.
When I was first acquainted with the sheykh Ahmad, he had long been
content with one wife; but now he has indulged himself with a second,[4]
who continues to live in her parents’ house: yet he has taken care to
assure me, that he is not rich enough to refuse my yearly present of a
dress. On my visiting him for the second time during my present
residence in this place, his mother came to the door of the room in
which I was sitting with him, to complain to me of his conduct in taking
this new wife. Putting her hand within the door, to give greater effect
to her words by proper action (or perhaps to show how beautifully the
palm, and the tips of the fingers, glowed with the fresh red dye of the
“henna”), but concealing the rest of her person, she commenced a most
energetic appeal to my sympathy.—“O Efendee!” she exclaimed, “I throw
myself upon thy mercy! I kiss thy feet! I have no hope but in God and
thee!” “What words are these, my mistress?” said I: “what misfortune
hath befallen thee? and what can I do for thee? Tell me.” “This son of
mine,” she continued, “this my son Ahmad, is a worthless fellow: he has
a wife here, a good creature, with whom he has lived happily, with God’s
blessing, for sixteen years; and now he has neglected her and me, and
given himself up to a second wife, a young, impudent wench: he lavishes
his money upon this monkey, and others like her, and upon her father and
mother and uncles and brother and brother’s children, and I know not
whom besides, and abridges us, that is, myself and his first wife, of
the comforts of which we were before accustomed. By the Prophet! and by
thy dear head! I speak truth. I kiss thy feet, and beg thee to insist
upon his divorcing his new wife.”—The poor man looked a little foolish
while his mother was thus addressing me from behind the door; and as
soon as she was gone, promised to do what she desired. “But,” said he,
“it is a difficult case. I was in the habit of sleeping occasionally in
the house of the brother of the girl whom I have lately taken as my
wife: he is a clerk in the employ of ’Abbás Básha; and rather more than
a year ago, ’Abbás Básha sent for me, and said, ‘I hear that you are
often sleeping in the house of my clerk Mohammad. Why do you act so? Do
you not know that it is very improper, when there are women in the
house?’ I said, ‘I am going to marry his sister.’ ‘Then why have you not
married her already?’ asked the Básha. ‘She is only nine years of age.’
‘Is the marriage contract made?’ ‘No.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘I cannot afford, at
present, to give the dowry.’ ‘What is the dowry to be?’ ‘Ninety
piasters.’ ‘Here, then,’ said the Básha, ‘take the money, and let the
contract be concluded immediately.’ So you see I was obliged to marry
the girl; and I am afraid that the Básha will be angry if I divorce her:
but I will act in such a manner that her brother shall insist upon the
divorce; and then, please God, I shall live in peace again.”—This is a
good example of the comfort of having two wives.
A short time since, upon his offering me a copy of the Kur-án for sale,
he thought it necessary to make some excuse for his doing so. He
remarked that, by my conforming with many of the ceremonies of the
Muslims, I tacitly professed myself to be one of them; and that it was
incumbent upon him to regard me in the most favourable light, which he
was the more willing to do because he knew that I should incur the
displeasure of my King by making an open profession of the faith of
El-Islám, and therefore could not do it.[5] “You give me,” said he, “the
salutation of ‘Peace be on you!’ and it would be impious in me, being
directly forbidden by my religion, to pronounce you an unbeliever; for
God, whose name be exalted, hath said, ‘Say not unto him who greeteth
thee with peace, Thou art not a believer:’[6] therefore,” he added, “it
is no sin in me to put into your hands the noble Kur-án: but there are
some of your countrymen who will take it in unclean hands, and even sit
upon it! I beg God’s forgiveness for talking of such a thing: far be it
from you to do so; you, praise be to God, know and observe the command,
‘None shall touch it but they who are purified.’”[7]—He once sold a copy
of the Kur-án, on my application, to a countryman of mine, who, being
disturbed, just as the bargain was concluded, by some person entering
the room, hastily put the sacred book upon the seat, and under a part of
his dress, to conceal it. The bookseller was much scandalized by this
action; thinking that my friend was sitting upon the book, and that he
was doing so to show his contempt of it: he declares his belief that he
has been heavily punished by God for this unlawful sale.—There was only
one thing that I had much difficulty in persuading him to do during my
former visit to this country: which was, to go with me, at a particular
period, into the mosque of the Hasaneyn, the reputed burial-place of the
head of El-Hoseyn, and the most sacred of the mosques in the Egyptian
metropolis. On my passing with him before one of the entrances of this
building, one afternoon during the fast of Ramadán, when it was crowded
with Turks, and many of the principal people of the city were among the
congregation, I thought it a good opportunity to see it to the greatest
advantage, and asked my companion to go in with me. He positively
refused, in the fear of my being discovered to be an Englishman, which
might so rouse the fanatic anger of some of the Turks there as to expose
me to some act of violence. I therefore entered alone. He remained at
the door, following me with his eye only (or his only eye), and
wondering at my audacity; but as soon as he saw me acquit myself in the
usual manner, by walking round the bronze screen which surrounds the
monument over the spot where the head of the martyr is said to be
buried, and then putting myself into the regular postures of prayer, he
came in, and said his prayers by my side.
After relating these anecdotes, I should mention, that the characters of
my other acquaintances here are not marked by similar eccentricities. My
attentions to my visitors have been generally confined to the common
usages of Eastern hospitality; supplying them with pipes and coffee, and
welcoming them to a share of my dinner or supper. Many of their
communications I have written in Arabic, at their dictation, and since
translated and inserted in the following pages. What I have principally
aimed at, in this work, is correctness; and I do not scruple to assert,
that I am not conscious of having endeavoured to render interesting any
matter that I have related by the slightest sacrifice of truth.
P.S.—With regard to the engravings which accompany this work, I should
mention, that they are from drawings which I have made, not to embellish
the pages, but merely to explain the text.
ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE
THIRD EDITION.
---
Since the publication of the first edition of the present work, the
studies in which I have been engaged have enabled me to improve it by
various corrections and additions; and the success which it has obtained
(a success very far beyond my expectations) has excited me to use my
utmost endeavours to rectify its errors and supply its defects.
In reading the Kur-án, with an Arabic commentary, I have found that
Sale’s version, though deserving of high commendation for its general
accuracy, is incorrect in many important passages; and hence I have been
induced to revise with especial care my abstract of the principal Muslim
laws: for as Sale had excellent commentaries to consult, and I, when I
composed that abstract, had none, I placed great reliance on his
translation. My plan, in the execution of that portion of my work, was
to make use of Sale’s translation as the basis, and to add what appeared
necessary from the Sunneh and other sources, chiefly at the dictation of
a professor of law, who was my tutor: but I have found that my
foundation was in several points faulty.
I am indebted to a gentleman who possesses a thorough knowledge of the
spirit of Muslim institutions[8] for the suggestion of some improvements
in the same and other portions of this work; and observations made by
several intelligent critics have lessened the labour of revision and
emendation.
I have also profited, on this occasion, by a paper containing a number
of corrections and additions written in Egypt, which I had mislaid and
forgotten: but none of these are of much importance.
The mode in which Arabic words were transcribed in the previous editions
I thought better calculated than any other to enable an English reader,
unacquainted with the Arabic language, to pronounce those words with
tolerable accuracy; but it was liable to serious objections, and was
disagreeable, in some respects, to most Oriental scholars, and to
myself. I have therefore now employed, in its stead, as I did in my
translation of “The Thousand and One Nights,” a system congenial with
our language, and of the most simple kind; and to this system I adhere
in every case, for the sake of uniformity as well as _truth_.[9] It
requires little explanation: the general reader may be directed to
pronounce
“a” as in our word “beggar:”[10] “i” as in “bid:”
“á” as in “father:”[11] “o” as in “obey” (short):
“e” as in “bed:” “ó” as in “bone:”
“é” as in “there:” “oo” as in “boot:”
“ee” as in “bee:” “ow” as in “down:”
“ei” as our word “eye:” “u” as in “bull:”
“ey” as in “they:” “y” as in “you.”
An _apostrophe_, when immediately preceding or following a vowel, I
employ to denote the place of a letter which has no equivalent in our
alphabet: it has a guttural sound, like that which is heard in the
bleating of sheep.
The usual sign of a _diæresis_ I sometimes employ to show that a final
“e” is not mute, but pronounced as that letter, when unaccented, in the
beginning or middle of a word.
Having avoided as much as possible marking the _accentuation_ in Arabic
words, I must request the reader to bear in mind, not only that a single
vowel, when not marked with an accent, is always short; but that a
double vowel, or diphthong, at the end of a word, when not so marked, is
not accented (“Welee,” for instance, being pronounced “Wĕ′lee,” or
“Wel′ee,”): also, that the accents do not always denote the principal or
only emphasis (“Sháweesh” being pronounced “Sháwee′sh”); and that “dh,”
“gh,” “kh,” “sh,” and “th,” when not divided by a hyphen, represent,
each, a single Arabic letter.
As some readers may observe that many Arabic words are written
differently in this work and in my translation of “The Thousand and One
Nights,” it is necessary to add, that in the present case I write such
words agreeably with the general pronunciation of the educated classes
in Cairo. For the same reason I often use the same European character to
express two Arabic letters which in Egypt are pronounced alike.
E W L
_May, 1842._
CONTENTS.
---
PAGE
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR v
PREFACE ix
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION xviii
INTRODUCTION.
THE COUNTRY AND CLIMATE—METROPOLIS—HOUSES—POPULATION 1
CHAPTER
I. —PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DRESS OF THE MUSLIM 21
EGYPTIANS
II. —INFANCY AND EARLY EDUCATION 42
III. —RELIGION AND LAWS 52
IV. —GOVERNMENT 98
V. —DOMESTIC LIFE (MEN OF THE HIGHER AND MIDDLE ORDERS) 120
VI. —DOMESTIC LIFE, _continued_ (WOMEN OF THE HIGHER AND 141
MIDDLE ORDERS)
VII. —DOMESTIC LIFE, _continued_ (THE LOWER ORDERS) 174
VIII. —COMMON USAGES OF SOCIETY 179
IX. —LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 188
X. —SUPERSTITIONS (GENII, SAINTS, AND DARWEESHES) 202
XI. —SUPERSTITIONS, _continued_ (CHARMS AND AUGURATION) 226
XII. —MAGIC, ASTROLOGY, AND ALCHEMY 242
XIII. —CHARACTER 255
XIV. —INDUSTRY 285
XV. —USE OF TOBACCO, COFFEE, HEMP, OPIUM, ETC. 303
XVI. —THE BATH 307
XVII. —GAMES 315
XVIII. —MUSIC 323
XIX. —PUBLIC DANCERS 347
XX. —SERPENT-CHARMERS AND PERFORMERS OF LEGERDEMAIN 352
TRICKS, ETC.
XXI. —PUBLIC RECITATIONS OF ROMANCES 359
XXII. —PUBLIC RECITATIONS OF ROMANCES, _continued_ 367
XXIII. —PUBLIC RECITATIONS OF ROMANCES, _continued_ 380
XXIV. —PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS, ETC. (THOSE OF THE FIRST 391
THREE MONTHS OF THE MUSLIM YEAR)
XXV. —PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS, ETC., _continued_. 421
(THOSE OF THE FOURTH AND FOLLOWING MONTHS OF THE
MUSLIM YEAR)
XXVI. —PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS, ETC., _continued_. 451
(THOSE OF THE SOLAR YEAR)
XXVII. —PRIVATE FESTIVITIES, ETC. 463
XXVIII. —DEATH AND FUNERAL RITES 473
SUPPLEMENT.
I. —THE COPTS 489
II. —THE JEWS OF EGYPT 512
III. —OF LATE INNOVATIONS IN EGYPT 515
APPENDIX A.
FEMALE ORNAMENTS 519
APPENDIX B.
EGYPTIAN MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND MONEYS 532
APPENDIX C.
PRAYER OF MUSLIM SCHOOL-BOYS 536
LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Doseh (see p. 416) _Frontispiece_.
Private Houses in Cairo Facing page 5
Court of a Private House in Cairo ” ” 9
A Käah ” ” 16
Men of the Middle and Higher Classes ” ” 25
A Lady in the Dress worn in private ” ” 33
A Woman of the Southern Province of Upper Egypt ” ” 42
(sketched at Thebes)
Parade previous to Circumcision ” ” 48
Bridal Procession (Part I.) ” ” 150
Bridal Procession (Part II.) ” ” 152
Shops in a Street in Cairo ” ” 289
Shop of a Turkish Merchant ” ” 293
The Shádoof ” ” 300
A Sha′er, with his accompanying Violist ” ” 359
Funeral Procession ” ” 477
Sketch of a Tomb with the Entrance uncovered ” ” 484
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
PAGE
Door of a Private House 6
Specimens of Lattice-work 7
Fountain 9
Suffeh 10
Specimens of Panel-work 12
Ceiling of a Durká’ah 13
Ceiling of a projecting Window 13
Wooden Lock 15
Fellaheen 27
An Eye ornamented with Kohl 30
Muk-hul′ahs and Mirweds 30
Ancient Vessel and Probe for Kohl 31
An Eye and Eyebrow ornamented with Kohl, as represented in 31
ancient Paintings
Hands and Feet stained with Henna 32
A tattooed Girl 34
Specimens of Tattooing on the Chin 34
Tattooed Hands and Foot 34
A Lady adorned with the Kurs and Safa, etc. 36
Lady attired for Riding or Walking 38
Fellah Women 40
Ornamented black Veils 41
Postures of Prayer (Part I.) 64
Postures of Prayer (Part II.) 65
Interior of a Mosque 68
Pipes 123
Coffee-service 125
’A’z’kee and Mankals 127
Washing before or after a Meal 129
Tisht and Ibreek 130
Kursee and Seeneeyeh 131
A Party at Dinner or Supper 132
Water-bottles 135
Sherbet-cups 137
Lantern, etc., suspended on the occasion of a Wedding 149
Mesh′als 154
Kumkum and Mibkhar’ah 185
Magic Invocation and Charm 248
Magic Square and Mirror of Ink 249
Water-carriers 296
Hemalees 298
Plan of a Bath 309
Section of the Harárah 311
Foot-rasps 312
Mankal′ah 315
Seega 320
Kemengeh 327
Kánoon 328
Egyptian Musical Instruments, Pipe, Ornaments, etc. 330
Náy 331
Rabáb esh-Shá’er 332
Ságát 334
Tár 334
Darabukkeh 334
Earthen Darabukkeh 335
Zummárah 335
Mouth-piece of the Zummárah 335
Arghool 335
The Mahmal 404
Diamond Kurs 520
Gold Kurs 521
Kussah 522
’Enebeh 522
Kamarahs 523
Sákiyeh 523
’Ood es-Saleeb 523
Mishts 523
’Akeek 523
Belloor 523
Ear-rings 525
Necklaces 526
Bracelets 527
Bark 529
Másoorah 529
Habbeh 529
Shiftish′eh 529
Anklets 529
Hegábs 530
Nose-rings 531
THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
OF THE
MODERN EGYPTIANS.
[Illustration]
INTRODUCTION.
THE COUNTRY AND CLIMATE—METROPOLIS—HOUSES—POPULATION.
It is generally observed that many of the most remarkable peculiarities
in the manners, customs, and character of a nation are attributable to
the physical peculiarities of the country. Such causes, in an especial
manner, affect the moral and social slate of the modern Egyptians, and
therefore here require some preliminary notice; but it will not as yet
be necessary to explain their particular influences: these will be
evinced in many subsequent parts of the present work.
The Nile, in its course through the narrow and winding valley of Upper
Egypt, which is confined on each side by mountainous and sandy deserts,
as well as through the plain of Lower Egypt, is everywhere bordered,
excepting in a very few places, by cultivated fields of its own
formation. These cultivated tracts are not perfectly level, being
somewhat lower towards the deserts than in the neighbourhood of the
river. They are interspersed with palm groves and villages, and
intersected by numerous canals. The copious summer rains which prevail
in Abyssinia and the neighbouring countries begin to show their effects
in Egypt, by the rising of the Nile, about the period of the summer
solstice. By the autumnal equinox, the river attains its greatest
height, which is always sufficient to fill the canals by which the
fields are irrigated, and, generally, to inundate large portions of the
cultivable land: it then gradually falls until the period when it again
begins to rise. Being impregnated, particularly during its rise, with
rich soil washed down from the mountainous countries whence it flows, a
copious deposit is annually spread, either by the natural inundation or
by artificial irrigation, over the fields which border it; while its
bed, from the same cause, rises in an equal degree. The Egyptians depend
entirely upon their river for the fertilization of the soil, rain being
a very rare phenomenon in their country, excepting in the neighbourhood
of the Mediterranean; and as the seasons are perfectly regular, the
peasant may make his arrangements with the utmost precision respecting
the labour he will have to perform. Sometimes his labour is light; but
when it consists in raising water for irrigation it is excessively
severe.
The climate of Egypt, during the greater part of the year, is remarkably
salubrious. The exhalations from the soil after the period of the
inundation render the latter part of the autumn less healthy than the
summer and winter; and cause ophthalmia and dysentery, and some other
diseases, to be more prevalent then than at other seasons; and during a
period of somewhat more or less than fifty days (called
“el-khamáseen[12]”), commencing in April, and lasting throughout May,
hot southerly winds occasionally prevail for about three days together.
These winds, though they seldom cause the thermometer of Fahrenheit to
rise above 95° in Lower Egypt, or, in Upper Egypt, 105°,[13] are
dreadfully oppressive, even to the natives. When the plague visits
Egypt, it is generally in the spring; and this disease is most severe in
the period of the khamáseen. Egypt is also subject, particularly during
the spring and summer, to the hot wind called the “samoom,” which is
still more oppressive than the khamáseen winds, but of much shorter
duration, seldom lasting longer than a quarter of an hour or twenty
minutes. It generally proceeds from the south-east, or south-south-east,
and carries with it clouds of dust and sand. The general height of the
thermometer in the depth of winter in Lower Egypt, in the afternoon and
in the shade, is from 50° to 60°: in the hottest season it is from 90°
to 100°; and about ten degrees higher in the southern parts of Upper
Egypt. But though the summer heat is so great it is seldom very
oppressive, being generally accompanied by a refreshing northerly
breeze, and the air being extremely dry. There is, however, one great
source of discomfort arising from this dryness—namely, an excessive
quantity of dust; and there are other plagues which very much detract
from the comfort which the natives of Egypt, and visitors to their
country, otherwise derive from its genial climate. In spring, summer,
and autumn, flies are so abundant as to be extremely annoying during the
daytime, and musquitoes are troublesome at night (unless a curtain be
made use of to keep them away), and sometimes even in the day; and every
house that contains much wood-work (as most of the better houses do)
swarms with bugs during the warm weather. Lice are not always to be
avoided in any season, but they are easily got rid of; and in the cooler
weather fleas are excessively numerous.
The climate of Upper Egypt is more healthy, though hotter, than that of
Lower Egypt. The plague seldom ascends far above Cairo, the metropolis;
and is most common in the marshy parts of the country, near the
Mediterranean. During the last ten years, the country having been better
drained, and quarantine regulations adopted to prevent or guard against
the introduction of this disease from other countries, very few plague
cases have occurred, excepting in the parts above mentioned, and in
those parts the pestilence has not been severe.[14] Ophthalmia is also
more common in Lower Egypt than in the southern parts. It generally
arises from checked perspiration, but is aggravated by the dust and many
other causes. When remedies are promptly employed, this disease is
seldom alarming in its progress; but vast numbers of the natives of
Egypt, not knowing how to treat it, or obstinately resigning themselves
to fate, are deprived of the sight of one or both of their eyes.
205589771
When questioned respecting the salubrity of Egypt, I have often been
asked whether many aged persons are seen among the inhabitants: few,
certainly, attain a great age in this country; but how few do, in our
own land, without more than once suffering from an illness that would
prove fatal without medical aid, which is obtained by a very small
number in Egypt! The heat of the summer months is sufficiently
oppressive to occasion considerable lassitude, while, at the same time,
it excites the Egyptian to intemperance in sensual enjoyments; and the
exuberant fertility of the soil engenders indolence, little nourishment
sufficing for the natives, and the sufficiency being procurable without
much exertion.
The modern Egyptian metropolis, to the inhabitants of which most of the
contents of the following pages relate, is now called “Masr”;[15] more
properly, “Misr”; but was formerly named “El-Káhireh”; whence Europeans
have formed the name of _Cairo_. It is situated at the entrance of the
valley of Upper Egypt, midway between the Nile and the eastern mountain
range of Mukattam. Between it and the river there intervenes a tract of
land, for the most part cultivated, which, in the northern parts (where
the port of Boolák is situated), is more than a mile in width, and, at
the southern part, less than half a mile wide. The metropolis occupies a
space equal to about three square miles; and its population is about two
hundred and forty thousand. It is surrounded by a wall, the gates of
which are shut at night, and is commanded by a large citadel, situated
at an angle of the town, near a point of the mountain. The streets are
unpaved, and most of them are narrow and irregular: they might more
properly be called lanes.
By a stranger who merely passed through the streets, Cairo would be
regarded as a very close and crowded city; but that this is not the case
is evident to a person who overlooks the town from the top of a lofty
house, or from the menaret of a mosque. The great thoroughfare-streets
have generally a row of shops along each side. Above the shops are
apartments which do not communicate with them, and which are seldom
occupied by the persons who rent the shops. To the right and left of the
great thoroughfares are bye-streets and quarters. Most of the
bye-streets are thoroughfares, and have a large wooden gate at each end,
closed at night, and kept by a porter within, who opens to any persons
requiring to be admitted. The quarters mostly consist of several narrow
lanes, having but one general entrance, with a gate, which is also
closed at night; but several have a bye-street passing through them.
-------------------------------------------
[Illustration: PRIVATE HOUSES IN CAIRO.]
The street in this view is wider than usual. The projecting windows on
opposite sides of a street often nearly meet each other, almost entirely
excluding the sun, and thus producing an agreeable coolness in the
summer.
_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 5_
-------------------------------------------
Of the private houses of the metropolis it is particularly necessary
that I should give a description. The accompanying engraving will serve
to give a general notion of their exterior. The foundation-walls, to the
height of the first floor, are cased, externally, and often internally,
with the soft calcareous stone of the neighbouring mountain. The surface
of the stone, when newly cut, is of a light yellowish hue; but its
colour soon darkens. The alternate courses of the front are sometimes
coloured red and white,[16] particularly in large houses; as is the case
with most mosques. The superstructure, the front of which generally
projects about two feet, and is supported by corbels or piers, is of
brick, and often plastered. The bricks are burnt, and of a dull red
colour. The mortar is generally composed of mud in the proportion of
one-half, with a fourth part of lime, and the remaining part of the
ashes of straw and rubbish. Hence the unplastered walls of brick are of
a dirty colour, as if the bricks were unburnt. The roof is flat, and
covered with a coat of plaster.
The most usual architectural style of the entrance of a private house in
Cairo is shown by the sketch here inserted. The door is often ornamented
in the manner here represented: the compartment in which is the
inscription, and the other similarly-shaped compartments, are painted
red, bordered with white; the rest of the surface of the door is painted
green. The inscription, “He (_i.e._, God) is the excellent Creator, the
Everlasting” (the object of which will be explained when I treat of the
superstitions of the Egyptians), is seen on many doors; but is far from
being general. It is usually painted in black or white characters. Few
doors but those of large houses are painted. They generally have an iron
knocker and a wooden lock; and there is usually a mounting-stone by the
side.
[Illustration: DOOR OF A PRIVATE HOUSE.]
The ground floor apartments next the street have small wooden grated
windows, placed sufficiently high to render it impossible for a person
passing by in the street, even on horseback, to see through them. The
windows of the upper apartments generally project a foot and a half, or
more, and are mostly formed of turned wooden lattice-work, which is so
close that it shuts out much of the light and sun, and screens the
inmates of the house from the view of persons without, while at the same
time it admits the air. They are generally of unpainted wood; but some
few are partially painted red and green, and some are entirely painted.
A window of this kind is called a “róshan,” or, more commonly, a
“meshrebeeyeh,” which latter word has another application, that will be
mentioned below. Several windows of different descriptions are
represented in some of the illustrations of this work; and sketches of
the most common patterns of the lattice-work, on a larger scale, are
here inserted.[17] Sometimes a window of the kind above described has a
little meshrebeeyeh, which somewhat resembles a róshan in miniature,
projecting from the front, or from each side. In this, in order to be
exposed to a current of air, are placed porous earthen bottles, which
are used for cooling water by evaporation. Hence the name of
“meshrebeeyeh,” which signifies “a place for drink,” or “—for drinking.”
The projecting window has a flat one of lattice-work, or of grating of
wood, or of coloured glass, immediately above it. This upper window, if
of lattice-work, is often of a more fanciful construction than the
others, exhibiting a representation of a basin with a ewer above it, or
the figure of a lion, or the name of “Allah,” or the words “God is my
hope,” etc. Some projecting windows are wholly constructed of boards,
and a few have frames of glass in the sides. In the better houses, also,
the windows of lattice-work are now generally furnished with frames of
glass in the inside, which in the winter are wholly closed: for a
penetrating cold is felt in Egypt when the thermometer of Fahrenheit is
below 60°. The windows of inferior houses are mostly of a different
kind, being even with the exterior surface of the wall: the upper part
is of wooden lattice-work, or grating; and the lower closed by hanging
shutters; but many of these have a little meshrebeeyeh for the
water-bottles, projecting from the lower part.[18]
[Illustration:
SPECIMENS OF LATTICE WORK.
From the centre of one row of beads to that of the next (in these
specimens) is between an inch and a quarter and an inch and
three-quarters.
]
The houses in general are two or three storeys high; and almost every
house that is sufficiently large encloses an open, unpaved court, called
a “hósh,” which is entered by a passage that is constructed with one or
two turnings, for the purpose of preventing passengers in the street
from seeing into it. In this passage, just within the door, there is a
long stone seat, called “mastab′ah,” built against the back or side
wall, for the porter and other servants. In the court is a well of
slightly brackish water, which filters through the soil from the Nile;
and on its most shaded side are, commonly, two water-jars, which are
daily replenished with water of the Nile, brought from the river in
skins.[19] The principal apartments look into the court; and their
exterior walls (those which are of brick) are plastered and whitewashed.
There are several doors, which are entered from the court. One of these
is called “báb el-hareem” (the door of the hareem): it is the entrance
of the stairs which lead to the apartments appropriated exclusively to
the women and their master and his children.[20]
-------------------------------------------
[Illustration: COURT OF A PRIVATE HOUSE IN CAIRO]
_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 9_
-------------------------------------------
[Illustration: FOUNTAIN.]
In general, there is, on the ground floor, an apartment called a
“mandar′ah,” in which male visitors are received. This has a wide wooden
grated window, or two windows of this kind, next the court. A small part
of the floor, extending from the door to the opposite side of the room,
is six or seven inches lower than the rest: this part is called the
“durká’ah.”[21] In a handsome house, the durká’ah of the mandar′ah is
paved with white and black marble, and little pieces of fine red tile,
inlaid in complicated and tasteful patterns, and has in the centre a
fountain (called “faskeeyeh”), which plays into a small shallow pool,
lined with coloured marbles, etc., like the surrounding pavement. I give
a sketch of the fountain. The water which falls from the fountain is
drained off from the pool by a pipe. There is generally, fronting the
door, at the end of the durká’ah, a shelf of marble or of common stone,
about four feet high, called a “suffeh,” supported by two or more
arches, or by a single arch, under which are placed utensils in ordinary
use—such as perfuming vessels, and the basin and ewer which are used for
washing before and after meals, and for the ablution preparatory to
prayer: water-bottles, coffee cups, etc., are placed upon the suffeh. In
handsome houses, the arches of the suffeh are faced with marble and
tile, like the pool of the fountain represented in the sketch above, and
sometimes the wall over it, to the height of about four feet or more, is
also cased with similar materials: partly with large upright slabs, and
partly with small pieces, like the durká’ah. The raised part of the
floor of the room is called “leewán”[22] (a corruption of “el-eewán,”
which signifies “any raised place to sit upon,” and also “a palace”).
Every person slips off his shoes on the durká’ah before he steps upon
the leewán.[23] The latter is generally paved with common stone, and
covered with a mat in summer, and a carpet over the mat in winter; and
has a mattress and cushions placed against each of its three walls,
composing what is called a “deewán,” or divan. The mattress, which is
generally about three feet wide and three or four inches thick, is
placed either on the ground or on a raised frame; and the cushions,
which are usually of a length equal to the width of the mattress, and of
a height equal to half that measure, lean against the wall. Both
mattresses and cushions are stuffed with cotton, and are covered with
printed calico, cloth, or some more expensive stuff. The walls are
plastered and whitewashed. There are generally, in the walls, two or
three shallow cupboards, the doors of which are composed of very small
panels, on account of the heat and dryness of the climate, which cause
wood to warp and shrink as if it were placed in an oven; for which
reason the doors of the apartments also are constructed in the same
manner. We observe great variety and much ingenuity displayed in the
different modes in which these small panels are formed and disposed. A
few specimens are here introduced. The ceiling over the leewán is of
wood, with carved beams, generally about a foot apart, partially
painted, and sometimes gilt. But that part of the ceiling which is over
the durká’ah, in a handsome house, is usually more richly decorated;
here, instead of beams, numerous thin strips of wood are nailed upon the
planks, forming patterns curiously complicated, yet perfectly regular,
and having a highly ornamental effect. I give a sketch of the half of a
ceiling thus decorated, but not in the most complicated style. The
strips are painted yellow or gilt; and the spaces within, painted green,
red, and blue.[24] In the example which I have inserted, the colours are
as indicated in the sketch of a portion of the same on a larger scale,
excepting in the square in the centre of the ceiling, where the strips
are black, upon a yellow ground. From the centre of this square a
chandelier is often suspended. There are many patterns of a similar
kind; and the colours generally occupy similar places with regard to
each other; but in some houses these ceilings are not painted. The
ceiling of a projecting window is often ornamented in the same manner. A
sketch of one is here given. Good taste is evinced by only decorating in
this manner parts which are not always before the eyes; for to look long
at so many lines intersecting each other in various directions would be
painful.
[Illustration: SUFFEH.]
In some houses (as in that which is the subject of the engraving
opposite p. 9) there is another room, called a “mak’ad,” for the same
use as the mandar′ah, having an open front, with two or more arches and
a low railing; and also, on the ground floor, a square recess, called a
“takhtabósh,” with an open front, and generally a pillar to support the
wall above: its floor is a paved leewán; and there is a long wooden sofa
placed along one, or two, or each of its three walls. The court, during
the summer, is frequently sprinkled with water, which renders the
surrounding apartments agreeably cool—or at least those on the
ground-floor. All the rooms are furnished in the same manner as that
first described.
[Illustration:
SPECIMENS OF PANEL-WORK.
These are represented on a scale of one inch to twenty-four or thirty.
]
Among the upper apartments, or those of the Hareem, there is generally
one called a “ká’ah,” which is particularly lofty. It has two
leewáns—one on each hand of a person entering: one of these is generally
larger than the other, and is the more honourable part. A portion of the
roof of this saloon, the part which is over the durká’ah that divides
the two leewáns, is a little elevated above the rest; and has, in the
centre, a small lantern, called “memrak,” the sides of which are
composed of lattice-work, like the windows before described, and support
a cupola. The durká’ah is commonly without a fountain; but is often
paved in a similar manner to that of the mandar’ah, which the ká’ah also
resembles in having a handsome suffeh, and cupboards of curious
panel-work. There is, besides, in this and some other apartments, a
narrow shelf of wood, extending along two or each of the three walls
which bound the leewán, about seven feet or more from the floor, just
above the cupboards, but interrupted in some parts—at least in those
parts where the windows are placed; upon this are arranged several
vessels of china, not so much for general use as for ornament.[25] All
the apartments are lofty, generally fourteen feet or more in height; but
the ká’ah is the largest and most lofty room, and in a large house it is
a noble saloon.
[Illustration: CEILING OF A DURKÁ’AH.—About eight feet wide.]
[Illustration:
CEILING OF A PROJECTING WINDOW.
The dimensions of this are about eight feet by three.
]
In several of the upper rooms, in the houses of the wealthy, there are,
besides the windows of lattice-work, others, of coloured glass,
representing bunches of flowers, peacocks, and other gay and gaudy
objects, or merely fanciful patterns, which have a pleasing effect.
These coloured glass windows, which are termed “kamareeyehs,”[26] are
mostly from a foot and a half to two feet and a half in height, and from
one to two feet in width; and are generally placed along the upper part
of the projecting lattice-window, in a row; or above that kind of
window, disposed in a group, so as to form a large square; or elsewhere
in the upper parts of the walls, usually singly, or in pairs, side by
side. They are composed of small pieces of glass, of various colours,
set in rims of fine plaster, and enclosed in a frame of wood. On the
plastered walls of some apartments are rude paintings of the temple of
Mekkeh, or of the tomb of the Prophet, or of flowers and other objects,
executed by native Muslim artists, who have not the least notion of the
rules of perspective, and who consequently deface what they thus attempt
to decorate. Sometimes, also, the walls are ornamented with Arabic
inscriptions, of maxims, etc., which are more usually written on paper,
in an embellished style, and enclosed in glazed frames. No chambers are
furnished as bedrooms. The bed, in the daytime, is rolled up, and placed
on one side, or in an adjoining closet, called “khazneh,” which, in the
winter, is a sleeping-place: in summer, many people sleep upon the
house-top. A mat, or carpet, spread upon the raised part of the stone
floor, and a deewán, constitute the complete furniture of a room. For
meals, a round tray is brought in, and placed upon a low stool, and the
company sit round it on the ground. There is no fire-place:[27] the room
is warmed, when necessary, by burning charcoal in a chafing-dish. Many
houses have, at the top, a sloping shed of boards, called a
“malkaf,”[28] directed towards the north or north-west, to convey to a
“fes-hah,” or “fesahah” (an open apartment), below the cool breezes
which generally blow from those quarters.
[Illustration: WOODEN LOCK.]
Every door is furnished with a wooden lock, called a “dabbeh,” the
mechanism of which is shown by a sketch here inserted. No. 1 in this
sketch is a front view of the lock, with the bolt drawn back; Nos. 2, 3,
and 4, are back views of the separate parts, and the key. A number of
small iron pins (four, five, or more) drop into corresponding holes in
the sliding bolt as soon as the latter is pushed into the hole or staple
of the door-post. The key also has small pins, made to correspond with
the holes, into which they are introduced to open the lock: the former
pins being thus pushed up, the bolt may be drawn back. The wooden lock
of a street-door is commonly about fourteen inches long:[29] those of
the doors of apartments, cupboards, etc., are about seven, or eight, or
nine inches. The locks of the gates of quarters, public buildings, etc.,
are of the same kind, and mostly two feet, or even more, in length. It
is not difficult to pick this kind of lock.
In the plan of almost every house there is an utter want of regularity.
The apartments are generally of different heights—so that a person has
to ascend or descend one, two, or more steps, to pass from one chamber
to another adjoining it. The principal aim of the architect is to render
the house as private as possible; particularly that part of it which is
inhabited by the women; and not to make any window in such a situation
as to overlook the apartments of another house. Another object of the
architect, in building a house for a person of wealth or rank, is to
make a secret door (“báb sirr”[30]), from which the tenant may make his
escape in case of danger from an arrest, or an attempt at
assassination—or by which to give access and egress to a paramour; and
it is also common to make a hiding-place for treasure (called “makhba”)
in some part of the house. In the hareem of a large house there is
generally a bath, which is heated in the same manner as the public
baths.
Another style of building has lately been very generally adopted for
houses of the more wealthy. These do not differ much from those already
described, excepting in the windows, which are of glass, and placed
almost close together. Each window of the hareem has, outside, a sliding
frame of close wooden trellis-work, to cover the lower half. The
numerous glass windows are ill adapted to a hot climate.
-------------------------------------------
[Illustration: A KÄAH.]
_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 16_
-------------------------------------------
When shops occupy the lower part of the buildings in a street (as is
generally the case in the great thoroughfares of the metropolis, and in
some of the bye-streets), the superstructure is usually divided into
distinct lodgings, and is termed “raba.” These lodgings are separate
from each other, as well as from the shops below, and let to families
who cannot afford the rent of a whole house. Each lodging in a raba
comprises one or two sitting and sleeping-rooms, and generally a kitchen
and latrina. It seldom has a separate entrance from the street, one
entrance and one staircase usually admitting to a range of several
lodgings. The apartments are similar to those of the private houses
first described. They are never let ready-furnished; and it is very
seldom that a person who has not a wife or female slave is allowed to
reside in them, or in any private house: such a person (unless he have
parents or other near relations to dwell with) is usually obliged to
take up his abode in a “wekáleh,” which is a building chiefly designed
for the reception of merchants and their goods. Franks, however, are now
exempted from this restriction.
Very few large or handsome houses are to be seen in Egypt, excepting in
the metropolis and some other towns. The dwellings of the lower orders,
particularly those of the peasants, are of a very mean description: they
are mostly built of unbaked bricks, cemented together with mud. Some of
them are mere hovels. The greater number, however, comprise two or more
apartments; though few are two storeys high. In one of these apartments,
in the houses of the peasants in Lower Egypt, there is generally an oven
(“furn”), at the end farthest from the entrance, and occupying the whole
width of the chamber. It resembles a wide bench or seat, and is about
breast-high: it is constructed of brick and mud; the roof arched within,
and flat on the top. The inhabitants of the house, who seldom have any
night-covering during the winter, sleep upon the top of the oven, having
previously lighted a fire within it; or the husband and wife only enjoy
this luxury and the children sleep upon the floor. The chambers have
small apertures high up in the walls, for the admission of light and
air—sometimes furnished with a grating of wood. The roofs are formed of
palm-branches and palm-leaves, or of millet-stalks, etc., laid upon
rafters of the trunk of the palm, and covered with a plaster of mud and
chopped straw. The furniture consists of a mat or two to sleep upon, a
few earthen vessels, and a hand-mill to grind the corn. In many villages
large pigeon-houses of a square form, but with the walls slightly
inclining inwards (like many of the ancient Egyptian buildings), or of
the form of a sugar-loaf, are constructed upon the roots of the huts,
with crude brick, pottery, and mud.[31] Most of the villages of Egypt
are situated upon eminences of rubbish, which rise a few feet above the
reach of the inundation, and are surrounded by palm-trees, or have a few
of these trees in their vicinity. The rubbish which they occupy chiefly
consists of the materials of former huts, and seems to increase in about
the same degree as the level of the alluvial plains and the bed of the
river.
In a country where neither births nor deaths are registered it is next
to impossible to ascertain, with precision, the amount of the
population. A few years ago a calculation was made, founded on the
number of houses in Egypt, and the supposition that the inhabitants of
each house in the metropolis amount to eight persons, and in the
provinces to four. This computation approximates, I believe, very nearly
to the truth; but personal observation and inquiry incline me to think
that the houses of such towns as Alexandria, Boolák, and Masr
el-’Ateekah contain each, on the average, at least five persons: Rasheed
(or Rosetta) is half deserted; but as to the crowded town of Dimyát[32]
(or Damietta), we must reckon as many as six persons to each house, or
our estimate will fall far short of what is generally believed to be the
number of its inhabitants. The addition of one or two persons to each
house in the above-mentioned towns will, however, make little difference
in the computation of the whole population of Egypt, which was found, by
this mode of reckoning, to amount to rather more than 2,500,000; but it
is now much reduced. Of 2,500,000 souls, say 1,200,000 are males; and
one-third of this number (400,000) men fit for military service: from
this latter number the present Básha of Egypt has taken, at the least,
200,000 (that is, one-half of the most serviceable portion of the male
population) to form and recruit his armies of regular troops, and for
the service of his navy. The further loss caused by withdrawing so many
men from their wives, or preventing their marrying, during ten years,
must surely far exceed 300,000; consequently, the present population may
be calculated as less than two millions. The numbers of the several
classes of which the population is mainly composed are nearly as
follows:—
Muslim Egyptians (felláheen, or peasants, and 1,750,000
townspeople)
Christian Egyptians (Copts) 150,000
’Osmánlees, or Turks 10,000
Syrians 5,000
Greeks 5,000
Armenians 2,000
Jews 5,000
Of the remainder (namely, Arabians, Western Arabs, Nubians, Negro
slaves, Memlooks [or white male slaves], female white slaves, Franks,
etc.), amounting to about 70,000, the respective numbers are very
uncertain and variable. The Arabs of the neighbouring deserts ought not
to be included among the population of Egypt.[33]
Cairo, I have said, contains about 240,000 inhabitants.[34] We should be
greatly deceived if we judged of the population of this city from the
crowds that we meet in the principal thoroughfare-streets and markets;
in most of the bye-streets and quarters very few passengers are seen.
Nor should we judge from the extent of the city and suburbs; for there
are within the walls many vacant places, some of which, during the
season of the inundation, are lakes (as the Birket el-Ezbekeeyeh, Birket
el-Feel, etc.). The gardens, several burial-grounds, the courts of
houses, and the mosques, also occupy a considerable space. Of the
inhabitants of the metropolis, about 190,000 are Egyptian Muslims; about
10,000, Copts; 3,000 or 4,000, Jews; and the rest, strangers from
various countries.[35]
The population of Egypt in the times of the Pharaohs was probably about
six or seven millions.[36] The produce of the soil in the present age
would suffice, if none were exported, for the maintenance of a
population amounting to 4,000,000; and if all the soil which is capable
of cultivation were sown, the produce would be sufficient for the
maintenance of 8,000,000. But this would be the utmost number that Egypt
could maintain in years of plentiful inundation; I therefore compute the
ancient population, at the time when agriculture was in a very
flourishing state, to have amounted to what I first stated; and must
suppose it to have been scarcely more than half as numerous in the times
of the Ptolemies, and at later periods, when a great quantity of corn
was annually exported.[37] This calculation agrees with what Diodorus
Siculus says (in lib. i. cap. 31); namely, that Egypt contained, in the
times of the ancient kings, 7,000,000 inhabitants, and in his own time
not less than 3,000,000.
How different now is the state of Egypt from what it might be,
possessing a population of scarcely more than one quarter of the number
that it might be rendered capable of supporting! How great a change
might be effected in it by a truly enlightened government, by a prince
who (instead of impoverishing the peasantry by depriving them of their
lands, and by his monopolies of the most valuable productions of the
soil; by employing the best portion of the population to prosecute his
ambitious schemes of foreign conquest, and another large portion in the
vain attempt to rival European manufactures) would give his people a
greater interest in the cultivation of the fields, and make Egypt what
nature designed it to be—almost exclusively an agricultural country! Its
produce of cotton alone would more than suffice to procure all the
articles of foreign manufacture, and all the natural productions of
foreign countries, that the wants of its inhabitants demand.[38]
The desired change may now be easily effected, for since the above was
written the Básha has been placed in a new position, which will enable
him to acquire a greater and more honourable fame, by the cultivation of
the arts of peace, than his conquests, brilliant as they have been, have
hitherto procured for him. No one who is acquainted with the modern
history of Egypt, and more particularly with the state of the country
during the period that intervened between the French expedition and the
accession of Mohammad ’Alee to the office of viceroy, can doubt that he
possesses extraordinary talents for government; and let us hope that
those talents will be rightly employed: but, as he himself affirms, some
time will be required for effecting the necessary changes.
-----
Footnote 1:
It gives me great pleasure to find, that, while I have been attempting
to preserve memorials of the manners and customs of the most polished
modern Arab people, one of my learned friends (M. Fulgence Fresnel)
has been occupied, with eminent success, in rescuing from oblivion
many interesting notices of the history of the _early_ Arabs, and that
another (Mr. [now, Sir Gardner] Wilkinson) has been preparing to
impart to us an account of the private life, manners, etc., of the
Ancient Egyptians. [The very high and just commendation which the
works of these two authors (published since the above was written)
have obtained from eminent critics renders it needless for me to add
my humble testimony to their merits.]
Footnote 2:
Among the memoirs in “the great French work” on Egypt, is one entitled
“Essai sur les mœurs des habitans modernes de l’Egypte;” but its
author appears to me to have fallen into an error of considerable
magnitude, in applying to the Egyptians in general, observations which
were, in truth, for the most part descriptive of the manners and
customs of their naturalized rulers, the Memlooks. It is probable that
the Egyptians in some degree imitated, when they were able to do so,
the habits and customs of this class: I may however, venture to
affirm, that the essay here alluded to does not convey a true notion
of their _present_ moral and social state. Its author, moreover, shows
himself to have been often extremely careless both in his observations
and inquiries: this is particularly evident in his singular
misstatement of the correspondence of French and Mohammadan hours, and
in the first two pages (in the 8vo. edition) of the section on public
fêtes. He has given many just philosophical observations; but these
occupy too large a proportion of a memoir scarcely exceeding one-third
of the extent of the present work. To show that these remarks are not
made in an invidious spirit, I most willingly express my high
admiration of other parts of “the great work” (especially the
contributions of M. Jomard), relating to subjects which have alike
employed my mind and pen, and upon which I shall probably publish my
observations.—Burckhardt’s “Arabic Proverbs,” and their illustrations,
convey many notions of remarkable customs and traits of character of
the modern Egyptians; but are very far from composing a complete
exposition, or in every case, a true one; for national proverbs are
bad tests of the morality of a people.—There is one work, however,
which presents most admirable pictures of the manners and customs of
the Arabs, and particularly of those of the Egyptians: it is “The
Thousand and One Nights,” or Arabian Nights’ Entertainments: if the
English reader had possessed a close translation of it with sufficient
illustrative notes, I might almost have spared myself the labour of
the present undertaking.—[This remark, respecting “The Thousand and
One Nights,” was, I believe, the cause of my being employed, since the
publication of the first edition of the present work, to translate
those admirable tales, and to illustrate them by explanatory notes.]
Footnote 3:
Thus commonly pronounced, for Esh-Shaaránee.
Footnote 4:
He professes to have had more than thirty wives in the course of his
life; but, in saying so, I believe he greatly exaggerates.
Footnote 5:
It is a common belief among the Egyptians, that every European
traveller who visits their country is an emissary from his King; and
it is difficult to convince them that this is not the case: so strange
to them is the idea of a man’s incurring great trouble and expense for
the purpose of acquiring the knowledge of foreign countries and
nations.
Footnote 6:
Kur-án, chap, iv., ver. 96.
Footnote 7:
Kur-án, chap. lvi., ver 78.
Footnote 8:
David Urquhart, Esq., author of “The Spirit of the East,” etc.
Footnote 9:
Here I must mention, that I have written “Básha” instead of “Pásha” in
conformity with the pronunciation of the Egyptians.
Footnote 10:
Strictly speaking, it has a sound between that of “a” in “bad” and
that of “u” in “bud;” sometimes approximating more to the former, and
sometimes to the latter.
Footnote 11:
Its sound, however, often approximates to that of “a” in “ball.”
Footnote 12:
Respecting this term, see the first of the notes in Chapter xxvi.
Footnote 13:
This is the temperature in the shade. At Thebes, I have observed the
thermometer to rise above 110° during a khamáseen wind, in the shade.
Footnote 14:
This remark was written before the terrible plague of the present year
[1835], which was certainly introduced from Turkey, and extended
throughout the whole of Egypt, though its ravages were not great in
the southern parts. It has destroyed not less than eighty thousand
persons in Cairo: that is, one-third of the population; and far more,
I believe, than two hundred thousand in all Egypt. According to a
report made by the government, the victims of this plague in Cairo
were about _forty_ thousand; but I have been informed, on high
authority, that the government made it a rule to report only half the
number of deaths in this case.
Footnote 15:
This is the name by which the modern Egyptians call their country, as
well as its metropolis.
Footnote 16:
With red ochre and lime wash.
Footnote 17:
No. 1 is a view and section of a portion of the most simple kind. This
and the other four kinds are here represented on a scale of about
one-seventh of the real size. No. 6 shows the general proportions of
the side of a projecting window. The portion A is, in most instances,
of lattice-work similar to No. 1, and comprises about twelve rows of
beads in the width: the portion B is commonly either of the same kind,
or like No. 2 or No. 3; and the small lattice C, which is attached by
hinges, is generally similar to No. 4.
Footnote 18:
Commonly similar to No. 1, or No. 5.
Footnote 19:
Some large houses have two courts: the inner for the hareem; and in
the latter, or both of these, there is usually a little enclosure of
arched wood-work in which trees and flowers are raised.
Footnote 20:
In the accompanying view of the court of a house, the door of the
hareem is that which faces the spectator.
Footnote 21:
Apparently a corruption of the Persian “dargáh.”—The view of a ká’ah
opposite p. 14 will serve to illustrate the description of the
mandar’ah.
Footnote 22:
The “leewán” is not to be confounded with the “deewán,” which is
afterwards mentioned.
Footnote 23:
One of the chief reasons of the custom here mentioned is, to avoid
defiling a mat or carpet upon which prayer is usually made. This, as
many authors have observed, illustrates passages of the
Scriptures—Exodus iii. 5, and Joshua v. 15.
Footnote 24:
See Jeremiah xxii. 14.
Footnote 25:
In the larger houses, and some others, there is also, adjoining the
principal saloon, an elevated closet, designed as an orchestra, for
female singers. A description of this will be found in the chapter on
music.
Footnote 26:
This word is said to be derived from “kamar” (the moon). Baron
Hammer-Purgstall thinks (see the Vienna “Jahrbücher der Literatur,”
lxxxi. bd., pp. 71, 72) that it has its origin from Chumaruje [or, as
he is called by the Arabs in general, Khumáraweyh], the second prince
of the dynasty of the Benee-Tooloon, who governed in Egypt in the end
of the ninth century of the Christian era, and that it proves the art
of staining glass to have been in a flourishing state in Cairo at that
period.
Footnote 27:
Excepting in the kitchen, in which are several small receptacles for
fire, constructed on a kind of bench of brick. Hence, and for several
other reasons (among which may be mentioned the sober and early habits
of the people, the general absence of draperies in the apartments, and
the construction of the floors, which are of wood overlaid with
stone), the destruction of a house by fire seldom happens in Cairo;
but when such an accident does occur, an extensive conflagration is
the usual result; for a great quantity of wood, mostly deal, and of
course excessively dry, is employed in the construction of the houses.
Footnote 28:
See again the engraving opposite p. 9.
Footnote 29:
This is the measure of the sliding bolt.
Footnote 30:
This term is also applied sometimes to the door of the hareem.
Footnote 31:
The earthen pots used in the construction of these pigeon-houses are
of an oval form, with a wide mouth, which is placed outwards, and a
small hole at the other end. Each pair of pigeons occupies a separate
pot.
Footnote 32:
Vulgarly called “Dumyát.”
Footnote 33:
The Muslim Egyptians, Copts, Syrians, and Jews of Egypt, with few
exceptions, speak no language but the Arabic, which is also the
language generally used by the foreigners settled in this country. The
Nubians, among themselves, speak their own dialects.
Footnote 34:
The population of Cairo has increased to this amount, from about
200,000, within the last three or four years. Since the computation
here stated was made, the plague of this year [1835] has destroyed not
fewer than one-third of its inhabitants, as before mentioned; but this
deficiency will be rapidly supplied from the villages.
Footnote 35:
About one-third of the population of the metropolis consists of adult
males. Of this number (or 80,000) about 30,000 are merchants, petty
shopkeepers, and artisans; 20,000, domestic servants; 15,000, common
labourers, porters, etc.: the remainder chiefly consists of military
and civil servants of the government.
Footnote 36:
I place but little reliance on the accounts of ancient authors on
this subject.
Footnote 37:
It has been suggested to me that, if corn was exported, something of
equal value was imported; and that the exportation of corn, or
anything else, would give a stimulus to industry and to population:
but I do not know what could be imported that would fill up the
measure of the food necessary to sustain a population much greater
than that which would consume the corn retained.
Footnote 38:
During the present year [1835] more than 100,000 bales of cotton (each
bale weighing a hundred-weight and three-quarters) have been shipped
at Alexandria. The price paid for this quantity by the merchants
exceeded £700,000. The quantity exported last year was 34,000 bales,
which is considerably less than usual.—The policy above recommended is
strongly advocated by Ibráheem Básha.
CHAPTER I.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DRESS OF THE MUSLIM EGYPTIANS.
Muslims of Arabian origin have for many centuries mainly composed the
population of Egypt: they have changed its language, laws, and general
manners; and its metropolis they have made the principal seat of Arabian
learning and arts. To the description of this people, and especially of
the middle and higher classes in the Egyptian capital, will be devoted
the chief portion of the present work. In every point of view, Masr (or
Cairo) must be regarded as the first Arab city of our age; and the
manners and customs of its inhabitants are particularly interesting, as
they are a combination of those which prevail most generally in the
towns of Arabia, Syria, and the whole of Northern Africa, and in a great
degree in Turkey. There is no other place in which we can obtain so
complete a knowledge of the most civilized classes of the Arabs.
From statements made in the introduction to this work, it appears that
Muslim Egyptians (or Arab-Egyptians) compose nearly four-fifths of the
population of the metropolis (which is computed to amount to about
240,000), and just seven-eighths of that of all Egypt.
The Muslim Egyptians are descended from various Arab tribes and families
which have settled in Egypt at different periods; mostly soon after the
conquest of this country by ’Amr, its first Arab governor; but by
intermarriages with the Copts and others who have become proselytes to
the faith of El-Islám, as well as by the change from a life of wandering
to that of citizens or of agriculturists, their personal characteristics
have, by degrees, become so much altered, that there is a strongly
marked difference between them and the natives of Arabia. Yet they are
to be regarded as not less genuine Arabs than the townspeople of Arabia
itself, among whom has long and very generally prevailed a custom of
keeping Abyssinian female slaves, either instead of marrying their own
countrywomen, or (as is commonly the case with the opulent) in addition
to their Arab wives; so that they bear almost as strong a resemblance to
the Abyssinians as to the Bedawees, or Arabs of the Desert. The term
“Arab,”[39] it should here be remarked, is now used wherever the Arabic
language is spoken, only to designate the Bedawees collectively. In
speaking of a tribe, or of a small number of those people, the word
“’Orbán” is also used; and a single individual is called “Bedawee.”[40]
In the metropolis and other towns of Egypt, the distinction of tribes is
almost wholly lost; but it is preserved among the peasants, who have
retained many Bedawee customs, of which I shall have to speak. The
native Muslim inhabitants of Cairo commonly call themselves
“El-Masreeyeen,” “Owlád-Masr” (or “Ahl-Masr”), and “Owlád-el-Beled,”
which signify people of Masr, children of Masr, and children of the
town; the singular forms of these appellations are “Masree,” “Ibn-Masr,”
and “Ibn-el-Beled.”[41] Of these three terms, the last is most common in
the town itself. The country people are called “El-Felláheen” (or the
Agriculturists), in the singular “Felláh.”[42] The Turks often apply
this term to the Egyptians in general in an abusive sense, as meaning
“the boors,” or “the clowns;” and improperly stigmatize them with the
appellation of “Ahl-Far’oon,”[43] or “the people of Pharaoh.”
In general, the Muslim Egyptians attain the height of about five feet
eight, or five feet nine inches. Most of the children under nine or ten
years of age have spare limbs and a distended abdomen; but, as they grow
up, their forms rapidly improve. In mature age most of them are
remarkably well proportioned. The men, muscular and robust; the women,
very beautifully formed, and plump; and neither sex is too fat. I have
never seen corpulent persons among them, excepting a few in the
metropolis and other towns, rendered so by a life of inactivity. In
Cairo, and throughout the northern provinces, those who have not been
much exposed to the sun, have a yellowish, but very clear complexion,
and soft skin; the rest are of a considerably darker and coarser
complexion. The people of Middle Egypt are of a more tawny colour, and
those of the more southern provinces are of a deep bronze or brown
complexion—darkest towards Nubia, where the climate is hottest. In
general, the countenance of the Muslim Egyptian (I here speak of the
_men_) is of a fine oval form; the forehead, of moderate size, seldom
high, but generally prominent; the eyes are deep-sunk, black, and
brilliant; the nose is straight, but rather thick; the mouth well
formed; the lips are rather full than otherwise; the teeth particularly
beautiful;[44] the beard is commonly black and curly, but scanty. I have
seen very few individuals of this race with grey eyes, or rather, few
persons supposed to be of this race; for I am inclined to think them the
offspring of Arab women by Turks or other foreigners. The Felláheen,
from constant exposure to the sun, have a habit of half shutting their
eyes; this is also characteristic of the Bedawees. Great numbers of the
Egyptians are blind in one or both eyes. They generally shave that part
of the cheek which is above the lower jaw, and likewise a small space
under the lower lip, leaving, however, the hairs which grow in the
middle under the mouth; or, instead of shaving these parts, they pluck
out the hair. They also shave a part of the beard under the chin. Very
few shave the rest of their beards,[45] and none their moustaches. The
former they suffer to grow to the length of about a hand’s breadth below
the chin (such, at least, is the general rule, and such was the custom
of the Prophet); and their moustaches they do not allow to become so
long as to incommode them in eating and drinking. The practice of dyeing
the beard is not common, for a grey beard is much respected. The
Egyptians shave all the rest of the hair, or leave only a small tuft
(called “shoosheh”) upon the crown of the head.[46] This last custom
(which is almost universal among them), I have been told, originated in
the fear that if the Muslim should fall into the hands of an infidel and
be slain, the latter might cut off the head of his victim, and finding
no hair by which to hold it, put his impure hand into the mouth in order
to carry it; for the beard might not be sufficiently long.[47] With the
like view of avoiding impurity, the Egyptians observe other customs
which need not here be described.[48] Many men of the lower orders, and
some others, make blue marks upon their arms, and sometimes upon the
hands and chest, as the women, in speaking of whom this operation will
be described.
-------------------------------------------
[Illustration: MEN OF THE MIDDLE AND HIGHER CLASSES.]
_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 25_
-------------------------------------------
The dress of the men of the middle and higher classes consists of the
following articles.[49] First, a pair of full drawers[50] of linen or
cotton, tied round the body by a running string or band,[51] the ends of
which are embroidered with coloured silks, though concealed by the outer
dress. The drawers descend a little below the knees, or to the ankles;
but many of the Arabs will not wear long drawers, because prohibited by
the Prophet. Next is worn a shirt, with very full sleeves, reaching to
the wrist; it is made of linen, of a loose, open texture, or of cotton
stuff, or of muslin or silk, or of a mixture of silk and cotton, in
stripes, but all white.[52] Over this, in winter, or in cool weather,
most persons wear a “sudeyree,” which is a short vest of cloth, or of
striped coloured silk and cotton, without sleeves. Over the shirt and
sudeyree, or the former alone, is worn a long vest of striped silk and
cotton[53] (called “kaftán,” or more commonly “kuftán”), descending to
the ankles, with long sleeves extending a few inches beyond the fingers’
ends, but divided from a point a little above the wrist, or about the
middle of the fore-arm; so that the hand is generally exposed, though it
may be concealed by the sleeve when necessary, for it is customary to
cover the hands in the presence of a person of high rank. Round this
vest is wound the girdle, which is a coloured shawl, or a long piece of
white figured muslin. The ordinary outer robe is a long cloth coat, of
any colour (called by the Turks “jubbeh,” but by the Egyptians
“gibbeh”), the sleeves of which reach not quite to the wrist.[54] Some
persons also wear a “beneesh,” or “benish,” which is a robe of cloth,
with long sleeves, like those of the kuftán, but more ample;[55] it is
properly a robe of ceremony, and should be worn over the other cloth
coat; but many persons wear it _instead_ of the gibbeh. Another robe,
called “farageeyeh,” nearly resembles the beneesh. It has very long
sleeves, but these are not slit, and it is chiefly worn by men of the
learned professions. In cold or cool weather, a kind of black woollen
cloak, called “’abáyeh,” is commonly worn. Sometimes this is drawn over
the head. In winter also many persons wrap a muslin or other shawl (such
as they use for a turban) about the head and shoulders. The head-dress
consists, first, of a small, close-fitting, cotton cap,[56] which is
often changed; next, a “tarboosh,” which is a red cloth cap, also
fitting closely to the head, with a tassel of dark blue silk at the
crown; lastly, a long piece of white muslin, generally figured, or a
Kashmeer shawl, which is wound round the tarboosh. Thus is formed the
turban. The Kashmeer shawl is seldom worn excepting in cool weather.
Some persons wear two or three tarbooshes, one over another. A “shereef”
(or descendant of the Prophet) wears a green turban, or is privileged to
do so; but no other person; and it is not common for any but a shereef
to wear a bright green dress. Stockings are not in use; but some few
persons, in cold weather, wear woollen or cotton socks. The shoes are of
thick red morocco, pointed and turning up at the toes. Some persons also
wear inner shoes of soft yellow morocco, and with soles of the same. The
outer shoes are taken off on stepping upon a carpet or mat; but not the
inner, for this reason—the former are often worn turned down at the
heel.
On the little finger of the right hand is worn a seal-ring,[57] which is
generally of silver, with a carnelion, or other stone, upon which is
engraved the wearer’s name: the name is usually accompanied by the words
“his servant” (signifying “the servant, or worshipper, of God”), and
often by other words expressive of the person’s trust in God, etc.[58]
The prophet disapproved of gold; therefore few Muslims wear gold rings;
but the women have various ornaments (rings, bracelets, etc.) of that
precious metal. The seal-ring is used for signing letters and other
writings, and its impression is considered more valid than the
sign-manual.[59] A little ink is dabbed upon it with one of the fingers,
and it is pressed upon the paper, the person who uses it having first
touched his tongue with another finger and moistened the place in the
paper which is to be stamped. Almost every person who can afford it has
a seal-ring, even though he be a servant. The regular scribes, literary
men, and many others, wear a silver, brass, or copper “dawáyeh,” which
is a case with receptacles for ink and pens, stuck in the girdle.[60]
Some have, in the place of this, or in addition to it, a case-knife or a
dagger.
The Egyptian generally takes his pipe with him wherever he goes (unless
it be to the mosque), or has a servant to carry it, though it is not a
common custom to smoke while riding or walking. The tobacco-purse he
crams into his bosom, the kuftán being large, and lapping over in front.
A handkerchief, embroidered with coloured silks and gold, and neatly
folded, is also placed in the bosom. Many persons of the middle orders,
who wish to avoid being thought rich, conceal such a dress as I have
described by a long black gown of cotton, similar to the gown worn by
most persons of the lower classes.
The costume of the men of the lower orders is very simple. These, if not
of the very poorest class, wear a pair of drawers, and a long and full
shirt or gown of blue linen or cotton, or of brown woollen stuff (the
former called “’eree,” and the latter “zaaboot”), open from the neck
nearly to the waist, and having wide sleeves.[61] Over this some wear a
white or red woollen girdle. Their turban is generally composed of a
white, red, or yellow woollen shawl, or of a piece of coarse cotton or
muslin wound round a tarboosh, under which is a white or brown felt cap;
but many are so poor as to have no other cap than the latter—no turban,
nor even drawers nor shoes, but only the blue or brown shirt, or merely
a few rags; while many, on the other hand, wear a sudeyree under the
blue shirt; and some, particularly servants in the houses of great men,
wear a white shirt, a sudeyree, and a kuftán or gibbeh, or both, and the
blue shirt over all. The full sleeves of this shirt are sometimes drawn
up by means of cords, which pass round each shoulder and cross behind,
where they are tied in a knot. This custom is adopted by servants
(particularly grooms) who have cords of crimson or dark-blue silk for
this purpose. In cold weather many persons of the lower classes wear an
’abáyeh, like that before described, but coarser, and sometimes (instead
of being black) having broad stripes, brown and white, or blue and
white, but the latter rarely. Another kind of cloak, more full than the
’abáyeh, of black or deep-blue woollen stuff, is also very commonly
worn; it is called “diffeeyeh.”[62] The shoes are of red or yellow
morocco, or of sheep-skin.
[Illustration: FELLAHEEN.]
Several different forms of turbans are represented in some of the
engravings which illustrate this work. The Muslims are distinguished by
the colours of their turbans from the Copts and the Jews, who (as well
as other subjects of the Turkish Sultán who are not Muslims) wear black,
blue, grey, or light-brown turbans, and generally dull-coloured dresses.
The distinction of sects, families, dynasties, etc., among the Muslim
Arabs, by the colour of the turban and other articles of dress, is of
very early origin. When the Imám Ibráheem Ibn-Mohammad, asserting his
pretensions to the dignity of Khaleefeh,[63] was put to death by the
Umawee Khaleefeh Marwán, many persons of the family of El-’Abbás assumed
black clothing in testimony of their sorrow for his fate; and hence the
black dress and turban (which latter is now characteristic, almost
solely, of Christian and Jewish tributaries to the Osmánlee, or Turkish,
Sultán) became the distinguishing costume of the Abbásee Khaleefehs, and
of their officers. When an officer under this dynasty was disgraced, he
was made to wear a white dress. White was adopted by the false prophet
El-Mukanna’, to distinguish his party from the ’Abbásees; and the
Fawátim of Egypt (or Khaleefehs of the race of Fátimeh), as rivals of
the ’Abbásees, wore a white costume. El-Melik El-Ashraf Shaabán, a
Sultán of Egypt (who reigned from the year of the Flight 764 to 778, or
A.D. 1362 to 1376), was the first who ordered the “shereefs” to
distinguish themselves by the green turban and dress. Some darweeshes of
the sect of the Rifá’ees, and a few, but very few, other Muslims, wear a
turban of black woollen stuff, or of a very deep olive-coloured (almost
black) muslin; but that of the Copts, Jews, etc., is generally of black
or blue muslin, or linen. There are not many different _forms_ of
turbans now worn in Egypt: that worn by most of the servants is very
formal. The kind common among the middle and higher classes of the
tradesmen and other citizens of the metropolis and large towns is also
very formal, but less so than that just before alluded to. The Turkish
turban worn in Egypt is of a more elegant mode. The Syrian is
distinguished by its width. The ’Ulama, and men of religion and letters
in general, used to wear, as some do still, one particularly wide and
formal, called a “mukleh.” The turban is much respected. In the houses
of the more wealthy classes, there is usually a chair on which it is
placed at night. This is often sent with the furniture of a bride, as it
is common for a lady to have one upon which to place her head-dress.
This kind of chair is never used for any other purpose. As an instance
of the respect paid to the turban, one of my friends mentioned to me
that an ’álim[64] being thrown off his donkey in a street of this city,
his mukleh fell off, and rolled along several yards, whereupon the
passengers ran after it, crying, “Lift up the crown of El-Islám!” while
the poor ’álim, whom no one came to assist, called out in anger, “Lift
up the _sheykh_[65] of El-Islám!”
[Illustration: AN EYE ORNAMENTED WITH KOHL.]
[Illustration:
MUK-HUL’AHS AND MIRWEDS.
These are represented on scales of one-third, and a quarter, of the
real size.
]
The general form and features of the _women_ must now be described. From
the age of about fourteen to that of eighteen or twenty, they are
generally models of beauty in body and limbs; and in countenance most of
them are pleasing, and many exceedingly lovely: but soon after they have
attained their perfect growth, they rapidly decline; the bosom early
loses all its beauty, acquiring, from the relaxing nature of the
climate, an excessive length and flatness in its forms, even while the
face retains its full charms; and though, in most other respects, time
does not commonly so soon nor so much deform them, at the age of forty
it renders many, who in earlier years possessed considerable
attractions, absolutely ugly. In the Egyptian females, the forms of
womanhood begin to develop themselves about the ninth or tenth year: at
the age of fifteen or sixteen they generally attain their highest degree
of perfection. With regard to their complexions, the same remarks apply
to them as to the men, with only this difference, that their faces,
being generally veiled when they go abroad, are not quite so much tanned
as those of the men. They are characterized, like the men, by a fine
oval countenance; though, in some instances, it is rather broad. The
eyes, with very few exceptions, are black, large, and of a long
almond-form, with long and beautiful lashes and an exquisitely soft,
bewitching expression: eyes more beautiful can hardly be conceived:
their charming effect is much heightened by the concealment of the other
features (however pleasing the latter may be), and is rendered still
more striking by a practice universal among the females of the higher
and middle classes, and very common among those of the lower orders,
which is that of blackening the edge of the eyelids, both above and
below the eye, with a black powder called “kohl.” This is a collyrium
commonly composed of the smoke-black which is produced by burning a kind
of “liban”—an aromatic resin—a species of frankincense, used, I am told,
in preference to the better kind of frankincense, as being cheaper, and
equally good for this purpose. Kohl is also prepared of the smoke-black
produced by burning the shells of almonds. These two kinds, though
believed to be beneficial to the eyes, are used merely for ornament; but
there are several kinds used for their real or supposed medical
properties; particularly the powder of several kinds of lead ore, to
which are often added sarcocolla, long pepper, sugar-candy, fine dust of
a Venetian sequin, and sometimes powdered pearls. Antimony, it is said,
was formerly used for painting the edges of the eyelids. The kohl is
applied with a small probe, of wood, ivory, or silver, tapering towards
the end, but blunt. This is moistened, sometimes with rose water, then
dipped in the powder, and drawn along the edges of the eyelids: it is
called “mirwed;” and the glass vessel in which the kohl is kept
“muk-hul’ah.” The custom of thus ornamenting the eyes prevailed among
both sexes in Egypt in very ancient times: this is shown by the
sculptures and paintings in the temples and tombs of this country; and
kohl vessels, with the probes, and even with remains of the black
powder, have often been found in the ancient tombs. I have two in my
possession. But in many cases the ancient mode of ornamenting with the
kohl was a little different from the modern, as shown by the subjoined
sketch: I have, however, seen this ancient mode practised in the present
day in the neighbourhood of Cairo, though I only remember to have
noticed it in two instances. The same custom existed among the ancient
Greek ladies, and among the Jewish women in early times.[66] The eyes of
the Egyptian women are generally the most beautiful of their features.
Countenances altogether handsome are far less common among this race
than handsome figures; but I have seen among them faces distinguished by
a style of beauty possessing such sweetness of expression, that they
have struck me as exhibiting the perfection of female loveliness, and
impressed me with the idea (perhaps not false) that their equals could
not be found in any other country. With such eyes as many of them have,
the face must be handsome, if its other features be but moderately well
formed.[67] The nose is generally straight; the lips are mostly rather
fuller than those of the men, but not in the least degree partaking of
the negro character. The hair is of that deep, glossy black, which best
suits all but fair complexions: in some instances it is rather coarse
and crisp, but never woolly.
[Illustration: ANCIENT VESSEL AND PROBE FOR KOHL.]
[Illustration: AN EYE AND EYEBROW ORNAMENTED WITH KOHL, AS REPRESENTED
IN ANCIENT PAINTINGS.]
[Illustration: HANDS AND FEET STAINED WITH HENNA.]
The females of the higher and middle classes, and many of the poorer
women, stain certain parts of their hands and feet (which are, with very
few exceptions, beautifully formed) with the leaves of the henna
tree,[68] which impart a yellowish red, or deep orange colour. Many thus
dye only the nails of the fingers and toes; others extend the dye as
high as the first joint of each finger and toe; some also make a stripe
along the next row of joints; and there are several other fanciful modes
of applying the henna; but the most common practice is to dye the tips
of the fingers and toes as high as the first joint, and the whole of the
inside of the hand and the sole of the foot;[69] adding, though not
always, the stripe above mentioned along the middle joints of the
fingers, and a similar stripe a little above the toes. The henna is
prepared for this use merely by being powdered and mixed with a little
water, so as to form a paste. Some of this paste being spread in the
palm of the hand, and on other parts of it which are to be dyed, and the
fingers being doubled, and their extremities inserted into the paste in
the palm, the whole hand is tightly bound with linen, and remains thus
during a whole night. In a similar manner it is applied to the feet. The
colour does not disappear until after many days: it is generally renewed
after about a fortnight or three weeks. This custom prevails not only in
Egypt, but in several other countries of the East, which are supplied
with henna from the banks of the Nile. To the nails the henna imparts a
more bright, clear, and permanent colour than to the skin. When this dye
alone is applied to the nails, or to a larger portion of the fingers and
toes, it may, with some reason, be regarded as an embellishment, for it
makes the general complexion of the hand and foot appear more delicate;
but many ladies stain their hands in a manner much less agreeable to our
taste: by applying, immediately after the removal of the paste of henna,
another paste, composed of quick-lime, common smoke-black, and
linseed-oil, they convert the tint of the henna to a black, or to a
blackish olive hue. Ladies in Egypt are often seen with their nails
stained with this colour, or with their fingers of the same dark hue
from the extremity to the first joint, red from the first to the second
joint, and of the former colour from the second to the third joint, with
the palm also stained in a similar manner, having a broad, dark stripe
across the middle, and the rest left red; the thumb dark from the
extremity to the first joint, and red from the first to the second
joint. Some, after a more simple fashion, blacken the ends of the
fingers and the whole of the inside of the hand.
-------------------------------------------
[Illustration: A LADY IN THE DRESS WORN IN PRIVATE.]
_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 33_
-------------------------------------------
Among the females of the lower orders, in the country-towns and villages
of Egypt, and among the same classes in the metropolis, but in a less
degree, prevails a custom somewhat similar to that above described: it
consists in making indelible marks of a blue or greenish hue upon the
face and other parts, or, at least, upon the front of the chin, and upon
the back of the right hand, and often also upon the left hand, the right
arm, or both arms, the feet, the middle of the bosom, and the forehead:
the most common of these marks made upon the chin and hands are here
represented. The operation is performed with several needles (generally
seven) tied together: with these the skin is pricked in the desired
pattern: some smoke-black (of wood or oil), mixed with milk from the
breast of a woman, is then rubbed in; and about a week after, before the
skin has healed, a paste of the pounded fresh leaves of white beet or
clover is applied, and gives a blue or greenish colour to the marks: or,
to produce the same effect in a more simple manner, some indigo is
rubbed into the punctures, instead of the smoke-black, etc. It is
generally performed at the age of about five or six years, and by
gipsy-women. The term applied to it is “dakk.” Most of the females of
the higher parts of Upper Egypt, who are of a very dark complexion,
tattoo their lips instead of the parts above-mentioned; thus converting
their natural colour to a dull, bluish hue, which, to the eye of a
stranger, is extremely displeasing.[70]
[Illustration: A TATTOOED GIRL.]
[Illustration: SPECIMENS OF TATTOOING ON THE CHIN.]
[Illustration: TATTOOED HANDS AND FOOT.]
Another characteristic of the Egyptian women that should be here
mentioned is their upright carriage and gait. This is most remarkable in
the female peasantry, owing, doubtless, in a great measure, to their
habit of bearing a heavy earthen water-vessel, and other burthens, upon
the head.
[Illustration:
A LADY ADORNED WITH THE KURS AND SAFA, ETC.
(The Hand is partially stained with Henna.)
]
The dress of the women of the middle and higher orders is handsome and
elegant. Their shirt is very full, like that of the men—but rather
shorter—reaching not quite to the knees: it is also, generally, of the
same kind of material as the men’s shirt, or of coloured crape—sometimes
black. A pair of very wide trousers (called “shintiyán”), of a coloured
striped stuff of silk and cotton, or of printed, or worked, or plain
white muslin, is tied round the hips, under the shirt, with a dikkeh:
its lower extremities are drawn up and tied just below the knee with
running strings; but it is sufficiently long to hang down to the feet,
or almost to the ground, when attached in this manner. Over the shirt
and shintiyán is worn a long vest (called “yelek”), of the same material
as the latter: it nearly resembles the kuftán of the men; but is more
tight to the body and arms: the sleeves also are longer; and it is made
to button down the front, from the bosom to a little below the girdle,
instead of lapping over: it is open, likewise, on each side, from the
height of the hip, downwards. In general the yelek is cut in such a
manner as to leave half of the bosom uncovered, except by the shirt; but
many ladies have it made more ample at that part: and, according to the
most approved fashion, it should be of a sufficient length to reach to
the ground, or should exceed that length by two of three inches, or
more. A short vest (called “anter′ee”), reaching only a little below the
waist, and exactly resembling a yelek of which the lower part has been
cut off, is sometimes worn instead of the latter. A square shawl, or an
embroidered kerchief, doubled diagonally, is put loosely round the waist
as a girdle; the two corners that are folded together hanging down
behind. Over the yelek is worn a gibbeh of cloth, or velvet, or silk,
usually embroidered with gold or with coloured silk: it differs in form
from the gibbeh of the men chiefly in being not so wide; particularly in
the fore part; and is of the same length as the yelek. Instead of this,
a jacket (called “saltah”), generally of cloth or velvet, and
embroidered in the same manner as the gibbeh, is often worn. The
head-dress consists of a tákeeyeh and tarboosh, with a square kerchief
(called “faroodeeyeh”) of printed or painted muslin, or one of crape,
wound tightly round, composing what is called a “rabtah.” Two or more
such kerchiefs were commonly used, a short time since, and are still
sometimes, to form the ladies’ turban, but always wound in a high, flat
shape, very different from that of the turban of the men. A kind of
crown, called “kurs,” and other ornaments, are attached to the ladies’
head-dress: descriptions and engravings of these and other ornaments of
the women of Egypt will be found in the Appendix to this work. A long
piece of white muslin embroidered at each end with coloured silks and
gold, or of coloured crape ornamented with gold thread, etc., and
spangles, rests upon the head, and hangs down behind, nearly or quite to
the ground: this is called “tarhah”—it is the head-veil: the face-veil I
shall presently describe. The hair, excepting over the forehead and
temples, is divided into numerous braids or plaits, generally from
eleven to twenty-five in number, but always of an _uneven_ number: these
hang down the back. To each braid of hair are usually added three black
silk cords, with little ornaments of gold, etc., attached to them. For a
description of these, which are called “safa,” I refer to the Appendix.
Over the forehead the hair is cut rather short; but two full locks hang
down on each side of the face: these are often curled in ringlets, and
sometimes plaited.[71] Few of the ladies of Egypt wear stockings or
socks, but many of them wear “mezz” (or inner shoes), of yellow or red
morocco, sometimes embroidered with gold: over these, whenever they step
off the matted or carpeted part of the floor, they put on “báboog” (or
slippers) of yellow morocco, with high, pointed toes; or use high wooden
clogs or pattens, generally from four to nine inches in height, and
usually ornamented with mother-of-pearl, or silver, etc. These are
always used in the bath by men and women; but not by many ladies at
home: some ladies wear them merely to keep their skirts from trailing on
the ground: others, to make themselves appear tall.—Such is the dress
which is worn by the Egyptian ladies in the house.
[Illustration: LADY ATTIRED FOR RIDING OR WALKING.]
The riding or walking attire is called “tezyeereh.” Whenever a lady
leaves the house, she wears, in addition to what has been above
described, first a large, loose gown (called “tób,” or “sebleh”), the
sleeves of which are nearly equal in width to the whole length of the
gown:[72] it is of silk; generally of a pink, or rose, or violet colour.
Next is put on the “burko’,” or face-veil, which is a long strip of
white muslin, concealing the whole of the face except the eyes, and
reaching nearly to the feet. It is suspended at the top by a narrow
band, which passes up the forehead, and which is sewed, as are also the
two upper corners of the veil, to a band that is tied round the head.
The lady then covers herself with a “habarah,” which, for a married
lady, is composed of two breadths of glossy, black silk, each ell-wide,
and three yards long: these are sewed together, at or near the selvages
(according to the height of the person); the seam running horizontally,
with respect to the manner in which it is worn: a piece of narrow black
riband is sewed inside the upper part, about six inches from the edge,
to tie round the head. This covering is always worn in the manner shown
by the accompanying sketch. The unmarried ladies wear a habarah of white
silk, or a shawl. Some females of the middle classes, who cannot afford
to purchase a habarah, wear instead of it an “eezár”; which is a piece
of white calico, of the same form and size as the former, and is worn in
the same manner. On the feet are worn short boots or socks (called
“khuff”), of yellow morocco, and over these the “báboog.”
This dress, though chiefly designed for females of the higher classes,
who are seldom seen in public on foot, is worn by many women who cannot
often afford so far to imitate their superiors as to hire an ass to
carry them. It is extremely inconvenient as a walking attire. Viewing it
as a disguise for whatever is attractive or graceful in the person and
adornments of the wearer, we should not find fault with it for being
itself deficient in grace: we must remark, however, that, in one
respect, it fails in accomplishing its main purpose; displaying the
eyes, which are almost always beautiful; making them to appear still
more so by concealing the other features, which are seldom of equal
beauty; and often causing the stranger to imagine a defective face
perfectly charming. The veil is of very remote antiquity;[73] but, from
the sculptures and paintings of the ancient Egyptians, it seems not to
have been worn by the females of that nation.
[Illustration: FELLAH WOMEN.]
The dress of a large proportion of those women of the lower orders who
are not of the poorest class consists of a pair of trousers or drawers
(similar in form to the shintiyán of the ladies, but generally of plain
white cotton or linen), a blue linen or cotton shirt (not quite so full
as that of the men), a burko’ of a kind of coarse black crape,[74] and a
dark blue tarhah of muslin or linen. Some wear over the shirt, or
instead of the latter, a linen tób, of the same form as that of the
ladies. The sleeves of this are often turned up over the head; either to
prevent their being incommodious, or to supply the place of a tarhah. In
addition to these articles of dress, many women who are not of the very
poor classes wear, as a covering, a kind of plaid, similar in form to
the habarah, composed of two pieces of cotton, woven in small chequers
of blue and white, or cross stripes, with a mixture of red at each end.
It is called “miláyeh:”[75] in general it is worn in the same manner as
the habarah; but sometimes like the tarhah.[76] The upper part of the
black burko’ is often ornamented with false pearls, small gold coins,
and other little flat ornaments of the same metal (called “bark”);
sometimes with a coral bead, and a gold coin beneath; also with small
coins of base silver; and more commonly with a pair of chain tassels, of
brass or silver (called “’oyoon”), attached to the corners. A square
black silk kerchief (called “’asbeh”), with a border of red and yellow,
is bound round the head, doubled diagonally, and tied with a single knot
behind; or, instead of this, the tarboosh and faroodeeyeh are worn,
though by very few women of the lower classes. The best kind of shoes
worn by the females of the lower orders are of red morocco, turned up,
but round at the toes. The burko’ and shoes are most common in Cairo,
and are also worn by many of the women throughout Lower Egypt; but in
Upper Egypt, the burko’ is very seldom seen, and shoes are scarcely less
uncommon. To supply the place of the former, when necessary, a portion
of the tarhah is drawn before the face, so as to conceal nearly all the
countenance excepting one eye. Many of the women of the lower orders,
even in the metropolis, never conceal their faces. Throughout the
greater part of Egypt the most common dress of the women merely consists
of the blue shirt, or tób, and tarhah. In the southern parts of Upper
Egypt, chiefly above Akhmeem, most of the women envelop themselves in a
large piece of dark brown woollen stuff (called a “hulaleeyeh”),
wrapping it round the body, and attaching the upper parts together over
each shoulder;[77] and a piece of the same they use as a tarhah. This
dull dress, though picturesque, is almost as disguising as the blue
tinge which, as I have before mentioned, the women in these parts of
Egypt impart to their lips. Most of the women of the lower orders wear a
variety of trumpery ornaments, such as ear-rings, necklaces, bracelets,
etc., and sometimes a nose-ring. Descriptions and engravings of some of
these ornaments will be given in the Appendix.
[Illustration: ORNAMENTED BLACK VEILS.]
Only one of these (that to the right) is represented in its whole
length.] The women of Egypt deem it more incumbent upon them to cover
the upper and back part of the head than the face; and more requisite to
conceal the face than most other parts of the person. I have often seen,
in this country, women but half covered with miserable rags; and several
times, females in the prime of womanhood, and others in more advanced
age, with nothing on the body but a narrow strip of rag bound round the
hips.
-----
Footnote 39:
This term was formerly used to designate the Arabian _townspeople_ and
_villagers_, while the Arabs who dwelt in the _Desert_ were called
“Aaráb,” or “Aarábees.” The Arabs dwelling in houses now term
themselves “Owlád-el-’Arab,” or Sons of the Arabs.
Footnote 40:
Feminine, “Bedaweeyeh.”
Footnote 41:
In the feminine, “Masreeyeh,” “Bint-Masr,” and “Bint-el-Beled.”
Footnote 42:
Feminine, “Felláhah.”
Footnote 43:
Thus commonly pronounced for “Fir’own.”
Footnote 44:
Tooth-ache is, however, a very common disorder in Egypt, as it was in
ancient times. This, at least, was probably the case, as Herodotus
(lib. ii., cap. 84) mentions dentists among the classes of Egyptian
physicians. It is, of course, most prevalent among the higher orders.
Footnote 45:
A few of the servants, and some others, shave their beards. The
respect which Orientals in general pay to the beard has often been
remarked. They swear by it, and say that a man disgraces it by an evil
action. The punishment recorded in 2 Samuel, ch. x., v. 4, has
frequently been practised in modern times, but not so often as the
shaving of the whole of the beard.
Footnote 46:
The Muslims hold it to be inconsistent with the honour that is due to
everything that has appertained to the human body to leave upon the
ground the shavings or clippings of hair, the parings of nails, etc.,
which, therefore, they generally bury in the earth.
Footnote 47:
Persons of literary and religious professions generally disapprove of
the shoosheh.
Footnote 48:
They are mentioned in the “Mishcát-ul-Masábih,” vol. ii., p. 359, and
are observed by both sexes.
Footnote 49:
The fashion of their dress remains almost the same during the lapse of
centuries.
Footnote 50:
In Arabic, “libás.”
Footnote 51:
Called “dikkeh,” or “tikkeh.”
Footnote 52:
The Prophet forbade men to wear silk clothing, but allowed women to do
so. The prohibition is, however, attended to by very few modern
Muslims, excepting the Wahhábees.
Footnote 53:
The stripes are seldom plain; they are generally figured or flowered.
Footnote 54:
See the foremost figure in the accompanying engraving.
Footnote 55:
See the figure to the left in the same engraving.
Footnote 56:
Called “tákeeyeh,” or “’arakeeyeh.”
Footnote 57:
“Khátim.”—It is _allowable_ to wear it on a finger of the _left_ hand.
Footnote 58:
See St. John’s Gospel iii. 33; and Exodus xxxix. 30.
Footnote 59:
Therefore, giving the ring to another person is the utmost mark of
confidence.—See Genesis xli. 42.
Footnote 60:
This is a very ancient custom.—See Ezekiel ix. 2, 3, 11. The dawáyeh
is represented in a cut in Chapter IX.
Footnote 61:
The zaaboot is mostly worn in the winter.
Footnote 62:
A kind of blue and white plaid (called “miláyeh”) is also worn by some
men, but more commonly by women, in the account of whose dress it will
be further described: the men throw it over the shoulders, or wrap it
about the body.
Footnote 63:
Commonly written by English authors “Caliph,” or “Khalif.”
Footnote 64:
This appellation (of which “’ulama” is the plural) signifies a man of
science or learning.
Footnote 65:
“Sheykh” here signifies _master_, or _doctor_.
Footnote 66:
See 2 Kings ix. 30 (where, in our common version, we find the words,
“painted her face” for “painted her eyes”), and Ezekiel xxiii. 40.
Footnote 67:
Scissors are often used to reduce the width of the eye-brows, and to
give them a more arched form.
Footnote 68:
_Lawsonia inermis_; also called “Egyptian privet.”
Footnote 69:
The application of this dye to the palms of the hands and the soles of
the feet is said to have an agreeable effect upon the skin;
particularly to prevent its being too tender and sensitive.
Footnote 70:
The depilatory most commonly used by the Egyptian women is a kind of
resin, called libán shámee, applied in a melted state: but this, they
pretend, is not always necessary: by applying the blood of a bat to
the skin of a newly-born female infant, on the parts where they wish
no hair to grow, they assert that they accomplish this desire. A
female upon whom this application has been made is termed
“muwatwatah”; from “watwát,” a bat. Some women pluck out the hair
after merely rubbing the part with the ashes of charcoal.
Footnote 71:
Egyptian women swear by the side-lock (as men do by the beard),
generally holding it when they utter the oath, “Wa-hayát maksoosee!”
Footnote 72:
This is similar in form to the tób of women of the lower orders.
Footnote 73:
See Genesis xxiv. 65; and Isaiah iii. 23. See also I Corinthians xi.
10, and a marginal note on that verse.
Footnote 74:
Some of those who are descended from the Prophet wear a green burko’.
Footnote 75:
For “muláäh.”
Footnote 76:
There is a superior kind of miláyeh, of silk, and of various colours;
but this is now seldom worn. The two pieces which compose the miláyeh
are sewed together, like those which compose the habarah.
Footnote 77:
The classical reader will recognise, in this picturesque garment, an
article of ancient Greek and Roman female attire.