GAMES.
Most of the games of the Egyptians are of kinds which suit their sedate
dispositions. They take great pleasure in chess (which they call
“satreng”), draughts (“dámeh”), and trictrac or backgammon (“táwulah”).
Their chess-men are of very simple forms; as the Muslim is forbidden, by
his religion, to make an image of anything that has life. The Muslims of
Egypt in general are, however, less scrupulous with regard to the
prohibition of games of hazard: though some of them consider even chess
and draughts as forbidden, games partly or wholly hazardous are very
common among all ranks of this people: and scarcely less so is that of
cards, which, being almost always played for money, or for some other
stake, is particularly called, by way of distinction, “leab el-kumár,”
“the game of hazard, or of gain.” Persons of the lower orders in the
towns of Egypt are often seen playing at these and other games at the
coffee-shops; but frequently for no greater stake than that of a few
cups of coffee.
One of the games most common among the Egyptians is that of the
“mankal′ah.” Two persons play at this, with a board (or two boards
joined by hinges), in which are twelve hemispherical holes, called
“buyoot,” or “beyts,” in two equal rows; and with seventy-two small
shells, of the kind called cowries; or as many pebbles: these, whether
shells or pebbles, are termed the “hasa” (in the singular, “hasweh”). To
explain the game of the mankal′ah, I must distinguish the beyts of the
board by letters, thus:—
[Illustration: MANKAL′AH.]
The beyts marked A, B, C, D, E, F, belong to one party; and the opposite
six beyts to the other. One of the parties, when they are about to play
the game in the most simple manner (for there are two modes of playing
it), distributes all the hasa unequally into the beyts; generally
putting at least four into each beyt. If they were distributed equally,
there would be six in each beyt; but this is seldom done: for, in this
case, he who plays first is sure to lose. The act of distributing the
hasa is called “tebweez.” When one party is dissatisfied with the
other’s distribution of the hasa, he may turn the board round; and then
his adversary begins the game; which is not the case otherwise.
Supposing the party to whom belong the beyts A, B, C, D, E, F, commences
the game, he takes the hasa from beyt F, and distributes them to the
beyts _a_, _b_, _c_, etc., one to each beyt; and if there be enough to
put in each of his adversary’s six beyts, and more remain in his hand,
he proceeds in the same manner to distribute them to his own beyts, in
the order A, B, C, etc.; and then, if he have still one or more
remaining, to his adversary’s beyts, as before, and so on. If the last
beyt into which he has put a hasweh contain but one (having been empty
before he put that in; for it may have been left empty at the first), he
ceases; and his adversary plays: but if it contain two or four, he takes
its contents, with those of the beyt opposite; and if the last beyt
contain two or four, and one or more of the preceding beyts also contain
either of these numbers, no beyt with any other number intervening, he
takes the contents of these preceding beyts also, with the contents of
those opposite. If the last beyt into which he has put a hasweh contain
(with this hasweh) three, or five, or more, he takes these out, and goes
on distributing them in the same manner as before: for instance, if, in
this case, the last beyt into which he has put a hasweh be D, he puts
one from its contents into E, another into F, a third into _a_, and so
on; and thus he continues, until making the last beyt to contain but one
stops him, or making it to contain two or four brings him gain, and
makes it his adversary’s turn to play. He always plays from beyt F, or,
if that be empty, from the nearest beyt to it in his own row containing
one or more haswehs. When one party has more than a single hasweh in one
or more of his beyts, and the other has none, the former is obliged to
put one of his into the first of his adversary’s beyts. If only one
hasweh remain on one side, and none on the other, that one is the
property of the person on whose side it is. When the board is completely
cleared, each party counts the number of the hasa he has taken; and the
one who has most reckons the excess of his above his adversary’s number
as his gain. The gainer in one board begins to play the next board; his
adversary having first distributed the hasa. When either party has made
his successive gains amount to sixty, he has won the game.—In this
manner, the game of the mankal′ah is played by young persons; and hence
this mode of playing it is called “the game of the ignorant” (“leab
el-ghasheem”): others generally play in a different manner, which is
termed “the game of the wise, or intelligent” (“leab el-’ákil”), and
which must now be described.
The hasa are distributed in one or more beyts on one side, and in the
corresponding beyt or beyts on the other side; commonly in four beyts on
each side, leaving the two extreme beyts of each side vacant: or they
are distributed in any other conventional manner; as, for instance,
about half into beyt A, and the remainder in beyt _a_. The person who
distributes the hasa does not count how many he places in a beyt; and it
is at his option whether he places them only in one beyt on each side,
or in all the beyts. Should the other person object to his distribution,
he may turn the board round; but in that case forfeits his right of
playing first. The person who plays first may begin from any one of his
beyts; judging by his eye which will bring him the best fortune. He
proceeds in the same manner as before described; putting one hasweh in
each beyt; and taking in the same cases as in the former mode; and then
the other plays. After the first gain, he counts the hasa in each of his
beyts; and plays from that which will bring him the greatest advantage.
One of the parties may stop the other to count the hasa which he takes
out of a beyt to distribute, in order to insure his distributing them
correctly. The gain of one party after finishing one board is counted,
as in the former mode, by the excess of the number he has taken above
the number acquired by the other; and the first who makes his successive
gains to amount to sixty, wins the game.—This game is of use in
practising the players in calculation. It is very commonly played at the
coffee-shops; and the players generally agree, though it is unlawful to
do so, that the loser shall pay for the coffee drunk by himself and his
adversary and the spectators, or for a certain number of cups.
Another game very general among the lower classes in Egypt is called
“táb.” In other countries of the East this is called “táb wa-dukk;” but
I never hear this name given to it in Egypt. In this country it is
played in the following manner:—Four small pieces of stick, of a flat
form, about a span (or eight inches) in length, and two-thirds of an
inch in breadth, are first prepared: they are generally formed of a
piece of palm-branch; one side of which, being cut flat and smooth, is
white; the other, green, or, if not fresh, of a dull yellow colour; the
former side is commonly called white, and the other black. These are
called the “táb.” Next, it is necessary to be provided with a “seega.”
This is a board, divided into four rows of squares, called “beyts” or
“dárs,” each about two inches wide; or it consists of similar rows of
holes made in the ground, or in a flat stone: the beyts are usually
seven, nine, eleven, thirteen, or fifteen, in each row. To show the mode
of playing the game, I shall here represent a seega of nine beyts in
each row; and distinguish the beyts by letters.
┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐
│_i_│_h_│_g_│_f_│_e_│_d_│_c_│_b_│_a_│
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│_k_│_l_│_m_│_n_│_o_│_p_│_q_│_r_│_s_│
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│ S │ R │ Q │ P │ O │ N │ M │ L │ K │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│ A │ B │ C │ D │ E │ F │ G │ H │ I │
└───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘
In each beyt of one exterior row is usually placed a little piece of
stone, or dingy brick, about the size of a walnut; and in each beyt of
the other exterior row, a piece of red brick or tile. Or, sometimes,
pieces are placed only in a certain number of beyts in those rows; as,
for instance, in the first four. The pieces of one row must be
distinguished from those in the other. They are called “kiláb” (or
dogs); in the singular, “kelb.” The game is generally played by two
persons. The four little sticks are thrown, all together, against a
stick thrust into the ground or held in the hand with one end resting on
the ground, or against a wall, or against a stick inclined against a
wall. If they fall so that one only has its white side upwards, the
player is said to have thrown, or brought, “táb” (plural “teeb”), or a
“weled” (or child, plural “wilád”), and counts one: if there be two
white, and the other two black, he counts two (“itneyn”): if there be
three white, and one black, he counts three (“teláteh”): if all four be
white, four (“arba’′ah”): if all four black, six (“sitteh”). When one
throws táb, or four, or six, he throws again; but when he has thrown
two, or three, it is then the turn of the other. To one of the players
belongs the row of beyts A, B, C, etc.: to the other, that of _a_, _b_,
_c_, etc. They first throw alternately until one has thrown táb; and he
who has done this then throws again until he has brought two, or three.
Supposing him, at the beginning of the game, to have thrown táb and four
and two, he removes the kelb from beyt I, and places it in the seventh
beyt from I, which is Q. He must always commence with the kelb in beyt
I. The other party, in like manner, commences from beyt _i_. Neither
party can remove a kelb from its original place but by throwing táb
before each such removal. The kelbs before removal from their original
places are called “Nasára” (or Christians, in the singular “Nasránee”);
and after removal, when they are privileged to commence the contest,
“Muslimeen” (or “Muslims”): when a person has made a kelb a Muslim, it
is said of him “sellem kelb;” and of the kelb, “aslam.” Each time that a
player throws táb, he generally makes a kelb Muslim, until he has made
them all so, and thus prepared them to circulate in the beyts. Each
player may have two or more kelbs in circulation at the same time. Let
us suppose (to make the description more simple) that the person to whom
belongs the row of beyts A, B, C, etc., is circulating a single kelb: he
moves it through the two middle rows of beyts in the order of the
letters by which I have distinguished them, from K to S, and from _k_ to
_s_; and may then either repeat the same round or enter his adversary’s
row, as long as there is any kelb remaining in that row; but in the
latter case, he does not continue to circulate the same kelb, excepting
under circumstances which will be mentioned hereafter. Whenever a throw,
or any of two or more throws, which the player has made enables him to
move his kelb into a beyt occupied by one of his opponent’s kelbs, he
takes the latter. For instance, if one party has a kelb in the beyt _m_,
and the other has one in _o_, and another in _s_, and the former has
thrown táb (or one) and then four, and then two, he may take the kelb in
_o_ by the throw of two; then, by the throw of four, take that in _s_;
and, by the throw of táb, pass into _a_, and take a third kelb if it
contain one. A player may, by means of a suitable throw, or two or more
throws, move one of his kelbs into a beyt occupied by another of his
own; and these two together, in like manner, he may add to a third, or
he may add a third to them: thus he may unite any number of his own
kelbs, and circulate them together, as if they were but one; but he
cannot divide them again, and play with them separately, unless he throw
táb. If he avail himself of a throw which he has made to bring them back
into a row through which they have already passed (either separately or
together), they become reduced to a single kelb: but he need not avail
himself of such a throw: he may wait until he throws táb. Two or more
kelbs thus united are called an “’eggeh.” The object of so uniting them
is to place them as soon as possible in a situation of safety, as will
be seen by what immediately follows. If either party pass one of his
kelbs into his adversary’s row, he may leave it there in safety as long
as he does not want to continue to play with it, because the latter
cannot bring back a kelb into his own row. The former, however, cannot
continue to circulate the kelb which has entered that row until he has
no kelb remaining in his own row; or unless he have only an ’eggeh in
his row, and does not throw táb, which alone enables him to divide the
’eggeh. In circulating through his adversary’s beyts, he proceeds in the
order of the letters by which I have marked them. He cannot pass the
same kelb again into his adversary’s row: after it has passed through
that row, he circulates it through the two middle rows only, in the same
manner as at first.—This game is often played by four or more persons,
and without the seega. When one person throws four, he is called the
Sultán. He holds a makra’′ah, which is a piece of the thick end of a
palm-stick, with two or three splits made in the thicker part of it.
When a player throws six, he is called the Wezeer, and holds the stick
against which the táb are thrown. Whenever a person throws two, the
Sultán gives him a blow, or two or more blows (as many as the Wezeer may
order), on the sole of his foot, or the soles of both feet, with the
makra’′ah. When a player throws twice six, he is both Sultán and Wezeer.
[Illustration: SEEGA.]
Many of the felláheen of Egypt also frequently amuse themselves with a
game called that of the “seega,” which may be described in a few words.
The seega employed in this game is different from that of the táb: it
consists of a number of holes, generally made in the ground; most
commonly, of five rows of five holes in each, or seven rows of seven in
each, or nine rows of nine in each: the first kind is called the
“khamsáwee seega;” the second, the “seb’áwee;” and the third, the
“tis’áwee.” A khamsáwee seega is here represented.
The holes are called “’oyoon” (or eyes, in the singular “’eyn”). In this
seega, they are twenty-five in number. The players have each twelve
“kelbs,” similar to those used in the game of the táb.[447] One of them
places two of his kelbs in the ’eyns marked _a_, _a_: the other puts two
of his in those marked _b_, _b_: they then alternately place two kelbs
in any of the ’eyns that they may choose, excepting the central ’eyn of
the seega. All the ’eyns but the central one being thus occupied (most
of the kelbs placed at random), the game is commenced. The party who
begins moves one of his kelbs from a contiguous ’eyn into the central.
The other party, if the ’eyn now made vacant be not next to any one of
those occupied by his kelbs, desires his adversary to give him, or open
to him, a way; and the latter must do so, by removing, and thus losing,
one of his own kelbs. This is also done on subsequent occasions, when
required by similar circumstances. The aim of each party, after the
first disposal of the kelbs, is to place any one of his kelbs in such a
situation that there shall be, between it and another of his, one of his
adversary’s kelbs. This, by so doing, he takes; and as long as he can
immediately make another capture by such means, he does so, without
allowing his adversary to move.—These are the only rules of the game. It
will be remarked that, though most of the kelbs are placed at random,
foresight is requisite in the disposal of the remainder.—Several seegas
have been cut upon the stones on the summit of the great pyramid, by
Arabs who have served as guides to travellers.
Gymnastic games, or such diversions as require much bodily exertion, are
very uncommon among the Egyptians. Sometimes two peasants contend with
each other, for mere amusement, or for a trifling wager or reward, with
“nebboots,” which are thick staves, five or six feet long: the object of
each is to strike his adversary on the head. The nebboot is a formidable
weapon, and is often seen in the hand of an Egyptian peasant: he often
carries it when on a journey; particularly when he travels by night;
which, however, is seldom the case. Wrestling-matches are also sometimes
witnessed in Egypt: the combatants (who are called “musáre’een,” in the
singular “musáre’”) strip themselves of all their clothing excepting
their drawers, and generally oil their bodies; but their exercises are
not remarkable, and are seldom performed but for remuneration, on the
occasions of festivals, processions, etc.—On such occasions, too, mock
combats between two men, usually clad only in their drawers, and each
armed with a sabre and a small shield, are not unfrequently witnessed:
neither attempts to wound his adversary: every blow is received on the
shield.
The game of the “gereed,” as played by the Memlooks and Turkish
soldiers, has often been described; but the manner in which it is
practised by many of the peasants of Upper Egypt is much more worthy of
description. It is often played by the latter on the occasion of the
marriage of a person of influence, such as the sheykh of a tribe or
village; or on that of a circumcision; or when a votive calf or ox or
bull, which has been let loose to pasture where it will, by common
consent, is about to be sacrificed at the tomb of a saint, and a public
feast made with its meat. The combatants usually consist of two parties,
of different villages, or of different tribes or branches of a tribe;
each party about twelve or twenty or more in number; and each person
mounted on a horse or mare. The two parties station themselves about
five hundred feet or more apart. A person from one party gallops towards
the other party, and challenges them: one of the latter, taking, in his
left hand, four, five, six, or more gereeds, each six feet, or an inch
or two more or less, in length, but generally equal in length to the
height of a tall man, and very heavy (being the lower part of the
palm-stick, freshly cut, and full of sap), pursues the challenger at
full gallop: he approaches him as near as possible—often within arm’s
length; and throws, at his head or back, one gereed after another, until
he has none left. The gereed is blunt at both ends. It is thrown with
the small end foremost, and with uplifted arm; and sometimes inflicts
terrible, and even fatal, wounds.[448] The person against whom the
gereeds are thrown endeavours to catch them, or to ward them off with
his arm or with a sheathed sword; or he escapes them by the superior
speed of his horse. Having sustained the attack, and arrived at the
station of his party, he tries his skill against the person by whom he
has been pursued, in the same manner as the latter did against him.—This
sport, which reminds us of the tournaments of old, and which was a game
of the early Bedawees, continues for several hours. It is common only
among those tribes who have not been many years, or not more than a few
centuries, settled on the banks of the Nile; and who have consequently
retained many Bedawee customs and habits. About the close of the period
of my former visit to this country, three men and a mare were killed at
this game within an hour, in the western plain of Thebes. It is seldom,
however, that a man loses his life in this exercise: at least, of late,
I have heard of no such occurrence taking place.—In Lower Egypt, a
gereed only half the length of those above described, or little more, is
used in playing this game.
Other exercises, which are less frequently performed, and only at
festivals for the amusement of the spectators, will be described in
subsequent pages.
-----
Footnote 447:
The larger seegas, in like manner, require a sufficient number of
kelbs to occupy all the ’eyns excepting one.
Footnote 448:
During my last residence at Thebes, a fine athletic man, the best
gereed-player of the place, whom I had taken into my service as a
nightly guard, received a very severe wound at this game; and I had
some difficulty to effect a cure: he was delirious for many hours in
consequence of it, and had nearly lost his life. The gereed struck him
a little before his ear, and penetrated downwards into his neck.
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