PUBLIC DANCERS.
Egypt has long been celebrated for its public dancing-girls; the most
famous of whom are of a distinct tribe, called “Ghawázee.”[476] A female
of this tribe is called “Gházeeyeh;” and a man, “Gházee;” but the plural
Ghawázee is generally understood as applying to the females. The error
into which most travellers in Egypt have fallen, of confounding the
common dancing-girls of this country with the ’A′l’mehs, who are female
singers, has already been exposed. The Ghawázee perform, unveiled, in
the public streets, even to amuse the rabble. Their dancing has little
of elegance. They commence with a degree of decorum; but soon, by more
animated looks, by a more rapid collision of their castanets of brass,
and by increased energy in every motion, they exhibit a spectacle
exactly agreeing with the descriptions which Martial[477] and
Juvenal[478] have given of the performances of the female dancers of
Gades. The dress in which they generally thus exhibit in public is
similar to that which is worn by women of the middle classes in Egypt in
private; that is, in the hareem; consisting of a yelek, or an ’anter′ee,
and the shintiyán, etc., of handsome materials. They also wear various
ornaments: their eyes are bordered with the kohl (or black collyrium);
and the tips of their fingers, the palms of their hands, and their toes
and other parts of their feet, are usually stained with the red dye of
the henna, according to the general custom of the middle and higher
classes of Egyptian women. In general, they are accompanied by musicians
(mostly of the same tribe), whose instruments are the kemengeh, or the
rabáb, and the tár; or the darabukkeh and zummárah or the zemr: the tár
is usually in the hands of an old woman.
The Ghawázee often perform in the court of a house, or in the street,
before the door, on certain occasions of festivity in the hareem; as,
for instance, on the occasion of a marriage, or the birth of a child.
They are never admitted into a respectable hareem; but are not
unfrequently hired to entertain a party of men in the house of some
rake. In this case, as might be expected, their performances are yet
more lascivious than those which I have already mentioned. Some of them,
when they exhibit before a private party of men, wear nothing but the
shintiyán (or trousers) and a tób (or very full shirt or gown) of
semi-transparent, coloured gauze, open nearly half-way down the front.
To extinguish the least spark of modesty which they may yet sometimes
affect to retain, they are plentifully supplied with brandy or some
other intoxicating liquor. The scenes which ensue cannot be described.
I need scarcely add, that these women are the most abandoned of the
courtesans of Egypt. Many of them are extremely handsome; and most of
them are richly dressed. Upon the whole, I think they are the finest
women in Egypt. Many of them have slightly aquiline noses; but in most
respects they resemble the rest of the females of this country. Women,
as well as men, take delight in witnessing their performances; but many
persons among the higher classes, and the more religious, disapprove of
them.
The Ghawázee being distinguished, in general, by a cast of countenance
differing, though slightly, from the rest of the Egyptians, we can
hardly doubt that they are, as themselves assert, a distinct race. Their
origin, however, is involved in much uncertainty. They call themselves
“Barámikeh,”[479] or “Barmek′ees;” and boast that they are descended
from the famous family of that name who were the objects of the favour,
and afterwards of the capricious tyranny, of Hároon Er-Rasheed, and of
whom we read in several of the tales of “The Thousand and One Nights:”
but, as a friend of mine lately observed to me, they probably have no
more right to call themselves “Barámikeh” than because they resemble
that family in liberality, though it is liberality of a different kind.
In many of the tombs of the ancient Egyptians, we find representations
of females dancing at private entertainments, to the sounds of various
instruments, in a manner similar to the modern Ghawázee, but even more
licentious; one or more of these performers being generally depicted in
a state of perfect nudity, though in the presence of men and women of
high stations. This mode of dancing we find, from the monuments here
alluded to, most of which bear the names of kings, which prove their
age, to have been common in Egypt in very remote times; even before the
Exodus of the Israelites. It is probable, therefore, that it has
continued without interruption; and perhaps the modern Ghawázee are
descended from the class of female dancers who amused the Egyptians in
the times of the early Pharaohs. From the similarity of the Spanish
fandango to the dances of the Ghawázee, we might infer that it was
introduced into Spain by the Arab conquerors of that country, were we
not informed that the Gaditanæ, or females of Gades (now called Cadiz),
were famous for such performances in the times of the early Roman
Emperors. However, though it hence appears that the licentious mode of
dancing here described has so long been practised in Spain, it is not
improbable that it was originally introduced into Gades from the East,
perhaps by the Phœnicians.[480]
The Ghawázee mostly keep themselves distinct from other classes,
abstaining from marriages with any but persons of their own tribe; but
sometimes a Gházeeyeh makes a vow of repentance, and marries a
respectable Arab; who is not generally considered as disgraced by such a
connexion. All of them are brought up for the venal profession, but not
all as dancers; and most of them marry, though they never do this until
they have commenced their career of venality. The husband is subject to
the wife: he performs for her the offices of a servant and procurer; and
generally, if she be a dancer, he is also her musician: but a few of the
men earn their subsistence as blacksmiths or tinkers. Most of the
Gházeeyehs welcome the lowest peasant, if he can pay even a very
trifling sum. Though some of them are possessed of considerable wealth,
costly ornaments, etc., many of their customs are similar to those of
the people whom we call “gipsies,” and who are supposed, by some, to be
of Egyptian origin. It is remarkable that the gipsies in Egypt often
pretend to be descended from a branch of the same family to whom the
Ghawázee refer their origin; but their claim is still less to be
regarded than that of the latter, because they do not unanimously agree
on this point. I shall have occasion to speak of them more particularly
in the next chapter. The ordinary language of the Ghawázee is the same
as that of the rest of the Egyptians; but they sometimes make use of a
number of words peculiar to themselves, in order to render their speech
unintelligible to strangers. They are, professedly, of the Muslim faith;
and often some of them accompany the Egyptian caravan of pilgrims to
Mekkeh. There are many of them in almost every large town in Egypt,
inhabiting a distinct portion of the quarter allotted to public women in
general. Their ordinary habitations are low huts, or temporary sheds, or
tents; for they often move from one town to another: but some of them
settle themselves in large houses; and many possess black female slaves
(by whose prostitution they increase their property), and camels, asses,
cows, etc., in which they trade. They attend the camps, and all the
great religious and other festivals; of which they are, to many persons,
the chief attractions. Numerous tents of Gházeeyehs are seen on these
occasions. Some of these women add, to their other allurements, the art
of singing; and equal the ordinary ’Awálim. Those of the lower class
dress in the same manner as other low prostitutes. Some of them wear a
gauze tób, over another shirt, with the shintiyán, and a crape or muslin
tarhah; and in general they deck themselves with a profusion of
ornaments, as necklaces, bracelets, anklets, a row of gold coins over
the forehead, and sometimes a nose-ring. All of them adorn themselves
with the kohl and henna. There are some other dancing-girls and
courtesans who call themselves Ghawázee, but who do not really belong to
that tribe.[481]
Many of the people of Cairo, affecting, or persuading themselves, to
consider that there is nothing improper in the dancing of the Ghawázee
but the fact of its being performed by females, who ought not thus to
expose themselves, employ men to dance in the same manner; but the
number of these male performers, who are mostly young men, and who are
called “Khäwals,”[482] is very small. They are Muslims, and natives of
Egypt. As they personate women, their dances are exactly of the same
description as those of the Ghawázee; and are, in like manner,
accompanied by the sounds of castanets: but, as if to prevent their
being thought to be really females, their dress is suited to their
unnatural profession; being partly male, and partly female: it chiefly
consists of a tight vest, a girdle, and a kind of petticoat. Their
general appearance, however, is more feminine than masculine: they
suffer the hair of the head to grow long, and generally braid it, in the
manner of the women: the hair on the face, when it begins to grow, they
pluck out; and they imitate the women also in applying kohl and henna to
their eyes and hands. In the streets, when not engaged in dancing, they
often even veil their faces; not from shame, but merely to affect the
manners of women. They are often employed, in preference to the
Ghawázee, to dance before a house, or in its court, on the occasion of a
marriage-fête, or the birth of a child, or a circumcision; and
frequently perform at public festivals.
There is, in Cairo, another class of male dancers, young men and boys,
whose performances, dress, and general appearance are almost exactly
similar to those of the Khäwals; but who are distinguished by a
different appellation, which is “Gink;” a term that is Turkish, and has
a vulgar signification which aptly expresses their character. They are
generally Jews, Armenians, Greeks, and Turks.
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Footnote 476:
Since this was written, public female dancing and prostitution were
prohibited by the government, in the beginning of June, 1834. Women
detected infringing this new law are to be punished with fifty stripes
for the first offence; and, for repeated offences, are to be also
condemned to hard labour for one or more years: men are obnoxious to
the discipline of the bastinado when parties in such offences. But
there is a simple plan for evading punishment in cases of this kind,
which, it is said, will be adopted by many persons. A man may marry a
venal female, legally, and divorce her the next day. He has only to
say two or three words, and pay a small sum of money, which he calls
her dowry. He says, “Will you marry me?” She answers, “Yes.” “For how
much?” he asks. She names the sum, and he gives it: she is then his
lawful wife. The next day he tells her that she is divorced from him.
He need be under little apprehension of her demanding the expenses of
her maintenance during the period of her ’eddeh, before the expiration
of which she cannot legally marry another man; for the marriage which
has just been contracted and dissolved is only designed as a means of
avoiding punishment in case of her being detected with the man; and
otherwise is kept secret; and the sum which she can demand for her
maintenance during the above-mentioned period is very paltry in
comparison with that which she may obtain by taking a new husband
every two or three days.
Footnote 477:
Lib. v., Epigr. 79.
Footnote 478:
Sat. xi., v. 162.
Footnote 479:
Commonly pronounced “Barám’keh.”
Footnote 480:
From the effect which it produced, it is probable that the dance
performed by the daughter of Herodias was of the kind here described.
See Matthew xiv. 6, 7, or Mark vi. 22, 23.
Footnote 481:
The courtesans of other classes abound in every town of Egypt; but in
and about the metropolis, these and the others before mentioned are
particularly numerous; some quarters being inhabited almost
exclusively by them. These women frequently conduct themselves with
the most audacious effrontery. Their dress is such as I have described
as being worn by the Ghawázee, or differs from that of respectable
women in being a little more gay, and less disguising. Some women of
the venal class in Cairo not only wear the burko’ (or face-veil), but
dress, in every respect, like modest women; from whom they cannot be
distinguished, excepting by those to whom they choose to discover
themselves. Such women are found in almost every quarter of the
metropolis. Many of them are divorced women, or widows; and many are
the wives of men whom business obliges to be often abroad.
Footnote 482:
The term “Gháïsh” (plural, “Gheeyásh”) is also applied to a person of
this class.
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