THE VILLAGE AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD
As one becomes acquainted with Palestine life to-day one is impressed
with the submissive attitude of the villagers towards the city dwellers,
especially towards the Moslem official class, _the effendîyeh_. But we
are assured by those within whose lifetime the period falls, that half a
century or more ago things were not so well ordered as now. For some
years before that time, according to veracious writers, there was a
state of internal turbulence in which the fellaḥîn were often in the
ascendency and the city people glad to treat with them. In those days
the walls of Jerusalem were of practical use in resisting the power of
the country folk. Two great parties divided the allegiance of the
villages. They were called Yemen and Ḳays. Headed by shaykhs and aided
by Bedawîn, these partisan villages waged feuds and rendered commerce
and travel precarious or impossible. Abu Ghôsh and his sons from their
vantage of Ḳuryet el-‛Anab held much of the country in terror of his
raids.[204] He levied toll on travelers and was too powerful to be
curbed by the government, such as it was, at Jerusalem. ‛Abd er-Raḥman
and other shaykhs held certain districts. The troops were few and the
Turkish hold on the country weak. The province came near to a condition
of anarchy. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.[205] To
this day any intelligent peasant will tell the inquirer which of the
villages are of the Yemeny and which of the Ḳaysy party. The lines of
division are still plain though the feuds are dormant. The Turkish
government has strengthened its position in the interior affairs of
Palestine steadily for forty or fifty years back. To-day there is not a
murmur that avails nor the disposition to antagonize the centralizing
authority of the ruler. Even the east-Jordan country appears to be
growing tame. Within a few years a firmer hold on the village situation
has been taken by the establishment of extra mudîr-ships, so that
instead of governing the village districts from Jerusalem and other
large centers by a squad of soldiers sent out occasionally to do police
duty or to bring in taxes, now a local official called a mudîr is placed
in the most important village of a small district. He is a subordinate
of the governor, _muteṣarrif_, of Jerusalem. By the appointment of such
as he a closer observation and administration are secured. At Râm Allâh
in 1903 a mudîr was appointed to have charge in that and a score of
other villages in a district thereabouts. Jerusalem is still the head of
those villages, but a compacter administration is effected.
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To the country peasant the chief functions of the government seem to be
those of restriction and oppression. The fear of imprisonment, fines and
confiscations keeps the peasants down. The imprisonment of a peasant
leaves no taint of dishonor, having as purely unfortunate an aspect as
confinement in a hospital. There is no such thing as successful
complaint unless it can assume such influence as would procure the
removal of the official involved. The peasants look suspiciously on
every movement of every officer, refusing to believe that any government
representative can have good intentions or do worthy actions. Government
provisions or improvements are looked upon as gloves for the hand that
is stretched out for more of the means of the villager. The taxes are
farmed out to tax-collectors whose approach is dreaded extremely.[206]
Every dozen years or so a new schedule of valuation is made by the
assessors, who travel about the country revaluing businesses and
properties. Their progress from village to village is the signal for
feasting, treating and bribing. The cost of the many attempts to
persuade these assessors to reduce valuations or readjust them in favor
of the briber must be considerable. There is a possibility that all such
attempts may be defeated by the revision of the entire list at
headquarters. The visits of the soldiers to a village are always
occasions of dread, and much relief is felt when they leave. On the
frontiers and in out-of-the-way places, where the task of the government
is less easy, a more conciliatory spirit is shown. In the Ghôr, for
instance, the tax may be paid in kind, and this always makes it easier
than the practise into which the collectors have fallen with the
villages. They drop in upon the villagers at odd times through the year,
long after the crop is out of the way, and demand money payment in cash.
This helps to make the fortunes of the local money lenders, but it
causes a double damage to the peasants, who are forced to sacrifice
their stores for low prices in ready money, or to mortgage their crop
expectations for the coming season.[207] At Bîr es-Seba‛ and all such
places where the government is seeking to strengthen its hold upon a
district, the early steps are taken courteously and softly and the later
with a nailed heel. At points east of the Jordan, where the problem of
every government that ever sought to control the country has been to
withstand, and finally to render impossible, the raids of the desert
tribes of nomads, the present government is slowly reclaiming the
country to authority. In some places colonies of Circassians have been
introduced as buffers on the frontiers.
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The tendency among the villagers is to settle their disputes so far as
possible without resort to the government. If quarreling arises and the
government gets information of it, soldiers are sent out to investigate
and compel order, and incidentally to secure as much money as possible.
To avoid these dreaded quarterings of soldiers on themselves, and to
escape the money-making ingenuity of city officials, who seem to welcome
quarrels and litigation for the profit ensuing, the disagreements and
even bitterer issues may be submitted to councils of neighbors.
Sometimes eight or ten men from a village will be asked to act as
arbitrators in the quarrel of another village. We know of one such case
where a quarrel of some years’ standing was settled by the assistance of
men from another village. The case had been complicated by the heavy
claim for damages put in by a man whose finger had been shot off by his
enemy. Very often, even after the government has apparently settled a
case, the parties concerned will come to an additional settlement,
through their representatives and friends, to wipe out all old scores
and the sense of personal resentment. Sheep, rice, semen, garments and
such country articles are used as presents back and forth until
good-will and satisfaction seem established by mutual consent.
The attitude of the local government to the people may be gathered from
the following incident. A Râm Allâh man, going back to his village from
Jerusalem, was entrusted by a friend in the city with the sum of four
napoleons, partly in gold and partly in change, to be taken to Râm
Allâh. The man put the money in a handkerchief, knotted it up and tucked
it into the bosom of his dress. It slipped out and fell to the ground
without his knowledge. A woman from Silwân picked it up, but was noticed
by a Jew, who demanded it, asserting that it was his. Then a third, who
was passing, put in a claim for the money. An officer coming upon the
party, seized the handkerchief with the money, saying that he would have
the public crier announce the find. The man who had lost the money did
not notice his loss until the afternoon. He went to the Serâi to claim
it. He described the handkerchief, the gold pieces and the small change,
but the officer denied the accuracy of the description. The man begged
to be allowed to see the find, declaring that if everything did not
agree with the description already offered the money was not his. The
officer, thus pressed, said, “Look here, no money goes out of the Serâi
when it once gets in,” and turned the peasant away. The loser made an
outcry and sought the help of one of his village’s shaykhs who happened
to be in the city. The poor have very scanty legal resources, but they
have an almost preternatural persistence and a genius for making
themselves disagreeable. Witnesses of the finding were brought and other
measures taken, despite repeated rebuffs. Finally the officer of the
Serâi acknowledged having the man’s money and gave him a receipt for
four napoleons which could be presented in lieu of payment of future
taxes to that amount. Further satisfaction it was impossible to obtain.
Those who ought to know claim that the body of Turkish law is excellent
and that impartial administration of it would be all that could be
asked. But administration is lamed by the refusal of the courts to
recognize in any practical way the testimony of those who are not
Moslems and, among the Moslems, of those who are not rich. The court
performs merely a formal function, the cases being determined in most
illegal ways. No case is taken to court when there is any possible way
of keeping it out and settling it. If a case must come up in court one
seeks out among the influential official class of the city the most
powerful help he can afford to pay for and forestalls his opponent, if
possible, the court being a mere incident in the problem. Does a
squabble take place in a village and is some one injured with an
ever-ready stone? The families of the participants would fain patch up
the matter themselves, but they know very well that the news will soon
reach the city and that soldiers will be sent out to investigate. The
result will be arrests and heavy fines all around. To anticipate this,
representatives of either side may be seen hastening along the road to
Jerusalem. The first one in tells his story and buys up friends among
the officials. The most money counts, but the officials take care that
each side of the matter is made profitable to themselves. The case may
drag on for months, scores of dollars being reaped by the officials, who
may then consent to an amicable agreement among the principals. And yet,
the fear of such pecuniary consequences acts as a restraining influence
in many villages in which there is not a single official representative
of the government. Such villages are controlled through an abundance of
talebearing. On the other hand, who can blame an underpaid class of
influentials for welcoming lucrative disturbances? Those who hold office
have to pay largely for the privilege, and the salary being merely
nominal, they have to reimburse themselves and live in the only way that
Turkish practise encourages.
The officials in charge of the important posts are usually sent from
Constantinople and are not generally citizens of Palestine.
The levies of troops are sent for service to parts of the empire distant
from their homes, so that the local soldiery in Palestine has little in
common with the people.
One will be pained to miss the spirit of public weal, the commiseration
of the unfortunate or the willingness to undertake enterprises that
would be for the general good. Absolutism means individualism only
relieved by the wonderful tie of kinship and family among the common
people.
There is a local Turkish postal service, with offices at all the large
centers and in some of the inland villages of importance. Mail destined
to points without the empire must bear postage stamps of a different
issue from those affixed to domestic matter. The readiest way to
distinguish these two issues is to notice that the stamps allowed to go
out of the country are provided with the emblem of the crescent at each
of the upper corners, while the stamps restricted to domestic use have
but one crescent at the top, and that in the middle of the top line.
[Illustration: PRIMITIVE RUG WEAVING (BEDAWIN)]
[Illustration: STRAW MAT AND BASKET MAKING: JIFNA WOMAN]
Besides the Turkish postal facilities there are also, by special rights
of extraterritoriality, offices and services by the posts of other
countries. At Jerusalem and Jaffa there are Austrian, French, German and
Russian post-offices. The Germans have one at Ramleh also. The telegraph
service is in charge of the government and connects a number of towns
east and west of the Jordan with each other and the outside world. The
service is reasonable in price, but precarious in results. I once
telegraphed from Beirut to Jerusalem and asked the operator if the
message would reach its destination by noon, then several hours away,
and was answered, “If God wills.” During the unquiet times in Beirut in
the summer of 1903 some one in Jerusalem, anxious concerning friends in
the disturbed city, essayed to send the simple inquiry, “Are you well?”
but the message was refused at the office. No reference, inquiry or
information is ever allowed, officially, concerning any troubles in any
part of the empire. Nevertheless, news has a remarkable way of sifting
into the country and passing from lip to lip very rapidly. When the
Ottoman Bank was dynamited in Salonîka the news quickly reached the
ports on the Syrian coasts and went as a rumor all through the country.
For some reason or other, messages by telegraph and cable for European
and American destinations, and messages from those places, often take
three or four days in transmission, and sometimes longer, if, indeed,
they “come through” at all.
Travel to and from Palestine is often impeded by the imposition of
quarantines against certain ports. Very much of the time a quarantine of
from five to ten days is ordered against vessels from Egyptian ports,
and sometimes from other directions. The excuse for the discrimination
against Egypt is usually the bubonic plague, sometimes cholera. All
vessels from Egypt must proceed to Beirut, or some other port provided
with a quarantine station, and pass the required time. If, in returning
to Jaffa after the quarantine, severe storms should hinder a landing,
and the vessel should proceed southward to touch an Egyptian port again,
the quarantine would again be enforced on the ship and passengers, and
the same procedure as before be necessary. Passengers have thus been
carried by Jaffa more times than once and greatly hampered, even though
they had joined the ship at Beirut only, with Jaffa as their
destination. These inconveniences are overshadowed by the crippling
effect on trade and travel when a state of panic has resulted in the
enforcement of quarantine back and forth between different ports, and
even different towns and villages within the country itself.
The coastwise traffic is carried on by means of several lines of
steamships: the Khedevieh Line, under English control; the Russian, the
Austrian Lloyd, the French, “Messageries,” and sometimes the German
Lloyd. Some of these touch at Haifa as well as at Jaffa and Beirut.
There is a little coasting steamboat that plies between Haifa and
Beirut, touching at Acre, Tyre and Sidon. This is called the Jolly Boat,
but unless one is an extraordinarily good sailor I should advise him not
to be beguiled by that name. On the other lines mentioned there are
generally three classes of passage tickets. The deck passage is taken by
many Orientals, who travel with ample equipment of bedding, food and
bottle-pipes, and camp out on the decks day and night. Much of their
time is spent in the routine of family duties and religious observances.
The rest is devoted to music, stories and games. Mohammedans, Jews,
Greeks, Copts, Abyssinians and Armenians are seen at their devotions.
Their object may be trade, migration, military service or a religious
mission. Many are pilgrims, saving long and tedious land travel by the
swifter, safer and healthier journey on sea.
The railway service actually working in Syria consists of the line
between Jaffa and Jerusalem, the service between Beirut and Damascus,
the extension from Reyâḳ on the Damascus line through Ba‛albek, and the
line from Damascus southward to Mezayrîb and the east-Jordan country,
destined ultimately to reach Mekka. A line from Haifa to connect with
this latter line is under way. Two classes of passage are provided. The
cars generally have compartments, though some, as the second class on
the Jaffa-Jerusalem line, have one-room cars with seats running along
both sides and a bench through the middle. Even in the second-class cars
a separate section is often provided for the use of women. This section
is known as the _ḥarîm_. In the seclusion of the ḥarîm apartment the
women may put off their veils and have the freedom of the place. When
the conductor comes for the tickets he raps sharply on the door of the
ḥarîm to give the women warning. After sufficient time has been allowed
them for veiling their faces the conductor may step inside if necessary
for the collection of fares. The word _ḥarîm_ signifies any place
reserved for the exclusive use of women. It may be in a dwelling, a mosk
or a railway-train, or it may apply to the group of women sitting under
a tree or on the roadside or in the cemetery. This term, generally
spelled _harem_ in English, has no polygamous connotation in itself
whatever. A man’s wife, mother, sisters and daughters, as we should say
collectively, _the women of the family_, are denoted by the analogous
expression ḥarîm.
The great majority of travelers go afoot or astride the backs of
animals. Pilgrimage opens connection with the outside world and makes
the road travel take on a cosmopolitan look. The largest contingent of
foreign pilgrims is that from Russia, made up of peasants, who number
sometimes as high as ten thousand in one season. These are, of course,
members of the Greek Orthodox Church. They are assisted by a pilgrimage
society in Russia and by a system of escort and hospices within the
country of Palestine. Montenegrin kawasses (cavasses) and other officers
guide the parties. Arrived at Jaffa by Russian steamships, they
undertake long marches afoot and show every sign of religious ecstasy at
beholding the land of their desire. A few asses are provided for the
infirm. Young people, particularly very young women, are not usually
allowed to come. The pilgrims are for the most part middle-aged or old
peasants. They live very humbly and visit the holy places with great
zeal. They often march through the country singing, picking flowers and
decorating with them their pilgrim staffs. The observance of Easter at
the shrine in Jerusalem is the climax of such a pilgrim’s errand, but
additional journeys of devotion are undertaken to Nazareth, Bethlehem;
also the Jordan, where the pilgrims bathe in the waters. At the Church
of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem all the traditions are observed and
many objects of piety, as they are called, pictures, crosses and
souvenirs of the Holy City, are purchased to be taken back to Russia.
Some of these are carried within the tomb and laid on the venerated
slab, where, for a few cents, an attendant of the church sprinkles the
articles with holy water, thus giving them a permanent value as sacred
treasures.
These Russian pilgrims often suffer severely when caught on the road in
raw, inclement weather. Such as die in the land are counted as favored,
especially if they die at Jerusalem. They thus secure burial near its
sacred shrines. A large caravanserâi is provided at Jerusalem, where
they set up housekeeping while in the city. On the road, hospices and
the Greek churches are open to them. One’s general impression is that
they are well protected. They usually change their money into metliks,
small Turkish coins valued at a little over a cent. In Jerusalem a
number of shops cater especially for their trade. These are arranged in
the sides of the street leading to the gates of the Russian Compound,
within which the lodging quarters, a fine church and the administration
buildings are found. They are thus enabled to hear their own language
and buy tea, bread and other articles of food somewhat familiar to them.
The pilgrim business brings Russian interests to the notice of the
country people. The result has generally been a favorable attitude on
the part of Palestinians towards Russians. This has been helped by a
generous expenditure of money for courtesies as well as in the purchase
of land and the construction of buildings. Churches, schools and
hospices have been erected and much land has been transferred to the
Russian agents.
Other pilgrim parties arrive from different countries of Europe. The
Roman Catholics from France and Austria are most numerous after the
Russians. For a quarter of a century past, a large French party of
tourist pilgrims has been made up each year to start from Marseilles and
make the Palestine visit. The round trip costs about two hundred fifty
dollars. We saw the party in May, 1901, when it numbered one hundred
ninety-four. They entered the country at Haifa, drove by carriage to
Nazareth and to the Sea of Galilee. Thence they rode to the top of Mount
Tabor, where there is a Roman Catholic as well as a Greek monastery, and
so on down through the country via Dôtân (Dothan), Samaria, Shechem,
etc., to Jerusalem. The Franciscan monasteries and the hospices of other
foundations give ample accommodations. The Armenians, Copts and
Abyssinians, also, as well as the Greeks other than Russians, make ample
provision for the entertainment of the religious pilgrims. Whenever the
rightful claimants on the hospitality of these various houses do not
take all the accommodations, any foreign traveler may find shelter and
assistance at them. In some cases letters of introduction from the
Jerusalem patriarchates are required, but these are not difficult to
secure. The German hotels in the country are excellent providers for the
wants of tourists.
The companies of tourists, if they are to be distinguished from the
pilgrim parties, are generally made up of Americans, English and
Germans, the first mentioned being the more numerous. Tourists go in
parties under the care of a director and his corps of assistants, or
sometimes singly or in very small parties with a native guide. Sometimes
the travelers depend on the shelter of hotels, monasteries and native
houses by the way; sometimes they take a complete outfit for a tenting
party. Horses are provided for the travelers, and mules for carrying
baggage and equipment. Supplies are usually purchased at such
starting-points as Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut and Haifa. The peasants
along the route are on the alert to sell services or beg favors.
For any extensive travel through the country an official certificate is
required. Foreigners and natives must have these official papers, called
_teskerehs_, which describe the bearer’s person, residence and
destination. They must be produced, when required, and at the
destination must be stamped as a sort of permit for the return journey.
Without this authorization delays are apt to occur and fines may be
imposed before the defect can be remedied.
The Turkish coinage alone is sure of general acceptability in the back
districts.
The different posts register parcels and sell money-orders at very
reasonable rates. For sending small sums to and from the country the
money-orders on the Austrian, French or German post-offices have proved
the safest and cheapest way. There are forwarders whose business it is
to assist in the passage of goods through the ports, and to see to
customs, freights and insurance on the same. Mr. K. U. L. Breisch and
the Messrs. Singer, of Jaffa and Jerusalem, do a great deal of this
business for Europeans and Americans. Baggage should always be in
trunks; never, if it is avoidable, cased up in boxes, as it is then very
difficult to explain to the officials the difference between personal
effects and merchandise. Most of the leading tourist agents, forwarders
and dragomans have an understanding by which trunks are passed through
the customs without opening, on payment of a small fee, especially if a
considerable number of people are traveling together.
The Credit Lyonnaise and the Deutsche Palestina Bank are very much used
by foreigners. Drafts on London and letters of credit are in constant
use.
The consulates are retreats of great comfort in Asiatic Turkey. The
complaints that are so often heard against such service in other
countries are changed to praise in Syria. One may expect intelligence
and consideration on the part of the official of one’s own race and
tongue, but one should not make unreasonable demands upon even a
countryman. The United States of America and Great Britain are nobly
represented by men who understand both the Western and Eastern points of
view.
One traveling in the country and getting at all familiar with the people
will be sought pretty surely by persons who wish to be helped to
emigrate to America or some other Western country. The first impulse
will be the generous one to assist such in their ambitions. But on
second thought one will often reflect that it would be a doubtful
kindness. The Syrian peasant, especially the Christian, who is most apt
to wish to go, is surrounded by family interests and a respect that he
could seldom, if ever, enjoy anywhere else. If he emigrates he usually
goes alone and has chiefly in mind the earning of money. While in
America he acquires little culture, being a sort of exile here,
endeavoring to make and save money to take him back to live comfortably
where he was born, or immersing himself for life in one of the foreign
colonies of our great cities. A visit to the Syrian colonies in the
American cities will convince many that the Syrian there is less
attractive than in his proper and unique setting in the Holy Land. That
land is to be redeemed by the vigor of its own people, not by their
absence. One will notice that many of the would-be emigrants are of the
best stock of Syria, very often skilful, wide-awake people, who are very
valuable at home in the development of the country and among their
families, but are of negligible quality and importance in another
country, where foreigners are at a discount. I have in mind a strong,
capable young man whose desire for emigration to America has been very
earnest. He gave up a good position and made ready to start, but his
wife interposed firmly. She said that she had been widowed once, having
lost her first husband. According to the custom of the country, when she
married again her children by the first husband had to be separated from
her. She objected to losing her second husband and being left with his
children, helpless to provide for them except by giving them up. So she
said that if her husband would take their children along with him she
would submit, but she objected to his going off on a venture of so
uncertain issue and leaving his family in such a precarious condition.
She prevailed, and the man remained, being fortunate enough to secure
his old position. He is a respected, capable young man of large and fond
family connections. His wife is industrious and skilful, his children
young, healthy and favored. He has the advantage of being a somebody in
his village and tribe and of setting an excellent example. Anywhere else
he would be cut off from all his advantages and introduced to an
appalling list of disadvantages and limitations. He would be homesick,
for he loves his family. Money alone would explain his absence from
them, and that would not be a sufficient cause for the unnatural
condition which would be brought about. It is these good people whom
their country cannot spare and whom no Western country especially needs
who are most apt to have the emigration fever. Those who do not come up
to this high standard are of questionable value anywhere.
APPENDIX
THE CALENDAR
In 1904, January 1, according to our Gregorian calendar, came on Friday.
The Julian calendar, the one used by the Greek Orthodox Church, made
this same day the nineteenth of December. According to the Moslem
calendar it was the thirteenth day of the month Shawwâl, and by the
Hebrew calendar, as it is read in Arabic by the Jews in Palestine, it
was the thirteenth day of the month Ṭebet. For the year 1904 the
correspondences of the four calendars were as given on the next page.
The following list shows the names of the months, as used by the native
Arabic-speaking Christians (first column), by the Moslems (second
column), and by the Jews (third column):
Kânûn ith-thâny Shawwâl Ṭebet
Shibâṭ Dhû il-ḳa‛dat Shabâṭ
Âdhâr Dhû il-ḥajjat Âdâr
Nîsân Muḥarram Nîsân
Âyyâr Ṣafar Âyyâr
Ḥazîrân Rabî‛a il-âwwal Sîwân
Tammûz Rabî‛a il-âkhir Tammûz
Âb Jumâdâ il-ûlâ Âb
Aylûl Jumâdâ il-âkhirat Aylûl
Tishrîn il-âwwal Rajab Tishry
Tishrîn ith-thâny Sha‛bân Ḥishwân
Kânûn il-âwwal Ramaḍân Kislû
The Oriental churches use the Julian calendar, while Protestants and
Roman Catholics use the Gregorian. The Moslem year is a lunar year. Thus
it can be understood readily that the variety of designations for any
given day is considerable. Moreover, the Copts and the Armenians have
methods peculiar to themselves.
GREGORIAN JULIAN
January 1 Kânûn ith-thâny 1 Kânûn il-âwwal 19
14 14 Kânûn ith-thâny 1
18 18 5
February 1 Shibâṭ 1 19
14 14 Shibâṭ 1
17 17 4
March 1 Âdhâr 1 17
14 14 Âdhâr 1
17 17 4
18 18 5
April 1 Nîsân 1 19
14 14 Nîsân 1
16 16 3
17 17 4
May 1 Âyyâr 1 18
14 14 Âyyâr 1
15 15 2
16 16 3
June 1 Ḥazîrân 1 19
14 14 Ḥazîrân 1
15 15 2
July 1 Tammûs 1 18
13 13 30
14 14 Tammûs 1
August 1 Âb 1 19
12 12 30
13 13 31
14 14 Âb 1
September 1 Aylûl 1 19
10 10 28
11 11 29
14 14 Aylûl 1
October 1 Tishrîn 1 18
il-âwwal
10 10 27
11 11 28
14 14 Tishrîn 1
il-âwwal
November 1 Tishrîn 1 19
ith-thâny
9 9 27
14 14 Tishrîn 1
ith-thâny
December 1 Kânûn il-âwwal 1 18
9 9 26
14 14 Kânûn il-âwwal 1
MOSLEM HEBREW
January 1 Shawwâl 13 Ṭebet 13
14 26 26
18 Dhû il-ḳa‛dat 1 Shabâṭ 1
February 1 15 15
14 28 28
17 Dhû il-ḥajjat 1 Âdâr 1
March 1 14 14
14 27 27
17 30 Nîsân 1
18 Muḥarram 1 2
April 1 15 16
14 28 29
16 30 Âyyâr 1
17 Ṣafar 1 2
May 1 15 16
14 28 29
15 29 Sîwân 1
16 Rabî‛a il-âwwal 1 2
June 1 17 18
14 30 Tammûs 1
15 Rabî‛a il-âkhir 1 2
July 1 17 18
13 29 Âb 1
14 Jumâdâ il-ûlâ 1 2
August 1 19 20
12 30 Aylûl 1
13 Jumâdâ 1 2
il-âkhirat
14 2 3
September 1 20 21
10 29 Tishry 1
11 Rajab 1 2
14 4 5
October 1 21 22
10 30 Ḥishwân 1
11 Sha‛bân 1 2
14 4 5
November 1 22 23
9 Ramaḍân 1 Kislû 1
14 6 6
December 1 23 23
9 Shawwâl 1 Ṭebet 1
14 6 6
TIME
In Palestine villages the time of day is reckoned with reference to
sunset, which is called twelve o’clock. If the sun should set at six
o’clock, European time, then seven o’clock in the evening, as we should
say, would be called the first hour of the night by the Arabs, and seven
o’clock the next morning by our watches would be the first hour of the
day according to Arab time. The two methods of keeping the time are
termed, respectively, Arabi and Franji.