THE MODERN EGYPTIANS.
INTRODUCTION.
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 state 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, except 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 that prevail in Abyssinia and the
neighbouring
countries begin to shew 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, except 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 “elkhamáseen”
1), 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°,
2 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,
1 Respecting this term, see a note to the
first paragraph of Chapter XXVI.
2 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.
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
middle 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 visiters 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 often even in the day;
and
almost 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
seasons 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 before my second
visit to Egypt,
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
occurred, except in the parts above
mentioned, and in
those parts the pestilence was not
severe.
1 Ophthalmia is
1 This remark was written before the
terrible plague of the 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
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 was informed, on high
authority, that the government made it a rule to report
only half the number
of deaths in this case.
also
more common in
Lower Egypt than in the
southern
parts. It generally arises from cheeked
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.
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 “Maṣr,”
1 more properly, “Miṣr;” but was formerly
named “El-Ḳáhireh;” “whence Europeans have formed the
name of
Cairo. It is situate at the entrance of the
valley of
Upper Egypt, midway between the Nile and
the eastern
1 This is the name by which the modern
Egyptians call their country, as
well as its metropolis.
mountain range of the Muḳaṭṭam. 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 Booláḳ is
situate), 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,
during my second visit (since which it has much increased in
consequence of the reduction of the army and from other
causes), I calculated to amount to 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, situate 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.
1 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
by-streets and quarters. Most of the
by-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 bystreet
passing through them.
2Of the private houses of the metropolis it is particularly
necessary that I should give a description. The
accompanying
1 Views of shops in Cairo will be found in a subsequent Chapter.
2 A great thoroughfare-street is called
“sháre'”; a by-street, “darb”; a
lane, “'aṭfeh”; and a
quarter, “hárah.”
Private Houses in Cairo.
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,
1 particularly in large
houses; as is the case with most mosques.
2 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. It is generally without a
parapet.
The most usual architectural style of the entrance of a
private house in
Cairo
is shewn by the sketch in the following
page. The door is
often ornamented in the manner there
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
Great Creator, the Everlasting” (the object of which will
be
1 With red ochre and limewash.
2 This mode of decorating the houses became
more general than it had been
previously in consequence of
an order of the government, whereby the inhabitants
were
required thus to honour the arrival of Ibráheem Báshà from
Syria. Several years later, the
people of Cairo were ordered to
whitewash
the superstructures of their houses; and
thus the picturesque aspect of the
city was much injured;
the contrast between the white walls and the dark
wood of
the old windows producing a disagreeable effect.
The street in the view which I have given 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 months. On account of their facilitating
the spreading of fires,
their construction has of late
years been prohibited.
Door of a Private House in Cairo.
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.
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 made 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 presently mentioned. 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 given in the
following
page.
1 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
1 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 shews 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.
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.
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,” &c. Some
projecting
windows are wholly constructed of boards, and a
few of these
lean forward, from the bottom upwards, at an
angle of about
20°, being open at the top for the admission of
light. Some of
the more common form 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°.
1 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 latticework,
2 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.
The houses in general are two or three stories high; and
almost every house that is sufficiently large encloses an
open,
unpaved court, called a “ḥósh,” 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 “maṣṭabah,”
3 built against
the back or side wall,
for the door-keeper 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,
1 Windows with European sashes of glass,
each with a sash of close trelliswork
outside the lower
half, have lately become common in new houses, in
many
parts of Cairo. They are mostly in
houses built in the Turkish style,
more or less
approaching to European fashions; not well adapted to a hot
climate, though comfortable in winter.
2 Commonly similar to No. 1 or No. 5.
3 Pronounced “maṣṭab'ah.”
Court of a Private House in Cairo.
two
water-jars, which are daily replenished with water of
the
Nile, brought from the river in skins.
1 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.
2In general, there is, on the ground-floor, an apartment
called a “manḍarah,”
3 in which male visiters 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
about four or five inches lower than the rest; this
part is
called the “durká'ah.”
4 In a handsome house, the
duṛká'ah
of the manḍarah 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
“fasḳeeyeh”) which plays into a small,
shallow pool, lined
with coloured marbles, &c., like
the surrounding pavement.
I give, as a specimen, the pattern
of the pavement of a
durḳá'ah, such as I have above described,
and a sketch of the
fountain. The water that falls from the
fountain is drained
off from the pool by a pipe. There is
generally, fronting
the door, at the end of the durḳá'ah, a
shelf of marble or of
common stone, about four feet high,
called a “ṣuffeh,”
1 Some large houses have two courts: the
inner for the ḥareem; and in
the latter, or both of these,
there is usually a little enclosure of arched woodwork,
in
which trees and flowers are raised. The most common kind of tree
n the court of a house is the grape-vine or the mulberry;
but with one or
both of these we often find the banana,
the palm, and other trees.
2 In the view which I have given of the
court of a house, the door of the ḥareem is that which faces the spectator.
3 Pronounced “manḍar'ah.”
4 Apparently a corruption of the Persian
“dargáh.” — The frontispiece to
this work will serve to
illustrate the description of the manḍarah.
Pavement of a “Durḳá'ah.” — The width of this is about eight feet.
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, &c., are placed
Fountain.
Ṣuffeh.
upon the ṣuffeh. In handsome houses, the arches of the
ṣuffeh are faced with marble and tile, like the pool of the
fountain; see the two sketches 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 durḳá'ah. The
estrade,
or raised part of the floor of the room, is called
“leewán.”
1 Every person slips off his shoes on the durḳá'ah
before he steps upon the leewán.
2 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 about three feet, or somewhat less,
in
width, and three or four inches thick, is generally
placed on
the ground; 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. Sometimes
the mattress is supported by a frame made of
palmsticks,
called “sereer:” and sometimes it lies upon a
platform
of stone, about half a foot high, called
“sidilleh” or
“sidillè,” a word of Persian origin, and also
applied to a
recess, of which the floor is similarly elevated,
and nearly
equal in width and depth, with a mattress and
cushions laid
against one, or two, or each, of its three
sides. Some rooms
have one, and some have two or more, of such
recesses,
generally used as sitting-places in cool
weather, and therefore
without windows. The walls of the room
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
1 The “leewán” is not to be confounded with
the “deewán,” which is
afterwards mentioned. It is also,
sometimes, called “eewán,” which more
properly signifies
“an open-fronted porch or portico,” and “a palace,” &c.
“Leewán” and “eewán” are both of Persian origin: but the
former is
commonly said to be a corruption of “el-eewán.”
2 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.
Specimens of Panel-work.—These are represented on a scale of one inch to twenty-four or thirty.
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. I insert a
few select specimens. 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 durḳá'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.
1 In the example which I
insert, the colours are
as indicated in the sḳetch of a
portion of the same on a
larger scale, except 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
inserted.
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.
In some houses (as in that which is the subject of the
engraving in page 12) there is another room, called a
“maḳ'ad,” generally elevated about eight or ten feet above
the ground-floor, for the same use as the manḍarah, having
an open front, with two or more arches, and a low railing;
Ceiling of a Durká'ah Ceiling of a projecting Window
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 (called “dikkeh”) 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.
Among the upper apartments, or those of the ḥareem,
there is generally one called a “ḳá'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 durḳá'ah that divides
the
two leewáns, is more elevated than the rest, and has, in
the
centre, a small lantern, called “mẹmraḳ,” the sides of
which
are composed of lattice-work, like the windows before
described, and support a cupola. The durḳá'ah is commonly
without a fountain; but is often paved in a similar manner
to
that of the manḍarah: which the ḳá'ah also resembles in
having
a handsome ṣuffeh, 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.
1 All
the apartments are lofty,
generally fourteen feet or more in
1 In the larger houses, and some others,
there is also, adjoining the
principal saloon of the
ḥareem, an elevated closet, designed as an orchestra, for
female singers, to conceal them from the view of the men of the family,
as
well as from that of the male guests if any of
these (the women having
retired) be present. A description
of this will be found in the chapter on
music.
A Ḳá'ah.
height;
but the ḳá'ah is the largest and most lofty room,
and in a
large house it is a noble saloon.
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 “ḳamareeyehs,”
1
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. In
most cases, these daubs have been executed to
gratify the bad
taste of Turks; and they are seldom seen in
houses of good
Arabian architecture. Sometimes the walls are
beautifully
ornamented with Arabic inscriptions, of
maxims, &c., which
are more usually written on paper,
in an embellished style,
and enclosed in glazed frames. No
chambers are furnished
as bed-rooms. The bed, in the day-time,
is rolled up, and
placed on one side, or in an adjoining
closet, called
“khazneh,” which, in the winter, is a
sleeping-place: in
1 This word is derived from “ḳamar” (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-Ṭooloon, 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.
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:
1 the room is warmed, when necessary, by
burning charcoal in a chafing-dish. Many houses have, at
the top, a sloping shed, mainly of boards, or of timbers
and
reeds, the latter plastered and whitewashed within and
without,
called a “malḳaf,”
2 directed towards the north,
and
open in that direction, and generally on the west side
also, to
convey to a “fes-ḥah” or “fesaḥah” (an open
apartment)
below, the cool breezes which generally blow
from those
quarters. There is commonly a fes-ḥah before the
entrance
of one or more of the principal apartments; and
in it the
family often sit and sleep in the hot season.
Every door is furnished with a wooden lock, called a
“ḍabbeh,” the mechanism of which is shown by a sketch
in
the next page. 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
1 Except 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.
2 See again the engraving in p. 12.
of a
street-door is commonly about fourteen inches long:
1
those of the doors of apartments, cupboards, &c., are about
seven, or eight, or nine inches. The locks of the gates of
quarters, public buildings, &c., are of the same
kind, and
mostly two feet, or even more, in length. It is not
difficult
to pick this kind of lock.
Wooden 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”
2), 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
1 This is the measure of the sliding bolt.
2 This term is also applied, sometimes, to
the door of the ḥareem.
is also
common to make a hiding-place for treasure (called
“makhbà”)
in some part of the house. In the ḥareem of a
large house
there is generally a bath, which is heated in the
same manner
as the public baths.
Another style of building, after the fashion of Turkey,
lately very generally adopted for houses of the more
wealthy,
has been mentioned before (page 11, note 1).
These houses
do not differ much from those already described,
except in
the windows, and these are generally placed almost
close
together.
When shops occupy the lower part of the buildings in a
street (as is generally the case in the great thorough fares
of
the metropolis, and in some of the by-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
rabạ 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 nor a
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.
1Very few large or handsome houses are to be seen in Egypt,
except 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
1 Franks, however, are now exempted from
this restriction.
two or
more apartments; though few are two stories high.
In one of
these apartments, in the houses of the peasants in
Lower Egypt, there is generally an oven
(“furn”), at the
end furthest 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,
&c., 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 roofs of the huts, with crude brick,
pottery, and
mud.
1 Most of the villages of Egypt are situate
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, or of
an ancient town, 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 before this work was
1 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.
written, a calculation was made, founded on the number of
houses in Egypt, and the supposition that the inhabitants of
each house in the metropolis amounted 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 Maṣr
el-'Ateeḳah contain
each, on the average, at least five
persons: Rasheed (or
Rosetta) is half deserted; but as to the
crowded town of
Dimyáṭ
1 (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 afterwards
became
reduced. Of 2,500,000 souls, I supposed about
1,200,000 to
be males; and one-third of this number (400,000)
to be men
fit for military service: from this latter number
Moḥammad
'Alee had 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 have far exceeded 300,000:
consequently, I
reckoned the whole population as less than two
millions.
The numbers of the principal classes of the
population I
found to be nearly as follow:—
2
Muslim Egyptians
(felláḥeen,
or peasants, and
townspeople) |
1,750,000 |
Christian
Egyptians
(Copts) |
150,000 |
| 'Osmánlees, or Turks |
10,000 |
| Syrians |
5,000 |
| Greeks |
5,000 |
| Armenians |
2,000 |
| Jews |
5,000 |
1 Vulgarly called “Dumyáṭ.”
2 The numbers given in a recent Government
census will be found in an
Appendix to this work.
Of the
remainder (namely, Arabians, Western Arabs. Nubians,
Negro
slaves, Memlooks [or white male slaves], female white
slaves,
Franks, &c.), supposed to amount 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.
1Cairo, I have said, contained
about 240,000 inhabitants
when this work was written.
2
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
by-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.
3
The gardens, several burial-grounds,
the courts of houses, and
the mosques, also occupy a
considerable space. Of the
inhabitants of the metropolis, I
computed about 190,000 to be
Egyptian Muslims; about
10,000, Copts; 3,000 or 4,000, Jews;
and the rest, strangers
from various countries.
4 The population of Egypt in the times of the Pharaohs was
probably about six or seven millions.
5 The produce of
the
1 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.
2 The population of Cairo had increased to this amount, from about
200,000, within three or four years. Since the
computation here stated was
made, the plague of 1835
destroyed not fewer than one-third of its inhabitants,
as
before mentioned; but this deficiency was rapidly supplied from the
villages.
3 The largest of these lakes, which was (as
its place is still) called Birket
El-Ezbekeeyeh, was
filled up and planted with trees a few years after the
present work was written.
4 About one-third of the population of the
metropolis consists of adult
males. Of this number I
reckoned about 30,000 to be merchants, petty shopkeepers,
and artisans; 20,000, domestic servants; 15,000, common labourers,
porters, &c.: the remainder chiefly consisting of
military and civil servants of
the government.
5 I place but little reliance on the
accounts of ancient authors on this subject.
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.
1
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.
In considering the policy of Moḥammad 'Alee, I could not
but lament the difference of the state of Egypt under his
rule
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
have been effected in it by a truly enlightened
government;
by a prince who (instead of impoverishing the
peasantry
by depriving them of their lands, by his
monopolies of the
most valuable productions of the soil, and
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 have
given his people a greater interest in the
cultivation of the
fields, and made 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
1 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.
articles of foreign manufacture, and all the natural productions
of foreign countries, that the wants of its inhabitants
demand.
11 During the year 1835 more than 100,000 bales
of cotton (each bale
weighing a hundred-weight and
three-quarters) were shipped at Alexandria.
The price paid for
this quantity by the merchants exceeded 700,000l. The
quantity exported in the year next preceding was
34,000 bales, which is considerably
less than usual.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER I.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, AND DRESS, OF THE
MUSLIM
EGYPTIANS.
M
USLIMS, in a great degree 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,
Maṣr (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, and
just
seven-eighths of that of all Egypt.
The Muslim Egyptians are a mixed race, in a great
measure 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.
These Arab immigrants were chiefly tribes of the
desert;
but their abandonment of the life of wanderers for
that of
agriculturists or citizens, and the frequent intermarriages
of
themselves and their descendants with Copts
who became
proselytes to the faith of El-Islám, have resulted
in the
production of a race bearing, in general, much resemblance
to
the ancient Egyptians; whose type was predominantly
Caucasian,
but inclining in various degrees towards
that of the Negro. In
many individuals among them we
find this resemblance to be
strikingly exact, though more
frequently in Copts and in
Nubians; and in the Muslim
Egyptians (as well as in the Copts)
it is generally most observable
in Middle and
Upper Egypt. Yet they are to be
regarded as not less genuine Arabs than many of the
townspeople
of Arabia itself; among whom has long and
very
generally prevailed a custom of keeping Galla and
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 now
bear almost
as much resemblance to the Gallas and Abyssinians
as to the
Bedawees, or Arabs of the Desert. Such, at least, is
the case
in the towns of the south-western side of Arabia: in
the
southern parts of that country, the townspeople are
much
intermixed with Indian and Malayan races, as well as
with
Africans. In the Egyptians in general, and in the
Arabians
also, though in a less degree, an admixture of
aboriginal
African blood is plainly discernible. The term
“'Arab,”
1 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 “'Orban” is
also used; and a single
individual is called “Bedawee.”
2 In
the metropolis and
1 This term was formerly used to designate
the Arabian townspeople and
villagers, while the Arabs who dwelt in
the Desert were called “Aạráb,” or
“Aạrábees.” The Arabs dwelling in houses now term
themselves “Owlád-el-'Arab,”
or Sons of the Arabs.
2 Feminine, “Bedaweeyeh.”
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.
In various parts of the country, there are families,
or small
tribes, descended from Arab settlers who have
generally
disdained marrying women of less pure race than
themselves;
and these are hardly, if at all, to be distinguished
in their
persons from the tribes in the Arabian
deserts. 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.”
1 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.”
2 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,”
3 or
“the People
of Pharaoh;” the latter, when they dare to do so,
retorting
by calling the former “Ahl-Nemrood,” or “the
People of
Nimrod.”
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, except a
few in the metropolis and other towns,
rendered so by a life
of inactivity. In
Cairo, and
throughout
1 In the feminine “Masreeyeh,” “Bint-Masr,” and “Bint-el-Beled.”
3 Thus commonly pronounced for “Fir'own.”
the
northern provinces, where immigrants from more
temperate
climates have been most numerous, 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,
and where Egyptians gradually give place to
Nubians. 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, or
appear to be so in consequence of a
common habit of depressing
the eyebrows for the sake of
shade; and are black and
brilliant; but not without some
resemblance to those of
Ethiopian races: the nose is straight,
but rather thick: the
mouth well formed: the lips are rather
full than otherwise:
the teeth particularly beautiful; and so,
if we may judge from
the generality of the mummies, were
those of the ancient
Egyptians:
1 the beard is commonly
black and
curly, but scanty. I have seen very few individuals
among them
with gray eyes; and these may be
reasonably regarded as the
offspring or descendants of
Egyptian women by Europeans or by
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 of the eyes. They generally shave
portions of the
beard above and below the lower jaw, and
likewise a small
portion under the lower lip, leaving,
however, after the
example of the Prophet, the hairs that grow
in the middle
under the mouth; or, instead of shaving these
parts, they
1 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.
pluck
out the hair. Very few shave the rest of the beard,
1 and none the
mustache. 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 (in
imitation of the Prophet) the mustache
they do not allow to
become so long as to hide completely the
skin beneath, or to
extend in the least over the upper lip and
thus incommode them
in eating and drinking. The practice
of dyeing the beard is
not common; for a gray 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.
2 This last custom (which is almost universal
among them) is said to have 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: but it was probably adopted from the
Turks;
for it is generally neglected by the Bedawees; and
the custom
of shaving the head is of late origin among the
Arabs in
general, and practised for the sake of cleanliness.
3 With the
like view of avoiding impurity, the Egyptians
observe other
customs, which need not here be described.
4
1 A few of the servants, generally the
grooms, and some others, shave their
beards, but none
shaves his mustache. 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 x. 4, has frequently been
practised in modern times, but not so often
as the shaving
of the whole of the beard.
2 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, &c.; which,
therefore,
they generally bury in the earth, or
otherwise conceal; the women commonly
stuffing them into
crevices in the walls of rooms.
3 Persons of literary and religious
professions generally disapprove of the
shoosheh.
4 They are mentioned in the
“Misheát-ul-Masábih,” vol. ii. p. 359, and
are observed by
both sexes.
Many
men of the lower orders, and some others, make blue
marks upon
their arms, and sometimes upon the hands and
chest, as do the
women, in speaking of whom this operation
will be described.
The dress of the men of the middle and higher classes
consists of the following articles.
1 First, a pair of full
drawers
2 of linen or cotton, tied round the body by a
running
string or band,
3 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,
4 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.
5 Over this, in winter, or in
cool weather, most persons wear a
“sudeyree,”
6
which is a short vest of cloth, or of striped
coloured silk
and cotton, without sleeves.
7 Over the shirt
and
the sudeyree, or the former alone, is worn a long vest
of
striped silk and cotton
8 (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
1 The fashion of their dress remains almost
the same during the lapse of
centuries.
3 Called “dikkeh,” or “tikkeh.”
5 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,
except
the Wahhábees.
6 More properly, “sudeyreh.”
7 In this, as in all the other
under-clothing of the Egyptians, the back is
of the same
material as the front.
8 The stripes are seldom plain: they are
generally figured or flowered.
Men of the Middle and Higher Classes.
person
of high rank. Round this vest is wound the girdle,
1 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.
2 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:
3 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.
4 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.
5 which is often changed; next, a
“tarboosh,” which is a red
cloth cap, also fitting close 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.
6 The
Kashmeer shawl is seldom worn
except 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
7 are
2 See the foremost figure in the preceding
engraving.
3 See the figure to the left in the same
engraving.
4 See engraving, p. 41, in which is
represented a striped 'abáyeh. This
garment is also called
“'abáäh,” and “'abà.”
5 Called “tákeeyeh,” or “'arakeeyeh.”
6 “'Emámeh,” vulg. “'lmmeh.”
of
thick red morocco, pointed, and turning up at the toes.
Some
persons also wear inner shoes
1 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,
2
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,
&c.
3 The
Prophet disapproved of gold;
therefore few Muslims wear
gold rings; but the women have
various ornaments (rings,
bracelets, &c.,) 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.
4 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 an inkhorn, or
a case with receptacles for
ink and pens, stuck in the girdle.
5 Some have, in the place of this, or in
addition to it, a caseknife,
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
1 “Mezz,” or, more properly, “mezd;” from
the Turkish “mest.”
2 “Khátim.”-It is allowable to wear it on a finger of the left hand.
3 See St. John's Gospel, iii. 33; and
Exodus, xxxix. 30.
4 Therefore, giving the ring to another
person is the utmost mark of
confidence.— See Genesis,
xli. 42.
5 This is a very ancient custom.— See
Ezekiel, ix. 2, 3, 11. — The dawáyeh
is represented in a
cut in Chapter IX. of this work.
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
“'ṛee,” and the
latter “zaaboot”), open from the neck nearly
to the waist,
and having wide sleeves.
1 Over this, some
wear a white or
red woollen girdle; for which servants often
substitute a
broad red belt,
2 of woollen stuff or of
leather, generally
containing a receptacle for money. 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;
3 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 a cord,
4 which passes
round each shoulder
and crosses behind, where it is 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,
1 The zaaboot is mostly worn in the winter.
Men of the Lower Classes.
more
full than the 'abáyeh, of black or deep-blue woollen
stuff, is
also very commonly worn: it is called “diffeeyeh.”
1 The shoes are
of red or yellow morocco, or of sheep-skin.
Those of the groom
are of dark-red morocco: those of the
door-keeper and the
water-carrier of a private house, generally
yellow.
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,
gray,
or light-brown turbans, and generally dull-coloured
dresses.
The distinction of sects, families, dynasties,
&c., 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,
2 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
1 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.
2 Commonly written by English authors
“Caliph,” or “Khalff.”
“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, &c., 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 peculiarly formal, consisting
of several spiral
twists, one above another like the threads
of a screw. 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 fashion. The Syrian is distinguished by its
width.
The 'Ulamá, 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
1 on which it is placed at night. This is often sent with the
The Mukleh.
furniture of a bride; as it is common for a lady to have one
upon which to place her head-dress. It 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
2
1 Called “kursee el-'emámeh.”
2 This appellation (of which “'ulamá” is
the plural) signifies a man of
science or learning.
being
thrown off his donkey in a street of this city, his
mukleh
fell off, and rolled along for several yards: whereupon
the
passengers ran after it, crying, “Lift up the crown of ElIslám!”
while the poor 'álim, whom no one came to assist,
called
out in anger, “Lift up the
sheykh1
of El-Islám!”
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;
2 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
1 “Sheykh” here signifies master, or doctor.
2 The dress of many of the females in the
villages is such as displays much
of the person; and a man
often comes unexpectedly in close view of a group
of
maidens bathing in the Nile.
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 “koḥl.” This is a collyrium commonly
An Eye ornamented with Kohl.
composed of the smoke-black which is produced by burning a
kind of “libán,” 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.
Koḥl 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
Muk-hulahs and Mirweds.
These are represented on scales of
one-third, and a quarter, of the real
size.
Ancient Vessel and Probe for Kohl
medical properties; particularly the powder of several kinds
of lead ore;
1 to which are often added
sarcocolla,
2, long
pepper,
3 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
koḥl 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 koḥl is kept, “mukḥulah.”
1 The custom of
thus ornamenting the eyes prevailed among
both sexes in Egypt
in very ancient times: this is shewn by
the sculptures and
paintings in the temples and tombs of this
country; and
koḥl-vessels, with the probes, and even with
remains of the
black powder, have often been found in the
ancient tombs. But
in many cases, the ancient mode of
ornamenting with the koḥl
was a little different from the
modern, as shewn 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.
2 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 at the
time with the idea
An Eye and Eyebrow ornamented with Koḥl, as represented
in ancient Paintings.
1 Pronounced “muk-ḥul'ah.”
2 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.— Scissors
are
often used to reduce the width of the eyebrows, and to give them a more
arched form.
that
their equals could not be found in any other country.
Few,
however, of the Egyptian women suffer themselves to
be seen
unveiled by men who are not their near relations;
and those
who do so are generally such as are conscious of
possessing
some degree of beauty, which they like to exhibit,
though
usually pretending the display to be unintentional.
The
stranger, therefore, cannot form a correct general
opinion
from the specimens that he sees of these women: but
with such
eyes as many of them have, the face must be
handsome if its
other features are but moderately well
formed. The nose is
generally straight; and the lips are
mostly rather fuller than
those of the men, without in the
least degree partaking of the
Negro character: though in
many instances, an approach to the
Ethiopian type is observable
in the mouth as well as in the
other features. 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.
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 ḥennà-tree,
1
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 ḥennà; 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;
2 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 ḥennà is prepared
1
Lawsonia inermis; also called “Egyptian
privet.”
2 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.
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
Hands and Feet stained with Ḥennà.
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
ḥennà from the banks of the Nile. To the nails, the
ḥennà
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 ḥennià, another paste composed of
quicklime, common
smoke-black, and linseed-oil, they convert
the tint of the
ḥennà 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.
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 represented in the next
page. 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, &c. It is generally
performed at the age of
A tattooed Girl Specimens of Tattooing on the Chin
Tattooed Hands and Foot
about
five or six years, and by gipsy-women. The term
applied to it
is “daḳḳ.” Most of the females of the higher
parts of
Upper Egypt (who are of a very dark
complexion),
for the purpose of making their teeth to
glisten, 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.
1Another 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 burdens, upon the head.
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 shorter, not reaching 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,
2 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,
1 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 “muwaṭwaṭah;” from “waṭwaṭ” a bat. Some women
pluck out the hair after merely rubbing the part with the ashes of charcoal.
2 Turkish ladies (I am told) generally tie
it over the shirt.
A Lady in the Dress worn in private.
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 or
three inches, or more. A short vest (called “'anteree”
1),
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: or, sometimes, the
lady's
girdle is folded after the ordinary Turkish
fashion, like that
of the men, but more loosely. 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
forepart; and is of the same length as the
yelek. Instead
of this, a jacket (called “salṭah”), generally
of cloth or
velvet, and embroidered in the same manner as the
gibbeh.
is often worn. The head-dress consists of a
ṭáḳeeyeh and
ṭarboosh, with a square kerchief (called
“faroodeeyeh”) of
printed or painted muslin, or one of crape,
wound tightly
round, composing what is called a “rabṭah.” 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 “ḳurṣ,”
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, &c., and
spangles, rests upon
1 Pronounced “'anter'ee.”
A Lady adorned with the Ḳurṣ and Ṣafà, &c., —
(The Hand is partially stained with
Ḥennà.)
the
head, and hangs down behind, nearly or quite to the
ground:
this is called “tarḥah” — it is the head-veil: the
face-veil I
shall presently describe. The hair, except 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, &c.,
attached to them. For a
description of these, which are called
“Ṣafà,” I infer to the
Appendix. Over the forehead, the hair
is cut rather short:
but two full locks
1 hang down on
each side of the face:
these are often curled in ringlets, and
sometimes plaited.
2 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.
3 generally from four to nine inches in
height, and
usually ornamented with mother-of-pearl, or
silver, &c.
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.
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:
4
it is of silk:
generally of a pink, or rose, or violet colour.
Next is put on
1 Called “maḳaṣeeṣ;” singular “maḳṣooṣ.”
2 Egyptian women swear by the side-lock (as
men do by the beard),
generally holding it when they utter
the oath. “Wa-ḥayát maḳṣooṣee!”
3 Called “ḳabḳàb,” or, more commonly,
“ḳubḳàh.”
4 This is similar in form to the tób of
women of the lower orders, represented
in the engraving in
page 58.
Ladies attired for Riding or Walking.
the
“burḳo',” 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 “ḥabarah,”
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 ribbon is sewed inside the
upper part, about six inches
from the edge, to tie round the
head. This covering is
generally worn by the Egyptian
ladies in the manner shewn by
the sketch in the previous page;
but some of them imitate the
Turkish ladies of Egypt in
holding the front part so as to
conceal all but that portion of
the veil that is above the
hands. The unmarried ladies wear a
ḥabarah of white silk, or a
shawl. Some females of the middle
classes, who cannot afford
to purchase a ḥabarah, wear instead
of it an “eezár,” or
“izár:” 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
Women and Children of the Lower Classes.
A Woman clad in the Miláyeh, &c.
causing
the stranger to imagine a defective face perfectly
charming.
The veil is of very remote antiquity;
1 but, from
the
sculptures and paintings of the ancient Egyptians, it
seems
not to have been worn by the females of that nation.
In the
present day, even the female servants generally draw
á portion
of the head-veil before the face in the presence of
the men of
the family whom they serve, so as to leave only
one eye
visible.
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), reaching to the feet, a burḳo' of a kind of coarse black
crape,
2 and a dark blue ṭarḥah of muslin or linen. Some
wear, over the long shirt, or instead of the latter, a
linen
tób, of the same form as that of the ladies:
3
and within the
long shirt, some wear a short white shirt; and
some, a
ṣudeyree also, or an 'anteree. The sleeves of the tób
are
often turned up over the head; either to prevent their
being
incommodious, or to supply the place of a
ṭarḥah.
4 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
ḥabarah, 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:
5 in general it
is worn in the same manner
as the ḥabarah: but sometimes like
the ṭarḥah.
6 The upper
part of the black burḳo'
is often ornamented with false
1 See Genesis, xxiv. 65; and Isaiah, iii.
23. See also 1 Corinthians, xi. 10,
and a marginal note on
that verse.
2 Some of those who are descended from the
Prophet wear a green burḳo.
3 See the figure to the left in page 58.
4 See the figure to the right in page 58.
6 There is a superior kind of miláyeh, of
silk, and of various colours; but
this is new seldom worn.
The two pieces which compose the miláyeh are
sewed
together, like those which compose the ḥabarah.
pearls,
small gold coins, and other little flat ornaments of
the same
metal (called “barḳ”); sometimes with a coral
bead, and a gold
coin beneath; also with some 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 “'aṣbeh”), with a border
of red and
yellow, is bound round the head, doubled diagonally,
Ornamented black Veils.—Only one of theẹ (that to the right) is represented in its whole length.
and tied with a single knot behind; or, instead of
this, the ṭarboosh 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 generally round, at the toes. The burḳo’
and shoes are
most common in
Cairo, and are also worn
by
many of
the women throughout
Lower Egypt; but in
Upper
Egypt, the burḳo' is very seldom seen, and shoes are
scarily
less uncommon. To supply the place of the former,
when
necessary, a portion of the ṭarḥah is drawn before
the face,
so as to conceal nearly all the countenance except
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 ṭarḥah. In
the
southern parts of
Upper Egypt, chiefly above Akhmeem,
1 most of the women envelop
themselves in a large piece of
The 'Aṣbeh.
dark-brown woollen stuff (called a “ḥulaleeyeh”), wrapping
it round the body, and attaching the upper parts together
over each shoulder;
2 and a piece of the same they use as
a
ṭarḥah. 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,
&c., and sometimes a nose-ring.
Descriptions and engravings
of some of these ornaments will be
found in the Appendix.
1 Said to be more properly called Ikhmeem.
2 The reader will recognise, in this
picturesque garment, an article of
ancient Greek and Roman
female attire.
A Woman of the Southern Province of Upper Egypt.—(Sketched at Thebes.)
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
ḥalf covered with miserable rags; and several timeṣ,
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.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER II.
INFANCY AND EARLY EDUCATION.
I
N the rearing and general
treatment of their children, the
Muslims are chiefly guided by
the directions of their
Prophet, and other religious
institutors. One of the first
duties required to be performed
on the birth of a child is to
pronounce the adán (or call to
prayer) in the infant's right
ear; and this should be done by
a male. Some persons also
pronounce the iḳámeh (which is
nearly the same as the
adán) in the left ear.
1 The
object of each of these ceremonies
is to preserve the infant
from the influence of the
“ginn,” or genii. Another custom,
observed with the same
view, is to say, “In the name of the
Prophet and of his
cousin
2 'Alee!”
It was a custom very common in Egypt, as in other
Muslim countries, to consult an astrologer previously to
giving a name to a child, and to be guided by his choice;
but
very few persons now conform with this old usage: the
father
makes choice of a name for his son, and confers it
without any
ceremony: a daughter is generally named by
her mother. Boys
are often named after the Prophet
(Moḥammad, Aḥmad, or
Muṣṭafá
3), or some of the members
1 For the words of the adán and the iḳámeh,
see the pages referred to after
these two words in the
Index.
2 Literally, “the son of his paternal
uncle.”
3 This name is pronounced “Muṣṭafà,” or,
more commonly, “Muṣṭaf'è.”
of his
family ('Alee, Ḥasan, Ḥoseyn, &c.), or his eminent
companions ('Omar, 'Osmán, 'Amr, &c.), or some of the
prophets and patriarchs of early times (as Ibráheem, Is-ḥáḳ,
Isma'eel, Yaạḳoob, Moosà, Dáood,
1 Suleymán, &c.), or receive
a name signifying “Servant of God,” “Servant of the
Compassionate,”
“Servant of the Powerful,” &c.
('Abd-Allah,
'Abd-Er-Raḥmán, 'Abd-El-Ḳádir). Girls are
mostly named
after the wives or the favourite daughter of the
Arabian
Prophet, or after others of his family (as
Khadeegeh,
'Áïsheh, Am'neh, Fáṭ'meh, Zeyneb), or are
distinguished by
a name implying that they are “beloved,”
“blessed,”
“precious,” &c. (Maḥboobeh, Mebrookeh,
Nefeeseh), or the
name of a flower, or of some other pleasing
object.
2As the proper name does not necessarily or generally
descend from parent to child, persons are usually distinguished
by one or more surnames of the following kinds:—
a surname of relationship;
3 as “Aboo-'Alee”
4
(Father of
'Alee), “Ibn-Aḥmad” (Son of Aḥmad), &c.:—a
surname of
honour, or a nickname;
5 as “Noor-ed-Deen”
(The Light of
the Religion), “Eṭ-Ṭaweel” (The Tall),
&c.:— an appellation
relating to country, birth-place,
origin, family, sect, trade or
occupation, &c.;
6 as
“Er-Rasheedee” (of the town of
Rasheed), “Eṣ-Ṣabbágh” (The
Dyer), “Et-Tágir” (The
Merchant). The second kind of surname,
and that relating
to country, &c., are often
inherited; thus becoming family-names.
1 Thus commonly pronounced, for “Dáwood.”
2 In Cairo, it is the fashion to change the first five female names
here
mentioned, and the last, into Khaddoogeh,
'Eiyoosheh, Ammooneh, Faṭṭoomeh,
Zennoobeh, and Neffooseh;
and some other names are changed to the same
“measure” as
these; which measure implies, in these cases, a superior degree
of dignity. (The name of the celebrated traveller
Ibn-Baṭṭooṭah is erroneously
written by European authors
Ibn-Batootah, or Ibn-Batútah.)
3 This is termed “kunyeh.”
4 On an improper use of this kind of
surname, see a note towards the close
of Chapter IV. in
this work.
6 Termed “nisbeh,” or “ism mensoob;” or an
appellation resembling an
“ism mensoob.”
Each
kind of surname is now generally placed
after the proper name.
The dress of the children of the middle and higher orders
is similar to that of the parents, but generally slovenly.
The children of the poor are either clad in a shirt and a
cotton skull-cap or a ṭarboosh, or (as is mostly the case
in
the villages) are left quite naked until the age of six
or
seven years or more, unless a bit of rag can be
easily
obtained to serve them as a partial covering. Those
little
girls who have only a piece of ragged stuff not
large enough
to cover both the head and body, generally prefer
wearing it
upon the head, and sometimes have the coquetry to
draw a
part of it before the face, as a veil, while the whole
body is
exposed. Little ladies, four or five years of age,
mostly
wear the white face-veil, like their mothers. When
a boy is
two or three years old, or often earlier, his head is
shaven;
a tuft of hair only being left on the crown, and
another over
the forehead:
1 the heads of female infants
are seldom
shaven. The young children, of both sexes, are
usually
carried, by their mothers and nurses, not in the
arms, but
on the shoulder, seated astride,
2 and sometimes,
for a short
distance, on the hip.
In the treatment of their children, the women of the
wealthier classes are remarkable for their excessive indulgence;
and the poor, for the little attention they bestow,
1 It is customary among the peasants
throughout a great part of Egypt,
on the first occasion of
shaving a child's head, to slay a victim, generally a
goat, at the tomb of some saint in or near their village, and to make a
feast
with the meat, of which their friends, and any
other persons who please,
partake. This is most common in
Upper Egypt, and among the tribes
not
very long established on the banks of the Nile.
Their Pagan ancestors in
Arabia observed this custom, and
usually gave, as alms to the poor, the weight
of the hair
in silver or gold. (This custom may perhaps throw some light on
the statement in 2 Sam. xiv. 26, respecting Absalom's
weighing the hair of his
head “when he polled it.”) The
victim is called “'aḳeeḳah,” and is offered
as a ransom
for the child from hell. The custom of shaving one part of a
child's head and leaving another was forbidden by the Prophet.
beyond
supplying the absolute wants of nature. The
mother is
prohibited, by the Muslim law, from weaning her
child before
the expiration of two years from the period of
its birth,
unless with the consent of her husband, which, I
am told, is
generally given after the first year or eighteen
months. In
the houses of the wealthy, the child, whether
boy or girl,
remains almost constantly confined in the
ḥareem (or the
women's apartments), or, at least, in the
house: sometimes the
boy continues thus an effeminate
prisoner until a master,
hired to instruct him daily, has
taught him to read and write.
But it is important to
observe, that an affectionate respect
for parents and elders
inculcated in the ḥareem fits the boy
for an abrupt introduction
into the world, as will presently
be shown. When
the ladies go out to pay a visit, or to take an
airing,
mounted on asses, the children generally go with
them, each
carried by a female slave or servant, or seated
between her
knees upon the fore part of the saddle: the female
attendants,
as well as the ladies, being usually borne by
asses, and it
being the custom of all the women to sit
astride. But it is
seldom that the children of the rich enjoy
this slight
diversion; their health suffers from confinement
and pampering,
and they are often rendered capricious, proud,
and
selfish. The women of the middle classes are scarcely
less
indulgent mothers. The estimation in which the wife
is
held by her husband, and even by her acquaintance,
depends,
in a great degree, upon her fruitfulness, and
upon the
preservation of her children; for by men and women,
rich
and poor, barrenness is still considered, in the
East, a curse
and a reproach: and it is regarded as
disgraceful in a man
to divorce, without some cogent reason, a
wife who has
borne him a child, especially while her child is
living. If,
therefore, a woman desire her husband's love, or
the respect
of others, her giving birth to a child is a source
of great
joy to herself and him, and her own interest alone is
a
sufficient motive for maternal tenderness. Very
little
expense
is required, in Egypt, for the maintenance of a
numerous
offspring.
1However much the children are caressed and fondled, in
general they feel and manifest a most profound and
praise-worthy
respect for their parents. Disobedience to
parents is
considered by the Muslims as one of the greatest of
sins, and
classed, in point of heinousness, with six other
sins, which are
idolatry, murder, falsely accusing modest
women of adultery,
wasting the property of orphans, taking
usury, and desertion
in an expedition against infidels. An
undutiful child is very
seldom heard of among the Egyptians or
the Arabs in general.
Among the middle and higher classes, the
child usually greets
the father in the morning by kissing his
hand, and then
stands before him in an humble attitude, with
the left hand
covered by the right, to receive any order, or
to await his
permission to depart; but after the respectful
kiss, is often
taken on the lap; and nearly the same respect
is shewn
towards the mother. Other members of the family,
according
to age, relationship, and station, are also
similarly regarded
by the young; and hence arise that ease and
propriety with
which a child, emerging from the ḥareem,
conducts himself in
every society, and that loyalty which is
often improperly
regarded as the result of Eastern
despotism.
2 Sons scarcely
ever sit, or eat, or
smoke, in the presence of the father, unless
bidden to do so;
and they often even wait upon him, and
upon his guests, at
meals and on other occasions: they do not
cease to act thus
when they have become men.— I once partook
of breakfast with
an Egyptian merchant, before the door of
his house, in the
month of Ramaḍán (and therefore a little
after sunset); and
though every person who passed by, however
poor, was invited
to partake of the meal, we were
waited upon by two of my
host's sons; the elder about forty
1 It is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus (lib.
i. cap. 20), that the ancient
Egyptians clothed and reared
their children at a very trifling expense.
2 “The structure of Eastern government is
but the enlargement of the
paternal roof.” (Urquhart's
Spirit of the East, vol. ii. p. 249.)
years
of age. As they had been fasting during the whole of
the day,
and had as yet only taken a draught of water, I
begged the
father to allow them to sit down and eat with
us: he
immediately told them that they might do so; but
they
declined.— The mothers generally enjoy, in a greater
degree
than the fathers, the affection of their children;
though they
do not receive from them equal outward marks
of respect. I
have often known servants to hoard their
wages for their
mothers, though seldom for their fathers.
With the exception of those of the wealthier classes, the
young children in Egypt, though objects of so much
solicitude,
are generally very dirty, and shabbily clad.
The
stranger here is disgusted by the sight of them, and
at once
condemns the modern Egyptians as a very filthy
people,
without requiring any other reason for forming
such an
opinion of them; but it is often the case that those
children
who are most petted and beloved are the dirtiest,
and worst
clad. It is not uncommon to see, in the city in
which I am
writing, a lady shuffling along in her ample tób
and ḥabarah
of new and rich and glistening silks, and one who
scents the
whole street with the odour of musk or civet as she
passes
along, with all that appears of her person
scrupulously clean
and delicate, her eyes neatly bordered with
koḥl applied in
the most careful manner, and the tip of a
finger or two
showing the fresh dye of the ḥennà, and by her
side a little
boy or girl, her own child, with a face
besmeared with dirt,
and with clothes appearing as though they
had been worn
for months without being washed. Few things
surprised
me so much as sights of this kind on my arrival
in this
country. I naturally inquired the cause of what struck
me
as so strange and inconsistent, and was informed that
the
affectionate mothers thus neglected the appearance of
their
children, and purposely left them unwashed, and
clothed
them so shabbily, particularly when they had to
take them
out in public,
from
fear of the evil eye, which is excessively
dreaded,
and especially in the case of children, since they are
generally esteemed the greatest of blessings, and therefore
most likely to be coveted. It is partly for the same reason
that many of them confine their boys so long in the hareem.
Some mothers even dress their young sons as girls, because
the
latter are less obnoxious to envy.
The children of the poor have a yet more neglected
appearance: besides being very scantily clad, or quite naked,
they are, in general, excessively dirty: their eyes are
frequently extremely filthy: it is common to see half-a-dozen
or more flies in each eye, unheeded and unmolested. The
parents consider it extremely injurious to wash, or even
touch, the eyes, when they discharge that acrid humour
which
attracts the flies: they even affirm that the loss of
sight
would result from frequently touching or washing
them when
thus affected; though washing is really one of
the best means
of alleviating the complaint.
At the age of about five or six years, or sometimes later,
the boy is circumcised.
1 Previously to the
performance of
this rite in the metropolis and other towns of
Egypt, the
parents of the youth, if not in indigent
circumstances,
generally cause him to be paraded through
several streets in
the neighbourhood of their dwelling. They
mostly avail
themselves of the occurrence of a bridal
procession, to lessen
the expenses of the parade: and, in this
case, the boy and
his attendants lead the procession. He
generally wears a
red Kashmeer turban; but, in other respects,
is dressed as a
girl, with a yelek and salṭah, and with a
kurs, safà, and
other female ornaments, to attract the eye,
and so divert it
from his person.
2 These articles
of dress are of the richest
description that can be procured:
they are usually borrowed
from some lady, and much too large
to fit the boy. A horse,
handsomely caparisoned, is also
borrowed to convey him;
1 Among the peasants, not unfrequently at
the age of twelve, thirteen, or
fourteen years.
2 For a description of the ornaments here
mentioned, see the Appendix:
the kurs and safà are also
represented in a preceding engraving, page 54.
and in
his hand is placed a folded embroidered handkerchief,
which he
constantly holds before his mouth in his right
hand, to hide
part of his face, and thus protect himself from
Parade previous to Circumcision.
the evil eye. He is preceded by a servant of the barber,
who is the operator, and by three or more musicians, whose
instruments are commonly a hautboy and drums. The foremost
person in the procession is generally the barber's
servant,
bearing his “ḥeml,” which is a case of wood, of a
semi-cylindrical form, with four short legs; its front (the
flat surface) covered with pieces of looking-glass and embossed
brass; and its back, with a curtain. This is merely
the
barber's sign: the servant carries it in the manner
represented in the engraving here inserted. The musicians
follow next (or some of them precede the “ḥeml”), and then
follows the boy; his horse led by a groom. Behind him
walk
several of his female relations and friends. Two boys
are
often paraded together, and sometimes borne by one
horse. Of
the bridal processions, with which that above
described is so
often united, an account will be found in the
proper place. A
description, also, of some further customs
observed on the
occasion of a circumcision, and particularly
of a more genteel
but less general mode of celebrating that
even, will be given
in another chapter, relating to various
private
festivities.
1The parents seldom devote much of their time or attention
to the intellectual education of their children; generally
contenting themselves with instilling into their young
minds a few principles of religion, and them submitting
them, if they can afford to do so, to the instruction of a
schoolmaster. As early as possible, the child is taught to
say, “I testify that there is no deity but God; and I
testify
that Mohammad is God's Apostle.” He receives also
lessons
of religious pride, and learns to hate the
Christians, and all
other seets but his own, as thoroughly as
does the Muslim in
advanced age. Most of the children of the
higher and
1 A custom mentioned by Strabo (p. 824), as
prevailing among the
Egyptians in his time, is still
universally practised in every part of Egypt.
both by the
Muslims and Copts, except in Alexandria and perhaps few other
place on the
shore of the Mediterranean: it is also common, if not equally
prevalent, in Arabia. Reland, who imperfectly describes
this custom (De
Religione Mohammediaa, p. 75, ed. 1717),
remarks its being mentioned likewise
by Galen.
middle
classes, and some of those of the lower orders, are
taught by
the schoolmaster to read, and to recite and
chant
1
the whole or certain portions of the Kur-án by
memory.
2
They afterwards learn the most common rules of
arithmetic.
Schools are very numerous, not only in the metropolis,
but in every large town; and there is one, at least in
every
considerable village. Almost every mosque, “sebeel”
(or
public fountain), and “hód” (or drinking-place for
cattle) in
A Schoolboy learning the Alphabet.
the metropolis has a “kuttáb” (or school) attached to it, in
which children are instructed for a very trifling expense;
the “sheykh” or “fikee”
3 (the master of the school)
receiving
from the parent of each pupil half a piaster
(about five
1 See the Chapter on music.
2 It has been said that I have represented
the Egyptian boys as being very
generally perfect in understanding the Kur-án. If the reader
can find in this
work any expression implying so monstrous
an untruth, I shall be obliged if
he will erase it. I have
stated, in Chapter IX., that the exposition of the
Kur-án
is a branch of collegiate education.
3 This term is a corruption of “fakeeh,”
which latter appellation is
generally given in Egypt only
to a person versed in religion and law; a man
who merely
recites the Kur-án, &c., professionally, or who teaches others to
do so, being commonly called a “fikee.”
farthings of our money), or something more or less, every
Thursday.
1 The master of a school attached to a mosque or
other public building in
Cairo also generally receives yearly
a tarboosh, a
piece of white muslin for a turban, a piece of
linen, and a
pair of shoes; and each boy receives, at the
same time, a
linen skull-cap, four or five cubits
2 of cotton
cloth, and
perhaps half a piece (ten or twelve cubits) of
linen, and a
pair of shoes, and, in some cases, half a piaster
or a
piaster. These presents are supplied by funds bequeathed
to
the school, and are given in the month of Ramadán. The
boys
attend only during the hours of instruction, and then
return
to their homes. The lessons are generally written
upon tablets
of wood, painted white; and when one lesson is
learnt, the
tablet is washed and another is written. They
also practise
writing upon the same tablet. The schoolmaster
and his pupils
sit upon the ground, and each boy has his
tablet in his hands,
or a copy of the Kur-án, or of one of its
thirty sections, on
a little kind of desk of palm-sticks. All
the boys, in
learning to read, recite or chant their lessons
aloud, at the
same time rocking their heads or bodies incessantly
backwards
and forwards; which practice is observed
by almost all persons
in reciting the Kur-án; being thought
to assist the memory.
The noise may be imagined.
3The boys first learn the letters of the alphabet; next, the
vowel-points and other syllabical signs; and then, the
numerical value of each letter of the alphabet.
4
Previously
to this third stage of the pupil's progress, it
is customary for
the master to ornament the tablet with black
and red ink,
and green paint, and to write upon it the letters
of the
1 Friday, being the sabbath of the Muslims,
is a holiday to the school-boys
and fikee.
2 The cubit employed in measuring Egyptian
cloths is equal to twenty-two
inches and two-thirds.
3 The usual punishment is beating on the
soles of the feet with a palmstick.
4 The Arabic letters are often used as
numerals. When thus used, they
are arranged in the order
of the Hebrew alphabet.
alphabet in the order of their respective numerical values,
and convey it to the father, who returns it with a piaster or
two placed upon it. The like is also done at several subsequent
stages of the boy's progress, as when he begins to
learn
the Kur-án, and six or seven times as he proceeds in
learning
the sacred book; each time the next lesson being
written on
the tablet. When he has become acquainted with
the numerical
values of the letters, the master writes for him
some simple
words, as the names of men; then, the ninety-nine
names or
epithets of God: next, the Fát'ḥah (or opening;
chapter of the
Kur-án) is written upon his tablet, and he
reads it repeatedly
until he has perfectly committed it to
memory. He then
proceeds to learn the other chapters of
the Kur-án: after the
first chapter he learns the last; then
the last but one; next
the last but two. and so on in
inverted order, ending with the
second; as the chapters in
general successively decrease in
length from the second to
the last inclusively. It is seldom
that the master of a school
teaches writing; and few boys
learn to write unless destined
for some employment which
absolutely requires that they
should do so; in which latter
case they are generally taught
the art of writing, and
likewise arithmetic, by a “kabbáne.”
who is a person employed
to weigh goods in a market or
bázár, with the steelyard. Those
who are to devote themselves
to religion, or to any of the
learned professions, mostly
pursue a regular course of study
in the great mosque El-Azhar.
The schoolmasters in Egypt are mostly persons of very
little learning: few of them are acquainted with any
writings except the Kur-án. and certain prayers, which, as
well as the contents of the sacred volume, they are hired to
recite on particular occasions. I was lately told of a man
who
could neither read nor write succeeding to the office of
a
schoolmaster in my neighbourhood. Being able to recite
the
whole of the Kur-án, he could hear the boys repeat their
lessons: to write them, he employed the “'areef” (or headboy
and
monitor in the school), pretending that his eyes
were weak. A
few days after he had taken upon himself
this office, a poor
woman brought a letter for him to read to
her from her son,
who had gone on pilgrimage. The fikee
pretended to read it,
but said nothing; and the woman,
inferring from his silence
that the letter contained bad news,
said to him, “Shall I
shriek?” He answered, “Yes.”
“Shall I tear my clothes?” she
asked; he replied, “Yes.”
So the poor woman returned to her
house, and with her
assembled friends performed the
lamentation and other
ceremonies usual on the occasion of a
death. Not many days
after this, her son arrived, and she
asked him what he could
mean by causing a letter to be written
stating that he was
dead? He explained the contents of the
letter, and she went
to the schoolmaster and begged him to
inform her why he
had told her to shriek and to tear her
clothes, since the letter
was to inform her that her son was
well, and he was now
arrived at home. Not at all abashed, he
said, “God knows
futurity. How could I know that your son
would arrive in
safety? It was better that you should think
him dead than
be led to expect to see him and perhaps be
disappointed.”
Some persons who were sitting with him
praised his wisdom,
exclaiming. “Truly, our new fikee is a man
of unusual
judgment!” and, for a little while, he found that
he had
raised his reputation by this blunder.
1Some parents employ a sheykh or fikee to teach their boys
at home. The father usually teaches his son to perform the
“wudoo.” and other ablutions, and to say his prayers, and
instructs him in other religious and moral duties to the
best
of his ability. The Prophet directed his followers to
order
1 I have since found an anecdote almost
exactly similar to the above in
the Cairo edition of the 'Thousand and one Nights; it is
one of the anecdotes
appended to Chapter XVIII. of my
translation of that work; therefore either
my informant's
account is not strictly true, or the man alluded to by him
was, in the main, an imitator: the latter is not improbable, as I have
been
credibly informed of several similar imitations,
and of one which I know to be
a fact.
their
children to say their prayers when seven years of age,
and to
beat them if they failed to do so when ten years old;
and at
the latter age to make them sleep in separate beds:
in Egypt,
however, very few persons pray before they have
attained to
manhood.
The female children are very seldom taught to read or
write; and not many of them, even among the higher
orders,
learn to say their prayers. Some of the rich engage
a
“sheykhah” (or learned woman) to visit the hareem
daily; to
teach their daughters and female slaves to say
their prayers,
and to recite a few chapters of the Kur-án;
and sometimes to
instruct them in reading and writing;
but these are very rare
accomplishments for females even of
the highest class in
Egypt.
1 There are many schools in
which
girls are taught plain needlework, embroidery, &c.
In
families in easy circumstances a “m'allimeh,”
2 or female
teacher of such kinds of work, is often engaged to attend the
girls at their own home.
1 The young daughters of persons of the middle
classes are sometimes
instructed with the boys in a public
school; but they are usually veiled, and
hold no intercourse
with the boys. I have often seen a well-dressed girl
reading
the Kur-án in a boys' school.
2 Thus pronounced, for “mo'allimeh.”
[Back to top]
CHAPTER III.
RELIGION AND LAWS.
As the most important branch of their education, and the
main foundation of their manners and customs, the religion
and laws of the people who are the subject of these pages
must be well understood, not only in their general
principles,
but in many minor points, before we can
proceed to consider
their social condition and habits in the
state of manhood.
A difference of opinion among Muslims, respecting some
points of religion and law, has given rise to four parties,
or
persuasions, which consider each other orthodox as
to
fundamental matters, and call themselves “Sunnees,”
or
followers of the Traditions, while they designate all
other
Muslims by the term “Shiya'ees,” or “Shee'ahs;”
and
collectively, the “Shee'ah;” signifying, according to
their
acceptation, “Heretics.” The Sunnees alone are the
class
which we have to consider. The four parties, or
persuasions,
into which they are divided are the
“Hanafees,” “Sháfe'ees,”
“Málikees,”
1 and
“Hambelees;”
2 so called from the names
of the
respective doctors whose tenets they have adopted.
The Turks
are of the first persuasion, which is the most
reasonable: the
inhabitants of
Cairo, a small
proportion
excepted (who are Hanafees), are either
Sháfe'ees or Málikees;
and it is generally said that they are
mostly of the former
of these persuasions, as are also the
people of Arabia: those
1 Commonly pronounced “Mál'kee.”
2 Pronounced “Hambel'ee.”
of the
Sharkeeyeh, on the east of the Delta, Sháfe'ees: those
of the
Gharbeeyeh, or Delta, Sháfe'ees, with a few Málikees:
those of
the Boheyreh, on the west of the Delta, Málikees:
the
inhabitants of the Sa'eed, or the valley of
Upper Egypt,
are likewise, with few exceptions,
Málikees: so too are the
Nubians, and the Western Arabs. To
the fourth persuasion,
very few persons in the present day
belong.— All these
persuasions agree in deriving their code of
religion and law
from four sources; namely, the Kur-án, the
Traditions of
the Prophet, the concordance of his early
disciples, and
analogy.
The religion which Mohammad taught is generally called
by the Arabs “El-Islám.” “Eemán” and “Deen” are the
particular terms applied, respectively, to faith and
practical
religion.
The grand principles of the faith are expressed in two
articles; the first of which is this—
“There is no deity but God.”
God, who created all things in heaven and in earth, who
preserveth all things, and decreeth all things, who is
without
beginning, and without and, omnipotent,
omniscient, and
omnipresent, is
one. His unity is thus declared in a short
chapter
of the Kur-án:
1 “Say. He is God; one [God]. God
is
the Eternal. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten: and
there
is none equal unto Him.” He hath no partner, nor
any
offspring, in the creed of the Muslim. Though our
Lord Jesus
Christ (whose name should not be mentioned
without adding “on
whom be peace”) is believed to have
1 Ch. 112.— in quoting passages in the
Kur-án, I have sometimes followed
Sale's translation; so
the general fidelity of which I willingly add my
testimony. I should, however, mention that some of his explanatory notes
are unauthorized and erroneous: as, for instance, with
respect to the laws of
inheritance; on which subject his
version of the text also is faulty. When
necessary, I have
distinguished the verses by numbers. In doing this I had
originally adopted the divisions made by Marracci, but have since made
the
numbers to agree with those in the late edition of
the Arabic text by Flüegel,
which, from its superior
accuracy, is likely to supersede the former editions.
been
born of a pure virgin, by the miraculous operation of
God,
1
without any natural father, and to be the Messiah,
and “the
Word of God, which He transmitted unto Mary,
and a Spirit
[proceeding] from Him,”
2 yet He is not called
the Son of God;
and no higher titles are given to Him than
those of a Prophet
and an Apostle: He is even considered as
of inferior dignity
to Moḥammad, inasmuch as the Gospel
is held to be superseded
by the Ḳur-án. The Muslim
believes that Seyyidnà 'Eesà
3 (or
“our Lord Jesus”), after
He had fulfilled the object of his
mission, was taken up unto
God from the Jews, who sought to
slay Him; and that
another person, on whom God had stamped the
likeness of
Christ, was crucified in his stead.
4 He
also believes that
Christ is to come again upon the earth, to
establish the
Muslim religion, and perfect peace and security,
after having
killed Antichrist, and to be a sign of the
approach of the
last day.
The other grand article of the faith, which cannot be
believed without the former, is this—
”Moḥammad is God's Apostle.”
Moḥammad is believed, by his followers, to have been the
last and greatest of Prophets and Apostles.
5 Six of these,
namely, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Moḥammad,
are believed each to have received a revealed law, or
system
or religion and morality. That, however, which
was
revealed to Adam was abrogated by the next; and
each
succeeding law, or code of laws, abrogated the
preceding;
though all are believed to have been the same
in every
essential point: therefore, those who professed the
Jewish
religion from the time of Moses to that of Jesus
were true
1 Ḳur-án, ch, iii. vv. 40—42.
2 Ḳur-án, ch. iv. v. 169.
3 The title of “Seyyidnà” (our Lord) is
given by the Muslims to prophets
and other venerated
persons.
4 Ḳur-án, ch. iv. v. 156.
5 The Muslim seldom mentions the name of
the Prophet without adding,
“Ṣalla-llàhu 'aleyhi
wasellem:” i.e., “God bless and save
him!”
believers; and those who professed the Christian religion
(uncorrupted, as the Muslims say, by the tenet that Christ
was
the
son of God,) until the time of Moḥammad
are held.
in like manner, to have been true believers. But the
copies
of the Pentateuch, the Psalms of David (which the
Muslims
also hold to be of divine origin), and the Gospels
now
existing, are believed to have been so much altered as
to
contain very little of the true word of God. The Ḳur-án
is
commonly believed to have suffered no essential
alteration
whatever.
It is further necessary that the Muslim should believe in
the existence of angels, and of good and evil genii; the
evil
genii being devils, whose chief is Iblees:
1
also, in the
immortality of the soul, the general resurrection
and
judgment, in future rewards and punishments in
Paradise
2 and Hell,
3 in the balance in which good and evil
works
shall be weighed, and in the bridge “Eṣ-Ṣiráṭ”
(which
extends over the midst of Hell, finer than a hair,
and
sharper than the edge of a sword), over which all must
pass,
and from which the wicked shall fall into Hell. He
believes,
also, that they who have acknowledged the faith
of El-Islám
and yet acted wickedly will not remain in Hell for
ever;
but that all of other religions must; that there
are, however,
degrees of punishments, as well as of rewards;
the former
consisting in severe torture by excessive heat and
cold; and
the latter, partly in the indulgence of the
appetites by most
delicious meats and drinks, and in the
pleasures afforded by
the company of the girls of Paradise,
whose eyes will be
1 In the first edition of this work, I here
mentioned the Devil as distinct
from the genii; but I have since found that the majority
of the most esteemed
Arab authors are of the contrary
opinion. Theirs is also the general
opinion
of the modern Arabs.—The angelic nature is considered as inferior to the
human (because the angels were commanded to prostrate
themselves before
Adam), and still more so is the nature
of genii.
2 “El-Genneh,” or “the garden.”
very
large and entirely black,
1 and whose stature will be
proportioned to that of the men, which will be the height
of
a tall palm-tree, or about sixty feet. Such, the
Muslims
generally believe, was the height of Adam and Eve.
It is
said that the souls of martyrs reside, until the
judgment, in
the crops of green birds, which eat of the fruits
of Paradise
and drink of its rivers.
2 Women are not
to be excluded
from Paradise, according to the faith of
El-Islám; though it
has been asserted, by many Christians,
that the Muslims
believe women to have no souls. In several
places in the
Ḳur-án, Paradise is promised to all true
believers, whether
males or females. It is the doctrine of the
Ḳur-án that no
person will be admitted into Paradise by his
own merits;
but that admission will be granted to the
believers merely
by the mercy of God, on account of their
faith; yet that the
felicity of each person will be
proportioned to his good works.
The very meanest in Paradise
is promised “eighty thousand
servants” (beautiful youths,
called “weleeds”
3), “seventy-two
wives of the girls
of Paradise” (“ḥooreeyehs”
4),
“besides the wives
he had in this world,” if he desire to
have the latter (and
the good will doubtless desire the good),
“and a tent erected
for him of pearls, jacinths, and emeralds,
of a very large
extent;” “and will be waited on by three
hundred attendants
while he eats, and served in dishes of
gold, whereof three
hundred shall be set before him at once,
each containing a
different kind of food, the last morsel of
which will be as
grateful as the first.” Wine also, “though
forbidden in this
life, will yet be freely allowed to be drunk
1 Like those of the gazelle: this meaning
of their common appellation
(which is mentioned
afterwards) is, however, disputed.
2 The title of martyr is given to the
unpaid soldier killed in a war for the
defence of the
faith, to a person who has innocently met with his death from
the hand of another, to a victim of the plague (if he has
not fled from the
disease) or of dysentery, to a person
who has been drowned, and to one who
has been killed by
the fall of any building.
4 Or “el-ḥoor el-'een,” or “el-ḥoor
el-'oyoon.”
in the
next, and without danger, since the wine of Paradise
will not
inebriate.”
1 We are further told, that all superfluities
from the bodies of the inhabitants of Paradise will
be carried off by perspiration, which will diffuse an
odour
like that of musk; and that they will be clothed in
the
richest silks, chiefly of green. They are also
promised
perpetual youth, and children as many as they may
desire.
These pleasures, together with the songs of the
angel
Isráfeel, and many other gratifications of the
senses, will
charm even the meanest inhabitant of Paradise.
But all
these enjoyments will be lightly esteemed by those
more
blessed persons who are to be admitted to the highest
of all
honours, that spiritual pleasure of beholding, morning
and
evening, the face of God.
2—The Muslim must
also believe in
the examination of the dead in the sepulchre,
by two angels,
called Munkar and Nekeer,
3 of terrible
aspect, who will
cause the body (to which the soul shall, for
the time, be
reunited,) to sit upright in the grave,
4
and will question
the deceased respecting his faith. The
wicked they will
severely torture; but the good they will not
hurt. Lastly,
he should believe in God's absolute decree of
every event,
both good and evil. This doctrine has given rise
to as much
controversy among the Muslims as among Christians;
but
the former, generally, believe in predestination as,
in some
respects, conditional.
The most important duties enjoined in the ritual and
moral laws are prayer, alms-giving, fasting, and pilgrimage.
The religious
purifications,
which are of two kinds, — first,
the ordinary ablution
preparatory to
prayer, and secondly,
1 See Sale's Preliminary Discourse to his
Translation of the ḳur-án, sect, iv.
2 A Muslim of some learning professed to me
that he considered the
description of Paradise given in
the Ḳur-án to be, in a great measure,
figurative: “like
those,” said he, “in the book of the Revelation of St. John;”
and he assured me that many learned Muslims were of the
same opinion.
3 Vulgarly called “Nákir” and “Nekeer.”
4 The corpse is always deposited in a
vault, and not placed in a coffin, but
merely wrapped in
winding-sheets or clothes.
the
washing of the whole body, together with the performance
of
the former ablution, — are of primary importance:
for prayer,
which is a duty so important that it is called
“the Key of
Paradise,” will not be accepted from a person
in a state of
uncleanness. It is therefore also necessary to
avoid impurity
by clipping the nails, and other similar
practices.
1There are partial washings, or purifications, which all
Muslims perform on certain occasions, even if they neglect
their prayers, and which are considered as religious
acts.
2 The ablution called “el-wuḍoó,” which is preparatory to
prayer, I shall now describe. The purifications just
before
alluded to are a part of the wuḍoó: the other
washings
are not, of necessity, to be performed
immediately after,
but only when the person is about to say
his prayers;
and these are performed in the mosque or in the
house,
in public or in private. There is in every mosque
a
tank (called “meyḍaäh”) or a “ḥanafeeyeh,” which is a
raised reservoir, with spouts round it, from which the
water
falls. In some mosques there are both these. The
Muslims
of the Ḥanafee sect (of which are the Turks)
perform the
ablution at the latter (which has received its
name from
that cause); for they must do it with running water,
or
from a tank or pool at least ten cubits in breadth, and
the
same in depth; and I believe that there is only one
meyḍaäh
in
Cairo of
that depth, which is in the great mosque El-Azhar.
A small
ḥanafeeyeh of tinned copper, placed on a
low shelf, and a
large basin, or a small ewer and basin of
the same metal, are
generally used in the house for the
performance of the wuḍoó.
The person, having tucked up his sleeves a little higher
than his elbows, says, in a low voice, or inaudibly, “I
purpose,
1 Alluded to in the first chapter.
2 For an account of these private
ablutions, and the occasions which
require their
performance, the reader may consult Reland, De Rel. Moh.
pp. 80—83, ed. 1717.
performing the wuḍoó, for prayer.”
1 He then washes
his
hands three times; saying, in the same manner as before,
“In
the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Praise be to
God, who hath sent down water for purification,
and made
El-Islám to be a light and a conductor, and a guide
to thy
gardens, the gardens of delight, and to thy mansion,
Vessels for Ablution.—The upper vessel (or ḥanafeeyeh) is generally about a foot and a half
in height.
the mansion of peace.” Then he rinses his mouth three
times, throwing the water into it with his right hand;
2 and
in doing this he says, “O God, assist me in the reading of
thy book, and in commemorating Thee, and in thanking
Thee, and in worshipping Thee well.” Next, with his right
1 All persons do not use exactly the same
words on this occasion, nor
during the performance of the
wuḍoó; and most persons use no words during
the
performance.
2 He should also use a tooth-stick (miswák)
to clean his teeth; but few
do so.
hand,
he throws water up his nostrils (snuffing it up at the
same
time), and then blows it out, compressing his nostrils
with
the thumb and finger of the
left hand; and
this also is
done three times. While doing it, he says, “O
God, make me
to smell the odours of Paradise, and bless me
with its delights;
and make me not to smell the smell of the
fires [of Hell].”
He then washes his face three times,
throwing up the water
with both hands, and saying, “O God,
whiten my face with
thy light, on the day when Thou shalt
whiten the faces of
thy favourites; and do not blacken my
face, on the day
when Thou shalt blacken the faces of thine
enemies.”
1 His
right hand and arm, as high as
the elbow, he next washes
three times, and as many times
causes some water to run
along his arm, from the palm of the
hand to the elbow,
saying, as he does this, “O God, give me my
book in my
right hand;
2 and reckon with me with an
easy reckoning.”
In the same manner he washes the left hand
and arm,
saying, “O God, do not give me my book in my left
hand,
nor behind my back; and do not reckon with me with
a
difficult reckoning; nor make me to be one of the people
of
the fire.” He next draws his wetted right hand over
the
upper part of his head, raising his turban or cap with
his
left: this he does but once; and he accompanies the
action
with this supplication, “O God, cover me with thy
mercy,
and pour down thy blessing upon me; and shade me
under
the shadow of thy canopy, on the day when there
shall be
no shade but its shade.” If he has a beard, he then
combs
it with the wetted fingers of his right hand;
holding his
hand with the palm forwards, and passing the
fingers
1 It is believed that the good man will
rise to judgment with his face
white; and the bad, with
his face black. Hence a man's face is said to be
white or
black according as he is in good or bad repute; and “may God blacken
thy face!” is a common imprecation.
2 To every man is appropriated a book, in
which all the actions of his life
are written. The just
man, it is said, will receive his book in his right hand;
but the wicked, in his left, which will be tied behind his back; his right
hand
being tied up to his neck.
through
his beard from the throat upwards. He then puts
the tips of
his forefingers into his ears, and twists them
round, passing
his thumbs at the same time round the back
of the ears, from
the bottom upwards; and saying, “O God,
make me to be of those
who hear what is said, and obey
what is best;” or, “O God,
make me to hear good.” Next
he wipes his neck with the back of
the fingers of both hands,
making the ends of his fingers meet
behind his neck, and
then drawing them forward; and in doing
so, he says, “O
God, free my neck from the fire; and keep me
from the
chains, and the collars, and the fetters.” Lastly, he
washes
his feet, as high as the ankles, and passes his
fingers
between the toes: he washes the right foot first,
saying, at
the same time, “O God, make firm my feet upon the
Ṣiráṭ,
on the day when feet shall slip upon it:” on
washing the
left foot, he says, “O God, make my labour to be
approved,
and my sin forgiven, and my works accepted,
merchandise
that shall not perish, by thy pardon, O
Mighty, O very
Forgiving; by thy mercy, O most Merciful of
those who
shew mercy.” After having thus completed the
ablution,
he says, looking towards heaven, “Thy
perfection, O God,
[I extol] with thy praise: I testify that
there is no deity but
Thou alone: Thou hast no companion: I
implore thy forgiveness,
and turn to Thee with repentance.”
Then, looking
towards the earth, he adds, “I testify that
there is no deity
but God: and I testify that Moḥammad is his
servant and
his apostle.” Having uttered these words, he
should recite,
once, twice, or three times, the “Soorat
el-Ḳadr,” or 97th
chapter of the Ḳur-án.
The wuḍoó is generally performed in less than two
minutes; most persons hurrying through the act, as well as
omitting almost all the prayers, &c., which should accompany
and follow the actions. It is not required before each of
the
five daily prayers, when the person is
conscious of having
avoided every kind of impurity since the last performance of
this ablution. When water cannot be easily procured, or
would
be injurious to the health of the individual, he may
perform
the ablution with dust or sand. This ceremony is
called
“tayemmum.” The person, in this case, strikes the
palms of his
hands upon any dry dust or sand (it will suffice
to do so upon
his cloth robe, as it must contain some dust),
and, with both
hands, wipes his face: then, having struck
his hands again
upon the dust, he wipes his right hand and
arm as high as the
elbow; and then, the left hand and arm,
in the same manner.
This completes the ceremony. The
washing of the whole body is
often performed merely for the
sake of cleanliness; but not as
a religious act, except on
particular occasions, as on the
morning of Friday, and on the
two grand festivals,
&c.,
1 when it is called “ghusl.”
Cleanliness is required not only in the worshipper, but
also in the ground, mat, carpet, robe, or whatever else it
be,
upon which he prays. Persons of the lower orders
often
pray upon the bare ground, which is considered clean
if it be
dry; and they seldom wipe off immediately the dust
which
adheres to the nose and forehead in prostration; for
it is
regarded as ornamental to the believer's face: but when
a
person has a cloak or any other garment that he can take
off
without exposing his person in an unbecoming manner,
he
spreads it upon the ground to serve as a prayer-carpet.
The
rich use a prayer-carpet (called “seggádeh”) about the
size
of a wide hearth-rug, having a niche represented upon
it, the
point of which is turned towards Mekkeh.
2
It is reckoned
sinful to pass near before a person engaged in
prayer. When
so engaged, the Muslim should station himself a
few feet
before a wall or the like, or should place before him
a
“sutrah,” which may be a staff stuck upright or (if
the
ground is hard) laid horizontally, or a whip, or his
saddle, or
1 Here, again, I must beg to refer the
reader (if he desire such information)
to Reland's account
of the ghusl, and the occasions which require its performance.
—De Rel. Moh. pp. 66—77, ed. 1717.
2 Seggádehs, of the kind here described,
are now sold in London, under the
name of “Persian
carpets” or “Persian rugs.”
his
shoes; in order that no living being, nor any image,
may be
the object next before him.
1 If he has nothing to
place as a “sutrah,” he should draw a line on the ground
before him.
Prayer is called “ṣalah;” thus
commonly pronounced for
“ṣaláh.” Five times in the course of
every day is its performance
required of the Muslim: but there
are comparatively
few persons in Egypt who do not sometimes,
or often,
neglect this duty; and there are many who scarcely
ever
pray. Certain portions of the ordinary prayers are
called
“farḍ,” which are appointed by the Ḳur-án; and
others,
“sunneh,” which are appointed by the Prophet,
without
allegation of a divine order.
The first time of prayer commences at the “maghrib,” or
sunset,
2 or rather, about four minutes later;
the second, at
the “'eshè,” or nightfall, when the evening has
closed, and it
is quite dark;
3 the third, at the “ṣubḥ” or
“fegr;”
i.e., daybreak;
4 the fourth, at
the “ḍuhr,” or noon, or, rather, a
1 This was probably a custom of the Jews in
Arabia, and borrowed from
them by Moḥammad; and it may
explain a difficulty which has much perplexed
the
commentators of the Bible, in Gen. xlvii. 31. I think that the pointing
of
the Hebrew text is there manifestly wrong, as many
critics have supposed;
and that the true meaning will now
be seen to be, “Israel worshipped,” or
“bowed himself,”
“before,” or “toward,” “the head of the staff;” agreeably
with the rendering of the Septuagint, and with Hebr. xi. 21. The Hebrew
and Greek prepositions which are rendered “upon” in both
these instance in
the authorized English version signify
also “before,” and “to,” or “towards:”
and the Hebrew
preposition in question, preceded by the same verb that precedes
it in the instance in Gen. xlvii. 31, is rendered “unto”
in Lev. xxvi. 1, a
strikingly apposite passage.
2 I have called this the first, because the
Mohammadan day commences from
sunset; but the
morning-prayer is often termed the first; the prayer of noon.
the second; and so on.
3 The 'eshè of the Sháfe'ees, Málikees, and
Ḥambelees, is when the red
gleam (“esh-shafaḳ el-aḥmar”)
after sunset has disappeared; and that of the
Ḥanafees,
when both the red and the white gleam have disappeared.
4 Generally on the first faint appearance
of light in the east. The Ḥanafees
mostly perform the
morning-prayer a little later, when the yellow gleam
(“el-iṣfirạr”) appears: this they deem the most proper time; but they may
pray earlier.
little
later, when the sun has begun, to decline; the fifth, at
the
“'aṣr,” or afternoon;
i. e., about mid-time
between noon
and nightfall.
1 Each period of prayer ends
when the next
commences, except that of daybreak, which ends
at sunrise.
The Prophet would not have his followers commence
their
prayers at sunrise, nor exactly at noon or sunset,
because. he
said, infidels worshipped the sun at such times.
Should the time of prayer arrive when they are eating, or
about to eat, they are not to rise to prayer till they
have
finished their meal. The prayers should be said as
nearly as
possible at the commencement of the periods above
mentioned:
they may be said after, but not before. The
several times of
prayer are announced by the “muëddin” of each
mosque.
Having ascended to the gallery of the “mád'neh,”
or
menaret, he chants the “adán,” or call to prayer, which
is as
follows: “God is most Great” (this is said four times).
“I
testify that there is no deity but God “(twice). “I
testify
that Moḥammad is God's Apostle” (twice). “Come
to
prayer” (twice). “Come to security” (twice).
2
“God is
most Great” (twice). “There is no deity but God.”—
Most
of the muëddins of
Cairo have harmonious and sonorous
voices, which
they strain to the utmost pitch; yet there is a
simple and
solemn melody in their chants which is very
striking,
particularly in the stillness of night.
3
Blind men
are generally
preferred for the office of muëddins, that the
ḥareems and
terraces of surrounding houses may not be overlooked
from the
mád'nehs.
Two other calls to prayers are made during the night, to
rouse those persons who desire to perform supererogatory
1 The 'aṣr, according to the Sháfe'ees,
Málikees, and Ḥambelees, is when the
shade of an object,
east by the sun, is equal to the length of that object, added
to the length of the shade which the same object casts at
noon; and, according
to the Ḥanafees, when the shadow is
equal to twice the length of the
object,
added to the length of its mid-day shadow.
2 Here is added, in the morning-call,
“Prayer is better than sleep” (twice).
3 A common air, to which the adán is
chanted in Caire, will be given in
the chapter on Egyptian
music.
acts of
devotion.
1 A little after midnight, the muëddins of
the great royal mosques in
Cairo (
i. e., of each of the
great
mosques founded by a Sulṭán, which is called
“Gámè’
Sulṭánee”), and of some other large mosques, ascend
the
mád'nehs, and chant the following, call, which, being
one of
the two night-calls not at the regular periods of
obligatory
prayers, is called the “Oolá,” a term
signifying merely the
“First.” Having commenced by chanting
the common adán,
with those words which are introduced in the
call to morning-prayer
(“Prayer is better than sleep”), he
adds, “There
is no deity but God” (three times) “alone: He
hath no companion:
to Him belongeth the dominion; and to
Him
belongeth praise. He giveth life, and causeth death;
and He
is living, and shall never die. In his hand is blessing
[or
good]; and He is Almighty. — There is no deity but
God”
(three times), “and we will not worship any beside
Him,
‘serving Him with sincerity of religion,’
2
‘though the
infidels be averse’
3 [thereto]. This is no deity
but God.
Moḥammad is the most noble of the creation in the
sight of
God. Moḥammad is the best prophet that hath been
sent,
and a lord by whom his companions became lords;
comely;
liberal of gifts; perfect; pleasant to the taste;
sweet; soft
to the throat [or to be drunk]. Pardon, O Lord,
thy servant
and thy poor dependant, the endower of this place,
and him
who watcheth it with goodness and beneficence, and
its
neighbours, and those who frequent it at the times
of
prayers and good acts, O thou Bountiful:—O Lord”
4
(three
times). “Thou art He who ceaseth not to be
distinguished
by mercy: Thou art liberal of thy clemency
towards the
rebellious; and protectest him; and concealest
what is foul;
and makest manifest every virtuous action; and
Thou
1 They are few who do so.
2 Ḳur-án. ch. xcviii. v. 4.
3 Idem, ch. ix. v. 32, and ch. lxi. v. 8.
4 This thrice-uttered exclamation (“Yá
Rabb!”) is made in a very loud
tone.
bestowest thy beneficence upon the servant, and comfortest
him, O thou Bountiful:—O Lord” (three times). “My sins,
when I
think upon them, [I see to be] many; but the mercy
of my Lord
is more abundant than are my sins: I am not
solicitous on
account of good that I have done; but for the
mercy of God I
am most solicitous. Extolled be the Everlasting.
He hath no
companion in his great dominion. His
perfection [I extol]:
exalted be his name: [I extol] the
perfection of God.”
About an hour before daybreak, the muëddins of most
mosques chant the second call, named the “Ebed,” and so
called
from the occurrence of that word near the commencement.
1 This call is as
follows: “[I extol] the perfection of
God, the Existing for
ever and ever” (three times): “the
perfection of God, the
Desired, the Existing, the Single, the
Supreme: the perfection
of God, the One, the Sole: the perfection
of Him who taketh to
Himself, in his great dominion,
neither female companion, nor
male partner, nor any like
unto Him, nor any that is
disobedient, nor any deputy, nor
any equal, nor any offspring.
His perfection [be extolled]:
and exalted be his name. He is a
Deity who knew what
hath been before it was, and called into
existence what hath
been; and He is now existing as He was [at
the first]. His
perfection [be extolled]: and exalted be his
name. He is a
Deity unto whom there is none like existing.
There is none
like unto God, the Bountiful, existing. There is
none like
unto God, the Clement, existing. There is none like
unto
God, the Great, existing. And there is no deity but
Thou,
O our Lord, to be worshipped and to be praised and
to be
desired and to be glorified. [I extol] the perfection of
Him
who created all creatures, and numbered them, and
distributed
their sustenance, and decreed the terms of the
lives
of his servants: and our Lord, the Bountiful, the
Clement,
the Great, forgetteth not one of them. [I extol]
the perfection
of Him who, of his power and greatness, caused
the pure
1 The word “ebed” is here used adverbially,
signifying “for ever.”
water
to flow from the solid stone, the mass of rock: the
perfection
of Him who spake with our lord Moosà [or Moses]
upon the
mountain;
1 whereupon the mountain was reduced
to dust,
2 through dread of God, whose name be exalted, the
One, the Sole. There is no deity but God. He is a just
Judge.
[I extol] the perfection of the First. Blessing and
peace be
on thee, O comely of countenance: O Apostle of
God. Blessing
and peace be on thee, O first of the creatures
of God, and
seal of the apostles of God. Blessing and peace
be on thee, O
thou Prophet: on thee and on thy Family, and
all thy
Companions. God is most Great. God is most
Great:”
&c., to the end of the call to morning-prayer. “O
God,
bless and save and still beatify the beatified Prophet,
our
lord Moḥammad. And may God, whose name be blessed
and exalted,
be well pleased with thee, O our lord El-Ḥasan,
and with thee,
O our lord El-Ḥoseyn, and with thee, O Aboo-Farrág,
3 O Sheykh of the
Arabs, and with all the favourites
[the “Welees”] of God.
Amen.”
The prayers which are performed daily at the five periods
before mentioned are said to be of so many “rek'ahs,” or
inclinations of the head.
4The worshipper, standing with his face towards the Ḳibleh
(that is, towards Mekkeh), and his feet not quite close
together,
says, inaudibly, that he has purposed to recite
the
prayers of so many rek'ahs (sunneh or farḍ) the
morning-prayers
1 These words, “The perfection of Him who
spake,” &c. (“subḥána men
kellema,” &c.),
are pronounced in a very high and loud tone.
2 See Ḳur-án, ch. vii. v. 139.
3 “Aboo-Farrág” is a surname of a famous
saint, the seyyid Aḥmad El-Bedawee,
buried at Ṭanṭá in the
Delta: it implies that he obtains relief to
those who
visit his tomb, and implore his intercession.
4 The morning-prayers, two rek'ahs sunneh
and two farḍ; the noon, four
sunneh and four farḍ; the
afternoon, the same; the evening, three farḍ and
two
sunneh; and the night-prayers (or 'eshè), four sunneh and four farḍ, and
two sunneh again. After these are yet to be performed
three rek'ahs “witr;”
i. e., single or separate prayers; these
may be performed immediately after
the 'eshè prayers, or
at any time in the night; but are more meritorious if
late in the night.
(or the
noon, &c.,) of the present day (or night); and
then,
raising his open hands on each side of his face, and
touching
the lobes of his ears with the ends of his thumbs, he
says,
“God is most Great” (“Alláhu Akbar”). This ejaculation
Postures of Prayer.
is called the “tekbeer.” He then proceeds to recite
the prayers of the prescribed number of rek'ahs,
1 thus:—
Still standing, and placing his hands before him a little
below his girdle, the left within the right, he recites
(with
his eyes directed towards the spot where his head
will touch
1 There are some little differences in the
attitudes of the four great sects
during prayer. I
describe those of the Ḥanafees.—The two cuts here inserted
comprise the postures of two rek'ahs; the first rek'ah ending with No. 8.
the
ground in prostration) the Fát'ḥah, or opening chapter of
the
Ḳur-án,
1 and after it three or more other verses, or one of
the short chapters, of the Ḳur-án; very commonly the 112th
Postures of Prayer—continued.
chapter; but without repeating the “besmeleh” (in the name
of God, &c.,) before the second recitation. He then
says,
1 Some persons previously utter certain
supererogatory ejaculations, expressive
of the praise and
glory of God; and add, “I seek refuge with God
from Satan
the accursed;” which petition is often offered up before reciting
any part of the Ḳur-án on other occasions, as commanded
by the Ḳur-án itself
(ch. xvi. v. 100). The Ḳur-án is
usually recited, in the farḍ prayers, in a voice
slightly
audible, except at noon and the 'aṣr, when it is recited inaudibly. By
Imáms, when praying at the head of others, and sometimes
by persons praying
alone, it is chanted. In the sunneh
prayers it is recited inaudibly.
“God is
most Great:” and makes, at the same time, an inclination
of
his head and body, placing his hands upon his
knees, and
separating his fingers a little. In this posture he
says, “[I
extol] the perfection of my Lord the Great” (three
times),
adding, “May God hear him who praiseth Him. Our
Lord, praise
be unto Thee.” Then, raising his head and
body, he repeats,
“God is most Great.” He next drops
gently upon his knees, and,
saying again, “God is most
Great,” places his hands upon the
ground, a little before his
knees, and puts his nose and
forehead also to the ground (the
former first), between his
two hands. During this prostration
he says, “[I extol] the
perfection of my Lord the Most
High” (three times). He raises
his head and body (but his
knees remain upon the ground),
sinks backwards upon his
heels, and places his hands upon his
thighs, saying, at the
same time, “God is most Great:” and
this he repeats as he
bends his head a second time to the
ground. During this
second prostration he repeats the same
words as in the first;
and in raising his head again, he
utters the tekbeer as before.
Thus are completed the prayers
of one rek'ah. In all the
changes of posture, the toes of the
right foot must not be
moved from the spot where they were
first placed, and the
left foot should be moved as little as
possible.
Having finished the prayers of one rek'ah, the worshipper
rises upon his feet (but without moving his toes from the
spot where they were, particularly those of the right
foot),
and repeats the same; only he should recite some
other
chapter, or portion, after the Fát'ḥah, than that
which he
repeated before, as, for instance, the 108th
chapter.
1After every
second rek'ah (and
after the
last, though there
1 In the third and fourth farḍ rek'ahs, the
recitation of a second portion of
the Ḳur-án after the
Fát'ḥah should be omitted; and before farḍ prayers of
four
rek'ahs, the “iḳámeh” (which consists of the words of the adán, with the
addition of “the time of prayer is come.” pronounced
twice after “come to
security,”) should be repeated; but
most persons neglect doing this, and many
do not observe
the former rule.
be an
odd number, as in the evening farḍ), he does not
immediately
raise his knees from the ground, but bends his
left foot under
him, and sits upon it, and places his hands
upon his thighs,
with the fingers a little apart. In this
posture, he says,
“Praises are to God, and prayers, and good
works. Peace be on
thee, O Prophet, and the mercy of God,
and his blessings.
Peace be on us, and on [all] the righteous
worshippers of
God.” Then raising the first finger of the
right hand
1
(but not the hand itself), he adds, “I testify
that there is
no deity but God; and I testify that Mohammad
is his servant
and his apostle.
After the
last rek'ah of each of
the prayers (that is, after
the sunneh prayers and the farḍ
alike), after saying, “Praises
are to God,” &c., the
worshipper, looking upon his right
shoulder, says, “Peace be
on you, and the mercy of God.”
Then looking upon the left, he
repeats the same. These
salutations are considered by some as
addressed only to the
guardian angels who watch over the
believer, and note all
his actions;
2 but others say
that they are addressed both to
angels and men (
i. e., believers only), who may be
present;
no person, however, returns them. Before the
salutations in
the
last
prayer, the worshipper may offer up any short petition
(in
Scriptural language rather than his own); while he
does so
looking at the palms of his two hands, which he holds
like an
open book before him, and then draws over his face,
from the
forehead downwards.
Having finished both the sunneh and farḍ prayers, the
worshipper, if he would acquit himself completely, or rather,
perform supererogatory acts, remains sitting (but may then
sit more at his ease), and recites the “Ayet el-Kursee,” or
1 The doctors of El-Islám differ respecting
the proper position of the fingers
of the right hand on
this occasion: some hold that all the fingers but the first
are to be doubled, as represented in the second sketch of the postures
of
prayer.
2 Some say that every believer is attended
by two angels; others say, five;
others, sixty, or a
hundred and sixty.
The
chief reasons for fixing upon Friday as the Sabbath of
the
Muslims were it is said, because Adam was created on
that day,
and died on the same day of the week, and because
the general
resurrection was prophesied to happen on that
day; whence,
particularly, Friday was named the day of
“El-Gum'ah” (or the
assembly). The Muslim does not
abstain from worldly business
on Friday, except during the
time of prayer, according to the
precept of the Kur-án,
ch. lxii. vv. 9 and 10.
To form a proper conception of the ceremonials of the
Friday-prayers, it is necessary to have some idea of the
interior of a mosque. A mosque in which a congregation
assembles to perform the Friday-prayers is called “gámè'.”
The
mosques of
Cairo are so numerous, that
none of them is
inconveniently crowded on the Friday; and some
of them
are so large as to occupy spaces three or four hundred
feet
square. They are mostly built of stone, the alternate
courses
of which are generally coloured externally red and
white.
Most commonly a large mosque consists of porticoes
surrounding
a square open court, in the centre of which is
a
tank or a fountain for ablution. One side of the
building
faces the direction of Mekkeh, and the portico on
this side,
being the principal place of prayer, is more
spacious than
those on the three other sides of the court: it
generally has
two or more rows of columns, forming so many
aisles,
parallel with the exterior wall. In some cases,
this portico,
like the other three, is open to the court; in
other cases, it is
separated from the court by partitions of
wood, connecting
the front row of columns. In the centre of
its exterior wall
is the “mehráb” (or niche) which marks the
direction of
Mekkeh; and to the right of this is the “mimbar”
(or
pulpit). Opposite the mehráb, in the fore part of the
portico,
or in its central part, there is generally a
platform (called
“dikkeh”), surrounded by a parapet, and
supported by small
columns; and by it, or before it, are one
or two seats, having
a kind of desk to bear a volume of the
Kur-án, from which a
Interior of a Mosque.
chapter
is read to the congregation. The walls are generally
quite
plain, being simply white-washed; but in some
mosques the
lower part of the wall of the place of prayer is
lined with
coloured marbles, and the other part ornamented
with various
devices executed in stucco, but mostly with
texts of the
Ḳur-án (which form long friezes, having a
pleasing
effect),
1, and never with the representation of anything
that has life. The pavement is covered with matting,
and the rich and poor pray side by side; the man of rank
or
wealth enjoying no peculiar distinction or comfort,
unless
(which is sometimes the case) he have a
prayer-carpet
brought by his servant, and spread for
him.
2The Prophet did not forbid
women
to attend public prayers
in a mosque, but pronounced it better
for them to pray in
private: in
Cairo, however, neither females nor young boys
are allowed to pray with the congregation in the mosque,
or
even to be present in the mosque at any time of
prayer:
formerly women were permitted (and perhaps are
still in
some countries), but were obliged to place themselves
apart
from the men, and behind the latter; because, as
Sale has
remarked, the Muslims are of opinion that the
presence of
females inspires a different kind of devotion from
that which
is requisite in a place dedicated to the worship of
God. Very
few women in Egypt even pray at home.
Over each of the mosques of
Cairo presides a “Náẓir” (or
warden), who is the
trustee of the funds which arise from
lands, houses,
&c., bequeathed to the mosque by the founder
and
others, and who appoints the religious ministers and the
inferior servants. Two “Imáms” are employed to officiate
in
each of the larger mosques: one of them, called the
“Khaṭeeb,”
preaches and prays before the congregation on the
Friday: the
other is an “Imám Rátib,” or ordinary Imám,
who recites teh
five prayers of every day in the mosque, at
1 The “Throne-Verse” (see pp. 98, 99) is
one of the most common.
2 Adjoining each mosque are several
“latrinæ,” in each of which is a
receptacle with water,
for ablution.
the
head of those persons who may be there at the exact
times of
those prayers: but in most of the smaller mosques
both these
offices are performed by one Imám. There are
also to each
mosque one or more “muëddins” (to chant the
call to prayer),
and “bowwábs” (or door-keepers), according
as there are one or
more mád'nehs (or menarets) and entrances;
and several other
servants are employed to sweep the
mosque, spread the mats,
light the lamps, and attend to the
sáḳiyeh (or water-wheel),
by which the tank or fountain, and
other receptacles for
water, necessary to the performance of
ablutions, are
supplied. The Imáms, and those persons who
perform the lower
offices, are all paid from the funds of the
mosque, and not by
any contributions exacted from the
people.
The condition of the Imáms is very different, in most
respects, from that of Christian priests. They have no
authority above other persons, and do not enjoy any respect
but what their reputed piety or learning may obtain for
them:
nor are they a distinct order of men set apart for
religious
offices, like our clergy, and composing an indissoluble
fraternity; for a man who has acted as the Imám of
a mosque
may be displaced by the warden of that mosque,
and, with his
employment and salary, loses the title of
Imám,
and has no better chance of being again chosen for a
religious
minister than any other person competent to
perform the
office. The Imáms obtain their livelihood chiefly
by other
means than the service of the mosque, as their
salaries are
very small: that of a Khaṭeeb being generally
about a
piaster (2 2/5d.
of our money) per month; and that of an
ordinary Imám, about
five piasters. Some of them engage in
trade; several of them
are “'aṭṭárs” (or druggists and
perfumers), and many of them
are schoolmasters: those who
have no regular occupations of
these kinds often recite the
Ḳur-án for hire in private
houses. They are mostly chosen
from among the poor students of
the great mosque El-Azhar.
The large mosques are open from day-break till a little
after
the 'eshè, or till nearly two hours after sunset. The
others
are closed between the hours of morning and noon
prayers; and
most mosques are also closed in rainy weather
(except at the
times of prayer), lest persons who have no
shoes should enter,
and dirt the pavement and matting.
Such persons always enter
by the door nearest the tank or
fountain (if there be more
than one door), that they may
wash before they pass into the
place of prayer; and generally
this door alone is left open in
dirty weather. The great
mosque El-Azhar remains open all
night, with the exception
of the principal place of prayer,
which is called the “maḳṣoorah,”
being partitioned off from
the rest of the building.
In many of the larger mosques,
particularly in the afternoon,
persons are seen lounging,
chatting together, eating, sleeping,
and sometimes spinning or
sewing, or engaged in some other
simple craft; but,
notwithstanding such practices, which are
contrary to precepts
of their prophet, the Muslims very
highly respect their
mosques. There are several mosques in
Cairo (as the Azhar, Ḥasaneyn,
&c.),
before which no Frank,
nor any other Christian, nor a Jew, were allowed to pass,
till
of late years, since the French invasion.
On the Friday, half an hour before the “ḍuhr” (or noon),
the muëddins of the mosques ascend to the galleries of the
mád'nehs, and chant the “Selám,” which is a salutation to
the Prophet, not always expressed in the same words, but
generally in words to the following effect:—“Blessing and
peace be on thee, O thou of great dignity: O Apostle of
God.
Blessing and peace be on thee, to whom the Truth
said, I am
God. Blessing and peace be on thee, thou first of
the creatures
of God, and seal of the Apostles of God. From me
be [invoked]
peace on thee, on thee and on thy Family and all
thy Companions.”
—Persons then begin to assemble in the
mosques.
The utmost solemnity and decorum are observed in the
public worship of the Muslims. Their looks and behaviour
in
the mosque are not those of enthusiastic devotion, but of
calm
and modest piety. Never are they guilty of a designedly
irregular word or action during their prayers. The pride
and
fanaticism which they exhibit in common life, in
intercourse
with persons of their own, or of a different faith,
seem to be
dropped on their entering the mosque, and they
appear wholly
absorbed in the adoration of their Creator;
humble and
downcast, yet without affected humility, or a
forced
expression of countenance.
The Muslim takes off his shoes at the door of the mosque,
carries them in his left hand, sole to sole, and puts his
right
foot first over the threshold. If he have not
previously
performed the preparatory ablution, he repairs
at once to the
tank or fountain to acquit himself of that
duty. Before he
commences his prayers, he places his shoes
(and his sword
and pistols, if he have such arms,) upon the
matting, a little
before the spot where his head will touch
the ground in prostration:
his shoes are put one upon the
other, sole to sole.
The people who assemble to perform the noon-prayers of
Friday arrange themselves in rows parallel to that side of
the
mosque in which is the niche, and facing that side.
Many
do not go until the adán of noon, or just before.
When a
person goes at, or a little after, the Selám, as soon
as he has
taken his place in one of the ranks, he performs two
rek'ahs,
and then remains sitting, on his knees or
cross-legged, while
a reader, having seated himself on the
reading-chair immediately
after the Selám, is occupied in
reciting (usually without
book) the Soorat el-Kahf (the 18th
chapter of the Ḳur-án), or
a part of it; for, generally, he
has not finished it before the
adán of noon, when he stops.
All the congregation, as soon
as they hear the adán (which is
the same as on other days),
sit on their knees and feet. When
the adán is finished, they
stand up, and perform, each
separately, two
1 rek'ahs, “sunnet
el-gum'ah” (or the
sunneh ordinance for Friday), which they
conclude, like the
ordinary prayers, with the two salutations.
A servant of the
mosque, called a “Muraḳḳee,” then opens
1 If of the sect of the Sháfe'ees, to which
most of the people of Cairo
belong;
but if of that of the Ḥanafees, four rek'ahs.
the
folding-doors at the foot of the pulpit-stairs, takes from
behind them a straight, wooden sword, and, standing a little
to the right of the door-way, with his right side towards the
ḳibleh, holds this sword in his right hand, resting the point
on the ground. In this position he says, “Verily God and
his
angels bless the Prophet. O ye who believe, bless him,
and
greet him with a salutation.”
1 Then, one or more
persons, called “Muballighs,” stationed on the dikkeh, chant
the following, or similar words.
2 “O God, bless and save
and beatify the most noble of the Arabs and 'Agam [or
foreigners], the Imám of Mekkeh and El-Medeeneh and the
Temple, to whom the spider shewed favour, and wove its web
in
the cave; and whom the ḍabb
3 saluted; and before whom
the moon was cloven in twain; our lord Moḥammad, and his
Family and Companions.” The Muraḳḳee then recites the
adán (which the Muëddins have already chanted): after
every
few words he pauses, and the Muballighs, on the
dikkeh,
repeat the same words in a sonorous chant.
4
Before the adán
is finished, the Khaṭeeb, or Imám, comes to
the foot of the
pulpit, takes the wooden sword from the
Muraḳḳee's hand,
ascends the pulpit, and sits on the top step
or platform. The
pulpit of a large mosque, on this day, is
decorated with two
flags, with the profession of the faith, or
the names of God and
Moḥammad, worked upon them: these are
fixed at the top of
the stairs, slanting forward. The Muraḳḳee
and Muballighs
having finished the adán, the former repeats a
tradition of
the Prophet, saying, “The Prophet (upon whom be
blessing
and peace) hath said, ‘If thou say unto thy
companion while
the Imám is preaching on Friday, Be thou
silent, thou
speakest rashly.’ Be ye silent: ye shall be
rewarded: God
1 Ḳur-án, ch. xxxiii. v. 56.
2 There are some trifling differences in
the forms of salutations on the
Prophet in the
Friday-prayers in different mosques: I describe what is most
common.
3 A kind of lizard, the lacerta Libyca.
4 In the great mosque El-Azhar, there are
several Muballighs in different
places, to make the adán
heard to the whole congregation.
shalḷ
recompense you.” He then sits down. The Khaṭeeb
now rises,
and, holding the wooden sword
1 in the same
manner as
the Muraḳḳee did, delivers an exhortation, called
“khuṭbet
el-waạẓ.” As the reader may be curious to see a
translation of
a Muslim sermon, I insert one. The following
is a sermon
preached on the first Friday of the Arab year.
2 The original, as usual, is
in rhyming prose.
“Praise be to God, the Renewer of years, and the Multiplier
of favours, and the Creator of months and days, according
to
the most perfect wisdom and most admirable
regulation;
who hath dignified the months of the Arabs
above all other
months, and pronounced that among the more
excellent of
them is El-Moḥarram the Sacred, and commenced
with it the
year, as He hath closed it with Zu-l-Ḥeggeh. How
propitious
is the beginning, and how good is the end!
3
[I extol]
his perfection, exempting Him from the association
of any
other deity with Him. He hath well considered what
He
hath formed, and established what He hath contrived,
and
He alone hath the power to create and to annihilate. I
praise
Him, extolling his perfection, and exalting his
name for the
knowledge and inspiration which He hath
graciously
vouchsafed; and I testify that there is no
deity but God
alone; He hath no companion; He is the most holy
King;
1 To commemorate the acquisition of Egypt
by the sword. It is never used
by the Khaṭeeb but in a
country or town that has been so acquired by the
Muslims
from unbelievers.
2 During my first visit to Egypt, I went to
the great mosque El-Azhar, to
witness the performance of
the Friday-prayers by the largest congregation in
Cairo. I was pleased with the
preaching of the Khaṭeeb of the mosque, Gád-El-Mowlà,
and
afterwards procured his sermon-book (“deewán khuṭab”),
containing sermons for every Friday in the year, and for the two “'eeds,”
or
grand festivals. I translate the first sermon.
3 The year begins and ends with a sacred
month. The sacred months are
four; the first, seventh,
eleventh, and twelfth. During these, war was forbidden
to
be waged against such as acknowledged them to be sacred; but was
afterwards allowed. The first month is also held to be
excellent on account of
the day of 'Ashoorà (respecting
which see chapter xxiv. of this work); and the
last, on
account of the pilgrimage.
the
[God of] peace: and I testify that our lord and our
Prophet
and our friend Moḥammad is his servant and his
apostle and his
elect and his friend, the guide of the way,
and the lamp of
the dark. O God, bless and save and beatify
this noble
Prophet, and chief and excellent apostle, the
merciful-hearted, our lord Moḥammad, and his family, and
his
companions, and his wives, and his posterity, and the
people
of his house, the noble persons, and grant them ample
salvation.—O servants of God, your lives have been gradually
curtailed, and year after year hath passed away, and ye are
sleeping on the bed of indolence and on the pillow of iniquity.
Ye pass by the tombs of your predecessors, and fear not the
assault of destiny and destruction, as if others departed from
the world and ye must of necessity remain in it. Ye rejoice
at
the arrival of new years, as if they brought an increase
to
the term of life, and swim in the seas of desires, and
enlarge
your hopes, and in every way exceed other people [in
presumption], and ye are sluggish in doing good. O how
great a
calamity is this! God teacheth by an allegory.
Know ye not
that in the curtailment of time by indolence
and sleep there
is very great trouble? Know ye not that in
the cutting short
of lives by the termination of years is a
very great warning?
Know ye not that the night and day
divide the lives of
numerous souls? Know ye not that
health and capacity are two
blessings coveted by many men?
But the truth hath become
manifest to him who hath eyes.
Ye are now between two years:
one year hath passed away,
and come to an end, with its evils;
and ye have entered upon
another year, in which, if it please
God, mankind shall be
relieved. Is any of you determining upon
diligence [in doing
good] in the year to come? or repenting of
his failings in the
times that are passed? The happy is he who
maketh amends
for the time passed in the time to come; and the
miserable is
he whose days pass away and he is careless of his
time. This
new year hath arrived, and the sacred month of God
hath
come with blessings to you, the first of the months
of the
year,
and of the four sacred months, as hath been said, and
the most
worthy of preference and honour and reverence.
Its fast is the
most excellent of fasts after that which is
obligatory,
1
and the doing of good in it is among the most
excellent of the
objects of desire. Whosoever desireth to reap
advantage from
it, let him fast the ninth and tenth days,
looking for
aid.
2 Abstain not from this fast through
indolence, and
esteeming it a hardship; but comply with it
in the best
manner, and honour it with the best of honours,
and improve
your time by the worship of God morning and
evening. Turn unto
God with repentance, before the assault
of death: He is the
God who accepteth repentance of his
servants, and pardoneth
sins.—
The Tradition.3—The Apostle
of God (God bless and save him) hath said, ‘The most
excellent prayer, after the prescribed,
4 is the prayer
that is
said in the last third of the night; and the most
excellent
fast, after Ramaḍán, is that of the month of
God, El-Moḥarram.’”
The Khaṭeeb, having concluded his exhortation, says to
the congregation, “Supplicate God.” He then sits down,
and prays privately; and each member of the congregation
at the same time offers up some private petition, as after
the
ordinary prayers, holding his hands before him
(looking at
the palms), and then drawing them down his face.
This
done, the Muballighs say, “Ámeen. Ámeen! (Amen.
Amen.) O Lord of the beings of the whole world.”—The
Khaṭeeb now rises again, and recites another Khuṭbeh,
called “khuṭbet en-naạt,” of which the following is a
translation:—
5“Praise be to God, abundant praise, as He hath commanded.
1 That of the month of Ramaḍán.
2 See an account of the customs observed in
honour of the day of' Áshoorà,
chap. xxiv.
3 The Khaṭeeb always closes his exhortation
with one or two traditions of
the Prophet.
4 The five daily prayers ordained by the
Ḳur-án.
5 This is always the same, or nearly so.
I
testify that there is no deity but God alone: He
hath no
companion: affirming his supremacy, and condemning
him who
denieth and disbelieveth: and I testify that
our lord and our
prophet Moḥammad is his servant and his
apostle, the lord of
mankind, the intercessor, the accepted
intercessor, on the day
of assembling: God bless him and his
family as long as the eye
seeth and the ear heareth. O
people, reverence God by doing
what He hath commanded,
and abstain from that which He hath
forbidden and
prohibited. The happy is he who obeyeth, and the
miserable
is he who opposeth and sinneth. Know that the
present
world is a transitory abode, and that the world to
come is a
lasting abode. Make provision, therefore, in your
transitory
state for your lasting state, and prepare for
your reckoning
and standing before your Lord: for know that ye
shall tomorrow
be placed before God, and reckoned with
according
to your deeds; and before the Lord of Might ye
shall be
present, 'and those who have acted unjustly shall
know with
what an overthrowal they shall be overthrown.’
1
Know
that God, whose perfection I extol, and whose name
be
exalted, hath said (and ceaseth not to say wisely, and
to
command judiciously, warning you, and teaching, and
honouring the dignity of your Prophet, extolling and
magnifying him), 'Verily, God and his angels bless the
Prophet: O ye who believe, bless him, and greet him with a
salutation.’
2 O God, bless Mohammad and the family
of
Mohammad, as Thou blessedst Ibráheem
3 and the family
of
Ibráheem; and beatify Mohammad and the family of
Mohammad, as Thou hast beatified Ibráheem and the
family of Ibráheem among all creatures — for Thou art
praiseworthy and glorious. O God, do Thou also be well
pleased with the four Khaleefehs, the orthodox lords, of
high
dignity and illustrious honour, Aboo-Bekr Es-Siddeek,
and
'Omar, and 'Osmán, and 'Alee; and be Thou well
pleased, O
1 Kur-án, eh. xxvi. last verse.
2 Idem, eh. xxxiii. v. 56.
God,
with the six who remained of the ten noble and just
persons
who swore allegiance to Thy Prophet Mohammad
(God bless him
and save him) under the tree (for Thou art
the Lord of piety,
and the Lord of pardon); those persons of
excellence and
clemency, and rectitude and prosperity,
Talhah, and Ez-Zubeyr,
and Saad, and Sa'eed, and 'Abd-Er-Rahmán
Ibn-'Owf, and
Aboo-'Obeydeh' Amir Ibn-El-Garráh;
and with all the Companions
of the Apostle of God (God
bless and save him); and be Thou
well pleased, O God, with
the two martyred descendants, the
two bright moons, 'the
two lords of the youths of the people
of Paradise in Paradise,’
the two sweet-smelling flowers of
the Prophet of this nation,
Aboo-Mohammad El-Hasan, and
Aboo-'Abd-Allah El-Hoseyn:
and he Thou well pleased, O God,
with their mother, the
daughter of the Apostle of God (God
bless and save him),
Fátimeh Ez-Zahrà, and with their
grandmother Khadeegeh
El-Kubrà, and with 'Aïsheh, the mother
of the faithful, and
with the rest of the pure wives, and with
the generation
which succeeded the Companions, and the
generation which
succeeded that, with beneficence to the day
of judgment.
O God, pardon the believing men and the believing
women,
and the Muslim men and the Muslim women, those who
are
living, and the dead; for Thou art a hearer near,
an
answerer of prayers, O Lord of the beings of the whole
world.
O God, aid El-Islám, and strengthen its pillars,
and make
infidelity to tremble, and destroy its might, by the
preservation
of thy servant, and the son of thy servant,
the submissive
to the might of thy majesty and glory, whom
God
hath aided, by the care of the Adored King, our master
the
Sultán, son of the Sultán, the Sultán Mahmood
1
Khán: may
God assist him, and prolong [his reign]. O God,
assist him,
and assist his armies, O thou Lord of the
religion, and of
1 The reigning Sultán at the time when the
above was written. The
Turkish Sultán is prayed for as the
Khaleefeh, or Vicar of Mohammad. Formerly,
the 'Abbásee or
Fátimee Khaleefehs were thus mentioned in the congregational
prayers of Friday.
the
world present, and the world to come, O Lord of the
beings of
the whole world. O God assist the forces of the
Muslims, and
the armies of the armies of the Unitarians. O God, frustrate
the infidels and polytheists, thine enemies, the enemies of
the religion. O God, invert their banners, and ruin their
habitations, and give them and their wealth as booty to the
Muslims.
1 O God, unloose the captivity of the captives, and
annul the debts of the debtors; and make this town to be
safe and secure, and blessed with wealth and plenty, and
all
the towns of the Muslims, O Lord of the beings of the
whole
world. And decree safety and health to us and to
all
travellers, and pilgrims, and warriors, and wanderers,
upon
thy earth, and upon thy sea, such as are Muslims, O
Lord of
the beings of the whole world. 'O Lord, we have
acted
unjustly towards our own souls, and if Thou do not
forgive
us and be merciful unto us, we shall surely be of
those who
perish.'
2 I beg of God, the Great, that He may
forgive me
and you, and all the people of Mohammad, the
servants of
God. 'Verily God commandeth justice, and the doing
of
good, and giving [what is due] to kindred; and
forbiddeth
wickedness, and iniquity, and oppression: He
admonisheth
you that ye may reflect.'
3 Remember God;
He will remember
you: and thank Him; He will increase to you
[your
blessings]. Praise be to God, the Lord of the beings
of the
whole world!”
During the rise of the Nile, a good inundation is also
prayed for in this Khutbeh. The Khateeb, or Imám, having
ended it, descends from the pulpit, and the Muballighs
chant
the “ikámeh” (described in a foot-note to page 97):
the
Imám, stationed before the niche, then recites the
“farḍ”
1 This sentence, beginning “O God,
frustrate,” was not inserted in one copy
of this prayer,
which I obtained from an Imám. Another Imám, at whose
dictation I wrote the copy here translated, told me that this sentence and
some
others were often omitted.
2 Kur-án, ch. vii. v. 22.
prayers
of Friday, which consist of two rek'ahs, and are
similar to
the ordinary prayers. The people do the same,
but silently,
and keeping time exactly with the Imám in the
various
postures. Those who are of the Málikee sect then
leave the
mosque; and so also do many persons of the other
sects: but
some of the Sháfe'ees and Hanafees (there are
scarcely any
Hambelees in
Cairo) remain, and recite
the
ordinary farḍ prayers of noon; forming a
number of separate
groups, in each of which one acts as Imám.
The rich, on
going out of the mosque, often give alms to the
poor outside
the door.
There are other prayers to be performed on particular
occasions—on the two grand annual festivals, on the nights
of Ramadán (the month of abstinence), on the occasion of
an
eclipse of the sun or moon, for rain, previously to the
commencement of battle, in pilgrimage, and at funerals.
I have spoken thus fully of Muslim worship because my
countrymen in general have very imperfect and erroneous
notions on this subject; many of them even imagining that
the
Muslims ordinarily pray to their Prophet as
well as to
God. Invocations to the Prophet, for his intercession, are,
indeed,
frequently made, particularly at his tomb, where
pious
visiters generally say, “We ask thy intercession, O
Apostle of
God.” The Muslims also even implore the intercession
of their
numerous saints.
The duty next in importance to prayer is that of giving
alms. Certain alms are prescribed by law,
and are called
” zekah “(thus commonly pronounced for “zekáh
“): others,
called “sadakah,” are voluntary. (These two terms,
however,
are properly synonymous.) The former, or
obligatory
alms, were, in the earlier ages of El-Islám,
collected, by
officers appointed by the sovereign, for pious
uses, such as
building mosques, &c.; but now it is
left to the Muslim's
conscience to give them, and to apply
them in what manner
he thinks fit; that is, to bestow them
upon whatever needy
persons he may choose. They are to be
given once in every
year;
of cattle and sheep, generally in the proportion of one
in
forty, two in a hundred and twenty; of camels, for every
five,
a ewe; or for twenty-five, a pregnant camel; and likewise
of
money, and, among the Hanafees, of merchandize, &c.
He
who has money to the amount of two hundred dirhems
(or drams)
of silver, or twenty mitkáls (i.e. thirty drams) of
gold, or,
among the Hanafees, the value of the above in gold
or silver
ornaments, utensils, &c., must annually give the
fortieth part (” ruba el-'oshr “), or the value of that part.
Fasting is the next duty. The
Muslim is commanded to
fast during the whole month of
Ramadá
1 every day, from
the first
appearance of daybreak, or rather from the hour
when a person
can distinguish plainly the white thread from
the black
thread.
2 meaning the white streak and the black
streak seen in the eastern horizon at the first appearance
of
daybreak (in Egypt about two hours before sunrise),
until
sunset. He must abstain from eating, drinking,
smoking,
smelling perfumes, and every unnecessary
indulgence or
pleasure of a worldly nature; even from
intentionally
swallowing his spittle. When Ramadán falls
in summer,
3 the fast is very severe; the abstinence from drinking
being
most painfully felt. Persons who are sick, or on a
journey,
and soldiers in time of war, are not obliged to
observe the
fast during Ramadán; but if they do not keep it in
this
month they should fast an equal number of days at a
future
time. Fasting is also to be dispensed with in the
cases of a
nurse and a pregnant woman. The Prophet even
disapproved
of any person's keeping the fast of Ramadán if
not
perfectly able; and desired no man to fast so much as
to
injure his health, or disqualify himself for necessary
labour.
The modern Muslims seem to regard the fast of
Ramadán as
of more importance than any other religious act,
for many of
1 Because the Prophet received the first
revelation in that month.
2 Kur-án, ch. ii. v. 183.
3 The year being lunar, each month
retrogrades through all the seasons in the course of about thirty-three
years and a half.
them
keep this fast who neglect their daily prayers; and
even those
who break the fast, with very few exceptions,
pretend to keep
it. Many Muslims of the wealthy classes
eat and drink in
secret during Ramadán; but the greater
number strictly keep
the fast, which is fatal to numerous
persons in a weak state
of health. There are some other days
on which it is considered
meritorious to fast, but not
absolutely necessary. On the two
grand festivals, namely
that following Ramadán, and that which
succeeds the pilgrimage,
it is
unlawful to do so, being expressly forbidden by
the
Prophet.
The last of the four most important duties, that of
pilgrimage,
remains to be noticed. It
is incumbent on every
Muslim to perform, once in his life, the
pilgrimage to
Mekkeh and Mount 'Arafát, unless poverty or ill
health
prevent him; or, if a Hanafee, he may send a
deputy, whose
expenses he must pay.
1 Many, however,
neglect the duty
of pilgrimage who cannot plead a lawful
excuse; and they
are not reproached for so doing. It is not
merely by the
visit to Mekkeh, and the performance of the
ceremonies of
compassing the Kaabeh seven times and kissing
the “black
stone “in each round, and other rites in the Holy
City, that
the Muslim acquires the title of “el-hágg “
2
(or the pilgrim):
the final object of the pilgrimage is Mount
'Arafát, six hours’
journey distant from Mekkeh. During his
performance of
the required ceremonies in Mekkeh, and also
during his
journey to 'Arafát, and until his completion of the
pilgrimage,
the Muslim wears a peculiar dress, called
“ehrám “
(vulgarly herám), generally consisting of two simple
pieces of
cotton, or linen, or woollen, cloth, without seam or
ornament,
one of which is wrapped round the loins, and the
other
thrown over the shoulders: the shoulders: the instep
and heel of each foot,
1 A Milikee is held bound to perform the
pilgrimage if strong enough to
bear the journey on foot,
and able to earn his food on the way.
2 On the pronunciation of this word, see a
note to the second paragraph of Chapter V.
and the
head, must be bare; but umbrellas are now used by
many of the
pilgrims. It is necessary that the pilgrim be
present on the
occasion of a Khutbeh which is recited on
Mount 'Arafát in the
afternoon of the 9th of the month of
Zu-l-Heggeh. In the
ensuing evening, after sunset, the
pilgrims commence their
return to Mekkeh. Halting the
following day in the valley of
Minà (or, as it is more commonly
called, Munàa), they complete
the ceremonies of the
pilgrimage by a sacrifice (of one or
more rams, he-goats,
cows, or she-camels, part of the flesh of
which they eat, and
part give to the poor), and by shaving the
head and clipping
the nails. Every one, after this, resumes
his usual dress, or
puts on a new one, if provided with such.
The sacrifice is
called “el-fidà “(or the ransom), as it is
performed in commemoration
of the ransom of Ismá'eel (or
Ishmael) by the
sacrifice of the ram, when he was himself
about to be offered
up by his father; for it is the general
opinion of the Muslims
that it was this son, not Isaac, who
was to be sacrificed by
his father.
There are other ordinances, more or less connected with
those which have been already explained.
The two festivals called “el-'Eed es-Sugheiyir,”
1 or the
Minor Festival, and “el-Eed el-Kebeer,” or the Great
Festival,
the occasions of which have been mentioned
above, are
observed with public prayer and general rejoicing.
The
first of these lasts three days; and the second, three
or four
days. The festivities with which they are celebrated
will
be described in a subsequent chapter. On the first
day of
the latter festival (it being the day on which the
pilgrims
perform their sacrifice) every Muslim should slay
a victim,
if he can afford to purchase one. The wealthy person
slays
several sheep, or a sheep, or two, and a buffalo,
and distributes
the greater portion of the meat to the poor.
The
slaughter may be performed by a deputy.
1 More properly “Sagheer.” This is what many
travellers have incorrectly
called “the Great Festival.”
War against enemies of El-Islám, who have been the first
aggressors, is enjoined as a sacred duty; and he who loses
his life in fulfilling this duty, if unpaid, is promised
the
rewards of a martyr. It has been said, even by some
of their leading doctors, that the Muslims are commanded
to put to death, all idolaters who refuse to embrace
El-Islám,
except women and children, whom they are to
make
slaves:
1 but the precepts on which this
assertion is founded
relate to the pagan Arabs, who had
violated their oaths and
long persevered in their hostility to
Mohammad and his
followers. According to the decisions of the
most reasonable
doctors, the laws respecting other idolaters,
as well as
Christians and Jews, who have drawn upon themselves
the
hostility of the Muslims, are different: of such
enemies, if
reduced by force of arms, refusing to capitulate
or to surrender
themselves, the men may be put to death or be
made
slaves; and the women and children also, under the
same
circumstances, may be made slaves: but life and
liberty are
to be granted to those enemies who surrender
themselves by
capitulation or otherwise, on the condition of
their embracing
El-Islám or paying a poll-tax, unless they
have acted perfidiously
towards the Muslims, as did the Jewish
tribe of
Kureydhah, who, being in league with Mohammad,
went
over to his enemies and aided them against him: for
which
conduct, when they surrendered, the men were slain,
and
the women and children were made slaves. — The
Muslims,
it may here be added, are forbidden to contract
intimate
friendship with unbelievers.
There are certain prohibitory laws in the Kur-án which
1 Misled by the decision of those doctors,
and an opinion prevalent in
Europe, 1 represented the low
of “holy war” as more severe than 1 find them
to be
according to the letter and spirit of the Kur-án, when carefully
examined,
and according to the Hanafee code. I am
indebted to Mr. Urquhart for suggesting
to me the
necessity of revising my former statement on this subject;
and must express my conviction that no precept is to be found in the
Kur-án
which, taken with the context, can justify
unprovoked war.
must be
mentioned here, as remarkably affecting the moral
and social
condition of its disciples.
Wine, and all inebriating liquors, are forbidden, as being
the cause of “more evil than profit.”
1 Many of the
Muslims.
however, in the present day, drink wine, brandy,
&c., in
secret; and some, thinking it no sin to
indulge thus' in
moderation, scruple not to do so openly; but
among the
Egyptians there are few who transgress in this
flagrant
manner. “Boozeh,” or “boozah,” which is an
intoxicating
liquor made with barley-bread, crumbled,
mixed with water,
strained, and left to ferment, is commonly
drunk by the
boatmen of the Nile, and by other persons of the
lower
orders.
2 Opium, and other drugs which produce a
similar
effect, are considered unlawful, though not
mentioned in the
Kur-án; and persons who are addicted to the
use of these
drugs are regarded as immoral characters; but in
Egypt,
such persons are not very numerous. Some Muslims
have
pronounced tobacco, and even coffee, unlawful.
The eating of swine's flesh is strictly forbidden. The
unwholesome effects of that meat in a hot climate would be
a sufficient reason for the prohibition; but the pig is held
in
abhorrence by the Muslim chiefly on account of its
extremely
filthy habits.
3 Most animals prohibited for
food by the Mosaic
law are alike forbidden to the Muslim. The
camel is an
exception. The Muslim is “forbidden [to eat] that
which
1 Kur-án, ch. ii. v. 216. A kind of wine,
formerly called “nebeedh” (a
name now given to prohibited
kinds), may be lawfully drunk. This is generally
an
infusion of dry grapes, or dry dates. The Muslims used to keep it
until it had slightly fermented; and the Prophet himself
was accustomed to
drink it, but not when it was more than
two days old. The nebeedh of raisins
is now called
“zebeeb.”
2 A similar beverage, thus prepared from
barley, was used by the ancient
Egyptians. (Herodotus,
lib. ii. cap. 77.) The modern inhabitants of Egypt
also
prepare boozeh from wheat and from millet in the same manner, but less
commonly.
3 Swine were universally deemed impure by
the ancient Egyptians. (Herodotus,
lib. ii. cap. 47.)
dieth
of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and that on
which the
name of any beside God hath been invoked; and
that which hath
been strangled, or killed by a blow, or by a
fall, or by the
horns [of another beast]; and that which
hath been [partly]
eaten by a wild beast, except what he
shall [himself] kill,
and that which hath been sacrificed
unto idols.”
1
An animal that is killed for the food of man
must be
slaughtered in a particular manner: the person who
is about to
perform the operation must say, “In the name of
God: God is
most great:” and then cut its throat, at the
part next the
head, taking care to divide the windpipe,
gullet, and carotid
arteries; unless it be a camel, in which
case he should
stab the throat at the part next the
breast.
It is forbidden to utter, in slaughtering an
animal, the
phrase which is so often made use of on other
occasions, “In
the name of God, the Compassionate, the
Merciful,” because
the mention of the most benevolent epithets
of the Deity on
such an occasion would seem like a mockery of
the sufferings
which it is about to endure. Some persons in
Egypt, but
mostly women, when about to kill an animal for
food, say,
“In the name of God: God is most great: God give
thee
patience to endure the affliction which He hath
allotted
thee.”
2 If the sentiment which first dictated
this prayer
were always felt, it would present a beautiful
trait in the
character of the people who use it. In cases of
necessity,
when in danger of starving, the Muslim is
allowed to eat
any food which is unlawful under other
circumstances. The
mode of slaughter above described is, of
course, only required
to be practised in the cases of domestic
animals. Most kinds
of fish are lawful food:
3 so too are many
birds; the tame
2 The Arabic words of this prayer, “God
give thee patience,” &c., are
“Allah yeṣabbirak
(for yuṣabbirak) 'alà má belák.”
3 In some respects the Muslim code does not
appear to be so strictly founded
upon exigencies of a
sanitary nature as the Mosaic. See Leviticus, xi. 9 — 12.
In Egypt, fish which have not scales are generally found to be
unwholesome
food. One of the few reasonable laws of
El-Ḥákim was that which forbade the
selling or catching
such kinds of fish. See De Sacy, Chrestomathie Arabe,
2nd
ed., vol. i. p. 98.
kinds
of which must be killed in the same manner as cattle;
hut the
wild may be shot. The hare, rabbit, gazelle, &c.,
are
lawful food; and may either be shot (as birds may be),
or
killed by a dog, provided the name of God was uttered at
the
time of discharging the arrow, &c., or slipping the dog,
and he (the dog) has not eaten any part of the prey. This
animal, however, is considered very unclean: the Sháfe'ees
hold themselves to be polluted by the touch of its nose, if it
be wet; and if any part of their clothes be so touched, they
must wash that part with seven waters, and once with clean
earth: some others are only careful not to let the animal
lick, or defile in a worse manner, their persons or their dress,
&c. When game has been struck down by any weapon, but
not killed, its throat must be immediately cut: otherwise it
is unlawful food.
Gambling and usury are prohibited,
1 and all games of
chance; and likewise the making of images or pictures of
anything that has life.
2 The Prophet declared that
every
representation of this kind would be placed before
its author
on the day of judgment, and that he would be
commanded
to put life into it; which not being able to do,
he would be
cast, for a time, into hell.
The principal civil and criminal laws remain to be stated.
Their origin we discover partly in customs of the Pagan
Arabs; but mostly in the Bible and the Jewish traditions.
The civil and criminal laws are chiefly and immediately
1 It is unlawful to give or receive
interest, however small, for a loan, or on
account of
credit; and to exchange any article for another article of the same
species, but differing in quantity. These and several
other commercial transactions
of a similar kind are
severely condemned; but they are not very
uncommon among
modern Muslims, some of whom take exorbitant interest.
2 Many of the Muslims hold that only
sculptures which cast a shadow,
representing living
creatures, are unlawful; but the Prophet certainly condemned
pictures also.
derived
from the Ḳur-án;
1 but, in many important cases,
this
highest authority affords no precept. In most of these
cases
the Traditions of the Prophet direct the decisions of
the
judge.
2 There are, however, some important cases, and
many of an inferior kind, respecting which both the Ḳur-án
and the Traditions are silent or indecisive. These are
determined by the explanations and amplifications derived
either from the concordance of the principal early
disciples,
or from analogy, by the four great Imáms, or
founders of the
four orthodox persuasions of El-Islám;
generally on the
authority of the Imám of that persuasion to
which the
ruling power belongs, which persuasion, in Egypt,
and
throughout the Turkish Empire, is that of the
Ḥanafees: or,
if none of the decisions of the Imám relate to a
case in
dispute (which not unfrequently happens), judgment
is
given in accordance with a sentence of some other
eminent
doctor, founded upon analogy.—In general, only the
principal
laws, as laid down in the Ḳur-án and the
Traditions.
will be here stated.
The laws relating to
marriage and
the licence of
polygamy,
the facility of
divorce allowed by the
Ḳur-án, and the
permission of
concubinage, are essentially the natural and
necessary consequences of the main principle of the constitution
of Muslim society—the restriction of the intercourse
between the sexes before marriage. Few men would
marry if he
who was disappointed in a wife whom he had
never seen before
were not allowed to take another; and in
the case of a man's
doing this, his own happiness, or that of
the former wife, or
the happiness of both these parties, may
require his either
retaining this wife or divorcing her. But
I hope that my
reader will admit a much stronger reason
for these laws,
regarding them as designed for the
Muslims. As Moses allowed God's chosen people, for
the hardness of
their hearts, to put away their wives, and
forbade neither
1 A law given in the Ḳur-án is called
“farḍ.”
2 A law derived from the Traditions is
called “sunneh.”
polygamy nor concubinage, he who believes that Moses was
divinely inspired, to enact the best laws for his people, must
hold the permission of these practices to be less injurious to
morality than their prohibition, among a people similar to
the
ancient Jews. Their permission, though certainly productive
of
injurious effects upon morality and domestic
happiness,
prevents a profligacy that would be worse than
that which
prevails to so great a degree in European
countries, where
parties are united in marriage after an
intimate mutual
acquaintance. As to the licence of polygamy,
which seems to be
unfavourable to the accomplishment
of the main object for
which marriage was instituted, as
well as to the exercise and
improvement of the nobler
powers of the mind, we should
remark, that it was not
introduced, but limited, by the
legislator of the Muslims.
It is true that he assumed to
himself the privilege of having
a greater number of wives than
he allowed to others; but,
in doing so, he may have been
actuated by the want of male
offspring, rather than impelled
by voluptuousness.
The law respecting marriage and concubinage is perfectly
explicit as to the number of wives whom a Muslim may
have at the same time: but it is not so with regard to the
number of concubine-slaves whom he may have. It is
written, “Take in marriage, of the women who please you,
two, three, or four; but if ye fear that ye cannot act
equitably [to so many, take] one; or, [take] those whom
your right hands have acquired,”
1 that is, your
slaves.
Therefore many of the wealthy Muslims marry two,
three,
or four wives, and keep besides several
concubine-slaves;
and many of the most revered characters,
even Companions
of the Prophet, are recorded to have done the
same. The
conduct of the latter clearly shews that the number
of concubine-slaves
whom a man may have is not limited by
the
law in the opinion of the orthodox.
22 Some Muslim moralists argue, that, as four
wives are a sufficient number
for one man, so also are four
concubine-slaves, or four women consisting of
these two
classes together; but, notwithstanding what Sale and some other
learned men have arrested on this subject, the Muslim law certainly does
not
limit the number of concubine-slaves whom a man may
have, whether in addition
to, or without, a wife or wives.
It is held lawful for a Muslim to marry a Christian or a
Jewish woman, if induced to do so by excessive love of
her,
or if he cannot obtain a wife of his own faith: but
in this
case the offspring must follow the father's faith,
1
and the
wife does not inherit when the father dies. A
Muslimeh,
however, is not allowed in any circumstances,
but when
force is employed, to marry a man who is not of her
own
faith. A man is forbidden, by the Ḳur-án
2
and the Sunneh,
to marry his mother, or other ascendant; his
daughter, or
other descendant; his sister, or half-sister; the
sister of his
father or mother, or other ascendant; his niece,
or any of her
descendants; his foster-mother,
3
or a woman related to him
by milk in any of the degrees which
would preclude his
marriage with her if she were similarly
related to him by
consanguinity; the mother of his wife, even
if he have not
consummated his marriage with this wife; the
daughter of
his wife if he have consummated his marriage with
the
latter, and she be still his wife; his father's wife,
and his
son's wife; and to have at the same time two wives who
are
sisters, or aunt and niece: he is forbidden also to
marry his
unemancipated slave, or another man's slave, if he
have
already a free wife. It is lawful for the Muslim to
see the
faces of these women whom he is forbidden to marry,
but of
no others, except his own wives and female slaves.
The
1 In like manner, when a Christian man
marries a Jewess, the Muslim law
requires the offspring to
profess “the better faith,” namely, the Christian, if
unwilling to embrace El-Islám.
3 By the Ḥanafee code, a man may not marry
a woman from whose breast
he has received a single drop of
milk; but Esh-Sháfe'ee does not prohibit the
marriage
unless he has been suckled by her five times in the course of the first
two years.
marriage of a man and woman, or of a man and a girl who has
arrived at puberty, is lawfully effected by their declaring
(which the latter generally does by a “wekeel,” or deputy.)
their consent to marry each other, in the presence of two
witnesses (if witnesses can be procured), and by the payment,
or part-payment, of a dowry. But the consent of a
girl under
the age of puberty is not required; her father, or,
if he be
dead, her nearest adult male relation, or any person
appointed
as her guardian by will or by the Ḳáḍee, acting
for her as he
pleases.
1 The giving of a dowry is indispensable,
and the least sum that is allowed by law is ten
“dirhems” (or drachms of silver), which is equal to about
five, shillings of our money. A man may legally marry a
woman without mentioning a dowry; but after the
consummation
of the marriage she can, in this case, compel
him
to pay the sum of ten dirhems.
2A man may divorce his wife twice, and each time take
her back without any ceremony, except in a case to be
mentioned below; but if he divorce her the third time, or
put
her away by a triple divorce conveyed in one sentence,
he
cannot receive her again until she has been married and
divorced by another husband, who must have consummated
his
marriage with her.
3 When a man divorces his wife
(which
he does by merely saying, “Thou art divorced,” or
“I divorce
thee”), he pays her a portion of her dowry
(generally
one-third), which he had kept back from the first,
to be paid
on this occasion or at his death; and she takes
away with her
the furniture, &c., which she brought at her
marriage.
He may thus put her away from mere dislike,
4 and without assigning any
reason; but a woman cannot
1 A boy may be thus married; but he may
divorce his wife.
2 Whatever property the wife receives from
her husband, parents, or any
other person, is entirely at
her own disposal, and not subject to any claim of
her
husband or his creditors.
3 Ḳur-án eh. ii. vv. 229, 230.
4 As the law of Moses also allows. See
Dent. xxiv. 1.
separate herself from her husband against his will, unless
it
be for some considerable fault on his part, as cruel treatment,
or neglect; and even then, application to the Ḳáḍee's
court
is generally necessary to compel the man to divorce
her; and
she forfeits the above-mentioned remnant of the
dowry.
The first and second divorce, if made without any mutual
agreement for a compensation from the woman, or a
pecuniary
sacrifice on her part, is termed “ṭaláḳ reg'ee”
(a divorce
which admits of return); because the husband may
take
back his wife, without her consent, during the period
of her
“'eddeh” (which will be presently explained), but not
after,
unless with her consent, and by a new contract. If
he
divorce her the first or second time for a
compensation, she
perhaps requesting, “Divorce me for what
thou owest me,”
or “—hast of mine” (that is, of the dowry,
furniture, &c.),
or for an additional sum, he cannot
take her again but by
her own consent, and by a new contract.
This is a “ṭaláḳ
báï” (or separating divorce), and is termed
“the lesser
separation,” to distinguish it from the third
divorce, which is
called “the greater separation.” The
“'eddeh” is the period
during which a divorced woman, or a
widow, must wait
before marrying again; in either case, if
pregnant, until
delivery: otherwise, the former must wait
three lunar periods,
or three months; and the latter, four
months and ten days.
A woman who is divorced when in a state
of pregnancy,
though she may make a new contract of marriage
immediately
after her delivery, must wait forty days
longer before she can
complete her marriage by receiving her
husband. The man
who divorces his wife must maintain her in
his own house,
or in that of her parents, or elsewhere, during
the period of
her “eddeh: but must cease to live with her as
her husband
from the commencement of that period. A divorced
woman
who has a son under two years of age may retain him
until
he has attained that age, and may be compelled to do
so by
the law of the Sháf'ees; and, by the law of the
Málikees,
until
he has arrived at puberty; but the Ḥanafee' law limits
the
period during which the boy should remain under her
care to
seven years: her daughter she should retain until
nine years
of age, or the period of puberty. If a man divorce
his wife
before the consummation of marriage, he must pay
her half the
sum which he has promised to give her as a
dowry; or, if he
have promised no dowry, he must pay
her the half of the
smallest dowry allowed by law, which
has been above mentioned;
and she may marry again
immediately.
When a wife refuses to obey the lawful commands of her
husband, he may, and generally does, take her, or two
witnesses
1 against her, to the Kádee's court, to
prefer a
complaint against her; and, if the case be proved, a
certificate
is written declaring the woman “náshizeh,” or
rebellious
against her husband. This process is termed
“writing a
woman náshizeh.” It exempts her husband from
obligation
to lodge, clothe, and maintain her. He is not
obliged to
divorce her; and, by refusing to do this, he may
prevent her
marrying another man as long as he lives; but, if
she promise
to be obedient afterwards, he must take her back,
and
maintain her, or divorce her. It is more common,
however,
for a wife whose husband refuses to divorce her,
if she have
parents or other relations able and willing to
support her
comfortably, to make a complaint at the Kádee's
court, stating
her husband's conduct to be of such a nature
towards her that
she will not live with him, and thus cause
herself to be
registered “náshizeh,” and separated from him.
In this case.
the husband generally persists, from mere spite,
in refusing
to divorce her.
As concubines are
slaves, some
account of slaves in general
may here be appropriately
inserted, with a statement of the
principal laws respecting
concubines and their offspring, &c. —
The slave is
either a person taken captive in war, or carried
1 The witnesses must always be Muslims in
accusations against a person or
the same faith.
off by
force from a foreign hostile country, and being at the
time of
capture an infidel; or the offspring of a female slave
by
another slave, or by any man who is not her owner, or by
her
owner if he do not acknowledge himself to be the father;
but a
person cannot be the slave of a relation who is within
the
prohibited degrees of marriage. The power of the owner
is such
that he may even kill his slave with impunity for any
offence;
and he incurs but a slight punishment (as imprisonment
for a
period at the discretion of the judge) if he do so
wantonly.
He may give or sell his slaves, except in some
cases which
will be mentioned; and may marry them to
whom he will, but not
separate them when married. A
slave, however, according to
most of the doctors, cannot have
more than two wives at the
same time. As a slave enjoys
less advantages than a free
person, the law, in some cases,
ordains that his punishment
for an offence shall be half of
that to which the free is
liable for the same offence, or even
less than half: if it be
a fine, or pecuniary compensation, it
must be paid by the
owner, to the amount, if necessary, of
the value of the slave,
or the slave must be given in compensation.
An unemancipated
slave, at the death of the owner,
becomes the property of the
heirs of the latter; and when an
emancipated slave dies,
leaving no male descendant or collateral
relation, the former
owner is the heir; or, if he be
dead, his heirs inherit the
slave's property. But an unemancipated
slave can acquire no
property without the
permission of the owner. Complete and
immediate emancipation
is sometimes granted to a slave
gratuitously, or for a
future pecuniary compensation. It is
conferred by means of
a written document, or by a verbal
declaration in the
presence of two witnesses, or by presenting
the slave with
the certificate of sale obtained from the
former owner. Future
emancipation is sometimes covenanted to
be granted on the
fulfilment of certain conditions: and more
frequently, to be
conferred on the occasion of the owner's
death. In the latter
case, the owner cannot sell the slave to
whom he has made
this
promise; and as he cannot alienate by will more than
one-third
of the whole property that he leaves, the law
ordains that, if
the value of the said slave exceed that portion,
the slave
must obtain, and pay to the owner's heirs, the
additional sum.
— A Muslim may take as his concubine any of
his female slaves
who is a Muslimeh, or a Christian, or a
Jewess, if he have not
married her to another man; but he
may not have as his
concubines, at the same time, two or
more who are sisters, or
who are related to each other in any
of the degrees which
would prevent their both being his
wives at the same time if
they were free. A Christian is
not by the law allowed, nor is
a Jew, to have a Muslimeh
slave as his concubine.
1
The master must wait a certain
period (generally from a month
to three months) after his
acquisition of a female slave,
before he can take her as his
concubine. When a female slave
becomes a mother by her
master, the child which she bears to
him is free, if he
acknowledge it to be his own; but if not
(which I believe is
seldom the case), it is his slave. In the
former case the
mother cannot afterwards be sold nor given
away by her
master (though she must continue to serve him and
be his
concubine as long as he desires); and she is entitled
to
emancipation at his death. Her bearing a child to him
is
called the cause of her emancipation or liberty; but it
does
not oblige him to emancipate her as long as he lives,
though
it is commendable if he do so, and make her his
wife, provided
he have not already four wives, or if he marry
her to
another man, should it be her wish. A free person
cannot
become the husband or wife of his, or her, own
slave, without
first emancipating that slave; and the marriage
of a free
person with the slave of another is dissolved if the
former
become the owner of the latter, and cannot be
renewed but by
emancipation and a regular legal contract.
The most remarkable general principles of the laws of
1 Yet many Christians and Jews in Egypt
infringe the law in this respect
with impunity.
inheritance are the denial of any privileges
to primogeniture,
1 and in most cases awarding to a female a share equal
to half
that of a male of the same degree of relationship to
the
deceased.
2 A person may bequeath one-third of his
or her
property; but not a larger portion, unless he or she
has no
legal heir; nor any portion to a legal heir, except
wife or
husband, without the consent of all the other heirs.
The
children of a person deceased inherit the whole of
that
person's property, or what remains after the
deduction of
certain shares to be mentioned below, and after
payment of
the legacies and debts, &c.; and the share
of a male is double
the share of a female. If the children of
the deceased be
only females, two or more in number, they
inherit together,
by the law of the Kur-án, two-thirds; and if
there be but one
child, and that a female, she inherits by the
same law half.
[But the remaining third, or half, is also
assigned to the said
daughters or daughter, by a law of the
Sunneh (which
applies also to other cases), if there be no
other legal heir.]
If the deceased have left no immediate
descendant, the sons
and daughters of his son or sons inherit
as immediate
descendants [and so on]. If the deceased have
left a child or
a son's child [and so on], each of the parents
of the deceased
inherits one-sixth. If the father be dead, his
share falls to
his father. [If the mother be dead, her
share falls to
her
mother.] If the deceased have left no child or son's child
[and so on], the mother has one-third of the property, or of
1 In this the Muslim law differs from the
Mosaic, which assigns a double
portion to the firstborn
son. See Deut. xxi. 17.
2 In my summary of the principal laws
relating to inheritance, in the first
two editions of this
work, there were some errors, occasioned by my relying
too
much upon Sale's version of the Ḳur-án; for I doubted not his accuracy,
as he had several commentaries to consult, and I had
none; wherefore, in my
inquiries respecting these laws, I
sought only to add to, not to correct, the
information
conveyed by his version. I have here given a corrected statement,
derived from the Ḳur-án and the Commentary of the
Geláleyn, supplying some
words of necessary explanation
(which are enclosed in brackets) partly on the
authority
of a sheykh who was my tutor, and partly from the valuable work
of D'Ohsson, “Tableau Général de l'Empire Othoman,” Code
Civil, livre iv.
what
remains after deducting the share of the wife or wives
or
husband, and the residue is for the father; unless the
deceased has left two or more brothers or sisters, in which
case the mother inherits one-sixth, and the father the residue;
the said brothers or sisters receiving nothing;
1 [if the
deceased have left a father or any ascendant in the male
line.] A man inherits half of what remains of his wife's
property after the payment of her legacies, &c., if
she have
left no child or son's child, [and so on;] and
one-fourth if she
have left a child or son's child, [and so
on.] One-fourth is
the share of the wife, or of the wives
conjointly, if the
deceased husband have left no child or
son's child, [and so on;]
and one-eighth if he have left any
such descendant.
2 If the
deceased have not left a
father, [nor any ascendant in the male
line,] nor a child,
[nor a son's child, and so on,] the law ordains
as follows:—1.
A sole brother, or sister, only by the mother's
side, inherits
one-sixth; and if there be two or more brothers
or sisters
only by the mother's side, or one or more of such
relations of
each sex, they inherit collectively one-third,
which is
equally divided, without distinction of male and
female.—2. If
the deceased have left a sole sister by his father
and mother,
[and no such brother,] she inherits half; and a
1 According to Sale's translation of
the 12th verse of chap. iv., and a note
thereon, if the
deceased have no child, and his parents be his heirs, then his
mother shall have the third part, and his father the
other two-thirds: but if
he have brethren, his mother
shall have a sixth part:—and by his translation
of the
last verse of the same chapter, stating that the brothers of a man who
has died without
issue have a claim to inheritance, it is implied that the
brothers, if the father be
living, must have a share; consequently, that they
would have, in the case above mentioned, a sixth part: for he has not
stated
that this portion which is deducted from the
mother's share goes to the
father, nor that the father's
share is diminished.—Why the mother's share is
diminished
and the father's increased, in the case to which this note relates, I
do not see: the reason might be easily inferred, were it
not that the surviving
brothers or sisters of the deceased
may be his brothers or sisters by the
mother's side only.
2 This is exclusive of what may remain
due to her of her dowry, of which
one-third is usually
held in reserve by the husband, to be paid to her if be
divorce her or when he dies.
man
inherits the whole property of such a sister, [or what
remains
after the payment of her legacies, &c.,] if she have
left no child; but if she have left a male child, [or son's child,
and so on,] he (the brother) inherits nothing; and if she
have
left a female child, the said brother inherits what
remains
after deducting that child's share [and after the
payment of
the legacies, &c.]. If the deceased have
left two or more
sisters by his father and mother, [and no
such brother,] they
inherit together two-thirds. If the
deceased have left one or
more brothers, and one or more
sisters, by his father and
mother, they inherit the whole, [or
what remains after the
payment of the legacies, &c.],
and the share of a male is
double the share of a female.—3.
Brothers and sisters by the
father's side only, [when there is
no brother or sister by the
father and mother,] inherit as
brothers and sisters by the
father and mother.
1
No distinction is made between the child
of a wife and that
borne by a slave to her master (if the master
acknowledge the
child to be his own): both inherit equally.
So also do the
child of a wife and the adopted child. A bastard
inherits only
from his mother, and
vice versâ. When there
is no
legal heir, or legatee, the property falls to the
government-treasury,
which is called “beyt el-mál.” The
laws respecting
certain remote degrees of kindred,
&c., I have not thought it
necessary to state.
2
The property of the deceased is nominally
divided into
“ḳeeráṭs” (or twenty-fourth parts); and the
share of each son,
or other heir, is said to be so many ḳeeráṭs.
The law is remarkably lenient towards
debtors. “If there
be any [debtor],” says the
Ḳur-án,
3 “under a difficulty [of
paying his
debt], let [his creditor] wait till it be easy [for him
to do
it]; but if ye remit it as alms, it will be better for you.”
The Muslim is commanded (in the chapter from which the
above
extract is taken), when he contracts a debt, to cause a
1 The portions of the Ḳur-án upon
which the above laws are founded are
verses 12—15. and the
last verse, of ch. iv.
2 The reader may see them in
D'Ohsson's work before mentioned.
statement of it to be written, and attested by two men, or a
man and two women, of his own faith. The debtor is
imprisoned
for non-payment of his debt; but if he establish
his
insolvency, he is liberated. He may be compelled to work
for
the discharge of his debt, if able.
The Ḳur-án ordains that
murder
shall be punished with
death; or rather, that the free shall
die for the free, the slave
for the slave, and a woman for a
woman; or that the
perpetrator of the crime shall pay to the
heirs of the person
whom he has killed, if they allow it, a
fine, which is to be
divided according to the laws of
inheritance.
1 It also
ordains that
unintentional homicide shall be expiated by
freeing
a believer from slavery, and paying, to the family
of the
person killed, a fine, unless they remit it.
2
But these laws
are amplified and explained by the same book
and by the
Imáms.—A fine is not to be accepted for murder
unless the
crime has been attended by some palliating
circumstance.
This fine, which is the price of blood, is a
hundred camels;
or a thousand deenárs (about 500
l.) from him who possesses
gold; or from him who possesses silver, twelve thousand
dirhems
3 (about 300
l.).
This is for killing a free man: for
a woman, half the sum: for
a slave, his or her value; but
that must fall short of the
price of blood for the free. A
person unable to free a
believer must fast two months, as in
Ramaḍán. The accomplices
of a murderer are liable to the
punishment of death. By the
Sunneh also, a man is obnoxious
to capital punishment for the
murder of a woman; and by
the Ḥanafee law, for the murder of
another man's slave, But
he is exempted from this punishment
who kills his own child
or other descendant, or his own slave,
or his son's slave, or a
slave of whom he is part-owner: so
also are his accomplices;
and according to Esh-Sháfe'ee, a
Muslim, though a slave, is
not to be put to death for killing
an infidel, though the latter
be free. In the present day,
however, murder is generally
3 Or, according to some, ten thousand
dirhems.
punished with death; the government seldom allowing a
composition in money to be made. A man who kills another
in
self-defence, or to defend his property from a robber, is
exempt from all punishment. The price of blood is a debt
incumbent on the family, tribe, or association, of which the
homicide is a member. It is also incumbent on the inhabitants
of an enclosed quarter, or the proprietor or proprietors
of a
field, in which the body of a person killed by an unknown
hand
is found; unless the person has been found killed in his
own
house. A woman, convicted of a capital crime, is
generally put
to death by drowning in the Nile.
The Bedawees have made the law of the avenging of blood
terribly severe and unjust, transgressing the limits
assigned
by the Ḳur-án: for, with them, any single person
descended
from the homicide, or from the homicide's
father, grand
father, great-grandfather, or
great-grandfather's father, may
be killed by any of such
relations of the person murdered,
or killed in fight; but
among most tribes, the fine is
generally accepted instead of
the blood. Cases of blood-revenge
are very common among the
peasantry of Egypt.
who, as I have before remarked, retain
many customs of their
Bedawee ancestors. The relations of a
person who has been
killed, in an Egyptian village, generally
retaliate with their
own hands rather than apply to the
government, and often
do so with disgusting cruelty, and even
mangle and insult
the corpse of their victim. The relations of
a homicide
usually flee from their own to another village, for
protection.
Even when retaliation has been made, animosity
frequently
continues between the two parties for many
years; and often
a case of blood-revenge involves the
inhabitants of two or
more villages in hostilities, which are
renewed, at intervals,
during the period of several
generations.
Retaliation for unintentional
wounds and
mutilations is
allowed, like as for murder; “eye for
eye,” &c.;
1 but a fine
may be accepted
instead, which the law allows also for
unintentional injuries. The fine for a member that is single
(as the nose) is the whole price of blood, as for homicide;
for a member of which there are two, and not more (as a
hand),
half the price of blood; for one of which there are
ten (a
finger or toe), a tenth of the price of blood: but the
fine of
a man for maiming or wounding a woman is half
of that for the
same injury to a man; and that of a free
person for injuring a
slave varies according to the value of
the slave. The fine for
depriving a man of any of his
five senses, or dangerously
wounding him, or grievously
disfiguring him for life, is the
whole price of blood.
Theft, whether committed by a man
or by a woman,
according to the Ḳur-án,
1 is to be
punished by cutting off the
offender's right hand for the
first offence; but a Sunneh law
ordains that this punishment
shall not be inflicted if the
value of the stolen property is
less than a quarter of a
deenár;
2 and it is
also held necessary, to render the thief
obnoxious to this
punishment, that the property stolen
should have been
deposited in a place to which he had not
ordinary or easy
access: whence it follows, that a man who
steals in the house
of a near relation is not subject to this
punishment; nor is a
slave who robs the house of his master.
For the second
offence, the left foot is to be cut off; for the
third,
according to the Sháfe'ee law, the left hand; for the
fourth,
the right foot; and for further offences of the same
kind, the
culprit is to be flogged or beaten; or, by the
Ḥanafee code,
for the third and subsequent offences, the
criminal is to be
punished by a long imprisonment. A man
may steal a free-born
infant without offending against the
law, because it is not
property; but not a slave; and the
hand is not to be cut off
for stealing any article of food that
is quickly perishable;
because it may have been taken to
2 The deenar is a mitḳál (or nearly 72
English grains) of gold. Sale,
copying a false translation
by Marracci, and neglecting to examine the Arabic
text
quoted by the latter, has stated the sum in question to be four deenárs.
supply
the immediate demands of hunger. There are also
some other
cases in which the thief is exempt from the
punishments above
mentioned. In Egypt, of late years,
these punishments have not
been inflicted. Beating and
hard labour have been substituted
for the first, second, or
third offence, and frequently death
for the fourth. Most
petty offences are usually punished by
beating with the
“kurbág” (a thong or whip of hippopotamus'
hide, hammered
into a round form,) or with a stick, generally
on the
soles of the feet.
1 Adultery is most severely
visited; but to establish a charge
of this crime against a
wife, four eye-witnesses are necessary.
2 If convicted thus, she is
to be put to death by
stoning.
3 I need scarcely say, that
cases of this kind
have very seldom occurred, from the
difficulty of obtaining
such testimony.
4 Further laws
on this subject, and still
more favourable, to the women, are
given in the Ḳur-án,
5 in
the following words:—“But [as
to] those who accuse women
of reputation [of fornication or
adultery], and produce not
four witnesses [of the fact],
scourge them with eighty stripes,
and receive not their
testimony for ever; for such are
infamous prevaricators:
except those who shall afterwards
repent; for God is gracious
and merciful. They who shall
accuse their wives, [of
adultery,] and shall have no witnesses
[thereof] besides
themselves, the testimony [which
shall be required] of one of
them [shall be] that he swear
1 The feet are confined by a chain or
rope attached at each end to a staff,
which is turned
round to tighten it. This is called a “falaḳah.” Two persons
(one on each side) strike alternately.
3 This is a “Sunneh” law. The law is
the same in the case of the
adulterer, if married; but it
is never enforced. See Leviticus, xx. 10, and
St. John,
viii. 4, 5.
4 It is worthy of remark, that the
circumstance which occasioned the
promulgation of this
extraordinary law was an accusation of adultery preferred
against the Prophet's favourite wife, 'Aïsheh: she was thus absolved from
punishment, and her reputation was cleared by additional
“revelations.”
four
times by God that he speaketh the truth, and the fifth
[time
that he imprecate] the curse of God on him if he be a
liar;
and it shall avert the punishment [of the wife] if she
swear
four times by God that he is a liar, and if the fifth
[time
she imprecate] the wrath of God on her if he speak the
truth.”
The commentators and lawyers have agreed that,
in these
circumstances, the marriage must be dissolved. In
the chapter
from which the above quotation is made, it is
ordained (in
verse 2) that unmarried persons convicted of
fornication shall
be punished by scourging, with a hundred
stripes; and a Sunneh
law renders them obnoxious to the
further punishment of
banishment for a whole year.
1 Of
the punishment of
women convicted of incontinence in
Cairo,
I shall speak in the next chapter; as it is
an arbitrary act
of the government, not founded on the laws of
the Ḳur-án,
or the Traditions.
2 Drunkenness was punished, by the
Prophet, by flogging;
and is still in
Cairo, though not often: the “ḥadd,” or
number of stripes, for this offence, is eighty in the case of a
free man, and forty in that of a slave.
Apostacy from the faith of
El-Islám is considered a most
heinous sin, and must be
punished with death, unless the
apostate will recant on being
thrice warned. I once saw a
woman paraded through the streets of
Cairo, and afterwards
taken down to
the Nile to be drowned, for having apostatized
from the faith
of Moḥammad, and having married a Christian.
Unfortunately,
she had tattooed a blue cross on her arm,
which led to her
detection by one of her former friends in a
bath. She was
mounted upon a high-saddled ass, such as
1 An unmarried person convicted of
adultery is likewise obnoxious only to
this punishment.
The two laws mentioned in Leviticus, xx. 13 and 15, have
been introduced into the Muslim code; but, in the present day, they are
never
executed.
2 In the villages of Egypt, a woman
found, or suspected, to have been
guilty of this crime, if
she be not a common prostitute, often experiences a
different fate, which will be described in the account of the domestic life
and
customs of the lower orders.
ladies
in Egypt usually ride, and very respectably dressed,
attended
by soldiers, and surrounded by a rabble, who,
instead of
commiserating, uttered loud imprecations against
her. The
Ḳádee, who passed sentence upon her, exhorted
her, in vain, to
return to her former faith. Her own father
was her accuser!
She was taken in a boat into the midst of
the river, stripped
nearly naked, strangled, and then thrown
into the stream.
1
The Europeans residing in
Cairo
regretted
that the Báshà (Moḥammad 'Alee) was then at
Alexandria,
as they
might have prevailed upon him to pardon her.
Once before they
interceded with him for a woman who had
been condemned for
apostacy. The Báshà ordered that she
should be brought before
him: he exhorted her to recant;
but finding her resolute,
reproved her for her
folly, and sent
her home, commanding that no injury should be done to her.
Still more severe is the law with respect to blasphemy.
The person who utters
blasphemy against God, or Moḥammad,
or Christ, or Moses, or
any Prophet, is to be put to death
without delay, even though
he profess himself repentant;
repentance for such a sin being
deemed impossible. Apostacy
or infidelity is occasioned by
misjudgment; but blasphemy
is the result of utter depravity.
A few words may here be added respecting the sect of the
“Wahhábees,” also called “Wahabees,” which was founded,
less than a century ago, by Moḥammad Ibn-'Abd-El-Wahháb,
a pious and learned sheykh of the province of Nejd, in
central Arabia. About the middle of the last century, he
had the good fortune to convert to his creed a powerful
chief
of Ed-Dir'eeyeh, the capital of Nejd. This chief,
Moḥammad
Ibn-So'ood, became the sovereign of the new sect,
their
religious and political head, and under him and his
successors
the Wahhábee doctrines were spread throughout
the
greater part of Arabia. He was next succeeded by his
son,
1 The conduct of the lower orders in
Cairo on this occasion speaks
sadly
against their character. A song was composed on the victim of this terrible
law, and became very popular in the metropolis.
'Abd-El-'Azeez; next, by So'ood, the son of the latter, and
the greatest of the Wahhábee leaders; and, lastly, by' Abd-Allah,
the son of this So'ood, who, after an arduous warfare
with the armies of Moḥammad 'Alee, surrendered himself
(it is said, on receiving promise of safe-conduct and life)
to
his victorious enemies, was sent to Egypt, thence to
Constantinople,
and there beheaded. The wars which
Moḥammad
'Alee carried on against the Wahhábees had for
their chief
object the destruction of the political power of
the new sect:
their religious tenets are still professed by
many of the
Arabs, and allowed to be orthodox by the most
learned of
the 'Ulamà of Egypt. The Wahhábees are merely
reformers,
who believe all the fundamental points of
El-Ishám, and all
the accessory doctrines of the Ḳur-án and
the Traditions of
the Prophet: in short, their tenets are
those of the primitive
Muslims. They disapprove of gorgeous
sepulchres, and
domes erected over tombs: such they invariably
destroy
when in their power. They also condemn, as
idolaters,
those who pay peculiar veneration to deceased
saints; and
even declare all other Muslims to be heretics, for
the extravagant
respect which they pay to the Prophet. They
forbid the wearing of silk, and gold ornaments, and all
costly apparel; and also the practice of smoking tobacco.
For the want of this last luxury, they console themselves
in
some degree by an immoderate use of coffee.
1
There are
many learned men among them, and they have
collected
many valuable books (chiefly historical) from
various parts
of Arabia, and from Egypt.
1 Among many other erroneous statements
respecting the Wahhábees, it
has been asserted that they
prohibit the drinking of coffee.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER IV.
GOVERNMENT.1
E
GYPT has, of late years,
experienced great political changes,
and nearly ceased to be a
province of the Turkish Empire.
Its present Báshà (Moḥammad'
Alee), having exterminated
the Ghuzz, or Memlooks, who shared
the government with
his predecessors, has rendered himself
almost an independent
prince. He however, professes allegiance
to the Sulṭán, and
remits the tribute, according to former
custom, to Constantinople:
he is, moreover, under an
obligation to respect
the fundamental laws of the Ḳur-án and
the Traditions; but
he exercises a dominion otherwise
unlimited.
2 He may cause
any one of his subjects
to be put to death without the
formality of a trial, or
without assigning any cause: a
simple horizontal motion of his
hand is sufficient to imply
the sentence of decapitation. But
I must not be understood
to insinuate that he is prone to shed
blood without any
reason: severity is a characteristic of this
prince, rather
than wanton cruelty; and boundless ambition has
prompted
1 As the political reforms effected by
Moḥammad 'Alee will always be
extremely interesting, and
as the changes made in his institutions by his
successors
have been inconsiderable, and generally the contrary of improvements,
I retain here, without any essential alteration, an
account of the
government of Egypt written in the years
1834 and 1835, during the best
period of his rule.
2 Though his territory was greatly lessened
since the above was written, his
power in Egypt remained
nearly the same.
him to
almost every action by which he has attracted either
praise or
censure.
1In the Citadel of the Metropolis is a court of judicature,
called “ed-Deewán el-Khideewee,”
2 where, in the
Báshà's
absence, presides his “Kikhyà,”
3 or deputy, Ḥabeeb
Efendee.
In cases which do not fall within the province of
the Ḳáḍee,
or which are sufficiently clear to be decided
without referring
them to the court of that officer, or to
another council, the
president of the Deewán el-Khideewee
passes judgment.
Numerous guard-houses have been established
throughout
the metropolis, at each of which is stationed a
body of
Niẓám, or regular troops. The guard is called
“Ḳulluḳ,”
4 or, more commonly, at present, “Ḳarà-ḳól.”
5
Persons accused
of thefts, assaults, &c., in
Cairo, are given in charge to a
soldier of the guard, who takes them to the chief
guard-house,
in the Mooskee, a street in that part of the
town in which
most of the Franks reside. The charges being
here stated,
and committed to writing, he conducts them to the
“Ẓábit,”
or chief magistrate of the police of the
metropolis. The
Ẓábiṭ, having heard the case, sends the
accused for trial to
1 The government of Egypt, from the period
of the conquest of this country
by the Arabs, has been
nearly the same as it is at present in its influence on
the manners and customs and character of the inhabitants; and I therefore
do
not deem a historical retrospect necessary to the
illustration of this work. It
should, however, be
mentioned, that the people of Egypt are not now allowed
to
indulge in that excessive fanatical rudeness with which they formerly
treated Christians and Jews; and hence European
travellers have one great
cause for gratitude to Moḥammad
'Alee. Restraint may, at first, increase,
but will
probably, in the course of time, materially diminish, the feeling of
fanatical intolerance.—This prediction has not yet been
fulfilled: on the contrary,
European innovations in the
dress and domestic manners and customs
of the grandees,
and of persons in the employ of the government, have enormously
increased the fanaticism of those who belong to the
religious and
learned professions, and, generally
speaking, of the bulk of the population.
2 “Khideewee” is a relative adjective
formed from the Turkish “Khideev,” which signifies “a prince.”
3 Thus pronounced in Egypt, but more
properly “Kyáḥyà,” or “Ketkhud'à,”
4 From the Turkish “Ḳool-luḳ.”
the
Deewán el-Khideewee.
1. When a person denies the
offence
with which he is charged, and there is not sufficient
evidence
to convict him, but some ground of suspicion, he is
generally
bastinaded, in order to induce him to confess; and
then, if
not before, when the crime is not of a nature that
renders him
obnoxious to a very heavy punishment, he, if
guilty, admits
it. A thief, after this discipline, generally
confesses, “The
devil seduced me, and I took it.” The
punishment of the
convicts is regulated by a system of
arbitrary, but lenient
and wise, policy: it usually consists in
their being compelled
to labour, for a scanty sustenance, in
some of the public
works; such as the removal of rubbish,
digging canals,
&c.; and sometimes the army is recruited
with
able-bodied young men convicted of petty offences. In
employing malefactors in labours for the improvement of the
country, Moḥammad 'Alee merits the praises bestowed upon
Sabacon, the Ethiopian conqueror and king of Egypt, who is
said to have introduced this policy. The Báshà is, however,
very severe in punishing thefts, &c., committed against
himself:—death is the usual penalty in such cases.
There are several inferior councils for conducting the
affairs of different departments of the administration.
The
principal of these are the following:—1. The “Meglis
el-Meshwarah”
2 (the Council of Deliberation); also called
“Meglis el-Meshwarah el-Melekeeyeh” (the Council of
Deliberation on the Affairs of the State), to distinguish
it
from other councils. The members of this and of the
other
similar councils are chosen by the Báshà, for their
talents or
other qualifications; and consequently his will and
interest
sway them in all their decisions. They are his
instruments,
and compose a committee for presiding over
the general
1 A very arbitrary power is often exercised
in this and similar courts, and
the proceedings are
conducted with little decorum. Many Turkish officers,
even
of the highest rank, make use of language far too disgusting for me to
mention, towards persons brought before them for
judgment, and towards
those who appeal to them for
justice.
2 Pronounced “Meshwar'ah.”
government of the country, and the commercial and agricultural
affairs of the Báshà. Petitions, &c., addressed to
the
Báshà, or to his Deewán, relating to private interests or
the
affairs of the government, are generally submitted to
their
consideration and judgment, unless they more properly
come
under the cognizance of other councils hereafter to be
mentioned. 2. The “Meglis el-Gihádeeyeh” (the Council
of the
Army); also called “Meglis el-Meshwarah el-'Askereeyeh”
(the
Council of Deliberation on Military Affairs). The
province of
this court is sufficiently shewn by its name.
3. The Council
of the “Tarskháneh,” or Navy. 4. The
“Deewán et-Tuggár” (or
Court of the Merchants). This
court, the members of which are
merchants of various countries
and religions, presided over by
the “Sháh-Bandar” (or
chief of the merchants of
Cairo), was instituted in consequence
of the laws of the Ḳur-án and the Sunneh being
found not sufficiently explicit in some cases arising out
of
modern commercial transactions.
The “Ḳáḍee” (or chief judge) of
Cairo presides in Egypt
only a year, at the expiration
of which term, a new Ḳáḍee
having arrived from Constantinople,
the former returns. It
was customary for this officer to
proceed from
Cairo, with
the great caravan of pilgrims, to Mekkeh, perform the
ceremonies of the pilgrimage, and remain one year as Ḳáḍee
of
the holy city, and one year at El-Medeeneh.
1 He purchases
his place privately of the government, which pays no
particular regard to his qualifications; though he must be a
man of some knowledge, an 'Osmánlee (that is, a Turk), and
of
the sect of the Ḥanafees. His tribunal is called the
“Maḥkemeh”
2 (or Place of Judgment). Few Ḳáḍees. are
very well acquainted with the Arabic language; nor is it
necessary for them to have such knowledge. In
Cairo, the
Ḳáḍee has
little or nothing to do but to confirm the sentence
1 He used to arrive in Cairo in the beginning of Ramaḍán; but the
beginning
of the first month, Moḥarram, has of late
been fixed upon, instead of
the former period.
2 Pronounced “Maḥkem'eh.”
of his
“Náïb” (or deputy), who hears and decides the more
ordinary
cases, and whom he chooses from among the 'Ulamà
of Istambool,
or the decision of the “Muftee” (or chief
doctor of the law)
of his own sect, who constantly resides in
Cairo, and gives judgment in all cases of
difficulty. But in
general, the Náïb is, at the best, but
little conversant with
the popular dialect of Egypt;
therefore, in
Cairo, where the
chief proportion of the litigants at the Maḥkemeh are
Arabs,
the judge must place the utmost confidence in the
“Básh-Turgumán”
(or Chief Interpreter), whose place is
permanent,
and who is consequently well acquainted with
all the customs
of the court, particularly with the system of
bribery;
and this knowledge he is generally very ready to
communicate
to every new Káḍee and Náïb. A man may be
grossly
ignorant of the law in many important particulars,
and yet
hold the office of Ḳáḍee of
Cairo: several instances of this
kind
have occurred; but the Náïb must be a lawyer of
learning and
experience.
When a person has a suit to prefer at the Maḥkemeh
against another individual or party, he goes thither, and
applies to the “Básh-Rusul” (or chief of the bailiffs or sergeants
who execute arrests) for a “Rasool” to arrest the
accused. The Rasool receives a piaster or two,
1
and generally
gives half of this fee privately to his chief.
The plaintiff
and defendant then present themselves in the
great hall of
the Maḥkemeh; which is a large saloon, facing a
spacious
court, and having an open front, formed by a row
of columns
and arches. Here are seated several officers called
“Sháhids,”
whose business is to hear and write the
statements of the
cases to be submitted to judgment, and who
are under the
authority of the “Básh-Kátib” (or Chief
Secretary). The
plaintiff, addressing any one of the Sháhids
whom he finds
unoccupied, states his case, and the Sháhid
commits it to
writing, and receives a fee of a piaster or
more; after which,
1 The Egyptian piaster, when this was
written, was equivalent to the fifth part of a shilling, or 2 2/5d.
if the
case be of a trifling nature, and the defendant acknowledge
the justice of the suit, he (the Sháhid) passes sentence;
but
otherwise he conducts the two parties before the Náïb,
who
holds his court in an inner apartment. The Náïb,
having heard
the case, desires the plaintiff to procure a
“fetwà” (or
judicial decision) from the Muftee of the sect of
the
Hanafees, who receives a fee, seldom less than ten
piasters,
and often more than a hundred or two hundred.
This is the
course pursued in all cases but those of a very
trifling
nature, which are settled with less trouble, by the
Náïb
alone, and those of great importance or intricacy. A
case of
the latter kind is tried in the private apartment of
the
Ḳáḍee, before the Ḳáḍee himself, the Náïb, and the
Muftee of
the Ḥanafees, who is summoned to hear it, and to
give his
decision; and sometimes, in cases of very great
difficulty or
moment, several of the Ulamà of
Cairo
are, in
like manner, summoned. The Muftee hears the case,
and
writes his sentence; and the Ḳáḍee confirms his
judgment,
and stamps the paper with his seal, which is all
that he has
to do in any case. The accused may clear himself
by his
oath, when the plaintiff has not witnesses to
produce:
placing his right hand on a copy of the Ḳur-án,
which is
held out to him, he says, “By God, the Great,” three
times;
adding, “By what is contained in this of the word
of God.”
The witnesses must be men of good repute, or asserted
to be
such, and not interested in the cause: in every case, at
least
two witnesses are requisite
1 (or one man and
two women);
and each of these must be attested to be a person
of probity
by two others. An infidel cannot lawfully bear
witness
against a Muslim in a case involving capital or
other heavy
punishment; and evidence in favour of a son or
grandson, or
of a father or grandfather, is not received; nor
is the
testimony of slaves; neither can a master testify in
favour
of his slave.
1 This law is borrowed from the Pentateuch. See
Deut. xix. 15.—A man
may refuse to give his testimony.
The fees, until lately, used to be paid by the successful
party; but now they are paid by the other party. The
Ḳáḍee's fees for decisions in cases respecting the sale of
property are two per cent, on the amount of the property:
in cases of legacies, four per cent., except when the heir is
an
orphan not of age, who pays only two per cent. For
decisions
respecting property in houses or land, when the
cost
of the property in question is known, his fees are
two per
cent.; but when the cost is not known, one year's
rent.
These are the legitimate fees; but more than the due
amount
is often exacted. In cases which do not concern
property,
the Ḳáḍee's Náïb fixes the amount of the fees.
There are
also other fees than those of the Ḳáḍee to be paid
after the
decision of the case: for instance, if the Ḳáḍee's
fees be two
or three hundred piasters, a fee of about two
piasters must
be paid to the Básh-Turgumán; about the same to
the Básh-Rusul;
and one piaster to the Rasool, or to each
Rasool
employed.
The rank of a plaintiff or defendant, or a bribe from
either, often influences the decision of the judge. In general
the Náïb and Muftee take bribes, and the Ḳáḍee receives
from his Náïb. On some occasions, particularly in long
litigations, bribes are given by each party, and the
decision
is awarded in favour of him who pays highest.
This frequently
happens in difficult law-suits; and even in
cases
respecting which the law is perfectly clear, strict
justice is
not always administered; bribes and false testimony
being
employed by one of the parties. The shocking extent
to
which the pratices of bribery and suborning false
witnesses
are carried in Muslim courts of law, and among
them in the
tribunal of the Ḳáḍee of
Cairo, may be scarcely credited on
the
bare assertion of the fact: some strong proof, resting on
indubitable authority, may be demanded; and here I shall
give
such proof, in a summary of a case which was tried not
long
since, and which was related to me by the Secretary
and Imám
of the Sheykh El-Mahdee, who was then supreme
Muftee
of
Cairo (being the chief Muftee of the
Ḥanafees),
and to whom this case was referred after
judgment in the
Ḳáḍee's court.
A Turkish merchant, residing at
Cairo, died, leaving
property to the amount of six
thousand purses,
1 and no
relation to inherit but one
daughter. The seyyid Moḥammad
El-Maḥrooḳee, the Sháh-Bandar
(chief of the merchants of
Cairo), hearing of this event, suborned a
common felláḥ, who
was the bowwáb (or door-keeper) of a
respected sheykh, and
whose parents (both of them Arabs) were
known to many
persons, to assert himself a son of a brother of
the deceased.
The case was brought before the Ḳáḍee, and, as
it was one
of considerable importance, several of the
principal Ulamà
of the city were summoned to decide it. They
were all
bribed or influenced by El-Maḥrooḳee, as will
presently be
shewn; false witnesses were brought forward to
swear to
the truth of the bowwáb's pretensions, and others to
give
testimony to the good character of these witnesses.
Three
thousand purses were adjudged to the daughter of
the
deceased, and the other half of the property to the
bowwáb.
El-Maḥrooḳee received the share of the latter,
deducting only
three hundred piasters, which he presented to
the bowwáb.
The chief Muftee, El-Mahdee, was absent from
Cairo when
the case was
tried. On his return to the metropolis, a few
days after, the
daughter of the deceased merchant repaired
to his house,
stated her case to him, and earnestly solicited
redress. The
Muftee, though convinced of the injustice
which she had
suffered, and not doubting the truth of what
she related
respecting the part which El-Maḥrookee had
taken in this
affair, told her that he feared it was impossible
for him to
annul the judgment, unless there were some
informality in the
proceedings of the court, but that he
would look at the record
of the case in the register of the
Maḥkemeh. Having done this,
he betook himself to the
1 A purse is the sum of five hundred
piasters, and was then equivalent to
nearly seven pounds
sterling, but is now equal to only five pounds.
Báshà,
with whom he was in great favour for his knowledge
and
inflexible integrity, and complained to him that the
tribunal
of the Ḳádee was disgraced by the administration
of the most
flagrant injustice; that false witness was admitted
by the
'Ulamà, however evident and glaring it might
be; and that a
judgment which they had given in a late
case, during his
absence, was the general talk and wonder of
the town. The
Báshà summoned the Ḳáḍee and all the
'Ulamà who had tried this
case, to meet the Muftee in the
Citadel: and when they had
assembled there, addressed
them, as from himself, with the
Muftee's complaint. The
Ḳáḍee, appearing, like the 'Ulamà,
highly indignant at this
charge, demanded to know upon what it
was grounded.
The Báshà replied that it was a general charge,
but particularly
grounded on the case in which the court had
admitted
the claim of a bowwáb to a relationship and
inheritance
which they could not believe to be his right.
The Ḳáḍee
here urged that he had passed sentence in accordance
with
the unanimous decision of the 'Ulamà then present.
“Let
the record of the case be read,” said the Báshà. The
journal
being sent for, this was done; and when the
secretary had
finished reading the minutes, the Ḳáḍee, in a
loud tone of
proud authority, said, “And I judged so.” The
Muftee, in a
louder and more authoritative tone, exclaimed,
“And thy
judgment is false!” All eyes were fixed in
astonishment,
now at the Muftee, now at the Báshà, now at
the other
'Ulamà. The Ḳáḍee and the 'Ulamà rolled their heads
and
stroked their beards. The former exclaimed, tapping
his
breast, “I, the Ḳáḍee of Miṣr, pass a false sentence!”
“And
we,” said the 'Ulamà, “we, Sheykh Mahdee! we, 'Ulamà
el-Islám,
give a false decision!” “O Sheykh Mahdee,”
said
El-Maḥrooḳee (who, from his commercial transactions
with
the Báshà, could generally obtain a place in his
councils),
“respect the “Ulamà as they respect thee.” “O
Maḥrooḳee,”
exclaimed the Muftee, “art thou concerned in
this affair?
Declare what part thou hast in it, or else hold
thy peace: go,
speak
in the assemblies of the merchants, but presume not
again to
open thy mouth in the council of the 'Ulamà!”
El-Maḥrooḳee
immediately left the palace, for he saw
how
the affair would terminate, and had to make his
arrangements
accordingly. The Muftee was now desired, by
the
other 'Ulamà, to adduce a proof of the invalidity of
their
decision. Drawing from his bosom a small book on the
laws
of inheritance, he read from it, “To establish a
claim to
relationship and inheritance, the names of the father
and
mother of the claimant, and those of his father's
father and
mother, and of his mother's father and mother, must
be
ascertained.” The names of the father and mother of
the
pretended father of the bowwáb the false witnesses had
not
been prepared to give; and this deficiency in the
testimony
(which the 'Ulamà, in trying the case, purposely
overlooked,)
now caused the sentence to be annulled. The
bowwáb was
brought before the council, and, denying the
imposition of
which he had been made the principal instrument,
was, by
order of the Báshà, very severely bastinaded; but the
only
confession that could be drawn from him by the
torture
which he endured was, that he had received nothing
more
of the three thousand purses than three hundred
piasters.
Meanwhile, El-Maḥrooḳee had repaired to the
bowwáb's
master: he told the latter what had happened at
the Citadel,
and what he had foreseen would be the result, put
into his
hand three thousand purses, and begged him
immediately to
go to the council, give this sum of money, and
say that it
had been placed in his hands in trust by his
servant.
This was done, and the money was paid to the
daughter of
the deceased.
In another case, when the Ḳáḍee and the council of the
'Ulamà were influenced in their decision by a Báshà (not
Moḥammad 'Alee), and passed a sentence contrary to law,
they were thwarted in the same manner by El-Mahdee.
This Muftee was a rare example of integrity. It is said
that
he never took a fee for a fetwà. He died shortly
after my
first
visit to this country.—I could mention several other
glaring
cases of bribery in the court of the Ḳáḍee of
Cairo:
but the above is sufficient.
There are five minor Maḥkemehs in
Cairo; and likewise
one at its principal port,
Boolák; and one at its southern
port, Maṣr el-'Ateeḳah. A
Sháhid from the great Maḥkemeh
presides at each of them, as
deputy of the chief Ḳáḍee, who
confirms their acts. The
matters submitted to these minor
tribunals are chiefly
respecting the sales of property, and
legacies, marriages, and
divorces; for the Ḳáḍee marries
female orphans under age who
have no relations of age to act
as their guardians; and wives
often have recourse to law to
compel their husbands to divorce
them. In every country-town
there is also a Ḳáḍee, generally a
native of the place,
and never a Turk, who decides all cases,
sometimes from his
own knowledge of the law, but commonly on
the authority
of a Muftee. One Ḳáḍee generally serves for two
or three
or more villages.
Each of the four orthodox sects of the Muslims (the
Ḥanafees, Sháfe'ees, Málikees, and Ḥambelees,) has its
“Sheykh,” or religious chief, who is chosen from among the
most learned of the body, and resides in the metropolis. The
Sheykh of the great mosque El-Azhar (who is always of the
sect
of the Sháfe'ees, and sometimes Sheykh of that sect),
together
with the other Sheykhs above mentioned, and the
Ḳáḍee, the
Naḳeeb el-Ashráf (the chief of the Shereefs, or
descendants of
the Prophet), and several other persons, constitute
the
council of the 'Ulamà
1 (or learned men), by whom
the
Turkish Báshàs and Memlook chiefs have often been
kept in awe,
and by whom their tyranny has frequently
been restricted: but
now this learned body has lost almost
all its influence over
the government. Petty disputes are
often, by mutual consent of
the parties at variance, submitted
1 In the singular “'Álim.” This title is
more particularly given to a professor
of jurisprudence.
European writers generally use the plural from of
this
appellation for the singular.
to the
judgment of one of the four Sheykhs first mentioned,
as they
are the chief Muftees of their respective seets; and
the
utmost deference is always paid to them. Difficult and
delicate causes, which concern the laws of the Ḳur-án or the
Traditions, are also frequently referred by the Báshà to these
Sheykhs; but their opinion is not always followed by him:
for
instance, after consulting them respecting the legality of
dissecting human bodies, for the sake of acquiring anatomical
knowledge, and receiving their declaration that it was
repugnant to the laws of the religion, he, nevertheless,
has
caused it to be practised by Muslim students of
anatomy.
The police of the metropolis is more under the direction
of the military than of the civil power. A few years ago
it
was under the authority of the “Wálee” and the
“Ẓábiṭ,”
but since my first visit to this country the
office of the
former has been abolished. He was charged with
the apprehension
of thieves and other criminals; and under
his
jurisdiction were the public women, of whom he kept a
list,
and from each of whom he exacted a tax. He also
took
cognizance of the conduct of the women in general;
and
when he found a female to have been guilty of a single
act
of incontinence, he added her name to the list of the
public
women, and demanded from her the tax, unless she
preferred,
or could afford, to escape that ignominy, by
giving to him,
or to his officers, a considerable bribe. This
course was
always pursued, and is still, by a person who farms
the tax
of the public women,
1 in the case of unmarried
females, and
generally in the case of the married also; but
the latter are
sometimes privately put to death, if they
cannot, by bribery
or some other artifice, save themselves.
Such proceedings
are, however, in two points, contrary to the
law, which
ordains that a person who accuses a woman of
adultery or fornication,
without producing four witnesses of
the crime, shall
1 Since this was written, the public women
throughout Egypt have been
compelled to relinquish their
licentious profession.
be
scourged with eighty stripes, and decrees other punishments
than those of degradation and tribute against women
convicted
of such offences.
The office of the Ẓábiṭ has before been mentioned. He is
now the chief of the police. His officers, who have no
distinguishing mark to render them known as such, are
interspersed through the metropolis: they often visit the
coffee-shops, and observe the conduct, and listen to the
conversation, of the citizens. Many of them are pardoned
thieves. They accompany the military guards in their
nightly rounds through the streets of the metropolis.
Here,
none but the blind are allowed to go out at night
later than
about an hour and a half after sunset, without a
lantern or a
light of some kind. Few persons are seen in the
streets
later than two or three hours after sunset. At the
fifth or
sixth hour, one might pass through the whole length
of the
metropolis and scarcely meet more than a dozen or
twenty
persons, except the watchmen and guards, and the
porters at
the gates of the by-streets and quarters. The
sentinel, or
guard, calls out to the approaching passenger, in
Turkish,
“Who is that?'”
1 and is answered, in Arabic,
“A citizen.”
2 The private watchman, in the same case, exclaims,
“Attest
the unity of God,”
3 or merely, “Attest the
unity,”
4 The
reply given to this is, “There
is no deity but God,”
5 which
Christians, as well as
Muslims, object not to say; the former
understanding these
words in a different sense from the
latter. It is supposed
that a thief, or a person bound on any
unlawful undertaking,
would not dare to utter these words.
Some persons loudly
exclaim, in reply to the summons of the
watchman, “There is no
deity but God: Moḥammad is God's
Apostle.” The private
watchmen are employed to guard, by
1 “Keemen dur ó,” for “keem dur ó.”
2 “Ibn-beled.” If blind, he answers “Aạmà.”
4 “Waḥḥed;” or, to more than one person,
“Wḥḥedoo.”
night,
the sooḳs (or market-streets) and other districts of the
town.
They carry a nebboot (or long staff), but no lantern.
The Ẓábiṭ, or Ághà of the police, used frequently to go
about the metropolis by night, often accompanied only by
the executioner and the “sheạlegee”
1 or bearer of a
kind of
torch called, “sheạleh,” which is still in use.
2
This torch
burns, soon after it is lighted, without a flame,
except when
it is waved through the air, when it suddenly
blazes forth:
it therefore answers the same purpose as our
dark lantern.
The burning end is sometimes concealed in a
small pot or jar,
or covered with something else, when not
required to give
light; but it is said that thieves often
smell it in time to
escape meeting the bearer. When a person
without a light
is met by the police at night, he seldom
attempts resistance
or flight; the punishment to which he is
liable is beating.
The chief of the police had an arbitrary
power to put any
criminal or offender to death without trial,
and when not
obnoxious, by law, to capital punishment; and so
also had
many inferior officers, as will be seen in subsequent
pages of
this work: but within the last two or three years,
instances
of the exercise of such power have been very
rare, and I
believe they would not now be permitted. The
officers of
the Ẓábiṭ perform their nightly rounds with the
military
guards merely as being better acquainted than the
latter
with the haunts and practices of thieves and other
bad
characters; and the Ẓábiṭ himself scarcely ever
exercises any
penal authority beyond that of beating or
flogging.
Very curious measures, such as we read of in some of the
tales of the Thousand and One Nights,’ were often adopted
by the police magistrates of
Cairo, to discover an offender,
before the late
innovations. I may mention an instance.
1 Pronounced “sheạleg'ee.”
2 Baron Hammer-Purgstall is mistaken in
substituting “meschaaledschi”
for “sheạlegee.” The officer
who bears the latter appellation does not carry
a mesh'al,
but a twisted torch. The mesh'al is described and figured in
Chapter VI. of this work.
The
authenticity of the following case, and of several others
of a
similar nature, is well known. I shall relate it in the
manner
in which I have heard it told.—A poor man applied
one day to
the Ághà of the police, and said, “Sir, there came
to me,
to-day, a woman, and she said to me, ‘Take this
“ḳurṣ,”
1
and let it remain in your possession for a time, and
lend me
five hundred piasters:’ and I took it from her, Sir,
and gave
her the five hundred piasters, and she went away:
and when she
was gone away, I said to myself, ‘Let me
look at this ḳurṣ:’
and I looked at it, and, behold, it was
yellow brass: and I
slapped my face, and said. ‘I will go to
the Ághà, and relate
my story to him: perhaps he will
investigate the affair, and
clear it up;’ for there is none that
can help me in this
matter but thou.” The Ághà said to
him, “Hear what I tell
thee, man. Take whatever is in thy
shop; leave nothing; and
lock it up; and to-morrow morning
go early, and, when thou
hast opened the shop, cry out,
‘Alas for my property!’ then
take in thy hands two clods,
and beat thyself with them, and
cry, ‘Alas for the property
of others!’ and whoever says to
thee, ‘What is the matter
with thee?’ do thou answer, ‘The
property of others is lost:
a pledge that I had, belonging to
a woman, is lost; if it were
my own, I should not thus lament
it:’ and this will clear up
the affair.” The man promised to
do as he was desired.
He removed everything from his shop, and
early the next
morning he went and opened it, and began to cry
out, “Alas
for the property of others!” and he took two clods,
and beat
himself with them, and went about every district of
the
city, crying, “Alas for the property of others! a
pledge that
I had, belonging to a woman, is lost; if it were
my own, I
should not thus lament it.” The woman who had given
him
the ḳurṣ in pledge heard of this, and discovered that
it was
the man whom she had cheated; so she said to herself,
Go
and bring an action against him.” She went to his
shop,
1 An ornament worn on the crown of the
head-dress by women, described in
the Appendix to this
work.
riding
on an ass, to give herself consequence, and said to
him, “Man,
give me my property that is in thy possession.”
He answered,
“It is lost.” “Thy tongue be cut out!” she
cried: “dost thou
lose my property? By Allah! I will go
to the Aghà, and inform
him of it.” “Go.” said he; and she
went, and told her case.
The Ághà sent for the man; and,
when he had come, said to his
accuser, “What is thy
property in his possession?” She
answered, “A ḳurṣ of red
Venetian gold.” “Woman,” said the
Ághà, “I have a gold
ḳurṣ here: I should like to shew it
thee.” She said, “Shew
it me, Sir, for I shall know my ḳurṣ.”
The Ághà then
untied a handkerchief, and, taking out of it the
ḳurṣ which
she had given in pledge, said, “Look.” She looked
at it and
knew it, and hung down her head. The Ágha said,
“Raise
thy head, and say where are the five hundred
piasters of this
man.” She answered, “Sir, they are in my
house.” The
executioner was sent with her to her house, but
without his
sword; and the woman, having gone into the house,
brought
out a purse containing the money, and went back
with him.
The money was given to the man from whom it had
been
obtained, and the executioner was then ordered to
take the
woman to the Rumeyleh (a large open place below
the
Citadel), and there to behead her; which he did.
The markets of
Cairo, and the
weights and measures, are
under the inspection of an officer
called the “Moḥtesib.”
1 He occasionally rides about the town, preceded by an
officer
who carries a large pair of scales, and followed
by the
executioners and numerous other servants. Passing by
shops, or through the markets, he orders each shopkeeper,
one after another, or sometimes only one here and there,
to
produce his scales, weights, and measures, and tries
whether
they he correct. He also inquires the prices of
provisions at
the shops where such articles are sold. Often,
too, he stops a
servant or other passenger, in the street,
whom he may
chance to meet carrying any article of food that
he has just
1 Pronounced “Moḥtes'ib.”
bought,
and asks him for what sum, or at what weight, he
purchased it.
When he finds that a shopkeeper has incorrect
scales, weights,
or measures, or that he has sold a thing
deficient in weight,
or above the regular market price, he
punishes him on the
spot. The general punishment is beating
or flogging. Once I
saw a man tormented in a different
way, for selling bread deficient in weight. A hole was
bored through his nose, and a cake of bread, about a span
wide, and a finger's breadth in thickness, was suspended
to
it by a piece of string. He was stripped naked, with
the
exception of having a piece of linen about his loins,
and tied,
with his arms bound behind him, to the bars of a
window of
a mosque called the Ashrafeeyeh, in the main street
of the
metropolis, his feet resting upon the sill. He remained
thus
about three hours, exposed to the gaze of the
multitude
which thronged the street, and to the scorching
rays of the
sun.
A person who was appointed Moḥtesib shortly after my
first visit to this country (Muṣṭafà Káshif, a Kurd,) exercised
his power in a most brutal manner, clipping men's ears
(that
is, cutting off the lobe, or ear-lap), not only for
the most
trifling transgression, but often for no offence
whatever. He
once met an old man driving along several asses
laden with
water-melons, and, pointing to one of the largest
of these
fruits asked its price. The old man put his finger
and
thumb to his ear-lap, and said, “Cut it. Sir.” He was
asked
again and again, and gave the same answer. The
Moḥtesib,
angry, but unable to refrain from laughing,
said, “Fellow,
are you mad or deaf?” “No,” replied the old
man, “I am
neither mad nor deaf; but I know that, if I were to
say the
price of the melon is ten faḍḍahs, you would say,
‘Clip his
car;’ and if I said
five faḍḍahs, or
one faḍḍah, you
would say,
‘Clip his ear;’ therefore clip it at once, and let
me pass on.”
His humour saved him.—Clipping ears was the usual
punishment
inflicted by this Moḥtesib; but sometimes he
tortured
in a different manner. A butcher, who had sold
some meat
wanting
two ounces of its due weight, he punished by
cutting off two
ounces of flesh from his back. A seller of
“kunáfeh” (a kind
of paste resembling vermicelli) having
made his customers pay
a trifle more than was just, he
caused him to be stripped, and
seated upon the round copper
tray on which the kunáfeh was
baked and kept so until he
was dreadfully burnt. He generally
punished dishonest
butchers by putting a hook through the
nose, and hanging a
piece of meat to it. Meeting, one day, a
man carrying a
large crate full of earthen water-bottles from
Semennood,
which he offered for sale as made at Ḳiné, he
caused his
attendants to break each bottle separately against
the
vender's head. Muṣṭafà Káshif also exercised his
tyranny in
other cases than those which properly fell under
his jurisdiction.
He once took a fancy to send one of his
horses to a
bath, and desired the keeper of a bath in his
neighbourhood
to prepare for receiving it, and to wash it
well, and make its
coat very smooth. The bath-keeper, annoyed
at so extraordinary
a command, ventured to suggest that, as
the pavements
of the baths were of marble, the horse might
slip, and
fall; and also, that it might take cold on going
out; and
that it would, therefore, be better for him to convey
to the
stable the contents of the cistern of the bath in
buckets, and
there to perform the operation. Muṣṭafà Káshif
said, “I see
how it is; you do not like that my horse should
go into your
bath.” He desired some of his servants to throw
him down,
and beat him with staves till he should tell them to
stop.
They did so; and beat the poor man till he died.
A few years ago there used to be carried before the
Moḥtesib, when going his rounds to examine the weights
and
measures, &c., a pair of scales larger than that used at
present. Its beam, it is said, was a hollow tube, containing
some quicksilver; by means of which the bearer, knowing
those persons who had bribed his master, and those who had
not, easily made either scale preponderate.
As the Moḥtesib is the overseer of the public markets, so
there
are officers who have a similar charge in superintending
each
branch of the Báshà's trade and manufactures; and
some of
these persons have been known to perpetrate most
abominable
acts of tyranny and cruelty. One of this class,
who was named
'Alee Bey, “Náẓir el-Ḳumásh” (or Overseer
of the Linen), when
he found a person in possession of a
private loom, or selling
the produce of such a loom, generally
bound him up in a piece
of his linen, soaked in oil and tar;
then suspended him, thus
enveloped, to a branch of a tree,
and set light to the
wrapper. After having destroyed a
number of men in this
horrible manner, he was himself,
among many others, burnt to
death, by the explosion of a
powder-magazine on the northern
slope of the Citadel of
Cairo, in 1824, the year before my first
arrival in Egypt. A
friend of mine, who spoke to me of the
atrocities of this
monster, added, “When his corpse was taken
to be buried,
the Sheykh El-'Aroosee (who was Sheykh of the
great
mosque El-Azhar) recited the funeral prayers over
it, in the
mosque of the Ḥasaneyn; and I acted as ‘muballigh’
(to
repeat the words of the Imám): when the Sheykh
uttered
the words, ‘Give your testimony respecting him,’
and when
I had repeated them, no one of all the persons
present, and
they were many, presumed to give the answer, ‘He
was of
the virtuous:’ all were silent. To make the
circumstance
more glaring, I said again, ‘Give your
testimony respecting
him:’ but not an answer was heard; and
the Sheykh, in
confusion, said, but in a very low voice, ‘May
God have
mercy upon him.’ Now we may certainly say of this
cursed
man,” continued my friend, “that he is gone to
hell: yet his
wife is constantly having ‘khatmehs’
(recitations of the
Ḳur-án) performed in her house for him;
and lights two
wax candles for his sake, every evening, at the
niche of the
mosque of the Ḥasaneyn.”
Every quarter in the metropolis has its sheykh, called
“Sheykh el-Ḥárah,” whose influence is exerted to maintain
order, to settle any trifling disputes among the
inhabitants,
and to
expel those who disturb the peace of their neighbours.
The
whole of the metropolis is also divided into eight
districts,
over each of which is a sheykh, called “Sheykh et-Tumn.”
The members of various trades and manufactures in the
metropolis and other large towns have also their respective
sheykhs, to whom all disputes respecting matters connected
with those trades or crafts are submitted for arbitration;
and
whose sanction is required for the admission of new
members.
The servants in the metropolis are likewise under the
authority of particular sheykhs. Any person in want of a
servant may procure one by applying to one of these officers,
who, for a small fee (two or three piastres), becomes responsible
for the conduct of the man whom he recommends.
Should a servant so engaged rob his master, the latter
gives
information to the sheykh, who, whether he can
recover the
stolen property or not, must indemnify the master.
Even the common thieves used, not many years since,
to respect a superior, who was called their sheykh. He was
often required to search for stolen goods, and to bring
offenders to justice: which he generally accomplished. It is
very remarkable that the same strange system prevailed
among
the ancient Egyptians.
1The Coptic Patriarch, who is the head of his church,
judges petty causes among his people in the metropolis; and
the inferior clergy do the same in other places; but an
appeal
may be made to the Ḳáḍee. A Muslim aggrieved by
a Copt may
demand justice from the Patriarch or the Ḳáḍee:
a Copt who
seeks redress from a Muslim must apply to the
Ḳáḍee. The Jews
are similarly circumstanced. The Franks,
or Europeans in
general, are not answerable to any other
authority than that
of their respective consuls, except when
they are aggressors
against a Muslim: they are then surrendered
to the Turkish
authorities, who, on the other hand,
1 See Diodorus Siculus, lib. i. cap. 80.
must be
appealed to by the Frank who is aggrieved by a
Muslim.
The inhabitants of the country-towns and villages are
under the government of Turkish officers and of their own
countrymen. The whole of Egypt is divided into several
large
provinces, each of which is governed by an 'Osmánlee
(i. e., a Turk); and these provinces are
subdivided into
districts, which are governed by native
officers, with the
titles of “Ma-moor” and “Náẓir.” Every
village, as well as
town, has also its sheykh, called “Sheykh
el-Beled;” who is
one of the native Muslim inhabitants. All
the officers above
mentioned, except the last, were formerly
Turks; and there
were other Turkish governors of small
districts, who were
called “Káshifs,” and “Ḳáïmmaḳáms:” the
change was
made very shortly before my second visit to this
country;
and the Felláḥeen complain that their condition
is worse
than it was before: but it is generally from the
tyranny of
their great Turkish governors that they suffer most
severely.
The following case will convey some idea of the condition
of Egyptian peasants in some provinces. A Turk,
1
infamous
for many barbarous acts, presiding at the town of
Ṭanṭà,
2 in
the Delta, went one night to the
government granary of
that town, and, finding two peasants
sleeping there, asked
them who they were, and what was their
business in that
place. One of them said that he had brought
130 ardebbs of
corn from a village of the district; and the
other, that he
had brought 60 ardebbs from the land belonging
to the
town. “You rascal!” said the governor to the latter;
“this
man brings 130 ardebbs from the lands of a small
village;
and you bring but 60 from the lands of the town.”
“This
man.” answered the peasant of Ṭanṭà, “brings corn
but once
a week; and I am now bringing it every day.” “Be
silent!” said the governor; and, pointing to a
neighbouring
tree, he ordered one of the servants of the
granary to hang
1 Suleyán Ạghà, the Silaḥdir: he has died
since this was written.
2 Thus commonly pronounced in the present
day; formerly, “Ṭandetè.”
the
peasant to one of its branches. The order was obeyed,
and the
governor returned to his house. The next morning
he went again
to the granary, and saw a man bringing in
a
large quantity of corn. He asked who he was, and what
quantity he had brought; and was answered, by the hangman
of the preceding night, “This is the man. Sir, whom I
hanged by your orders, last night; and he has brought 160
ardebbs.” “What!” exclaimed the governor: “has he risen
from the dead?” He was answered, “No, Sir; I hanged
him so that his toes touched the ground; and when you
were gone, I untied the rope: you did not order me to
kill him.” The Turk
muttered, “Aha! hanging and killing are
different things:
Arabic is copious: next time I will say
kill. Take care of
Aboo-Dá-ood.”
1 This is his nickname.
Another occurrence may here be aptly related, as a
further illustration of the nature of the government to which
the people of Egypt are subjected. A felláḥ, who was
appointed
Náẓir (or governor) of the district of El-Manoofeeyeh
(the
southernmost district of the Delta), a short time
before my
second visit to Egypt, in collecting the taxes at a
village,
demanded of a poor peasant the sum of sixty riyáls
(ninety
faḍḍahs each, making a sum total of a hundred and
thirty-five
piasters, which was then equivalent to about
thirty
shillings). The poor man urged that he possessed
nothing but a
cow, which barely afforded sustenance to
himself and his
family. Instead of pursuing the method
usually followed when a
felláḥ declares himself unable to pay
the tax demanded of him,
which is to give him a severe
bastinading, the Náẓir, in this
case, sent the Sheykh el-Beled
to bring the poor peasant's
cow, and desired some of
the felláḥeen to buy it. They saying
that they had not
sufficient money, he sent for a butcher, and
desired him to
kill the cow; which was done: he then told him
to divide
1 Aboo-Dá-ood, Aboo-' Alee, &c.,
are patronymics, used by the Egyptian
peasants in general,
not as signifying “Father of Dá-ood,” “Father of 'Alee,”
&c., but “whose father is (or was) Dá-ood,” “—' Alee,” &c.
it into
sixty pieces. The butcher asked for his pay; and
was given the
head of the cow. Sixty felláḥeen were then
called together;
and each of them was compelled to purchase,
for a riyál, a
piece of the cow. The owner of the cow went,
weeping and
complaining, to the Náẓir' superior, the late
Moḥammad Bey,
Deftardár. “O my master,” said he, “I am
oppressed and in
misery: I had no property but one cow, a
milch cow: I and my
family lived upon her milk; and she
ploughed for me, and
threshed my corn: and my whole
subsistence was derived from
her; the Náẓir has taken her,
and killed her, and cut her up
into sixty pieces, and sold the
pieces to my neighbours; to
each a piece, for one riyáls; so
that he obtained but sixty
riyáls for the whole, while the
value of the cow was a hundred
and twenty riyáls, or more.
I am oppressed and in misery, and
a stranger in the place,
for I came from another village; but
the Náẓir had no pity
on me. I and my family are become
beggars, and have
nothing left. Have mercy upon me, and give
me justice: I
implore it by thy ḥareem.” The Deftardár, having
caused
the Náẓir to be brought before him, asked him,
“Where is
the cow of this felláḥ?” “I have sold it,” said the
Náẓir.
“For how much?” “For sixty riyáls.” “Why did you
kill it and sell it?” “He owed sixty riyáls for land: so I
took his cow, and killed it, and sold it for the amount.”
“Where is the butcher that killed it?” “In Manoof.” The
butcher was sent for, and brought. The Deftardár said to
him, “Why did you kill this man's cow?” “The Náẓir
desired me,” he answered, “and I could not oppose him: if
I had attempted to do so, he would have beaten me, and
destroyed my house: I killed it; and the Náẓir gave me the
head as my reward.” “Man,” said the Deftardár, “do you
know the persons who bought the meat?” The butcher
replied that he did. The Deftardár then desired his
secretary
to write the names of the sixty men, and an
order to
the Sheykh of their village to bring them to Manoof,
where
this complaint was made. The Náẓir and butcher
were
placed
in confinement till the next morning; when the
Sheykh of the
village came, with the sixty felláheen. The
two prisoners were
then brought again before the Deftardár,
who said to the
Sheykh and the sixty peasants, “Was the
value of this man's
cow sixty riyáls?” “O our master,” they
answered, “her value
was greater.” The Deftardár sent for
the Kádee of Manoof, and
said to him, “O Kádee, here is a
man oppressed by this Názir,
who has taken his cow, and
killed it; and sold its flesh for
sixty riyáls. What is thy
judgment?” The Kádee replied, “He is
a cruel tyrant, who
oppresses every one under his authority.
Is not a cow worth
a hundred and twenty riyáls, or more? and
he has sold this
one for sixty riyáls: this is tyranny towards
the owner.”
The Deftardár then said to some of his soldiers,
“Take the
Náẓir, and strip him, and bind him.” This done, he
said to
the butcher, “Butcher, dost thou not fear God? Thou
hast
killed the cow unjustly.” The butcher again urged
that he
was obliged to obey the Náẓir. “Then,” said the
Deftardár,
“if I order thee to do a thing wilt thou do
it?” “I will do
it,” answered the butcher. “Slaughter the
Náẓir,” said the
Deftardár. Immediately, several of the
soldiers present
seized the Náẓir, and threw him down; and the
butcher cut
his throat, in the regular orthodox manner of
killing animals
for food. “Now, cut him up,” said the
Deftardár, “into
sixty pieces.” This was done: the people
concerned in the
affair, and many others, looking on; but none
daring to
speak. The sixty peasants who had bought the meat of
the
cow were then called forward, one after another, and
each
was made to take a piece of the flesh of the Náẓir,
and to
pay for it two riyáls; so that a hundred and twenty
riyáls
were obtained from them. They were then dismissed;
but
the butcher remained. The Kádee was asked what
should
be the reward of the butcher; and answered that he
should
be paid as he had been paid by the Náẓir. The
Deftardár
therefore ordered that the head of the Náẓir
should be given
to him; and the butcher went away with his
worse than
valueless burden, thanking God that he had not been more
unfortunate, and scarcely believing himself to have so easily
escaped until he arrived at his village. The money paid
for
the flesh of the Náẓir was given to the owner of the
cow.
Most of the governors of provinces and districts carry
their oppression far beyond the limits to which they are
authorized to proceed by the Báshà; and even the Sheykh
of a village, in executing the commands of his superiors,
abuses his lawful power: bribes, and the ties of
relationship
and marriage, influence him and them, and by
lessening the
oppression of some, who are more able to bear
it, greatly
increase that of others. But the office of a
Sheykh of a
village is far from being a sinecure: at the
period when the
taxes are demanded of him, he frequently
receives a more
severe bastinading than any of his inferiors;
for when the
population of a village does not yield the sum
required, their
Sheykh is often beaten for their default: and
not always
does he produce his own proportion until he has
been well
thrashed. All the felláheen are proud of the stripes
they
receive for withholding their contributions; and are
often
heard to boast of the number of blows which were
inflicted
upon them before they would give up their money.
Ammianus
Marcellinus gives precisely the same character to
the
Egyptians of his time.
1The revenue of the Báshà of Egypt is generally said to
amount to about three millions of pounds sterling.
2
Nearly
half arises from the direct taxes on land, and from
indirect
exactions from the felláheen: the remainder,
principally
from the custom-taxes, the tax on palm-trees,
a kind of
income-tax, and the sale of various productions of
the land;
by which sale, the government, in most instances,
obtains a
profit of more than fifty per cent.
The present Báshà has increased his revenue to this
1 Lib. xxii. The more easily the peasant
pays, the more is he made to pay.
2 Some estimate it at five millions; others, at little more than two millions.
amount
by most oppressive measures. He has dispossessed
of their
lands almost all the private proprietors throughout
Egypt,
allotting to each, as a partial compensation, a pension
for
life, proportioned to the extent and quality of the land
which
belonged to him. The farmer has, therefore, nothing
to leave
to his children but his hut, and perhaps a few cattle
and some
small savings.
The direct taxes on land are proportioned to the natural
advantages of the soil. Their average amount is about 8s.
per feddán, which is nearly equal to an English acre.
1
But
the cultivator can never calculate exactly the full
amount
of what the government will require of him: he
suffers from
indirect exactions of quantities (differing in
different years,
but always levied per feddán,) of butter,
honey, wax, wool,
baskets of palm-leaves, ropes of the fibres
of the palm-tree,
and other commodities: he is also obliged to
pay the hire of
the camels which convey his grain to the
government
“shooneh” (or granary), and to defray various
other expenses.
A portion of the produce of his land is taken
by the
government,
2 and sometimes the whole produce, at a
fixed
and fair price, which, however, in many parts of
Egypt, is
retained to make up for the debts of the insolvent
peasants.
3 The felláh, to supply the bare necessaries of life,
is often
obliged to steal, and convey secretly to his hut, as
much as
he can of the produce of his land. He may either
himself
supply the seed for his land, or obtain it as a
loan from the
government: but in the latter case he seldom
obtains a
sufficient quantity; a considerable portion being
generally
stolen by the persons through whose hands it
passes before
he receives it. To relate all the oppressions
which the
peasantry of Egypt endure from the dishonesty of the
Mamoors
1 The feddán has lately been reduced: it
was equal to about an English acre
and one-tenth a few
years ago; and somewhat more at an earlier period.
2 Of some productions, as cotton, flax,
&c., the government always takes the
whole.
3 Even the debts of the peasantry of one
village are often imposed upon the
inhabitants of another
who have paid all that is justly due from them.
and
inferior officers would require too much space in
the present
work. It would be scarcely possible for them to
suffer more,
and live. It may be hardly necessary, therefore,
to add, that
few of them engage, with assiduity, in the
labours of
agriculture, unless compelled to do so by their
superiors.
The Báshà has not only taken possession of the lands of
the private proprietors, but he has also thrown into his
treasury a considerable proportion of the incomes of
religious
and charitable institutions, deeming their
accumulated
wealth superfluous. He first imposed a tax (of
nearly half
the amount of the regular land-tax) upon all land
which had
become a “waḳf” (or legacy unalienable by law) to
any
mosque, fountain, public school, &c.; and
afterwards took
absolute possession of such lands, granting
certain annuities
in lieu of them, for keeping in repair the
respective buildings,
and for the maintenance of those persons
attached to them,
as Náẓirs (or wardens), religious ministers,
inferior servants,
students, and other pensioners. He has thus
rendered himself
extremely odious to most persons of the
religious and
learned professions, and especially to the
Náẓirs of the
mosques, who too generally enriched themselves
from the
funds intrusted to their care, which were, in most
cases,
superabundant. The household property of the mosques and
other public
institutions (the waḳfs of numerous individuals
of various
ranks) the Báshà has hitherto left inviolate.
The tax upon the palm-trees has been calculated to
amount to about a hundred thousand pounds sterling. The
trees
are rated according to their qualities; generally at a
piaster
and a half each.
The income-tax, which is called “firdeh.” is generally
a twelfth or more of a man's annual income or salary,
when that can be ascertained. The maximum, however, is
fixed at five hundred piasters. In the large towns it is
levied upon individuals; in the villages, upon houses. The
income-tax of all the inhabitants of the metropolis
amounts
to
eight thousand purses, or about forty thousand pounds
sterling.
The inhabitants of the metropolis and of other large
towns pay a heavy tax on grain, &c. The tax on each kind
of grain is eighteen piasters per ardebb (or about five
bushels); which sum is equal to the price of wheat in the
country after a good harvest.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER V.
DOMESTIC LIFE.
HAVING sufficiently considered
the foundations of the moral
and social state of the Muslims
of Egypt, we may now take
a view of their domestic life and
ordinary habits; and, first,
let us confine our attention to
the higher and middle orders.
A master of a family, or any person who has arrived at
manhood, and is not in a menial situation, or of very low
condition, is commonly honoured with the appellation of
“the sheykh,” prefixed to his name. The word “sheykh”
literally signifies “an elder,” or “an aged person;” but it
is
often used as synonymous with our appellation of
“Mister;”
though more particularly applied to a learned
man, or a
reputed saint. A “shereef,” or descendant of the
Prophet,
is called “the seyd,” or “the seyyid” (master, or
lord),
whatever be his station. Many shereefs are employed
in
the lowest offices: there are servants, dustmen, and
beggars,
of the honoured race of Mohammad; but all of them
are
entitled to the distinctive appellation above
mentioned, and
privileged to wear the green turban:
1
many of them, however,
not only among those of humble station,
but also
among the wealthy, and particularly the learned,
assume
neither of these prerogatives; preferring the title
of
“sheykh,” and the white turban. A man who has
performed
1 Men and women of this race often contract
marriages with persons who
are not members of the same;
and as the title of shereef is inherited from
either of
the parents, the number of persons who enjoy this distinction has
become very considerable.
the
pilgrimage is generally called “the hágg;”
1 and
a woman
who has alike distinguished herself, “the hággeh:”
yet there
are many pilgrims who, like those shereefs just
before alluded
to, prefer the title of “sheykh.” The general
appellation of a
lady is “the sitt,” which signifies “the
mistress,” or “the
lady.”
Before I describe the ordinary habits of the master of a
family, I must mention the various classes of persons of
whom the family may consist. The ḥareem, or the females
of the house, have distinct apartments allotted to them;
and
into these apartments (which, as well as the persons
to whom
they are appropriated, are called “the hareem,”) no
males
are allowed to enter, except the master of the
family, and
certain other near relations, and children. The
ḥareem may
consist, first, of a wife, or wives (to the number
of four);
secondly, of female slaves, some of whom, namely,
white and
(as they are commonly called) Abyssinian (but more
properly
Galla) slaves, are generally concubines, and
others (the black
slaves) kept merely for servile offices, as
cooking, waiting
upon the ladies, &c.; thirdly, of
female free servants, who
are, in no case, concubines, or not
legitimately so. The
male dependants may consist of white and
of black slaves,
and free servants; but are mostly of the
last-mentioned
class. Very few of the Egyptians avail
themselves of the
licence, which their religion allows them,
of having four
wives; and still smaller is the number of those
who have
two or more wives, and concubines besides. Even most
of
those men who have but one wife are content, for the
sake of
domestic peace, if for no other reason, to remain
without a
concubine-slave: but some prefer the possession of
an
Abyssinian slave to the more expensive maintenance of
a
wife; and keep a black slave-girl, or an Egyptian
female
1 This word is thus pronounced by the
inhabitants of Cairo and the
greater
part of Egypt; but in most other countries
where Arabic is spoken. “ḥájj.”
The Turks and Persians
use, instead of it, the synonymous Arabic word “ḥájjee.”
The former of these two terms also means “pilgrims,” as a collective noun.
servant, to wait upon her, to clean and keep in order the
apartments of the ḥareem, and to cook. It is seldom that
two
or more wives are kept in the same house: if they are,
they
generally have distinct apartments. Of male servants,
the
master of a family keeps, if he can afford to do so, one or
more to wait upon him and his male guests; another, who is
called a “sakkà,” or water-carrier, but who is particularly a
servant of the hareem, and attends the ladies only when
they
go out;
1 a “bowwáb,” or door-keeper, who constantly
sits at
the door of the house; and a “sáïs,” or groom, for the
horse,
mule, or ass. Few of the Egyptians have “memlooks,”
or male
white slaves; most of these being in the possession
of rich
'Osmánlees (or Turks); and scarcely any but Turks
of high rank
keep eunuchs: but a wealthy Egyptian
merchant is proud of
having a black slave to ride or walk
behind him, and to carry
his pipe.
The Egyptian is a very early riser, as he retires to sleep
at an early hour: it is his duty to be up and dressed
before
daybreak, when he should say the morning-prayers.
In
general, while the master of a family is performing
the
religious ablution, and saying his prayers, his wife
or slave
is preparing for him a cup of coffee, and filling his
pipe, to
present to him as soon as he has acquitted himself of
his
religious duties.
Many of the Egyptians take nothing before noon but the
cup of coffee and the pipe: others take a light meal at an
early hour. The meal of breakfast (“el-faṭoor”) generally
consists of bread, with eggs, butter, cheese, clouted cream,
or
curdled milk, &c.; or of a “faṭeereh,” which is
a kind of
pastry, saturated with butter, made very thin, and
folded
over and over like a napkin: it is eaten alone, or
with a
little honey poured over it, or sugar. A very common
dish
for breakfast is “fool mudemmes,” or beans, similar
to our
horse-beans, slowly boiled, during a whole night, in
an
1 Unless there be a eunuch. The saḳḳà is
generally the chief of the
servants.
earthen
vessel, buried, all but the neck, in the hot ashes of
an oven
or a bath, and having the mouth closely stopped:
they are
eaten with linseed-oil, or butter, and generally
with a little
lime-juice: thus prepared, they are sold in the
morning in the
sooks (or markets) of
Cairo and other
towns.
A meal is often made (by those who cannot afford
luxuries)
of bread and a mixture called “dukkah,” which is
commonly
composed of salt and pepper, with “zaatar” (or
wild
marjoram) or mint or cumin-seed, and with one, or
more, or
all, of the following ingredients; namely,
coriander-seed,
cinnamon, sesame, and “hommus” (or
chick-peas): each
mouthful of bread is dipped in this mixture.
The bread is
always made in the form of a round flat cake,
generally
about a span in width, and a finger's breadth,
or less, in
thickness.
The pipe and the cup of coffee are enjoyed by almost all
persons who can afford such luxuries, very early in the
morning and oftentimes during the day. There are many
men who are scarcely ever seen without a pipe either in
their hand or carried behind them by a servant. The
smoker keeps his tobacco for daily use in a purse or bag
made of shawl-stuff, or silk, or velvet, which is often
accompanied
with a small pouch containing a flint and
steel, and
some agaric tinder, and is usually crammed into
his
bosom.
The pipe (which is called by many names, as “shibuk,”
1 “'ood,” &c.,) is generally between four and five feet
long:
some pipes are shorter, and some are of greater
length. The
most common kind used in Egypt is made of a kind
of wood
called “garmashak.”
2 The greater part of the stick
(from
the mouthpiece to about three-quarters of its
length) is
covered with silk, which is confined at each
extremity by
gold thread, often intertwined with coloured
silks, or by
a tube of gilt silver; and at the lower extremity
of the
1 From the Turkish “chibook.”
2 Pronounced “garmash'ak.” I believe it is
maple.
Pipes
covering is a tassel of silk. The covering was originally
designed to be moistened with water, in order to cool the
pipe, and, consequently, the smoke, by evaporation: but this
is only done when the pipe is old, or not handsome. Cherrystick
pipes, which are never covered, are also used by many
persons, particularly in the winter. In summer, the smoke
is
not so cool from the cherry-stick pipe as from the kind
before
mentioned. The bowl
1 is of baked earth, coloured
red or
brown.
2 The mouthpiece
3 is composed of two or
more pieces of opaque, light-coloured amber, interjoined by
ornaments of enamelled gold, agate, jasper, carnelion, or
some
other precious substance. It is the most costly part of
the
pipe: some mouthpieces are adorned with diamonds:
the price of
one of the kind most generally used by persons
of the middle
orders is from about one to three pounds
sterling. A wooden
tube passes through it. This is often
changed, as it soon
becomes foul from the oil of the tobacco.
The pipe also
requires to be cleaned very often, which is
done with tow, by
means of a long wire. Many poor men
in
Cairo gain their livelihood by going about to clean
pipes.
The tobacco smoked by persons of the higher orders, and
some others, in Egypt, is of a very mild and delicious
flavour. It is mostly from the neighbourhood of
El-Ládikeeyeh,
in
Syria. The best kind is the “mountain
tobacco,”
4
grown on the hills about that town. A stronger
kind, which
takes its name from the town of Soor,
5, sometimes
mixed with
the former, is used by most persons of the
middle orders. In
smoking, the people of Egypt and of
other countries of the
East draw in their breath freely; so
2 To preserve the matting or carpet from
injury, a small brass tray is often
placed beneath the
bowl; and a small tray of wood is made use of to receive
the ashes of the tobacco.
that
much of the smoke descends into the lungs; and the
terms which
they use to express “smoking tobacco” signify
”
drinking smoke,” or “
drinking tobacco:” for the same word
signifies both “smoke” and “tobacco.” Few of them spit
while
smoking: I have very seldom seen any do so.
Some of the Egyptians use the Persian pipe, in which the
smoke passes through water. The pipe of this kind most
commonly used by persons of the higher classes is called
“nárgeeleh,” because the vessel that contains the water is
a
cocoa-nut, of which “nárgeeleh” is an Arabic name.
Another
kind, which has a glass vase, is called
“sheesheh,”
1 Each
has a very long, flexible
tube. A particular kind of tobacco,
called “tumbák,” from
Persia, is used in the water-pipe: it
is first washed several
times, and put into the pipe-bowl
while damp; and two or three
pieces of live charcoal are
placed on the top. Its flavour is
mild, and very agreeable;
but the strong inhalation necessary
in this mode of smoking
is injurious to persons of delicate
lungs.
2 In using the
Persian pipe, the
person as freely draws the smoke into his
lungs as he would
inhale pure air. The great prevalence of
liver-complaints in
Arabia is attributed to the general use of
the nárgeeleh; and
many persons in Egypt suffer severely
from the same cause. A
kind of pipe commonly called
“gózeh,” which is similar to the
nárgeeleh, except that it
has a short cane tube, instead of
the snake (or flexible one),
and no stand, is used by men of
the lowest class, for
smoking both the tumbák and the
intoxicating “hasheesh,”
or hemp.
The coffee (“kahweh”
3) is made very strong, and without
sugar or milk. The coffee-cup (which is called “fingán”)
is
small; generally holding not quite an ounce and a half
of
1 A Persian word, signifying “glass.”
2 It is, however, often recommended in the
case of a cough. One of my
friends, the most celebrated of
the poets of Cairo, who is much
troubled by
asthma, uses the nárgeeleh almost incessantly
from morning till night.
3 This is the name of the beverage: the berries (whether whole or pounded)
are called
“bunn.”
liquid.
It is of porcelain, or Dutch-ware, and, being without
a
handle, is placed within another cup (called “zarf”),
of
silver or brass, according to the circumstances of the
owner,
and, both in shape and size, nearly resembling our
egg-cup.
1 In, preparing the coffee, the water is first made
to boil: the coffee (freshly roasted, and pounded,) is
then
put in, and stirred; after which the pot is again
placed on
the fire, once or twice, until the coffee begins to
simmer;
when it is taken off, and its contents are poured
out into the
Coffee-service.
cups while the surface is yet creamy. The Egyptians are
excessively fond of pure and strong coffee, thus prepared;
and very seldom add sugar to it (though some do so when
they are unwell), and never milk or cream; but a little
cardamom-seed
2 is often added to it. It is a common
1 In a full service there are ten fingáns
and zarfs of uniform kinds, and often
another fingán and
zarf of a superior kind for the master of the house, of
for a distinguished guest. In the cut above, the coffee-pot (“bekreg,” or
“bakrag,”) and the zarfs and tray are of silver, and are
represented on a scale
of one-eighth of the real size.
Below this set are a similar zarf and fingán, on
a scale
of one-fourth, and a brass zarf, with the fingán placed in it. Some
zarfs are of plain or gilt silver filigree; and a few
opulent persons have them
of gold, and sometimes set with
diamonds, rubies, and other gems. Many
Muslims, however,
religiously disallow all utensils of gold and of silver.
custom,
also, to fumigate the cup with the smoke of mastic;
and the
wealthy sometimes impregnate the coffee with the
delicious
fragrance of ambergris.
1 The most general mode
of doing this
is, to put about a carat-weight of ambergris in
a coffee-pot,
and melt it over a fire; then make the coffee in
another pot,
in the manner before described, and, when it
has settled a
little, pour it into the pot which contains the
ambergris.
Some persons make use of the ambergris, for the
same purpose,
in a different way; sticking a piece of it, of
the weight of
about two carats, in the bottom of the cup,
and then pouring
in the coffee; a piece of the weight above
mentioned will
serve for two or three weeks. This mode is
often adopted by
persons who like always to have the coffee
which they
themselves drink flavoured with this perfume,
and do not give
all their visiters the same luxury. The
coffee-pot is
sometimes brought in a vessel of silver or brass
(called
“'áz'kee”
2) containing burning charcoal. This
vessel is suspended by three chains. In presenting the
coffee,
the servant holds the foot of the zarf with his thumb
and
first finger. In receiving the fingán and zarf, he makes
use
of both hands, placing the left beneath and the right
above at
the same instant.
In cold weather, a brasier, or chafing-dish (called “mankal,”
and vulgarly “mankad”), of tinned copper, full of
burning charcoal, is placed on the floor; and sometimes
perfume is burnt in it. The Egyptians take great delight
in perfumes;
3 and often fumigate their apartments.
The
substance most commonly used for this purpose is
frankincense
of an inferior quality, called “bakhoor
el-barr.”
Benzoin
4 and aloes-wood
5
are also used for the same purpose.
2 Baron Hammer-Purgstall considers this word a
corruption, and writes
“chasseki” in its stead; “'áz'kee” (for
“ázikee”) is, however, the term
used by the Egyptians.
3 They sometimes perfume the beard and
mustaches with civet.
Áz'ḳee and Manḳals.1
If he can conveniently afford to keep a horse, mule, or ass,
or to hire an ass, the Egyptian is seldom seen walking far
beyond the threshold of his own house; but very few of the
people of
Cairo, or of
the other towns, venture to expose
themselves to the suspicion
of possessing superfluous wealth,
and consequently to greater
exactions of the government
than they would otherwise suffer,
by keeping horses.
2 The
modern saddle of the horse is
generally padded, and covered
with cloth or velvet,
embroidered, or otherwise ornamented;
and the head-stall and
breast-leather are adorned with silk-tassels,
and coins, or
other ornaments, of silver. Wealthy
merchants, and the great
'Ulamà, usually ride mules. The
saddle of the mule is,
generally, nearly the same as that of the
ass, of which a
sketch is inserted: when the rider is one of the
'Ulamà, it is
covered with a “seggádeh” (or prayer-carpet):
so, too,
sometimes, is the ladies' saddle; from which, however,
the
former differs considerably, as will be shown hereafter.
Asses
are most generally used for riding through the narrow
1 One of the latter (that to the right) is
an earthen vessel. Each of the
above utensils is
represented on a scale of about one-eighth of the real size.
2 Whether walking or riding, a person of
the higher classes is usually attended
by a servant
bearing his pipe.
and
crowded streets of
Cairo; and there are
many for hire:
their usual pace is an easy amble. Egypt hạs
long been
famed for its excellent asses, which are, in
general, larger
than those of our country, and very superior
to the latter in
every respect. The usual price of one of a
good breed and
well trained is about three or four pounds
sterling; but some
are of higher price than an ordinary horse.
The ass is furnished
with a stuffed saddle; the fore part of
which is covered
with red leather, and the seat, most
commonly, with a kind
An Ass equipped in the usual manner for riding.1
of soft woollen lace, similar to our coach-lace, of red, yellow.
and other colours. The stirrup-leathers are, in every
case, very short. The horseman is preceded by a groom,
or by two grooms, to clear the way; the groom, or each
groom, generally carrying a long staff, called “nebboot,”
which he holds perpendicularly, grasping it near the lower
extremity: and, for the same purpose, a servant generally
runs beside or behind the ass. or sometimes before;
calling
1 Nearly the whole of its coat is closely
shorn.
out to
the passengers to move out of the way to the right or
left, or
to take care of their backs, faces, sides, feet, or heels.
1 The rider,
however, must be vigilant, and not trust merely
to his
servant, or he may be thrown down by the wide load
of a camel;
which accident, indeed, is sometimes unavoidable
in the more
narrow and crowded streets. His pipe is generally
carried by
the servant; and filled and lighted when
he dismounts at a
house or shop.
If he have no regular business to employ him, the Egyptian
spends the greater part of the day in riding, paying
visits,
or making purchases; or in smoking and sipping
coffee and
chatting with a friend at home; or he passes an
hour or more
in the morning enjoying the luxuries of a public
bath. At
noon, he has again to say prayers, if he fulfil the
duties imposed
on him by his religion: but, as I have remarked
on a former
occasion, there are comparatively few persons
among the
Egyptians who do not sometimes neglect these duties;
and
there are many who scarcely ever pray. Directly after
midday
(if he has not taken a late breakfast), he eats a
light
dinner; then takes a pipe and a cup of coffee, and,
in hot
weather, usually indulges himself with a nap. Often
he
retires to recline in the hareem; where a wife or
female
slave watches over his repose, or rubs the soles of
his feet
1 Such ejaculations as “ó'á!” (take care!),
“yemeenak! shimálak!” (to
thy right! to thy left!),
“dahrak!” (thy back!), “wishshak!” (thy face!),
“gembak!”
(thy side!), “riglak!” (thy foot!), “kaabak!” (thy heel!), and,
to a Turk, “sákin!” (take care!), are the most common
cries. The following
appellations are also often
added:–“yá efendee!” (to a Turk), “yá sheykh!”
(to an old
or a middle-aged Muslim native), “yá sabee!” (to a young man),
“yá weled!” or “yá ibnee!” (to a boy), “yá shereef!” (to
a green-turbaned
descendant of the Prophet), “yá m'allim!”
(to a native Christian, or a Jew),
“yá khawágeh!” (to a
Frank), “yásitt!” (to a lady, or a female of the middle
orders), and “yá bint!” that is, “daughter,” or “girl” (to a poor
female),
A woman of the lower class, however old she
be, the servant must call “girl,”
or “daughter,” or
probably she will not move an inch out of the way. A
little girl, or young woman, is often called “'arooseh,” or “bride;” and
“hággeh,” or “female pilgrim,” is an appellation often
given to women in the
streets.
with
her hands. On such occasions, and at other times when
he
wishes to enjoy privacy, every person who comes to pay
him a
visit is told, by the servant, that he is in the hareem;
and
no friend expects him to be called thence, unless on very
urgent business, From the time of the afternoon-prayers,
until
sunset (the next time of prayer), he generally enjoys,
again,
his pipe and a cup of coffee in the society of some one
or
more of his friends at home or abroad. Shortly after sunset
he
sups.
I must now describe the meals of dinner (“el-ghadà”) and
supper (“el-'ashà”), and the manner and etiquette of
eating.
The same remarks will apply to both these repasts;
except
that supper is always the principal meal. It is the
general
custom to cook in the afternoon; and what remains
of the
supper is eaten the next day for dinner, if there are
no guests
in the house. The master of a family generally dines
and
sups with his wife or wives and children; but there
are
many men, particularly of the higher classes, who are
too
proud to do this, or too much engaged in society to be
able
to do so, unless on some few occasions; and there are
men
even of the lowest class who scarcely ever eat with
their
wives or children. When a person is paying a visit
to a
friend, and the hour of dinner or supper arrives, it
is
incumbent on the master of the house to order the
meal
to be brought; and the same is generally considered
necessary
if the visiter be a stranger.
Every person, before he sits down to the table, or rather
to the tray, washes his hands,
1 and sometimes his mouth
also,
with soap and water; or, at least, has some water
poured upon
his right hand. A servant brings to him a basin
and ewer
called “tisht” and “ibreek”), of tinned copper, or of
brass.
2 The former of these has a cover pierced with holes,
with a
raised receptacle for the soap in the middle; and the
water,
2 In the houses of some of the opulent,
these utensils are of silver. I have
also seen some of
gilt copper.
being
poured upon the hands, passes through this cover into
the
space below; so that when the basin is brought to a
second
person, the water with which the former one has
washed is not
seen. A napkin (“fooṭah”) is given to each
person.
Ṭisht and Ibreeḳ.1
A round tray (called “ṣeeneeyeh,” and “ṣáneeyeh,”) of
tinned copper, or sometimes of brass, generally between two
and three feet in diameter, serves as a table; being placed
upon a stool (“kursee”) about fifteen inches high, made of
wood, and often covered with mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell,
bone, &c. These two pieces of furniture compose the
..
sufrah.” Round cakes of bread, such as have been before
described, sometimes cut in halves across the middle, are
placed round the tray, with several limes, cut in two, to be
squeezed over any of the dishes that may require the acid;
and
a spoon of box-wood, or of ebony, or tortoise-shell, is put
for each person. The bread often serves as a plate. Several
dishes of tinned copper, or of china, containing different
kinds of viands, vegetables, &c., are then placed upon the
1 The width of the former is fourteen
inches; and the height of the latter,
the same.
Washing before or after a Meal > Kursee and Seeneeyeh
tray,
according to the common fashion of the country; or
only one
dish is put on at a time, after the Turkish mode.
The persons who are to partake of the repast sit upon the
floor around the tray; each with his napkin upon his
knees:
or, if the tray be placed near the edge of a low
deewán,
which is often done, some of the persons may sit
on the
deewán, and the others on the floor: but if the party
be
A Party at Dinner or Supper.1
numerous, the tray is placed in the middle of the room, and
they sit round it with one knee on the ground, and the
other (the right) raised; this being the most approved
posture at meals in every ease: and in this manner, as
many
1 One of the servants is holding a
water-bottle; the other, a fly-whisk made
of palm-leaves.
as
twelve persons may sit round a tray three feet wide.
Each
person bares his right arm to the elbow, or tucks up
the
hanging end of his sleeve. Before he begins to eat, he
says,
“Bi-smi-llah”
1 (In the name of God). This is generally
said in a low, but audible voice; and by the master of the
house first. It is considered both as a grace and as an
invitation to any person to partake of the meal; and when
any one is addressed with “Bi-smi-llah,” or “Tafaḍḍal”
(which latter signifies, in this case, “Do me the favour
to
partake of the repast”), he must reply, if he do not
accept
the invitation, “Heneeän” (or “May it be productive
of
enjoyment”), or use some similar expression: else it
will be
feared that an evil eye has been cast upon the food;
and
they say that, “in the food that is coveted” (or upon
which
an envious eye has fallen) “there is no blessing.”
But the
manner in which the Egyptian often presses a stranger
to
eat with him shews that feelings of hospitality most
forcibly
dictate the “Bi-smi-llah.” The master of the
house first
begins to eat; the guests or others immediately
follow his
example. Neither knives nor forks are used: the
thumb
and two fingers of the right hand serve instead of
those
instruments; but the spoons are used for soup or
rice or
other things that cannot be easily taken without; and
both
hands may be used in particular cases, as will be
presently
explained. When there are several dishes upon
the tray,
each person takes of any that he likes, or of every
one in
succession: when only one dish is placed upon the tray
at a
time, each takes from it a few mouthfuls, and it is
quickly
removed, to give place to another.
2
To pick out a delicate
morsel, and hand it to a friend, is
esteemed polite. The
manner of eating with the fingers, as
practised in Egypt
and other Eastern countries, is more
delicate than may be
imagined by Europeans who have not
witnessed it, nor
1 Or “Bi-smi-lláhi-r-raḥmáni-r-raḥeem” (In
the name of God, the Compassionate,
the Merciful).
2 Our Saviour and his disciples thus ate
from one dish. See Matt. XXVI. 23.
heard
it correctly described. Each person breaks off a small
piece
of bread, dips it in the dish, and then conveys it to his
mouth, together with a small portion of the meat or other
contents of the dish.
1 The piece of bread is generally
doubled together, so as to enclose the morsel of meat, &c.;
and only the thumb and first and second fingers are
commonly
used. When a person takes a piece of meat too
large
for a single mouthful, he usually places it upon his
bread.
The food is dressed in such a manner that it may be
easily eaten in the mode above described. It generally
consists, for the most part, of “yakhnee,” or stewed meat,
with chopped onions, or with a quantity of “bámiyehs,”
2 or
other vegetables; “ḳáwurmeh,” or a richer stew, with
onions; “waraḳ maḥshee,” or vine-leaves, or bits of
lettuce-leaf
or cabbage-leaf, with a mixture of rice and
minced-meat
(delicately seasoned with salt, pepper, and
onions, and often
with garlic, parsley, &c.,) wrapped
up in them, and boiled;
cucumbers (“khiyár”), or black, white,
or red “bádingáns,”
3 or a kind of gourd (called “ḳará kooseh”) of the size
and
shape of a small cucumber, which are all “maḥshee”
(or
stuffed) with the same composition as the leaves
above
mentioned; and “kebáb,” or small morsels of mutton
or
lamb, roasted on skewers. Many dishes consist wholly,
or
for the most part, of vegetables; such as cabbage,
purslain,
spinach, bámiyehs, beans, lupins, chick-peas,
gourd cut into
small pieces, colocasia, lentils, &c.
Fish, dressed with oil, is
also a common dish. Most of the
meats are cooked with
clarified butter, on account of the
deficiency of fat; and are
1 Or he merely sops his morsel of bread in
the dish. See Ruth, ii. 14; and
John, xiii, 26.
2 The bámiyeh is the esculent “hibiscus:”
the part which is eaten is a
polygonal pod, generally
between one and three inches in length, and of the
thickness of a small finger: it is full of seeds and nutritive mucilage, and
has
a very pleasant flavour. A little lime-juice is
usually dropped on the plate of
bámiyehs when they are
cooked alone, and also when they have a little fried
minced-meat sprinkled upon them, as is often done.
3 The black and white bádingán are the
fruits of two kinds of egg-plant:
the red is the tomata.
made
very rich: the butter, in the hot season, is perfectly
liquid.
When a fowl is placed whole on the tray, both
hands are
generally required to separate the joints; or two
persons,
each using the right hand alone, perform this operation
together; but some will do it very cleverly without
assistance, and with a single hand. Many of the Arabs will
not
allow the left hand to touch food in any case,
1 except
when the right is maimed. A boned fowl, stuffed with
raisins,
pistachio-nuts, crumbled bread, and parsley, is not
an
uncommon dish; and even a whole lamb, stuffed with
pistachio-nuts, &c., is sometimes served up; but the meat is
easily separated with one hand. Sweets are often mixed
with stewed meat, &c.; as, for instance, “annáb”
(or
jujubes), peaches, apricots, &c., and sugar,
with yakhnee.
Various kinds of sweets are also served up, and
often in no
particular order with respect to other meats. A
favourite
sweet dish is “kunáfeh,” which is made of
wheat-flour, and
resembles vermicelli, but is finer; it is
fried with a little
clarified butter, and sweetened with sugar
or honey. A dish
of water-melon (“baṭṭeekh”
2), if in season,
generally forms
part of the meal. This is cut up about a
quarter of an hour
before, and left to cool in the external
air, or in a current of
air, by the evaporation of the juice
on the surfaces of the
slices; but it is always watched during
this time, lest a
serpent should come to it, and poison it by
its breath or bite;
for this reptile is said to be extremely
fond of the water-melon,
and to smell it at a great distance.
Water-melons
are very abundant in Egypt, and mostly very
delicious and
wholesome. A dish of boiled rice (called “ruzz
mufelfel,” the
“piláv” of the Turks), mixed with a little
butter, and seasoned
with salt and pepper, is generally that
from which the last
morsels are taken; but, in the houses of
the wealthy, this is
often followed by a bowl of
“khusháf,”
3 a sweet drink, commonly
1 Because used for unclean purposes.
2 So commonly pronounced, for “biṭṭeekh.”
3 So called from the Persian “khósh áb,” or
“sweet water.”
consisting of water with raisins boiled in it, and then
sugar:
when cool, a little rose-water is dropped into it.
1 The water-melon
frequently supplies the place of this.
2The Egyptians eat very moderately, though quickly.
Water-bottles (Dóraḳs), with covers of different kinds.
—The bottles in the foremost row are one-sixth of the, real size.
Each person, as soon as he has finished, says, “El-ḥamdu
li-lláh” (Praise be to God),
3 and gets up, without
waiting
1 It is drunk with ladles of tortoise-shell
or cocoa-nut.
2 The principal and best fruits of Egypt
are dates, grapes, oranges and
citrons of various kinds,
common figs, sycamore-figs, prickly-pears, pomegranates,
bananas, and a great variety of melons. Peaches and apricots are
plentiful, but not of good flavour. Pears are rare;
mostly brought from
Mount Sinai or Syria. From this enumeration it appears that there
are not
many good fruits in Egypt.
3 Or “El-ḥamdu li-lláhi rabbi-l'álameen”
(Praise be to God, the Lord of
the beings of the whole
world).
till
the others have done:
1 he then washes his hands and
mouth
with soap and water; the basin and ewer being held
by a
servant, as before.
The only beverage at meals is water of the Nile, or, sometimes,
at the tables of the rich, sherbet, which will presently
be described. The Arabs drink little or no water
during a
meal, but
generally take a large draught immediately
after. The water of the Nile is remarkably good; but
that of all
the wells in
Cairo and in other parts of Egypt is slightly
brackish. In general, water is drunk either from an earthen
bottle or from a brass cup.
2 The water-bottles are of two
Water-bottles (Ḳullehs).
kinds; one called “dóraḳ,” and the other “ḳulleh:” the
former has a narrow, and the latter a wide, mouth. They
are
made of a greyish, porous earth, which cools the water
deliciously, by evaporation; and they are, therefore, generally
placed in a current of air. The interior is often blackened
1 It is deemed highly improper to rise
during a meal, even from respect to
a superior who may
approach. It has been mentioned before, that the
Prophet
forbade his followers to rise while eating, or when about to eat, even
if the time of prayer arrived.
2 The ancient Egyptians used drinking-cups
of brass. (Herodotus, lib. ii.
cap. 37.)
with
the smoke of some resinous wood, and then perfumed
with the
smoke of “ḳafal”
1-wood and mastic; the latter
used
last. A small earthen vessel (called “mibkharah”
2)
is
employed in performing these operations, to contain the
burning charcoal, which is required to ignite the wood, and
Earthen Mibkharah, and China Dóraḳ, one-sixth of the
real size.
the mastic; and the water-bottle is held inverted over it.
A strip of rag is tied round the neck of the dóraḳ, at the
distance of about an inch from the mouth, to prevent the
smoke-black from extending too far upon the exterior of
the
bottle. Many persons also put a little orange-flower
water
3 into the bottles. This gives a very agreeable flavour to their
contents. The bottles have stoppers of silver, brass, tin,
or wood; or covers of woven palm-leaves; and are generally
placed in a tray of tinned copper, which receives the
water
that exudes from them. In cold weather, china
bottles are
used in many houses instead of those above
described, which
then render the water too cold.
4
The two most common
1 “Amryris kafal” of Forskäl. An Arabian
tree.
2 Pronounced “mibkhar'ah.”
3 “Móyet zahr, “or” móyet zahr náring.”
4 Baron Hammer-Purgstall has remarked, that
two other vessels should
have been mentioned here (in the
first edition of this work), more especially
because their
names have been adopted in European languages: they are the
“garrah” or “jarrah,” a water-jar or pitcher, and the “demigin”
or
“demiján,” a large bottle, “la dame-jeanne.”
forms
of drinking-cups are here represented. Some of them
have texts
of the Ḳur-án, &c., engraved in the interior, or
the
names of “the Seven Sleepers:” but inscriptions of the
former
kind I have seldom seen. Every person, before and
after
drinking, repeats the same ejaculations as before and
after
eating; and this he does each time that he drinks
during a
meal: each friend present then says to him, “May
it be
productive of enjoyment;”
1 to which the reply is,
“God cause thee to have enjoyment.”
2
Brass Drinking-cups, one-fifth of the real size.
Though we read, in some of the delightful tales of 'The
Thousand and One Nights,’ of removing “the table of
viands,”
3 and bringing “the table of wine,”
4
this prohibited
beverage is not often introduced in general
society, either
during or after the meal, or at other times,
by the Muslims
of Egypt in the present day. Many of them,
however,
habitually indulge in drinking wine with select
parties of
their acquaintance. The servants of a man who is
addicted
to this habit know such of his friends as may be
admitted,
if they happen to call when he is engaged in
this unlawful
pleasure; and to all others they say that he is
not at home,
or that he is in the ḥareem. Drinking wine is
indulged in
by such persons before and after supper, and
during that
meal; but it is most approved
before supper, as they say that
it
quickens the appetite. The “table of wine” is usually
thus
prepared, according to a penitent Muslim wine-bibber,
2 “Allah yehenneek” (for “yuhenneek”).
who is
one of my friends (I cannot speak on this subject
from my own
experience; for, as I never drink wine, I have
never been
invited to join a Muslim wine-party):—a round
japanned tray,
or a glass dish, is placed on the stool before
mentioned: on
this are generally arranged two cut-glass
jugs, one containing
wine,
1 and the other, rosoglio:
2 and
sometimes two or
more bottles besides: several small glasses
are placed with
these: and glass saucers of dried and fresh
fruits, and,
perhaps, pickles: lastly, two candles, and often
a bunch of
flowers stuck in a candlestick, are put upon the
tray.
The Egyptians have various kinds of sherbets, or sweet
drinks. The most common kind
3 is merely sugar and
water,
but very sweet: lemonade
4 is another: a
third kind, the
most esteemed,
5 is prepared from a hard
conserve of violets,
made by pounding violet-flowers, and then
boiling them
Sherbet-cups.
with sugar: this violet-sherbet is of a green colour: a fourth
kind
6 is prepared from mulberries: a fifth,
7
from sorrel.
There is also a kind of sherbet sold in the
streets,
8 which is
made with raisins, as its
name implies: another kind, which
1 “Nebeed” (more properly, “nebeedh:” see
page 118), or “mudám.”
3 Called simply “sharbát,” or “sharbát
sukkar,” or only “sukkar.”
4 “Leymoonáteh,” or “sharáb el-leymoon.”
8 Called “zebeeb.” This name is also given
to an intoxicating conserve.
is a
strong infusion of licorice-root, and called by the name
of
that root;
1 and a third kind, which is prepared from the
fruit of the locust-tree, and called, in like manner, by
the
name of the fruit.
2 The sherbet is served in
covered glass
cups, generally called “ḳullehs,” containing
about three-quarters
of a pint: some of which (the more common
kind)
are ornamented with gilt flower, &c. The
sherbet-cups are
placed on a round tray, and covered with a
round piece
of embroidered silk, or cloth of gold. On the
right arm of
the person who presents the sherbet is hung a
large oblong
napkin with a wide embroidered border of gold and
coloured
silks at each end. This is ostensibly offered for
the purpose
of wiping the lips after drinking the sherbet; but
it is
really not so much for use as for display: the lips are
seldom
or scarcely touched with it.
The interval between supper and the “'eshè,” or time of
the prayers of nightfall, is generally passed in smoking a
pipe, and sipping a cup of coffee. The enjoyment of the
pipe may be interrupted by prayer, but is continued
afterwards:
and sometimes draughts or chess, or some
other
game, or at least conversation, contributes to make
the time
glide away more agreeably. The members of an
Egyptian
family in easy circumstances may pass their time
very
pleasantly; but they do so in a quiet way. The men
often
pay evening visits to their friends, at, or after,
supper-time.
They commonly use, on these and similar
occasions, a folding
lantern (“fánoos”), made of waxed cloth
strained over rings
of wire, and a top and bottom of tinned
copper. This kind
of lantern is here represented, together
with the common
lamp (“ḳandeel”), and its usual receptacle of
wood, which
serves to protect the flame from the wind. The
lamp is a
small vessel of glass, having a little tube in the
bottom, in
which is stuck a wick formed of cotton twisted
round a piece
of straw. Some water is poured in first, and
then the oil.
Lantern and Lamp.
A lamp of this kind is often hung over the entrance of a
house. By night, the interiors of the houses present a
more
dull appearance than in the day; the light of one or
two
candles (placed on the floor or on a stood, and
sometimes
surrounded by a large glass shade, or enclosed
in a glass
lantern, on account of the windows' being merely of
latticework,)
is generally thought sufficient for a large
and lofty
saloon. Few of the Egyptians sit up later, in
summer, than
three or four o'clock, which is three or four
hours after sunset;
for their reckoning of time is from sunset
at every
season of the year: in winter they often sit up five
or six
hours.
Thus the day is usually spent by men of moderate wealth
who have no regular business to attend to, or none that
requires
their own active superintendence. But it is the
habit
of the
tradesman
to repair, soon after breakfast, to his shop
or warehouse, and
to remain there until near sunset.
1 He
has leisure to
smoke as much as he likes; and his customers
often smoke with
him. To some of these he offers his own
1 A description of the shops and a further
account of the tradesmen of
Cairo, will be given in another
chapter, on Industry.
pipe
(unless they have theirs with them), and a cup of
coffee,
which is obtained from the nearest coffee-shop. A
great
portion of the day he sometimes passes in agreeable
chat with
customers, or with the tradesmen of the next or
opposite
shops. He generally says his prayers without
moving from his
shop. Shortly after the noon-prayers, or
sometimes earlier or
later, he eats a light meal, such as a
plate of kebáb and a
cake of bread (which a boy or maid
daily brings from his
house, or procures in the market), or
some bread and cheese or
pickles, &c., which are carried
about the streets for
sale: and if a customer be present, he is
always invited, and
often pressed, to partake of this meal. A
large earthen bottle
of water is kept in the shop, and replenished,
whenever
necessary, by a passing “saḳḳà,” or
water-carrier. In the
evening, the tradesman returns to his
house, eats his supper,
and, soon after, retires to bed.
It is the general custom in Egypt for the husband and
wife to sleep in the same bed, except among the wealthy
classes, who mostly prefer separate beds. The bed is usually
thus prepared in the houses of persons of moderate wealth:—
a
mattress,
1 stuffed with cotton, about six feet long, and
three or four feet in width, is placed upon a low frame,
generally made of palm-sticks;
2 a pillow is placed for
the
head, and a sheet spread over this and the mattress:
the
only covering in summer is generally a thin
blanket;
3 and
in winter, a thick quilt,
4
stuffed with cotton. If there be no
frame, the mattress is
placed upon the floor; or two mattresses
are laid together,
one upon the other, with the sheet,
pillow, &c.; and
often, a cushion of the deewán is placed on
each side. A
musquito-curtain
5 is suspended over the bed
by means
of four strings, which are attached to nails in the
wall. The
dress is seldom changed on going to bed; and
in winter many
people sleep with all their ordinary clothes
5 “Námooseeyeh.” It is composed of muslin,
or linen of an open texture,
or crape, and forms a close
canopy of the width and length of the bed.
on,
except the gibbeh, or cloth coat; but in summer, they
sleep
almost, or entirely, unclad. In winter, the bed is prepared
in
a small closet (called “khazneh”): in summer, in a
large room.
All the bed-clothes are rolled up, in the daytime,
and placed
on one side, or in the closet above-mentioned.
During the
hottest weather, many people sleep upon the
house-top, or in a
“fes-ḥah” (or “fesaḥah”), which is an uncovered
apartment; but
ophthalmia and other diseases often
result from their thus
exposing themselves to the external
air at night. The most
common kind of frame for the bed,
made of palm-sticks,
harbours bugs, which are very abundant
in Egypt in the summer,
as fleas are in the winter. These
and other plagues to which
the people of Egypt are exposed
by night and day have been
before mentioned.
1 With
regard to the most disgusting
of them, the lice, it may here
be added, that though they are
not always to be avoided
even by the most scrupulous
cleanliness, a person who
changes his linen after two or three
days' wear is very
seldom annoyed by these vermin; and when he
is, they are
easily removed, not attaching themselves to the
skin: they
are generally found in the linen. A house may be
kept
almost clear of fleas by frequent washing and
sweeping; and
the flies may be kept out by placing nets at the
doors and
windows, even though the meshes be large enough to
admit
them: but it is impossible to purify an Egyptian
house from
bugs, if it contain much wood-work, which is
generally the
case.
The male servants
2 lead a very easy life, with the
exception
of the “sáïs,” or groom, who, whenever his
master takes
a ride, runs before or beside him: and this he
will do in the
hottest weather for hours together, without
appearing fatigued.
Almost every wealthy person in
Cairo has a “bowwáb,”
or
door-keeper, always at the door of his house, and several
other male servants. Most of these are natives of Egypt;
1 In the Introduction to this work.
2 “Khaddámeen,” singular “khaddám.”
but
many Nubians are also employed as servants in
Cairo and other Egyptian towns. The latter are
mostly bowwábs,
and are generally esteemed more honest than
the Egyptian
servants. The wages of the male servants are very
small,
usually from a dollar to two dollars (or from four
to eight
shillings) per month: but they receive many
presents.
1 On
the “'eed” (or festival) after
Ramaḍán, the master generally
gives, to each of his servants,
part or the whole of a new
suit of clothes, consisting of an
“'eree” (a blue shirt, which
is their outer dress), a
“ṭarboosh,” and a turban. Other
articles of dress which they
require during the year (except,
sometimes, shoes,) the
servants are obliged to provide for
themselves. Besides what
their master gives them, they
also receive small presents of
money from his visiters, and
from the tradespeople with whom
he deals; particularly
whenever he has made any considerable
purchase. They
sleep in the clothes which they wear during the
day, each
upon a small mat; and in winter they cover
themselves with
a cloak
2 or blanket. In some
respects, they are often
familiar in their manners to their
master, even laughing
and joking with him; in others, they are
very submissive;
paying him the utmost honour, and bearing
corporal chastisement
from his hand with child-like patience.
The male black slave
3 is treated with more consideration
than the free servant; and leads a life well suited to his
lazy disposition. If discontented with his situation, he
can
legally compel his master to sell him. Many of the
slaves
in Egypt wear the Turkish military dress. They
are
generally the greatest fanatics in the East; and
more
accustomed than any other class to insult the
Christians and
every people who are not of the faith which
they have
1 The wages required from European
travellers are much higher than those
obtained from
natives; and larger and more frequent presents are expected
from the former. These presents, when judiciously bestowed, are
generally
productive of excellent effects; but they
too often serve to encourage rouguery.
2 See Exodus, xxii. 26, 27.
themselves adopted without knowing more of its doctrines
than
Arab children who have been but a week at school.
Of the
female slaves, some account will be given in the next
chapter.
An acquaintance with the modern inhabitants of Egypt
leads us often to compare their domestic habits with those of
Europeans in the middle ages; and, perhaps, in this comparison,
the points of resemblance which we observe, with
regard to the men, are more striking than the contrasts;
but
the reverse will be found to be the case when we
consider
the state of the females.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER VI.
DOMESTIC LIFE—continued.
Q
UITTING the lower apartments,
where we have been long
detained, I must enter upon a more
presumptuous office than
I have yet undertaken, which is that
of a guide to the
“ḥareem:”
1 but first I must give some
account of marriage,
and the marriage-ceremonies.
To abstain from marrying when a man has attained a
sufficient age, and when there is no just impediment, is
esteemed, by the Egyptians, improper, and even disreputable.
For being myself guilty of this fault (to use no harsher
term), I suffered much inconvenience and discomfort during
my
first and second visits to this country, and endured many
reproaches. During the former of those visits, having
occasion
to remove from a house which I had occupied for
some months in
a great thorough fare-street in
Cairo,
I
engaged another house, in a neighbouring quarter: the
lease
was written, and some money paid in advance; but a
day or
two after, the agent of the owner came to inform me
that
the inhabitants of the quarter, who were mostly
“shereefs”
(or descendants of the Prophet), objected to my
living among
1 The term “ḥareem” (which, as before
mentioned, is applied both to the
females of a family and
to the apartments which they occupy,) signifies
prohibited, sacred, &c. The
Turks, and many of the Arabs, use the synonymous’
Arabic
term “ḥaram,” which the former pronounce “ḥarem.”
them,
because I was not married. He added, however, that
they would
gladly admit me if I would even purchase a
female slave, which
would exempt me from the opprobrium
cast upon me by the want
of a wife. I replied that, being
merely a sojourner in Egypt,
I did not like to take either a
wife or female slave, whom I
must soon abandon: the money
that I had paid was, therefore,
returned to me. In another
quarter, I was less unfortunate;
such heavy objections on
account of my being unmarried were
not raised: I was only
required to promise that no person
wearing a hat should
come into the quarter to visit me; yet,
after I had established
myself in my new residence, the Sheykh
(or chief) of
the quarter often endeavoured to persuade me to
marry. All
my arguments against doing so he deemed of no
weight.
“You tell me,” said he, “that in a year or two you
mean to
leave this country: now, there is a young widow, who,
I am
told, is handsome, living within a few doors of you, who
will
be glad to become your wife, even with the express
understanding
that you shall divorce her when you quit
this
place; though, of course, you may do so before, if
she should
not please you.” This young damsel had several
times
contrived to let me catch a glimpse of a pretty
face, as I
passed the house in which she and her parents
lived. What
answer could I return? I replied, that I had
actually, by
accident, seen her face, and that she was the
last woman I
should wish to marry, in such circumstances; for
I was sure
that I could never make up my mind to part with
her. But
I found it rather difficult to silence my officious
friend.—It
has been mentioned before, in the Introduction,
that an
unmarried man, or one who has not a female slave, is
usually
obliged to dwell in a wekáaleh, unless he have
some near
relation with whom to reside; but that Franks are
now
exempted from this restriction.
The Egyptian females arrive at puberty much earlier than
the natives of colder climates. Many marry at the age of
twelve or thirteen years; and some remarkably precocious
girls
are married at the age of
ten:
1 but
such occurrences are
not common. Few remain unmarried after
sixteen years of
age. An Egyptian girl at the age of thirteen,
or even
earlier, may be a mother. The women of Egypt are
generally
very prolific: but females of other countries
residing here
often are childless; and the children of
foreigners from
comparatively cool countries, born in Egypt,
seldom live to
a mature age, even when the mother is a native.
It was
partly on this account that the emancipated Memlooks
(or
military slaves) usually adopted Memlooks.
It is very common among the Arabs of Egypt and of other
countries. but less so in
Cairo than in other parts of Egypt,
for a man to
marry his first cousin. In this case, the
husband and wife
continue to call each other “cousin;”
because the tie of blood
is indissoluble, but that of matrimony
very precarious. A
union of this kind is generally lasting,
on account of this
tie of blood; and because mutual intercourse
may have formed
an attachment between the parties
in tender age: though, if
they be of the higher or middle
classes, the young man is
seldom allowed to see the face of
his female cousin, or even
to meet and converse with her,
after she has arrived at or
near the age of puberty, until she
has become his wife.
Marriages in
Cairo are
generally conducted, in the case of
a virgin, in the following
manner; but in that of a widow,
or a divorced woman, with
little ceremony. Most commonly,
the mother, or some other near
female relation, of the youth
or man who is desirous of
obtaining a wife, describes to him
the personal and other
qualifications of the young women
with whom she is acquainted,
and directs his choice:
2 or he
employs a “kháṭ'beh,” or
“kháṭibeh;” a woman whose
regular business it is to assist men
in such cases. Sometimes
1 They are often betrothed two or three or
more years earlier.
2 Abraham's sending a messenger to his own
country to seek a wife for his
son Isaac (see Genesis,
xxiv.) was just such a measure as most modern Arabs
would
adopt in similar circumstances, if easily practicable.
two or
more women of this profession are employed. A
kháṭ'beh gives
her report confidentially, describing one girl
as being like a
gazelle, pretty and elegant and young; and
another, as not
pretty, but rich, and so forth. If the man
have a mother and
other near female relations, two or three
of these usually go
with a kháṭ'beh to pay visits to several
ḥareems, to which she
has access in her professional character
of a match-maker; for
she is employed as much by
the women as by the men. She
sometimes also exercises the
trade of a “delláleh” (or broker)
for the sale of ornaments,
clothing, &c., which
procures her admission into almost
every ḥareem. The women who
accompany her in search of
a wife for their relation are
introduced to the different
ḥareems merely as ordinary
visiters; and as such, if disappointed,
they soon take their
leave, though the object of
their visit is of course
understood by the other party: but if
they find among the
females of a family (and they are sure
to see all who are
marriageable) a girl or young woman
having the necessary
personal qualifications, they state the
motive of their visit,
and ask, if the proposed match be not
at once disapproved of,
what property, ornaments, &c., the
object of their
wishes may possess. If the father of the
intended bride be
dead, she may perhaps possess one or more
houses, shops,
&c.; and in almost every case, a marriageable
girl of
the middle or higher ranks has a set of ornaments of
gold and
jewels. The women-visiters, having asked these
and other
questions, bring their report to the expectant
youth or man.
If satisfied with their report, he gives a
present to the
kháṭ'beh, and sends her again to the family of
his intended
wife, to make known to them his wishes. She
generally gives an
exaggerated description of his personal
attractions, wealth,
&c. For instance, she will say, of a very
ordinary
young man, of scarcely any property, and of whose
disposition
she knows nothing. “My daughter, the youth
who wishes to marry
you is young, graceful, elegant, beardless,
has plenty of
money, dresses handsomely, is fond of
delicacies, but cannot enjoy his luxuries alone; he wants
you
as his companion; he will give you everything that
money can
procure; he is a stayer-at-home, and will spend
his whole time
with you, caressing and fondling you.”
The parents may betroth their daughter to whom they
please, and marry her to him without her consent, if she be
not arrived at the age of puberty; but after she has attained
that age, she may choose a husband for herself, and appoint
any man to arrange and effect her marriage. In the former
case, however, the khát'beh and the relations of a girl sought
in marriage usually endeavour to obtain her consent to the
proposed union. Very often, a father objects to giving a
daughter in marriage to a man who is not of the same
profession or trade as himself; and to marrying a younger
daughter before an elder.
1 The bridegroom can scarcely
ever
obtain even a surreptitious glance at the features of his
bride, until he finds her in his absolute possession, unless
she belong to the lower classes of society; in which case, it
is easy enough for him to see her face.
When a female is about to marry, she should have a
“wekeel” (or deputy) to settle the compact, and conclude
the
contract, for her, with her proposed husband. If she be
under
the age of puberty, this is absolutely necessary; and
in this
case, her father, if living, or (if he be dead) her
nearest
adult male relation, or a guardian appointed by will,
or by
the Kádee, performs the office of wekeel: but if she be
of
age, she appoints her own wekeel, or may even make the
contract herself; though this is seldom done.
After a youth or man has made choice of a female to
demand in marriage, on the report of his female relations, or
that of the khát'beh, and, by proxy, made the preliminary
arrangements before described with her and her relations in
the hareem, he repairs with two or three of his friends to
her
wekeel. Having obtained the wekeel's consent to the
union, if
the intended bride be under age, he asks what is
the amount of
the required “mahr” (or dowry).
The giving of a dowry is indispensable, as I have mentioned
in a former chapter. It is generally calculated in
“riyáls,” of ninety faddahs (equivalent to about five
pence
and two-fifths) each. The riyál is an imaginary
money;
not coin. The usual amount of the dowry, if the
parties
be in possession of a moderately good income, is
about a
thousand riyáls (or twenty-two pounds ten shillings);
or,
sometimes, not more than half that sum. The wealthy
calculate the dowry in purses, of five hundred piasters
(about
five pounds sterling) each; and fix its amount at
ten purses,
or more. It must be borne in mind that we are
considering
the case of a virgin-bride; the dowry of a
widow or a
divorced woman is much less. In settling the amount
of
the dowry, as in other pecuniary transactions, a
little
haggling frequently takes place: if a thousand
riyáls be
demanded through the wekeel, the party of the
intended
bridegroom will probably make an offer of six
hundred:
the former party then gradually lowering the
demand,
and the other increasing the offer, they at length
agree
to fix it at eight hundred. It is generally
stipulated
that two-thirds of the dowry shall be paid
immediately
before the marriage-contract is made; and the
remaining
third held in reserve, to be paid to the wife in
ease of
divorcing her against her own consent, or in case of
the
husband's death.
This affair being settled, and confirmed by all persons
present reciting the opening chapter of the Kur-án (the
Fát'hah), an early day (perhaps the day next following) is
appointed for paying the money, and performing the
ceremony
of the marriage-contract, which is properly
called
” 'akd en-nikáh.”
1 The making this contract is
commonly
called “ketb el-kitáb” (or the writing of the
writ): but it
is very seldom the case that any document is
written to
1 It is a common belief in Egypt, that, if
any one make a marriage-contract
in the month of Moharram,
the marriage will be unhappy, and soon dissolved;
wherefore, few persons do so. The most propitious period is the month of
Showwál.
confirm
the marriage, unless the bridegroom is about to
travel to
another place, and fears that he may have occasion
to prove
his marriage where witnesses of the contract
cannot be
procured. Sometimes the marriage-contract is
concluded
immediately after the arrangement respecting
the dowry, but
more generally a day or two after. On
the day appointed for
this ceremony, the bridegroom,
again accompanied by two or
three of his friends, goes to
the house of the bride, usually
about noon, taking with him
that portion of the dowry which he
has promised to pay on
this occasion. He and his companions
are received by the
bride's wekeel; and two or more friends of
the latter are
usually present. It is necessary that there be
two witnesses
(and those must be Muslims) to the
marriage-contract,
unless in a situation where witnesses
cannot be procured.
All persons present recite the Fát'hah;
and the bridegroom
then pays the money. After this, the
marriage-contract is
performed. It is very simple. The
bridegroom and the
bride's wekeel sit upon the ground, face to
face, with one
knee upon the ground, and grasp each other's
right hand,
raising the thumbs, and pressing them against each
other.
A fikee
1 is generally employed to instruct them
what they
are to say. Having placed a handkerchief over their
jointed
hands, he usually prefaces the words of the
contract with a
“khutbeh,” consisting of a few words of
exhortation and
prayer, with quotations from the Kur-án and
Traditions, on
the excellence and advantages of marriage. He
then desires
the bride's wekeel to say, “I betroth [or marry]
to thee, my
daughter or the female who has appointed me her
wekeel],
such a one [naming the bride], the virgin
2 [or
the adult
virgin], for a dowry of such an amount.” (The words
“for
a dowry,” &c., are sometimes omitted.) The
bride's wekeel
1 This appellation is commonly given to a
schoolmaster. See a note in
page 74.
2 I the bride be not a virgin, a word
importing this is substituted; namely,
“seyyib,” or, more
properly, “theyyib.”
having
said this, the bridegroom, prompted in the same
manner by the
fikee, says, “I accept from thee her betrothal
[or marriage]
to myself, and take her under my care, and
bind myself to
afford her my protection; and ye who are
present bear witness
of this.” The wekeel addresses the
bridegroom in the same
manner a second and a third time;
and each time, the latter
replies as before. Both then
generally add, “And blessing be
on the Apostles, and praise
be to God, the Lord of the beings
of the whole world:
amen:” after which, all present again
repeat the Fát'hah.
It is not always the same form of
“khutbeh” that is recited
on these occasions: any form may be
used; and it may be
repeated by any person: it is not even
necessary; and is
often altogether omitted. The contract
concluded, the
bridegroom sometimes (but seldom unless he be a
person of
the lower orders) kisses the hands of his friends
and others
there present; and they are presented with sherbet,
and
generally remain to dinner. Each of them receives
an
embroidered handkerchief, provided by the family of
the
bride; except the fikee, who receives a similar
handkerchief,
with a small gold coin tied up in it, from
the bridegroom,
Before the persons assembled on this occasion
disperse, they
settle when the “leylet ed-dukhleh” is to be:
this is the
night when the bride is brought to the house of
the bridegroom,
and the latter, for the first time, visits
her.
In general, the bridegroom waits for his bride about eight
or ten days after the conclusion of the contract.
Meanwhile,
he sends to her, two or three or more times,
some fruit,
sweetmeats, &c.; and perhaps makes her a
present of a
shawl, or some other article of value. The
bride's family
are at the same time occupied in preparing for
her a stock of
household furniture (as deewáns, matting.
carpets, bedding,
kitchen-utensils, &c.,) and dress.
The portion of the dowry
which has been paid by the
bridegroom, and generally a
much larger sum (the additional
money, which is often more
than the dowry itself, being
supplied by the bride's family).
is
expended in purchasing the articles of furniture, dress, and
ornaments, for the bride. These articles, which are called
“gaház,” are the property of the bride; and if she be
divorced, she takes them away with her. She cannot,
therefore,
with truth be said to be
purchased.1 The
furniture
is sent, commonly borne by a train of camels, to
the bridegroom's
house. Often, among the articles of the gaház
is a
chair for the turban or head-dress,
2 alluded to in a
former
page. It is of a large size, but slight make; the
bottom
and back being generally of cane-work; sometimes
with a
canopy. It is never used to sit upon. The turban,
when
placed upon it, is covered with a kerchief of thick
silk stuff,
usually ornamented with gold thread. There are
sometimes
sent two of these chairs; one for the turban of
the husband,
and the other for the head-dress of the wife.
The bridegroom should receive his bride on the eve of
Friday, or that of Monday;
3 but the former is generally
esteemed the more fortunate period. Let us say, for
instance, that the bride is to be conducted to him on the
eve
of Friday. During two or three or more preceding
nights,
the street or quarter in which the bridegroom
lives is
illuminated with chandeliers and lanterns, or with
lanterns
and small lamps, some suspended from cords drawn
across
from the bridegroom's and several other houses on
each side
1 Among the peasants, however, the father,
or other lawful guardian of the
bride, receives the dowry,
and gives nothing in return but the girl, and sometimes
a
little corn, &c. The bridegroom, in this case, supplies
everything;
even the dress of the bride.
3 Burckhardt has erred in stating that Monday and Thursday are the days
on which the ceremonies immediately previous to the marriage-night are performed:
he should have said Sunday and Thursday. He has also fallen ito
some
other errors in the account which he has given of the marriage-ceremonies
of the Egyptians, in the illustrations of his “Arabic
Proverbs”
(pp. 112–118). To mention this I feel to be
a duty to myself; but one
which I perform with reluctance,
and not without the fear that Burckhardt's
just reputation
for general accuracy may make my reader think that he is
right in these cases, and that I am wrong. I write these words in Cairo with
his book
before me, and after sufficient experience and inquiries.
to the
houses opposite: and several small silk flags, each of
two
colours, generally red and green, are attached to these
or
other cords.
1 An entertainment is also given on each of
these nights, particularly on the
last night before that on
which the
wedding is concluded, at the bridegroom's house.
On these
occasions, it is customary for the persons invited,
and for
all intimate friends. to send presents to his house, a
Lantern, &c., suspended on the occasion of a
Wedding.
day or two before the feast which they purpose or expect to
attend: they generally send sugar, coffee, rice,
wax-candles,
or a lamb: the former articles are usually
placed upon a
tray of copper or wood, and covered with a silk
or embroidered
1 The lantern here represented, which is
constructed of wood, ad painted
green, red, white, and
blue, is called “tureiyà” (the Arabic name of the
Pleiades), and, together with the frame above, from which six lamps are
suspended, and which is termed “khátim Suleymán” (or
Solomon's seal),
composes what is called a “hẹml
kanádeel.”
kerchief. The guests are entertained on these
occasions by
musicians and male or female singers, by
dancing girls, or by
the performance of a “khatmeh” or a
“zikr.”
1In the houses of the wealthy, the khát'beh or khát'behs,
together with the “dáyeh” (or midwife) of the family, the
“belláneh” (or female attendant of the bath), and the
nurse
of the bride, are each presented, a day or two after
the
conclusion of the contract, with a piece of gold
stuff, a
Kashmeer shawl, or a piece of striped silk, such as
yeleks
and shintiyáns are made of; and, placing these over
the left
shoulder, and attaching the edges together on the
right side,
go upon asses, with two or more men before them
beating
kettle-drums or tabours, to the houses of all the
friends of
the bride, to invite the females to accompany her
to and
from the bath, and to partake of an entertainment given
on
that occasion. At every house where they call, they
are
treated with a repast, having sent notice the day
before of
their intended visit. They are called “mu-dinát,”
or, more
properly, “mu-dhinát,” vulgarly pronounced “mudnát.”
I
have sometimes seen them walking, and without the
drums
before them: but making up for the want of these
instruments by
shrill, quavering cries of joy, called
“zagháreet,”
2The customs which I am now about to describe are
observed by those classes that compose the main bulk of the
population of
Cairo.
On the preceding Wednesday (or on the Saturday if the
wedding be to conclude on the eve of Monday), at about
1 These entertainments I do not here
particularly describe, as it is my
intention to devote the
whole of a subsequent chapter to the subject of private
festivities. The “khatmeh” is the recitation of the whole of the Kur-án;
and
the “zikr,” the repetition of the name of God, or
of the profession of his
unity, &c.: I shall have
occasion to speak of both more fully in another
chapter,
on the periodical public festivals.
2 These cries of the women, which are heard
on various occasions of
rejoicing in Egypt and other
Eastern countries, are produced by a sharp
utterance of
the voice, accompanied by a quick, tremulous motion of the
tongue.
the
hour of noon, or a little later, the bride goes in state to
the bath.
1 The procession to the bath is called “Zeffet
el-Hammám.”
It is headed by a party of
musicians with a
hautboy or two, and drums of different
kinds.
2 Frequently,
as I have mentioned in
a former chapter, some person avails
himself of this
opportunity to parade his young son previously
to
circumcision: the child and his attendants, in
this case,
follow next after the musicians, in the manner
already
described. Sometimes, at the head of the bride's
party are two
men who carry the utensils and linen used in
the bath, upon
two round trays, each of which is covered
with an embroidered
or a plain silk kerchief: also, a sakkà
who gives water to any
of the passengers, if asked; and two
other persons, one of
whom bears a “kumkum,” or bottle, of
plain or gilt silver, or
of china, containing rose-water, or
orange-flower water, which
he occasionally sprinkles on the
passengers; and the other, a
“mibkharah”
3 (or perfuming-vessel)
of silver,
with aloes-wood, or some other odoriferous
substance, burning
in it: but it is seldom that the procession
is thus attended.
In general, the first persons among
the bride's party are
several of her married female relations
and friends, walking
in pairs; and next, a number of
young virgins. The former are
dressed in the usual manner,
covered with the black silk
habarah: the latter have white
silk habarahs, or shawls. Then
follows the bride, walking
under a canopy of silk, of some gay
colour, as pink, rose-colour,
or yellow: or of two colours
composing wide stripes,
often rose-colour and yellow. It is
carried by four men, by
means of a pole at each corner, and is
open only in front;
and at the top of each of the four poles
is attached an
embroidered handkerchief. The dress of the
bride, during
1 I have once seen this “zeffeh,” or
procession, and a second which will be
described
hereafter, go forth much later, and return an hour after sunset.
2 The music is generally of a very rude
kind; and the airs usually played
are those of popular
songs; specimens of which will be found in this work.
3 Pronounced “mibkhar'ah.”
Bridal Procession. (Part I.)
this
procession, entirely conceals her person. She is
generally
covered, from head to foot, with a red Kashmeer
shawl; or with
a white or yellow shawl, though rarely.
Upon her head is
placed a small pasteboard cap, or crown.
The shawl is placed
over this, and conceals from the view
of the public the richer
articles of her dress, her face, and
her jewels, &c.,
except one or two kussahs”
1 (and sometimes
other
ornaments), generally of diamonds and emeralds,
attached to
that part of the shawl which covers her forehead.
She is
accompanied by two or three of her female relations
within the
canopy; and often, when in hot weather, a
woman, walking
backwards before her, is constantly
employed in fanning her,
with a large fan of black
ostrich-feathers, the lower part of
the front of which is
usually ornamented with a piece of
looking-glass. Sometimes
one zeffeh, with a single canopy,
serves for two brides,
who walk side by side. The procession
moves very slowly,
and generally pursues a circuitous route,
for the sake of
greater display. On leaving the house, it
turns to the right.
It is closed by a second party of
musicians, similar to the
first, or by two or three drummers.
In the bridal processions of the lower orders, which are
often conducted in the same manner as that above
described,
the women of the party frequently utter, at
intervals, those
shrill cries of joy called zagháreet, which I
have before had
occasion to mention; and females of the poorer
classes, when
merely spectators of a zeffeh, often do the
same.
The whole bath is sometimes hired for the bride and her
party exclusively. They pass several hours, or seldom less
than two, occupied in washing, sporting, and feasting; and
frequently “‘ál'mehs” (or female singers) are hired to
amuse
them in the bath: they then return in the same order
in
which they came. The expense of the zeffeh falls on
the
relations of the bride; but the feast that follows it
is supplied
by the bridegroom.
1 For a description of these ornaments, see the
Appendix.
Bridal Procession. (Part II.)
Having returned from the bath to the house of her family,
the bride and her companions sup together. If 'ál'mehs
have contributed to the festivity in the bath, they, also,
return with the bride, to renew their concert. Their songs
are always on the subject of love, and of the joyous event
which occasions their presence. After the company have
been thus entertained, a large quantity of hennà having
been
prepared, mixed into a paste, the bride takes a lump
of it in
her hand, and receives contributions (called
“nukoot”) from
her guests: each of them sticks a coin (usually
of gold) in
the hennà which she holds upon her hand; and when
the
lump is closely stuck with these coins, she scrapes it
off her
hand upon the edge of a basin of water. Having
collected
in this manner from all her guests, some more
hennà is
applied to her hands and feet, which are then bound
with
pieces of linen; and in this state they remain until
the next
morning, when they are found to be sufficiently dyed
with
its deep orange-red tint. Her guests make use of
the
remainder of the dyne for their own hands. This night
is
called “Leylet el-Hennà,” or “the Night of the Hennà.”
It is on this night, and sometimes also during the latter
half of the preceding day, that the bridegroom gives his
chief entertainment. “Mohabbazeen” (or low farce-players)
often perform on this occasion before the house, or, if it
be
large enough, in the court. The other and more
common
performances by which the guests are amused have
been
before mentioned.
On the following day, the bride goes in procession to the
house of the bridegroom. The procession before described
is
called “the zeffeh of the bath” to distinguish it from
this,
which is the more important, and which is therefore
particularly
called “Zeffet el-'Arooseh,” or “the Zeffeh
of the
Bride.” In some cases, to diminish the expenses of
the
marriage-ceremonies, the bride is conducted privately
to the
bath, and only honoured with a zeffeh to the
bridegroom's
house. This procession is exactly similar to
the former.
The
bride and her party, after breakfasting together,
generally
set out a little after midday. They proceed in the
same order,
and at the same slow pace, as in the zeffeh of the
bath; and,
if the house of the bridegroom is near, they
follow a
circuitous route, through several principal streets,
for the
sake of display. The ceremony usually occupies
three or more
hours.
Sometimes, before bridal processions of this kind, two
swordsmen, clad in nothing but their drawers, engage each
other in a mock combat; or two peasants cudgel each other
with nebboots, or long staves. In the procession of a
bride
of a wealthy family, any person who has the art of
performing
some extraordinary feat to amuse the spectators
is almost
sure of being a welcome assistant, and of receiving
a handsome
present.
1 When the seyyid 'Omar, the Nakeeb
el-Ashráf
(or chief of the descendants of the Prophet),
who was
the main instrument of advancing Mohammad 'Alee to
the
dignity of Báshà of Egypt, married a daughter, about
forty-five
years since, there walked before the procession
a young
man who had made an incision in his abdomen, and drawn
out
a large portion of his intestines, which he carried
before him
on a silver tray. After the procession, he restored
them to
their proper place, and remained in bed many days
before he
recovered from the effects of this foolish and
disgusting act.
Another man, on the same occasion, ran a sword
through his
arm, before the crowding spectators, and then
bound, over
the wound, without withdrawing the sword, several
handkerchiefs,
1 One of the most common of the feats
witnessed on such an occasion is the
performance of a
laborious task by a water-carrier, termed a “keiyim,” who,
for the sake of a present, and this empty title, carries a water-skin filled
with
sand and water, of greater weight, and for a
longer period, than any of his
brethren will venture to
do; and this he must accomplish without ever
sitting down,
except in a crouching position, to rest. In the case of a bridal
procession which I lately witnessed, the keiyim began to
carry his burden, a
skin of sand and water weighing about
two hundred pounds, at sunset of the
preceding day; bore
it the whole night, and the ensuing day, before and
during
the procession, and continued to do so till sunset.
kerchiefs, which were soaked with the blood. These facts
were
described to me by an eye-witness. A spectacle of a
more
singular and more disgusting nature used to be not
uncommon on
similar occasions, but is now very seldom
witnessed.
1
Sometimes, also, “háwees” (or conjurers and
sleight-of-hand
performers) exhibit a variety of tricks on these
occasions.
But the most common of all the performances
here mentioned are
the mock fights. Similar exhibitions are
also sometimes
witnessed on the occasion of a circumcision.
Grand zeffehs are
sometimes accompanied by a number of
cars, each bearing a
group of persons of some manufacture or
trade performing the
usual work of their craft; even such as
builders,
white-washers, &c.; including members of all, or
almost all, the arts and manufactures practised in the
metropolis. In one car are generally some men making
coffee,
which they occasionally present to spectators: in
another,
instrumental musicians: and in another, 'ál'mehs
(or female
singers). The bride, in zeffehs of this kind, is
sometimes
conveyed in a close European carriage; but more
frequently she
and her female relations and friends are
mounted on
hight-saddled asses, and, with musicians and
female singers
before and behind them, close the procession.
The bride and her party, having arrived at the bridegroom's
house, sit down to a repast. Her friends, shortly
after, take their departure; leaving with her only her
mother and sister, or other near female relations, and one
or two other women; usually the belláneh. The ensuing
night is called “Leylet ed-Dukhleh,” or “the Night of the
Entrance.”
The bridegroom sits below. Before sunset, he goes to the
bath, and there changes his clothes; or he merely does the
latter at home; and, after having supped with a party of
his
friends, waits till a little before the “'eshè” (or
time of the
night-prayer), or until the third or fourth hour
of the night,
1 A correct description of this is given in
Burckhardt's “Arabic Proverbs,”
pp. 115, 116.
when,
according to general custom, he should repair to some
celebrated mosque, such as that of the Hasaneyn, and there
say
his prayers. If young, he is generally honoured with a
zeffeh
on this occasion: in this case, he goes to the mosque
preceded
by musicians with drums and a hautboy or two,
and accompanied
by, a number of friends, and by several men
bearing
“mesh'als.” The mesh'al is a kind of cresset, that
Mesh'als.
is, a staff with a cylindrical frame of iron at the top filled
with flaming wood, or having two, three, four, or five of
these receptacles for fire. The party usually proceeds to
the
mosque with a quick pace, and without much order. A
second group of musicians, with the same instruments, or
with drums only, closes the procession. The bridegroom is
generally dressed in a kuftán with red stripes, and a red
gibbeh,
with a Kashmeer shawl of the same colour for his
turban; and
walks between two friends similarly dressed.
The prayers are
commonly performed merely as a matter of
ceremony; and it is
frequently the case that the bridegroom
does not pray at all,
or prays without having previously
performed the wudoó, like
memlooks who say their prayers
only because they fear their
master.
1 The procession returns
from the
mosque with more order and display, and very
slowly; perhaps
because it would be considered unbecoming
in the bridegroom to
hasten home to take possession of his
bride. It is headed, as
before, by musicians, and two or
more bearers of mesh'als.
These are generally followed by
two men, bearing, by means of
a pole resting horizontally
upon their shoulders, a hanging
frame, to which are attached
about sixty or more small lamps,
in four circles, one above
another; the uppermost of which
circles is made to revolve,
being turned round occasionally by
one of the two bearers.
These numerous lamps, and several
mesh'als besides those
before mentioned, brilliantly illumine
the streets through
which the procession passes, and produce a
remarkably picturesque
effect. The bridegroom and his friends
and other
attendants follow, advancing in the form of an
oblong ring,
all facing the interior of the ring, and each
bearing in his
hand one or more wax candles, and sometimes a
sprig of
hennà or some other flower, except the bridegroom and
the
friend on either side of him. These three form the
latter
part of the ring, which generally consists of
twenty or more
persons. At frequent intervals, the party stops
for a few
minutes; and during each of these pauses, a boy or
man,
one of the persons who compose the ring, sings a few
words
of an epithalamium. The sounds of the drums, and
the
shrill notes of the hautboy (which the bride hears
half an
hour or more before the procession arrives at the
house),
cease during these songs. The train is closed, as
in the
1 Hence this kind of prayer is called
“salah memáleekeeyeh,” or “the
prayer of memlooks.”
former
case (when on its way to the mosque), by a second
group of
musicians.
In the manner above described, the bridegroom's zeffeh is
most commonly conducted; but there is another mode, that
is more respectable, called “zeffeh sádátee,” which
signifies
“the gentlemen's zeffeh.” In this, the
bridegroom is accompanied
by his friends in the manner
described above, and
attended and preceded by men bearing
mesh'als, but not by
musicians: in the place of these are
about six or eight men,
who, from their being employed as
singers on occasions of
this kind, are called “wilád
el-läyálee,” or “sons of the
nights.” Thus attended, he goes
to the mosque; and while
he returns slowly thence to his
house, the singers above mentioned
chant, or rather sing,
“muweshshahs” (lyric odes)
in praise of the Prophet. Having
returned to the house,
these same persons chant portions of
the Kur-án, one after
another, for the amusement of the
guests; then, all together,
recite the opening chapter (the
Fát'hah); after which, one
of them sings a “kaseedeh” (or
short poem) in praise of
the Prophet: lastly, all of them
again sing muweshshahs.
After having thus performed, they
receive “nukoot” (or contributions
of money) from the
bridegroom and his friends.
Soon after his return from the mosque, the bridegroom
leaves his friends in a lower apartment, enjoying their pipes
and coffee and sherbet. The bride's mother and sister, or
whatever other female relations were left with her, are
above;
and the bride herself, and the belláneh, in a separate
apartment. If the bridegroom is a youth or young man, it
is
considered proper that he, as well as the bride, should
exhibit some degree of bashfulness: one of his friends, therefore,
carries him a part of the way up to the hareem. Sometimes,
when the parties are persons of wealth, the bride is
displayed before the bridegroom in different dresses, to
the
number of seven: but generally he finds her with
the
belláneh alone; and on entering the apartment, he
gives a
present to this attendant, and she at once retires.
The bride
has a
shawl thrown over her head; and the bridegroom must
give her a
present of money, which is called “the price of
the uncovering
of the face,”
1 before he attempts to remove
this,
which she does not allow him to do without some
apparent
reluctance, if not violent resistance, in order to shew
her
maiden modesty. On removing the covering, he says,
“In the
name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful;” and
then greets
her with this compliment: “The night be
blessed,” or” —is
blessed:” to which she replies, if timidity
do not choke her
utterance, “God bless thee.” The bridegroom
now, in most
cases, sees the face of his bride for the
first time, and
generally finds her nearly what he has been
led to expect,
Often, but not always, a curious ceremony is
then performed.
The bridegroom takes off every article of
the bride's clothing
except her shirt; seats her upon a
mattress or bed, the head
of which is turned towards the
direction of Mekkeh, placing
her so that her back is also
turned in that direction; and
draws forward, and spreads
upon the bed, the lower part of the
front of her shirt: having
done this, he stands at the
distance of rather less than three
feet before her, and
performs the prayers of two rek'ahs;
laying his head and
hands, in prostration, upon the part of
her shirt that is
extended before her hap. He remains with
her but a few minutes
longer:
2 having satisfied his curiosity
respecting her personal charms, he calls to the women (who
generally collect at the door, where they wait in anxious
suspense,) to raise their cries of joy, or zagháreet; and the
shrill sounds make known to the persons below and in the
neighbourhood, and often, responded to by other women,
spread
still further the news, that he has acknowledged himself
satisfied with his bride: he soon after descends to rejoin
1“Hakk keshf el-wishsh.” “Wishsh” is a
vulgar corruption of “wegh,”
or “wejh.”
2 I beg to refer the reader, if he desire
further details on this subject, to
page 117 of
Burckhardt's “Arabic Proverbs.” His account might have been
more complete; but he seems to have studied to be particularly concise
in
this case.
his
friends, and remains with them an hour, or more, before
he
returns to his wife. It very seldom happens that the
husband,
if disappointed in his bride, immediately disgraces
and
divorces her; in general, he retains her, in this case, a
week
or more.
Having now described the most usual manner in which
the marriages of virgin-brides are conducted in
Cairo, I may
add a few words on some of the
ceremonies observed in other
cases of matrimony, both of
virgins and of widows or
divorced women.
The daughters of the great, generally having baths in
their own houses, seldom go to the public bath previously to
marriage. A bride of a wealthy family, or of one that affects
gentility, and her female relations and friends, if there is
not a bath in her house, go to the public bath, which is hired
for them exclusively; but many of such persons prefer to
go
thither, and to the bridegroom's house, without music
or
canopy, mounted on high-saddled asses: the bride
herself
generally wearing a Kashmeer shawl, in the manner
of a
habarah. Sometimes, however, the bridal party is
accompanied
by a group of female singers ('ál'mehs),
likewise
mounted on asses, and singing as they pass along.
If the bridegroom or the bride's family have eunuchs,
these ride before the bride; and sometimes a man runs at the
head of the procession, crying, “Bless ye the Prophet!”
1 This man, on
entering the house, throws down upon the
threshold some leaves
of the white beet (“salk”), over which
the ladies ride. The
object of this act is to propitiate
fortune. The same man then
exclaims, “Assistance from
God, and a speedy victory!”
2Marriages, among the Egyptians, are sometimes conducted
without any pomp or ceremony even in the case of virgins,
by mutual consent of the bridegroom, and the bride's
family,
1“Salloo 'a-n-nebee,” 'A-n-nebee” is a
vulgar contraction of “'ala-nor
nebee.”
2 Kur-in, ch. lxi. v. 13.
the
bride herself; and widows and divorced women are
never
honoured with a zeffeh on marrying again. The mere
sentence,
“I give myself up to thee,”
1 uttered by a female
to a man who proposes to become her husband (even without
the
presence of witnesses, if none can easily be procured),
renders her his legal wife, if arrived at puberty; and
marriages with widows and divorced women, among the
Muslims of
Egypt, and other Arabs, are sometimes concluded
in this simple
manner. The dowry of widows and divorced
women is generally
one quarter or third or half the amount
of that of a virgin.
In
Cairo, among persons not of
the lowest order, though
in very humble life, the
marriage-ceremonies are conducted
in the same manner as among
the middle orders. But when
the expenses of such zeffehs as I
have described cannot by
any means be paid, the bride is
paraded in a very simple
manner, covered with a shawl
(generally red), and surrounded
by a group of her female
relations and friends,
dressed in their best, or in borrowed,
clothes, and enlivened
by no other sounds of joy than their
zagháreet, which they
repeat at frequent intervals.
The general mode of zeffeh among the inhabitants of the
villages is different from those above described. The
bride,
usually covered with a shawl, is seated on a camel;
and so
conveyed to the bridegroom's dwelling. Sometimes four
or
five women or girls sit with her on the same camel; one
on
either side of her, and two or three others behind: the
seat
being made very wide, and usually covered with
carpets or
other drapery. She is followed by a group of
women
singing. In the evening of the wedding, and often
during
several previous evenings, in a village, the male
and female
friends of the two parties meet at the bridegroom's
house,
and pass several hours of the night, in the open
air, amusing
themselves with songs and a rude kind of dance,
accompanied
by the sounds of a tambourine or some kind of
drum: both
sexes
sing; but only the women dance. I have introduced
here these
few words on the marriage-ceremonies of the
peasantry to avoid
scattering notes on subjects of the same
nature. I now revert
to the customs of the people of
Cairo.
On the morning after the marriage, “khäwals”
1 or
“gházeeyehs” (dancing men or girls) perform in the street
before the bridegroom's house, or in the court.
2
On the
same morning also, if the bridegroom is a young man,
the
person who carried him up stairs generally takes him
and
several friends to an entertainment in the country,
where
they spend the whole day. This ceremony is called
“el-huroobeh,” or the flight. Sometimes the bridegroom
himself makes the arrangements for it; and pays part of
the
expenses, if they exceed the amount of the
contributions of
his friends; for they give nukoot on this
occasion. Musicians
and dancing-girls are often hired to
attend the entertainment.
If the bridegroom is a person of the
lower orders, he is conducted
back in procession, preceded by
three or four musicians
with drums and hautboys; his friends
and other attendants
carrying each a nosegay, as they
sometimes do in the zeffeh
of the preceding night; and if
their return is after sunset,
they are accompanied by men
bearing mesh'als, lamps, &c.;
and the friends of the
bridegroom carry lighted wax candles,
besides the
nosegays.
3 Subsequent festivities occasioned by
marriage will be described in a later chapter.
1 A khäwal is also called “gháïsh;” plural,
“gheeyásh.”
2 This performance is called the bride's
“ṣLabáheeyeh.”
3 Among the peasants of Upper Egypt, the
relations and acquaintances of
the bridegroom and bride meet
together on the day after the marriage; and
while a number of
the men clap their hands, as an accompaniment to a
tambourine,
or two, and any other instruments that can be procured, the
bride dances before them for a short time. She has a head-veil reaching to
her heels, and a printed cotton handkerchief completely
covering her face, and
wears, externally, the most remarkable
of her bridal garments (mentioned by
Burckhardt in the place
before referred to), which, in some parts of Egypt, is
hung
over the door of a peasant's house after marriage. Other women,
similarly veiled, and dressed in their best, or borrowed, clothes, continue
the
dance about two hours, or more.
The husband, if he can conveniently so arrange, generally
prefers that his mother should reside with him and his
wife;
that she may protect his wife's honour, and
consequently his
own also. It is said that the mother-in-law
is for this
reason called “ḥamah.”
1 The women of
Egypt are said to
be generally prone to criminal intrigues;
and I fear that, in
this respect, they are not unjustly
accused. Sometimes a
husband keeps his wife in the house of
her mother, and pays
the daily expenses of both. This ought to
make the mother
very careful with regard to expenditure, and
strict as to her
daughter's conduct, lest the latter should be
divorced; but
it is said that, in this case, she often acts as
her daughter's
procuress, and teaches her innumerable tricks,
by which to
gain the upper hand over her husband, and to drain
his
purse. The influence of the wife's mother is also
scarcely
less feared when she only enjoys occasional
opportunities
of seeing her daughter: hence it is held
more prudent for a
man to marry a female who has neither
mother nor any near
relations of her own sex; and some wives
are even prohibited
receiving any female friends but those who
are relations
of the husband: they are very few, however, upon
whom
such severe restrictions are imposed.
For a person who has become familiar with male Muslim
society in
Cairo, without marrying, it
is not so difficult as
might be imagined by a stranger to
obtain, directly and
indirectly, correct and ample information
respecting the
condition and habits of the women. Many
husbands of
the middle classes, and some of the higher orders,
freely
talk of the affairs of the ḥareem with one who
professes to
agree with them in their general moral
sentiments, if they
have not to converse through the medium of
an interpreter.
Though the women have a particular portion of the house
allotted to them, the
wives, in general, are not to be regarded
1 Thus commonly pronounced, for “ḥamáh,” a
word derived from the verb
“ḥamà,” “he protected, or
guarded.”
as
prisoners; for they are usually at liberty to go out and
pay
visits, as well as to receive female visiters, almost as
often
as they please. The slaves, indeed, being subservient
to the
wives, as well as to their master, or, if subject to the
master only, being under an authority almost unlimited,
have
not that liberty. One of the chief objects of the master
in
appropriating a distinct suite of apartments to his women
is
to prevent their being seen by the male domestics and
other
men without being covered in the manner prescribed
by their
religion. The following words of the Kur-án shew
the necessity
under which a Muslimeh is placed of concealing
whatever is
attractive in her person or attire from all men.
except
certain relations and some other persons. “And
speak unto the
believing women, that they restrain their
eyes, and preserve
their modesty, and discover not their
ornaments, except what
[necessarily] appeareth thereof; and
let them throw their
veils over their bosoms, and not shew
their ornaments, unless
to their husbands, or their fathers,
or their husbands'
fathers, or their sons, or their husbands’
sons, or their
brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their
sisters' sons, or
their women, or those [captives] which their
right hands shall
possess, or unto such men as attend [them]
and have no need
[of women], or unto children:” “and let
them not make a noise
with their feet, that their ornaments
which they hide may
[thereby] be discovered.”
1 The last
passage
alludes to the practice of knocking together the anklets
which
the Arab women in the time of the Prophet used to
wear: and
which are still worn by many women in Egypt.
2I must here transcribe two notes of eminent commentators
on the Kur-án, in illustration of the above extract, and
inserted in Sale's translation. This I do, because they
would convey an erroneous idea of modern customs with
regard to the admission, or non-admission, of certain
persons
into the hareem. The first is on the above words
“or their
women,” which it thus explains:—“That is, such as
are of
the
Mohammadan religion: it being reckoned by some
unlawful, or,
at least, indecent, for a woman who is a true
believer to
uncover herself before one who is an infidel;
because the
latter will hardly refrain from describing her to
the men: but
others suppose all women in general are here
excepted; for, in
this particular, doctors differ.” In Egypt,
and, I believe, in
every other Muslim country, it is not now
considered improper
for any woman, whether independent,
or a servant, or a slave,
a Christian, a Jewess, a Muslimeh,
or a pagan, to enter a
Muslim's hareem.—The second of the
notes above alluded to is
on the words “or those captives;”
and is as follows:—” Slaves
of either sex are included in this
exception, and, as some
think, domestic servants who are
not slaves, as those of a
different nation. It is related that
Mohammad once made a
present of a man-slave to his
daughter Fátimeh; and when he
brought him to her, she
had on a garment which was so scanty,
that she was obliged
to leave either her head or her feet
uncovered: and that the
Prophet, seeing her in great confusion
on that account, told
her, she need be under no concern, for
that there was none
present but her father and her slave.”
Among the Arabs
of the Desert, this may still be the case; but
in Egypt
I have never heard of an instance of an adult male
slave
being allowed to see the hareem of a respectable
man,
whether he belonged to that hareem or not; and am
assured
that it is never permitted. Perhaps the reason why
the
man slave of a woman is allowed this privilege by
the
Kur-án is, because she cannot become his lawful wife
as
long as he continues her slave: but this is a poor
reason for
granting him access to the hareem, in such a state
of society.
It is remarkable that, in the verse of the Kur-án
above
quoted, uncles are not mentioned as privileged to
see their
nieces unveiled: some think that they are not
admissible.
and for this reason, lest they should describe
the persons
of their nieces to their sons; for it is regarded
as highly
improper for a man to describe the features or
person of a
female
(as to say, that she has large eyes, a straight nose,
small
mouth, &c.,) to one of his own sex by whom it is unlawful
for her to be seen, though it is not considered
indecorous to describe her in general terms, as, for
instance,
to say, “She is a sweet girl, and set off with
kohl and
hennà.”
It may be mentioned here, as a general rule, that a man is
allowed to see unveiled only his own wives and female
slaves, and those females whom he is prohibited, by law,
from marrying, on account of their being within certain
degrees of consanguinity or family connection, or having
given him suck, or being nearly related to his
foster-mother.
1 The high antiquity of the veil has been alluded to in
the
first chapter of this work. It has also been
mentioned, that
it is considered more necessary, in Egypt, for
a woman to
cover the upper and back part of her head than her
face;
and more requisite for her to conceal her face than
most
other parts of her person: for instance, a female who
cannot
be persuaded to unveil her face in the presence of
men, will
think it but little shame to display the whole of
her bosom,
or the greater part of her leg. There are, it is
true, many
women among the lower classes in this country who
constantly
appear in public with unveiled face; but they
are
almost constrained to do so by the want of a burko'
(or face-veil),
and the difficulty of adjusting the tarhah (or
head-veil),
of which scarcely any woman is destitute, so
as to supply
the place of the former; particularly when both
their hands
are occupied in holding some burden which they are
carrying
upon the head. When a respectable woman is, by
any
chance, seen with her head or face uncovered, by a
man
who is not entitled to enjoy that privilege, she
quickly
assumes or adjusts her tarhah, and often exclaims,
“O my
fright!”
2 or “O my sorrow!”
3 Motives of
coquetry, however,
1 See the chapter on Religion and Laws.
Eunuchs are allowed to see the
face of any woman; and so
are young boys.
3 “Yá nedám'tee,” for “nedámetee.”
frequently induce an Egyptian woman to expose her face
before
a man when she thinks that she may appear to do so
unintentionally, or that she may be supposed not to see him.
A
man may also occasionally enjoy opportunities of seeing
the
face of an Egyptian lady when she really thinks herself
unobserved; sometimes at an open lattice, and sometimes on
a
house-top. Many small houses in
Cairo
have no apartment
on the ground-floor for the reception of
male visiters,
who therefore ascend to an upper room: but as
they go
upstairs, they exclaim, several times, “Destoor!”
(“Permission!”),
or “Yá Sátir!” (” O Protector!” that is,
“O protecting
God!”), or use some similar ejaculation, in
order to
warn any woman who may happen to be in the way, to
retire, or to veil herself; which she does by drawing a
part
of her tarhah before her face, so as to leave, at
most, only
one eye visible. To such an absurd pitch do the
Muslims
carry their feeling of the sacredness of women,
that entrance
into the
tombs of some females is denied to men; as, for
instance, the tombs of the Prophet's wives and other females
of his family, in the burial-ground of El-Medeeneh; into
which
women are freely admitted: and a man and woman
they never bury
in the same vault, unless a wall separate
the bodies. Yet
there are, among the Egyptians, a few
persons who are much
less particular in this respect: such
is one of my Muslim
friends here, who generally allows me
to see his mother when I
call upon him. She is a widow, of
about fifty years of age;
but, being very fat, and not looking
so old, she calls herself
forty. She usually comes to the
door of the apartment of the
hareem in which I am received
(there being no lower apartment
in the house for male
visiters), and sits there upon the
floor, but will never enter
the room. Occasionally, and as if
by accident, she shews
me the whole of her face, with plenty
of kohl round her
eyes: and does not attempt to conceal her
diamonds,
emeralds, and other ornaments: but rather the
reverse.
The wife, however, I am never permitted to see;
though
once I
was allowed to talk to her, in the presence of her
husband,
round the corner of a passage at the top of the
stairs.
I believe that, in Egypt, the women are generally under
less restraint than in any other country of the Turkish
Empire; so that it is not uncommon to see females of the
lower orders flirting and jesting with men in public, and
men laying their hands upon them very freely. Still it
might be imagined that the women of the higher and middle
classes feel themselves severely oppressed, and are much
discontented
with the state of seclusion to which they are
subjected:
but this is not commonly the case; on the
contrary,
an Egyptian wife who is attached to her husband
is apt to
think, if he allow her unusual liberty, that he
neglects her,
and does not sufficiently love her; and to envy
those wives
who are kept and watched with greater strictness.
It is not very common for an Egyptian to have more than
one wife, or a concubine-slave; though the law allows him
four wives (as I have before stated), and,
according to common
opinion, as many concubine-slaves as he
may choose. But,
though a man restrict himself to a single
wife, he may
change as often as he desires; and there are
certainly not
many persons in
Cairo who have not divorced one wife,
if they have
been long married. The husband may, whenever
he pleases, say
to his wife, “Thou art divorced:”
1 if it
be his wish,
whether reasonable or not, she must return to
her parents or
friends. This liability to an unmerited
divorcement is the
source of more uneasiness to many wives
than all the other
troubles to which they are exposed: as
they may thereby be
reduced to a state of great destitution:
but to others, who
hope to better their condition, it is, of
course, exactly the
contrary. I have mentioned, in a former
chapter,
2
that a man may divorce his wife twice, and each
time receive
her again without any ceremony; but that he
cannot legally
take her again after a third divorce until she
2 On the Religion and Laws.
has
been married and divorced by another man. The consequence
of a
triple divorce conveyed in one sentence
1 are
the
same, unless the man and his wife agree to infringe the
law,
or the former deny his having pronounced the sentence;
in
which latter case, the woman may have much difficulty
to
enforce his compliance with the law, if she be inclined to
do
so.
In illustration of this subject, I may mention a case in
which an acquaintance of mine was concerned as a witness
of the sentence of divorce. He was sitting in a
coffee-shop
with two other men, one of whom had just been
irritated by
something that his wife had said or done. After a
short
conversation upon this affair, the angry husband
sent for his
wife, and, as soon as she came, said to her,
“Thou art trebly
divorced:” then, addressing his two
companions, he added,
“You, my brothers, are witnesses.”
Shortly after, however,
he repented of this act, and wished to
take back his divorced
wife; but she refused to return to him,
and appealed to the
“Shara Allah” (or Law of God). The case
was tried at the
Mahkemeh. The woman, who was the plaintiff,
stated that
the defendant was her husband; that he had
pronounced
against her the sentence of a triple divorce;
and that he
now wished her to return to him, and live with him
as his
wife, contrary to the law, and consequently in a state
of sin.
The defendant denied that he had divorced her. “Have
you
witnesses?” said the judge to the plaintiff. She
answered,
“I have here two witnesses.” These were the men
who
were present in the coffee-shop when the sentence of
divorce
was pronounced. They were desired to give their
evidence;
and they stated that the defendant divorced his
wife, by a
triple sentence, in their presence. The defendant
averred
that she whom he divorced in the coffee-shop was
another
wife of his. The plaintiff declared that he had no
other
wife: but the judge observed to her that it was
impossible
she could know that; and asked the witnesses
what was the
1 “Entee tálikah bi-t-teláteh.”
name of
the woman whom the defendant divorced in
their presence? They
answered that they were ignorant of
her name. They were then
asked if they could swear that
the plaintiff was the woman who
was divorced before them?
Their reply was, that they could not
swear to a woman
whom they had never seen unveiled. In these
circumstances,
the judge thought it right to dismiss the
case; and the
woman was obliged to return to her husband. She
might
have demanded that he should produce the woman whom
he
professed to have divorced in the coffee-shop; but he
would
easily have found a woman to play the part he
required; as
it would not have been necessary for her to shew
a marriage-certificate;
marriages being almost always
performed in
Egypt without any written contract, and sometimes
even
without witnesses.
It not unfrequently happens that, when a man who has
divorced his wife a third time wishes to take her again (she
herself consenting to their reunion, and there being no
witnesses to the sentence of divorce), he does so without
conforming to the offensive law before mentioned. It is also
a
common custom for a man in similar circumstances to
employ a
person to marry the divorced woman on the
condition of his
resigning her, the day after their union, to
him, her former
husband, whose wife she again becomes, by
a second contract;
though this is plainly contrary to the
spirit of the law. The
wife, however, can withhold her
consent, unless she is not of
age: in which case, her father,
or other lawful guardian, may
marry her to whom he
pleases. A poor man (generally a very
ugly person, and
often one who is blind.) is usually chosen to
perform this
office. He is termed a “mustahall,” or
“mustahill,” or a
“mohallil.” It is often the case that the
man thus employed
is so pleased with the beauty of the woman
to whom he is
introduced on these terms, or with her riches,
that he refuses
to give her up; and the law cannot compel him
to divorce
her unless he act unjustly towards her as her
husband, which
of
course he takes good care not to do. But a person may
employ a
mustahall without running this risk. It is the
custom of many
wealthy Turks, and of some of the people of
Egypt, to make use
of a slave, generally a black, their own
property, to
officiate in this character. Sometimes, a slave is
purchased
for this purpose; or if the person who requires
him for such a
service be acquainted with a slave-dealer, he
asks from the
latter a present of a slave; signifying that he
will give him
back again. The uglier the slave, the better,
The Turks
generally choose one not arrived at puberty;
which the tenets
of their sect allow. As soon as the woman
has accomplished her
“'eddeh” (or the period during which
she is obliged to wait
before she can marry again), the
husband who divorced her,
having previously obtained her
consent to what he is about to
do, introduces the slave to
her, and asks her if she will be
married to him. She replies
that she will. She is accordingly
wedded to the slave, in
the presence of witnesses; and a dowry
is given to her, to
make the marriage perfectly legal. The
slave consummates
the marriage; and thus becomes the woman's
legitimate
husband. Immediately after, or on the following
morning,
her former husband presents this slave to her as
her own
property, and the moment that she accepts him, her
marriage
with him becomes dissolved; for it is unlawful
for a woman
to be the wife of her own slave; though she may
emancipate
a slave, and
then marry him. As soon as her marriage is
dissolved
by her accepting the gift of the slave, she may
give back this
slave to her husband: but it seldom happens
that the latter
will allow a person who has been a mustahall
for him to remain
in his house. The wife, after this proceeding,
may, as soon as
she has again accomplished her
'eddeh, become reunited to her
former husband, after having
been separated from him, by the
necessity of her fulfilling
two 'eddehs, about half a year, or
perhaps more.
That the facility of divorce has depraving effects upon
both sexes may be easily imagined. There are many men
in this
country who, in the course of ten years, have married
as many
as twenty, thirty, or more wives; and women not
far advanced
in age who have been wives to a dozen or more
men
successively. I have heard of men who have been in
the habit
of marrying a new wife almost every month. A
person may do
this although possessed of very little property:
he may choose
from among the females of the lower orders
in the streets of
Cairo, a handsome young widow or
divorced
woman who will consent to become his wife for a
dowry of
about ten shillings; and when he divorces her, he
need not
give her more than double that sum to maintain her
during
her ensuing 'eddeh. It is but just, however, to
add, that
such conduct is generally regarded as very
disgraceful; and
that few parents in the middle or higher
classes will give a
daughter in marriage to a man who has
divorced many
wives.
Polygamy, which is also attended with very injurious
effects upon the morals of the husband and the wives, and
only to be defended because it serves to prevent a greater
immorality than it occasions, is more rare among the higher
and middle classes than it is among the lower orders; and it
is not very common among the latter. A poor man may
indulge
himself with two or more wives, each of whom may
be able, by
some art or occupation, nearly to provide her
own subsistence;
but most persons of the middle and higher
orders are deterred
from doing so by the consideration of the
expense and
discomfort which they would incur. A man
having a wife who has
the misfortune to be barren, and
being too much attached to
her to divorce her, is sometimes
induced to take a second
wife, merely in the hope of obtaining
offspring; and from the
same motive, he may take a
third, and a fourth; but fickle
passion is the most evident
and common motive both to polygamy
and repeated divorces.
They are comparatively very few who
gratify this passion
by the former practice. I believe that
not more than one
husband among twenty has two wives.
When there are two or more wives belonging to one man,
the first (that is, the one first married) generally enjoys
the
highest rank; and is called “the great lady.”
1
Hence it
often happens that, when a man who has already one
wife
wishes to marry another girl or woman, the father of
the
latter, or the female herself who is sought in
marriage, will
not consent to the union unless the first wife
be previously
divorced. The women, of course, do not approve
of a man's
marrying more than one wife. Most men of wealth, or
of
moderate circumstances, and even many men of the
lower
orders, if they have two or more wives, have, for
each, a
separate house. The wife has, or can oblige her
husband to
give her, a particular description, of lodging,
2
which is either
a separate house, or a suite of apartments
(consisting of a
room in which to sleep and pass the day, a
kitchen, and a
latrina,) that are, or may be made, separate
and shut out
from any other apartments in the same house. A
fellow-wife
is called “durrah.”
3 The quarrels of
durrahs are often
talked of: for it may be naturally inferred,
that, when two
wives share the affection and attentions of the
same man,
they are not always on terms of amity with each
other; and
the same is generally the case with a wife and a
concubine-slave
living in the same house, and in similar
circumstances.
4 If the chief lady be barren, and an inferior (either
wife or
slave) bear a child to her husband or master, it
commonly
results that the latter woman becomes a favourite
of the
man, and that the chief wife or mistress is “despised
in her
eyes,” as Abraham's wife was in the eyes of Hagar on
the
same account.
5 It therefore not very
unfrequently happens
2 Called “meskin shar'ee.”
3 Commonly thus pronounced (or rather
“durrah,” with a soft d.) for
“darrah;” originally, perhaps, by way of a pun; as
“durrah” is a common
name for a parrot.
4 The law enjoins a husband who has two or
more wives, to be strictly
impartial to them in every
respect; but compliance with its dictates in this
matter
is rare.
that
the first wife loses her rank and privileges; another
becomes
the chief lady, and, being the favourite of her
husband, is
treated by her rival or rivals, and by all the
members and
visiters of the ḥareem, with the same degree of
outward
respect which the first wife previously enjoyed: but
sometimes
the poisoned cup is employed to remove her. A
preference given
to a second wife is often the cause of the
first's being
registered as “nàshizeh,”
1 either on her husband's
or her own application at the Maḥkemeh. Yet many
instances
are known of neglected wives behaving with
exemplary and
unfeigned submission to the husband, in such
cases, and with
amiable good nature towards the favourite.
2Some wives have female slaves who are their own property,
generally purchased for them, or presented to them, before
marriage. These cannot be the husband's concubines without
their mistress's permission, which is sometimes granted
(as it was in the case of Hagar, Sarah's bondwoman): but
very seldom. Often, the wife will not even allow her
female
slave or slaves to appear unveiled in the presence
of her
husband. Should such a slave, without the permission
of
her mistress, become the concubine of the husband, and
bear
him a child, the child is a slave, unless, prior to
its birth,
the mother be sold, or presented, to the father.
The white female slaves are mostly in the possession of
wealthy Turks. The concubine-slaves
3 in the houses
of
Egyptians of the higher and middle classes are,
generally,
what are termed “Ḥabasheeyehs,” that is,
Abyssinians, of a
deep brown or bronze complexion. In their
features, as
well as their complexions, they appear to be an
intermediate
1 This has been explained in the 3rd
chapter, page 126.
2 In general, the most beautiful of a man's
wives or slaves is, of course, for
a time, his greatest
favourite; but in many (if not most) cases, the lasting
favourite is not the most handsome. the love of a Muslim, therefore, is
not
always merely sensual; nor does the relative
condition and comfort of his wife,
or of each of his
wives, invariably depend so much on his caprice, or her own
personal charms, as on her general conduct and disposition.
3 A Muslim cannot take as a concubine a
slave who is an idolatress.
race
between the negroes and white people: but the difference
between them and either of the above-mentioned races
is
considerable. They themselves, however, think that they
differ
so little from the white people, that they cannot be
persuaded
to act as servants, with due obedience, to their
master's
wives; and the black (or negro) slave-girl feels
exactly in
the same manner towards the Abyssinian, but is
perfectly
willing to serve the white ladies. I should here
mention, that
the slaves who are termed “Abyssinians” are,
with few
exceptions, not from the country properly called
Abyssinia,
but from the neighbouring territories of the
Gallas. Most of
them are handsome. The average price of
one of these girls is
from ten to fifteen pounds sterling,
if moderately handsome;
but this is only about half the sum
that used to be given for
one a few years ago. They are
much esteemed by the
voluptuaries of Egypt; but are of
delicate constitution: many
of them die, in this country,
of consumption. The price of a
white slave-girl is usually
from treble to tenfold that of an
Abyssinian; and the price
of a black girl, about half or
two-thirds, or considerably
more if well instructed in the art
of cookery. The black
slaves are generally employed as
menials.
1Almost all of the slaves become converts to the faith of
El-Islàm; but, in general, they are little instructed in
the
rites of their new religion; and still less in its
doctrines.
Most of the white female slaves who were in
Egypt during
my first visit to this country were Greeks; vast
numbers of
that unfortunate people having been made prisoners
by the
Turkish and Egyptian army under Ibráheem Báshà, and
many of them, males and females, including even infants
scarcely able to walk, sent to Egypt to be sold. Latterly,
from the impoverishment of the higher classes in this
country, the demand for white slaves has been small. A
few, some of whom undergo a kind of preparatory education
1 The white female slave is called “Gáriyeh
Beydà;” the Abyssinian,
“Gáriyeh Ḥabasheeyeh;” and the
black, “Gáriyeh Sódà.”
(being
instructed in music or other accomplishments, at
Constantinople). are brought from Cireassia and Georgia.
The
white slaves, being often the only female companions,
and
sometimes the wives, of the Turkish grandees, and being
generally preferred by them before the free ladies of Egypt,
hold a higher rank than the latter in common opinion.
They are
richly dressed, presented with valuable ornaments,
indulged,
frequently, with almost every luxury that can be
procured,
and, when it is not their lot to wait upon others,
may, in
some eases, be happy: as lately has been proved,
since the
termination of the war in Greece, by many females
of that
country, captives in Egyptian hareems, refusing their
offered
liberty, which all of these cannot be supposed to
have done
from ignorance of the state of their parents and
other
relations, or the fear of exposing themselves to
poverty;
though not a few of them may probably have been
induced to
remain in bondage by a sense of the religions
and moral
degradation to which they had been forcibly
subjected, and by
their having borne children to their
masters. But, if some of
them are undoubtedly happy, at
least for a time, their number
is comparatively small: most
are fated to wait upon more
favoured fellow-prisoners, or
upon Turkish ladies, or to
receive the unwelcome caresses
of a wealthy dotard, or of a
man who has impaired his body
and mind by excesses of every
kind; and, when their master
or mistress becomes tired of
them, or dies, are sold again
(if they have not borne
children), or emancipated, and
married to some person in
humble life, who can afford them
but few of the comforts to
which they have been accustomed.
The female slaves in the
houses of persons of the middle
classes in Egypt are generally
more comfortably circumstanced
than those in the hareems of
the wealthy: if concubines,
they are, in most cases, without
rivals to disturb their
peace; and if menials. their service
is light, and they are
under less restraint. Often, indeed, if
mutual attachment
subsist between her and her master, the
situation of a
concubine-slave is more fortunate than that of a wife: for
the
latter may be cast off by her husband in a moment of
anger, by
an irrevocable sentence of divorce, and reduced to
a state of
poverty; whereas a man very seldom dismisses a
female slave
without providing for her in such a manner
that, if she have
not been used to luxuries, she suffers but
little, if at all,
by the change: this he generally does by
emancipating her,
giving her a dowry, and marrying her to
some person of honest
reputation; or by presenting her to a
friend. I have already
mentioned, that a master cannot sell
nor give away a slave who
has borne him a child, if he
acknowledge it to be his own; and
that she is entitled to
her freedom on his death. It often
happens that such a
slave, immediately after the birth of her
child, is emancipated,
and becomes her master's wife: when she
has become
free, she can no longer lawfully supply the place
of a wife
unless he marry her. Many persons consider it
disgraceful
even to sell a female slave who has been long
in their
service. Most of the Abyssinian and black slave-girls
are
abominably corrupted by the Gellábs, or slave-traders,
of
Upper Egypt and
Nubia, by whom they are brought from
their native countries: there are very few of the age of
eight
or nine years who have not suffered brutal violence;
and so
severely do these children, particularly the Abyssinians,
and
boys as well as girls, feel the treatment which
they endure
from the Gellábs, that many instances occur of
their drowning
themselves during the voyage down the Nile.
1 The female slaves of every
class are somewhat dearer than
the males of the same age.
Those who have not had the
small-pox are usually sold for less
than the others. Three
days' trial is generally allowed to the
purchaser; during
which time, the girl remains in his, or some
friend's, ḥareem;
and the women make their report to him.
Snoring, grinding
the teeth, or talking during sleep, are
commonly considered
1 The Gellábs generally convey their slaves
partly over the desert and
partly down the river.
sufficient reasons for returning her to the dealer.—The
dresses of the female slaves are similar to those of the
Egyptian women.
The female servants, who are Egyptian girls or women,
are those to whom the lowest occupations are allotted. They
generally veil their faces in the presence of their masters,
with the head-veil; drawing a part of this before the face,
so
that they leave only one eye and one hand at liberty to
see
and perform what they have to do. When a male visiter
is
received by the master of a house in an apartment of the
ḥareem (the females of the family having been sent into
another apartment on the occasion), he is usually, or often,
waited upon by a female servant, who is always veiled.
Such are the relative conditions of the various classes in
the ḥareem. A short account of their usual habits and
employments
must be added.
The wives, as well as the female slaves, are not only often
debarred from the privilege of eating with the master of
the
family, but also required to wait upon him when he
dines or
sups, or even takes his pipe and coffee, in the
ḥareem. They
frequently serve him as menials; fill and light
his pipe,
make coffee for him, and prepare his food, or, at
least, certain
dainty dishes; and, if I might judge from my
own experience,
I should say that most of them are excellent
cooks;
for, when a dish has been recommended to me because
made
by the wife of my host, I have generally found it
especially
good. The wives of men of the higher and middle
classes
make a great study of pleasing and fascinating
their husbands
by unremitted attentions, and by various arts.
Their
coquetry is exhibited, even in their ordinary gait,
when they
go abroad, by a peculiar twisting of the body.
1
In the
presence of the husband, they are usually under more
or
less restraint; and hence they are better pleased when
his
visits, during the day, are not very frequent or long
in his
absence, they often indulge in noisy merriment.
1 The motion here described they term “ghung.”
The diet of the women is similar to that of the men, but
more frugal; and their manner of eating is the same. Many
of them are allowed to enjoy the luxury of smoking; for
this
habit is not considered unbecoming in a female,
however
high her rank; the odour of the finer kinds of the
tobacco
used in Egypt being very delicate. Their pipes are
generally
more slender than those of the men, and more
ornamented;
and the mouth-piece is sometimes partly
composed of coral,
in the place of amber. They generally make
use of perfumes,
such as musk, civet, &c.; and often,
also, of cosmetics, and
particularly of several preparations
which they eat or drink
with the view of acquiring what they
esteem a proper degree
of plumpness:
1 one of these
preparations is extremely disgusting;
being chiefly composed
of mashed beetles. Many
of them also have a habit of chewing
frankincense,
2 and
labdanum,
3 which impart a
perfume to the breath. The
habit of frequent ablutions renders
them cleanly in person.
They spend but little time in the
operations of the toilet;
and, after having dressed themselves
in the morning, seldom
change their clothes during the day.
Their hair is generally
braided in the bath; and not undone
afterwards for several
days.
The care of their children is the primary occupation of
the ladies of Egypt: they are also charged with the
superintendence
of domestic affairs; but, in most
families, the
husband alone attends to the household expenses.
Their
leisure hours are mostly spent in working with the
needle;
particularly in embroidering handkerchiefs,
head-veils, &c.,
upon a frame called “menseg,” with
coloured silks and gold.
Many women, even in the houses of the
wealthy, replenish
their private purses by ornamenting
handkerchiefs and other
1 The Egyptians (unlike the Maghrabees, and
some other people of Africa
and of the East,) do not
generally admire very fat women. In his love-songs,
the
Egyptian commonly describes the object of his affections as of slender
figure and small waist.
things
in this manner, and employing a “delláleh” (or
female broker)
to take them to the market, or to other
ḥareems, for sale. The
visit of one ḥareem to another often
occupies nearly a whole
day. Eating, smoking, drinking
coffee and sherbet, gossiping,
and displaying their finery,
are sufficient amusements to the
company. On such occasions,
the master of the house is never
allowed to enter the ḥareem,
unless on some particular and
unavoidable business: and in
The Menseg.—This is of
walnut-wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl at and tortoise-shell. The more common sort is of beech.
this case, he must give notice of his approach, and let the
visiters have sufficient time to veil themselves, or to
retire
to an adjoining room. Being thus under no fear of
his
sudden intrusion, and being naturally of a lively and
an
unreserved disposition, they indulge in easy gaiety,
and not
unfrequently in youthful frolic. When their usual
subjects
of conversation are exhausted, sometimes one of
the party
entertains the rest with the recital of some
wonderful or
facetious tale. The Egyptian ladies are very
seldom instructed
either
in music or dancing; but they take great
delight in the
performances of professional musicians and
public dancers; and
often amuse themselves and their guests,
in the absence of
better performers and better instruments,
by beating the
“darábukkeh” (which is a kind of drum) and
the “ṭár” (or
tambourine
1); though seldom in houses so
situate that many passengers might hear the sounds of
festivity. On the occasion of any great rejoicing among
the
women (such as takes place on account of the birth of a
son,
or the celebration of a circumcision, or a wedding, &c.),
“'ál'mehs” (professional female singers) are often
introduced;
but not for the mere amusement of the women,
on common
occasions, in any respectable family; for this would
be
considered indecorous. The “gházeeyehs” (or public
dancing-girls),
who exhibit in the streets with unveiled
faces, are
very seldom admitted into a ḥareem; but on such
occasions
as those above mentioned, they often perform in
front of the
house, or in the court; though, by many persons,
even this
is not deemed strictly proper. The “álátees” (or
male
musicians) are never hired exclusively for the
amusement
of the women; but chiefly for that of the men:
they always
perform in the assembly of the latter: their
concert, however,
is distinctly heard by the inmates of the
ḥareem.
2When the women of the higher or middle classes go out to
pay a visit, or for any other purpose, they generally ride
upon asses. They sit astride, upon a very high and broad
saddle, which is covered with a small carpet; and each is
attended by a man on one or on each side. Generally, all
the women of a ḥareem ride out together; one behind
another. Mounted as above described, they present a very
singular appearance. Being raised so high above the back
of the “ḥomár
3' álee” (or the “high ass”—for so the
animal
1 Descriptions and engravings of these
instruments will be given in another
chapter.
2 The performances of the álátees,
'ál'mehs, and gházeeyehs, will be described
in a later
chapter.
3 Thus commonly pronounced, for “ḥemár.”
Ladies Riding.
which
they ride, furnished with the high saddle, is commonly
called
1), they seem very insecurely seated; but I believe
this
is not really the case: the ass is well girthed, and
surefooted;
and proceeds with a slow, ambling pace, and
very
easy motion. The ladies of the highest rank, as well
as those
of the middle classes, ride asses thus equipped: they
are very
seldom seen upon mules or horses. The asses are
generally
hired. When a lady cannot procure a ḥomár 'álee,
she rides
one of the asses equipped for the use of the men;
but has a
“seggádeh” (or prayer-carpet) placed over its
saddle; and
the inferior members of the ḥareem, and “females
of the
middle orders, often do the same. Ladies never walk
abroad,
unless they have to go but a very short distance.
They
have a slow and shuffling gait, owing to the
difficulty of
retaining the slippers upon their feet; and, in
walking, they
generally hold the front edges of the ḥabarah in
the manner
represented in the engraving in page 56. Whether
walking
or riding, they are regarded with much respect in
public:
no well-bred man stares at them; but rather
directs his eyes
another way. They are never seen abroad at
night, if not
compelled to go out or return at that time by
some pressing
and extraordinary necessity: it is their usual
rule to return
from paying a visit before sunset. The ladies
of the higher
orders never go to a shop, but send for whatever
they want;
and there are numerous dellálehs who have access to
the
ḥareems, and bring all kinds of ornaments, articles of
female
apparel, &c., for sale. Nor do these
ladies, in general, visit
the public bath, unless invited to
accompany thither some of
their friends: for most of them have
baths in their own
houses.
21 It is also called “ḥomár mughattee” (covered
ass).
2 Since the third edition of this work issued
from the press, my sister
(Mrs. Poole) has resided, with her
two sons and my wife and myself, more
than seven years in
Cairo, and has published, in a series of letters (entitled
“The Englishwoman in Egypt”), an account of female society in that city,
chiefly from observations made in the ḥareems of Turks, which
has been too
well received to need my recommendation.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER IX.
LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE.
T
HE metropolis of Egypt
maintains the comparative reputation
by which it has been
distinguished for many centuries,
of being the best school of
Arabic literature, and of Muslim
theology and jurisprudence.
Learning, indeed, has much
declined among the Arabs
universally; but least in
Cairo;
consequently, the fame of the professors of this city
still
remains unrivalled; and its great collegiate mosque,
the
Azhar, continues to attract innumerable students from
every
quarter of the Muslim world.
The Arabic spoken by the middle and higher classes in
Cairo is generally inferior, in point of
grammatical correctness
and pronunciation, to the dialects of
the Bedawees of
Arabia, and of the inhabitants of the towns in
their immediate
vicinity; but much to be preferred to those of
Syria;
and still
more, to those of the Western Arabs. The most
remarkable
peculiarities in the pronunciation of the people
of Egypt are
the following: — The fifth letter of the alphabet
is
pronounced by the natives of
Cairo, and
throughout the
greater part of Egypt,
as g in give; while, in most parts of
Arabia, and in
Syria and other countries,
it receives the
sound of
j
in
joy; but it is worthy of remark that, in
a part
of southern Arabia, where, it is said, Arabic was first
spoken,
the former sound is given to this letter.
1
In those parts of
1 It seems probable that the Arabs of Egypt
have retained, in this case, a
pronunciation which was
common. if not almost universal, with their ancestors
in
Asia. — See De Sacy's Grammaire Arabe, 2nd ed. vol. i. pp. 17 and 18.
Egypt
where this pronunciation of the fifth letter prevails,
the
sound of “hemzeh” (which is produced by a sudden
emission of
the voice after a total suppression) is given to
the
twenty-first letter, except by the better instructed, who
give
to this letter its true sound, which I represent by “k.”
In
other parts of Egypt, the pronunciation of the fifth letter
is
the same as that of
j in
joy, or nearly so; and the twenty-first
letter is pronounced as
g in
joy. By all the Egyptians,
in common with most other modern peoples who speak the
Arabic
language, the third and fourth letters of the alphabet
are
generally pronounced alike, as our
t; and
the eighth and
ninth, as our
d: the fifteenth and seventeenth are also
generally
pronounced alike, as a very hard
d; but
sometimes
as a hard
z.
Of the peculiarities in the
structure of
the
Egyptian dialect of Arabic, the most remarkable are,
the
annexation of the letter “sheen” in negative phrases,
in
the same manner as the word “pas” is used in French;
as
“má yerdásh” for “má yerdá,” “he will not consent;”
“má
hoosh teiyib” (vulgarly, “mósh teiyib,”) for “má
huwa
teiyib,” “it is not good:” the placing the
demonstrative
pronoun
after the word to which it relates; as “el-beyt dé,”
“this house:” and a frequent unnecessary use of the
diminutive
form in adjectives; as “sugheiyir” for “sagheer,”
“small;”
“kureiyib” for “kareeb,” “near.”
There is not so much difference between the literary and
vulgar dialects of Arabic as some European Orientalists
have
supposed: the latter may be described as the ancient
dialect
simplified, principally by the omission of
final vowels, and by
otherwise neglecting to distinguish the
different cases of
nouns and some of the persons of verbs.
1
Nor is there so
1 The Arabs began to simplify their spoken
language in the first century of
the Flight, in
consequence of their spreading among foreigners, who could
not generally acquire the difficult language which their conquerors had
hitherto used. For a proof of this, see “Abulfedae
Annales Muslemici, Arab,
et Lat.” vol. i. pp. 432 and 434.
Many other proofs might be mentioned; the
fact being
notorious. The modern Arabic, by its resemblance to the Biblical
Hebrew, confirms the evidences of decay that the latter
in itself exhibits.
great a
difference between the dialects of Arabic spoken in
different
countries as some persons, who have not held
intercourse with
the inhabitants of such countries, have
imagined: they
resemble each other more than the dialects
of some of the
different counties in England. The Arabic
language abounds
with synonyms; and, of a number of
words which are synonymous,
one is in common use in one
country, and another elsewhere.
Thus, the Egyptian calls
milk “leben;” the Syrian calls it
“haleeb;” the word
“leben” is used in
Syria to denote a particular preparation
of
sour milk. Again, bread is called in
Egypt “'eysh;” and
in other Arab countries, “khubz;” and many
examples of a
similar kind might be adduced. — The
pronunciation of Egypt
has more softness than that of
Syria and most other countries
in which Arabic is spoken.
The literature of the Arabs is very comprehensive; but
the number of their books is more remarkable than the
variety. The relative number of the books which treat of
religion and jurisprudence may be stated to be about
one-fourth;
next in number are works on grammar,
rhetoric,
and various branches of philology; the third in
the scale of
proportion are those on history (chiefly that of
the Arab
nation), and on geography: the fourth, poetical
compositions.
Works on medicine, chymistry, the
mathematics, algebra,
and various other sciences, &c.,
are comparatively very few.
There are, in
Cairo, many
large libraries; most of which
are attached to mosques, and
consist, for the greater part, of
works on theology and
jurisprudence, and philology: but
these libraries are
deplorably neglected, and their contents
are rapidly
perishing, in a great measure from the dishonesty
and
carelessness of their keepers and of those who make use
of
them. Several rich merchants, and others, have also good
libraries. The booksellers of
Cairo are,
I am informed, only
eight in number;
1 and their shops
are but ill stocked.
Whenever a valuable book comes into the
possession of one
1 These are natives. These are also a few
Turkish book-sellers.
of
these persons, he goes round with it to his regular
customers;
and is almost sure of finding a purchaser. The
leaves of the
books are seldom sewed together; but they are
usually enclosed
in a cover bound with leather; and mostly
have, also, an outer
case
1 of pasteboard and leather. Five
sheets, or double
leaves, are commonly placed together, one
within another;
composing what is called a “karrás. The
leaves are thus
arranged, in small parcels, without being
sewed, in order that
one book may be of use to a number of
persons at the same
time; each taking a karrás. The books
are laid flat, one upon
another; and the name is written
Books and Apparatus for Writing.2
upon the front of the outer caso, or upon the edge of the
leaves. The paper is thick and glazed it is mostly
imported
from Venice, and glazed in Egypt. The ink is very
thick
and gummy. Reeds are used for pens; and they suit
the
Arabic character much better. The Arab, in writing,
places
the paper upon his knee, or upon the palm of his
left hand,
or upon what is called a “misnedeh,”
3
composed of a dozen
or more pieces of paper attached together
at the four corners,
2 The latter consist of the reed (“kalam”),
the “mikattah,” the penknife
(“mikshat”), tin “dawáyeh,”
the “mistarah,” the “misnedeh” (upon which
the five
articles before mentioned lie), and the scissors (“mikass”), which,
with their sheath, are placed upon the upper book.
3 Pronounced “misned'eh.”
and
resembling a thin book, which he rests on his knee.
His ink
and pens are contained in an inkhorn, called
“dawáyeh,”
mentioned in the first chapter of this work,
together with the
penknife, and an ivory instrument
(“mikattah”) upon which the
pen is laid to be nibbed.
He rules his paper by laying under
it a piece of pasteboard
with strings strained and glued
across it (called a
“mistarah”),
1 and slightly
pressing it over each string.
Scissors are included among the
apparatus of a writer: they
are used for cutting the paper; a
turn edge being considered
as unbecoming. In
Cairo there are many persons who
obtain their livelihood by copying manuscripts. The
expense of writing a karrás of twenty pages, quarto size,
with about twenty-five lines to a page, in an ordinary
hand,
is about three piasters (or a little more than
sevenpence of
our money); but more if in an elegant hand; and
about
double the sum if with the vowel points. &c.
In Egypt, and particularly in its metropolis, those youths
or men who purpose to devote themselves to religious
employments, or to any of the learned professions, mostly
pursue a course of study in the great mosque El-Azhar;
having previously learned nothing more than to read, and
perhaps to write and to recite the Ku-rán. The Azhar,
which is regarded as the principal university
2
of the East,
1 Pronounced “mistar'ah.”
2 The Azhar is not called a “university”
with strict propriety; but is
regarded as such by the
Muslims, as whatever they deem worthy of the name
of
science, or necessary to be known, is taught within its walls. Its name
has
been translated, by European travellers, “the
Mosque of Flowers;” as though
it had been called “Gámè'
el-Azhár,” instead of “El-Gámè el-Azhar,” which
is its
proper appellation, and signifies “the splendid Mosque.” It is the first
with respect to the period of its foundation, as well as
in size, of all the
mosques within the original limits of
the city.—The preceding portion of this
note (which was
inserted in the first edition of the present work) apparently
escaped the notice of Baron Hammmer-Purgstall; for he
remarked (in the
Vienna “Hahrbüher der Literatur,” lxxxi.
Bd., p. 71) that, instead of
“Azhar,” I should have
written, in this case, “Esher.” [or “Ezhar”]; the
former,
he says, signifying “flowers.” The name of the mosque in question
synonymous with “neiyir,” or “splendid,” &c.,) is
pronounced by almost all
the natives of Egypt, and the
Arabs in general, as I have written it, “Azhar,”
with the
accent on the first syllable; and the plural of “zahreh” (a flower),
“azhár:” but by the Turks the former word is pronounced
“ezher.”
is an
extensive building, surrounding a large, square court.
On one
side of this court, the side towards Mekkeh, is the
chief
place of prayer; a spacious portico: on each of the
other
three sides are smaller porticoes, divided into a number
of
apartments, called “riwáks,” each of which is destined
for the
use of natives of a particular country, or of a
particular
province of Egypt. This building is situate
within the
metropolis. It is not remarkable in point of
architecture, and
is so surrounded by houses that very little
of it is seen
externally. The students are called “mugáwireen.”
1 Each riwák has a library for
the use of its
members; and from the books which it contains,
and the
lectures of the professors, the students acquire their
learning.
The regular subjects of study are grammatical
inflexion and
syntax,
2 rhetoric,
3
versification,
4 logic,
5 theology,
6 the
exposition
of the Kur-án,
7 the Traditions of the
Prophet,
8 the
complete science of
jurisprudence, or rather of religious.
moral, civil, and
criminal law,
9 which is chiefly founded on
the
Kur-án and the Traditions; together with arithmetic,
10 as far as it
is useful in matters of law. Lectures are also
given on
algebra,
11 and on the calculations of the Mohammadan
calendar, the times of prayer, &c,
12 The
lecturer
seats himself on the ground, at the foot of a
column; and
his hearers, with him, seated also on the ground,
form a
ring. Different books are read by students of different
sects.
Most of the students, being natives of
Cairo, are of the
Sháfe'ee sect; and always the Sheykh, or head of the
mosque,
is of this sect. None of the students pay for the
1 In the singular, “mugáwir.”
3 “El-ma'ánee wa-l-bayán.”
11 “El-gebr wa-l-mukábaleh.”
instruction they receive; being mostly of the poorer classes..
Most of those who are strangers, having riwáks appropriated
to
them, receive a daily allowance of food, provided from
funds
chiefly arising from the rents of houses bequeathed
for their
maintenance. Those of
Cairo and its
neighbourhood
used to receive a similar allowance; but
this they no longer
enjoy, except during the month of Ramadán;
for Mohammad
'Alec took possession of all the cultivable land
which belonged
to the mosques, and thus the Azhar lost the
greater portion
of the property which it possessed: nothing
but the expenses
of necessary repairs, and the salaries of its
principal officers,
are provided for by the government. The
professors, also,
receive no salaries. Unless they inherit
property, or have
relations to maintain them, they have no
regular means of
subsistence but teaching in private, houses,
copying books,
&c.; but they sometimes receive
presents from the wealthy.
Any person who is competent to the
task may become a
professor by obtaining a licence from the
Sheykh of the
mosque. The students mostly obtain their
livelihood by the
same means as the professors; or by reciting
the Kur-án in
private houses, and at the tombs, and other
places. When
sufficiently advanced in their studies, some of
them become
kádees, muftees, imáms of mosques, or
schoolmasters, in
their native villages or towns, or in
Cairo: others enter into
trade; some remain all their lifetime studying in the Azhar,
and aspire to be ranked among the higher 'Ulamà. Since
the
confiscation of the lands which belonged to the Azhar,
the
number of that class of students to whom no endowed
riwák is
appropriated has very much decreased. The number
of students,
including all classes except the blind, is (as I
am informed
by one of the professors) about one thousand
five hundred.
1There is a chapel (called “Záwiyet el-'Omyán,” or the
Chapel of the Blind), adjacent to the eastern angle of the
1 Many persons say that their number
is not less that three thousand;
others, not more than one
thousand. It varies very much at different times.
Azhar,
and one of the dependencies of that mosque, where
at present
about three hundred poor blind men, most of
whom are students,
are maintained, from funds bequeathed
for that purpose. These
blind men often conduct themselves
in a most rebellious and
violent manner: they are notorious
for such conduct, and for
their fanaticism. A short time
ago, a European traveller
entering the Azhar, and his
presence there being buzzed about,
the blind men eagerly
inquired, “Where is the infidel?”
adding, “We will kill
him;” and groping about at the same time
to feel and lay
hold of him: they were the only persons who
seemed
desirous of shewing any violence to the intruder.
Before
the accession of Mohammad 'Alee Báshà, they often
behaved
in a very outrageous manner whenever they
considered
themselves oppressed, or scanted in their
allowance of food:
they would, on these occasions, take a few
guides, go about
with staves, seize the turbans of passengers
in the streets,
and plunder the shops. The most celebrated of
the present
professors in the Azhar, the sheykh
El-Kuweysinee,
1 who is
himself blind, being
appointed, a few years ago, Sheykh of
the Záwiyet el-'Omyán,
as soon as he entered upon his
office, caused every one of the
blind men there to be flogged;
but they rose against him,
bound him, and inflicted upon
him a flogging far more severe
than that which they had
themselves endured; and obliged him
to give up his office.
Learning was in a much more flourishing state in
Cairo before the entrance of the
French army than it has been in
later years. It suffered
severely from this invasion; not
through direct oppression,
but in consequence of the panic
which this event occasioned,
and the troubles by which it
was followed. Before that period,
a sheykh who had studied
in the Azhar, if he had only two
boys, sons of a moderately
rich felláh, to educate, lived in
luxury: his two pupils
served him, cleaned his house, prepared
his food, and,
though they partook of it with him, were his
menial
1 Since this was written he became
Sheykh of the Azhar. He is now dead.
attendants at every time but that of eating: they followed
him
whenever he went out; carried his shoes (and often
kissed them
when they took them off) on his entering a
mosque: and in
every case treated him with the honour
due to a prince. He was
then distinguished by an ample
dress, and the largé formal
turban called a “mukleh;” and
as he passed along the street,
whether on foot or mounted
on an ass or mule, passengers often
pressed towards him
to implore a short ejaculatory prayer on
their behalf; and
he who succeeded in obtaining this wish
believed himself
especially blessed: if he passed by a Frank
riding, the
latter was obliged to dismount: if he went to a
butcher,
to procure some meat (for he found it best to do
so, and
not to send another), the butcher refused to make
any
charge: but kissed his hand, and received as an
honour
and a blessing whatever he chose to give.—The
condition
of a man of this profession is now so fallen,
that it is with
difficulty he can obtain a scanty subsistence,
unless possessed
of extraordinary talent.
The Muslim 'Ulamá are certainly much fettered by their
religion in the pursuit of some of the paths of learning;
and superstition sometimes decides a point which has been
controverted for centuries. There is one singular means
of settling a contention on any point of faith, science,
or
fact, of which I must give an instance. The
following
anecdote was related to me by the Imám of the
late Muftee
(the sheykh El-Mahdee): I wrote it in Arabic, at
his
dictation, and shall here translate his words. The
sheykh
Mohammad El-Baháee (a learned man, whom the
vulgar
regard as a “welee,” or especial favourite of
heaven,) was
attending the lectures of the sheykh El-Emeer
el-Kebeer
(Sheykh of the sect of the Málikees), when the
professor
read, from the Gámè es-Sagheer
1 of
Es-Suyootee, this saying
of the Prophet: “Verily El-Hasan and
El-Hoseyn are the
two lords of the youths of the people of
Paradise, in
1 A celebrated compendious collection
of the Traditions of the Prophet.
Paradise;” and proceeded to remark, in his lecture, after
having given a summary of the history of El-Hasan and
El-Hoseyn, that, as to the common opinion of the people
of
Masr (or
Cairo) respecting the head of El-Hoseyn, holding
it to be in the famous Mesh-hed in this city (the mosque
of
the Hasaneyn), it was without foundation; not being
established by any credible authority. “I was affected,”
says Mohammad El-Baháee, “with excessive grief, by this
remark: since I believed what is believed by people of
integrity and of intuition, that the noble head was in
this
Mesh-hed; and I entertained no doubt of it: but I
would not
oppose the sheykh El-Emeer, on account of his high
reputation
and extensive knowledge. The lecture
terminated,
and I went away, weeping; and when night
overshaded
the earth, I rose upon my feet, praying, and
humbly
supplicating my Lord, and betaking myself to his
most
noble apostle (God bless and save him), begging that
I
might see him in my sleep, and that he would inform
me
in my sleep of the truth of the matter concerning the
place
of the noble head. And I dreamed that I was walking
on
the way to visit the celebrated Mesh-hed El-Hoseynee
in
Masr, and that I approached the
kubbeh,
1 and saw in it
a
spreading light, which filled it: and I entered its
door, and
found a shereef standing by the door; and I saluted
him,
and he returned my salutation, and said to me,
'Salute the
Apostle of God (God bless and save him);' and I
looked
towards the kibleh,
2 and saw the Prophet (God bless and
save
him) sitting upon a throne, and a man standing on
his right,
and another man standing on his left: and I
raised my voice,
saying, ‘Blessing and peace be on thee, O
Apostle of God:’ and
I repeated this several times, weeping
as I did it: and I
heard the Apostle of God (God bless and
save him) say to me,
‘Approach, O my son, O Mohammad.’
Then the first man took me,
and conducted me towards the
1 The saloon of the tomb.
2 That is, towards the niche which
marks the direction of Mekkeh.
Prophet
(God bless and save him), and placed me in his
noble presence;
and I saluted him, and he returned my
salutation, and said to
me, ‘God recompense thee for thy
visit to the head of
El-Hoseyn my son.’ I said, ‘O Apostle
of God, is the head of
El-Hoseyn here?’ He answered,
‘Yes, it is here.’ And I became
cheerful: grief fled from
me; and my heart was strengthened.
Then I said, ‘O
Apostle of God, I will relate to thee what my
sheykh and
my preceptor El-Emeer hath affirmed in his
lecture;’ and
I repeated to him the words of the sheykh: and
he (God
bless and save him) looked down, and then raised his
head,
and said, ‘The copyists are excused.’ I awoke from
my
sleep joyful and happy: but I found that much
remained
of the night; and I became impatient of its
length; longing
for the morn to shine, that I might go to the
sheykh, and
relate to him the dream, in the hope that he might
believe
me. When the morn rose, I prayed, and went to the
house
of the sheykh; but found the door shut. I knocked
it
violently; and the porter came in alarm, asking, ‘Who
is
that?’ but when he knew me, for he had known my
abode
from the sheykh, he opened the door to me: if it had
been
another person, he would have beaten him. I entered
the
court of the house, and began to call out, ‘My
master!
My master!’ The sheykh awoke, and asked, ‘Who is
that?’
I answered, ‘It is I, thy pupil, Mohammad
El-Baháee.’
The sheykh was in wonder at my coming at this
time, and
exclaimed, ‘God's perfection! What is this? What is
the
news?’ thinking that some great event had happened
among the people. He then said to me, ‘Wait while I
pray.’ I did not sit down until the sheykh came down to
the lower room; when he said to me, ‘Come up:’ and I
went up, and neither saluted him, nor kissed his hand,
from the effect of the dream which I had seen; but said,
‘The head of El-Hoseyn is in this well-known Mesh-hed
in
Masr: there is no
doubt of it.’ The sheykh said, ‘What
proof have you of that?
If it be a true record, adduce it.’
I said,
‘From, a book, I have none.’ The sheykh said,
‘Hast thou seen
a vision?’ I replied, ‘Yes;’ and I related
it to him; and
informed him that the Apostle of God (God
bless and save him)
had told me that the man who was
standing by the door was'
Alee the son of Aboo-Tálib, and
that he who was on the right
of the Prophet, by the throne,
was Aboo-Bekr, and that he on
his left was 'Omar the son
of El-Khattáb; and that they had
come to visit the head
of the Imám El-Hoseyn. The sheykh rose,
and took me by
the hand, and said, ‘Let us go and visit the
Mesh-hed
El-Hoseynee;’ and when he entered the kubbeh, he
said,
‘Peace be on thee, O son of the daughter of the
Apostle of
God. I believe that the noble head is here, by
reason of the
vision which this person has seen; for the
vision of the
Prophet is true; since he hath said, ‘Whoso
seeth me in
his sleep seeth me truly; for Satan cannot assume
the
similitude of my form.’ Then the sheykh said to me,
‘Thou
hast believed, and I have believed: for these lights
are not
illusive.’ “—The above-quoted tradition of the Prophet
has
often occasioned other points of dispute to be settled
in the
same manner, by a dream; and when the dreamer is a
person of reputation, no one ventures to contend against
him.
The remark made at the commencement of this chapter
implies that there are, in the present day, many learned
men
in the metropolis of Egypt; and there are some also
in other
towns of this country. One of the most celebrated
of the
modern 'Ulamà of
Cairo is the sheykh
Hasan El-'Attár,
who is the present Sheykh of the Azhar.
1
In theology and
jurisprudence, he is not so deeply versed as
some of his
contemporaries, particularly the sheykh
El-Kuweysinee,
whom I have before mentioned; but he is
eminently
accomplished in polite literature.
2
He is the author of an
“Inshà,” an excellent collection of
Arabic letters, on various
1 Since the above was written, this
eminent scholar has died.
subjects, which are intended as models of epistolary style.
This work has been printed at Boolák. In mentioning its
author, I fulfil a promise which he condescended to ask of
me;
supposing that I should publish, in my own country,
some
account of the people of
Cairo, he
desired me to state
that I was acquainted with him, and to
give my opinion of
his acquirements.—The sheykh Mohammad
Shiháb is also
deservedly celebrated as an accomplished Arabic
scholar,
and elegant poet. His affability and wit attract
to his
house, every evening, a few friends, in whose
pleasures, on
these occasions, I sometimes participate. We are
received
in a small, but very comfortable room: each of us
takes his
own pipe; and coffee alone is presented to us: the
sheykh's
conversation is the most delightful banquet that
he can
offer us.—There are also several other persons in
Cairo who
enjoy
considerable reputation as philologists and poets.—
The sheykh
'Abd-Er-Rahmán El-Gabartee, another modern
author, and a
native of
Cairo, particularly deserves to
be
mentioned, as having written a very excellent history
of
the events which have taken place in Egypt since the
commencement of the twelfth century of the Flight.
1
He
died in 1825. or 1826, soon after my first arrival in
Cairo.
His family
was of El-Gabart, on the south-east of Abyssinia,
bordering on
the ocean. The Gabartees (or natives of that
country) are
Muslims. They have a riwák (or apartment
appropriated to such
of them as wish to study) in the Azhar;
and there is a similar
provision for them at Mekkeh, and
also at El-Medeeneh.
The works of the ancient Arab poets were but imperfectly
understood (in consequence of many words contained in
them having become obsolete) between two and three
centuries, only, after the time of Mohammad: it must not
therefore be inferred, from what has been said in the
preceding paragraph, that persons able to explain the
1 The twelfth century of the Flight
commenced on the 16th or 17th of
October, A.D.
1688.
VOL. I.
most
difficult passages of the early Arab authors are now
to be
found in
Cairo, or elsewhere. There are,
however,
many in Egypt who are deeply versed in Arabic
grammar,
rhetoric, and polite literature; though the
sciences mostly
pursued in this country are theology and
jurisprudence. Few,
of the ‘Ulamá of Egypt are well acquainted
with the history
of their own nation; much less with that of
other people.
The literary acquirements of those who do not belong
to the classes who make literature their profession are of a
very inferior kind. Many of the wealthy tradespeople are
well instructed in the arts of reading and writing; but few
of
these devote much time to the pursuit of literature.
Those who
have committed to the memory the whole, or considerable
portions, of the Kur-án, and can recite two or
three
celebrated “kaseedehs” (or short poems), or introduce,
now and
then, an apposite quotation in conversation,
are considered
accomplished persons. Many of the tradesmen
of
Cairo can neither read nor write, or can
only read;
and are obliged to have recourse to a friend to
write their
accounts, letters, &c.: but these persons
generally east
accounts, and make intricate calculations,
mentally, with
surprising rapidity and correctness.
It is a very prevalent notion among the Christians of
Europe, that the Muslims are enemies to almost every
branch
of knowledge. This is an erroneous idea; but it is
true that
their studies, in the present age, are confined
within very
narrow limits. Very few of them study
medicine, chymistry (for
our first knowledge of which we
are indebted to the Arabs),
the mathematics, or astronomy.
The Egyptian medical and
surgical practitioners are mostly
barbers, miserably ignorant
of the sciences which they
profess, and unskilful in their
practice; partly in consequence
of their being prohibited by
their religion from
availing themselves of the advantage of
dissecting human
bodies. But a number of young men, natives of
Egypt, are
now receiving European instruction in medicine,
anatomy,
surgery, and other sciences, for the service of the government.
Many of the Egyptians, in illness, neglect medical
aid;
placing their whole reliance on Providence or on
charms.
Alchymy is more studied in this country than
pure chymistry;
and astrology more than astronomy. The
astrolabe and quadrant
are almost the only astronomical
instruments used in Egypt.
Telescopes are rarely seen
here; and the magnetic needle is
seldom employed, except
to discover the direction of Mekkeh;
for which purpose,
convenient little compasses (called
“kibleeyehs”), shewing
the direction of the kibleh at various
large towns in different
countries, are constructed, mostly at
Dimyát: many of these
have a dial, which shews the time of
noon, and also that of
the 'asr, at different places and
different seasons. Those
persons in Egypt who profess to have
considerable knowledge
of astronomy are generally blind to the
true principles of
the science: to say that the earth revolves
round the sun,
they consider absolute heresy. Pure astronomy
they make
chiefly subservient to their computations of the
calendar.
The Muslim year consists of twelve lunar months; the
names of which are pronounced by the Egyptians in the
following manner:—
- 1. Moharram.
- 2. Safar.
- 3. Rabeea el-Owwal.
- 4. Rabeea et-Tánee.
- 5. Gumád el-Owwal, or Gumáda-l-Oolà.
- 6. Gumád et-Tánee, or Gumáda-t-Tániyeh.
- 7. Regeb.
- 8. Shaabán.
- 9. Ramadán.
- 10. Showwál.
- 11. Zu-l-Kaadeh, or El-Kaadeh.
- 12. Zu-l-Heggeh, or El-Heggeh.1
1 It is the general opinion of our
chronologers, that the first day of the
Muslim era of “the
Flight” (in Arabic, “el-Hijrah,” or, as it is pronounced by
most of the Egyptians, “el-Higreh,” more correctly translated “the
Emigration,”)
was Friday, the 16th of July, A.D. 622. But
M. Caussin de Perceval
(in his “Essai sur l'Histoire des
Arabes” &c.) has shewn that this is a
mistake. The
first year of the Flight was the two hundred and eleventh year
of a period during which the Arabs made use of a defective luni-solar
reckoning,
making every third year to consist of thirteen
lunar months; the others
consisting of twelve such months.
This mode of reckoning was abolished by
Mohammad in the
twelfth month of the tenth year of the Flight, at the time
of
the pilgrimage; whence it appears that the first year of the Flight
commenced, most probably, on Monday, the nineteenth of April,
A.D. 622.
According to M. Caussin de Perceval, the first ten
years of the Flight commenced at the following periods:-
- 1st. [Monday] April 19, 622.
- 2nd. [Saturday] May 7, 623.
- 3rd. [Thursday] April 26, 624.
- 4th. [Monday] April 15, 625.
- 5th. [Saturday] May 3, 626.
- 6th. [Thursday] April 23, 627.
- 7th. [Tuesday] April 12, 628.
- 8th. [Monday] May 1, 629.
- 9th. [Friday] April 20, 630.
- 10th. [Tuesday] April 9, 631.
lunar months each; and the seventh was the last
year that was thus
augmented; therefore, with the eighth year
commenced the reckoning by
common lunar years; and from this
point we may use the tables that have
often been published for
finding the periods of commencement of years of the
Flight.
But we must not rely upon the exact accuracy of these tables: for
the commencement of the month was generally determined by
actual observation
of the new moon, and therefore differed in
different places. The era does
not commence from the day on
which the Prophet departed from Mekkeh (as
supposed by most of
our authors who have mentioned this subject), but from
the
first day of the moon or month of Moharram preceding that event. It is
said that Mohammad, after he had remained three days
concealed in a cave
near Mekkeh, with Aboo-Bekr, began his
journey, or “flight,” to El-Medeeneh,
on the ninth day of the
third month (Rabeea-el-Owwal), sixty-eight days after
the
commencement of the era.
Each of these months retrogrades through all the different
seasons of the solar year in the period of about
thirty-three
years and a half: consequently, they are only
used for fixing
the anniversaries of most religious festivals,
and for the
dates of historical events, letters, &c.;
and not in matters
relating to astronomy or the seasons. In the latter cases,
the
Coptic months are still in general use.
With the modern names of the latter I give the corresponding
periods of our calendar:-
- 1. Tool commences on the 10th or 11th of September.
- 2. Bábeh 10th or 11th of October.
- 3. Hátoor 9th or 10th of November.
- 4. Kiyahk (vulg. Kiyák) 9th or 10th of December.
- 5. Toobeh 8th or 9th of January.
- 6. Amsheer 7th or 8th of February.
- 7. Barmahát 9th of March.
- 8. Barmoodeh 8th of April.
- 9. Beshens 8th of May.
- 10. Ba-ooneh 7th of June.
- 11. Ebeeb 7th of July.
- 12. Misrá 6th of
August.1
The Eiyám en-Nesee (Intercalary days), five or six days,
complete the year.
These months, it will be observed, are of thirty days each.
Five intercalary days are added at the end of three
successive
years; and six at the end of the fourth year.
The Coptic
leap-year immediately precedes ours: therefore the
Coptic
year begins on the 11th of September only when it
is the
next after their leap-year; or when our next ensuing
year is
a leap-year; and consequently, after the following
February,
the corresponding days of the Coptic and our
months will be
the same as in other years. The Copts begin
their reckoning
from the era of Diocletian, A.D. 284.
The modern (like the ancient) Egyptians divide the
year into three seasons; namely, the winter (“esh-shità”),
the
summer (“es-seyf”), and the inundation (“en-neel,”
1 The Coptic names of which these are
corruptions, are given in “Horæ
Egyptiaeæ,” by R. S.
Poole. pp. 7–9; and their derivation from the names of
the
ancient Egyptian divinities of the months is shewn in pp. 14, 15, and 18,
of
that work.
properly the Nile). Their astronomers also make use of the
calendar of the Mansions of the Moon, by which the people
of
Arabia used to regulate all affairs relating to the seasons.
In Egypt, and other Muslim countries, from sunset to
sunset is reckoned as the civil day; the night being classed
with the day which
follows it: thus the
night
before Friday
is
called the night
of Friday. Sunset is twelve
o'clock: an
hour after sunset, one o'clock; two hours, two
o'clock; and
so on to twelve: after twelve o'clock in the
morning, the
hours are again named one, two, three, and so
on.
1 The
Egyptians wind up and (if necessary) set
their watches at
sunset; or rather, a few minutes after;
generally when they
hear the call to evening-prayer. Their
watches, according
to this system of reckoning from sunset, to
be always quite
correct, should be set every evening, as the
days vary in
length.
The following Table shews the times of Muslim prayer,
2
with the apparent European time of sunset, in and near the
latitude of
Cairo, at the commencement of
each zodiacal
month:—
|
|
Sunset. |
‘Eshè. |
Daybreak. |
Noon. |
‘Asr. |
|
|
Mo. |
T. |
Eur. |
T. |
Mo. |
T. |
Mo. |
T. |
Mo. |
T. |
Mo. |
T. |
|
|
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
| June 21 |
12 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
34 |
8 |
6 |
4 |
56 |
8 |
31 |
| July 22 |
May 21 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
53 |
1 |
30 |
8 |
30 |
5 |
7 |
8 |
43 |
| Aug. 23 |
Apr. 20 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
31 |
1 |
22 |
9 |
24 |
5 |
29 |
9 |
4 |
| Sep. 23 |
Mar. 20 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
18 |
10 |
24 |
5 |
56 |
9 |
24 |
| Oct. 23 |
Feb. 18 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
37 |
1 |
18 |
11 |
18 |
6 |
23 |
9 |
35 |
| Nov. 22 |
Jan. 20 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
15 |
1 |
22 |
11 |
59 |
6 |
45 |
9 |
41 |
| Dec. 21 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
24 |
12 |
15 |
6 |
56 |
9 |
43 |
1 Consequently the time of noon according to
Mohammadan reckoning, on
any particular day, subtracted from
twelve, gives the apparent time of sunset,
on that day,
according to European reckoning.
2 The periods of the 'esheè, daybreak, and
'asr, are here given according to
the reckoning most commonly
followed in Egypt. (See the chapter on religion
and laws.)
“Mo. T.” denotes Mohammadan Time: “Eur. T.,” European
Time.
A pocket almanac is annually printed at the government-press
at Boolák.
1 It comprises the period of a solar
year,
commencing and terminating with the vernal equinox;
and
gives, for every day, the day of the week, and of
the
Mohammadan, Coptic, Syrian, and European months;
together
with the sun's place in the zodiac, and the time
of
sunrise, noon and the 'asr. It is prefaced with a
summary
of the principal eras and feast-days of the
Muslims, Copts,
and others; and remarks and notices relating
to the seasons.
Subjoined to it is a calendar containing
physical, agricultural,
and other notices for every day in the
year;
mentioning eclipses, &c.; and comprising
much matter
suited to the superstitions of the people,
together with some
remains of the ancient calendar of Egypt.
It is the work of
Yahyá Efendee, originally a Christian priest
of
Syria; but
now a
Muslim.
2Of geography, the Egyptians in general, and, with very
few exceptions, the best instructed among them, have
scarcely
any knowledge: having no good maps, they are
almost
wholly ignorant of the relative situations of the
several
great countries of Europe. Some few of the learned
venture
to assert that the earth is a globe; but they are
opposed by
a great majority of the 'Ulamà. The common opinion
of all
classes of Muslims is, that our earth is an almost
plane
expanse, surrounded by the ocean,
3 which, they
say, is
1 More than a hundred books had been
printed at this press at the time of
my second visit to
Egypt: most of them for the use of the military, naval,
and civil servants of the government. Since that time, the Thousand and
One
Nights, and the “Khitat” of El-Makreezee, and
several other important works,
have been printed in the
same press, at the expense of private individuals.
2 During my last residence in Egypt,
the almanac of Yahyà Efendee was
superseded by one better
adapted to astronomical purposes, and very creditable
to
its author, Mahmood Efendee.
3 As the Greeks believed in the age of
Homer and Hesiod.
encompassed by a chain of mountains called “Káf.” They
believe
it to be the uppermost of
seven earths; and
in like
manner they believe that there are seven heavens, one
above
another.
Such being the state of science among the modern
Egyptians, the reader will not be surprised at finding the
present chapter followed by a long account of their superstitions;
a knowledge of which is necessary to enable him to
understand their character, and to make due allowances for
many of its faults. We may hope for, and, indeed,
reasonably
expect, a very great improvement in the
intellectual and
moral state of this people, in consequence of
the introduction
of European sciences, by which Mohammad
'Alee, in some
degree, made amends for his oppressive sway;
but it is not
probable that this hope will be soon realized to
any
considerable extent.
11 It has been justly remarked, by Baron
Hammer-Purgstall, that the present
Chapter of this work is
very deficient. I should gladly have made its contents
more
ample, had I not felt myself obliged to consult the taste of the general
reader, upon whose patience I fear I have already trespassed
to too great an
extent by the insertion of much matter
calculated to interest only Orientalists.
With respect to
recent innovations, I have made but few and brief remarks in
this work, in consequence of my having found the lights of European science
almost exclusively confined to those servants of the
government who have been
compelled to study under Frank instructors,
and European customs adopted by
scarcely any persons except a
few Tucks. Some Egyptians who had studied
for
a few years in France declared to me that they could
not instil any of the
notions which they had there acquired
even into the minds of their most
intimate friends.
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