An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians

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There are a number of musical scores, in the text, which could not be rendered in this version. The lyrics, however, are given with hyphens to represent the phrasing. Several of the songs are followed by the complete lyrics as poetry.

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Lane’S Modern Egyptians

[Illustration:

THE DÓSEH. (Page 416.) _Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Frontispiece_ ]

AN ACCOUNT OF THE Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians

Written in Egypt during the Years 1833-1835

BY EDWARD WILLIAM LANE Translator of _The Thousand and One Nights_

With Eighty Illustrations and Sixteen Full-Page Engravings, and Biographical Notice of the Author

London Ward, Lock And Co. Limited New York And Melbourne

Biographical Introduction.

[Illustration]

Fortunately in recent years many educated, observant, and enterprising Englishmen have studied Mussulman life and character in many parts of the world. The names of Sir Richard Burton and Edward Henry Palmer stand as types of the later generation of these men; but in the early part of this century no man can be named who has greater claims to recognition and gratitude for his labours in this direction than Edward William Lane. To him we owe an admirable translation of “The Thousand and One Nights,” with notes, which form a complete encyclopædia of Arab manners and customs; selections from the Koran, which introduce the English reader to its most valuable portions; an invaluable Arabic-English Lexicon; and lastly the present work, which has been described as “the most remarkable description of a people ever written.”

Edward William Lane, third son of the Rev. Theophilus Lane, a Prebendary of Hereford Cathedral, and of Sophia Gardiner, a niece of Gainsborough the painter, was born at Hereford, on Sept. 17th, 1801, and largely educated by his parents, especially his mother, to whom he owed much of his intellectual and moral training. Having shown equal mastery of classics and mathematics, he intended entering at Cambridge with a view to taking holy orders, but abandoned this intention after a short visit to Cambridge. Immediately afterwards he found himself able to solve all the problems in the mathematical tripos of the year except one, the solution to which came to him while asleep, and was at once written down on waking in the middle of the night. Joining his elder brother Richard, an able lithographer, in London, he made great progress in engraving and other branches of art, which were afterwards of much value to him in Egypt. Through overwork and want of exercise, he injured his constitution, and nearly succumbed to an attack of fever. His subsequent ill-health led him to contemplate a residence in the East, to which his now rapidly progressing studies in Arabic had already attracted him. In July, 1825, he left England in a brig bound for Alexandria. On Sept. 2nd the vessel nearly foundered in a gale off Tunis; the master proved incompetent, and begged Lane, who knew something of navigation, to take the helm; and, lashed to the wheel, he succeeded in taking the brig safely into Malta.

Arrived at Alexandria, he resolved to throw himself _con amore_ into native life, to adopt native costume, speak Arabic continually, and penetrate the inner life of the people. Several months were spent in Cairo; at the Pyramids he lived in a tomb for a fortnight, with bones, rags, and mummies for his companions; in 1826 he ascended the Nile to the Second Cataract; everywhere recording his exact impressions, making plans and careful drawings, and taking all trouble to secure accurate knowledge. He returned to England in the autumn of 1828, with a complete “Description of Egypt,” as it then was, and 101 excellent sepia drawings, made with the camera lucida. But Egypt was not yet known or appreciated in England, and publishers would not incur the expense of publishing the work and reproducing the drawings, though they were universally praised by all who saw them. Fortunately that part of the work which gave an account of the modern inhabitants was shown to Lord Brougham, who at once recommended its acceptance by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. But in order to perfect the book, Lane undertook to visit Egypt a second time, to stay two years, and still more completely enter into the life of the Egyptians. The book, when ready, was illustrated by admirable woodcuts drawn on the blocks by his own hand; it was published in December, 1836, in two volumes. Its success was immediate and great; other editions followed, the third, much improved, being published by Charles Knight in 1842. It is from this that the present edition is reprinted. Later editions have contained various modifications, but nothing can add to the book as we present it, as a perfect picture of what Lane saw in Egypt in 1833-5. Even twenty-five years later, the people and their habits had in many ways altered more than in several preceding centuries. We can never reconstruct Egypt as Lane saw it, except by reading Lane’s description. It has a permanent value as history, and thus no attempt has here been made to modernise it, or to alter the references which he made to “recent” or “present” times. It bears the stamp of a character singularly open to the realisation of the genius of a different race from his own, and as such it has few parallels in literature.

A fresh translation of the “Arabian Nights” was Lane’s next great work. Instead of the misleading and imperfect translation still, unfortunately, current, he made a version which reproduces the true Oriental impression, informed with knowledge of and insight into the people described. To it he added a vast number of notes, encyclopædic in their range over Arab customs and institutions, and full of interest to all classes of readers. It was published in monthly parts from 1838 to 1840. Next he arranged a valuable series of “Selections from the Koran,” published in 1843. He now entered upon the work which for scholars surpasses all his other efforts, though it is unknown to the general reader. No Arabic-English Lexicon of any value existed: Lane devoted the remainder of his life to filling the void. The language of the Koran was rapidly becoming deteriorated in common speech, and it needed careful study of manuscripts still existing, but watchfully secured from unbelievers, to become truly at home in the classic language. The great Arabic Lexicon, Taj-el-’Aroos, a combination of all preceding lexicons, had to be transcribed throughout, by the aid of a learned Mohammedan, in Cairo, for thirteen years, and then elaborately studied and translated and modified by the aid of all possible authorities. It was Lord Prudhoe’s (afterwards fourth Duke of Northumberland) munificence that first enabled this to be done. In 1842 Lane left England again, accompanied by his wife, a Greek lady whom he married in 1840, and by his sister, Mrs. Poole (author of the “Englishwoman in Egypt”), and he lived as a close student in Cairo till 1849, when he returned to England. After that date he settled at Worthing, entirely devoted to his great work, a worthy successor of Dr. Johnson in his strenuous devotion to his great Dictionary, but in other respects his antithesis. Its publication in eight volumes was not completed at his death, and the last parts were superintended by his nephew, Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, who has written a brief life of his uncle, to which this introduction is greatly indebted. Quiet, gentlemanly, courteous, genial, simple in Christian faith and practice, while admitting the great critical light which Semitic studies throw upon the Bible, earnest and pure-souled, “in his presence a profane or impure speech was an impossibility; yet no one was ever more gentle with that frailty for which the world has no pity.” He died at Worthing, on August 10th, 1876. His name is imperishably written among those of the giants of Arabic scholarship.

G. T. B.

Preface.

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_Cairo, 1835_

During a former visit to this country, undertaken chiefly for the purpose of studying the Arabic language in its most famous school, I devoted much of my attention to the manners and customs of the Arab inhabitants; and in an intercourse of two years and a half with this people, soon found that all the information which I had previously been able to obtain respecting them was insufficient to be of much use to the student of Arabic literature, or to satisfy the curiosity of the general reader. Hence I was induced to cover some quires of paper with notes on the most remarkable of their usages, partly for my own benefit, and partly in the hope that I might have it in my power to make some of my countrymen better acquainted with the domiciliated classes of one of the most interesting nations of the world, by drawing a detailed picture of the inhabitants of the largest Arab city. The period of my first visit to this country did not, however, suffice for the accomplishment of this object, and for the prosecution of my other studies; and I relinquished the idea of publishing the notes which I had made on the modern inhabitants: but, five years after my return to England, those notes were shown to some members of the Committee of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, at whose suggestion, the Committee, interested with the subjects of them, and with the novelty of some of their contents engaged me to complete and print them. Encouraged by their approbation, and relying upon their judgment, I immediately determined to follow their advice, and, by the earliest opportunity, again departed to Egypt. After another residence of more than a year in the metropolis of this country, and half a year in Upper Egypt, I have now accomplished, as well as I am able, the task proposed to me.[1]

It may be said, that the English reader already possesses an excellent and ample description of Arab manners and customs, in Dr. Russell’s account of the people of Aleppo. I will not forfeit my own claim to the reputation of an honest writer, by attempting to detract from the just merits of that valuable and interesting work; but must assert, that it is, upon the whole, rather an account of _Turkish_ than of _Arab_ manners; and that neither the original Author, nor his brother, to whom we are indebted for the enlarged and much-improved edition, was sufficiently acquainted with the Arabic language to scrutinize some of the most interesting subjects of inquiry which the plan of the work required them to treat: nor would their well-known station in Aleppo, or perhaps their national feelings, allow them to assume those disguises which were necessary to enable them to become familiar with many of the most remarkable religious ceremonies, opinions, and superstitions of the people whom they have described. Deficiencies in their remarks on these subjects are the only faults of any importance that I can discover in their excellent and learned work.[2]

I have been differently circumstanced. Previously to my first visit to this country, I acquired some knowledge of the language and literature of the Arabs; and in a year after my first arrival here, I was able to converse with the people among whom I was residing, with tolerable ease. I have associated, almost exclusively, with Muslims, of various ranks in society: I have lived as they live, conforming with their general habits; and, in order to make them familiar and unreserved towards me on every subject, have always avowed my agreement with them in opinion whenever my conscience would allow me, and in most other cases, refrained from the expression of my dissent, as well as from every action which might give them disgust; abstaining from eating food forbidden by their religion, and drinking wine, etc.; and even from habits merely disagreeable to them; such as the use of knives and forks at meals. Having made myself acquainted with all their common religious ceremonies, I have been able to escape exciting, in strangers, any suspicion of my being a person who had no right to intrude among them, whenever it was necessary for me to witness any Muslim rite or festival. While, from the dress which I have found most convenient to wear, I am generally mistaken, in public, for a Turk. My acquaintances, of course, know me to be an Englishman; but I constrain them to treat me as a Muslim, by my freely acknowledging the hand of Providence in the introduction and diffusion of the religion of El-Islám, and, when interrogated, avowing my belief in the Messiah, in accordance with the _words_ of the Kur-án, as the Word of God, infused into the womb of the Virgin Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him. Thus, I believe, I have acquired their good opinion, and much of their confidence; though not to such an extent as to prevent my having to contend with many difficulties. The Muslims are very averse from giving information on subjects connected with their religion or superstitions to persons whom they suspect of differing from them in sentiments; but very ready to talk on such subjects with those whom they think acquainted with them: hence I have generally obtained some slight knowledge of matters difficult for me thoroughly to learn from one of the most lax, and of the least instructed, of my friends; so as to be able to draw into conversation, upon the desired topics, persons of better information; and by this mode I have invariably succeeded in overcoming their scruples. I have had two professors of Arabic and of Muslim religion and law as my regular, salaried tutors; and, by submitting to them questions on any matters respecting which I was in doubt, have authenticated or corrected, and added to, the information derived from conversation with my other friends. Occasionally, also, I have applied to higher authorities; having the happiness to number among my friends in this city some persons of the highest attainments in Eastern learning.

Perhaps the reader may not be displeased if I here attempt to acquaint him more particularly with one of my Muslim friends, the first of those above alluded to; and to show, at the same time, the light in which he, like others of his country, regards me in my present situation.—The sheykh Ahmad (or seyyid Ahmad; for he is one of the numerous class of “shereefs,” or descendants of the Prophet) is somewhat more than forty years of age, by his own confession; but appears more near to fifty. He is as remarkable in physiognomy as in character. His stature is under the middle size: his beard reddish, and now becoming grey. For many years he has been nearly blind: one of his eyes is almost entirely closed; and both are ornamented, on particular occasions (at least on the two grand annual festivals), with a border of the black pigment called “kohl,” which is seldom used but by women. He boasts his descent not only from the Prophet, but also from a very celebrated saint, Esh-Shaaráwee;[3] and his complexion, which is very fair, supports his assertion, that his ancestors, for several generations, lived in the north-western parts of Africa. He obtains his subsistence from a slender patrimony, and by exercising the trade of a bookseller. Partly to profit in this occupation, and partly for the sake of society, or at least to enjoy some tobacco and coffee, he is a visitor in my house almost every evening.

For several years before he adopted the trade of a bookseller, which was that of his father, he pursued no other occupation than that of performing in the religious ceremonies called “zikrs;” which consist in the repetition of the name and attributes, etc., of God, by a number of persons, in chorus; and in such performances he is still often employed. He was then a member of the order of the Saadeeyeh darweeshes, who are particularly famous for devouring live serpents; and he is said to have been one of the serpent-eaters: but he did not confine himself to food so easily digested. One night, during a meeting of a party of darweeshes of his order, at which their Sheykh was present, my friend became affected with religious frenzy, seized a tall glass shade which surrounded a candle placed on the floor, and ate a large portion of it. The Sheykh and the other darweeshes, looking at him with astonishment, upbraided him with having broken the institutes of his order; since the eating of glass was not among the miracles which they were allowed to perform; and they immediately expelled him. He then entered the order of the Ahmedeeyeh; and as they, likewise, never ate glass, he determined not to do so again. However, soon after, at a meeting of some brethren of this order, when several Saadeeyeh also were present, he again was seized with frenzy, and, jumping up to a chandelier, caught hold of one of the small glass lamps attached to it, and devoured about half of it, swallowing also the oil and water which it contained. He was conducted before his Sheykh, to be tried for this offence; but, on his taking an oath never to eat glass again, he was neither punished not expelled the order. Notwithstanding this oath, he soon again gratified his propensity to eat a glass lamp; and a brother-darweesh, who was present, attempted to do the same; but a large fragment stuck between the tongue and palate of this rash person; and my friend had great trouble to extract it. He was again tried by his Sheykh; and, being reproached for having broken his oath and vow of repentance, he coolly answered, “I repent again: repentance is good: for He whose name be exalted hath said, in the Excellent Book, ‘Verily, God loveth the repentant.’” The Sheykh, in anger, exclaimed, “Dost thou dare to act in this manner, and then come and cite the Kur-án before me?”—and with this reproof, he ordered that he should be imprisoned ten days: after which, he made him again swear to abstain from eating glass; and on this condition he was allowed to remain a member of the Ahmedeeyeh. This second oath he professes not to have broken.—The person whose office it was to prosecute him related to me these facts; and my friend reluctantly confessed them to be true.

When I was first acquainted with the sheykh Ahmad, he had long been content with one wife; but now he has indulged himself with a second,[4] who continues to live in her parents’ house: yet he has taken care to assure me, that he is not rich enough to refuse my yearly present of a dress. On my visiting him for the second time during my present residence in this place, his mother came to the door of the room in which I was sitting with him, to complain to me of his conduct in taking this new wife. Putting her hand within the door, to give greater effect to her words by proper action (or perhaps to show how beautifully the palm, and the tips of the fingers, glowed with the fresh red dye of the “henna”), but concealing the rest of her person, she commenced a most energetic appeal to my sympathy.—“O Efendee!” she exclaimed, “I throw myself upon thy mercy! I kiss thy feet! I have no hope but in God and thee!” “What words are these, my mistress?” said I: “what misfortune hath befallen thee? and what can I do for thee? Tell me.” “This son of mine,” she continued, “this my son Ahmad, is a worthless fellow: he has a wife here, a good creature, with whom he has lived happily, with God’s blessing, for sixteen years; and now he has neglected her and me, and given himself up to a second wife, a young, impudent wench: he lavishes his money upon this monkey, and others like her, and upon her father and mother and uncles and brother and brother’s children, and I know not whom besides, and abridges us, that is, myself and his first wife, of the comforts of which we were before accustomed. By the Prophet! and by thy dear head! I speak truth. I kiss thy feet, and beg thee to insist upon his divorcing his new wife.”—The poor man looked a little foolish while his mother was thus addressing me from behind the door; and as soon as she was gone, promised to do what she desired. “But,” said he, “it is a difficult case. I was in the habit of sleeping occasionally in the house of the brother of the girl whom I have lately taken as my wife: he is a clerk in the employ of ’Abbás Básha; and rather more than a year ago, ’Abbás Básha sent for me, and said, ‘I hear that you are often sleeping in the house of my clerk Mohammad. Why do you act so? Do you not know that it is very improper, when there are women in the house?’ I said, ‘I am going to marry his sister.’ ‘Then why have you not married her already?’ asked the Básha. ‘She is only nine years of age.’ ‘Is the marriage contract made?’ ‘No.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘I cannot afford, at present, to give the dowry.’ ‘What is the dowry to be?’ ‘Ninety piasters.’ ‘Here, then,’ said the Básha, ‘take the money, and let the contract be concluded immediately.’ So you see I was obliged to marry the girl; and I am afraid that the Básha will be angry if I divorce her: but I will act in such a manner that her brother shall insist upon the divorce; and then, please God, I shall live in peace again.”—This is a good example of the comfort of having two wives.

A short time since, upon his offering me a copy of the Kur-án for sale, he thought it necessary to make some excuse for his doing so. He remarked that, by my conforming with many of the ceremonies of the Muslims, I tacitly professed myself to be one of them; and that it was incumbent upon him to regard me in the most favourable light, which he was the more willing to do because he knew that I should incur the displeasure of my King by making an open profession of the faith of El-Islám, and therefore could not do it.[5] “You give me,” said he, “the salutation of ‘Peace be on you!’ and it would be impious in me, being directly forbidden by my religion, to pronounce you an unbeliever; for God, whose name be exalted, hath said, ‘Say not unto him who greeteth thee with peace, Thou art not a believer:’[6] therefore,” he added, “it is no sin in me to put into your hands the noble Kur-án: but there are some of your countrymen who will take it in unclean hands, and even sit upon it! I beg God’s forgiveness for talking of such a thing: far be it from you to do so; you, praise be to God, know and observe the command, ‘None shall touch it but they who are purified.’”[7]—He once sold a copy of the Kur-án, on my application, to a countryman of mine, who, being disturbed, just as the bargain was concluded, by some person entering the room, hastily put the sacred book upon the seat, and under a part of his dress, to conceal it. The bookseller was much scandalized by this action; thinking that my friend was sitting upon the book, and that he was doing so to show his contempt of it: he declares his belief that he has been heavily punished by God for this unlawful sale.—There was only one thing that I had much difficulty in persuading him to do during my former visit to this country: which was, to go with me, at a particular period, into the mosque of the Hasaneyn, the reputed burial-place of the head of El-Hoseyn, and the most sacred of the mosques in the Egyptian metropolis. On my passing with him before one of the entrances of this building, one afternoon during the fast of Ramadán, when it was crowded with Turks, and many of the principal people of the city were among the congregation, I thought it a good opportunity to see it to the greatest advantage, and asked my companion to go in with me. He positively refused, in the fear of my being discovered to be an Englishman, which might so rouse the fanatic anger of some of the Turks there as to expose me to some act of violence. I therefore entered alone. He remained at the door, following me with his eye only (or his only eye), and wondering at my audacity; but as soon as he saw me acquit myself in the usual manner, by walking round the bronze screen which surrounds the monument over the spot where the head of the martyr is said to be buried, and then putting myself into the regular postures of prayer, he came in, and said his prayers by my side.

After relating these anecdotes, I should mention, that the characters of my other acquaintances here are not marked by similar eccentricities. My attentions to my visitors have been generally confined to the common usages of Eastern hospitality; supplying them with pipes and coffee, and welcoming them to a share of my dinner or supper. Many of their communications I have written in Arabic, at their dictation, and since translated and inserted in the following pages. What I have principally aimed at, in this work, is correctness; and I do not scruple to assert, that I am not conscious of having endeavoured to render interesting any matter that I have related by the slightest sacrifice of truth.

P.S.—With regard to the engravings which accompany this work, I should mention, that they are from drawings which I have made, not to embellish the pages, but merely to explain the text.

Advertisement To The Third Edition.

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Since the publication of the first edition of the present work, the studies in which I have been engaged have enabled me to improve it by various corrections and additions; and the success which it has obtained (a success very far beyond my expectations) has excited me to use my utmost endeavours to rectify its errors and supply its defects.

In reading the Kur-án, with an Arabic commentary, I have found that Sale’s version, though deserving of high commendation for its general accuracy, is incorrect in many important passages; and hence I have been induced to revise with especial care my abstract of the principal Muslim laws: for as Sale had excellent commentaries to consult, and I, when I composed that abstract, had none, I placed great reliance on his translation. My plan, in the execution of that portion of my work, was to make use of Sale’s translation as the basis, and to add what appeared necessary from the Sunneh and other sources, chiefly at the dictation of a professor of law, who was my tutor: but I have found that my foundation was in several points faulty.

I am indebted to a gentleman who possesses a thorough knowledge of the spirit of Muslim institutions[8] for the suggestion of some improvements in the same and other portions of this work; and observations made by several intelligent critics have lessened the labour of revision and emendation.

I have also profited, on this occasion, by a paper containing a number of corrections and additions written in Egypt, which I had mislaid and forgotten: but none of these are of much importance.

The mode in which Arabic words were transcribed in the previous editions I thought better calculated than any other to enable an English reader, unacquainted with the Arabic language, to pronounce those words with tolerable accuracy; but it was liable to serious objections, and was disagreeable, in some respects, to most Oriental scholars, and to myself. I have therefore now employed, in its stead, as I did in my translation of “The Thousand and One Nights,” a system congenial with our language, and of the most simple kind; and to this system I adhere in every case, for the sake of uniformity as well as _truth_.[9] It requires little explanation: the general reader may be directed to pronounce

“a” as in our word “beggar:”[10] “i” as in “bid:” “á” as in “father:”[11] “o” as in “obey” (short): “e” as in “bed:” “ó” as in “bone:” “é” as in “there:” “oo” as in “boot:” “ee” as in “bee:” “ow” as in “down:” “ei” as our word “eye:” “u” as in “bull:” “ey” as in “they:” “y” as in “you.”

An _apostrophe_, when immediately preceding or following a vowel, I employ to denote the place of a letter which has no equivalent in our alphabet: it has a guttural sound, like that which is heard in the bleating of sheep.

The usual sign of a _diæresis_ I sometimes employ to show that a final “e” is not mute, but pronounced as that letter, when unaccented, in the beginning or middle of a word.

Having avoided as much as possible marking the _accentuation_ in Arabic words, I must request the reader to bear in mind, not only that a single vowel, when not marked with an accent, is always short; but that a double vowel, or diphthong, at the end of a word, when not so marked, is not accented (“Welee,” for instance, being pronounced “Wĕ′lee,” or “Wel′ee,”): also, that the accents do not always denote the principal or only emphasis (“Sháweesh” being pronounced “Sháwee′sh”); and that “dh,” “gh,” “kh,” “sh,” and “th,” when not divided by a hyphen, represent, each, a single Arabic letter.

As some readers may observe that many Arabic words are written differently in this work and in my translation of “The Thousand and One Nights,” it is necessary to add, that in the present case I write such words agreeably with the general pronunciation of the educated classes in Cairo. For the same reason I often use the same European character to express two Arabic letters which in Egypt are pronounced alike.

E W L

_May, 1842._

Contents.

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Page

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR v

PREFACE ix

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION xviii

Introduction. The Country And Climate—Metropolis—Houses—Population 1

Chapter

I. —Personal Characteristics And Dress Of The Muslim 21 Egyptians

II. —Infancy And Early Education 42

III. —Religion And Laws 52

IV. —Government 98

V. —Domestic Life (Men Of The Higher And Middle Orders) 120

VI. —DOMESTIC LIFE, _continued_ (WOMEN OF THE HIGHER AND 141 MIDDLE ORDERS)

VII. —DOMESTIC LIFE, _continued_ (THE LOWER ORDERS) 174

VIII. —Common Usages Of Society 179

IX. —Language, Literature, And Science 188

X. —Superstitions (Genii, Saints, And Darweeshes) 202

XI. —SUPERSTITIONS, _continued_ (CHARMS AND AUGURATION) 226

XII. —Magic, Astrology, And Alchemy 242

XIII. —Character 255

XIV. —Industry 285

XV. —Use Of Tobacco, Coffee, Hemp, Opium, Etc. 303

XVI. —The Bath 307

XVII. —Games 315

XVIII. —Music 323

XIX. —Public Dancers 347

XX. —Serpent-Charmers And Performers Of Legerdemain 352 Tricks, Etc.

XXI. —Public Recitations Of Romances 359

XXII. —PUBLIC RECITATIONS OF ROMANCES, _continued_ 367

XXIII. —PUBLIC RECITATIONS OF ROMANCES, _continued_ 380

XXIV. —PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS, ETC. (THOSE OF THE FIRST 391 THREE MONTHS OF THE MUSLIM YEAR)

XXV. —PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS, ETC., _continued_. 421 (THOSE OF THE FOURTH AND FOLLOWING MONTHS OF THE MUSLIM YEAR)

XXVI. —PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS, ETC., _continued_. 451 (THOSE OF THE SOLAR YEAR)

XXVII. —Private Festivities, Etc. 463

XXVIII. —Death And Funeral Rites 473

Supplement.

I. —The Copts 489

II. —The Jews Of Egypt 512

III. —Of Late Innovations In Egypt 515

Appendix A.

Female Ornaments 519

Appendix B.

Egyptian Measures, Weights, And Moneys 532

Appendix C.

Prayer Of Muslim School-Boys 536

List Of Full-Page Illustrations.

The Doseh (see p. 416) _Frontispiece_.

Private Houses in Cairo Facing page 5

Court of a Private House in Cairo ” ” 9

A Käah ” ” 16

Men of the Middle and Higher Classes ” ” 25

A Lady in the Dress worn in private ” ” 33

A Woman of the Southern Province of Upper Egypt ” ” 42 (sketched at Thebes)

Parade previous to Circumcision ” ” 48

Bridal Procession (Part I.) ” ” 150

Bridal Procession (Part II.) ” ” 152

Shops in a Street in Cairo ” ” 289

Shop of a Turkish Merchant ” ” 293

The Shádoof ” ” 300

A Sha′er, with his accompanying Violist ” ” 359

Funeral Procession ” ” 477

Sketch of a Tomb with the Entrance uncovered ” ” 484

Illustrations In The Text.

Page

Door of a Private House 6

Specimens of Lattice-work 7

Fountain 9

Suffeh 10

Specimens of Panel-work 12

Ceiling of a Durká’ah 13

Ceiling of a projecting Window 13

Wooden Lock 15

Fellaheen 27

An Eye ornamented with Kohl 30

Muk-hul′ahs and Mirweds 30

Ancient Vessel and Probe for Kohl 31

An Eye and Eyebrow ornamented with Kohl, as represented in 31 ancient Paintings

Hands and Feet stained with Henna 32

A tattooed Girl 34

Specimens of Tattooing on the Chin 34

Tattooed Hands and Foot 34

A Lady adorned with the Kurs and Safa, etc. 36

Lady attired for Riding or Walking 38

Fellah Women 40

Ornamented black Veils 41

Postures of Prayer (Part I.) 64

Postures of Prayer (Part II.) 65

Interior of a Mosque 68

Pipes 123

Coffee-service 125

’A’z’kee and Mankals 127

Washing before or after a Meal 129

Tisht and Ibreek 130

Kursee and Seeneeyeh 131

A Party at Dinner or Supper 132

Water-bottles 135

Sherbet-cups 137

Lantern, etc., suspended on the occasion of a Wedding 149

Mesh′als 154

Kumkum and Mibkhar’ah 185

Magic Invocation and Charm 248

Magic Square and Mirror of Ink 249

Water-carriers 296

Hemalees 298

Plan of a Bath 309

Section of the Harárah 311

Foot-rasps 312

Mankal′ah 315

Seega 320

Kemengeh 327

Kánoon 328

Egyptian Musical Instruments, Pipe, Ornaments, etc. 330

Náy 331

Rabáb esh-Shá’er 332

Ságát 334

Tár 334

Darabukkeh 334

Earthen Darabukkeh 335

Zummárah 335

Mouth-piece of the Zummárah 335

Arghool 335

The Mahmal 404

Diamond Kurs 520

Gold Kurs 521

Kussah 522

’Enebeh 522

Kamarahs 523

Sákiyeh 523

’Ood es-Saleeb 523

Mishts 523

’Akeek 523

Belloor 523

Ear-rings 525

Necklaces 526

Bracelets 527

Bark 529

Másoorah 529

Habbeh 529

Shiftish′eh 529

Anklets 529

Hegábs 530

Nose-rings 531

The Manners And Customs Of The Modern Egyptians.

[Illustration]

Introduction.

The Country And Climate—Metropolis—Houses—Population.

It is generally observed that many of the most remarkable peculiarities in the manners, customs, and character of a nation are attributable to the physical peculiarities of the country. Such causes, in an especial manner, affect the moral and social slate of the modern Egyptians, and therefore here require some preliminary notice; but it will not as yet be necessary to explain their particular influences: these will be evinced in many subsequent parts of the present work.

The Nile, in its course through the narrow and winding valley of Upper Egypt, which is confined on each side by mountainous and sandy deserts, as well as through the plain of Lower Egypt, is everywhere bordered, excepting in a very few places, by cultivated fields of its own formation. These cultivated tracts are not perfectly level, being somewhat lower towards the deserts than in the neighbourhood of the river. They are interspersed with palm groves and villages, and intersected by numerous canals. The copious summer rains which prevail in Abyssinia and the neighbouring countries begin to show their effects in Egypt, by the rising of the Nile, about the period of the summer solstice. By the autumnal equinox, the river attains its greatest height, which is always sufficient to fill the canals by which the fields are irrigated, and, generally, to inundate large portions of the cultivable land: it then gradually falls until the period when it again begins to rise. Being impregnated, particularly during its rise, with rich soil washed down from the mountainous countries whence it flows, a copious deposit is annually spread, either by the natural inundation or by artificial irrigation, over the fields which border it; while its bed, from the same cause, rises in an equal degree. The Egyptians depend entirely upon their river for the fertilization of the soil, rain being a very rare phenomenon in their country, excepting in the neighbourhood of the Mediterranean; and as the seasons are perfectly regular, the peasant may make his arrangements with the utmost precision respecting the labour he will have to perform. Sometimes his labour is light; but when it consists in raising water for irrigation it is excessively severe.

The climate of Egypt, during the greater part of the year, is remarkably salubrious. The exhalations from the soil after the period of the inundation render the latter part of the autumn less healthy than the summer and winter; and cause ophthalmia and dysentery, and some other diseases, to be more prevalent then than at other seasons; and during a period of somewhat more or less than fifty days (called “el-khamáseen[12]”), commencing in April, and lasting throughout May, hot southerly winds occasionally prevail for about three days together. These winds, though they seldom cause the thermometer of Fahrenheit to rise above 95° in Lower Egypt, or, in Upper Egypt, 105°,[13] are dreadfully oppressive, even to the natives. When the plague visits Egypt, it is generally in the spring; and this disease is most severe in the period of the khamáseen. Egypt is also subject, particularly during the spring and summer, to the hot wind called the “samoom,” which is still more oppressive than the khamáseen winds, but of much shorter duration, seldom lasting longer than a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes. It generally proceeds from the south-east, or south-south-east, and carries with it clouds of dust and sand. The general height of the thermometer in the depth of winter in Lower Egypt, in the afternoon and in the shade, is from 50° to 60°: in the hottest season it is from 90° to 100°; and about ten degrees higher in the southern parts of Upper Egypt. But though the summer heat is so great it is seldom very oppressive, being generally accompanied by a refreshing northerly breeze, and the air being extremely dry. There is, however, one great source of discomfort arising from this dryness—namely, an excessive quantity of dust; and there are other plagues which very much detract from the comfort which the natives of Egypt, and visitors to their country, otherwise derive from its genial climate. In spring, summer, and autumn, flies are so abundant as to be extremely annoying during the daytime, and musquitoes are troublesome at night (unless a curtain be made use of to keep them away), and sometimes even in the day; and every house that contains much wood-work (as most of the better houses do) swarms with bugs during the warm weather. Lice are not always to be avoided in any season, but they are easily got rid of; and in the cooler weather fleas are excessively numerous.

The climate of Upper Egypt is more healthy, though hotter, than that of Lower Egypt. The plague seldom ascends far above Cairo, the metropolis; and is most common in the marshy parts of the country, near the Mediterranean. During the last ten years, the country having been better drained, and quarantine regulations adopted to prevent or guard against the introduction of this disease from other countries, very few plague cases have occurred, excepting in the parts above mentioned, and in those parts the pestilence has not been severe.[14] Ophthalmia is also more common in Lower Egypt than in the southern parts. It generally arises from checked perspiration, but is aggravated by the dust and many other causes. When remedies are promptly employed, this disease is seldom alarming in its progress; but vast numbers of the natives of Egypt, not knowing how to treat it, or obstinately resigning themselves to fate, are deprived of the sight of one or both of their eyes. 205589771

When questioned respecting the salubrity of Egypt, I have often been asked whether many aged persons are seen among the inhabitants: few, certainly, attain a great age in this country; but how few do, in our own land, without more than once suffering from an illness that would prove fatal without medical aid, which is obtained by a very small number in Egypt! The heat of the summer months is sufficiently oppressive to occasion considerable lassitude, while, at the same time, it excites the Egyptian to intemperance in sensual enjoyments; and the exuberant fertility of the soil engenders indolence, little nourishment sufficing for the natives, and the sufficiency being procurable without much exertion.

The modern Egyptian metropolis, to the inhabitants of which most of the contents of the following pages relate, is now called “Masr”;[15] more properly, “Misr”; but was formerly named “El-Káhireh”; whence Europeans have formed the name of _Cairo_. It is situated at the entrance of the valley of Upper Egypt, midway between the Nile and the eastern mountain range of Mukattam. Between it and the river there intervenes a tract of land, for the most part cultivated, which, in the northern parts (where the port of Boolák is situated), is more than a mile in width, and, at the southern part, less than half a mile wide. The metropolis occupies a space equal to about three square miles; and its population is about two hundred and forty thousand. It is surrounded by a wall, the gates of which are shut at night, and is commanded by a large citadel, situated at an angle of the town, near a point of the mountain. The streets are unpaved, and most of them are narrow and irregular: they might more properly be called lanes.

By a stranger who merely passed through the streets, Cairo would be regarded as a very close and crowded city; but that this is not the case is evident to a person who overlooks the town from the top of a lofty house, or from the menaret of a mosque. The great thoroughfare-streets have generally a row of shops along each side. Above the shops are apartments which do not communicate with them, and which are seldom occupied by the persons who rent the shops. To the right and left of the great thoroughfares are bye-streets and quarters. Most of the bye-streets are thoroughfares, and have a large wooden gate at each end, closed at night, and kept by a porter within, who opens to any persons requiring to be admitted. The quarters mostly consist of several narrow lanes, having but one general entrance, with a gate, which is also closed at night; but several have a bye-street passing through them.

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[Illustration: PRIVATE HOUSES IN CAIRO.]

The street in this view is wider than usual. The projecting windows on opposite sides of a street often nearly meet each other, almost entirely excluding the sun, and thus producing an agreeable coolness in the summer.

_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 5_

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Of the private houses of the metropolis it is particularly necessary that I should give a description. The accompanying engraving will serve to give a general notion of their exterior. The foundation-walls, to the height of the first floor, are cased, externally, and often internally, with the soft calcareous stone of the neighbouring mountain. The surface of the stone, when newly cut, is of a light yellowish hue; but its colour soon darkens. The alternate courses of the front are sometimes coloured red and white,[16] particularly in large houses; as is the case with most mosques. The superstructure, the front of which generally projects about two feet, and is supported by corbels or piers, is of brick, and often plastered. The bricks are burnt, and of a dull red colour. The mortar is generally composed of mud in the proportion of one-half, with a fourth part of lime, and the remaining part of the ashes of straw and rubbish. Hence the unplastered walls of brick are of a dirty colour, as if the bricks were unburnt. The roof is flat, and covered with a coat of plaster.

The most usual architectural style of the entrance of a private house in Cairo is shown by the sketch here inserted. The door is often ornamented in the manner here represented: the compartment in which is the inscription, and the other similarly-shaped compartments, are painted red, bordered with white; the rest of the surface of the door is painted green. The inscription, “He (_i.e._, God) is the excellent Creator, the Everlasting” (the object of which will be explained when I treat of the superstitions of the Egyptians), is seen on many doors; but is far from being general. It is usually painted in black or white characters. Few doors but those of large houses are painted. They generally have an iron knocker and a wooden lock; and there is usually a mounting-stone by the side.

[Illustration: DOOR OF A PRIVATE HOUSE.]

The ground floor apartments next the street have small wooden grated windows, placed sufficiently high to render it impossible for a person passing by in the street, even on horseback, to see through them. The windows of the upper apartments generally project a foot and a half, or more, and are mostly formed of turned wooden lattice-work, which is so close that it shuts out much of the light and sun, and screens the inmates of the house from the view of persons without, while at the same time it admits the air. They are generally of unpainted wood; but some few are partially painted red and green, and some are entirely painted. A window of this kind is called a “róshan,” or, more commonly, a “meshrebeeyeh,” which latter word has another application, that will be mentioned below. Several windows of different descriptions are represented in some of the illustrations of this work; and sketches of the most common patterns of the lattice-work, on a larger scale, are here inserted.[17] Sometimes a window of the kind above described has a little meshrebeeyeh, which somewhat resembles a róshan in miniature, projecting from the front, or from each side. In this, in order to be exposed to a current of air, are placed porous earthen bottles, which are used for cooling water by evaporation. Hence the name of “meshrebeeyeh,” which signifies “a place for drink,” or “—for drinking.” The projecting window has a flat one of lattice-work, or of grating of wood, or of coloured glass, immediately above it. This upper window, if of lattice-work, is often of a more fanciful construction than the others, exhibiting a representation of a basin with a ewer above it, or the figure of a lion, or the name of “Allah,” or the words “God is my hope,” etc. Some projecting windows are wholly constructed of boards, and a few have frames of glass in the sides. In the better houses, also, the windows of lattice-work are now generally furnished with frames of glass in the inside, which in the winter are wholly closed: for a penetrating cold is felt in Egypt when the thermometer of Fahrenheit is below 60°. The windows of inferior houses are mostly of a different kind, being even with the exterior surface of the wall: the upper part is of wooden lattice-work, or grating; and the lower closed by hanging shutters; but many of these have a little meshrebeeyeh for the water-bottles, projecting from the lower part.[18]

[Illustration:

Specimens Of Lattice Work.

From the centre of one row of beads to that of the next (in these specimens) is between an inch and a quarter and an inch and three-quarters. ]

The houses in general are two or three storeys high; and almost every house that is sufficiently large encloses an open, unpaved court, called a “hósh,” which is entered by a passage that is constructed with one or two turnings, for the purpose of preventing passengers in the street from seeing into it. In this passage, just within the door, there is a long stone seat, called “mastab′ah,” built against the back or side wall, for the porter and other servants. In the court is a well of slightly brackish water, which filters through the soil from the Nile; and on its most shaded side are, commonly, two water-jars, which are daily replenished with water of the Nile, brought from the river in skins.[19] The principal apartments look into the court; and their exterior walls (those which are of brick) are plastered and whitewashed. There are several doors, which are entered from the court. One of these is called “báb el-hareem” (the door of the hareem): it is the entrance of the stairs which lead to the apartments appropriated exclusively to the women and their master and his children.[20]

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[Illustration: COURT OF A PRIVATE HOUSE IN CAIRO]

_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 9_

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[Illustration: FOUNTAIN.]

In general, there is, on the ground floor, an apartment called a “mandar′ah,” in which male visitors are received. This has a wide wooden grated window, or two windows of this kind, next the court. A small part of the floor, extending from the door to the opposite side of the room, is six or seven inches lower than the rest: this part is called the “durká’ah.”[21] In a handsome house, the durká’ah of the mandar′ah is paved with white and black marble, and little pieces of fine red tile, inlaid in complicated and tasteful patterns, and has in the centre a fountain (called “faskeeyeh”), which plays into a small shallow pool, lined with coloured marbles, etc., like the surrounding pavement. I give a sketch of the fountain. The water which falls from the fountain is drained off from the pool by a pipe. There is generally, fronting the door, at the end of the durká’ah, a shelf of marble or of common stone, about four feet high, called a “suffeh,” supported by two or more arches, or by a single arch, under which are placed utensils in ordinary use—such as perfuming vessels, and the basin and ewer which are used for washing before and after meals, and for the ablution preparatory to prayer: water-bottles, coffee cups, etc., are placed upon the suffeh. In handsome houses, the arches of the suffeh are faced with marble and tile, like the pool of the fountain represented in the sketch above, and sometimes the wall over it, to the height of about four feet or more, is also cased with similar materials: partly with large upright slabs, and partly with small pieces, like the durká’ah. The raised part of the floor of the room is called “leewán”[22] (a corruption of “el-eewán,” which signifies “any raised place to sit upon,” and also “a palace”). Every person slips off his shoes on the durká’ah before he steps upon the leewán.[23] The latter is generally paved with common stone, and covered with a mat in summer, and a carpet over the mat in winter; and has a mattress and cushions placed against each of its three walls, composing what is called a “deewán,” or divan. The mattress, which is generally about three feet wide and three or four inches thick, is placed either on the ground or on a raised frame; and the cushions, which are usually of a length equal to the width of the mattress, and of a height equal to half that measure, lean against the wall. Both mattresses and cushions are stuffed with cotton, and are covered with printed calico, cloth, or some more expensive stuff. The walls are plastered and whitewashed. There are generally, in the walls, two or three shallow cupboards, the doors of which are composed of very small panels, on account of the heat and dryness of the climate, which cause wood to warp and shrink as if it were placed in an oven; for which reason the doors of the apartments also are constructed in the same manner. We observe great variety and much ingenuity displayed in the different modes in which these small panels are formed and disposed. A few specimens are here introduced. The ceiling over the leewán is of wood, with carved beams, generally about a foot apart, partially painted, and sometimes gilt. But that part of the ceiling which is over the durká’ah, in a handsome house, is usually more richly decorated; here, instead of beams, numerous thin strips of wood are nailed upon the planks, forming patterns curiously complicated, yet perfectly regular, and having a highly ornamental effect. I give a sketch of the half of a ceiling thus decorated, but not in the most complicated style. The strips are painted yellow or gilt; and the spaces within, painted green, red, and blue.[24] In the example which I have inserted, the colours are as indicated in the sketch of a portion of the same on a larger scale, excepting in the square in the centre of the ceiling, where the strips are black, upon a yellow ground. From the centre of this square a chandelier is often suspended. There are many patterns of a similar kind; and the colours generally occupy similar places with regard to each other; but in some houses these ceilings are not painted. The ceiling of a projecting window is often ornamented in the same manner. A sketch of one is here given. Good taste is evinced by only decorating in this manner parts which are not always before the eyes; for to look long at so many lines intersecting each other in various directions would be painful.

[Illustration: SUFFEH.]

In some houses (as in that which is the subject of the engraving opposite p. 9) there is another room, called a “mak’ad,” for the same use as the mandar′ah, having an open front, with two or more arches and a low railing; and also, on the ground floor, a square recess, called a “takhtabósh,” with an open front, and generally a pillar to support the wall above: its floor is a paved leewán; and there is a long wooden sofa placed along one, or two, or each of its three walls. The court, during the summer, is frequently sprinkled with water, which renders the surrounding apartments agreeably cool—or at least those on the ground-floor. All the rooms are furnished in the same manner as that first described.

[Illustration:

SPECIMENS OF PANEL-WORK. These are represented on a scale of one inch to twenty-four or thirty. ]

Among the upper apartments, or those of the Hareem, there is generally one called a “ká’ah,” which is particularly lofty. It has two leewáns—one on each hand of a person entering: one of these is generally larger than the other, and is the more honourable part. A portion of the roof of this saloon, the part which is over the durká’ah that divides the two leewáns, is a little elevated above the rest; and has, in the centre, a small lantern, called “memrak,” the sides of which are composed of lattice-work, like the windows before described, and support a cupola. The durká’ah is commonly without a fountain; but is often paved in a similar manner to that of the mandar’ah, which the ká’ah also resembles in having a handsome suffeh, and cupboards of curious panel-work. There is, besides, in this and some other apartments, a narrow shelf of wood, extending along two or each of the three walls which bound the leewán, about seven feet or more from the floor, just above the cupboards, but interrupted in some parts—at least in those parts where the windows are placed; upon this are arranged several vessels of china, not so much for general use as for ornament.[25] All the apartments are lofty, generally fourteen feet or more in height; but the ká’ah is the largest and most lofty room, and in a large house it is a noble saloon.

[Illustration: CEILING OF A DURKÁ’AH.—About eight feet wide.]

[Illustration:

CEILING OF A PROJECTING WINDOW. The dimensions of this are about eight feet by three. ]

In several of the upper rooms, in the houses of the wealthy, there are, besides the windows of lattice-work, others, of coloured glass, representing bunches of flowers, peacocks, and other gay and gaudy objects, or merely fanciful patterns, which have a pleasing effect. These coloured glass windows, which are termed “kamareeyehs,”[26] are mostly from a foot and a half to two feet and a half in height, and from one to two feet in width; and are generally placed along the upper part of the projecting lattice-window, in a row; or above that kind of window, disposed in a group, so as to form a large square; or elsewhere in the upper parts of the walls, usually singly, or in pairs, side by side. They are composed of small pieces of glass, of various colours, set in rims of fine plaster, and enclosed in a frame of wood. On the plastered walls of some apartments are rude paintings of the temple of Mekkeh, or of the tomb of the Prophet, or of flowers and other objects, executed by native Muslim artists, who have not the least notion of the rules of perspective, and who consequently deface what they thus attempt to decorate. Sometimes, also, the walls are ornamented with Arabic inscriptions, of maxims, etc., which are more usually written on paper, in an embellished style, and enclosed in glazed frames. No chambers are furnished as bedrooms. The bed, in the daytime, is rolled up, and placed on one side, or in an adjoining closet, called “khazneh,” which, in the winter, is a sleeping-place: in summer, many people sleep upon the house-top. A mat, or carpet, spread upon the raised part of the stone floor, and a deewán, constitute the complete furniture of a room. For meals, a round tray is brought in, and placed upon a low stool, and the company sit round it on the ground. There is no fire-place:[27] the room is warmed, when necessary, by burning charcoal in a chafing-dish. Many houses have, at the top, a sloping shed of boards, called a “malkaf,”[28] directed towards the north or north-west, to convey to a “fes-hah,” or “fesahah” (an open apartment), below the cool breezes which generally blow from those quarters.

[Illustration: WOODEN LOCK.]

Every door is furnished with a wooden lock, called a “dabbeh,” the mechanism of which is shown by a sketch here inserted. No. 1 in this sketch is a front view of the lock, with the bolt drawn back; Nos. 2, 3, and 4, are back views of the separate parts, and the key. A number of small iron pins (four, five, or more) drop into corresponding holes in the sliding bolt as soon as the latter is pushed into the hole or staple of the door-post. The key also has small pins, made to correspond with the holes, into which they are introduced to open the lock: the former pins being thus pushed up, the bolt may be drawn back. The wooden lock of a street-door is commonly about fourteen inches long:[29] those of the doors of apartments, cupboards, etc., are about seven, or eight, or nine inches. The locks of the gates of quarters, public buildings, etc., are of the same kind, and mostly two feet, or even more, in length. It is not difficult to pick this kind of lock.

In the plan of almost every house there is an utter want of regularity. The apartments are generally of different heights—so that a person has to ascend or descend one, two, or more steps, to pass from one chamber to another adjoining it. The principal aim of the architect is to render the house as private as possible; particularly that part of it which is inhabited by the women; and not to make any window in such a situation as to overlook the apartments of another house. Another object of the architect, in building a house for a person of wealth or rank, is to make a secret door (“báb sirr”[30]), from which the tenant may make his escape in case of danger from an arrest, or an attempt at assassination—or by which to give access and egress to a paramour; and it is also common to make a hiding-place for treasure (called “makhba”) in some part of the house. In the hareem of a large house there is generally a bath, which is heated in the same manner as the public baths.

Another style of building has lately been very generally adopted for houses of the more wealthy. These do not differ much from those already described, excepting in the windows, which are of glass, and placed almost close together. Each window of the hareem has, outside, a sliding frame of close wooden trellis-work, to cover the lower half. The numerous glass windows are ill adapted to a hot climate.

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[Illustration: A KÄAH.]

_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 16_

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When shops occupy the lower part of the buildings in a street (as is generally the case in the great thoroughfares of the metropolis, and in some of the bye-streets), the superstructure is usually divided into distinct lodgings, and is termed “raba.” These lodgings are separate from each other, as well as from the shops below, and let to families who cannot afford the rent of a whole house. Each lodging in a raba comprises one or two sitting and sleeping-rooms, and generally a kitchen and latrina. It seldom has a separate entrance from the street, one entrance and one staircase usually admitting to a range of several lodgings. The apartments are similar to those of the private houses first described. They are never let ready-furnished; and it is very seldom that a person who has not a wife or female slave is allowed to reside in them, or in any private house: such a person (unless he have parents or other near relations to dwell with) is usually obliged to take up his abode in a “wekáleh,” which is a building chiefly designed for the reception of merchants and their goods. Franks, however, are now exempted from this restriction.

Very few large or handsome houses are to be seen in Egypt, excepting in the metropolis and some other towns. The dwellings of the lower orders, particularly those of the peasants, are of a very mean description: they are mostly built of unbaked bricks, cemented together with mud. Some of them are mere hovels. The greater number, however, comprise two or more apartments; though few are two storeys high. In one of these apartments, in the houses of the peasants in Lower Egypt, there is generally an oven (“furn”), at the end farthest from the entrance, and occupying the whole width of the chamber. It resembles a wide bench or seat, and is about breast-high: it is constructed of brick and mud; the roof arched within, and flat on the top. The inhabitants of the house, who seldom have any night-covering during the winter, sleep upon the top of the oven, having previously lighted a fire within it; or the husband and wife only enjoy this luxury and the children sleep upon the floor. The chambers have small apertures high up in the walls, for the admission of light and air—sometimes furnished with a grating of wood. The roofs are formed of palm-branches and palm-leaves, or of millet-stalks, etc., laid upon rafters of the trunk of the palm, and covered with a plaster of mud and chopped straw. The furniture consists of a mat or two to sleep upon, a few earthen vessels, and a hand-mill to grind the corn. In many villages large pigeon-houses of a square form, but with the walls slightly inclining inwards (like many of the ancient Egyptian buildings), or of the form of a sugar-loaf, are constructed upon the roots of the huts, with crude brick, pottery, and mud.[31] Most of the villages of Egypt are situated upon eminences of rubbish, which rise a few feet above the reach of the inundation, and are surrounded by palm-trees, or have a few of these trees in their vicinity. The rubbish which they occupy chiefly consists of the materials of former huts, and seems to increase in about the same degree as the level of the alluvial plains and the bed of the river.

In a country where neither births nor deaths are registered it is next to impossible to ascertain, with precision, the amount of the population. A few years ago a calculation was made, founded on the number of houses in Egypt, and the supposition that the inhabitants of each house in the metropolis amount to eight persons, and in the provinces to four. This computation approximates, I believe, very nearly to the truth; but personal observation and inquiry incline me to think that the houses of such towns as Alexandria, Boolák, and Masr el-’Ateekah contain each, on the average, at least five persons: Rasheed (or Rosetta) is half deserted; but as to the crowded town of Dimyát[32] (or Damietta), we must reckon as many as six persons to each house, or our estimate will fall far short of what is generally believed to be the number of its inhabitants. The addition of one or two persons to each house in the above-mentioned towns will, however, make little difference in the computation of the whole population of Egypt, which was found, by this mode of reckoning, to amount to rather more than 2,500,000; but it is now much reduced. Of 2,500,000 souls, say 1,200,000 are males; and one-third of this number (400,000) men fit for military service: from this latter number the present Básha of Egypt has taken, at the least, 200,000 (that is, one-half of the most serviceable portion of the male population) to form and recruit his armies of regular troops, and for the service of his navy. The further loss caused by withdrawing so many men from their wives, or preventing their marrying, during ten years, must surely far exceed 300,000; consequently, the present population may be calculated as less than two millions. The numbers of the several classes of which the population is mainly composed are nearly as follows:—

Muslim Egyptians (felláheen, or peasants, and 1,750,000 townspeople)

Christian Egyptians (Copts) 150,000

’Osmánlees, or Turks 10,000

Syrians 5,000

Greeks 5,000

Armenians 2,000

Jews 5,000

Of the remainder (namely, Arabians, Western Arabs, Nubians, Negro slaves, Memlooks [or white male slaves], female white slaves, Franks, etc.), amounting to about 70,000, the respective numbers are very uncertain and variable. The Arabs of the neighbouring deserts ought not to be included among the population of Egypt.[33]

Cairo, I have said, contains about 240,000 inhabitants.[34] We should be greatly deceived if we judged of the population of this city from the crowds that we meet in the principal thoroughfare-streets and markets; in most of the bye-streets and quarters very few passengers are seen. Nor should we judge from the extent of the city and suburbs; for there are within the walls many vacant places, some of which, during the season of the inundation, are lakes (as the Birket el-Ezbekeeyeh, Birket el-Feel, etc.). The gardens, several burial-grounds, the courts of houses, and the mosques, also occupy a considerable space. Of the inhabitants of the metropolis, about 190,000 are Egyptian Muslims; about 10,000, Copts; 3,000 or 4,000, Jews; and the rest, strangers from various countries.[35]

The population of Egypt in the times of the Pharaohs was probably about six or seven millions.[36] The produce of the soil in the present age would suffice, if none were exported, for the maintenance of a population amounting to 4,000,000; and if all the soil which is capable of cultivation were sown, the produce would be sufficient for the maintenance of 8,000,000. But this would be the utmost number that Egypt could maintain in years of plentiful inundation; I therefore compute the ancient population, at the time when agriculture was in a very flourishing state, to have amounted to what I first stated; and must suppose it to have been scarcely more than half as numerous in the times of the Ptolemies, and at later periods, when a great quantity of corn was annually exported.[37] This calculation agrees with what Diodorus Siculus says (in lib. i. cap. 31); namely, that Egypt contained, in the times of the ancient kings, 7,000,000 inhabitants, and in his own time not less than 3,000,000.

How different now is the state of Egypt from what it might be, possessing a population of scarcely more than one quarter of the number that it might be rendered capable of supporting! How great a change might be effected in it by a truly enlightened government, by a prince who (instead of impoverishing the peasantry by depriving them of their lands, and by his monopolies of the most valuable productions of the soil; by employing the best portion of the population to prosecute his ambitious schemes of foreign conquest, and another large portion in the vain attempt to rival European manufactures) would give his people a greater interest in the cultivation of the fields, and make Egypt what nature designed it to be—almost exclusively an agricultural country! Its produce of cotton alone would more than suffice to procure all the articles of foreign manufacture, and all the natural productions of foreign countries, that the wants of its inhabitants demand.[38]

The desired change may now be easily effected, for since the above was written the Básha has been placed in a new position, which will enable him to acquire a greater and more honourable fame, by the cultivation of the arts of peace, than his conquests, brilliant as they have been, have hitherto procured for him. No one who is acquainted with the modern history of Egypt, and more particularly with the state of the country during the period that intervened between the French expedition and the accession of Mohammad ’Alee to the office of viceroy, can doubt that he possesses extraordinary talents for government; and let us hope that those talents will be rightly employed: but, as he himself affirms, some time will be required for effecting the necessary changes.

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Footnote 1:

It gives me great pleasure to find, that, while I have been attempting to preserve memorials of the manners and customs of the most polished modern Arab people, one of my learned friends (M. Fulgence Fresnel) has been occupied, with eminent success, in rescuing from oblivion many interesting notices of the history of the _early_ Arabs, and that another (Mr. [now, Sir Gardner] Wilkinson) has been preparing to impart to us an account of the private life, manners, etc., of the Ancient Egyptians. [The very high and just commendation which the works of these two authors (published since the above was written) have obtained from eminent critics renders it needless for me to add my humble testimony to their merits.]

Footnote 2:

Among the memoirs in “the great French work” on Egypt, is one entitled “Essai sur les mœurs des habitans modernes de l’Egypte;” but its author appears to me to have fallen into an error of considerable magnitude, in applying to the Egyptians in general, observations which were, in truth, for the most part descriptive of the manners and customs of their naturalized rulers, the Memlooks. It is probable that the Egyptians in some degree imitated, when they were able to do so, the habits and customs of this class: I may however, venture to affirm, that the essay here alluded to does not convey a true notion of their _present_ moral and social state. Its author, moreover, shows himself to have been often extremely careless both in his observations and inquiries: this is particularly evident in his singular misstatement of the correspondence of French and Mohammadan hours, and in the first two pages (in the 8vo. edition) of the section on public fêtes. He has given many just philosophical observations; but these occupy too large a proportion of a memoir scarcely exceeding one-third of the extent of the present work. To show that these remarks are not made in an invidious spirit, I most willingly express my high admiration of other parts of “the great work” (especially the contributions of M. Jomard), relating to subjects which have alike employed my mind and pen, and upon which I shall probably publish my observations.—Burckhardt’s “Arabic Proverbs,” and their illustrations, convey many notions of remarkable customs and traits of character of the modern Egyptians; but are very far from composing a complete exposition, or in every case, a true one; for national proverbs are bad tests of the morality of a people.—There is one work, however, which presents most admirable pictures of the manners and customs of the Arabs, and particularly of those of the Egyptians: it is “The Thousand and One Nights,” or Arabian Nights’ Entertainments: if the English reader had possessed a close translation of it with sufficient illustrative notes, I might almost have spared myself the labour of the present undertaking.—[This remark, respecting “The Thousand and One Nights,” was, I believe, the cause of my being employed, since the publication of the first edition of the present work, to translate those admirable tales, and to illustrate them by explanatory notes.]

Footnote 3:

Thus commonly pronounced, for Esh-Shaaránee.

Footnote 4:

He professes to have had more than thirty wives in the course of his life; but, in saying so, I believe he greatly exaggerates.

Footnote 5:

It is a common belief among the Egyptians, that every European traveller who visits their country is an emissary from his King; and it is difficult to convince them that this is not the case: so strange to them is the idea of a man’s incurring great trouble and expense for the purpose of acquiring the knowledge of foreign countries and nations.

Footnote 6:

Kur-án, chap, iv., ver. 96.

Footnote 7:

Kur-án, chap. lvi., ver 78.

Footnote 8:

David Urquhart, Esq., author of “The Spirit of the East,” etc.

Footnote 9:

Here I must mention, that I have written “Básha” instead of “Pásha” in conformity with the pronunciation of the Egyptians.

Footnote 10:

Strictly speaking, it has a sound between that of “a” in “bad” and that of “u” in “bud;” sometimes approximating more to the former, and sometimes to the latter.

Footnote 11:

Its sound, however, often approximates to that of “a” in “ball.”

Footnote 12:

Respecting this term, see the first of the notes in Chapter xxvi.

Footnote 13:

This is the temperature in the shade. At Thebes, I have observed the thermometer to rise above 110° during a khamáseen wind, in the shade.

Footnote 14:

This remark was written before the terrible plague of the present year [1835], which was certainly introduced from Turkey, and extended throughout the whole of Egypt, though its ravages were not great in the southern parts. It has destroyed not less than eighty thousand persons in Cairo: that is, one-third of the population; and far more, I believe, than two hundred thousand in all Egypt. According to a report made by the government, the victims of this plague in Cairo were about _forty_ thousand; but I have been informed, on high authority, that the government made it a rule to report only half the number of deaths in this case.

Footnote 15:

This is the name by which the modern Egyptians call their country, as well as its metropolis.

Footnote 16:

With red ochre and lime wash.

Footnote 17:

No. 1 is a view and section of a portion of the most simple kind. This and the other four kinds are here represented on a scale of about one-seventh of the real size. No. 6 shows the general proportions of the side of a projecting window. The portion A is, in most instances, of lattice-work similar to No. 1, and comprises about twelve rows of beads in the width: the portion B is commonly either of the same kind, or like No. 2 or No. 3; and the small lattice C, which is attached by hinges, is generally similar to No. 4.

Footnote 18:

Commonly similar to No. 1, or No. 5.

Footnote 19:

Some large houses have two courts: the inner for the hareem; and in the latter, or both of these, there is usually a little enclosure of arched wood-work in which trees and flowers are raised.

Footnote 20:

In the accompanying view of the court of a house, the door of the hareem is that which faces the spectator.

Footnote 21:

Apparently a corruption of the Persian “dargáh.”—The view of a ká’ah opposite p. 14 will serve to illustrate the description of the mandar’ah.

Footnote 22:

The “leewán” is not to be confounded with the “deewán,” which is afterwards mentioned.

Footnote 23:

One of the chief reasons of the custom here mentioned is, to avoid defiling a mat or carpet upon which prayer is usually made. This, as many authors have observed, illustrates passages of the Scriptures—Exodus iii. 5, and Joshua v. 15.

Footnote 24:

See Jeremiah xxii. 14.

Footnote 25:

In the larger houses, and some others, there is also, adjoining the principal saloon, an elevated closet, designed as an orchestra, for female singers. A description of this will be found in the chapter on music.

Footnote 26:

This word is said to be derived from “kamar” (the moon). Baron Hammer-Purgstall thinks (see the Vienna “Jahrbücher der Literatur,” lxxxi. bd., pp. 71, 72) that it has its origin from Chumaruje [or, as he is called by the Arabs in general, Khumáraweyh], the second prince of the dynasty of the Benee-Tooloon, who governed in Egypt in the end of the ninth century of the Christian era, and that it proves the art of staining glass to have been in a flourishing state in Cairo at that period.

Footnote 27:

Excepting in the kitchen, in which are several small receptacles for fire, constructed on a kind of bench of brick. Hence, and for several other reasons (among which may be mentioned the sober and early habits of the people, the general absence of draperies in the apartments, and the construction of the floors, which are of wood overlaid with stone), the destruction of a house by fire seldom happens in Cairo; but when such an accident does occur, an extensive conflagration is the usual result; for a great quantity of wood, mostly deal, and of course excessively dry, is employed in the construction of the houses.

Footnote 28:

See again the engraving opposite p. 9.

Footnote 29:

This is the measure of the sliding bolt.

Footnote 30:

This term is also applied sometimes to the door of the hareem.

Footnote 31:

The earthen pots used in the construction of these pigeon-houses are of an oval form, with a wide mouth, which is placed outwards, and a small hole at the other end. Each pair of pigeons occupies a separate pot.

Footnote 32:

Vulgarly called “Dumyát.”

Footnote 33:

The Muslim Egyptians, Copts, Syrians, and Jews of Egypt, with few exceptions, speak no language but the Arabic, which is also the language generally used by the foreigners settled in this country. The Nubians, among themselves, speak their own dialects.

Footnote 34:

The population of Cairo has increased to this amount, from about 200,000, within the last three or four years. Since the computation here stated was made, the plague of this year [1835] has destroyed not fewer than one-third of its inhabitants, as before mentioned; but this deficiency will be rapidly supplied from the villages.

Footnote 35:

About one-third of the population of the metropolis consists of adult males. Of this number (or 80,000) about 30,000 are merchants, petty shopkeepers, and artisans; 20,000, domestic servants; 15,000, common labourers, porters, etc.: the remainder chiefly consists of military and civil servants of the government.

Footnote 36:

I place but little reliance on the accounts of ancient authors on this subject.

Footnote 37:

It has been suggested to me that, if corn was exported, something of equal value was imported; and that the exportation of corn, or anything else, would give a stimulus to industry and to population: but I do not know what could be imported that would fill up the measure of the food necessary to sustain a population much greater than that which would consume the corn retained.

Footnote 38:

During the present year [1835] more than 100,000 bales of cotton (each bale weighing a hundred-weight and three-quarters) have been shipped at Alexandria. The price paid for this quantity by the merchants exceeded £700,000. The quantity exported last year was 34,000 bales, which is considerably less than usual.—The policy above recommended is strongly advocated by Ibráheem Básha.

Chapter I.

Personal Characteristics And Dress Of The Muslim Egyptians.

Muslims of Arabian origin have for many centuries mainly composed the population of Egypt: they have changed its language, laws, and general manners; and its metropolis they have made the principal seat of Arabian learning and arts. To the description of this people, and especially of the middle and higher classes in the Egyptian capital, will be devoted the chief portion of the present work. In every point of view, Masr (or Cairo) must be regarded as the first Arab city of our age; and the manners and customs of its inhabitants are particularly interesting, as they are a combination of those which prevail most generally in the towns of Arabia, Syria, and the whole of Northern Africa, and in a great degree in Turkey. There is no other place in which we can obtain so complete a knowledge of the most civilized classes of the Arabs.

From statements made in the introduction to this work, it appears that Muslim Egyptians (or Arab-Egyptians) compose nearly four-fifths of the population of the metropolis (which is computed to amount to about 240,000), and just seven-eighths of that of all Egypt.

The Muslim Egyptians are descended from various Arab tribes and families which have settled in Egypt at different periods; mostly soon after the conquest of this country by ’Amr, its first Arab governor; but by intermarriages with the Copts and others who have become proselytes to the faith of El-Islám, as well as by the change from a life of wandering to that of citizens or of agriculturists, their personal characteristics have, by degrees, become so much altered, that there is a strongly marked difference between them and the natives of Arabia. Yet they are to be regarded as not less genuine Arabs than the townspeople of Arabia itself, among whom has long and very generally prevailed a custom of keeping Abyssinian female slaves, either instead of marrying their own countrywomen, or (as is commonly the case with the opulent) in addition to their Arab wives; so that they bear almost as strong a resemblance to the Abyssinians as to the Bedawees, or Arabs of the Desert. The term “Arab,”[39] it should here be remarked, is now used wherever the Arabic language is spoken, only to designate the Bedawees collectively. In speaking of a tribe, or of a small number of those people, the word “’Orbán” is also used; and a single individual is called “Bedawee.”[40] In the metropolis and other towns of Egypt, the distinction of tribes is almost wholly lost; but it is preserved among the peasants, who have retained many Bedawee customs, of which I shall have to speak. The native Muslim inhabitants of Cairo commonly call themselves “El-Masreeyeen,” “Owlád-Masr” (or “Ahl-Masr”), and “Owlád-el-Beled,” which signify people of Masr, children of Masr, and children of the town; the singular forms of these appellations are “Masree,” “Ibn-Masr,” and “Ibn-el-Beled.”[41] Of these three terms, the last is most common in the town itself. The country people are called “El-Felláheen” (or the Agriculturists), in the singular “Felláh.”[42] The Turks often apply this term to the Egyptians in general in an abusive sense, as meaning “the boors,” or “the clowns;” and improperly stigmatize them with the appellation of “Ahl-Far’oon,”[43] or “the people of Pharaoh.”

In general, the Muslim Egyptians attain the height of about five feet eight, or five feet nine inches. Most of the children under nine or ten years of age have spare limbs and a distended abdomen; but, as they grow up, their forms rapidly improve. In mature age most of them are remarkably well proportioned. The men, muscular and robust; the women, very beautifully formed, and plump; and neither sex is too fat. I have never seen corpulent persons among them, excepting a few in the metropolis and other towns, rendered so by a life of inactivity. In Cairo, and throughout the northern provinces, those who have not been much exposed to the sun, have a yellowish, but very clear complexion, and soft skin; the rest are of a considerably darker and coarser complexion. The people of Middle Egypt are of a more tawny colour, and those of the more southern provinces are of a deep bronze or brown complexion—darkest towards Nubia, where the climate is hottest. In general, the countenance of the Muslim Egyptian (I here speak of the _men_) is of a fine oval form; the forehead, of moderate size, seldom high, but generally prominent; the eyes are deep-sunk, black, and brilliant; the nose is straight, but rather thick; the mouth well formed; the lips are rather full than otherwise; the teeth particularly beautiful;[44] the beard is commonly black and curly, but scanty. I have seen very few individuals of this race with grey eyes, or rather, few persons supposed to be of this race; for I am inclined to think them the offspring of Arab women by Turks or other foreigners. The Felláheen, from constant exposure to the sun, have a habit of half shutting their eyes; this is also characteristic of the Bedawees. Great numbers of the Egyptians are blind in one or both eyes. They generally shave that part of the cheek which is above the lower jaw, and likewise a small space under the lower lip, leaving, however, the hairs which grow in the middle under the mouth; or, instead of shaving these parts, they pluck out the hair. They also shave a part of the beard under the chin. Very few shave the rest of their beards,[45] and none their moustaches. The former they suffer to grow to the length of about a hand’s breadth below the chin (such, at least, is the general rule, and such was the custom of the Prophet); and their moustaches they do not allow to become so long as to incommode them in eating and drinking. The practice of dyeing the beard is not common, for a grey beard is much respected. The Egyptians shave all the rest of the hair, or leave only a small tuft (called “shoosheh”) upon the crown of the head.[46] This last custom (which is almost universal among them), I have been told, originated in the fear that if the Muslim should fall into the hands of an infidel and be slain, the latter might cut off the head of his victim, and finding no hair by which to hold it, put his impure hand into the mouth in order to carry it; for the beard might not be sufficiently long.[47] With the like view of avoiding impurity, the Egyptians observe other customs which need not here be described.[48] Many men of the lower orders, and some others, make blue marks upon their arms, and sometimes upon the hands and chest, as the women, in speaking of whom this operation will be described.

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[Illustration: MEN OF THE MIDDLE AND HIGHER CLASSES.]

_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 25_

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The dress of the men of the middle and higher classes consists of the following articles.[49] First, a pair of full drawers[50] of linen or cotton, tied round the body by a running string or band,[51] the ends of which are embroidered with coloured silks, though concealed by the outer dress. The drawers descend a little below the knees, or to the ankles; but many of the Arabs will not wear long drawers, because prohibited by the Prophet. Next is worn a shirt, with very full sleeves, reaching to the wrist; it is made of linen, of a loose, open texture, or of cotton stuff, or of muslin or silk, or of a mixture of silk and cotton, in stripes, but all white.[52] Over this, in winter, or in cool weather, most persons wear a “sudeyree,” which is a short vest of cloth, or of striped coloured silk and cotton, without sleeves. Over the shirt and sudeyree, or the former alone, is worn a long vest of striped silk and cotton[53] (called “kaftán,” or more commonly “kuftán”), descending to the ankles, with long sleeves extending a few inches beyond the fingers’ ends, but divided from a point a little above the wrist, or about the middle of the fore-arm; so that the hand is generally exposed, though it may be concealed by the sleeve when necessary, for it is customary to cover the hands in the presence of a person of high rank. Round this vest is wound the girdle, which is a coloured shawl, or a long piece of white figured muslin. The ordinary outer robe is a long cloth coat, of any colour (called by the Turks “jubbeh,” but by the Egyptians “gibbeh”), the sleeves of which reach not quite to the wrist.[54] Some persons also wear a “beneesh,” or “benish,” which is a robe of cloth, with long sleeves, like those of the kuftán, but more ample;[55] it is properly a robe of ceremony, and should be worn over the other cloth coat; but many persons wear it _instead_ of the gibbeh. Another robe, called “farageeyeh,” nearly resembles the beneesh. It has very long sleeves, but these are not slit, and it is chiefly worn by men of the learned professions. In cold or cool weather, a kind of black woollen cloak, called “’abáyeh,” is commonly worn. Sometimes this is drawn over the head. In winter also many persons wrap a muslin or other shawl (such as they use for a turban) about the head and shoulders. The head-dress consists, first, of a small, close-fitting, cotton cap,[56] which is often changed; next, a “tarboosh,” which is a red cloth cap, also fitting closely to the head, with a tassel of dark blue silk at the crown; lastly, a long piece of white muslin, generally figured, or a Kashmeer shawl, which is wound round the tarboosh. Thus is formed the turban. The Kashmeer shawl is seldom worn excepting in cool weather. Some persons wear two or three tarbooshes, one over another. A “shereef” (or descendant of the Prophet) wears a green turban, or is privileged to do so; but no other person; and it is not common for any but a shereef to wear a bright green dress. Stockings are not in use; but some few persons, in cold weather, wear woollen or cotton socks. The shoes are of thick red morocco, pointed and turning up at the toes. Some persons also wear inner shoes of soft yellow morocco, and with soles of the same. The outer shoes are taken off on stepping upon a carpet or mat; but not the inner, for this reason—the former are often worn turned down at the heel.

On the little finger of the right hand is worn a seal-ring,[57] which is generally of silver, with a carnelion, or other stone, upon which is engraved the wearer’s name: the name is usually accompanied by the words “his servant” (signifying “the servant, or worshipper, of God”), and often by other words expressive of the person’s trust in God, etc.[58] The prophet disapproved of gold; therefore few Muslims wear gold rings; but the women have various ornaments (rings, bracelets, etc.) of that precious metal. The seal-ring is used for signing letters and other writings, and its impression is considered more valid than the sign-manual.[59] A little ink is dabbed upon it with one of the fingers, and it is pressed upon the paper, the person who uses it having first touched his tongue with another finger and moistened the place in the paper which is to be stamped. Almost every person who can afford it has a seal-ring, even though he be a servant. The regular scribes, literary men, and many others, wear a silver, brass, or copper “dawáyeh,” which is a case with receptacles for ink and pens, stuck in the girdle.[60] Some have, in the place of this, or in addition to it, a case-knife or a dagger.

The Egyptian generally takes his pipe with him wherever he goes (unless it be to the mosque), or has a servant to carry it, though it is not a common custom to smoke while riding or walking. The tobacco-purse he crams into his bosom, the kuftán being large, and lapping over in front. A handkerchief, embroidered with coloured silks and gold, and neatly folded, is also placed in the bosom. Many persons of the middle orders, who wish to avoid being thought rich, conceal such a dress as I have described by a long black gown of cotton, similar to the gown worn by most persons of the lower classes.

The costume of the men of the lower orders is very simple. These, if not of the very poorest class, wear a pair of drawers, and a long and full shirt or gown of blue linen or cotton, or of brown woollen stuff (the former called “’eree,” and the latter “zaaboot”), open from the neck nearly to the waist, and having wide sleeves.[61] Over this some wear a white or red woollen girdle. Their turban is generally composed of a white, red, or yellow woollen shawl, or of a piece of coarse cotton or muslin wound round a tarboosh, under which is a white or brown felt cap; but many are so poor as to have no other cap than the latter—no turban, nor even drawers nor shoes, but only the blue or brown shirt, or merely a few rags; while many, on the other hand, wear a sudeyree under the blue shirt; and some, particularly servants in the houses of great men, wear a white shirt, a sudeyree, and a kuftán or gibbeh, or both, and the blue shirt over all. The full sleeves of this shirt are sometimes drawn up by means of cords, which pass round each shoulder and cross behind, where they are tied in a knot. This custom is adopted by servants (particularly grooms) who have cords of crimson or dark-blue silk for this purpose. In cold weather many persons of the lower classes wear an ’abáyeh, like that before described, but coarser, and sometimes (instead of being black) having broad stripes, brown and white, or blue and white, but the latter rarely. Another kind of cloak, more full than the ’abáyeh, of black or deep-blue woollen stuff, is also very commonly worn; it is called “diffeeyeh.”[62] The shoes are of red or yellow morocco, or of sheep-skin.

[Illustration: FELLAHEEN.]

Several different forms of turbans are represented in some of the engravings which illustrate this work. The Muslims are distinguished by the colours of their turbans from the Copts and the Jews, who (as well as other subjects of the Turkish Sultán who are not Muslims) wear black, blue, grey, or light-brown turbans, and generally dull-coloured dresses. The distinction of sects, families, dynasties, etc., among the Muslim Arabs, by the colour of the turban and other articles of dress, is of very early origin. When the Imám Ibráheem Ibn-Mohammad, asserting his pretensions to the dignity of Khaleefeh,[63] was put to death by the Umawee Khaleefeh Marwán, many persons of the family of El-’Abbás assumed black clothing in testimony of their sorrow for his fate; and hence the black dress and turban (which latter is now characteristic, almost solely, of Christian and Jewish tributaries to the Osmánlee, or Turkish, Sultán) became the distinguishing costume of the Abbásee Khaleefehs, and of their officers. When an officer under this dynasty was disgraced, he was made to wear a white dress. White was adopted by the false prophet El-Mukanna’, to distinguish his party from the ’Abbásees; and the Fawátim of Egypt (or Khaleefehs of the race of Fátimeh), as rivals of the ’Abbásees, wore a white costume. El-Melik El-Ashraf Shaabán, a Sultán of Egypt (who reigned from the year of the Flight 764 to 778, or A.D. 1362 to 1376), was the first who ordered the “shereefs” to distinguish themselves by the green turban and dress. Some darweeshes of the sect of the Rifá’ees, and a few, but very few, other Muslims, wear a turban of black woollen stuff, or of a very deep olive-coloured (almost black) muslin; but that of the Copts, Jews, etc., is generally of black or blue muslin, or linen. There are not many different _forms_ of turbans now worn in Egypt: that worn by most of the servants is very formal. The kind common among the middle and higher classes of the tradesmen and other citizens of the metropolis and large towns is also very formal, but less so than that just before alluded to. The Turkish turban worn in Egypt is of a more elegant mode. The Syrian is distinguished by its width. The ’Ulama, and men of religion and letters in general, used to wear, as some do still, one particularly wide and formal, called a “mukleh.” The turban is much respected. In the houses of the more wealthy classes, there is usually a chair on which it is placed at night. This is often sent with the furniture of a bride, as it is common for a lady to have one upon which to place her head-dress. This kind of chair is never used for any other purpose. As an instance of the respect paid to the turban, one of my friends mentioned to me that an ’álim[64] being thrown off his donkey in a street of this city, his mukleh fell off, and rolled along several yards, whereupon the passengers ran after it, crying, “Lift up the crown of El-Islám!” while the poor ’álim, whom no one came to assist, called out in anger, “Lift up the _sheykh_[65] of El-Islám!”

[Illustration: AN EYE ORNAMENTED WITH KOHL.]

[Illustration:

MUK-HUL’AHS AND MIRWEDS. These are represented on scales of one-third, and a quarter, of the real size. ]

The general form and features of the _women_ must now be described. From the age of about fourteen to that of eighteen or twenty, they are generally models of beauty in body and limbs; and in countenance most of them are pleasing, and many exceedingly lovely: but soon after they have attained their perfect growth, they rapidly decline; the bosom early loses all its beauty, acquiring, from the relaxing nature of the climate, an excessive length and flatness in its forms, even while the face retains its full charms; and though, in most other respects, time does not commonly so soon nor so much deform them, at the age of forty it renders many, who in earlier years possessed considerable attractions, absolutely ugly. In the Egyptian females, the forms of womanhood begin to develop themselves about the ninth or tenth year: at the age of fifteen or sixteen they generally attain their highest degree of perfection. With regard to their complexions, the same remarks apply to them as to the men, with only this difference, that their faces, being generally veiled when they go abroad, are not quite so much tanned as those of the men. They are characterized, like the men, by a fine oval countenance; though, in some instances, it is rather broad. The eyes, with very few exceptions, are black, large, and of a long almond-form, with long and beautiful lashes and an exquisitely soft, bewitching expression: eyes more beautiful can hardly be conceived: their charming effect is much heightened by the concealment of the other features (however pleasing the latter may be), and is rendered still more striking by a practice universal among the females of the higher and middle classes, and very common among those of the lower orders, which is that of blackening the edge of the eyelids, both above and below the eye, with a black powder called “kohl.” This is a collyrium commonly composed of the smoke-black which is produced by burning a kind of “liban”—an aromatic resin—a species of frankincense, used, I am told, in preference to the better kind of frankincense, as being cheaper, and equally good for this purpose. Kohl is also prepared of the smoke-black produced by burning the shells of almonds. These two kinds, though believed to be beneficial to the eyes, are used merely for ornament; but there are several kinds used for their real or supposed medical properties; particularly the powder of several kinds of lead ore, to which are often added sarcocolla, long pepper, sugar-candy, fine dust of a Venetian sequin, and sometimes powdered pearls. Antimony, it is said, was formerly used for painting the edges of the eyelids. The kohl is applied with a small probe, of wood, ivory, or silver, tapering towards the end, but blunt. This is moistened, sometimes with rose water, then dipped in the powder, and drawn along the edges of the eyelids: it is called “mirwed;” and the glass vessel in which the kohl is kept “muk-hul’ah.” The custom of thus ornamenting the eyes prevailed among both sexes in Egypt in very ancient times: this is shown by the sculptures and paintings in the temples and tombs of this country; and kohl vessels, with the probes, and even with remains of the black powder, have often been found in the ancient tombs. I have two in my possession. But in many cases the ancient mode of ornamenting with the kohl was a little different from the modern, as shown by the subjoined sketch: I have, however, seen this ancient mode practised in the present day in the neighbourhood of Cairo, though I only remember to have noticed it in two instances. The same custom existed among the ancient Greek ladies, and among the Jewish women in early times.[66] The eyes of the Egyptian women are generally the most beautiful of their features. Countenances altogether handsome are far less common among this race than handsome figures; but I have seen among them faces distinguished by a style of beauty possessing such sweetness of expression, that they have struck me as exhibiting the perfection of female loveliness, and impressed me with the idea (perhaps not false) that their equals could not be found in any other country. With such eyes as many of them have, the face must be handsome, if its other features be but moderately well formed.[67] The nose is generally straight; the lips are mostly rather fuller than those of the men, but not in the least degree partaking of the negro character. The hair is of that deep, glossy black, which best suits all but fair complexions: in some instances it is rather coarse and crisp, but never woolly.

[Illustration: ANCIENT VESSEL AND PROBE FOR KOHL.]

[Illustration: AN EYE AND EYEBROW ORNAMENTED WITH KOHL, AS REPRESENTED IN ANCIENT PAINTINGS.]

[Illustration: HANDS AND FEET STAINED WITH HENNA.]

The females of the higher and middle classes, and many of the poorer women, stain certain parts of their hands and feet (which are, with very few exceptions, beautifully formed) with the leaves of the henna tree,[68] which impart a yellowish red, or deep orange colour. Many thus dye only the nails of the fingers and toes; others extend the dye as high as the first joint of each finger and toe; some also make a stripe along the next row of joints; and there are several other fanciful modes of applying the henna; but the most common practice is to dye the tips of the fingers and toes as high as the first joint, and the whole of the inside of the hand and the sole of the foot;[69] adding, though not always, the stripe above mentioned along the middle joints of the fingers, and a similar stripe a little above the toes. The henna is prepared for this use merely by being powdered and mixed with a little water, so as to form a paste. Some of this paste being spread in the palm of the hand, and on other parts of it which are to be dyed, and the fingers being doubled, and their extremities inserted into the paste in the palm, the whole hand is tightly bound with linen, and remains thus during a whole night. In a similar manner it is applied to the feet. The colour does not disappear until after many days: it is generally renewed after about a fortnight or three weeks. This custom prevails not only in Egypt, but in several other countries of the East, which are supplied with henna from the banks of the Nile. To the nails the henna imparts a more bright, clear, and permanent colour than to the skin. When this dye alone is applied to the nails, or to a larger portion of the fingers and toes, it may, with some reason, be regarded as an embellishment, for it makes the general complexion of the hand and foot appear more delicate; but many ladies stain their hands in a manner much less agreeable to our taste: by applying, immediately after the removal of the paste of henna, another paste, composed of quick-lime, common smoke-black, and linseed-oil, they convert the tint of the henna to a black, or to a blackish olive hue. Ladies in Egypt are often seen with their nails stained with this colour, or with their fingers of the same dark hue from the extremity to the first joint, red from the first to the second joint, and of the former colour from the second to the third joint, with the palm also stained in a similar manner, having a broad, dark stripe across the middle, and the rest left red; the thumb dark from the extremity to the first joint, and red from the first to the second joint. Some, after a more simple fashion, blacken the ends of the fingers and the whole of the inside of the hand.

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[Illustration: A LADY IN THE DRESS WORN IN PRIVATE.]

_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 33_

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Among the females of the lower orders, in the country-towns and villages of Egypt, and among the same classes in the metropolis, but in a less degree, prevails a custom somewhat similar to that above described: it consists in making indelible marks of a blue or greenish hue upon the face and other parts, or, at least, upon the front of the chin, and upon the back of the right hand, and often also upon the left hand, the right arm, or both arms, the feet, the middle of the bosom, and the forehead: the most common of these marks made upon the chin and hands are here represented. The operation is performed with several needles (generally seven) tied together: with these the skin is pricked in the desired pattern: some smoke-black (of wood or oil), mixed with milk from the breast of a woman, is then rubbed in; and about a week after, before the skin has healed, a paste of the pounded fresh leaves of white beet or clover is applied, and gives a blue or greenish colour to the marks: or, to produce the same effect in a more simple manner, some indigo is rubbed into the punctures, instead of the smoke-black, etc. It is generally performed at the age of about five or six years, and by gipsy-women. The term applied to it is “dakk.” Most of the females of the higher parts of Upper Egypt, who are of a very dark complexion, tattoo their lips instead of the parts above-mentioned; thus converting their natural colour to a dull, bluish hue, which, to the eye of a stranger, is extremely displeasing.[70]

[Illustration: A TATTOOED GIRL.]

[Illustration: SPECIMENS OF TATTOOING ON THE CHIN.]

[Illustration: TATTOOED HANDS AND FOOT.]

Another characteristic of the Egyptian women that should be here mentioned is their upright carriage and gait. This is most remarkable in the female peasantry, owing, doubtless, in a great measure, to their habit of bearing a heavy earthen water-vessel, and other burthens, upon the head.

[Illustration:

A LADY ADORNED WITH THE KURS AND SAFA, ETC. (The Hand is partially stained with Henna.) ]

The dress of the women of the middle and higher orders is handsome and elegant. Their shirt is very full, like that of the men—but rather shorter—reaching not quite to the knees: it is also, generally, of the same kind of material as the men’s shirt, or of coloured crape—sometimes black. A pair of very wide trousers (called “shintiyán”), of a coloured striped stuff of silk and cotton, or of printed, or worked, or plain white muslin, is tied round the hips, under the shirt, with a dikkeh: its lower extremities are drawn up and tied just below the knee with running strings; but it is sufficiently long to hang down to the feet, or almost to the ground, when attached in this manner. Over the shirt and shintiyán is worn a long vest (called “yelek”), of the same material as the latter: it nearly resembles the kuftán of the men; but is more tight to the body and arms: the sleeves also are longer; and it is made to button down the front, from the bosom to a little below the girdle, instead of lapping over: it is open, likewise, on each side, from the height of the hip, downwards. In general the yelek is cut in such a manner as to leave half of the bosom uncovered, except by the shirt; but many ladies have it made more ample at that part: and, according to the most approved fashion, it should be of a sufficient length to reach to the ground, or should exceed that length by two of three inches, or more. A short vest (called “anter′ee”), reaching only a little below the waist, and exactly resembling a yelek of which the lower part has been cut off, is sometimes worn instead of the latter. A square shawl, or an embroidered kerchief, doubled diagonally, is put loosely round the waist as a girdle; the two corners that are folded together hanging down behind. Over the yelek is worn a gibbeh of cloth, or velvet, or silk, usually embroidered with gold or with coloured silk: it differs in form from the gibbeh of the men chiefly in being not so wide; particularly in the fore part; and is of the same length as the yelek. Instead of this, a jacket (called “saltah”), generally of cloth or velvet, and embroidered in the same manner as the gibbeh, is often worn. The head-dress consists of a tákeeyeh and tarboosh, with a square kerchief (called “faroodeeyeh”) of printed or painted muslin, or one of crape, wound tightly round, composing what is called a “rabtah.” Two or more such kerchiefs were commonly used, a short time since, and are still sometimes, to form the ladies’ turban, but always wound in a high, flat shape, very different from that of the turban of the men. A kind of crown, called “kurs,” and other ornaments, are attached to the ladies’ head-dress: descriptions and engravings of these and other ornaments of the women of Egypt will be found in the Appendix to this work. A long piece of white muslin embroidered at each end with coloured silks and gold, or of coloured crape ornamented with gold thread, etc., and spangles, rests upon the head, and hangs down behind, nearly or quite to the ground: this is called “tarhah”—it is the head-veil: the face-veil I shall presently describe. The hair, excepting over the forehead and temples, is divided into numerous braids or plaits, generally from eleven to twenty-five in number, but always of an _uneven_ number: these hang down the back. To each braid of hair are usually added three black silk cords, with little ornaments of gold, etc., attached to them. For a description of these, which are called “safa,” I refer to the Appendix. Over the forehead the hair is cut rather short; but two full locks hang down on each side of the face: these are often curled in ringlets, and sometimes plaited.[71] Few of the ladies of Egypt wear stockings or socks, but many of them wear “mezz” (or inner shoes), of yellow or red morocco, sometimes embroidered with gold: over these, whenever they step off the matted or carpeted part of the floor, they put on “báboog” (or slippers) of yellow morocco, with high, pointed toes; or use high wooden clogs or pattens, generally from four to nine inches in height, and usually ornamented with mother-of-pearl, or silver, etc. These are always used in the bath by men and women; but not by many ladies at home: some ladies wear them merely to keep their skirts from trailing on the ground: others, to make themselves appear tall.—Such is the dress which is worn by the Egyptian ladies in the house.

[Illustration: LADY ATTIRED FOR RIDING OR WALKING.]

The riding or walking attire is called “tezyeereh.” Whenever a lady leaves the house, she wears, in addition to what has been above described, first a large, loose gown (called “tób,” or “sebleh”), the sleeves of which are nearly equal in width to the whole length of the gown:[72] it is of silk; generally of a pink, or rose, or violet colour. Next is put on the “burko’,” or face-veil, which is a long strip of white muslin, concealing the whole of the face except the eyes, and reaching nearly to the feet. It is suspended at the top by a narrow band, which passes up the forehead, and which is sewed, as are also the two upper corners of the veil, to a band that is tied round the head. The lady then covers herself with a “habarah,” which, for a married lady, is composed of two breadths of glossy, black silk, each ell-wide, and three yards long: these are sewed together, at or near the selvages (according to the height of the person); the seam running horizontally, with respect to the manner in which it is worn: a piece of narrow black riband is sewed inside the upper part, about six inches from the edge, to tie round the head. This covering is always worn in the manner shown by the accompanying sketch. The unmarried ladies wear a habarah of white silk, or a shawl. Some females of the middle classes, who cannot afford to purchase a habarah, wear instead of it an “eezár”; which is a piece of white calico, of the same form and size as the former, and is worn in the same manner. On the feet are worn short boots or socks (called “khuff”), of yellow morocco, and over these the “báboog.”

This dress, though chiefly designed for females of the higher classes, who are seldom seen in public on foot, is worn by many women who cannot often afford so far to imitate their superiors as to hire an ass to carry them. It is extremely inconvenient as a walking attire. Viewing it as a disguise for whatever is attractive or graceful in the person and adornments of the wearer, we should not find fault with it for being itself deficient in grace: we must remark, however, that, in one respect, it fails in accomplishing its main purpose; displaying the eyes, which are almost always beautiful; making them to appear still more so by concealing the other features, which are seldom of equal beauty; and often causing the stranger to imagine a defective face perfectly charming. The veil is of very remote antiquity;[73] but, from the sculptures and paintings of the ancient Egyptians, it seems not to have been worn by the females of that nation.

[Illustration: FELLAH WOMEN.]

The dress of a large proportion of those women of the lower orders who are not of the poorest class consists of a pair of trousers or drawers (similar in form to the shintiyán of the ladies, but generally of plain white cotton or linen), a blue linen or cotton shirt (not quite so full as that of the men), a burko’ of a kind of coarse black crape,[74] and a dark blue tarhah of muslin or linen. Some wear over the shirt, or instead of the latter, a linen tób, of the same form as that of the ladies. The sleeves of this are often turned up over the head; either to prevent their being incommodious, or to supply the place of a tarhah. In addition to these articles of dress, many women who are not of the very poor classes wear, as a covering, a kind of plaid, similar in form to the habarah, composed of two pieces of cotton, woven in small chequers of blue and white, or cross stripes, with a mixture of red at each end. It is called “miláyeh:”[75] in general it is worn in the same manner as the habarah; but sometimes like the tarhah.[76] The upper part of the black burko’ is often ornamented with false pearls, small gold coins, and other little flat ornaments of the same metal (called “bark”); sometimes with a coral bead, and a gold coin beneath; also with small coins of base silver; and more commonly with a pair of chain tassels, of brass or silver (called “’oyoon”), attached to the corners. A square black silk kerchief (called “’asbeh”), with a border of red and yellow, is bound round the head, doubled diagonally, and tied with a single knot behind; or, instead of this, the tarboosh and faroodeeyeh are worn, though by very few women of the lower classes. The best kind of shoes worn by the females of the lower orders are of red morocco, turned up, but round at the toes. The burko’ and shoes are most common in Cairo, and are also worn by many of the women throughout Lower Egypt; but in Upper Egypt, the burko’ is very seldom seen, and shoes are scarcely less uncommon. To supply the place of the former, when necessary, a portion of the tarhah is drawn before the face, so as to conceal nearly all the countenance excepting one eye. Many of the women of the lower orders, even in the metropolis, never conceal their faces. Throughout the greater part of Egypt the most common dress of the women merely consists of the blue shirt, or tób, and tarhah. In the southern parts of Upper Egypt, chiefly above Akhmeem, most of the women envelop themselves in a large piece of dark brown woollen stuff (called a “hulaleeyeh”), wrapping it round the body, and attaching the upper parts together over each shoulder;[77] and a piece of the same they use as a tarhah. This dull dress, though picturesque, is almost as disguising as the blue tinge which, as I have before mentioned, the women in these parts of Egypt impart to their lips. Most of the women of the lower orders wear a variety of trumpery ornaments, such as ear-rings, necklaces, bracelets, etc., and sometimes a nose-ring. Descriptions and engravings of some of these ornaments will be given in the Appendix.

[Illustration: ORNAMENTED BLACK VEILS.]

Only one of these (that to the right) is represented in its whole length.] The women of Egypt deem it more incumbent upon them to cover the upper and back part of the head than the face; and more requisite to conceal the face than most other parts of the person. I have often seen, in this country, women but half covered with miserable rags; and several times, females in the prime of womanhood, and others in more advanced age, with nothing on the body but a narrow strip of rag bound round the hips.

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Footnote 39:

This term was formerly used to designate the Arabian _townspeople_ and _villagers_, while the Arabs who dwelt in the _Desert_ were called “Aaráb,” or “Aarábees.” The Arabs dwelling in houses now term themselves “Owlád-el-’Arab,” or Sons of the Arabs.

Footnote 40:

Feminine, “Bedaweeyeh.”

Footnote 41:

In the feminine, “Masreeyeh,” “Bint-Masr,” and “Bint-el-Beled.”

Footnote 42:

Feminine, “Felláhah.”

Footnote 43:

Thus commonly pronounced for “Fir’own.”

Footnote 44:

Tooth-ache is, however, a very common disorder in Egypt, as it was in ancient times. This, at least, was probably the case, as Herodotus (lib. ii., cap. 84) mentions dentists among the classes of Egyptian physicians. It is, of course, most prevalent among the higher orders.

Footnote 45:

A few of the servants, and some others, shave their beards. The respect which Orientals in general pay to the beard has often been remarked. They swear by it, and say that a man disgraces it by an evil action. The punishment recorded in 2 Samuel, ch. x., v. 4, has frequently been practised in modern times, but not so often as the shaving of the whole of the beard.

Footnote 46:

The Muslims hold it to be inconsistent with the honour that is due to everything that has appertained to the human body to leave upon the ground the shavings or clippings of hair, the parings of nails, etc., which, therefore, they generally bury in the earth.

Footnote 47:

Persons of literary and religious professions generally disapprove of the shoosheh.

Footnote 48:

They are mentioned in the “Mishcát-ul-Masábih,” vol. ii., p. 359, and are observed by both sexes.

Footnote 49:

The fashion of their dress remains almost the same during the lapse of centuries.

Footnote 50:

In Arabic, “libás.”

Footnote 51:

Called “dikkeh,” or “tikkeh.”

Footnote 52:

The Prophet forbade men to wear silk clothing, but allowed women to do so. The prohibition is, however, attended to by very few modern Muslims, excepting the Wahhábees.

Footnote 53:

The stripes are seldom plain; they are generally figured or flowered.

Footnote 54:

See the foremost figure in the accompanying engraving.

Footnote 55:

See the figure to the left in the same engraving.

Footnote 56:

Called “tákeeyeh,” or “’arakeeyeh.”

Footnote 57:

“Khátim.”—It is _allowable_ to wear it on a finger of the _left_ hand.

Footnote 58:

See St. John’s Gospel iii. 33; and Exodus xxxix. 30.

Footnote 59:

Therefore, giving the ring to another person is the utmost mark of confidence.—See Genesis xli. 42.

Footnote 60:

This is a very ancient custom.—See Ezekiel ix. 2, 3, 11. The dawáyeh is represented in a cut in Chapter IX.

Footnote 61:

The zaaboot is mostly worn in the winter.

Footnote 62:

A kind of blue and white plaid (called “miláyeh”) is also worn by some men, but more commonly by women, in the account of whose dress it will be further described: the men throw it over the shoulders, or wrap it about the body.

Footnote 63:

Commonly written by English authors “Caliph,” or “Khalif.”

Footnote 64:

This appellation (of which “’ulama” is the plural) signifies a man of science or learning.

Footnote 65:

“Sheykh” here signifies _master_, or _doctor_.

Footnote 66:

See 2 Kings ix. 30 (where, in our common version, we find the words, “painted her face” for “painted her eyes”), and Ezekiel xxiii. 40.

Footnote 67:

Scissors are often used to reduce the width of the eye-brows, and to give them a more arched form.

Footnote 68:

_Lawsonia inermis_; also called “Egyptian privet.”

Footnote 69:

The application of this dye to the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet is said to have an agreeable effect upon the skin; particularly to prevent its being too tender and sensitive.

Footnote 70:

The depilatory most commonly used by the Egyptian women is a kind of resin, called libán shámee, applied in a melted state: but this, they pretend, is not always necessary: by applying the blood of a bat to the skin of a newly-born female infant, on the parts where they wish no hair to grow, they assert that they accomplish this desire. A female upon whom this application has been made is termed “muwatwatah”; from “watwát,” a bat. Some women pluck out the hair after merely rubbing the part with the ashes of charcoal.

Footnote 71:

Egyptian women swear by the side-lock (as men do by the beard), generally holding it when they utter the oath, “Wa-hayát maksoosee!”

Footnote 72:

This is similar in form to the tób of women of the lower orders.

Footnote 73:

See Genesis xxiv. 65; and Isaiah iii. 23. See also I Corinthians xi. 10, and a marginal note on that verse.

Footnote 74:

Some of those who are descended from the Prophet wear a green burko’.

Footnote 75:

For “muláäh.”

Footnote 76:

There is a superior kind of miláyeh, of silk, and of various colours; but this is now seldom worn. The two pieces which compose the miláyeh are sewed together, like those which compose the habarah.

Footnote 77:

The classical reader will recognise, in this picturesque garment, an article of ancient Greek and Roman female attire.

Chapter II.

Infancy And Early Education.

In 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 ikámeh (which is nearly the same as the adán) in the left ear. 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[78] ’Alee!”

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[Illustration: A WOMAN OF THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE OF UPPER EGYPT. (Sketched at Thebes.)]

_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 42_

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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 (Mohammad, Ahmad, or Mustaf′a), or some of the members of his family (’Alee, Hasan, Hoseyn, etc.), or his eminent companions (’Omar, ’Osmán, ’Amr, etc.), or some of the prophets and patriarchs of early times (as Ibráheem, Is-hák, Isma’eel, Yaakoob, Moosa, Dáood, Suleymán, etc.), or receive a name signifying “Servant of God,” “Servant of the Compassionate,” “Servant of the Powerful,” etc. (’Abd-Allah, ’Abd-er-Rahmán, ’Abd-el-Kádir). Girls are mostly named after the wives or the favourite daughter of the Arabian Prophet, or after others of his family (as Khadeegeh, ’A’ïsheh, A′m’neh, Fát’meh, Zeyneb), or are distinguished by a name implying that they are “beloved,” “blessed,” “precious,” etc. (Mahboobeh, Mebrookeh, Nefeeseh, etc.) or the name of a flower, or of some other pleasing object.[79]

As 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; as “Aboo-’Alee”[80] (Father of ’Alee), “Ibn-Ahmad” (Son of Ahmad), etc.:—a surname of honour, or a nickname; as “Noor-ed-Deen” (The Light of the Religion), “Et-Taweel” (The Tall), etc.:—an appellation relating to country, birth-place, origin, family, sect, trade or occupation, etc.; as “Er-Rasheedee” (of the town of Rasheed), “Es-Sabbágh” (The Dyer), “Et-Tágir” (The Merchant). The second kind of surname, and that relating to country, etc., are often inherited; thus becoming family-names. 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 tarboosh, 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,[81] 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:[82] 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, 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 hareem (or the woman’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 hareem 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.[83]

However much the children are caressed and fondled, in general they feel and manifest a most profound and praiseworthy 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 shown 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 hareem, conducts himself in every society, and that loyalty which is often improperly regarded as the result of Eastern despotism.[84] 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 Ramadán (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 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 habarah 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 kohl applied in the most careful manner, and the tip of a finger or two showing the fresh dye of the henna, 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 first 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.[85] 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 saltah, and with a kurs, safa, and other female ornaments, to attract the eye, and so divert it from his person.[86] 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; 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 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 “heml,” 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 “heml”), 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 event, will be given in another chapter, relating to various private festivities.[87]

The 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 then 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 sects but his own, as thoroughly as does the Muslim in advanced age. Most of the children of the higher and middle classes, and some of those of the lower orders, are taught by the schoolmaster to read, and to recite and chant[88] the whole or certain portions of the Kur-án by memory. They afterwards learn the most common rules of arithmetic.

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[Illustration: PARADE PREVIOUS TO CIRCUMCISION.]

_Lane’s Modern Egyptians_] [_Page 48_

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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 the metropolis has a “kuttáb” (or school) attached to it, in which children are instructed for a very trifling expense; the “sheykh” or “fikee”[89] (the master of the school) receiving from the parent of each pupil half a piaster (about five farthings of our money), or something more or less, every Thursday.[90] 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[91] 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 who are 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.[92]

The boys first learn the letters of the alphabet; next, the vowel-points and other orthographical marks; and then, the numerical value of each letter of the alphabet.[93] 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 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 Fat’hah, 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 “kabbánee,” 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 head boy 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. N