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 ^'muit
 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 MRS. H. RUSSELL AMORY. 
 
 Ly; GIFT OF HER CHILDREN 
 
 ?!i R. W. AND NINA PARTRIDGE.
 
 AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MODERN EGYPTIANS, 
 
 ■WRITTEN IN EGYPT DURING THE YEARS 
 
 1833, -34, AND -35. 
 
 PARTLY FROM NOTES MADE DLTIING A FORMER VISIT TO 
 THAT COUNTRY IN THE YEABS 1825-28, 
 
 By EDWARD WILLIAM LANE, 
 
 HONOHAHY MEMBER OF THE EGYPTIAN SOCIETY OF CAIRO, AND OF THE 
 EGYPTIAN LITERARY ASSOCIATION OF THE SAME CITY; MEMBER OF 
 THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION COMMITTEE, ETC. ; AND TRANSLATOR 
 OF " THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS." 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 Vol. I. 
 
 REPRINTED FROM THE THIRD EDTTION, 
 
 CONTAINING LARGE ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 LOND ON : 
 CHARLES KNIGHT & CO., LUDGATE STREET. 
 
 1846.
 
 London : Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street.
 
 I — c?~ / 
 
 {/, ( CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 Page 
 Advertisement ,...•.. vii 
 Preface xi 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Country and Climate — Metropolis — Houses — 
 
 Population 21 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Personal Characteristics and Dress of the Muslim 
 
 Egyptians 49 
 
 II. 
 
 Infancy and Early Education . • . . 81 
 
 III. 
 Religion and Laws ...... 94 
 
 IV. 
 Government 151 
 
 V. 
 
 Domestic Life (Men of the Higher and Middle Orders) 1 78 
 
 b2
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Page 
 Domestic lAfe— continued (Women of the Higher and 
 
 Middle Orders) 207 
 
 VI I. 
 
 Domestic L\{e—co7iti?uicd (The Lower Orders) . 251
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOL. I. 
 
 1. Private Houses in Cairo 
 
 2. Door of a Private House 
 
 3. Specimens of Lattice-work 
 
 4. Court of a Private House in Cairo 
 
 5. Pavement of a Dnrka'ah 
 
 6. Fountain ..... 
 
 7. Suffeh 
 
 8. Specimens of Panel- work 
 
 9. Ceiling of a Durka'ah . 
 
 10. Ceiling of a projecting window 
 
 11. A Ka'ah 
 
 12. Wooden Lock .... 
 
 13. Men of the Middle and Higher Classes 
 
 14. Men of the Lower Classes 
 
 15. The Mukleh .... 
 
 16. An Eye ornamented with Kohl 
 
 1 7. Muk-hul'ahs and iVIirweds 
 
 18. Ancient Vessel and Probe for Kohl 
 
 19. An Eye and Eyebrow ornamented with Kohl, as 
 
 represented in ancient Paintings 
 
 20. Hands and Feet stained with Henna 
 
 21. A tattooed Girl .... 
 
 22. Tattooed Hands and Foot 
 
 23. Specimens of Tattooing on the Chin 
 
 24. A Lady in the Dress worn in private 
 
 25. A Lady adorned with the Kurs and Safa, &c. 
 
 26. Ladies attired for Riding or Walking 
 
 27. Women and Children of the Lower Classes 
 
 28. A Woman clad in the Milayeh, &c.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Pa-re 
 
 29. 
 30. 
 31. 
 
 32. 
 33. 
 34. 
 35. 
 36. 
 37. 
 38. 
 39. 
 40. 
 41. 
 42. 
 43. 
 44. 
 45. 
 4G. 
 
 Ornamented black V'eils 
 
 The 'Asbeh 
 
 A Wonum of the Southern Province of Upper 
 
 Egypt . . . . 
 Parade previous to Circumcision 
 A School-boy learning the Alphabet 
 Vessels for Ablution 
 Postures of Prayer (Part I.) 
 Postures of Prayer (Part II.) 
 Interior of a Mosque 
 Pipes .... 
 
 Cotfee-service 
 'A'z'kee and Mankals 
 An Ass equipped in the usual manner for riding 
 Tisht and Ibreek 
 Washing before or after a Meal 
 Kursee and Seeneeyeh 
 A Party at Dinner or Supper 
 Water-bottles (Duraks), with covers of diflferent 
 
 kinds 
 Water-bottles (Kullehs) 
 Earthen Mibkhar'ah, and China Di 
 Brass Driuking-cups 
 Sherbet-cups 
 Lantern and Lamp 
 Lanteni, &c., suspended on the occasion of 
 
 Wedding 
 Bridal Procession (Part I.) 
 Bridal Procession (Part II.) 
 Mesh'als 
 The Menseg 
 Ladies Hiding
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 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 ad- 
 ditions ; 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-^n, 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 in- 
 duced to revise with especial care my abstract of the 
 principal Muslim laws : for as Sale had excellent com- 
 mentaries to consult, and I, when I composed that ab- 
 stract, had none, I placed great reliance on his transla- 
 tion. 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 ncfpscary from +V.O S^^^^lx 
 
 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 spint of Muslim institutions* for the 
 suggestion of some improvements in the same and other 
 portions of this work ; and observations made by several 
 
 * David Urqahart, Esq., author of * The Spirit of the East,' &c.
 
 vm ADVEBTISEMEST. 
 
 intelligent ciitics have lessened the labour of revision 
 and emendation. 
 
 I have also profited, on this occasion, by a paper con- 
 taining 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 ob- 
 jections, and was disagreeable, in some resj)ccts, 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 uni- 
 formity, as well as truth * It requires little explanation : 
 the general reader may be directed to pronounce 
 
 " a " as in our word " beggar :"f " i " as in " bid :" 
 
 " i" as in " father :"J " o" as in " obey " (short) : 
 
 " e " as in " bed :" " 6 " as in " bone :" 
 
 " e" 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 fol- 
 lowing a vowel, I employ to denote the place of a letter 
 which has no equivalent in our alphabet : it has a gut- 
 tural sound, like that which is heard in the bleating of 
 sheep. 
 
 the vowel "u" wkli « tM beneath (a) represents 
 the same sound when it is more forcibly jironounced. 
 
 Each of the consonants distinguished by a dot beneath 
 has a peculiarly hard sound. The distinction of these 
 
 •Here I must mention, that I have written " Basha " instead of 
 *' Pasha " in conformity with the pronunciation of the Kgyptians. 
 
 t 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. 
 
 X Iti sound, however, often approximates to that of " a " in " ball."
 
 ^DVERTrSEMENT. IX 
 
 letters is of great importance to Arabic scholars, and to 
 travellers in Egypt.* 
 
 The usual sign of a diceresis 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 " We'lee," or " Wel'ee ") : also, that 
 the accents do not always denote the principal or only 
 emphasis (" Shaweesh " being pronounced " Sha- 
 wee'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 transla- 
 tion of ' The Thousand and One Xights,' it is necessary 
 to add, that in the present case 1 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. 
 
 * " Dh " is pronounced as " th " in " that :" — " p," generally as in 
 "give;" but in some parts of Egypt, as in "gem," or nearly so: — 
 *' gh " represents a guttural sound, like that produced in gargling : — 
 "h" is a very strong aspirate: — "k" has properly a guttural sound 
 (most of the people of Cairo, and those of some provinces, cannot pro- 
 nounce it, and substitute for it an hiatus; while in Upper Eg^•pt the 
 sound of " g " in "give"' is used in its stead): — "kh" represents a 
 guttural sound like that which is produced in expelling saliva from the 
 the throat, and approaching nearer to the sound of " h " than to that of 
 " k :'■ — " sh " is pronounced as in " shall :' and " th " as in " thin." 
 
 b3
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 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 w ith this people, 
 soon found that all the information which I had previ- 
 ously 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 de- 
 tailed picture of the inhabitants of the largest Arab city. 
 The period of my first visit to this country did not, how- 
 ever, suffice for the accomplishment of this object, and 
 for the prosecution of my other studies ; and I relin- 
 quished 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 Dif- 
 fusion 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 ap- 
 probation, and relying upon their judgment, I im- 
 mediately determined to follow their advice, and, by the 
 earliest opportunity, again departed to Egypt. After
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 another residence of more than a year in the metropolis 
 of this country, and half a year in Ujjper E^ypt, I have 
 now accomplished, as well as I am able, the task pro- 
 posed to me.* 
 
 It, may be said, that the English reader already pos- 
 sesses an excellent and ample description of Arab manners 
 and customs in Dr. llusscll's account of the people of 
 Aleppo. I will not forfeit my own claim to the rei)uta- 
 tion of an honest writer, by attemj)ting 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 im])roved edition, was suffi- 
 ciently 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, allovv 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.f 
 
 * It gives me great pleasure to find, that, while I have been attempt- 
 ing 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 liistory of the c(trl(/ Arabs, and 
 that another (Mr. [now. Sir Gardner] Wilkinson) lias been preparing 
 to impart to us an account of tlie private life, manners, &c., of the 
 Ancient Egyptians. [Tlie very hi'di 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.] 
 
 t Amonj; tlie memoirs in " tiie great French work " on Egypt, is one 
 entitled ' Essai sur les mnnirs des habitans modernes de I'Kgypte ;' but 
 its author appears to me to have fallen into an error of considerable mag- 
 nitude, 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, tlie Memlooks. It is probable that the Egyptians 
 in some degree imitated, when tliey were able to do so, the habits and 
 customs of this class : I may, however, venture to aflirm, that tlie essay 
 here alluded to does not convey a true notion of their present moral and
 
 PREFACE, Xlll 
 
 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 toler- 
 able 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, &c. ; and even from 
 habits merely disagreeable to them ; such as the use of 
 knives and forks at meals. Having made myself ac- 
 quainted with all their common religious ceremonies, I 
 have been able to escape exciting, in strangers, any sus- 
 picion of my being a person who had no right to intrude 
 among them, whenever it was necessary for me to witnes^j 
 
 social state. Its author, moreover, shows himself to have been often 
 extremely careless both in his observations and inquiries : this is particu- 
 larly evident in his singular misstatement of tlie correspondence of 
 French and Mohammedan hours, and in the first two pages (in the 8vo. 
 edition) of the section on public fetes. He has given many just philo- 
 sophical 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 ether parts of " the great work " 
 (especially the contributions of M. Jomard), relating to subjects Mhich 
 have alike' employed my mind and pen, and upon which I shall probablj 
 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 expositiori, 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 mi^ht almost have spared myself the labour of the present 
 undertaking. — ['ITiis 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.]
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 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-Isl:im, and, when interrogated, 
 avowing my belief in the Messiah, in accordance with the 
 icoiris of the Kur-dn, as the Word of God infused into 
 the womb of the Virgin Mary, and a spirit proceeding 
 from llim. 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 JNIuslims are very averse from 
 giving information on subjects connected with their reli- 
 gion or superstitions to persons whom they susj)cct 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 over- 
 coming their scruj)les. 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 au- 
 thenticated or corrected, and added to, the inforn)ation 
 derived from conversation with my other friends. Occa- 
 sionally, also, 1 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 Pro- 
 phet, but also from a very celebrated saint, Esh-Shaara- 
 wee ;* 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 exer- 
 cising 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, &c. 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 
 
 * Thus commonly pronounced, for Esh-Shaar^nee.
 
 among: the miracles which they were allowed to perform; 
 and they inimediately expelled him. He then entered the 
 order of the Ahmedeeycn ; 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 Sa.adeeyen 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 cat glass again, he was neither punished nor 
 expelled the order. Notwithstanding this oath, he soon 
 again gratified his propensity to eat a glass lamp ; and a 
 brother-darweesh, who was j)resent, 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 : re- 
 pentance is good : for He whose name be exalted hath 
 said, in the Excellent Book, ' Verily God loveth the re- 
 pentant.'" The Sheykh, in anger, exclaimed, "Dost 
 thou dare to act in this manner, and then come and cite 
 the Ku-riln 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 oflfice 
 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,* 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 
 
 * lie professes to have had more than thirty wives in the course of hi« 
 life ; but, in saying so, I believe he greatly exaggerates.
 
 PREFACE. XVU 
 
 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 I have no hope but in 
 God and thee!" "What words are these, my mis- 
 tress?" 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 chil- 
 dren, and I know not whom besides, and abridges us, 
 that is, myself and his first wife, of the comforts to 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 ad- 
 dressing 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 'Abbas Basha ; and, rather more than a 
 year ago, 'Abbas Basha 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, '1 am going to marry his sister.' 
 ' Then why have you not married her already ? ' asked
 
 XVni PREFACE. 
 
 the Bdsha. * She is only nine years of age.' ' Is the 
 marriag-e contract made ? ' ' No.' ' Why not ? ' 'I 
 cannot afford, at ])resent, to give the dowry.' ' What is 
 the dowry to be ? ' ' Ninety piasters.' ' Here, then,' 
 paid the B;isha, ' take the money, and let the contract 
 be conchided immediately.' So you sec I was obliged 
 to marry the girl ; and 1 am afraid that the Biisha will 
 be angry if I divorce her : but I will act in such a man- 
 ner that her brother shall insist upon the divorce ; and 
 then, please God, I shall live in peace again." — This is a 
 good examj)le of the comfort of having two wives. 
 
 A short time since, upon his offering me a copy of the 
 Kur-an, for sale, he thought it necessary to make some 
 excuse for doing so. He remarked that by my conform- 
 ing with many of the ceremonies of the Muslims, 1 tacitly 
 professed myself to be one of them ; and that it was in- 
 cumbent upon him to regard me in the most favourable 
 light, w hich he was the more willing to do because he 
 knew that I should incur the disj)leasure of my king by 
 making an oj)en profession of the faith of El-Islam, and 
 therefore could not do it.* " You give me," said he, 
 " the salutation of ' Peace be on you ! ' and it would be im- 
 pious in me, being directly forbidden by my religion, to 
 j)ronounce 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 : 'f therefore," he 
 added, "it is no sin in me to put into your hands the 
 noble Kur-an : but there are some of your conn tiy men 
 wlio will take it in unclean liands, and even ^it upon it ! 
 I beg God's forgiveness for talking of such a thing: far 
 be it from you to do so ; you, j)r;iise be to God, know and 
 observe the command, ' None shall touch it but they who 
 arc purified.' " J — He once sold a co|)y of tlie Kur-an, on 
 my application, to a countryman of mine, who, being 
 
 * It is a common belief among the E^'vptians, tliat every European 
 traveller who visits their country is an emissary /rom his king ; and it is 
 dilTic'ilt to convince them that this is not the case : so str;in;,'e 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. 
 
 •{- Kur-an, chap. iv. ver. 96. 
 
 ;J Kur-an, chap. Ivi. ver. 78.
 
 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 tlie book, and 
 that he was doing so to shovv his contempt of it : he de- 
 clares his belief that he has been heavily punished by 
 God for this unlawful sale. — There was only one thing 
 that I had much ditficulty 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 Egyp- 
 tian metropolis. On my passing with him before one of 
 the entrances of this building, one afternoon during the 
 fast of Ramadan, 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 regu- 
 lar 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 in- 
 serted in the following pages. What I have principally
 
 aimed at, in this Mork, is correctness ; and I do not 
 scruple to assert that I am not conscious of havinir en- 
 deavoured to render interest in jr any matter that 1 have 
 related by the slightest sacrifice of truth. 
 
 P. S. AVith 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.
 
 THE 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE COUNTRY AXD CLIMATE METROPOLIS — HOUSES 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 It is generally observed that many of the most remark- 
 able peculiarities in the manners, customs, and character 
 of a nation are attributable to the physical peculiarities 
 of the country. Such causes, in an especial manner, 
 affect the moral and social state of the modem 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 wind- 
 ing 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, ex- 
 cepting in a very few places, by cultivated fields of its 
 o\A'n 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 nu- 
 merous 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
 
 22 THE MODERX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 the period of the summer solstice. By the autumnal 
 equinox, the river attains its fjreatest height, which is 
 always sufficient to fill the canals by which the fields are 
 irrig-ated, and, generally, to inundate large jiortions of 
 the cultivable land : it then gradually falls until the pe- 
 riod when it again begins to rise. Being impregnated, par- 
 ticularly during its rise, with rich soil washed down from 
 the mountainous countries whence it flows, a copious 
 dei)0sit is annually spread, either by the natural inunda- 
 tion 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 arrange- 
 ments 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-khamaseen " *), 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°,t are dreadfully oppressive, even to 
 the natives. When the plague visits Egypt, it is gene- 
 rally in the spring ; and this disease is most severe in the 
 period of the khamaseen. Egypt is also subject, parti- 
 
 • Respecting this term, see the first of the notes in Chapter XXVI. 
 
 t This is the temperature in the shade. At Tliebes, I have observed 
 the thermometer to rise above 110° during a kham^een wind, in the 
 shade.
 
 COUNTRY AND CLIMATE. 23 
 
 cularly during the spring and summer, to the hot wind 
 called the " samoom," which is still more oppressive 
 than the khamaseen 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 gene- 
 rally 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 ex- 
 tremely 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 ever}' house that contains much woodwork (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.* 
 
 * This remark was written before the terrible plague of the present 
 year [1835], which was certainly introduced from Turkey, and extended
 
 24 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 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 
 dej)rivcd of the sight of one or both of their eyes. 
 
 When questioned respecting the salubrity of Egypt, I 
 have often been asked whether many aged persons are 
 seen among the inhabitants : few, certainly, attain a 
 great age in this country ; but how few do, in our own 
 land, without more than once suffering from an illness 
 that would prove fatal without medical aid, which is 
 obtained by a very small number in Egypt! The heat 
 of the summer months is sufficiently oppressive to oc- 
 casion considerable lassitude, while, at the same time, 
 it excites the Egyptian to intemperance in sensual en- 
 joyments ; and the exhuberant fertility of the soil en- 
 genders indolence, little nourishment sufficing for the 
 natives, and the sufficiency being procurable without 
 much exertion. 
 
 The modem Egyptian metropolis, to the inhabitants 
 of which most of the contents of the following pages re- 
 late, is now called " Masr*" more properly, "Misr;" 
 but was formerly named " El-Kahireh ;" whence Eu- 
 ropeans 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 Boolak is situated), is 
 
 throughout tlie whole of Eir^Tt, thou^jh its ravajjes were not g^-eat in 
 tlie southern parts. It has destroyed not less than eijrhty thousand 
 persons in Cairo, tliat is, one-third of the population ; and far more, I 
 believe, than two hundred thousand in all F^ypt According; to a 
 report made by the government, the victims of this plague in Cairo were 
 a.\)oiit fbrty thousand ; but I have been informed, on hifjh authority, that 
 the ;.'oveinment made it a rule to report only hah' the number of deaths 
 in this case. 
 
 • This is the name by which the modern Egyptians call their country, 
 as well as its metropolis.
 
 PRIVATE HOUSES. 25 
 
 more than a mile in width, and, at the southern part, 
 less than half a mile wide. The metroj)o]is occupies a 
 space equal to about three square miles ; and its popu- 
 lation 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 larije 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 raenaret of a mosque. The great thoroughfare- 
 streets have generally a row of sho})s along each side.* 
 Above the shops are apartments which do not communi- 
 cate with them, and which are seldom occupied by the 
 persons who rent the shops. To the right and left of 
 the great thoroughfares are by-streets and quarters. 
 Most of the by-streets are thoroughfares, and have a 
 large wooden gate at each end, closed at night, and 
 kept by a porter within, who opens to any persons re- 
 quiring 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 by-street passing through them. 
 
 Of the private houses of the metropolis it is particu- 
 larly 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 neighbour- 
 ing mountain. The surface of the stone, when new ly cut, 
 is of a light yellowish hue ; but its colour soon darkens. 
 The alternate courses of the front are sometimes coloured 
 red and white. f particularly in large houses ; as is the 
 
 * Views of snops m Cairo will be found in a subsequent Chapter. 
 f With red ochre and lime-wash.
 
 Private Houses in Cairo.
 
 PRIVATE HOUSES. 27 
 
 case with most mosques.* The superstructure, the front 
 of which generally projects about two feet, and is suj> 
 ported by eorbels 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 remain- 
 ing 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 opposite. f 
 The door is often ornamented in the manner represented 
 in the next page : the compartment in which is the in- 
 scription, 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 Everlast- 
 ing " (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 Ijlack or white characters. Few doors but 
 those of large houses are painted. They generally have 
 an iron knocker and a wooden lock ; and there is usually 
 a mounting-stone by the side. 
 
 The ground-floor apartments next the street have 
 small wooden grated windows, placed sufficiently high 
 to render it impossible for a person passing by in the 
 street, even on horseback, to see through them. The 
 windows of the upper apartments generally project a 
 foot and a half, or more, and are mostly 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 
 
 * This mode of decorating the houses has lately become more general, 
 in consequence of an order of the government, whereby the inhabitants 
 were required thus to honour the arrival of Ibraheem Basha from Syria. 
 
 f The street in the view is wider than usual. The projecting windows 
 on opposite sides of a street often nearly meet each other ; almost en- 
 tirely excluding the sun, and thus producing an agreeable coolness in the 
 summer months. 
 
 c2
 
 Doer of a Private House.
 
 PRIVATE HOUSES. 29 
 
 same time it admits the air. They are generally of un- 
 painted wood ; but some few are partially painted red 
 and green, and some are entirely painted. A window of 
 this kind is called a " roshan," or, more commonly, a 
 *' meshrebeeyeh," which latter word has another appli- 
 cation 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 com- 
 mon patterns of the lattice-work, on a larger scale, are 
 given in the next page.* Sometimes a window of the kind 
 above described has a little meshrebeeyeh, which some- 
 what resembles a roshan in miniature, projecting from the 
 front, or from each side. In this, in order to be ex- 
 posed to a current of air, are placed porous earthen 
 bottles, which are used for cooling water by evapora- 
 tion. 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," &c. 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 fur- 
 nished with frames of glass in the inside, which in the 
 winter are wholly closed ; for a penetrating cold is felt 
 in Egypt w hen the thermometer of Fahrenheit is below 
 60°, The windows of inferior houses are mostly of a 
 dilFerent kind, being even with the exterior surface of 
 the wall : the upper part is of wooden lattice- work, f or 
 grating ; and the lower, closed by hanging shutters ; 
 
 * 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. fi 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 attaclied by 
 binges, is generally similar to No. 4. 
 
 f Ck)iiiinonly similar to No. 1 or No. 5.
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 Dl 
 
 qf^2)=0 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 w~ 
 
 
 © 
 
 
 pi 
 
 ^x 
 
 ^ 
 
 XQ) 
 
 .>r-^^ 
 
 
 & 
 
 1 1 
 
 :0 
 
 Sperimens of lattice-work. — From thecentre of one row of beads to tliat 
 of the next (in these specimens) is between an inch and a quarter and 
 an inch and three-quarters.
 
 Court of a Private Iluase in Cairo.
 
 32 THK MODERN EGYPTIA2iS. 
 
 but many of these have a little mcshrebeeyeh for the 
 water-bottles projecting from the lower part. 
 
 The houses in general are two or three stories high ; 
 and almost every house that is sufficiently large encloses 
 an open, unpaved court, called a " hosh,'" which is 
 entered by a passage that is constructed with on- r two 
 turnings, for the ])urpose of preventing passengers in 
 the street from seeing into it. In this passage, just 
 within the door, thei-e 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, com- 
 monly, two water-jars, which are daily replenished with 
 water of the Nile, brought from the river in skins.' 
 The principal apartments look into the court ; and tiieir 
 exterior wails (those which are of brick) are plastered 
 and whitewashed. There are several doors which are 
 entered from the court. One of these is called " biib el- 
 liareem," (the door of the hareem): it is the entrance of the 
 stairs which lead to the apartments appropriated exclu- 
 sively to the women and their master and his children. f 
 
 In general, there is, on the ground-floor, an aj)artment 
 called a " mandar'ah," in which male visitors are received. 
 This has a wide, wooden, grated window, or two win- 
 dows of this kind, next the court. A small part of the 
 floor, extending from the door to the oj)posite side of 
 the room, is six or seven inches lower than the rest; 
 this part is called the " durka'ah "J In a handsome 
 house, the durka'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, &c., like the surrounding pavement. I give, 
 as a specimen, the pattern of the pavement of a 
 
 • Some large houses have two courts : the inner for the hareem ; ana 
 in the latter, or both of these, there is usually a little enclosure of arched 
 wood-work, in whicli trees and tlowers are raised. 
 
 t In the accompanyin-,' view of tlie court of a house, the door of the 
 hareem is that which faces the spectator. 
 
 + Apparently a corruption of the Persian " dargah." — Tlie view of a 
 Ija ah in p. 40 will serve to illustrate the description of the mandar'ah.
 
 fT ^^^i^:r^^ t?^ri'!rr^gT; rT!ry/i3?:rtT^Trn 
 
 ir 
 
 6 
 
 
 h 
 
 
 
 ilcKc 
 
 K 
 
 gsg 
 
 ♦i§«ii^S#^#li«#«iK^%«%#i!i<# 
 
 ISSZZI^ 
 
 Pavement of a " Durka'ah."— The width of this is about eiglit feet. 
 
 c 3
 
 34 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 chirk ii'iih, such as I have above described, and a sketch 
 of the Ibuntain. The water whicli falls from the foun- 
 
 Fountain, 
 
 tain is drained off from the pool by a pipe. There is 
 generally, fronting the door, at the end of the durka'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
 
 PRIVATE HOCSES. OO 
 
 utensils in ordinary use — such as perfuming vessels, and 
 the hasin and ewer which are used for washing before 
 and after meals, and for the ablution preparatory to 
 prayer : water-bottles, coffee-cups, &c. are placed upon 
 the sut^eh. 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 some- 
 times 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 durka'ah. The raised part of the floor of the room 
 is called "leewan"* (a corruption of *' el-eewdn," 
 which signifies "any raised place to sit upon," and also 
 "a palace"). Every person slips off his shoes on the 
 durka'ah before he steps upon the leewan.f 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 ot 
 its three walls, composing what is called a " deewan," 
 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 ot 
 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 wei'e placed in an oven ; for 
 which reason the doors of the apartments also are con- 
 structed in the same manner. We observe great variety 
 
 * The " leewan " is not to be confounded with the " deewan," which 
 is afterwards mentioned. 
 
 f One of the chief reasons of the custom here mentioned is, to avoia 
 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.
 
 r^- m,^^M>-^ K— M-^j^, 
 
 ffi^#^^ 
 
 iiifa^z4.\=c<2i|||| 
 
 mm 
 
 mum 
 
 
 E02 
 
 EW« 
 
 Itl 
 
 
 E«^PJ 
 
 
 3^ 
 
 1 
 
 ac 
 
 
 i^ 
 
 D 
 
 C 
 
 Specimens of Panel-work. — These are represented on a scale of one inch 
 to twenty-four or tliirty.
 
 PRIVATE HOUSES. 
 
 37 
 
 and much ingenuity displayed in the different modes in 
 which these small panels are formed and disposed. A 
 few specimens are introduced opposite. The ceiling over 
 the leewan is of wood, with carved beams, generally 
 
 Ceiling of a Durkaah.— About eight feet wide. 
 
 about a foot apart, partially painted, and sometimes gilt. 
 But that part of the ceiling which is over the durkd'ah, 
 in a handsome house, is usually more richly decorated :
 
 38 THE MODERX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 here, instead of beams, numerous thin strips of wood are 
 nailed upon the planks, fonnino: ])atterns curiously com- 
 plicated, yet perfectly reg-ular, and having^ a higjhly orna- 
 mental 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.* 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, except- 
 ing 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 
 
 ^ti^C) 
 
 05>AV^ 
 
 
 ti^ 
 
 p>^ 
 
 o{y:Ch 
 
 f 
 
 K. y / W f 
 
 ^V^ 
 
 H y^ 
 
 ^Sh 
 
 
 Wk 
 
 B^ 
 
 <K^k 
 
 M 
 
 
 V A ^ / \ \ 
 
 ^ 
 
 oifx 
 
 ^^ 
 
 '4y^ 
 
 "Xt^ 
 
 Ceiling of a projecting Window. — The dimensions of this are ahout eight 
 feet by three. 
 
 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. 
 
 In some houses (as in that which is the subject of the 
 engraving in page 31) 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 
 
 • See Jeremiah xxii. 14.
 
 PRIVATE HOUSES. 39 
 
 *' takhtabosh," with an open front, and generally a pillar 
 to support the wall above ; its floor is a paved leewan, 
 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 ren- 
 ders the surrounding apartments agreeably cool — or at 
 least those on the ground-floor. All the rooms are fur- 
 nished in the same manner as that first described. 
 
 Among the upper apartments, or those of the 
 Hareem, there is generally one called a " ka'ah," 
 wliich is particularly lofty. It has two leewans— one 
 on each hand of a person entering : one of these is 
 generally larger than the other, and is the more hon- 
 ourable part. A portion of the roof of this saloon, the 
 part which is over the durka'ah that divides the two 
 leewans, 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 durka'ah 
 is commonly without a fountain ; but is often paved" in a 
 similar manner to that of the mandar'ah : which the 
 ka'ah also resembles in having a handsome sufleh, 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 leewan, 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.* 
 All the apartments are lofty, generally fourteen ieet or 
 more in height ; but the ka'ah is the largest and most 
 lofty room, and in a large house it is a noble saloon. 
 
 In several of the upper rooms, in the houses of the 
 wealthy, there are, besides the windows of lattice-work, 
 others of coloured glass, representing bunches of flowers, 
 peacocks, and other gay and gaudy objects, or merely 
 
 * 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 tiiis will be found in the Cliapter on Music.
 
 A Ka'ah.
 
 PRIVATE HOUSES. 41 
 
 fanciful patterns, which have a pleasing effect. These 
 coloured glass windows, which are termed " kama- 
 reeyelis,'* 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 com- 
 posed 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, &c., which are more usually written on paper, 
 in an embellished style, and enclosed in glazed frames. 
 No chambers are furnished as bed-rooms. The bed, in 
 the day-time, is rolled up, and placed on one side, or 
 in an adjoining closet, called " khazneh," which, in the 
 winter, is a sleeping-place : in summer, many people 
 sleep upon the house-top. A mat, or carpet, spread 
 upon the raised part of the stone floor, and a dee wan, 
 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 :t the room is warmed when necessary, by 
 burning charcoal in a chafing-dish. Many houses 
 
 * This word is said to be derived from " kamar" (the moon). Baron 
 Hammer-Pur?stall thinks (see the Vienna ' Jahrbiicher der Literatur,' 
 Ixxxi. UL, pp'. 71 ic 72) that it has its oria;in from Chumaruje [or, as he 
 is called by the Arabs in general, Khumaraweyh], the second prince of 
 tie dynasty of the Benee-Tooloon, who governed in Egypt in tlie end 
 of the ninth century of the Christian era, and that it proves tlie art 
 or' staining glass to have been in a flourishing state in Cairo at that 
 period. 
 
 t Excepting in the kitchen, in wliicli are several small receptacles for 
 fije, constructed on a kind of bench of brick. Hence, and for several 
 other reasons (among which may be mentioned the sober and early
 
 42 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 have, at the top, a sloping shed of hoards, called a 
 '' nialkaf,"* directed towards the north or north-west, 
 to coiivey to a " les-hah " or "I'esahah" (an open 
 anartnient) below the cool breezes wliich generally 
 blow Ironi those qnarters. 
 
 Every door is lurnished with a wooden lock, called a 
 '' dabbeh," the mechanism of which is shown by a 
 
 "uu"u ! 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^l 
 
 r^=^^p^ 
 
 -^%^ 
 
 Wooden Lock. 
 
 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 corresjionding 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 
 
 habits of the people, the general absence of draperies in the apart- 
 ments, and the construction of the floors, which are of wood overlaid 
 with stone), the destruction of a house by fire seldom liappens in 
 Cairo ; but when such an accident does occur, an extensive conflagra- 
 tion 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. 
 
 * See again the engraving in p. 31.
 
 PRIVATE HOUSES. 43 
 
 with the holes, into which they ai-e introduced to oj)en 
 the lock : the forn)er pins being thus pushed up, the 
 bolt may be drawn back. The wooden lock of a street- 
 door is commonly about fourteen inches long :* those ot 
 the doors of apartments, cupboards, 6cc. are about seven, 
 or eight, or nine inches. The locks of the gates ot 
 quarters, public buildings, &c. are of the same kind, and 
 mostly two feet, or even more, in length. It is not 
 difficult to pick this kind of lock. 
 
 In the plan of almost every house there is an utter 
 want of regularity. The apartments are generally of 
 ditfierent heights — so that a person has to ascend or de- 
 scend 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 windpw in such a situa- 
 tion as to overlook the apartments of another he use. 
 Another object of the architect, in building a house for 
 a person of wealth or rank, is to make a secret door 
 (" bab sirr "t), from which the tenant may make his 
 escape in case of danger from an arrest, or an attem])t 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 ge- 
 nerally a bath, which is heated in the same manner as 
 the public baths. 
 
 Another style of building has lately been very ge- 
 nerally adopted for houses of the more wealthy. These 
 do not differ much from those already described, ex- 
 cepting in the Mindows, 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 arc 
 ill adapted to a hot climate. 
 
 When shops occupy the lower part of the buildings in 
 
 * This is the measure of the sliding bolt. 
 
 t This term is also applied, sometimes, to the door of the Hareem,
 
 44 THE MODF.RS EGYPTIANS. 
 
 a street (as is grenerally the case in the great tiiorough- 
 I'arcs of the metropolis, and in some of the by -streets), 
 the siij)crstructure is usually divided into distinct lodg- 
 ings, and is termed " rab<i." These lodgings are sepa- 
 rate from each other, as well as from the shoj)s below, 
 and let to families who cannot afford the rent of a whole 
 house. Each lodging in a rab.i comprises one or two 
 sitting or sleej)ing 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 sel- 
 dom 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 rela- 
 tions to dwell with) is usually obliged to take up his abode 
 in a " wckjileh," which is a building chiefly designed for 
 the recei)tion 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 to- 
 gether with mud. Some of them arc mere hovels. 
 The greater number, however, comprise two or more 
 apartments; though few are two stories high. In one 
 of these apartments, in the houses of the peasants in 
 Lower Egypt, there is generally an oven (" furn "), at 
 the end farthest from the entrance, and occupying the 
 whole width ot the chamber. It resembles a wide 
 bench or seat, and is aljout 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 sleej) ujwn the floor. The 
 chambers have small apertures high up in the walls, for
 
 POPULATION. 45 
 
 the admission of light and air — sometimes furnished 
 with a grating of wood. The roofs are formed of palm- 
 branches and palm-leaves, or of millet-stalks, &c., laid 
 upon rafters of the trunk of the palm, and covered with 
 a plaster of mud and chopped straw. The furniture 
 consists of a mat or two to sleep upon, a few earthen 
 vessels, and a hand-mill to grind the corn. In many 
 villages, large pigeon-houses, of a square form, but with 
 the walls slightly inclining inwards (like many of the 
 ancient Egyptian buildings), or of the form of a sugar- 
 loaf, are constructed upon the roofs of the huts, with 
 crude brick, pottery, and mud.* 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 regis- 
 tered, 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 inhabit- 
 ants 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, Booluk, 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 Dimyatf (or Damietta), 
 we must reckon as many as six persons to each house, or 
 our estimate will fall far short of what is generally be- 
 lieved to be the number of its inhabitants. The addition 
 
 * The earthen pots used in the construction of these pigeon-houses 
 are of an o%al 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. 
 
 f Vulgarly called " Dumyat."
 
 46 THE MODERN' ECYPTIAXS. 
 
 of one or two persons to each house in the above- 
 niontioned towns will, however, make little ditierence in 
 the computation of the whole population of Egypt, which 
 Avas 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 arc males: and one-third 
 of this number (400,000) men fit for military service: 
 from this latter number the present Bitsha 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 j)reventing their marrying, 
 during ten years, must surely far exceed 300,000 : con- 
 sequently, 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 follow : — 
 
 Muslim Egyptians (fellaheen or pea- 
 sants, and townspeople) . . . 1,750,000 
 Christian Egyptians (Copts) , . 1 50,000 
 'Osmanlees, 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, &c.), 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.* 
 
 Cairo, I have said, contains about 240,000 inha- 
 bitants.! We should be greatly deceived if we judged 
 
 •^gypi ,,.. , 
 
 exceptions, speak no language but tlie Arabic, w hich is also tlie langua;^e 
 {.'(jnerally used by the foreij,'ners settled in this country. The iNubians, 
 amon.,' themselves, sjieik rheirown dialects. 
 
 t Tlie population of Cairo has increased to this amount, from about 
 200,000, within the last three or four years. Since the computation here
 
 PCPULATIOX. 47 
 
 of the population of this city from the crowds that we 
 meet in the principal thoroughfare-streets and markets : 
 in most of the by-streets and quarters very few passen- 
 gers are seen. Nor should we judge from the extent of 
 the city and suburbs ; for there are within the walls 
 many vacant ])laces, some of which, during the season of 
 the inundation, are lakes (as the Birket el-Ezbekeeyeh, 
 Birket el-Feel, &c.). The gardens, several burial- 
 grounds, the courts of houses, and the mosques, also oc- 
 cupy a considerable space. Of the inhabitants of the 
 metropolis, about 190,000 are Egy))tian Muslims ; about 
 10,000 Copts; 3000 or 4000" Jews ; and the rest, 
 strangers I'rom various countries.* 
 
 The population of Egypt in the times of the Pharaohs 
 was probably about six or seven millions. f The produce 
 of the soil in the j)resent 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 cul- 
 tivation 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. J This calculation agrees with what Diodorus 
 
 stated was made, the plague of this year [1835] lias destroyed not fewer 
 than one-third of its inhabitants, as before mentioned ; but this defi- 
 ciency will be rapidly supplied from the villages. 
 
 • About one-third of the population of the metropolis consists of adult 
 males. Of this number (or 8.»,000) about 30,000 are merchants, petty 
 shopkeepers, and artisans; 20,000 domestic servants; 15,000 common 
 labourers, porters, &:c. : the remainder chiefly consists of military and 
 civil servants of the government. 
 
 f I place but little reliance on the accounts of ancient authors on this 
 subject. 
 
 f It has been suggested to me, that, if corn was exported, something of 
 equal value was imp)rted : and that the exportation of corn, or annhing 
 else, would give a stimulus to industry and to population : Init I do not 
 know what could be imported that would lill up the measure of the food 
 necessary to sustain a population much greater than that wliich would 
 consume' the corn retained.
 
 48 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Siculus says (in lib. i. cap 31) ; namely, that Egrypt 
 contained, in the times of the ancient kinpfs, 7,000,000 
 inhabitants, and in his own time not less than 3,000,000. 
 
 How diticrent now is the state of Ejrypt from what it 
 might be ; possessing a population of scarcely more than 
 one quarter of the number that it niight be rendered ca- 
 pable of supporting ! How great a change might be 
 effected in it by a truly enlightened govcrinnent ; by a 
 prince who (instead of impoverishing the peasantry by 
 depriving them of their lands, and by his monoj)olies of 
 the most valuable productions of the soil ; by em|)loying 
 the best ]X)rtion of the population to prosecute his ambi- 
 tious schemes of foreign contjuest, and another large por- 
 tion 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 agriculture country ! Its pro- 
 duce 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 in- 
 habitants demand.* 
 
 The desired change may now be easily effected ; f'oi 
 since the above was written, the Btishahas 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 expedi- 
 tion and the accession of Mohammad 'Alee to the 
 office of Viceroy, can doubt that he possesses extraor- 
 dinary talents for government ; and let us hope that 
 those talents will be rightly employed : but, as he him- 
 self affirms, some time will be required for effecting the 
 necessary changes. 
 
 • During the present year [1835"! more than 100,000 bales of cotton 
 (each bale weighing a hundredweight and three quarters) have been 
 shipped at Alexandria. The price paid for tliis quantity by the mer- 
 chants exceeded 7on,Oi>0/. The quantity exported last year was 34,000 
 bales, which is considerably less than usual. — The policy above recom- 
 mended is strongly adToc< ted by Ibraheem Basha,
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, AXD DRESS, OF THE MUSLIM 
 EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Muslims of Arabian origin have, for many centuries, 
 mainly composed tiie 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 civilised 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 metro- 
 polis (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 inter- 
 marriages with the Copts and others who have become 
 proselytes to the faith of El-Islam, as well as by the 
 change from a life of wandering to that of citizens or of 
 agriculturists, their personal characteristics have, by de- 
 
 VOL I. D
 
 50 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 grees, become so much altered, that there is a strongly 
 marked diHerence between them and tiie 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 mar- 
 rying 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," * it should here be remarked, is now 
 used, wherever the Arabic language is spoken, only to 
 designate the Bedawees collectively : in speaking of a 
 tribe, or of a small number of those people, the word 
 " 'Orban " is also used ; and a single individual is called 
 " Bedawee."t 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," *' OwUd-Masr " (or 
 "Ahl-Masr "), and "Owlad-el-Beled," which signify peo- 
 ple of Masr, children of Masr, and children of the town : 
 the singular forms of these appellations are '* Masree," 
 " Ibn-Masr," and *' Ibn-el-Beled." f Of these 'three 
 terms, the last is most common in the town itself. The 
 country people are called " El-Felldheen " (or the agri- 
 culturists), in the singular " Fellah,' '§ 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,"!! or " the people of Pharaoh," 
 
 In general, the Muslim Egyptians attain the height 
 
 * This term was foimerlv used to desif^nate the Arabian toivnspeople 
 and villagers, while the Arabs who dwelt in the Desert were called 
 " Aarab," or " Aarabees." The Arabs dwelling in houses now term 
 themselves " Owlud-el-'Arab," or sons of the Arabs. 
 
 t Feminine, " Bedaweeveh." 
 
 + In the feminine, " Masreeyeh," " Bint-Masr," and"Bint-el-Beled.'* 
 
 5 Feminine, " Feliahah." 
 
 U Thus commonly pronounced for " Fir'own."
 
 PERSONAL CHARACTEKISTICS. 51 
 
 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 other- 
 wise : the teeth particularly beautiful : * 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 Fellaheen, from constant exposure 
 to the sun, have a habit of half shutting their eyes : this 
 is also characteristic of the Bedawees. Great numbers ot 
 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 
 
 * Tooth-ache is, however, a very common disorder in Eg^pt, 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 phy- 
 sicians. It is, of course, most prevalent among the higher orders. 
 
 D 2
 
 Ol THS MODERK EGYPTIANS. 
 
 parts, they pluck out the hair. They also shave a part 
 of the beartl under the chin. Very lew shave the rest of 
 their beards,* and none their mustaches. The former 
 they sutler 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 mustaches 
 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 ") u})on the crown of 
 the head.f 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 oil" 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.;|; With the like 
 view of avoiding impurity, the Egyptians observe other 
 customs, which need not here be described. ^S 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. 
 
 The dress of the men of the middle and higher classes 
 consists of the following articles. || First, a pair of full 
 drawers^ of linen or cotton, tied round the body by a 
 
 * A few of the servants, and some others, shave their beards. Tlie 
 respect which Orientals in general pay to the beard has often been re- 
 marked. Tliey swear by it, and say that a man disgraces it by an evil 
 action. The punishment recorded in 2 Samuel, ch. x. ver. 4, has fre- 
 quently been practised in modem times, but not so often as tlie shaving 
 of the whole of the beard. 
 
 f The Muslims hold it to be inconsistent with the honour that is due 
 to everj-thing that has appertained to tlie human body to leave upon the 
 ground the shavings or clippings of hair, the parings of nails, &c. ; 
 which, therefore, they generally bury in the eartli. 
 
 i Persons of literary and religious professions generally disapprove of 
 the shooslu'h. 
 
 $ They are mentioned in the ' Mishcat-ul-Masabih,' vol. ii. p. 3."i9, 
 and are observed by both sexes. 
 
 II The fashion of their dress remains almost the same during the lapse 
 of centuries. ^f In Arabic, "libas."
 
 DRESS. 53 
 
 running string or band,* the ends of which are em- 
 broidered 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, f with very full sleeves, reaching 
 to the wrist : it is made of linen, of a loose, open texture, 
 or of cotton stuif, or of muslin, or silk, or of a mixture of 
 silk and cotton, in stripes, but all white. $ Over this, in 
 winter, or in cool weather, most persons wear a " sudey- 
 ree," which is a short vest of cloth, or of striped coloured 
 silk and cotton, without sleeves. Over the shirt and the 
 sudeyree, or the former alone, is worn a long vest of 
 striped silk and cotton § (called " kaftan," or more com- 
 monly "kuftan"), 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, |j 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.^ Some persons 
 also wear a " beneesh," or " benish ; " which is a robe of 
 cloth, with lon^- sleeves, like those of the kuftan, but 
 more ample :** it is, properly, a robe of ceremony, and 
 should be worn over the other cloth coat ; but many per- 
 sons 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 
 
 * Called " dikkeh," or"tikkeh." f " Kamees." 
 
 % The prophet forbade men to wear silk clothing, but allowed women 
 to do si' The prohibition is, however, attended to by very few modern 
 Muslims, excepting the Wahhabees. 
 
 ■J The stripes are seldom plain : they are generally figured or 
 flo.vered, || " Hezam." 
 
 ^ See the foremost figure in the following engraving. 
 
 ** See the figure to the left in the same engraving.
 
 Men of tlie Middle and Hijlier Classes.
 
 DEESS. 55 
 
 worn by men of the learned professions. In cold or cool 
 weather, a kind of black woollen cloak, called " 'abayeh," 
 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,t 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. J 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 othei 
 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,^ which is generally of silver, with a camelion, or 
 other stone, upon which is engraved the wearer's name : 
 the name is usually accompanied by the words " his ser- 
 vant " (signifying " the servant, or worshipper, of God"), 
 and often by other words expressive of the person's trust 
 in God, &c.** The Prophet disapproved of gold ; therefore 
 few Muslims wear gold rings : but the women have 
 various ornaments (rings, bracelets, &c.) of that precious 
 
 * See the next en^aving, in which is represented a striped 'abayeh. 
 
 t Called " takeeyeh," or " 'arakeeyeh." 
 
 :}: " 'Emameh." ' 1} "Markoob." 
 
 II " Me/.z," or, more properly, " mezd ;" from the Turkish " mest." 
 
 % " Khatim." — It is allowable to wear it on a linger of the left hand. 
 
 ** See St. .Tohn's Gospel, ill. 33 : and Exodms, xxxix. 30.
 
 56 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 metal. The seal-ring: is used for signing Icttei-s and 
 other writings ; and its impression is considered more 
 valid than the sign-manual.* A little ink is dabbed uj)on 
 it with one of the fingers, and it is pressed ujx)n the 
 pai)er — the person who uses it having first touched his 
 tongue with another finger, and moistened the place in 
 the pa])er 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 cop}>er *' dawayeh," which 
 is a case with receptacles for ink and pens, stuck in the 
 girdle. t Some have, in the place of this, or in addition 
 to it, a case-knife or a dagger. 
 
 The Egyptian generally takes his ])ipe 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 kuftdn 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.J 
 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 
 
 * Therefore, giving the ring to another person is the utmost mark of 
 conlidence.^See Genesis, xli. 4U. 
 
 f This is a very ancient custom. — See Ezekiel, ix. 2, 3, li. — The 
 dawaveh is represented in a cut in Chapter IX. 
 
 J 'fhe zaabooj is mostly worn in the winter.
 
 Mea of the Low er Classes, 
 
 1)3
 
 58 TlIK MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 or brown felt cap ; * but many are so poor as to have no 
 other cap than tlie 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 kuftan 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, vkhere 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 'abayeh, 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 'abayeh, of black or deep-blue 
 woollen stuff, is also very commonly worn : it is called 
 " diffeeyeh." f The shoes are of red or yellow morocco, 
 or of sheep-skin. 
 
 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 sub- 
 jects of the Turkish Sultan who are not Muslims) wear 
 black, blue, grey, or light-brown turbans, and generally 
 dull-coloured dresses. The distinction of sects, families, 
 dynasties, &c., among the Muslim Arabs, by the colour 
 of the turban and other articles of dress, is of very early 
 origin. When the Imilm Ibraheem Ibn-Mohammad, 
 asserting his pretensions to the dignity of Khaleefeh,| 
 was put to death by the Umawee Khaleefeh Marwd,n, 
 many persons of the family of El-'Abbils assumed black 
 clothing, in testimony of their sorrow for his fate ; and 
 
 * Called " libdeh." 
 
 + A kind of blue and white plaid (called " milayeh ") is also worn bv 
 some men, but more commonly by women, in tlie account of whose 
 dross it will be further described : the men throw it over the shoulders, 
 or wrap it about the body. 
 
 J Commonly written by Engbsh authors " Caliph," or " Khalif."
 
 DRESS. 59 
 
 hence the black dress and turban (which latter is now 
 characteristic, almost solely, of Christian and Jewish tri- 
 butaries to the 'Osmanlee, or Turkish, Sultan) became 
 the distinguishing costume of the 'Abbdsee Khaleefehs, 
 and of their officers. When an officer under this dy- 
 nasty 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 'Abbasees ; and the 
 Fawatim of Egypt (or Khaleefehs of the race of 
 Fatimeh), as rivals of the 'Abbasees, wore a white 
 costume. El-Melik El-Ashraf Shaaban, a Sultan 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 darwecshes of the sect of the 
 Rifa'ees, and a few, but very few, other Muslims, wear 
 a turban of black woollen stuff, or of a very deep olive- 
 coloured (almost black) muslin ; but that of the Copts, 
 Jews, &c. is generally of black or blue muslin or linen. 
 There are not many different forms of turbans now worn 
 in Egypt : that worn by most of the servants is 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 
 
 Tlie Mukleh.
 
 60 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 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 j)laced at night. This is often 
 sent with the furniture of a bride ; as it is common for 
 a lady to have one uj)on 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 'lilinif being tin-own oif 
 his donkey in a street of this city, his mukleh fell off, 
 and rolled along for several yards : whereupon the j)as- 
 sengers ran after it, crying, '• Lift up the crown of El- 
 Islam!" while the poor 'alim, whom no one came to 
 assist, called out in anger, *' Lift up the slieykhX of El- 
 Islam ! " 
 
 The general Ibrm 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 liave 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, abso- 
 lutely ugly. In the Egyj)tian females, the forms of 
 womanhood begin to develop themselves about the ninth 
 or tenth year : at the age of fifteen or sixteen they gene- 
 rally 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 
 
 * Called " kiirsee el-'emameJi." 
 
 t This appel ation (cf which '"ulami" is the plaral) signifies a man 
 of science or learnini:. 
 X "Sljeykh" here sigiifies mister, or doctor.
 
 WOMEX. 61 
 
 are characterized, like the men, by a fine oval counte- 
 nance ; 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 eiFect 
 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 be- 
 low the eye, with a black powder called "kohl." This 
 
 An. eye ornamented with Kohl. 
 
 is a collyrium commonly composed of the smoke-black 
 which is produced by burning a kind of " libaii" — 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 be- 
 lieved 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,f long pepper, J sugar-candy, fine dust of a 
 Venetian sequin, and sometimes powdered pearls. An- 
 timony, 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, taj>ering towards the 
 end, but blunt : this is moistened, sometimes with rose- 
 water, then dipped in the powder, and drawn along the 
 
 * " Kohl el-hagar." f " Anzaroot. ' + "'Erk ed-dahab."
 
 62 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 edges of the eyelids, it is called "mirwed;" and the 
 glass vessel in which the kohl is kept " muk-huFah." 
 The custom of thus ornamenting the eyes prevailed 
 
 Muk-hul'ahs and Mirweds. 
 lliese are represented on scales of one-third, and a quarter, of the real 
 
 among both sexes in Egypt in very ancient times : this 
 is shown by the scul])tures and ])aintings in the temj)les 
 and tombs of this country ; and kohl-vessels, with the 
 
 Ancient Vessel and Probe for Kohl. 
 
 probes, and even with the remains of the black powder, 
 nave 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 ditierent
 
 rSE OF KOHL. 63 
 
 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 
 
 An Eye and Eyebrow ornamented with Kohl, as represented in ancient 
 Paintings. 
 
 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.* 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. f 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 in- 
 stances it is rather coarse and crisp, but never woolly. 
 
 The females of the higher and middle classes, and 
 many of the poorer women, stain certain parts of their 
 hands and feet (which are, with very few exceptions, 
 beautifully formed) with the leaves of the henna-tree, j 
 
 * See 2 Kings, ix. 30, ("where, in our common version, we find the 
 words, " painted her face," for " painted her eves,") and Ezekiel, xxiii. 
 40. 
 
 f Scissors are often used to reduce the width of the eye-brows, and to 
 give them a more arched form. 
 
 + Lawsonia inermis : also called " Egyptian privet."
 
 64 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 which impart a yellowish red, or deep orange colour. 
 Many thus dye only the nails of the fingers and toes ; 
 
 Hands and Feet stained with Henna. 
 
 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 ;* adding, tiiough not always, the stripe 
 above mentioned alone: the middle joints of the fingers, 
 and a similar stripe a little above the toes. The henna 
 
 * The application of this dye to the palms of the hands and the soles 
 of the feet is said to liave an agreeable effect upon the skin ; particularly 
 to prevent its being too tender and sensitive.
 
 USE or HEXKA. 65 
 
 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 embellish- 
 ment ; 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. 
 
 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, pre- 
 vails a custom somewhat similar to that above described : 
 it consists in making indelible marks of a blue or greenish
 
 A tattooed Girl. 
 
 Tattooed Hands and Foot.
 
 TATTOOING. 67 
 
 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 
 
 m m II # 
 
 Specimens of tattooing on the Chin. 
 
 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 etfect, in a more simple manner, some indigo is 
 rubbed into the punctures, instead of the smoke-black, 
 &c. It is generally performed at the age of 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 com- 
 plexion, tattoo their lips instead of the parts above-men- 
 tioned ; thus converting their natural colour to a dull, 
 bluish hue, which, to the eye of a stranger, is extremely 
 displeasing.* 
 
 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. 
 
 The dress of the women of the middle and higher 
 
 * The depilatory most commonly used by the Ear%'ptian women is a 
 kind of resin, called liban shamee, applied in a melted state : but this, 
 they pretend, is not always necessary : by applyinj; 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 
 " watwat," a bat. Some women pluck out the hair after merely rubbing 
 the part with the ashes of charcoal.
 
 A Lady in the Dress worn in private.
 
 DRESS. 69 
 
 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 trowsers (called 
 " shintiyan"), 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 shintiyan 
 is worn a long vest (called " yelek "), of the same mate- 
 rial as the latter : it nearly resembles the kuftan 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 or 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 comers 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. In- 
 stead 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 
 t^keeyeh and tarboosh, with a square kerchief (called 
 " faroodeeyeh ") of printed or painted muslin, or one of
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 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 
 
 A Lady adorned with the Kurs and Safa, &c.— (Tlie Hand is partially 
 itained with Henna.)
 
 DRESS. 71 
 
 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 orna- 
 mented with gold thread, &c., 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, except- 
 ing over the forehead and temples, is divided into numerous 
 braids or plaits, generally from eleven to twenty-five in 
 number, but always of an uneven number : these hang down 
 the back. To each braid of hair are usually added three 
 black silk cords, with little ornaments of gold, &c. attached 
 to them. For a description of these, which are called 
 " 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. f 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 " bdboog" (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, 
 &c. These are always used in the bath by men and 
 women ; but not by many ladies at home : some ladies 
 wear them merely to keep their skirts from trailing on 
 the ground : others, to make themselves appear tall. — 
 Such is the dress which is worn by the Egyptian ladies 
 in the house. 
 
 The riding or walking attire is called " tezyeereh." 
 
 * Called " makasees." 
 
 f E^ptian women swear by the side-lock (as men do by the beards 
 generally holding it when they utter the oath, " Wa-hayat maksooseel" 
 J Called "kabkab," or, more commonly, " kubkab."
 
 72 THE MODERN EGYITIANS. 
 
 Whenever a lady leaves the house, she wears, in addition 
 to what has been above described, first, a large loose 
 gown (called " tob," or **sebleh"), the sleeves of 
 which are nearly equal in width to the whole length of 
 the gown :* 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 scam 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 " eezar ;" 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 ** bdboog." 
 
 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. View- 
 ing 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 
 
 * This is similar in form to tlie toVi of women of the lower orders, i e- 
 presented in the engraving in page 74.
 
 Ladies attired for RiJin;' or Walking
 
 Womfn and Cliildren of the Lower Classes.
 
 m^ 
 
 A Woman clad in the Milaveli, &c.
 
 76 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 in at'complishinir its main jnirpose ; displaying the eyes, 
 which are ahnost always beautiful ; making them to appear 
 gtill more so by concealing the other features, which are 
 seldom of equal beauty ; and often causing the stranprer 
 to imagine a defective face [)erfectly charming. 'I'iic 
 veil is of very remote antiquity ;* but, from the r.culp- 
 tures and paintings of the ancient Egyptians, it seems 
 not to have been worn by the females of that nation. 
 
 The dress of a large proj)ortion of those women of the 
 lower orders who are not of the poorest class consists of 
 a pair of trowsers or drawers (similar in form to the shin- 
 tiyan of the ladies, but generally of j)lain 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, t and a dark blue tarhah of muslin or 
 linen. Some wear, over the shirt, or instead of 
 the latter, a linen tdb, of the same form as that of 
 the ladies.;}: The sleeves of this are often turned 
 uj) over the head ; either to prevent their being incom- 
 modious, or to supj)ly the })lace of a tarhah. § In addi- 
 tion to these articles of dress, many women who are not 
 of the very i)oor 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 "milayeh;"|| in general it is worn in the 
 same manner as tlie habarah ; but sometimes like the 
 tarhah.^ The u))per 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 conmionly 
 
 * See Genesis, xxiv. 65 ; and Isaiah, iii. 23. See also 1 Corinthians, 
 xi. 10, and a marfjinal note on that verse. 
 
 f Some of those who are descended Iroin the Prophet wear a green 
 burko'. 
 
 J See the figure to the left, in page 74. 
 
 5 See the figure to the right, in p. 74. 
 
 jl For " muliiah." 
 .^f 'I'here is a superior kind of milayeli, of silk, and of various colours ; 
 but this is now seldom worn. Tlie two pieces which compose the rai- 
 layeh are sewed together likie those whi h compose the habarali."
 
 77 
 
 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, 
 
 t'rr.amented black Veils.— Only one of tliese (that to the right) is repre- 
 sented in its whole length. 
 
 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 mo- 
 rocco, turned up, but round, at the toes. The burko' 
 and shoes are most common in Cairo, and arc also wolm 
 by many of the women throughout Lower Egypt ; but
 
 78 THE MODKRX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 in Upj)cr Egypt, the burko' is very seldom seen, and 
 shoes are scarcely less uncommon. To supjjly the place 
 of the former, when necessary, a portion of the tarhali 
 is drawn before tiie face, so as to conceal nearly all the 
 countenance excei)ting one eye. Many of the women 
 of the lower orders, even in the metropolis, never con- 
 ceal their faces. Throughout the greater part of Egypt 
 
 Tlie 'Asbeh. 
 
 the most common dress of the women merely consists of 
 the blue shirt, or tob, 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 stutf (called a *' hulaleeyeh "), wrapping it round 
 the body, and attaching the upper parts together over 
 each shoulder ;t 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 .ips. Most of the women of the lower orders wear 
 a variety of trumpery ornaments, such as ear-rings, neck- 
 laces, bracelets, &c., and sometimes a nose-ring. De- 
 
 ♦ ^lore properly called Ikhmeem. 
 
 + The classical reader will lecojj^nise, in this picturesque garment, an 
 article of ancient Greek and Uoraan female attire.
 
 A Woman of the Southern Province of Upper Ezvpt. — (Sketched 
 Tliebes.)
 
 80 THE MODERN KGYPTIANS. 
 
 s'Ti|)tions and enrjravings of some of these ornaments 
 will be given in tlie Appentlix. 
 
 The women of Egypt deem it more ineuml)cnt uijon 
 them to eover the uj)per and baek part of the head than 
 th«' 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 j)rime of woman- 
 hood, and olliers in more iwlvanced age, with nothing 
 on the body but a narrow strip of rag bound round the
 
 ( 81 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IXFAXCT AND EARLY EDUCATIOX. 
 
 Is 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 adan (or call to prayer) in the 
 infant's right ear ; and this should be done by a male. 
 Some persons also pronounce the ikameh (which is 
 nearly the same as the adan) 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 cus- 
 tom, observed with the same view, is to say, " In the 
 the name of the Prophet and of his cousinf "Alee !" 
 
 It was a custom very common in Egypt, as in other 
 Muslim countries, to consult an astrologer previously to 
 giving a name to a child, and to be guided by his choice ; 
 but very few persons now conform with this old usage : 
 the father makes choice of a name for his son, and con- 
 fers it without any ceremony : a daughter is generally 
 named by her mother. Boys are often named after the 
 Prophet (Mohammad, Ahmad, or Mustafa), or some of 
 the members of his family ('Alee, Hasan, Hoseyn, &c.), 
 or his eminent companions ('Omar, 'Osman, 'Amr, &c.), 
 or some of the prophets and patriarchs of early times 
 (as Ibraheem, Is-hak, Isma'eel, Yaakoob, Moosa, 
 Daood, Suleyman, &c.), or receive a name signifying 
 "^Servant of God," "Servant of the Compassionate," 
 " Servant of the Powerful," &c. ('Abd-Allah, 'Abd-or- 
 
 * The words of the adan and the ikameh will be given in a substquent 
 pa^e. 
 
 •r I.iterallv, " the son of his paternal uncle." 
 
 E 3
 
 82 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Ilalmuin, 'Abd-cl-Kiulir). Girls are mostly named after 
 the wives or the favourite dau<rhtcr of the Arabian 
 Prophet, or after otiiers of his family (as Khadcegeh, 
 A'isheh, A'm'neh, Fat'meh, Zeyneb), or are distin- 
 guished by a name im|)lying that they are " beloved," 
 " blessed," " precious," &c. (Mahboobch, Mebrookeh, 
 Nefeeseh, &c.), or the name of a flower, or of some other 
 pleasintr object.* 
 
 As the i)roper name does not necessarily or g-enerally 
 descend froui parent to child, persons arc usually distin- 
 guished by one or more surnames, of the following kinds : 
 — a surname of relationship ;t as " Aboo-'Alee "J (Fa- 
 ther of 'Alee), "Ibn-Ahmad" (Son of Ahmad), &c. : 
 — a surname of honour, or a nickname ;§ as " Noor-ed- 
 Deen " (The Light of the Religion), " Et-Taweel " 
 (The Tall), &c. : — an ajtpellation relating to country, 
 birth-place, origin, family, sect, trade, or occupation, 
 &c. ;^ as " Er-Rasheedee " (of the town of Rasheed), 
 " Es-Sabbagh " (The Dyer), " Et-Tiigir " (The Mer- 
 chant). The second kind of surname, and that relating 
 to country, &c., are often inherited ; thus becoming 
 family-names. Each kind of surname is now generally 
 placed after the proj)er name. 
 
 The dress of the children of the middle and higher 
 orders is similar to that of the parents, but generally 
 slovenly. 1'he 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 
 
 * In Cairo, it is the fashion to change the first five female names here 
 mentioned, and the last, into Khaddoogeh, 'Eiyoosheh, Ammooneli, 
 Fattoomi'h, Zennooheli, and Neffooseh ; and some otlier names are 
 chan'.'ed to the same " measure " as these ; whicli measure implies, in 
 these cases, a superior dei,'ree of dignity. 
 
 f This is termed " kunyeh." 
 
 J On an improper use of this kind of surname, see a note towards Uie 
 close of Chapter IV. in this Volume. 
 
 ^ Termed " lakab." 
 
 ^j Termed " nisbeh," or " ism mensoob ;' or an appellation resembling 
 an " ism mensoob."
 
 INFANCY. 83 
 
 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 :* 
 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, f 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 in- 
 dulgence ; and the poor, for the little attention they 
 bestow, beyond supplying the absolute wants of nature. 
 The mother is prohibited, by the Muslim law, trom 
 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 women's 
 apartments), or, at least, in the house: sometimes the 
 boy continues thus an effeminate prisoner until a master, 
 hired to instruct him daily, has taught him to read and 
 write. But it is important to observe, that an affectionate 
 respect for parents and elders inculcated in the hareem 
 fits the boy for an abrupt introduction into the world, as 
 
 * It is customary among the peasants throughout a great part of Egypt, 
 on tlie first occasion of sliaving a child's liead, to slay aTictim, generally 
 a goat, at the tomb of some saint in or near tlieir village, and to make a 
 feast with the meat, of which their friends, and any other persons who 
 please, partake. This is most common in Upper Egypt, and among the 
 tribes not very long established on the banks of the Nile. Their Pagan 
 ancestors in Arabia observed this custom, and usually gave, as alms to 
 the poor, tlie weight of the hair in silver or gold. The victim is called 
 " 'akeekali," and is ollered as a ransom for the child from hell. The 
 custom of shaving one part of a child's head and leaving another was 
 forbidden by tlie Prophet. 
 
 -j- See Isaiali, xlix. 22.
 
 8 4 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 will jircsently be shown. Whon 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 lore 
 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 suH'ers from confinement and j)amporing, and 
 they are often rendered capricious, proud, and selfish. 
 The women of the nnddle 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 fruitfulncss, antl 
 upon the preservation of her' children ; for by men and 
 women, rich and poor, barreimess is stdl 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 hus- 
 band'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 sufiicient motive for maternal ten- 
 derness. Very little expense is required, in Egypt, for 
 the maintenance of a numerous offspring.* 
 
 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 
 
 * It is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus (lib. i. cap. 20), that the ancient 
 Ef.;yptians clotheu and reared their children at a very trilling expenae.
 
 INFANCY. 85 
 
 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 pro])riety 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.* 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 Ramadan 
 (and therefore a little after sunset) ; and though every 
 person who passed by, however poor, was invited to pai'- 
 take 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 imme- 
 diately told them that they might do so, but they 
 declined. — The mothers generally enjoy, in a greater 
 degree than the fathers, the atfection 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 
 fiathers. 
 
 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 
 
 * " The stnictiire of the Eastern government is but the enlargement of 
 the paternal roof." (Urquhart's ' Spirit of the East,' vol. ii. p. -iid.)
 
 86 TUE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 such an opinion of them ; but it is often the case that 
 those children wlio are most petted and beloved are the 
 dirtiest and worst clad. It is not uncommon to see, in tiie 
 city in w liich I am \vritin<r, a latly shuftting alonj^ in her 
 ample tol) and habarah of new and rich and glistening- 
 silks, and one who scents the whole street with the odour 
 of nuisk 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 linger or two showing the fresh 
 dye of the henna, and by her side a little boy or girl, her 
 own child, witii 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 inipiired the cause of what struck 
 me as so strange and inconsistent, and was informed that 
 the affectionate mothers thus neglected the apj)carance of 
 their cliildren, and purjwsely left them unwashed, and 
 clothed them so shabbily, particularly when they had to 
 take them out in j)ul)lic, 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 Hies in each eye, unheeded and un- 
 molested. 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 touch- 
 ing or washing them when thusalfected ; though washing 
 is really one of the best means of alleviating the complaint. 
 
 At the age of about five or six years, or sometimes
 
 CIRCUMCISION. 87 
 
 later, the boy is circumcised.* Previously to the per- 
 formance 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 j^araded 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,\vith a yelekand 
 saltah, and with a kurs, safa, and other female ornaments, 
 to attract the eye, and so divert it from his person. f 
 These articles of di-ess 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 hand- 
 kerchief, 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 en- 
 graving 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 
 
 * Among the peasants, not unfrequently at the age of twelve, thirteen, 
 or fourteen years. 
 
 t For a description of the ornaments here mentioned see the Appen- 
 dix : the kurs and safa are also represented in a preceding engraving, 
 page 70.
 
 88 
 
 Tin: MODERN' EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Parade previous to Circumcision.
 
 EARLY EDUCATION. 89 
 
 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 Chai)tcr, 
 relating to various private festivities.* 
 
 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 princi[)les of religion, and then sub- 
 mitting them, if they can atibrd to do so, to the in- 
 stniction 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 Ai)ostle." 
 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 chantf the 
 whole or certain portions of the Kur-an by mem.ory.J 
 They afterwards learn the most common rules of arith- 
 metic. 
 
 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 " hod" (or drink ing- 
 place for cattle) in the metropolis has a " kuttiib" (or 
 school) attached to it, in which children are instructed 
 
 * A custom mentioned by Strabo (p. 824), as prevailing among the 
 Egyptians in his time, is still universally practised in every part of 
 Egypt, both by the Muslims and Copts, excepting; in Alexandria and 
 perhaps a few other places on the shore of the Mediterranean : it is also 
 common, if not equally prevalent, in Arabia. Reland, who imperfectly 
 describes this custom (' De Relit:ione Mohammedica,' p. 75, edit. 1717), 
 remarks its being meutioned likewise by Galen. 
 
 t See Chapter ~X1 v., on Muiic. 
 
 % It has been said that I have represented the Kgyptiaii boys as being 
 very generally perfect in undentanding the Kur-an." If the reader can 
 find in this work any expression implying so monstrous an untruth, I 
 shall be obliged if he wiU erase it. I have stated, in Chapter IX., 
 that the exposition of the Kur-an is a branch of collegiate edu- 
 cation.
 
 90 
 
 TliE MODKRN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 for a very tririiner exponse ; the " shcykh" or fikce"* 
 (the master of tlic pchool) receiving- Iroin the parent of 
 each ])npil half a piaster (about five farthings of our 
 money), or something- more or less, every Thursday. f 
 The master of a school attached to a mosque or other 
 public building in Cairo also g-enerally receives yearly 
 a tarboosh, a piece of white muslin lor a turban, a piece 
 of linen, and a pair of shoes ; and each boy receives, at 
 the same time, a linen skull-eaj), four or five cubits J of 
 cotton cloth, and perha})s half a piece (ten or twelve 
 cubits) of linen, and a pair of shoes, and, in some cases, 
 half a piaster or a i)iaster. These presents are supplied 
 
 A School-boy learning the Alphabet. 
 
 by funds bequeathed to the school, and are given in the 
 month of Ramadan. The boys attend only during the 
 hours of instruction, and tlien return to their homes. 
 The lessons are generally written upon tablets of wood, 
 
 ♦ Tliis term is a corrnption of "fakeeh," which latter appellation is 
 (generally t^iven in E^'ypt only to a person deeply versed in religion and 
 law ; a man wlio merely recites the Kiir-an, &c. prolessionally, or who 
 teaches others to do so, beinu' commonly called a " fikee." 
 
 f Friday, being the sabbath of the Muslims, is a holiday to the school- 
 bovs and fikee. 
 
 f The culiit employed in measuring Egyptian cloths is equal t« 
 twentv-two inches and two-tiiirds.
 
 EARLY EDUCATION. 91 
 
 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-an, 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-an ; being thought to assist the memory. The 
 noise may be imagined.* 
 
 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.! 
 Previously to this third stage of the pupil's progress, it 
 is customary for the master to ornament the tablet with 
 black and rod ink, and green paint, and to write upon 
 it the letters of the alphabet in the order of their re- 
 spective 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-an, 
 and six or seven times as he proceeds in learning the 
 sacred book ; each time the next lesson being written 
 on the tablet. \Yhen 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-dn, 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-an : after the first 
 chapter he learns the last ; then the last but one ; next 
 the last but two, and so on, in inverted order, endinsx 
 v.ith the second ; as the chapters in general successively 
 decrease in length from the second to the last inclusively. 
 
 * The usual punishment is beating on the soles of the feet with a 
 pilm-stick. 
 
 f The Arabic letters are often used as numeraLs.
 
 92 THE MODKRN KCYl'TIANS. 
 
 It is seldom that the master of a sehool teaches writing ; 
 and few boys U\irn to write unless destined for some 
 emph^yment 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 " kab- 
 baneo," who is a j>erson emj)loyed to weigh goods in a 
 market or baziir with the steelyard. Those who are 
 to devote themselves to religion, or to any of the learned 
 jirofessions, mostly |!ursue a regular course of study in 
 the great mosque El-Azhar. 
 
 The schoolmasters in Egypt are mostly jiersons of 
 very little learning : few of them are acquainted with 
 any writings except the Kur-an, 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 ofKce of a schoohnaster in my neigh- 
 bourhood. Being able to recite the whole of the Kur-iin, 
 he could hear tl>e 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 
 otfice, a j)Oor 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 con- 
 tained 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 
 tlie lamentation and other ceremonies usual on the 
 occasion of a death. Not many days after this, her 
 son arrived, and she asked him what he could mean by 
 causing a letter to be written stating that he was dead ? 
 He explained the contents of the letter, and she went 
 to the schoolmaster and begged him to inlbi-m her why 
 he had told her to shriek and to tear her clothes, since 
 the letter was to inform her that her son was well, and 
 he was now arrived at home. Not at all abashed, he 
 said, ** God knows futurity ! How could I know that
 
 EAKLT EDUCATTOS-. 93 
 
 your son would arrive in safety ? It was better that 
 you should think him dead than be led to expect to see 
 him and perhaps be disa])pointed." Some persons who 
 were sitting with him praised his wisdom, exclaiming:, 
 " Truly, our new fikee is a man of unusual judgment ! " 
 and, for a little while, he found that he had raised his 
 reputation by this blunder.* 
 
 Some parents employ a sheykh or fikee to teach their 
 boys at home. The father usually teaches his son to 
 perform the " wudoo," and otlier ablutions, and to say 
 his prayers, and instructs him in other religious and 
 moral duties to the best of his ability. The Prophet 
 directed his followers to order their children to say 
 their prayers when seven years of age, and to beat them 
 if they did not do so when ten years old ; and at the 
 latter age to make them sleej) in separate beds : in Egypt, 
 however, very few ])ersons pray before they have attained 
 to manhood. 
 
 The female children are very seldom taught to read 
 or write ; and not many of them, even among the higher 
 orders, learn to say their prayers. Some of the rich 
 engage a "sheykhah" (or learned woman) to visit the 
 hareem daily ; to teach their daughters and female 
 slaves to say their prayers, and to recite a few chapters 
 of the Kur-an ; and sometimes to instruct them in 
 reading and writing ; but these are very rare accom- 
 plishments for females even of the highest class in 
 Egypt. t There are many schools in w:hich girls are 
 taught plain needlework, embroider}^, &c. In families 
 in easy circumstances a " m"allimeh,"J or female teacher 
 of such kinds of work, is often engaged to attend the 
 girls at their own home. 
 
 • I have since found an anecdote almost exactly similar to the above 
 in the Cairo edition of the 'Thousand and One Nights :' therefore either 
 my informant's account is not strictly true, or the man alluded to by 
 him was, in the main, an imitator : "the latter is not improbable, as I 
 have been credibly informed of several similar imitations, and of one 
 which I know to be a fact. 
 
 •j- The youn? daughters of persons of the middle classes are some 
 times instructed with the boys in a public school ; but they are usually 
 veiled, and hold no intercourse with the boys. I have often' seen a welf- 
 dressed girl reading the Kur-an in a boys' school. 
 
 J Thus pronounced for " mo'allimeh."
 
 ( 94 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 RELIGION AND LAWS. 
 
 As the most important branch of their education, and 
 the main foundation of their manners and customs, the 
 religion and laws of the people who are the subject ot 
 these jjagcs must be well understood, — not only in their 
 general principles, but in many minor points, — before 
 we can proceed to consider their social condition and 
 habits in the state of manhood. 
 
 A diti'erence of ojjinion among Muslims, respecting 
 some points of religion and law, has given rise to four 
 sects, which consider each other orthodox as to funda- 
 mental matters, and call themselves " Sunnees,' or I'ol- 
 lowers of the Traditions, while they designate all other 
 Muslims by the term " Shiya'ees," signifying, according 
 to their acceptation, " heretics." The Sunnees alone 
 are the class which we have to consider. The four sects 
 into which they are divided are the " Ilanafees," " Sha- 
 fe'ees," " Malikees,"* and " Hambel'ees," — so called 
 from the names of the respective doctors whose tenets 
 they have adopted. The Turks are of the first sect, 
 which is the most reasonable : the inhabitants of Cairo, 
 a small pro))ortion excepted (who are Ilanafees), are 
 cither Shafe'ees or Malikees ; and it is generally said 
 that they are mostly of the former of these sects, as are 
 also the people of Arabia : those of the Sharkecych, on 
 the east of the Delta, Shafe'ees : those of the Garbeeyeh, 
 or Delta, Shdfe'ees, with a few Malikees : those of the 
 Boheyreh, on the west of the Delta, Malikees: the in- 
 habitants of the Sa'eed, or the valley of Uj)per Egypt, 
 are likewise, with few exceptions, Malikees : so also are 
 
 * Commonly pronounced " Mdlkee."
 
 DOGMAS OF RELIGION'. 95 
 
 the Nubians, and the Western Arabs. To the fourth 
 sect, very few persons in the present day belong-. — All 
 these sects agree in deriving their code of religion and 
 law from four sources ; namely, the Kur-an, the Tra- 
 ditions of the Prophet, the concordance of his early 
 disciples, and analogy. 
 
 The religion which Mohammad taught is generally 
 called by the Arabs " El-IsUm." " Eeman " and 
 " Deen " are the particular terms applied, respectively, 
 to faith and practical religion. 
 
 The grand principles of the faith are expressed in two 
 articles ; the first of which is this — 
 
 " Tliere is no deity but God^ 
 
 God, who created all things in heaven and in earth, 
 who preserveth all things, and decreeth all things, who 
 is without beginning, and without end, omnipotent, onmi- 
 scient, and omnipresent, is one. His unity is thus de- 
 clared in a short chapter of the Kur-an :* " Say, He is 
 God; one [God]. God is the Eternal. He begetteth 
 not, nor is He begotten ; and there is none equal unto 
 Him." He hath no partner, nor any offspring, in the 
 creed of the Muslim. Though Jesus Christ (whose 
 name should not be mentioned without adding — " on 
 whom be peace ") is believed to have been born of a 
 pure virgin, by the miraculous operation of God,t with- 
 out any natural father, — to be the Messiah, and "the 
 Word of God, which he transmitted unto Mary, and a 
 Spirit [proceeding] from Him " % — yet he is not called 
 the Son of God ; and no higher titles are given to him 
 than those of a Prophet and Apostle : he is even consi- 
 
 * Ch. 112. — In quoting passa;^es in the Kur-an, I have sometimes fol- 
 lowed Sale's translation ; to tlie i^eneral fidelity of which I willingly add 
 my testimony. I should, however, mention, that some of his explana- 
 tory notes are unauthorized and erroneous : as, for instance, with 
 respect to the laws of inheritance ; on which subject his version of the 
 text also is faulty. When necessary, I have distinguished the verses by 
 numbers. In doing this I had originally adopted the divisions made by 
 Maracci, but have since made the numbers to agree with those in the 
 late edition of the Arabic text by Fluegel, whicli, from its superior accu- 
 racy, is likely to supersede the former editions. 
 
 -}- Kur-an, ch. iii,, vv. 40 — 42. 
 
 X Kur-an, ch. iv., v. 169.
 
 96 TUK MODERN KGYPTIAyS. 
 
 dered of inferior dignity to Mohammad, inasmuch as the 
 Gospel is held to be superseded by the Kur-iin. The 
 Muslim believes tiiat Soyyidna Eesa * (or "our Lord 
 Jesus"), after he had I'ulHlled the object of his mission, 
 was taken up unto God from the Jews, who sou<:ht to 
 slay him ; and that another person, on whom (ioil had 
 stumped the likeness of Christ, was crucified in his 
 stead. t lie also believes that Christ is to come again 
 upon the earth, to establish the Muslim religion, and 
 perfect peace and security, after having killed Antichrist, 
 and to be a sign of the approach of the last day. 
 
 The other grand article of the faith, which cannot be 
 believed without the former, is this — 
 
 " Moliammad is God's Apostle." 
 
 Mohammad is believed, by his followers, to have been 
 the last and greatest of Prophets and Ajjostles.j Six of 
 these — namely, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, 
 and Mohammad — are believed each to have received a 
 revealed law, or system of religion and morality. That, 
 however, which was revealed to Adam was abrogated by 
 the next ; and each succeeding law, or code of laws, 
 abrogated the preceding ; though all are believed to have 
 been the same in every essential point : therefore, those 
 who profess the Jewish religion from the time of Moses 
 to that of Jesus were true believers ; and those who pro- 
 fessed the Christian religion (uncorrupted, as the Mus- 
 lims say, by the tenet that Christ was the son of God) 
 until the time of Mohammad are held, in like manner, to 
 have been true believers. But the coi)ies of the Penta- 
 teuch, the Psalms of David (which the Muslims also hold 
 to be of divine origin), and the Gospels now existing, 
 are believed to have been so much altered as to contain 
 very little of the true word of God. The Kur-dn is be- 
 lieved to have sulfered no alteration whatever. 
 
 • Tlie title of " Seyyidna " (our Lord) is given by the Muslims to 
 prophets and other venerated persons. 
 
 t Kur-an, oh. iv., v. 156. 
 
 + 'ihe Muslim seldom mentions the name of tlie Prophet without 
 adding, " Salla-Uahu 'aleyhi wa-sellem : " t. e., " God favour and pre- 
 serve him! "
 
 DOGMAS OF RELIGION. 97 
 
 It is further necessary that the Muslim should believe in 
 the existence of angels, and of good and evil genii ; the 
 evil genii being devils, whose chief is Iblees ; * also, in 
 the immortality of the soul, the general resurrection and 
 judgment, in future rewards and punishments in Paradise f 
 and Hell, I in the balance in which good and evil 
 ■works shall be weighed, and in the bridge " Es-Sirat 
 (which extends over the midst of Hell, finer than a hair, 
 and sharper than the edge of a sword), over which all 
 must pass, and from which the wicked shall fall into 
 Hell. He believes, also, that they who have acknow- 
 ledged the faith of El-Islam and yet acted wickedly will 
 not remain in Hell for ever ; but that all of other reli- 
 gions must : that there are, however, degrees of punish- 
 ments, as well as of rewards, — the former consisting in 
 severe torture by excessive heat and cold, and the 
 latter, partly in the indulgence of the appetites by most 
 delicious meats and drinks, and in the pleasures atibrded 
 by the company of the girls of Paradise, whose eyes will 
 be very large and entirely black, ^ and whose stature 
 will be proportioned to that of the men, which will be 
 the height of a tall palm-tree, or about sixty feet. Such, 
 the Muslims generally believe, was the height of our 
 first parents. It is said that the souls of martyrs reside, 
 until the judgment, in the crops of green birds, which 
 eat of the fruits of Paradise and drink of its rivers. |[ 
 Women are not to be excluded from Paradise, according 
 to the faith of El-Islam ; though it has been asserted, by 
 
 * In the first edition of this work, I here mentioned the Devil as dis- 
 tinct from the genii ; but I have since found that the majority of the 
 most esteemed Arab authors are of the contrary opinion. Theirs is also 
 the general opinion of the modern Arabs.— The angelic nature is con- 
 sidered as inferior to the human (because the angels were commanded to 
 prostrate themselves before Adam), and still more so is the nature of 
 genii. 
 
 f " El-Genneh," or the garden. + " Gahennem." 
 
 ^ Like those of the gazelle : this meaning of their common appellation 
 (which is mentioned afterwards) is, however, disputed. 
 
 II The title of martyr is given to the unpaid soldier killed in a war for 
 the defence of the faith, to a person who innocently meets with his 
 death from the hand of another, to a victim'of the plague (if he has not 
 fled from the disease) or of dysentery, to a person who is drowned, and to 
 one who is killed by the fall" of any building. 
 
 VOL. I. r
 
 98 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 many Christians, that the Muslims bcliove women to 
 have no souls. In several places in the Kur-an, Paradise 
 is ])romised to all true believers, whether males or 
 females. It is the doctrine of the Kur-an that no person 
 will be admitted into Paradise by his own merits ; but 
 that admission will be granted to the believers merely 
 by the mercy of God, on account of their faith ; yet that 
 the felicity of each person will be proportioned to his 
 good works. The very meanest in Paradise is promised 
 "eighty-thousand servants" (beautiful youths, called 
 "weleeds"),* " seventy-two wives of the girls of Pa- 
 radise" ('' hooreeyehs," ),f '* besides the wives he had 
 in this world," if he desire to have the latter (and the 
 good will doubtless desire the good), " and a tent erected 
 for him of pearls, jacinths, and emeralds, of a very large 
 extent;" "and will be waited on by three hundred 
 attendants while he eats, and served in dishes of gold, 
 whereof three hundred shall be set before him at once, 
 each containing a different kind of food, the last morsel of 
 which will be as grateful as the first." Wine also, 
 " though forbidden in this life, will yet be freely allowed 
 to be drunk in the next, and without danger, since the 
 wine of Paradise will not inebriate. "| We are further 
 told, that all superfluities I'rom the bodies of the inha- 
 bitants of Paradise will be carried off by pei-spiration, 
 \Yhich will diffuse an odour like that of musk ; and that 
 they will be clothed in the richest silks, chiefly of green. 
 They are also promised perpetual youth, and children as 
 many as they may desire. These pleasures, together 
 w ith the songs of the angel Israfeel, and many other gra- 
 tifications of the senses, will charm even the meanest in- 
 habitant of Paradise. But all these enjoyments will be 
 lightly esteemed by those more blessed persons who are 
 to be admitted to the highest of all honours — that 
 spiritual pleasure of beholding, morning and evening, 
 the face of God. § — The Muslim must also believe in the 
 
 * Or " wildan." 
 
 f Or "el-hoor el-'een" or " el-hoor el-'oyoon." 
 
 ;}: See Sale's I'reliminary Discourse to his translation of the Kur an, 
 sect. iv. 
 
 ^ A Miuslim of some learning professed to me that he considered the
 
 RITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. 99 
 
 examination of the dead, in the sepulchre, by two angels, 
 called Munkar and Nekeer ,* of terrible aspect, who will 
 cause the body (to which the soul shall, for the time, be 
 re-united) to sit upright in the grave, f and will ques- 
 tion the deceased respecting his faith. The wicked they 
 will severely torture ; but the good they will not hurt. 
 Lastly, he should believe in God's absolute decree of 
 every event, both good and evil. This doctrine has 
 given rise to as much controversy among the Muslims as 
 among Christians ; but the former, generally, believe in 
 predestination as, in some respects, conditional. 
 
 The most important duties enjoined in the ritual and 
 moral laws are prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pil- 
 grimage. 
 
 The religious purijications, which are of two kinds, — 
 first, the ordinary ablution preparatory to prayer, and se- 
 condly, the washing of the whole body, together with the 
 performance of the former ablution, — are of primary im- 
 portance ; for prayer, which is a duty so important that 
 it is called " the Key of Paradise," will not be accepted 
 from a person in a state of uncleanness. It is therefore 
 also necessary to avoid impurity by clipping the nails, 
 and other similar practices.:}; 
 
 There are partial washings, or purifications, which all 
 Muslims perform on certain occasions, even if they ne- 
 glect their prayers, and which are considered as religious 
 acts. ^ The ablution called " el-wudo6," which is pre- 
 paratory to prayer, I shall now describe. The purifica- 
 tions just before alluded to are a part of the wudoo : the 
 other washings are not, of necessity, to be performed 
 immediately after, but only when the person is about to 
 say his prayers ; and these are performed in the mosque 
 
 description of Paradise given in the Kur-an, to be in a great measure figura- 
 tive : " like those,' said he, " in the book of the Revelation of St. John ;" 
 and he assured me that many learned Muslims were of the same opinion. 
 
 * Vulgarly called " Nakir" and " Nekeer." 
 
 f The corpse is always deposited in a vault, and not placed in a coffin, 
 but merely wrapped in winding-sheets or clothes. 
 
 X Alluded to in Chapter I. 
 
 ^ For an account of these private ablutions, and the occasions which 
 require their performance, the reader may consult Reland, ' De Rel. Moh.' 
 pp. 80—83, ed. 1717. 
 
 r 2
 
 100 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 or in the house, in public or in private. There is in 
 every mosque a tank (called " meydaah ") or a " hana- 
 feeyeh," which is a raised reservoir, with spouts round 
 it, from which the water falls. In some mosques there 
 are both these. The Muslims of the Hanafee sect (of 
 which are the Turks) perform the ablution at the latter 
 (which has received its name from that cause) ; for they 
 must do it with running water, or from a tank or pool at 
 least ten cubits in breadth, and the same in dejjth ; and 
 I believe that there is only one meydaiih in Cairo of that 
 depth, which is in the great mosque El-Azhar. A small 
 hanafeeyeh of tinned copj)er, placed on a low shelf, and 
 a large basin, or a small ewer and basin of the same me- 
 tal, are generally used in the house for the performance 
 of the wudoo. 
 
 Vessels for Ablution .—The upper vessel (or hanafeeyeh) is generally 
 about a foot and a half in height.
 
 RITUAL AND MORAL LA\\'S. 101 
 
 The person, having tucked np his sleeves a little 
 higher than his elbows, says, in a low^ voice, or inaudibly, 
 " I purpose performing the wudoo, for prayer."* He 
 then washes his hands three times ; saying, in the same 
 manner as before, " In the name of God, the Compas- 
 sionate, the Merciful ! Praise be to God, who hath sent 
 down water for purification, and made El-lslam to be a 
 light and a conductor, and a guide to thy gardens, the 
 gardens of delight, and to thy mansion, the mansion of 
 peace." Then he rinses his mouth three times, throwing 
 the water into it with his right hand ;f and in doing 
 this he says, " O God, assist me in the reading of thy 
 book, and in commemorating Thee, and in thanking 
 Thee, and in worshipping Thee well ! " Next, with his 
 right hand, he throws water up his nostrils (snuffing it 
 up at the same time), and then blows it out, compressing 
 his nostrils with the thumb and finger of the lejt hand ; 
 and this also is done three times. While doing it, he 
 says, " O God, make me to smell the odours of Paradise, 
 and bless me with its delights ; and make me not to 
 smell the smell of the fires [of Hell]." He then washes 
 his face three times, throwing up the water with both 
 hands, and saying, " O God, whiten my face with thy 
 light, on the day when Thou shalt whiten the faces of 
 thy favourites ; and do not blacken my face, on the day 
 when Thou shalt blacken the faces of thine enemies." % 
 His right hand and arm, as high as the elbow, he next 
 washes three times, and as many times causes some water 
 to run along his arm, from the palm of the hand to the 
 elbow, saying, as he does this, *' O God, give me my 
 book in my right hand ;§ and reckon with me with an easy 
 reckoning." In the same manner he washes the left hand 
 
 * AH persons do not use exactly the same words on this occasion, nor 
 durini: the performance of the ^YudoO ; and most persons use no words 
 durintr the performance. 
 
 f He should also use a tooth-stick (miswak) to clean his teeth ; but 
 few do so. , 
 
 J It is believed that the good man will rise to judgment with his face 
 •white I and the bad with liis face black. Hence a man's face is said to 
 be white or black according as he is in good or bad repute ; and " may 
 God blacken thy face ! ' is a common imprecation. 
 
 $ To every man is appropriated a book, in which all the actions of his
 
 102 THE MODERN EGYPTIAyS. 
 
 and arm saying-, '* () God, do not give me my book in 
 my left hand, nor behind my back ; and do not reckon 
 with me with a difficult reckoning; nor make me to be 
 one of the j)eo})le of the fire." lie next draws his wet- 
 ted riirht hand over the upper part of his head, raising 
 his turban or cap with ins left : this he does but once; 
 and he accompanies the action with this supplication, 
 '' () God, cover me with thy mercy, and pour down thy 
 blessing upon me ; and shade me under the shadow of 
 thy canopy, on the day when there shall be no shade 
 but its shade." If he have a beard, he then combs it 
 with the wetted fingers of his right hand ; holding his 
 hand with the ])alm forwards, and passing the fingers 
 through his beard from the throat upwards. He then 
 jnits the ti|)S of his fore-fingers into his ears, and twists 
 them round, passing his thumbs at the same time round 
 the back of the ears, from the bottom upwards ; and 
 saying, " O God, make me to be of those who hear what 
 is said, and obey what is best;" or " O God, make me 
 to hear good." Next he wipes his neck with the back 
 of the fingers of both hands, making the ends of his 
 fingers meet behind his neck, and then drawing them 
 forward ; and in doing so, he says, " O God, free my 
 neck from the fire ; and keej) me from the chains, and 
 the collars, and the fetters." Lastly, he washes his feet, 
 as high as the ankles, and passes his fingers between the 
 toes : he washes the right foot first, saying, at the same 
 time, " O God, make firm my feet upon the Sirat, on the 
 day when feet shall slip upon it :" on washing the left 
 foot, he says, " O God, make my labour to be approved, 
 and my sin forgiven, and my works accepted, merchan- 
 dise that shall not perish, by thy pardon, O Mighty ! 
 () very Forgiving ! by thy mercy, O most Merciful of 
 those who show mercy ! " After having thus completed 
 the ablution, he says, looking towards heaven, " Thy 
 pcrl'ection, O God ! [I extol] with thy praise : I testify 
 that • there is no deity but Thou alone : Thou hast no 
 
 life are wTitten. The just man, it is said, will receive his book in hig 
 ri^'ht liand ; but the wicked, in his left, which will be tied behind bis 
 back ; his right hand being tied up to his neck.
 
 RITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. 103 
 
 companion : I implore thy forgiveness, and turn to Thee 
 with repentance." Then, looking towards the earth, he 
 adds^ " I testify that there is no deity but God : and I 
 testify that Mohammad is his servant and his apostle." 
 Having uttered these words, he should recite once, twice, 
 or three times, the " Soorat el-Kadr," or 97th chapter of 
 the Kur-an. 
 
 The wudoo is generally performed in less than two 
 minutes ; most persons hurrying through the act, as well 
 as omitting almost all the prayers, &c. which should ac- 
 company and follow the actions. It is not required be- 
 fore each of the five daily prayers, when the person is 
 conscious of having avoided every kind of impurity since 
 the last performance of this ablution. "When water can- 
 not be easily procured, or would be injurious to the 
 health of the individual, he may perform the ablution 
 with dust or sand. This ceremony is called " tayem- 
 mum." The person, in this case, strikes the palms of 
 his hands upon any dry dust or sand (it will suffice to do 
 so upon his cloth robe, as it must contain some dust), and 
 with both hands, wipes his face : then, having struck 
 his hands again upon the dust, he wipes his right hand 
 and arm as high as the elbow ; and then, the left hand 
 and arm, in the same manner. This completes the cere- 
 mony. The washing of the whole body is often per- 
 formed merely for the sake of cleanliness ; but not as a 
 religious act, excepting on particular occasions — as on 
 the morning of Friday, and on the two grand festivals, 
 &c.,* when it is called "ghusl." 
 
 Cleanliness is required not only in the worshipper, 
 but also in the ground, mat, carpet, robe, or whatever 
 else it be, upon which he prays. Persons of the lower 
 orders often pray upon the bare ground, which is considered 
 clean if it be dry ; and they seldom wipe off immediately 
 the dust which adheres to the nose and forehead in pros- 
 tration ; for it is regarded as ornamental to the believer's 
 face : but when a person has a cloak or any other gar- 
 
 * Here, again, I must beg to refer the reader (if he desire such informa- 
 tion) to Reland's account of the ghusl, and the occasions which require 
 its performance. — ' De Rel. Moh.' pp. 66, C7, ed. 1T17.
 
 104 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 mcnt that he can take oft' \vitliout exj)osing his person in 
 an unbecoming manner, he S})reads it upon the ground 
 to serve as a ])rayer-cari)et. The rich use a prayer- 
 carpet (called " segg.'ideh ") about the size of a wide 
 hearth-rug, having a niche rcjiresented upon it, tlie point 
 of which is turned towards Mekkeh.* It is reckoned 
 sinful to ])ass near before a j)erson engaged in prayer. 
 
 Prayer is called " salah," Five times in the course 
 of every day is its performance required of the Muslim ; 
 but there are comparatively few persons in Egypt who do 
 not sometimes or often neglect this duty ; and many who 
 scarcely ever pray. Certain portions of the ordinary 
 prayers are called " fard," which are appointed by the 
 Kur-iin ; and others, " sunnch," which are appointed by 
 the Prophet, without allegation of a divine order. 
 
 The hrst time of prayer commences at the " maghrib," 
 or sunset, t or rather, about four minutes later; the 
 second, at the "'eshe,"or nightfall, when the evening 
 has closed, and it is quite dark ;:j; the third, at the 
 " subh " or " fegr ;" i. e., daybreak ;^ the fourth, at the 
 " duhr," or noon, or, rather, a little later, when the sun 
 has begun to decline ; the fifth, at the " 'asr,' or after- 
 noon ; /. e., about mid-time between noon and nightfall. || 
 Each period of prayer ends when the next connnences, 
 excepting that of daybreak, which ends at sunrise. The 
 Prophet would not have his followers conmience their 
 
 * Seijgailehs, of the kind here described, are now sold in Londoni 
 under the name of Persian carpets or Persian rut;s. 
 
 ■f I have called tliis tlie first, because the Mohammadan day com- 
 mences from sunset ; but tlie morning prayer is often termed tlie first ; 
 the prayer of noon, the second ; and so on. 
 
 + 'J"he 'eslie of tlie Shafe'ees, Malikees, and Hambel'ees is when the 
 red ^'leam ( " esh-shafak el-ahmar") after sunset has disappeared ; and 
 that of the Hanafees, when both the red and the white gleam have 
 disappeared. 
 
 ^ Generally on the first faint appearance of liijht in the east. The 
 Hanafees mostly perform the mornin;.'-prayer a little later, when the 
 yellow {(leam (" el-isfirar ") appe.irs : this they deem the most proper 
 time, but they may pray earlier. 
 
 I| The 'asr, according to the Shafe'ees, Malikees, and Hambel'ees, is 
 when the shade of an object, cast by the sun, is equal to the length of 
 that object, added to the length of the shade which the same objei:t casts 
 at noon ; and, according to the Hanafees, when the shadow is equal to 
 twice the length of the object added to tlie length of its mid-day shadow.
 
 RITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. 105 
 
 prayers at sunrise, nor exactly at noon or sunset, because, 
 he said, infidels worshipped the sun at such times. 
 
 Should the time of prayer arrive when they are eating, 
 or about to eat, they are not to rise to prayer till they 
 have finished their meal. The prayers should be said, 
 as nearly as possible, at the commencement of the periods 
 above mentioned : they may be said after, but not before. 
 The several times of prayer are announced by the 
 " mueddin " of each mosque. Having ascended to the 
 gallery of the "mdd'neh," or menaret, he chants the 
 " adan," or call to prayer, which is as follows : " God 
 is most Great!" (this is said four times.) "I testify 
 that there is no deity but God !" (twice.) " I testify- 
 that Mohammad is God's Apostle 1" (twice.) '' Come to 
 prayer !" (twice.)" Come to security !" (twice.)* " God is 
 most Great!" (twice.) " There is no deity but God !" 
 — Most of the mueddins of Cairo have harmonious and 
 sonorous voices, which they strain to the utmost pitch : 
 yet there is a simple and solemn melody in their chants 
 which is very striking, particularly in the stillness of 
 night. t Blind men are generally preferred for the office 
 of mueddins, that the hareems and terraces of surround- 
 ing houses may not be overlooked from the mad'nehs. 
 
 Two other calls to prayer are made during the night, 
 to rouse those persons who desire to perform superero- 
 gatory acts of devotion. J A little after midnight, the 
 mueddins of the great royal mosques in Cairo {i. e., of 
 each of the great mosques founded by a Sultan, which is 
 " Game' Sultanee "), and of some other large mosques, 
 ascend the mad'nehs, and chant the following call, which, 
 being one of the two night-calls not at the regular 
 periods of obligatory prayers, is called the " Oola," a 
 term signifying merely the " First." Having commenced 
 by chanting the common adan, with those words which 
 are introduced in the call to morning- prayer (" Prayer 
 is better than sleep"), he adds, " There is no deity but 
 
 * Here is added, in the morning call, " Prayer is better than sleep !" 
 (twice.) 
 
 t A common air, to which the adan is chanted in Cairo, will be given 
 in the chapter on Eg\'ptian music. % Tliev are few who do so. 
 
 r 3
 
 106 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 God" (three times) "alone: He hath no companion: 
 to llim belonjreth the dominion ; and to llini belongeth 
 praise, lie p:iveth lite, and causeth death ; and lie is 
 living:, and shall never die. In His hand is blessings [or 
 good] ; and He is Almighty. — There is no deity but 
 God!" (three times) " and we will not worship any 
 beside Him, 'serving Him with sincerity of religion,'* 
 * though the infidels be averse 'f [thereto]. There is no 
 deity but God. Mohammad is the most noble of the 
 creation in the sight of God. Mohammad is the best 
 prophet that hath been sent, and a lord by whom his 
 companions became lords ; comely ; liberal of gifts ; 
 perfect ; pleasant to the taste ; sweet ; soft to the throat 
 [or to be drunk]. Pardon, O Lord, thy servant and 
 thy ])Oor de])endant, the cndower of this jjlace, and him 
 who watchcth it with goodness and beneficence, and its 
 neighbours, and those who frequent it at the times of 
 prayers and good acts, O thou Bountiful ! — O Lord !"J 
 (three times.) "Thou art He who ceaseth not to be 
 distinguished by mercy : thou art liberal of thy clemency 
 towards the rebellious ; and protectest him ; and conceal- 
 est what is foul ; and makest manifest every virtuous 
 action ; and Thou bestowest thy beneficence upon the 
 servant, and comfortest him, O thou Bountiful ! — O Lord !" 
 (three times.) "My sins when I think upon them, [I 
 see to be] many ; but the mercy of my Lord is more 
 abundant than are my sins : I am not solicitous on account 
 of good that I have done ; but for the mercy of God I 
 am most solicitous. Extolled be the Everlasting ! He 
 hath no companion in his great dominion. His perfec- 
 tion [I extol] : exalted be his name : [I extol] the per- 
 fection of God." 
 
 About an hour before daybreak, the mueddins of most 
 mosques chant the second call, named the " Ebed," and 
 so called from the occurrence of that word near the com- 
 mencement.§ This call is as follows : " [I extol] the 
 
 * Kur-iin, ch. xcviii., v. 4. 
 
 f Same, ch. ix., v. 32, and ch. Ixi., v. «. 
 
 + This exclamation (" Va rabb!") is made in a very loud tone. 
 
 t The word " ebed " is here used adverbially, signifying " for ever."
 
 KITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. 107 
 
 perfection of God, the Existing for ever and ever " (three 
 times): "the perfection of God, the Desired, the 
 Existing, the Single, the Supreme : the perfection of 
 God, the One, the Sole: the perfection of Him 
 who taketh to himself, in his great dominion, neither 
 female companion, nor male partner, nor any like unto 
 Him, nor any that is disobedient, nor any deputy, nor 
 any equal, nor any offspring. His perfection [I extol] : 
 and exalted be his name ! He is a Deity who knew 
 what hath been before it was, and called into existence 
 what hath been ; and He is now existing as He was 
 [at the first]. His perfection [I extol] : and 
 exalted be his name ! He is a Deity unto whom 
 there is none like existing. There is none like unto 
 God the Bountiful, existing. There is none like unto 
 God, the Clement, existing. There is none like unto 
 God, the Great, existing. And there is no deity but 
 Thou, O our Lord, to be worshipped, and to be praised, 
 and to be desired, and to be glorified. [I extol] the 
 perfection of Him who created all creatures, and num- 
 bered them, and distributed their sustenance, and decreed 
 the tei'ms of the lives of his servants : and our Lord, the 
 Bountiful, the Clement, the Great, forgetteth not one of 
 them. [I extol] the perfection of Him who, of his 
 power and greatness, caused the pure water to flow from 
 the solid stone, the mass of rock : the perfection of Him 
 who spake with our lord Moosa [or Moses] upon the 
 mountain ;* whereupon the mountain was reduced to 
 dust,f through dread of God, whose name be exalted, the 
 One, the Sole. There is no deity but God. He is a 
 just Judge. [I extol] the perfection of the First. 
 Blessing and peace be on thee, O comely of counte- 
 nance ! O Apostle of God ! Blessing and peace be on 
 thee, O first of the creatures of God ! and seal of the 
 apostles of God ! Blessing and peace be on thee, O 
 thou Prophet ! on thee and on thy Family, and all thy 
 
 * Tliese words, " The perfection of Him who spake," &c. (" subhana 
 men kellema," ^Scc), are pronounced in a very high and loud tone. 
 t See Kur-an, ch. vii., v. 139.
 
 108 
 
 THE MODERN EGYrXIANS. 
 
 Companions. God is most Great ! God is most Great !" 
 &c., to the end of the call to mornincr-prayer. *' O God, 
 favour and preserve and bless the blessed Proi)het, our 
 lord jMohamniad ! And may God, whose name be 
 blessed and exalted, be well pleased with thee, O our 
 lord Kl-Hasan, and with thee, () our lord El-Hoseyn, 
 and with thee, O Aboo-Farrag,* O Sheykh of the' Arabs, 
 
 Postures of Prayer. (Part I,) 
 
 * " Aboo-Farrag " is a surname of a famous saint, the seyyid Ahmad 
 Kl-Beda\vee, buried at Tanta, in the Delta: it implies that he obtains 
 relief to those who visit his tomb and implore his intercession.
 
 EITUAL A>'D MORAL LAWS. 109 
 
 and with all the favourites [the "welees"Jof God. 
 Amen." 
 
 The prayers which are performed daily at the five 
 periods before mentioned are said to be of so many 
 " rek'ahs," or inclinations of the head.* 
 
 The worshipper, standing with his face towards the 
 Kibleh (that is, towards Mekkeh), and his feet not quite 
 close together, says, inaudibly, that he has purposed to 
 recite the prayers of so many rek'ahs (sunneh or fard) 
 the morning prayers (or the noon, &c.) of the present 
 day (or night) ; and then, raising his open hands on 
 each side of his face, and touching the lobes of his ears 
 with the ends of his thumbs, he says, "God is most 
 Great ! " (" Allahu Akbar.") This ejaculation is 
 called the " tekbeer." He then proceeds to recite the 
 prayers of the prescribed number of rek'ahs,! thus : — 
 
 Still standing, and placing his hands before him, a 
 little below his girdle, the left within the right, he 
 recites (with his eyes directed towards the spot where his 
 head will touch the ground in prostration) the Fat'hah, 
 or opening chapter of the Kur-an,+ and after it three or 
 more other verses, or one of the short chapters, of the 
 Kur-an ; very commonly the ll-2th chapter; but with- 
 out repeating the bismillah (in the name of God, &c.) 
 before the second recitation. He then says, '' God is 
 most Great ! " and makes, at the same time, an 
 
 * The morning-prayers, tmo rek'ahs sunneh and two fard : the noou, 
 four sunneh and" lour "fard ; the afternoon, the same ; the evening, three 
 fard and two sunneh ; and the night-prayers (or eshe), four sunneh and 
 foiu: fard, and two sunneh again. After these are yet to be performed 
 three rek'ahs " witr ; " i. e., single or separate prayers : tliese may be 
 performed immediately after the "eshe prayers, ot at any time in the 
 night ; but are more meritorious if late in the night. 
 
 t There are some little differences in the attitudes of the four great sects, 
 during prayer. I describe those of the Hanafees. 
 
 J Some persons previously utter certain supererogatory ejaculations, 
 expressive of the praise and glory of God ; and add, " I seek refuge 
 with God from Satan the accursed"; " which petition is often offered up, 
 before reciting any part of the Kur-an on other occasions, as commanded 
 by the Kur-an itself (ch. xvi., v. 100). The Kinr-an is usually recited, in 
 the fard prayers, in a voice slightly audible, excepting at noon and the 
 'asr, when it is recited inaudibly. By Imams, when praying at the head 
 of others, and sometimes by persons praying alone, it is chanted. In the 
 sunneh prayers it is recited inaudibly.
 
 no 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 inclination of liis head and body, placing his hands upon 
 his knees, and separating his fingers a little. In this 
 ])0Sture he says, " [I extol] the ])erfection of my Lord, 
 the (Jreat I " (three times), adding, " May God hear 
 him who praiseth Him. Our Lord, praiso be unto Thee !" 
 Then, raising his head and body, he repeats, " God is 
 most Great ! " lie next drops gently upon his knees, 
 and, saying again, " God is most Great ! " places his 
 hands upon the ground, a little before his knees, and 
 
 IS 
 
 16 
 
 n 
 
 Postures of Prayer. (Part II.)
 
 EITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. Ill 
 
 puts his nose and forehead also to the ground (the former 
 first) between his two hands. During- this prostration 
 he says " [I extol] the perfection of my Lord, the Most 
 High I " (three times). He raises his head and body 
 (but his knees remain ujwn the ground), sinks backwards 
 upon his heels, and places his hands upon his thighs, 
 saying, at the same time, " God is most Great ! " and 
 this he repeats as he bends his head a second time to the 
 ground. During this second prostration he repeats the 
 same words as in the first, and in raising his head again, 
 he utters the tekbeer as before. Thus are completed the 
 prayers of one rek'ah. In all the changes of posture, 
 the toes of the right foot must not be moved from the 
 spot where they were first placed, and the left foot 
 should be moved as little as possible. 
 
 Having finished the prayers of one rek'ah, the 
 worshipper rises upon his feet (but without moving his 
 toes from the spot where they were, particularly those of 
 the right foot), and repeats the same; only he should 
 recite some other chapter, or portion, after the Fat'hah, 
 than that which he repeated before, as for instance, the 
 108th chapter.* 
 
 After every second rek'ah (and after the last, though 
 there be an odd number, as in the evening fard), he does 
 not immediately raise his knees from the ground, but 
 bends his left foot under him, and sits upon it, and places 
 his hands upon his thighs, with the fingers a little apart. 
 In this posture, he says, "Praises are to God, and 
 prayers, and good works. Peace be on thee, O Prophet, 
 and the mercy of God, and his blessings ! Peace be on 
 us, and on [all] the righteous worshippers of God ! " 
 Then raising the first finger of the right handf (but not 
 the hand itself), he adds, " I testify that there is no 
 
 * In the third and fourth fard rek'ahs, the recitation of a second portion, 
 of the Kur-an after the Fat'hah should be omitted ; and before far4 
 prayers of four rek'ahs, the " ikameh (which consists of the words of the 
 adan, with the addition of " the time of prayer is come," pronounced 
 twice after " come to security ") should be repeated ; but most persons 
 neglect doing this, and many do not observe the former rule. 
 
 ■j- The doctors of El-Islam differ respecting the proper position of the 
 fingers of the right hand on this occasion : some hold that all the fingers 
 but the first are to be doubled, as represented in Part II. of the sketch of 
 the postures of prayer.
 
 112 THE MODERN' EGYPTIANS. 
 
 deity but God ; and I testify that Mohammad is his 
 servant and his apostle." 
 
 After the last rck'ah of each of the prayers, that is, 
 after the sunneh prayers and the farcl alike), after saying, 
 " Praises are to God," &c., the worshipper, looking upon 
 his right shoulder, says " Peace be on you, and the mercy 
 of God ! " Then looking upon the left, lie repeats the 
 same. These salutations are considered by some as 
 addressed only to the guardian angels who watch over 
 the believer, and note all his actions ; * but others say 
 that they are addressed both to angels and men (i. e. 
 believers only, who may 1)e ])rescnt ; no person, however, 
 returns them. Before the salutations in the last j)rayer, 
 the worshipper may oti'er up any short j)etition (in Scrip- 
 tural language rather than his own) ; while he does so 
 looking at the palms of his two hands, which he holds 
 like an open book before him, and then draws over his 
 face, from the forehead downwards. 
 
 Having finished both the sunneh and fard prayers, 
 the worshipper, if he would acquit himself completely, 
 or rather, perform supererogatory acts, remains sitting 
 (but may then sit more at his ease), and recites the 
 " A'yet el-Kursee," or Throne-Verse, which is the 
 256th of the 2nd chapter of the Kur-dn ;t and adds, 
 " O High! O Great! Thy perfection [I extol.] " He 
 then repeats, "The perfection of God!" (thirty-three 
 times.) " The perfection of God, the Great, with his 
 praise for ever ! " (once.) " Praise be to God ! " (thirty- 
 three times.) " Extolled be his dignity ! There is no 
 deity but he ! " (once.) " God is most Great ! " (thirty- 
 three times.) " God is most Great in greatness, and 
 praise be to God in abundance !" (once.) He counts 
 these repetitions with a string of beads called " sebhah " 
 (more properly *' subhah "). The beads are ninety-nine, 
 and have a mark between each thirty-three. They are 
 of aloes, or other odoriferous or precious wood, or of 
 coral, or of certain fruit-stones, or seeds, &c. 
 
 • Some say that every believer is attended by two angels ; otliers say 
 five ; others," sixty, or a hundred and sixty. 
 
 f Bej^inninj,' with the words " God ; there is no deity but lie ; " and 
 ending with " He is the High, the Great."
 
 EITUAL AXD MORAL LAWS. 113 
 
 Any wandering of the eyes, or of the mind, a 
 coughing, or the like, answering a question, or any 
 action not prescribed to be performed, must be strictly 
 avoided (unless it be between the sunneh prayers and the 
 fard, or be ditRcult to avoid ; for it is held allowable to 
 make three slight irregular motions, or deviations from 
 correct deportment) ; otherwise the worshipper must 
 begin again, and repeat his prayers with due reverence. 
 It is considered extremely sinful to interrupt a man when 
 engaged in his devotions. The time usually occupied in 
 repeating the prayers of four rek'ahs, without the super- 
 erogatory additions, is less than four, or even three, 
 minutes. The Muslim says the five daily prayers in his 
 house or shop, or in the mosque, according as may be 
 most convenient to him : it is seldom that a person goes 
 from his house to the mosque to pray, excepting to join 
 the congregation on Friday. Men of the lower orders 
 oftener pray in the mosques than those who have a com- 
 fortable home, and a mat or carpet upon which to pray. 
 
 The same prayers are said by the congregation in the 
 mosque on the noon of Friday ; but there are additional 
 rites performed by the Imam and other ministers on this 
 occasion. The chief reasons for fixing upon Friday as 
 the Sabbath of the Muslims were, it is said, because 
 Adam was created on that day, and died on the same 
 day of the week, and because the general resurrection 
 was prophesied to happen on that day ; whence, par- 
 ticularly, Friday was named the day of " El-Gum'ah " 
 (or the assembly). The Muslim does not abstain from 
 worldly business on Friday, excepting during the time of 
 prayer, according to the ])recept of the Kur-an, ch.lxii., 
 vv.'gandlO. 
 
 To form a proper conception of the ceremonials of the 
 Friday-prayers, it is necessary to have some idea of the 
 interior of a mosque. A mosque in which a congrega- 
 tion assembles to perform the Friday-prayers is called 
 " game'." The mosques of Cairo are so numerous, that 
 none of them is inconveniently crowded on the Friday ; 
 and some of them are so large as to occupy spaces three 
 or four hundred feet square. They are mostly built of
 
 Interior of a Mosque.
 
 RITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. 115 
 
 Stone, the alternate courses of which are generally 
 coloured externally red and white. Most commonly a 
 large mosque consists of porticoes surrounding a square 
 open court, in the centre of which is a tank or a foun- 
 tain for ablution. One side of the building faces the 
 direction of Mekkeh, and the portico on this side, being 
 the principal place of prayer, is more spacious than those 
 on the three other sides of the court : it generally has 
 two or more rows of columns, forming so many aisles, 
 parallel with the exterior wall. In some cases this 
 portico, like the other three, is open to the court : in 
 other cases, it is separated from the court by partitions 
 of wood, connecting the front row of columns. In the 
 centre of its exterior wall is the mehrab (or niche) which 
 marks the direction of Mekkeh ; and to the right of 
 this is the " mimbar " (or pulpit). Opposite the mehrab, 
 in the fore part of the portico, or in its central part, 
 there is generally a platform (called "dikkeh"), sur- 
 rounded by a parapet, and supported by small columns ; 
 and by it, or before it, are one or two seats, having a 
 kind of desk to bear a volume of the Kur-an, from which 
 a chapter is read to the congregation. The walls are 
 generally quite plain, being simply white-washed ; but 
 in some mosques the lower part of the wall of the place 
 of prayer is lined with coloured marbles, and the other 
 part ornamented with various devices executed in stucco, 
 but mostly with texts of the Kur-an (which form long 
 friezes, having a pleasing effect), and never with the 
 representation of anything that has life. The pavement 
 is covered with matting, and the rich and poor pray side 
 by side ; the man of rank or wealth enjoying no pe- 
 culiar distinction or comfort, unless (which is sometimes 
 the case) he have a prayer-carpet brought by his servant, 
 and spread for him."* 
 
 The Prophet did not forbid women to attend public 
 prayers in a mosque, but pronounced it better for them 
 to pray in private : in Cairo, however, neither females 
 nor young boys are allowed to pray with the congrega- 
 
 * AdjoininEr each mosque are several " latrina*," in each of which is a 
 receptacle with water for ablution.
 
 116 THE MODERN' EGl'PTIAyS. 
 
 tion in the mosque, or even to be present in the mosque 
 at any time of prayer : formerly women were permitted 
 (and perhaj)S are still in some countries), but were 
 obliired to ])lace themselves a])art from the men, and 
 behind the latter ; because, as Sale has remarked, the 
 Muslims are of o])inion that the presence of females 
 inspires a different kind of devotion from that which is 
 requisite in a ])lace dedicated to the worship of God. 
 Very few women in Eg-yj)t even pray at home. 
 
 Over each of the mosques of Cairo presides a " Niizir " 
 (or warden), who is the trustee of the funds which 
 arise from lands, houses, kc. bequeathed to the mosque 
 by the founder and others, and who api)oints the rclit>ious 
 ministers and the inferior servants. Two " Imams" are 
 employed to ofticiate in each of the larger mosques : one 
 of them, called the " Khateeb," preaches and prays 
 before the congregation on the Friday : the other is an 
 " Imam Ratib," or ordinary Imam, who recites the five 
 prayers of everyday in the mosque, at the head of those 
 persons who may be there at the exact times of those 
 prayers : but in most of the smaller mosques both these 
 offices are performed by one Imam. There are also to 
 each mosque one or more " mueddins " (to chant the 
 call to prayer), and "bowwabs" (or doorkeepers), ac- 
 cording as there are one or more nuid'nehs"(or menarets) 
 and entrances ; and several other servants are emj)loyed 
 to sweep the mosque, spread the mats, light the lamps, 
 and attend to the sdkiyeh (or water-wheel), by which 
 the tank or fountain, and other receptacles for water, 
 necessary to the performance of ablutions, are supplied. 
 The Imams, and those persons who perform the lower 
 offices, are all paid from the funds of the mosque, and 
 not by any contributions exacted from the people. 
 
 The condition of the Imams is very different, in most 
 respects, from that of Christian jiriests. They have 
 no authority above other persons, and do not enjoy any 
 respect but what their rej)uted piety or learning may 
 obtain them : nor are they a distinct order of men set 
 apart for religious offices, like our clergy, and composing 
 an indissoluble fraternity ; for a man who has acted as
 
 RITUAL A>D MORAL LAWS. 117 
 
 the Imam of a mosque may be displaced by the warden 
 of that mosque, and, with his employment and salary, 
 loses the title of Imam, and has no better chance of 
 being again chosen for a religious minister than any 
 other person competent to perform the office. The 
 Imams obtain their livelihood chiefly by other means 
 than the service of the mosque, as their salaries are very 
 small : that of a Khateeb being generally about a piaster 
 (2|(i. of our money) per month : and that of an ordinary 
 Imam, about five piasters. Some of them engage in 
 trade; several of them are " "attars "(or druggists and 
 perfumers), and many of them are schoolmasters : those 
 who have no regular occupations of these kinds often 
 recite the Kur-an for hire in private houses. They are 
 mostly chosen from among the poor students of the great 
 mosque El-Azhar. 
 
 The large mosques are open from day-break till a 
 little after the 'eshe, or till nearly two hours after sunset. 
 The others are closed between the hours of morning and 
 noon prayers ; and most mosques are also closed in rainy 
 weather (excepting at the times of prayer), lest persons 
 who have no shoes should enter, and dirt the pavement 
 and matting. Such persons always enter by the door 
 nearest the tank or fountain (if there be more than one 
 door), that they may wash before they pass into the place 
 of prayer ; and generally this door alone is left open in 
 dirty weather. The great mosque El-Azhar remains 
 open all night, with the exception of the principal place 
 of prayer, which is called the "maksoorah," being par- 
 titioned off from the rest of the building. In many of 
 the larger mosques, particularly in the afternoon, persons 
 are seen lounging, chatting together, eating, sleeping, 
 and sometimes spinning or sewing, or engaged in some 
 other simple craft ; but, notwithstanding such practices, 
 which are contrary to precepts of their prophet, the 
 Muslims very highly respect their mosques. There are 
 several mosques in Cairo (as the Azhar, Hasaneyn, &c.) 
 before which no Frank, nor any other Christian, nor a 
 Jew, was allowed to pass, till of late years, since the 
 French invasion. 
 
 On the Friday, half an hour before the " d^hr " (or
 
 118 THE MODERN EGYrXIANS. 
 
 noon), the mucddins of the mosques ascend to the p^alle- 
 ries of the niiUrnehs, and chant the " Sehlm," which is 
 a sahitation to the Prophet, not always expressed in the 
 same words, but generally in words to the following 
 effect: — "Blessing: and peace be on thee, O thou of 
 great dignity ! O Aj^ostle of God ! Blessing and peace 
 be on thee, to whom the Truth said, I am God ! Blessing 
 and peace be on thee, thou first of the creatures of God, 
 and seal of the Apostles of God ! From me be peace on 
 thee, on thee and on thy Family and all thy Companions !" 
 — Persons then begin to assemble in the rnosqucs. 
 
 The utmost solemnity and decorum are ol)served in 
 the })ublic worshij) of the Musliuis. Their looks and 
 behaviour in the mosque are not those of enthusiastic 
 devotion, but of calm and modest piety. Never are 
 they guilty of a designedly irregular word or action 
 during their prayers. The pride and fanaticism which 
 they exhibit in common life, in intercourse with persons 
 of their own or of a different faith, seem to be dropped 
 on their entering the mosque, and they appear wholly 
 absorbed in the adoration of their Creator ; humble and 
 downcast, yet without atiected humility or a forced 
 expression of countenance. 
 
 The Muslim takes oft" his shoes at the door of the 
 mosque, carries them in his left hand, sole to sole, and 
 puts his right foot first over the threshold. If he have 
 not previously performed the preparatory ablution, he 
 repairs at once to the tank or fountain to acquit himself 
 of that duty. Before he commences his prayers, he 
 places his shoes (and his sword and pistols, if he have 
 such arms) upon the matting, a little before the spot 
 where his head will touch the ground in prostration : his 
 shoes are put one uj)on the other, sole to sole. 
 
 The peo]ile who assemble to perform the noon prayers 
 of Friday arrange themselves in rows parallel to that 
 side of the mosque in which is the niche, and facing that 
 side. Many do not go until the adtin of noon, or just 
 before. When a person goes at, or a little after, the 
 Selam, as soon as he has taken his place in one of the 
 ranks, he performs two rck'ahs, and then remains sitting, 
 on his knees, or cross-legged, while a reader, having
 
 RITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. 119 
 
 seated himself on the reading-chair immediately after 
 the Sehim, is occupied in reciting (usually without book) 
 the Sooratel-Kahf (the 18th chapter of the Kur-an), or 
 a part of it ; for, generally, he has not finished it before 
 the adan of noon, when he stops. All the congregation, 
 as soon as they hear the adan (which is the same as on 
 other days), sit on their knees and feet. When the 
 adan is finished, they stand up, and perform, each sepa- 
 rately, two* rek'ahs, " sunnet el-gum'ah " (or the 
 sunneh ordinance for Friday), which they conclude, 
 like the ordinary prayers, with the two salutations. A 
 servant of the mosque, called a "Murakkee," then 
 opens the folding-doors at the foot of the pulpit-stairs, 
 takes from behind them a straight wooden sword, and, 
 standing a little to the right of the doorway, with his 
 right side towards the kibleh, holds this sword in his 
 right hand, resting the point on the ground. In this 
 position he says, " Verily God favoureth, and his angels 
 bless, the Prophet. O ye who believe, bless him and 
 greet him with a salutation !"f Then, one or more per- 
 sons, called " Muballighs," stationed on the dikkeh, 
 chant the following, or similar words :^ — "O God! 
 favour and preserve and bless the most noble of the 
 Arabs and 'Agam [or foreigners], the Imam of Mekkeh 
 and El-Medeeneh and the Temple, to whom the spider 
 showed favour, and wove its web in the cave ; and 
 whom the dabb § saluted, and before whom the moon 
 was cloven in twain, our lord Mohammad, and his Family 
 and Companions!" The Murakkee then recites the adan 
 (which the Mueddins have already chanted) : after every 
 few words he pauses, and the Muballighs, on the dikkeh, 
 repeat the same words in a sonorous chant. || Before the 
 adan is finished, the Khateeb, or Imam, comes to the 
 
 * If of the sect of the Shafe'ees, to which most of the people of Cairo 
 belono; ; but if of that of the Hanafees, /b?<r rek'ahs. 
 
 t Kur-an, chap, xxxiii., v. 56. 
 
 + liiere are some trifling dilFerences in the forms of sahitations of the 
 Prophet in the Friday-prayers in different mosques : I describe what is 
 most common. 
 
 ^ A kind of lizard, the lacerta Libyca. 
 
 II In the great mosque EI-Azhar, there are several Muballighs in dif- 
 ferent places, to make the adan heard to the whole congregation.
 
 120 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 foot of the i)ul])it, takes the wootlen sword from the 
 Murakkce's hand, ascends tlie jjulpit, and sits on the top 
 step or phitforni. The pulpit of a hirfi:e mosque, on this 
 day, is decorated with two flajjs, with the j)rofession of 
 the faitli, or the names of (iod and Mohammad, worked 
 upon tliem : these are fixed at the top of the stairs, 
 slanting forward. The Murakkee and Muballighs 
 having finished the adiin, the former repeats a tradition 
 of the Prophet, saying, " The Prophet (upon whom be 
 blessing and peace !) hath said, ' If thou say unto thy 
 companion while the Imdm is preaching on Friday, Be 
 thou silent, thou si)eakest rashly.' lie ye silent : ye 
 shall be rewarded : God shall recom])cnse you." lie 
 then sits down. The Khateeb now rises, and, holding 
 the wooden sword* in the same manner as the Murakkee 
 did, delivers an exhortation, called " khutbet el-waaz." 
 As the reader may be curious to see a translation of a 
 Muslim sermon, 1 insert one. The following is a sermon 
 preached on the first Friday of the Arab year.f The 
 original, as usual, is in rhyming prose. 
 
 " Praise be to God, the renewer of years, and the 
 multij)licr of favours, and the creator of months and days, 
 according^to the most perfect wisdom and most admirable 
 regulation ; who hath dignified the months of the Arabs 
 above all other months, and pronounced that among the 
 more excellent of them is El-Moharram the Sacred, and 
 commenced with it the year, as lie hath closed it with 
 Zu-1-Heggeh. How propitious is the beginning, and how 
 good is the end ! J [1 extolj his perfection, exempting 
 
 * To commemorate the acquisition of E<,'\-pt by the sword. It is never 
 used by the Khateeb but in a country or town that haa been so acquired 
 by the Muslims from unbelievers. 
 
 t During my (irst visit to Eifvpt, I went to the <.Teat mosque El-Azhar, 
 to witness the performance of the Friday-prayers by the largest congre- 
 gation in Cairo. I was pleased with the preach ing of the Khateeb of the 
 mosque, Gad-El-Mow la, and afterw arils procured his sermon-book ("dee- 
 Wiin khutab'), containing sermons for every Friday in the year, and for 
 the two " 'eeds," or grand festivals. I translate the first sermon. 
 
 + The year begins and ends with a sacred month. Tlie sacred months 
 are four ; the (irst, seventh, eleventh and twelfth. During these, war waa 
 forbidden to be waged against such as acknowledged them to be sacred; but 
 was afterwards allowed. The first month is also lield to be excellent on ac- 
 count of the day of 'A'shoora ; and the last, on account of the pilgrimage.
 
 RITUAL A>D MORAL LA^VS. 121 
 
 Him from the association of any other deity with Him. 
 He hath well considered what He hath formed, and. 
 established what He hath contrived, and He alone hath 
 the power to create and to annihilate. I praise Him, 
 extolling his perfection, and exalting his name, for the 
 knowledge and inspiration which He hath graciously 
 vouchsafed ; and I testify that there is no deity but God 
 alone ; He hath no companion ; He is the most holy 
 King; the [God of] peace : and I testify that our lord 
 and our Prophet and our friend Mohammad is his servant 
 and his apostle and his elect and his friend, the guide of 
 the way and the lamp of the dark. O God ! favour and 
 })reserve and bless this noble Prophet, and chief and ex- 
 cellent apostle, the merciful-hearted, our lord Mohammad, 
 and his family, and his companions, and his wives, and his 
 posterity, and the people of his house, the noble persons, 
 and preserve them amply ! — servants of God! your 
 lives have been gradually curtailed, and year after year 
 hath passed away, and ye are sleeping on the bed ot 
 indolence and on the pillow of iniquity. Ye pass by the 
 tombs of your predecessors, and fear not the assault of 
 destiny and destruction, as if others departed from the 
 world and ye must of necessity remain in it. Ye rejoice 
 at the arrival of new years, as if they brought an increase 
 to the term of life, and swim in the seas of desires, and 
 enlarge your hopes, and in every way exceed other 
 people [in presumption], and ye are sluggish in doing 
 good. O how great a calamity is this ! God teacheth by 
 an allegory. Know ye not that in the curtailment of 
 time by indolence and sleep there is very great trouble ? 
 Know ye not that in the cutting short of lives by the 
 termination of years is a very great warning ? Know ye 
 not that the night and day divide the lives of numerous 
 souls ? Know ye not that health and capacity are two 
 blessings coveted by many men ? But the truth hath 
 become manifest to him who hath eyes. Ye are now 
 between two years : one year hath passed away, and come 
 to an end, with its evils ; and ye have entered upon 
 another year, in which, if it please God, mankind shall 
 VOL. T. . G-
 
 l'2-2 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 be relieved. Is any of you determining upon diTigenee 
 [in doing good] in the year to come ? or repenting of 
 his failings in the times tiiat are ])assed '? The hai)py is 
 he who niaketh amends lor the time passed in the time 
 to come ; and the miserable is he whose days j)uss away 
 and he is careless of his time. This new year hath 
 arrived, and the sacred month of God Jiath come with 
 blessings to you, — the first of the months of the year, and 
 of the four sacred months, as hath been said, and the 
 most worthy of preference and honour and reverence. 
 Its fast is the most excellent of fasts after that which i« 
 incumbent,* and the doing of good in it is among the 
 most excellent of the objects of desire. Whosoever 
 desireth to reap advantage from it, let him fast the ninth 
 and tenth days, looking for aid.f Abstain not from this 
 fast through indolence, and esteeming it a hardship ; but 
 comj)ly with it in the best manner, and honour it with 
 the best of honours, and improve your time by tho wor- 
 ship of God morning and evening. Turn unto God with 
 repentance, before the assault of death : He is the God 
 who accepteth repentance of his servants, and pardoneth 
 s\ns. — T/te I'radition.X — The apostle of God (God favour 
 and preserve him !) hath said, ' The most excellent prayer, 
 after the prescribed, § is the jjrayer that is said in the last 
 third of the night, and the most excellent last, after 
 Hamadiin, is that of the month of God, EUMohar- 
 ram.' " 
 
 The Khatceb, having concluded his exhortation, sa}-^ 
 to the congregation, "Supplicate God." lie then sits 
 down, and prays privately ; and each member of the 
 congregation at the same time ofters up some private 
 petition, as after the ordinary prayers, holding his hands 
 before him (looking at the palms), and then drawing 
 
 * 'ITiat of the montli of Ramadiin. p ♦! ^ j „f 
 
 t See an account of tl.e customs observed in honour of the day of 
 
 '"^+'Tre'^lblateS"lways closes his exliortation with one or two« traditions 
 
 of the Prophet. ,,.,«- 
 
 $ The live daily prayers ordained by the ICur-an.
 
 RITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. 123 
 
 them down his face. This done, the Muballighs say, 
 *'A'meen! A^meen ! (Amen! Amen!) O Lorcl of all 
 creatures I" — The Khateeb now rises again, and recites 
 another Khutbeh, called, " khutbet en-naat," of which 
 the follo\^ ing is a translation :* — 
 
 " Praise be to God, abundant praise, as He hath 
 commanded I I testify that there is no deity but God 
 alone : He hath no companion : affirming his supremacy, 
 and condemning him who denieth and disbelieveth : and 
 I testify that our lord and our prophet Mohammad is his 
 servant and his apostle, the lord of mankind, the inter- 
 cessor, the accepted intercessor, on the day of assembling : 
 God favour him and his family as long as the eye seeth 
 and the ear heareth ! O people ! reverence God by doing 
 what He hath commanded, and abstain from that which 
 He hath forbidden and prohibited. The happy is he who 
 obeyeth, and the miserable is he who opposeth and 
 sinneth. Know that the present world is a transitory 
 abode, and that the world to come is a lasting abode. 
 Make provision, therefore, in your transitory state for 
 your lasting state, and prepare for your reckoning and 
 standing before your Lord : for know that ye shall 
 to-morrow be placed before God, and reckoned with 
 according to your deeds ; and before the Lord of Might 
 ye shall be present, ' and those who have acted unjustly 
 shall know with what an overthrowal they shall be over- 
 thrown.'! Know that God, whose perfection I extol, 
 and whose name be exalted, hath said (and ceaseth not 
 to say wisely, and to command judiciously, warning you, 
 and teaching, and honouring the dignity of your Pro])het, 
 extolling and magnifying him), Verih', God favouretb^ 
 and his angels bless, the Prophet : O ye who believe, 
 bless him, and greet him with a salutation !'J O God ! 
 favour ^Mohammad and the family of Mohammad, as Thou 
 favGuredst Ibraheem|| and the family of Ibrilheem ; and 
 
 * Tliis is always the same, or nearly so. 
 ■f Kur-an, chap, xxvi., last verse. % Idem., chap, xxxiii. 
 II The patriarch Abraham. 
 
 ver. 5ff. 
 
 g2
 
 124 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 bless Mohaniniad and the family of Mohammad, as Thou 
 blesscdst Ibniheom and the family of Ibnihccm among all 
 creatures — for Thou art praiseworthy and ^dorious ! O 
 God ! do Thou also be >vell ))leased with tlie ibur Kha- 
 leefehs, the orthodox lords, of high dignity and illustrious 
 honour, Aboo-Bekr Es-Siddcek, and 'Omar, and 'Osman, 
 and 'Alee; and be Thou well jdeased, O Cod ! with the 
 six who remained of the ten noble and just j)ersons who 
 swore allegiance to thy Prophet Mohanmiad (God favour 
 and jireserve him !) under the tree ; (ibr Thou art the 
 Lord of i)icty and the Lord of pardon,) those persons of 
 excellence and clemency, and rectitude and prosj)erity, 
 Talhah, and Ez-Zubeyr, and Saad, and Sa'eed, and 
 'Abd-Er-Rahman lbn-"()wf, and Aboo-"Obeydeh "A'mir 
 Ibn-El-Garrtih ; and w ith all the Companions of the 
 Apostle of God ! (God favour and preserve him I) ; and 
 be Thou well pleased, O God! with the two martyred 
 descendants, the two bright moons, ' the two lords of the 
 youths of the people of Paradise in Paradise,' the two 
 sweet-smelling flowers of the Prophet of this nation, 
 Aboo-Mohannnad El-Hasan, and Aboo-'Abd-Allah El- 
 Hoseyn : and be Thou well ])leased, O (irod ! with their 
 mother, the daughter of the Apostle of God (God favour 
 and })reserve him !), Ftitimeh Ez-Zahra, and with their 
 grandmother Khadecgch El-Kubra, and with 'A'isheh, 
 the mother of the faithful, and with the rest of the pure 
 wives, and with the generation which succeeded.tthe 
 Companions, and the generation which succeeded tliat, 
 with beneficence to the day of judgment ! O God ! pardon 
 the believing men and the believing women, and the 
 Muslim men and the ISluslim women, those who are 
 living and the dead ; lor thou art a hearer near, an 
 answerer of j)raycrs, O Lord of all creatures ! O Glod ! 
 aid El-Islam, and strengthen its pillars, and make infi- 
 delity to tremble, and destroy its might, by the preserva- 
 tion of thy servant, and the son of thy servant, the 
 submissive to the might of thy majesty and glory, whom 
 God hath aided, by the care of the Adored King, our 
 master the Sultan, sou of the Sultiin, the Sultan Mah-
 
 RITUAL AND MORAL LAWS. 125 
 
 mood* Khdn : may God assist him, and prolong [his 
 reign] I O God ! assist him, and assist his armies I O 
 thou Lord of the religion, and of the world present, and 
 the world to come I O Lord of all creatures I O God ! 
 assist the forces of the Muslims, and the armies of the 
 L'nitarians ! O God I frustrate the infidels and poly theists, 
 thine enemies, the enemies of the religion ! O God ! 
 invert their banners, and ruin their habitations, and give 
 them and their wealth as booty to the Muslims If O God ! 
 unloose the captivity of the captives, and annul the debts 
 of the debtors ; and make this town to be safe and secure, 
 and blessed with wealth and plenty, and all the towns of 
 the Muslims. O Lord of all creatures ! And decree 
 safety and health to us and to all travellers, and pilgrims, 
 and warriors, and wanderers, upon thy earth, and upon 
 thy sea, such as are Muslims, () Lord of all creatures! 
 ' O Lord ! we have acted unjustly towards our own souls, 
 and if Thou do not forgive us and be merciful unto us, 
 we shall surely be of those who perish. 'J I beg of God, 
 the Great, that He may forgive me and you, and all the 
 people of Mohammad, the servants of God. ' Verily 
 God commandeth justice, and the doing of good, and 
 giving [what is due] to kindred ; and forbiddeth wicked- 
 ness, and iniquity, and oppression : He admonisheth you 
 that ye may reflect. '§ Remember God; He will re- 
 member you : and thank him ; He will increase to you 
 [your blessings]. Praise be to God, the Lord of all 
 creatures I " 
 
 During the rise of the Nile, a good inundation is also 
 prayed for in this Khutbeh. The Khateeb, or Inuim, 
 having ended it, descends from the pulpit, and the Mu- 
 ballighs chant the " ikdmeh" (described in note, p. 11 1) : 
 the Imam, stationed before the niche, then recites the 
 " fard " prayers of Friday, which consist of two rek'ahs, 
 and are similar to the ordinary prayers. The people do 
 
 * The reigning Sultan at the time when the above was written. 
 
 i" This sentence, beginning " O God. frustrate,' was not inserted in one 
 copy of this prayer, which I obtained from an Imam. Another Imam, 
 at whose dictation I wTOte the copy here translated, tokl me that thi 
 sentence and some others were often omitted. 
 
 J Kur-an, chap, vii., v. 22. $ Ibid., chap, xvi., v. 92.
 
 12G THK MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 the same, but silently, and keeping time exactly with the 
 Imam in the various postures. Those who are ot" the 
 Malikee sect then leave the mosque ; and so also do 
 many j)ersons of the other sects : but some ot" the 
 ShiUe'ees and Hanafecs (there are scarcely any Ham- 
 berees in Cairo) remain, and recite the ordinary f'ard. 
 prayers of noon ; forming a number of separate groups, 
 in each of which one acts as Imtim. The rich on going 
 out of the mosque, often give alms to the poor outside 
 the door. 
 
 There are other prayers to be performed on particular 
 occasions — on the two grand aimual festivals, on the 
 nights of Rama(l;in (the month of abstinence), on the oc- 
 casion of an eclipse of the sun or moon, for rain, pre- 
 viously to the commencement of battle, in pilgrimage, 
 and at funerals. 
 
 I have Sj)oken thus fully of Muslim worship because 
 my countrymen in general have very imperfect and 
 erroneous notions on this subject ; many of them even 
 imagining that the Muslims ordinarily pray to their 
 P?-o/>/i«5^ as well as to God. Invocations to the Prophet 
 for his intercession, are, indeed, frequently made, parti- 
 cularly at his tomb, where pious visiters generally say, 
 *' We ask thy intercession, O Apostle of God!" The 
 Muslims also even implore the intercession of their nu- 
 merous saints. 
 
 The duty next in importance to prayer is that of giving 
 alms. Certain alms are ])rescribed by law, and arc 
 called " zekah : " others, called "sadakah," are volun- 
 tary. The former, or obligatory alms, were, in the 
 earlier ages of El-Isliim, collected by officers appointed 
 by the sovereign, for pious uses, such as building mosques, 
 &c. ; but now it is left to the Muslim's conscience 
 to give them, and to a])j)ly them in what manner he 
 thinks fit ; that is, to bestow them upon whatever needy 
 persons he may choose. They are to be given once in 
 every year, of cattle and sheej), generally in the propor- 
 tion of one in forty, two in a hundred and twenty ; of 
 camels, lor every five, a ewe ; or for twenty-five, a 
 pregnant camel ; and likewise of money, and, among the
 
 RITUAL AND MOKAL LAWS. 127 
 
 Ilanafees, of mcrchandizo, &c. He who has money to 
 the amount of two hundred dirhems (or drams) of silver, 
 or twenty niitkals (i. e. thirty drams) of gold (or, among 
 the Hanafees, the value of the above in gold or silver or- 
 Tsaments, utensils, &c.), must annually give the fortieth 
 part (" ruba el-'oshr "), or the value of that parr. 
 
 Fasting is the next duty. The Muslim is commanded 
 to fiist during the whole month of Ramadan* every day, 
 irom the first a])pearance of day- break, or rather from 
 the hour when there is sufficient light for a person to dis- 
 tinguish plainly a white thread from a black thread f 
 (about two hours before sun-rise in Egypt), until sunset. 
 He must abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, smell- 
 kig perfumes, and every unnecessary indulgence or plea- 
 sure of a worldly nature ; even from intentionally swal- 
 lowing his spittle. When Ramadan falls in summer,J 
 the fast is very severe ; the abstinence from drinking 
 being most painfully felt. Persons who are sick, or on 
 a journey, and soldiers in time of war, are not obliged to 
 observe the fast during Ramadan ; but if they do not 
 keep it in this month they should fast an equal number ot 
 days at a future time. Fasting is also to be dispensed, 
 with in the cases of a nurse and a pregnant woman. The 
 Prophet even disapproved of any person's keeping the 
 fast of Ramadan if not perfectly able ; and desired no 
 man to fast so much as to injure his health, or disqualify 
 himself for necessary labour. The modern Muslims seem 
 to regard the fast of Ramaddn as of more importance than 
 any other religious act, lor many of them keep this fast 
 who neglect their daily prayers ; and even those who 
 break the fast, with very few exceptions, pretend to 
 keep it. Many Muslims of the wealthy classes eat and 
 drink in secret during Ramadan ; but the greater number 
 strictly keep the fast, which is fatal to numerous persons 
 in a weak state of health. There are some other days on 
 which it is considered meritorious to fast, but not absolutely 
 
 * Because the Prophet received the first revelation in that month. 
 •}- Kur-an, chap, ii., v. 183. 
 
 The year being lunar, each month retrogrades througli all the seasons 
 in the course of about tliirtv-three vears and a half.
 
 128 THE MODERX EGYPTIAXS. 
 
 necessary. On the two grand festivals, namely, that 
 Ibllowinjr Ramadan, and that which succeeds tlic pil- 
 grimage, it is tinlwrfid to do so, being expressly Jbrbid- 
 dcn by the Prophet. 
 
 The last of the four most important duties, that o^ pil- 
 f/n'ma(je, remains to be noticed. It is incumbent on every 
 Muslim to perform, once in his life, the pilgrimage to 
 Mekkeh and Mount 'Arafat, unless poverty or ill health 
 prevent him ; or, if a Hanafee, he may send a deputy, 
 whose expenses he must pay.* Man}', however, neglect 
 the duty of pilgrimage who cannot plead a lawful 
 excuse ; and they are not reproached for so doing. It is 
 not merely by the visit to !NIekkeh, and the performance 
 of the ceremonies of compassing the Kaabch seven times 
 and kissing the " black srone " in each round, and other 
 rites in the Holy City, that the Muslim acquires the title 
 of " el-hdgg "t (or the ])ilgrim) : the final ol)ject of the 
 pilgrimage is Mount 'Arafiit, six hours' journey distant 
 from Mekkeh. During his performance of the required 
 ceremonies in Mekkeh, and also during his journey to 
 'Arafiit, and until his completion of the pilgrimage, the 
 Muslim wears a peculiar dress, called " ehnim " (vul- 
 garly heriim), generally consisting of two simple pieces 
 of cotton, or linen, or woollen cloth, without seam or 
 ornament, one of which is wrapi)ed round the loins, and 
 the other thrown over the shoulders : the instep and 
 heel of each loot, and the head, must be bare; but 
 umbrellas are now used by many of the ])ilgrims. It is 
 necessary that the pilgrim be ])resent on the occa- 
 sion of a Khutbeh which is recited on Mount 'Arafat 
 in the afteinoon of the 9th of the month of Zu-1- 
 Heggeh. In the ensuing evening after sunset, the 
 pilgrims commence their return to Mekkeh. Halting 
 the Ibllowing day in the valley of jNIina (or, as it is more 
 conmionly called, jNIuna), they comjjlete the ceremonies 
 of the pilgrimage by a sacrifice (of one or more male 
 
 * A Malikee is held hound to perform the pilfjrimai;e if stronj; enoii;;,'h 
 to bear the journey on foot, and able to earn his food on tlie way. 
 
 ■j- On the pronunciation of this word, see a note to the second para- 
 graph of Chapter V.
 
 KITUAJL AND MORAL LAWS. 129 
 
 sheep, lie-goats, cows, or she-camels, part of the flesh of 
 which they cat, and part give to the poor), and by 
 shaving the head and clipping the nails. Every one, 
 after this, resumes his usual dress, or puts on a new one, 
 if provided with such. The sacrifice is called " el-fida " 
 (or the ransom), as it is performed in commemoration of 
 the ransom of Isma'eel (or Ishmael) by the sacrifice of 
 the ram, when he was himself about to have been offered 
 up by his father; for it is the general opinion of the 
 Muslims that it was this son, not Isaac, Mho was to have 
 been sacrificed by his father. 
 
 There are other ordinances, more or less connected 
 with those which have been already explained. 
 
 The two festivals called " el-'Eed es-Sugheiyir,"*" or 
 the Minor Festival, and " el-'Eed el-Kebeer," or the 
 Great Festival, the occasions of which have been men- 
 tioned above, are observed with public prayer and gene- 
 ral rejoicing. The first of these lasts three days ; and 
 the second, three or four days. The festivities with 
 which they are celebrated will be described in a subse- 
 quent chapter. On the first day of the latter festival (it 
 being the day on which the pilgrims perform their sacri- 
 fice) every Muslim should slay a victim, if he can afford 
 to purchase one. The wealthy person slays several 
 sheep, or a sheep or two, and a buffalo, and distributes 
 the greater portion of the meat to the poor. The slaugh- 
 ter may be performed by a deputy. 
 
 AVar against enemies of El-Islam, who have been the 
 first aggressors, is enjoined as a sacred duty ; and he who 
 lo-.cs his life in fulfilling this duty, if unpaid, is promised 
 the rewards of a martyr. It has been said, even by 
 some of their leading doctors, that the ]Muslims are com- 
 manded to put to death all idolaters who refuse to em- 
 brace El-Islam, excepting women and children, whom 
 they are to make slaves :t but the precepts on which 
 
 * More properly " Sagheer." This is what many travellers have in- 
 correctly called " the "Great Festival.'' 
 
 J Misled by the decision of those doctors, and an opinion prevalent 
 in Europe, I represented the laws of " holy war " as more .severe than 
 I find them to be according to the letter and spirit of tlie Knr-an, svheu 
 
 g3
 
 130 THE MODERN EGYTTIANS. 
 
 this assertion is founded relate to the pagan Arabs, who 
 had viohitcd their oaths and long 'i)erscvered in their 
 hostility to Mohammad and his followers. According to 
 the decisions of the most reasonable doctors, the laws 
 respecting other idolators, as well as C-hristians and Jews, 
 who have drawn upon themselves the hostility of the 
 Muslims, are ditierent : of such enemies, if reduced by 
 force of arms, rei'usinfr to capitulate or to surrender them- 
 selves, the men may be put to death or be made slaves, 
 and the women and children also, under the same cir- 
 cumstances, may be made slaves : but life and liberty 
 are to be granted to those enemies who surrender them- 
 selves by capitulation or otherwise, on the condition of 
 their embracing El-Islam or paying a ])oll-tax, unless 
 thev have acted perfidiously towards the Muslims, as did 
 the* Jewish tribe of Kureydhah, who, being in league 
 with ^Mohammad, went over to his enemies and aided 
 them against him : for which conduct, when they sur- 
 rendered, the men were slain, and the women and 
 children were made slaves. — The Muslims, it may here 
 be added, are forbidden to contract intimate friendship 
 with unbelievers. 
 
 Th.ere are certain prohibitory laws in the Kur-an 
 which must be mentioned here, as remarkably afiecting 
 the moral and social condition of its disciples. 
 
 Wine, and all inebriating liquors, arc forbidden, as 
 being the cause of " more evil than ])rofit."* Many of 
 the Muslims, however, in the present day, drink wine, 
 brandy, &c., in secret; and some, thinking it no sin to 
 indulge thus in moderation, scruple not to do so openl}' ; 
 but among the Egyptians there are few m ho transgress 
 
 carefully examined, and according to the Hanafee code. I am indebted 
 to Mr. Urqiiliart for suggesting,' to me the necessity of revising' my former 
 statement on this subject ; and must express my conviction that no 
 precept is to be found in the Kuran whicli, tal\en with the context, can 
 justify unprovoked war. 
 
 * Kur-an, chap, ii., v. 21fi. A kind of wine, formerly called *' ne- 
 beedli" ( a name now given to prohibited kinds), may be lawfullv drunk. 
 Tliis is generally an infusion of dry grapes or dry dates. Tiie ^luslims 
 used to keep it until it had slightly fermented ; and the Prophet him- 
 self was accustomed to drink it, but not when it was more than two days 
 old. The nebeedh of raisins is now called " zebeeb."
 
 RITLAL AND MORAL LAWS. 131 
 
 in tliis flagrant manner. " Boozeh," or " boozah," 
 which is an intoxicating liquor made with barley-bread, 
 crumbled, mixed with water, strained, and left to t'erment, 
 is commonly drunk by the boatmen of the Nile, and by 
 other persons of the lower orders,* Opium, and other 
 drugs which produce a similar effect, are considered un- 
 lawful, though not mentioned in the Kur-an ; and 
 persons who are addicted to the use of these drugs are 
 regarded as immoral characters ; but in Egypt such 
 persons are not very numerous. Some Muslims have 
 pronounced tobacco, and even coffee, unlawful. 
 
 The eating of swine's flesh is strictly forbidden. The 
 unwholesome effects of that meat in a hot climate would 
 be a sufficient reason for the prohibition ; but the pig is 
 held in abhorrence by the Muslim chiefly on account ot 
 its extremely filthy habits. f Most animals prohibited 
 for food by the Mosaic law are alike forbidden to the 
 Muslim. The camel is an exception. The MusHm is 
 <' forbidden [to eat] that which dieth of itself, and blood, 
 and swine's flesh, and that on which the name of any 
 beside God hath been invoked ; and that which hath 
 been strangled, or killed by a blow, or by a fall, or by 
 tJie horns [of another beast] ; and that which hath been 
 [partly] eaten by a wild beast, except what he shall 
 [himself] kill ; and that which hath been sacrificed unto 
 idols. "I An animal that is killed for the food of man 
 must be slaughtered in a particular manner : the person 
 who is about to perform the operation must say, " In the 
 name of God ! God is most great I" and then cut its 
 throat, at the part next the head, taking care to divide 
 the w indpipe, gullet, and carotid arteries : unless it be a 
 camel, in which case he should stab the throat at the part 
 next the breast. It is forbidden to utter, in slaughtering 
 an animal, the phrase which is so often made use of on 
 
 * A similar beverage, thus prepared from barley, was used by the 
 ancient Ejfyptians. (Herodotus, lib, ii. cap. TT.) The modern inhabit- 
 ants of Egypt also prepare boozeh from wheat and from millet in tlie 
 same manner, but less commonly, 
 
 f Swine were universally deemed impure by the ancient Egyptians, 
 (Herodotus, lib, ii, cap. 47.) 
 
 X Kur-dn, chap, v,, v. 4,
 
 132 THE MODERN EGYPXrANS. 
 
 Other occasions, " In the name of God, the Compassion- 
 ate, the Merciful !" because the mention of the most 
 benevolent epithets of the Deity on such an occasion 
 would seem like a mockery of the suHbrings which it is 
 about to endure. Some persons in Egypt, but mostly 
 women, when about to kill an animal for food, say, " In 
 the name of God; God is most great ! God give thee 
 patience to endure the affliction which he hath allotted 
 thee !"* If the sentiment which first dictated this 
 prayer were always felt, it would present a beautiful 
 trait in the character of the people who use it. In cases 
 of necessity, when in danger of starving, the Muslim is 
 allowed to eat any food which is unlawful undor other 
 circumstances. The mode of slaughter above described 
 is, of course, only required to be practised in the cases 
 of domestic animals. Most kinils of fish are lawful food :\ 
 so also are many birds ; the tame kinds of which must be 
 killed in the same manner as cattle ; but the wild may 
 be shot. The hare, rabbit, gazelle, &c., are lawful 
 food, and may either be shot, or killed by a dog, provided 
 the name of God was uttered at the time of discharging 
 the arrow, &c., or slipping the dog, and he (the dog) 
 has not eaten any part of the prey. This animal, how- 
 ever, is considered very tmclean ; the Shafe'ees hold 
 themselves to be polluted by the touch of its nose, if it 
 be wet ; and if , any part of their clothes be so touched, 
 they must wash that part with seven waters, and once 
 with clean earth : some others are only carefid not to 
 let the animal lick, or defile in a worse manner, their 
 persons or their dress, &c. When game has been struck 
 down by any wea})on, but not killed, its throat must be 
 immediately cut : otherwise it is unlawful food. 
 
 Gambling and usury are prohibited, | and all games of 
 
 * Tlie Arabic words of this prayer, " God give thee patience," &c. 
 are, " Allah yesabbirak (for yusabbirak) 'ala ma belak." 
 
 f In some respects the Muslim code does not appear to be so strictly 
 founded upon exigencies of a sanitary nature as the Mosaic. .See Le- 
 viticus, xi. 9 — 12. In Egypt, lish which have not scales are generally 
 found to be unwholesome (bod. One of the few reasonable laws of El- 
 Hakim was tliat which forbade the selling or catching such kinds of tish 
 i5ee De Sacy, ' Chrestomatliie .Arabe,' 2nde ed., tome i. p. 98. 
 
 It is unlawful to give or receive interest, however small, for a loan,
 
 CIVIL LAWS. 133 
 
 chance ; and likewise the making of images or pictures 
 of anything that has life."-^' The Prophet declared that 
 every representation of this kind would be placed before 
 its author on the day of judgment, and that he would be 
 commanded to put life into it ; which not being able to 
 do. he would be cast, for a time, into hell. 
 
 The principal civil and criminal laws remain to be 
 stated. Their origin we discover partly in customs of 
 the Pagan Arabs ; but mostly in the Jewish Scriptures 
 and traditions. 
 
 The civil and criminal laws are chiefly and immedi- 
 ately derived from the Kur-an ;t but, in many important 
 cases, this highest authority affords no precept. In most 
 of these cases the Traditions of the Prophet direct the 
 decisions of the judge, j There are, however, some im- 
 portant cases, and many of an inferior kind, respecting 
 which both the Kur-an and the Traditions are silent or 
 undecisive. These are determined by the explanations 
 and amplifications derived either from the concordance 
 of the principal early disciples, or from analogy, by the 
 four great Imams, or founders of the four orthodox sects 
 of El-Islam ; generally on the authority of the Imam of 
 that sect to which the ruling power belongs, which sect, 
 in Egypt, and throughout the Turkish Empire, is that 
 of the Hanafees : or, if none of the decisions of the 
 Imam relate to a case in dispute (which not unfrequently 
 happens), judgment is given in accordance with a sen- 
 tence of some other eminent doctor, founded upon ana- 
 logy. — In general, only the principal laws, as laid down 
 in the Kur-an and the Traditions, will be here stated. 
 
 The laws relating to marriage and the licence oi' poli/- 
 gami/, the facility o^ divorce allowed by the Kur-an, and 
 
 or on account of credit ; and to exchange any article for another article 
 of the same species, but differing in quantity. These and several other 
 commercial transactions of a similar kind are severely condemned ; but 
 they are not very uncommon among modern Muslims, some of whom 
 take exorbitant interest, 
 
 * Many of the Muslims hold that only sculptures which cast a shadow, 
 representing living creatures, are unlawful ; but the Prophtt certainly 
 condemned pictures also, 
 f A law given in the Kur-an is called " fard." 
 X A law derived from the Traditions is called " sunneh."
 
 134 THE MODKUN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 /he ])onnissi()n o^ concuhituKje^ arc essentially the natural 
 and necessary conse(|uence.s of the main ])rinciple of" the 
 constitution of JNIusliin society — the restriction of the 
 intercourse between the sexes before niarriaj^e. Few 
 men would niarry if he who was disai)))ointed in a wife 
 whom he had never seen before were not allowed to take 
 nnother ; and in the case of a man's doin<j this, his own 
 liappiness, or that of the former wife, or the happiness of 
 both these parties, may require his cither retaining this 
 wife or divorcing her. But I hope that n)y reader will 
 admit a much stronger reason for these laws, regarding 
 them as designed for the Muslims. As the Mosaic code 
 allowed God's chosen jieople, for the hardness of their 
 hearts, to ])ut away their wives, and forbade neither 
 ])olygamy nor concubinage, he who believes that Moses 
 was divinely ins|)ired, to enact the best laws for his 
 people, must hold the permission of these ])ractices to be 
 less injurious to morality than their prohibition, among a 
 ])eople similar to the ancient Jews, Their permission, 
 though certainly jn'oductivc of injurious efiects upon 
 niorality and domestic hajii)iness, ])revents a profligacy 
 that would be worse than that which prevails to so great 
 a degree in Euro])can countries, where parties are united 
 in marriage after an intimate nmtual acquaintance. As 
 to the licence of ])olygamy, which seems to be unfavour- 
 able to the accomjdishment of the main object for which 
 marriage was instituted, as well as to the exercise and 
 im])rovement of the nobler powers of the mind, we should 
 i-emark, that it was not introduced, but limited, by the 
 legislator of the Muslims. It is true that he assumed to 
 himself the privilege of having a greater number of 
 wives than he allowed to others ; but in doing so, he 
 may have been actuated by the want of male offspring, 
 rather than impelled by voluptuousness. 
 
 The law respecting marriage and concubinage is per- 
 feclly exj)licit as to the number of wives whom a Muslim 
 may have at the same time ; but it is not so with regard 
 to the number of concubine-slaves whom he may have. 
 It is written, '' Take in marriage, of the women who 
 ])lease you, two, three, or four ; but if ye fear that ye
 
 CIVIL LAWS- 135 
 
 cannot act equitably [to so many, take] one ; or, [take] 
 those whom your right hands have acquired,"* that is, 
 your slaves. Therefore many of the wealthy Muslims 
 marry two, three, or four wives, and keep besides several 
 concubine-slaves ; and many of the most revered charac- 
 ters, even Comj)anions of the Prophet, are recorded to 
 have done the same. The conduct of the latter clearly 
 shows that the number of concubine-slaves whom a man 
 may have is not limited by the law in the opinion of the 
 orthodox. t 
 
 It is held lawful for a Muslim to marry a Christian or 
 a Jewish woman, if induced to do so by excessive love 
 of her, or if he cannot obtain a w ife of his own faith ; 
 but in this case the offspring must follow the fathers 
 faith, J and the wife does not inherit when the father 
 dies. A Muslim'eh, however, is not allowed under any 
 circumstances, but when force is employed, to marry a 
 man who is not of her own faith. A man is forbidden, 
 by the Kur-an § and the Sunneh, to marry his mother, or 
 other ascendant ; his daughter, or other descendant ; his 
 sister, or half-sister ; the sister of his father or mother, 
 or other ascendant ; his niece, or any of her descendants ; 
 his foster-mother, II or a woman related to him by milk 
 in any of the degrees which would preclude his marriage 
 with her if she were similarly related to him by con- 
 sanguinity ; the mother of his wife, even if he have not 
 consummated his marriage w ith this wife ; the daughter 
 of his w ife, if he have consummated his marriage with 
 
 * Kur-an, chap, iv., v. 3. 
 
 -}- Some Muslim moralists argue, that, as four wives are a sufficient 
 number for one man, so also are four conc-ubine-slaves, or four women 
 consisting of these two classes together ; bat notwithstanding what Sale 
 and some other learned men have asserted on this subject, the Muslim 
 law certainly does not limit the number of concubine-slaves whom a man 
 may have, whether in addition to, or without, a wife or wives. 
 
 J In like manner, when a Christian man marries a Jewess, the Muslim 
 law requires the offspring to profess " the better faith," namely, the 
 Christian, if unwilling to embrace El-Islam. 
 
 $ Chap, iv., vv. 2G and 27. 
 
 II By the Hanafee code, a man may not marry a woman from wliosc 
 breast he has received a single drop of milk ; but Esli-Sliafe'ee does not 
 prohibit the marriage unless he has been suckled by her live times in 
 the course of the lirst two veftrs.
 
 136 THE MODERN EGYPTIAN'S. 
 
 the latter, and she be still his wife ; his father's wife, 
 and his son's wife; and to have at the same time two 
 wives who are sisters, or aunt and niece : he is forbidden 
 also to marry his unemanci))ated slave, or another man's 
 slave, if he have already a free wife. It is lawful for 
 the Muslim to see the faces of those women whom he is 
 forbidden to marry, but of no others, excej)ting his own 
 wives and I'emalc slaves. The marriage of a man and 
 woman, or of a man and a giil mIio has arrived at 
 puberty, is lawfully eltectcd by their declaring (which 
 the latter generally does by a " wekeel," or deputy) their 
 consent to marry each other, in the presence of two wit- 
 nesses (if witnesses can be j)rocured), and by the pay- 
 ment, or part-payment, of a dowry. l]ut the consent of 
 a girl under the age of puberty is not required ; her 
 father, or if he be dead, her nearest adult male relation, 
 or any person ajipointed as her guardian by will or by 
 the Kadec, acting for her as he pleases,* The giving 
 of a dowry is indis])cnsable, and the least sum that is 
 allowed by law is ten " dirhems " (or drams of silver), 
 which is equal to about five shillings of our money. ! A 
 man may legally marry a woman -without mentioning a 
 dowry ; but after the consummation of the njarriage she 
 can, in this case, compel him to pay the sum of ten dir- 
 hems.f 
 
 A man may divorce his wife twice, and each time 
 take her back without any ceremony, excepting in a case 
 to be mentioned below ; but if he divorce her the third 
 time, or jmt her away by a triple divorce conveyed in 
 one sentence, he cannot receive her again until she has 
 been married and divorced by another husband, who 
 must have consummated his marriage with her.J When 
 a man divorces his wife (which he does by merely say- 
 ing, "Thou art divorced," or "I divorce thee"), he 
 pays her a portion of her dowry (generally one- 
 
 * A boy may be thus married ; but he may divorce his wife. 
 
 ■j- Whatever property the wife receives from her husband, parents, or 
 any other person, is entirely at her own disposal, and not sul)ject to any 
 claim of her husband or his creditors. 
 
 + Kur-an, chap, ii., vv. 229, 230.
 
 CIVIL LAWS. 137 
 
 third), which he had kept back from the first, to be paid 
 on this occasion, or at his death ; and she takes away 
 with her the furniture, &c. which she brought at her 
 marriage. He may thus put her away from mere dis- 
 like,* and without assigning any reason ; but a woman 
 cannot separate herself from her husband against his will, 
 unless it be for some considerable fault on his part, as 
 cruel treatment or neglect ; and even then, application 
 to the Kadee's court is generally necessary to compel 
 the man to divorce her ; and she forfeits the above-men- 
 tioned remnant of the dowry. 
 
 The first and second divorce, if made without any 
 mutual agreement for a compensation from the woman, 
 or a pecuniary sacrifice on her part, is termed " talak 
 reg'ee" (a divorce which admits of return) ; because 
 the husband may take back his wife, without her con- 
 sent, during the period of her " 'eddeh " (which will 
 be presently explained), but not after, unless with her 
 consent, and by a new contract. If he divorce her the 
 first or second time for a compensation, she perhaps 
 rec{uesting, "Divorce me for what thou owest me," or 
 " — hast of mine" (that is, of the dowry, furniture, 
 &c.), or for an additional sum, he cannot take her again 
 but by her own consent, and by a new contract. This 
 is a "talak bain" (or separating divorce), and is 
 termed " the lesser separation," to distinguish it from 
 the third divorce, which is called " the greater sepa- 
 ration." The " 'eddeh " is the period during which a 
 divorced woman, or a widow, must wait before marrving 
 again, — in either case, if pregnant, until delivery : other- 
 wise, the former must wait three lunar periods, or three 
 months ; and the latter four months and ten days. A 
 woman who is divorced when in a state of pregnancy, 
 though she may make a new contract of marriage im- 
 mediately after her delivery, must wait forty days longer 
 before she can complete her marriage by receiving her 
 husband. The man who divorces his wife must main- 
 tain her in his own house, or in that of her parents, or 
 
 * As the Mosaic law alio allows. See Deut. xxiv. 1.
 
 lo8 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 elsewhere, durino: the '])criod of her 'eddeh ; but must 
 cease to live with her as her husband from the com- 
 mencement of that period. A divorced woman who has 
 a son under two years of age may retain him until he 
 lias attained that age, and may be compelled to do so b}'^ 
 the law of the Shafc'ees ; and by the law of the 
 Miilikees, until he has arrived at puberty ; but the 
 Hanafee law limits the period during which the boy 
 should remain under her care to seven years : her 
 daughter she should retain until nine years of age, or 
 the period of puberty. If a man divorce his wife before 
 the consummation of marriage, he must pay her half the 
 sum which he has promised to give her as a dowry ; or,*if 
 he have promised no dowry, he must pay her the half of 
 the smallest dowry allowed by law, which has been 
 mentioned above ; and she may marry again immediately. 
 
 When a wife refuses to obey the lawful commands of 
 her husband, he may, and generally does take her, or 
 two witnesses* against her, to the Kadee's court, to 
 prefer a complaint against her ; and, if the case be 
 proved, a certificate is written declaring the woman 
 *' mishizeh," or rebellious against her husband. This 
 process is termed " writing a woman nfishizeh." It ex- 
 empts her husband from obligation to lodge, clothe, and 
 maintain her. He is not obliged to divorce her ; and by 
 refusing to do this, he may prevent her marrying another 
 man as long as he lives ; but if she promise to be obedient 
 afterwards, he must take her back, and maintain her, or 
 divorce her. It is more common, however, for a wife 
 whose husband refuses to divorce her, if she have parents 
 or other relations able and willing to support her com- 
 fortably, to make a complaint at the Kadee's court, 
 stating her husband's conduct to be of such a nature to- 
 wards her that she will not live with him, and thus cause 
 herself to be registered "mishizeh," and separated from 
 him. In this case, the husband generally persists, from 
 mere spite, in refusing to divorce her. 
 
 As concubines are slaves, some account of slaves in 
 
 * The witnesses must always be Muslims in accusations against a per- 
 son of the same faith.
 
 CIVIL LAWS. 139 
 
 general may here be appropriately inserted, with a state- 
 ment of the principal laws respecting concubines and 
 their offspring, kc. The slave is either a person taken 
 captive in war, or carried oft" by force from a foreign 
 hostile country, and being at the time of capture an 
 infidel ; or the offspring of a female slave by another 
 slave, or by any man who is not her owner, or by her 
 owner if he do not acknowledge himself to be the father ; 
 but a person cannot be the slave of a relation who is 
 within the prohibited degrees of marriage. The power 
 of the owner is such that he may even kill his slave with 
 impunity for any offence ; and he incurs but a slight 
 punishment (as imprisonment for a period at the discre- 
 tion of the judge) if he do so wantonly. He may give 
 or sell his slaves, excepting in some cases which will be 
 mentioned ; and may marry them to whom he will, but 
 not separate them when married. A slave, however, 
 according to most of the doctors, cannot have more than 
 two wives at the same time. As a slave enjoys less ad- 
 vantages than a free person, the law, in some cases, 
 ordains that his punishment for an offence shall be half 
 of that to which the free is liable for the same offence, 
 or even less than half: if it be a fine, or pecuniary 
 compensation, it must be paid by the owner, to the 
 amount, if necessary, of the value of the [slave, or the 
 slave must be given in compensation. An uneman- 
 cipated slave, at the death of the owner, becomes the 
 property of the heirs of the latter ; and when an eman- 
 cipated slave dies, leaving no male descendant or col- 
 lateral relation, the former owner is the heir ; or, if he 
 be dead, his heirs inherit the slave's ])roperty. But an 
 unemancipated slave can acquire no property without the 
 permission of the owner. Complete and immediate 
 emancipation is sometimes granted to a slave gratuit- 
 ously, or for a future pecuniary compensation. It is con- 
 ferred by means of a written document, or by a verbal 
 declaration in the presence of two witnesses, or by pre- 
 senting the slave with the certificate of sale obtained 
 from the former owner. Future emancipation is some-
 
 140 THE MODERX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 times covenanted to he granted on the fulfilment of cer- 
 tain conditions ; and more frecjuently, to be conferred on 
 the occasion of the owner's death. In the latter case, 
 the owner cannot sell the slave to whom he has made 
 this promise; and as he cannot alienate by will more 
 than one-third of the whole property that he leaves, the 
 law ordains that, if the value of the said slave exceed 
 that portion, the slave must obtain, and pay to the 
 owner's heirs, the additional sum. A Muslim may take 
 as his concubine any of his female slaves who is a Mus- 
 lim'eh, or a Christian, or a Jewess, if he have not mar- 
 ried her to another man ; but he may not have as his 
 concubines, at the same time, two or more who are 
 sisters, or who are related to each other in any of the 
 deprrees which would prevent their both being his wives 
 at the same time if they were free. A Christian is not 
 b}'' the law allowed, nor is a Jew, to have a Muslim'eh 
 slave as his concubine.* The master must wait a cer- 
 tain period (generally from a month to three months) 
 after his acquisition of a female slave, before he can 
 take her as his concubine. When a female slave be- 
 comes a mother by her master, the child which she 
 bears to him is free, if he acknowledge it to be his own ; 
 but if not, it is his slave. In the former case the 
 mother cannot afterwards be sold nor given away by her 
 master (though she must continue to serve him and be 
 his concubine as long as he desires) ; and she is entitled 
 to emancipation at his death. Her bearing a child to 
 him is called the cause of her emancipation or liberty ; 
 but it doe . not oblige him to emancij)ate her as long as 
 he lives, *-^ ough it is commendable if he do so, and make 
 her his wife, provided he have not already four wives, or 
 if he marry her to another man, should it be her wish. 
 A free person cannot become the husband or wife of his, 
 or her, own slave, without first emancipating that slave ; 
 and the marriage of a free person with the slave of 
 
 * Yet many Cliristians and Jews in Egypt infringe the law in this re- 
 spect with impunity.
 
 CiVIL LAWS. 141 
 
 another is dissolved if the former become the owner ot 
 the latter, and cannot be renewed but by emancipation 
 and a regular legal contract. 
 
 The most remarkal>le general principles of the laws of 
 inheritance are the denial of any privileges to primo- 
 geniture,* and in most cases awarding to a feftiale a share 
 equal to half that of a male of the same degree of 
 relationship to the deceased. f A person may bequeath 
 one-third of his or her property ; but not a larger portion, 
 unless he or she has no legal heir ; nor any portion to a 
 legal heir, excepting wife or husband, without the eon- 
 sent of all the other heirs. The children of a person 
 deceased inherit the whole of that person's property, or 
 what remains after payment of the legacies and debts, 
 &c., and the share of a male is double the share of a 
 female. If the children of the deceased be only females, 
 tv, o or more in number, they inherit together, by the law 
 of the Ku-ran, two-thirds ; and if there be but one child, 
 and that a female, she inherits by the same law half. 
 [But the remaining third, or half, is also assigned to the 
 said daughters or daughter, by a law of the Sunneh 
 (which applies also to other cases), if there be no other 
 legal heir,] If the deceased have left no immediate 
 descendant, the sons and daughters of liis son or sons 
 inherit as immediate descendants, [and so on.] If the 
 deceased have left a child or a son's child [and so on], 
 each of the parents of the deceased inherits one-sixth. 
 If the father be dead, his share falls to his father. [If 
 the mother be dead, her share falls to her mother.] If 
 the deceased have left no child Orson's child [and so on], 
 
 * in this the Muslim" law differs from the Mosaic, which assigns a 
 double portion to the first-born son. See Dent. xxi. 17. 
 
 T In my summarv' of the principal laws relating to inheritance, in the 
 former editions of this work, there were some errors, occasioned by my 
 relying too much upon Sale's version of the Kur-an ; for I doubted not 
 his accuracy, as he had several commentaries to consult, and I had none ; 
 wherefore, in my inquiries respecting these laws, I sought only to add to, 
 not to correct, the information conveyed by his version. I have here 
 given a corrected statement, derived from the Kur-an and the Commentary 
 of the Gelaleyn, supplying some words of necessary explanation (which 
 are enclosed in brackets) partly on the authority of a sheykh who was 
 my tutor, and partly from the valuable work of D'Ohsson, ' Tab'leau 
 General de I'Empire Othoman,' Code Civil, livre, iv.
 
 142 THE MODERX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 the mother has one-third of the property, or of what 
 remahis after detluctinj^ the share of the wife or wives or 
 husband, and the residue is for the fatlier ; unless the 
 deceased has lei"t two or more brothers or sisters, in which 
 case tlie mother inherits one-sixth, and the father tiic 
 residue ; the said brothers or sisters receiving nothing ; * 
 [if the deceased have left a father or any ascendant in the 
 male line.] A man inherits half of what remains of his 
 wife's jjropcrty alter the payment of her legacies, &c., 
 if she have lelt no child or son's child, [and so on ;] and 
 one-fourth if she have left a child or son's child, [and so 
 on.] One-fourth is the share of the wife, or of the 
 wives conjointly, if the deceased husband have left no 
 child or son's child, [and so on ;] and one-eighth if he 
 have left any such descendant. t If the deceased have 
 not left a father, [nor any ascendant in the male line,] 
 nor a child, [nor a son's child, and so on,] the law ordains 
 as follows : — 1. A sole brother, or sister, only by the 
 mother's side, inherits one-sixth ; and if there be two or 
 more brothers or sisters, only by the mother's side, or 
 one or more of such relations of each sex, they inherit 
 collectively one-third, which is equally divided, without 
 distinction of male and female. — 2. If the deceased have 
 left a sole sister by his father and mother, [and no such 
 brother,] she inherits half; and a man inherits the whole 
 property of such a sister, [or what remains after the pay- 
 
 ' • According to Sale's [translation of the 12th verse of cliap. iv., and a 
 note thereon, if the deceased have no child, and his parents be his heirs, 
 then his mother shall have the third part, and his father tlie otlier two- 
 tliirds : but if he have brethren, his mother shall liave a sixtli part ; — and 
 by his translation of tlie ktst verse of the same chapter, statinjj that tJie 
 brothers of a man who has died tchhout issue have a claim to inheritance, 
 it is implied that the brothers, if the father be living, must have a share ; 
 consequently, that they would liave, in the case above mentioned, a 
 sixth part; for he has not stated that tliis portion which is deducted 
 from the motlier's share goes to the father, nor tliat the father's share is 
 diminished. — Why the mother's share is diminished and tlie father's 
 increased, in the case to which tliis note relates, I do not see : the reasoa 
 might be easily inferred, were it not that the surviving brotli'Ts or 
 sisters of the deceased may be his brothers or sisters by the mother's 
 side only. 
 
 f This is exclusive of what may remain due to her of her dowry, of 
 which one-third is usually held in reserve by the husband, to be paid to 
 her if he divorce her, or when he dies.
 
 CIVIL LAWS. 143 
 
 ment of her legacies, &c..] if she have left no child ; but 
 if she have left a male child, [or son's child, and so on,] 
 he (the brother) inherits nothing ; and if she have left 
 a female child, the said brother inherits what remains 
 after deducting that child's share, [and alter the payment 
 of the legacies, &c.] If the deceased have left two or 
 more sisters by his father and mother, [and no such 
 brother,] they inherit together two-thirds. If the 
 deceased have left one or more brothers, and one or 
 more sisters, by his father and mother, they inherit the 
 whole [or what remains after the payment of the legacies-, 
 &c.], and the share of a male is double the share of a fe- 
 male. — 3. Brothers and sisters by the father's side only,, 
 [when there is no brother or sister by the father anti 
 mother,] inherit as brothers and sisters by the father and 
 mother.* No distinction is made between the child of a 
 wife and that borne by a slave to her master (if the 
 master acknowledge the child to be his own) : both 
 inherit equally. So also do the child of a wife and the 
 adopted child. A bastard inherits only from his mother, 
 and vice versa. When there is no legal heir, or legatee, 
 the property falls to the government treasury, which is 
 called '' beyt el-mal," The laws respecting certain 
 remote degrees of kindred, &c., I have not thought it 
 necessary to state. f The property of the deceased is 
 nominally divided into keenits (or twenty-fourth parts) ; 
 and the share of each son, or other heir, is said to be so 
 many keerats. 
 
 The law is remarkably lenient towards debtors. " If 
 there be any [debtor]," says the Kur-an,+ " under a 
 difficulty [of paying his debt], let [hi's creditor] wait till 
 it be easy [for him^to do it] ; but if ye remit it as alms, 
 it will be better for you." The Muslim is commanded 
 (in the chapter from which the above extract is taken), 
 when he contracts a debt, to cause a statement of it to be 
 written, and attested by two men, or a man and two 
 
 * The portions of the Kur-an upon which tlie above laws are founded 
 are verses 12 — 15, and the last verse, of chap. iv. 
 
 t 'I'he reader may see them in DOhsson's work before mentioned. 
 •}- Chap, ii., v. 280.
 
 144 THE MOJDJiliX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 vnomon, of his oNvn faith. Tlio debtor is imprisoned for 
 non-j)avinent of his debt; but if lie establish his insol- 
 vency, lie is liberated. Ue may be coni})elled to work 
 for the diseharge of his debt, if able. 
 
 'J'he Kur-an ordains that murder shall be ])unished 
 with death; or rather, that the free shall die ibrthe free, 
 the slave ibr the slave, and a woman lor a woman ; or 
 that the perpetrator of the crime shall pay to the heirs 
 of the ))erson whom he has killed, if they allow it, a fine, 
 whidi is to be divided according- to the laws of in- 
 heritance.* It also ordains that nninteniiunal homicide 
 shall be expiated by Ireeing; a believer from slavery, and 
 paying, to the family of tlie person killed, a fine, unless 
 they remit it.f But these laws are amplified and explained 
 by the same book and by the Imsims. — A fine is not to be 
 accepted for murder unless the crime has been attended 
 by some palliating circumstance. This fine, which is the 
 price of blood, is a hundred camels ; or a thousand 
 deemirs (about 500/.) from him who possesses gold ; or 
 from him who {)ossesses silver, twelve thousand dirhemsj 
 (about 300/.). This is for killing a freeman; lor a 
 woman, half the sum : for a slave, his or her value ; but 
 that must fall short of the ])ricc of blood for the free. 
 A i)erson unable to free a believer must fast two months, 
 as in Ramadan. The accomplices of a nmrderer arc 
 liable to the ])unishment of death. By the Sunneh also, 
 a man is obnoxious to capital ])unishmcnt for the murder 
 of a woman ; and by the Ilanalce law for the murder of* 
 another man's slave. But h(; is exempted from this 
 punishment who kills his own child or other descendant, 
 or his own slave, or liis son's slave, or a slave of whom he 
 is part-owner : so also are his accomplices ; and according 
 to Esh-Shafe'ee, a Muslim, though a slave, is not to be 
 put to death for killing an infidel, though the latter be 
 free. In the present day, however, murder is generally 
 punished with death ; the government seldom allowing a 
 composition in money to be made. A man who kills 
 another in self-defence, or to defend his property from a 
 
 * Chap, ii., V. 173. f Chap iv. v. 04. 
 
 Or, according to some, ten thousand dirhems.
 
 CRIMINAL LAWS. 145 
 
 robber, is exempt from all punishment. The price of 
 blood is a debt incumbent on the family, tribe, or asso- 
 ciation of which the homicide is a member. It is also 
 incumbent on the inhabitants of an enclosed quarter, or 
 the proprietor or proprietors of a field in which the body 
 of a person killed by an unknown hand is found ; unless 
 the person has been found killed in his own house. A 
 woman, convicted of a ca])ital crime, is generally put to 
 death by drowning in the Nile. 
 
 The Bedawees have made the law of the avenging of 
 blood terribly severe and unjust, transgressing the limits 
 assigned by the Kur-an : for, with them, any single 
 person descended from the homicide, or from the homi- 
 cide's father, grandfather, great-grandfather, or great- 
 grandfather's father, may be killed by any of such relations 
 of the person murdered or killed in fight ; but, among 
 most trilDCS, the fine is generally accepted instead of the 
 blood. Cases of blood-rovcnge are very common among 
 the peasantry of Egypt, who, as I have before remarked, 
 retain many customs of their Bedawee ancestors. The 
 relations of a person who has been killed, in an Egyptian 
 village, generally retaliate with their own hands rather 
 than apply to the government, and often do so with dis- 
 gusting cruelty, and even mangle and insult the corpse 
 of their victim. The relations of a homicide usually fly 
 from their own to another village, for protection. Even 
 when retaliation has been made, animosity frequently 
 continues between the two parties for many years ; and 
 often a case of blood-revenge involves the inhabitants of 
 two or more villages in hostilities, which are renewed, at 
 intervals, during the period of several generations. 
 
 jRelaliation for intentional u-omids and mutilations is 
 allowed, like as for murder; " eye for eye," &c. ; * but 
 a fine may be accepted instead, which the law allows also 
 for unintentional injuries. The fine for a member that 
 is single (as the nose) is the whole price of blood, as lor 
 homicide ; for a member of which there are two, and not 
 more, (as a hand,) half the price of blood ; for one of 
 
 Kur-an, chap, v., v. iO.
 
 -J46 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Mhit'li there arc ton, (a finger or toe,) a tenth of the 
 price of blood : but the line of a man for maiming or 
 wounding a woman is half of tluit lor the same injury to 
 a man : and tliat of a free person for injuring a slave 
 varies according to the value of the slave. The tine for 
 depriving a man of any of his live senses, or dangerously 
 wounding him, or grievously disfiguring him for life, is 
 the whole ])rice of blood. 
 
 Jlieft, whether committed by a man or by a woman, 
 according to the Kur-iin,* is to be jjunished by cutting 
 off the offenders right hand for the first ofience ; but a 
 Sunneh law ordains that this j)imishnient shall not be in- 
 flicted if the value of the stolen property is less than a 
 quarter of a deenar;t and it is also held necessary, to render 
 the thief obnoxious to this [)unishment, that the property 
 stolen should have been deposited in a place to which he 
 had not ordinary or easy access : whence it follows, that 
 a man who steals in the house of a near relation is not 
 subject to this jnuiishment ; nor is a slave who robs the 
 house of his master. For the second offence, the left foot 
 is to be cut off; for the third, according to the Shafe'ee law, 
 the left hand ; for the foui-th, the right foot ; and for fur- 
 ther offences of the same kind, the culprit is to be flogged 
 or beaten ; or, by the Ilanafce code, for the third and 
 subsequent offences, the criminal is to be punished by a 
 long imprisonment. A man may steal a free-born infant 
 without offending against the law, because it is not pro- 
 perty ; but not a slave : and the hand is not to be cut off 
 lor stealing any article of food that is quickly perishable ; 
 because it may have been taken to sujjply the immediate 
 demands of hunger. There are also some other cases in 
 which the thief is exempt from the punishments above 
 mentioned. In Esrypt, of late yeais, these ])unishments 
 have not been inflicted. Beating and hard labour have 
 l)oen substituted lor the first, second, or third offence, 
 and freciuently death for the fourth. jMost i)etty offences 
 
 * Cliap. v., V. 42. 
 
 -f Thedeenar is a mitkal (or nearly 7:^ Englisli grains) of gold. Sale, 
 copying a false translation by >Iarracci, and ne^'lecUng to examine the 
 Arabic text quoted by the latter, has stated the sum in question to be 
 loux deenurs
 
 CRIMI>-AL LAWS. 147 
 
 are usually punished by beating with the " kurba^" (a 
 thong- or whip of hippopotamus' hide, hammered into a 
 round form), or with a stick, generally on the soles of the 
 feet.* 
 
 Adultery is most severely visited ; but to establish a 
 charge of this crime against a wife, four eye-witnesses are 
 necessary. t If convicted thus, she is to be put to death 
 by stoning.J I need scarcely say, that cases of this kind 
 have very seldom occurred, from the difficulty of obtain- 
 ing such testimony. § Further laws on this subject, and 
 still more favourable to the women, are given in the 
 Kur-an,|| in the following words : — "But [as to] those 
 who accuse women of reputation, [of fornication or adul- 
 tery,] and produce not four witnesses, [of the fact,] 
 scourge them with eighty stripes, and receive not their 
 testimony for ever ; for such are infamous prevaricators : 
 excepting those who shall afterwards repent ; for God is 
 gracious and merciful. They who shall accuse their 
 wives, [of adultery,] and shall have no witnesses [thereof] 
 besides themselves, the testimony [which shall be re- 
 quired] of one of them [shall be] that he swear ibur times 
 by God that he speaketh the truth, and the fifth [time 
 that he imprecate] the curse of God on him if he be a 
 liar ; and it shall avert the punishment [of the wife] if she 
 swear four times by God that he is a liar, and if the 
 fifth [time she imprecate] the wrath of God on her if he 
 speak the truth." The commentators and lawyers have 
 agreed that, under these circumstances, the marriao:e must 
 
 * Tlie feet are confined by a chain or rope attached at each end to a 
 staff, which is turned round to tigliteM it. This is called a " falakah." 
 Two persons (one on each side) strike alternately. 
 
 -}- Kur-an, chap, iv., v. 19. 
 
 + This is a "Sunneh" law. Tlie doom, as Mr. Urquhart observes, 
 " stands rather as the expression of public abhorrence, than as a law 
 which is to be carried into execution." (' Spirit of the East,' vol. ii., 
 p. 425.) The law is the same in the case of the adulterer, if married ; 
 but it is never enforced. See Leviticus, xx. 10, and John, viii. 4, 5. 
 
 () It is worthy of remark, that the circumstance which occasioned the 
 promulgation of this extraordinary law was an accusation of adultery 
 preierred against the prophet's favourite wife '.-^''isheh: she was thus 
 absolved from punishment, and her reputation was cleared by additional 
 "revelations." 
 
 |l Chap, xxiv., v. 4 — 9. 
 
 h2
 
 148 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 1)0 dissolved. In the chapter from wliieh the above quo- 
 tation is nia(U% it is ordained (in verse 2) that unmarried 
 persons convicted of fornication shall be punished by 
 scouriring, \vith a hundred stripes ; and a Sunneh law ren- 
 tiers them obnoxious to the further jmnishment of banish- 
 ment for a whole year.* Of the ])unishment of women 
 convicted of incontinence} in Cairo, I shall speak, in the 
 next chapter ; as it is an arbitrary act of the frovcrnment, 
 not founded on the laws of the Kur-an, or the Traditions. f 
 
 Driinhcnness was punished, by the Prophet, by flog- 
 gintr ; and is still in Cairo, though not often : the " hadd," 
 or number of stri])es, for this offence, is eighty in the 
 case of a free man, and forty in that of a slave. 
 
 Apostnaj from the faith of El-Islam is considered a 
 most heinous sin, and must be punished with death, un- 
 less the a])ostate will recant on being thrice warned. I 
 once saw a woman paraded through the streets of Cairo, 
 and afterwards taken down to the Nile to be drowned, 
 for having apostatized from the fiiith of Mohammad, and 
 having married a Christian. Unfortunately, she had 
 tattooed a blue cross on her arm, which led to her detec- 
 tion by one of her former friends in a bath. She was 
 ' mounted upon a high-saddled ass, such as ladies in Egyi)t 
 usually ride, and very respectably dressed, attended by 
 soldiers, and surrounded by a rabble, who, instead of 
 commiserating, uttered loud imprecations against her. 
 The Kadee, who passed sentence upon her, exhorted her, 
 in vain, to return to her former faith. Her own father 
 was her accuser ! She was taken in a boat into the midst 
 of the river, stripped nearly naked, strangled, and then 
 thrown into the stream. J The Europeans residing in 
 
 * An unmarried person convicted of adultery is likewise obnoxious 
 only to tliis punishment. The two laws mentioned in Leviticus, xx, 13 
 anil 15, have been introduced into the Muslim code ; but, in tlie present 
 day, they are never executed. • 
 
 f In the viUa;res of Ej;ypt, a woman found, or suspected, to have been 
 guilty of this crime, if she be not a common prostitute, often experiences 
 a dillerent fate, which will be described in tlie account of the domestic 
 life and customs of the lower orders. 
 
 1 The conduct of the lower orders in Cairo on this occasion speaks 
 sadly ajjainst tlieir character. A song was composed on the victim of this 
 terrible law, and became very popular in the metropolis.
 
 CRIMINAL LAWS. 149 
 
 Cairo regretted that the Basha was then at Alexandria, 
 as they might have prevailed upon him to pardon her. 
 Once before they interceded with him for a woman who 
 had been condemned for apostacy. The Basha ordered 
 that she should be brought before him : he exhorted her 
 to recant ; but finding her resolute, reproved her for her 
 folly, and sent her home, commanding that no injury 
 should be done to her. 
 
 Still more severe is the law with respect to hlasphemij. 
 The person who utters blasphemy against God, or Mo- 
 hammad, or Christ, or Moses, or any Prophet, is to be 
 put to death without delay , even though he profess himself 
 repentant ; repentance for such a sin being deemed im- 
 possible. Apostacy or infidelity is occasioned by misjudg- 
 ment ; but blasphemy is the result of utter depravity. 
 
 A few words may here be added respecting the sect 
 of the " Wahhabees," also called " Wahabees," which 
 was founded, less than a century ago, by Mohammad 
 Ibn-'Abd-El-Wahhab, a pious and learned sheykh of 
 the province of En-Nejd, in central Arabia. About the 
 middle of the last century, he had the good fortune to 
 convert to his creed a powerful chief of Ed-Dir'eeyeh, 
 the capital of En-Nejd. This chief, Mohammad Ibn- 
 So'ood, became the sovereign of the new sect — their 
 religious and political head — and under him and his suc- 
 cessors the Wahhabee doctrines were spread throughout 
 the greater part of Arabia. He was first succeeded by 
 his son, 'Abd-El-'Azeez ; next by So'ood, the son of the 
 latter, and the greatest of the Wahhabee leaders; and, 
 lastly, by 'Abd-Allah, the son of this So'ood, who, after 
 an arduous warfare with the armies of Mohammad 'Alee, 
 surrendered himself to his victorious enemies, was sent 
 to Egypt, thence to Constantinople, and there beheaded. 
 The wars which Mohammad 'Alee carried on against the 
 Wahhabees had for their chief object the destruction of 
 the political power of the new sect : their religious tenets 
 are still professed by many of the Arabs, and allowed to 
 be orthodox by the most learned of the 'Ulama of Egypt. 
 1'he Wahhabees are merely reformers, who believe all 
 the fundamental points of El-Islam, and all the accessory
 
 150 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 iloctrines of the Kur-an and the Traditions of the 
 rroj)het: in short, their tenets are those of the primitive 
 Muslims. They disapprove of gorgeous sepulchres, and 
 domes erected over tombs : sucli they invariably destroy 
 when in their power. They also condemn, as idolaters, 
 those who pay peculiar veneration to deceased saints ; 
 and even declare all other Muslims to be heretics, for 
 the extravagant respect which they pay to the Prophet. 
 They forbid the wearing of silk, and gold ornaments, 
 and all costly ajiparel ; and also the practice of smoking 
 tobacco. For the want of this last luxury, they console 
 themselves in some degree by an immoderate use of 
 coffee.* There are many learned men among them, and 
 they have collected many valuable books (chiefly his- 
 torical) from various parts of Arabia and from Egypt. 
 
 * Among many other erroneous statements respecting tlie Walilijibees, 
 it lias been asserted that they prohibit the drinking of coflee.
 
 ( 151 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GOVERN ME>'T. 
 
 Egypt has, of late years, experienced great political 
 changes, and nearly ceased to be a province of the Turk- 
 ish Empire. Its present Basha (Mohammad 'Alee), 
 having exterminated the Ghuzz, or Memlooks, who 
 shared the government with his predecessors, has ren- 
 dered himself almost an independent prince. He, how- 
 ever, professes allegiance to the Sultan, and remits the 
 tribute, according to former custom, to Constantinople: 
 he is, moreover, under an obligation to respect the fun- 
 damental laws of the Kur-an and the Traditions ; but he 
 exercises a dominion otherwise unlimited.* He may 
 cause any one of his subjects to be put to death without 
 the formality of a trial, or without assigning any cause : 
 a simple horizontal motion of his hand is suificient to 
 imply the sentence of decapitation. But I must not be 
 understood to insinuate that he is prone to shed blood 
 without any reason : severity is a characteristic of this 
 prince, rather than wanton cruelty ; and boundless am- 
 bition has prompted him to almost every act by which 
 he has attracted either praise or censure. f 
 
 * Though his territory has been greatly lessened since the above was 
 ^^Titten, his power in Egypt remains nearly the same. 
 
 -f The government of tgypr, from the period of the conquest of this 
 country by the Arabs, has been nearly the same as it is at present in its 
 influence upon the manners and customs and character of the inhabit- 
 ants ; and I therefore do not deem an historical retrospect necessary to 
 the illustration of this work. It sliould, however, be mentioned, that 
 the people of Egypt are not now allowed to indulge in that excessive 
 fanatical rudeness with which they formerly treated unbelievers ; and 
 hence European travellers have one great cause for gratitude to Moham- 
 mad 'Alee. Restraint may, at first, increase, but wiU probably, in the 
 course of time, materially diminish, the feeling of fanatical intolerance.
 
 152 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 In the Citadel of the Metropolis is a court of judica- 
 ture, called " ed-Dcevviin cl-Khideewcc,"* where, in 
 the B;isiia's absence, presides his " Kikh}a,"t or deputy, 
 Ilabccb Efendce. In cases which do not fall witiiin the 
 province of the Kiidee, or which are suthciently clear to 
 be decided without referring them to the court of that 
 othcer, or to anotlier council, the president of the Dee- 
 wan el-Kliideewee j)asses judgment. Numerous guard- 
 houses have been established throughout the metropolis, 
 at each of which is stationed a body of Nizdm, or regular 
 trooj)S. The guard is called " Kulluk,"J or, more com- 
 monly, at ])resent, " Karakol."§ Persons accused of 
 thefts, assaults, &c., in Cairo, are given in charge to a 
 soldier of the guard, who takes them to the chief guard- 
 house, in the Mooskee, a street in that part of the town 
 in which most of the Franks reside. The charges being 
 here stated, and committed to writing, he conducts them 
 to the " Zabit," or chief magistrate of the police of the 
 metropolis. The Zabit, having heard the case, sends 
 the accused for trial to the Deewan el-Khideewee.)[ 
 AVhen a i)erson denies the offence with which he is 
 charged, and there is not sufficient evidence to convict 
 him, but some ground of suspicion, he is generally bas- 
 tinadcd, in order to induce him to confess ; and then, if 
 not before, when the crime is not of a nature that renders 
 him obnoxious to a very heavy punishment, he, if guilty, 
 admits it. A thief, after this discipline, generally con- 
 fesses, " The devil seduced me, and I took it." The 
 punishment of the convicts is regulated by a system of 
 arbitrary, but lenient and wise policy : it usually consists 
 in their being compelled to labour, I'or a scanty suste* 
 
 * " Khideewee " is a relative a«ljective formed from the Turkish 
 "Kliideev," wbich .si;.'nifies " a prince.' 
 
 f 'llujs pronounced in Ej,'ypt, but more properly "Kyahya" or 
 *' Ketkhud'a." 
 
 + From the Turkish " Kool-luk." 
 
 ^ Vulfrarly, " Karakon." 
 
 II A very arbitrary power is often exercised in this and similar courts, 
 and the proceedings are conducted with little decorum. Many Turkish 
 ofticers, even of the highest rank, make use of language far too disgust- 
 ing for me to mention, towards persons brought liefore them for judg- 
 ment, and towards those wlio appeal to tliem for justice.
 
 GOVERNMENT. 153 
 
 nance, in some of the public works ; such as the removal 
 of rubbish, digging canals, &c. ; and sometimes the army 
 is recruited with able-bodied young men convicted ot 
 petty offences. In employing malefactors in labours for 
 the improvement of the country, Mohammad 'Alee 
 merits the praises bestowed upon Sabacon, the Ethiopian 
 conqueror and king of Egypt, who is said to have intro- 
 duced this policy. The B;isha is, however, very severe 
 in punishing thefts, &c. committed against himself: — 
 death is the usual penalty in such cases. 
 
 There are several inferior councils for conducting the 
 affairs of different departments of the administration. 
 The principal of these are the following : — 1. The 
 " Meglis el-Meshwar'ah" (the Council of Deliberation) ; 
 also called " Meglis el-Mesh war'ah el-Melekeeyeh" (the 
 Council of Deliberation on the Affairs of the State), to 
 distinguish it from other councils. The members of this 
 and of the other similar councils are chosen by the 
 33asha, for their talents or other qualifications ; and con- 
 sequently his will and interest sway them in all their 
 decisions. They are his instruments, and compose a 
 committee for presiding over the general government of 
 the country, and the commercial and agricultural affairs 
 of the Basha. Petitions, &c., addressed to the Basha, 
 or to his Dee wan, relating to private interests or the 
 affairs of the government, are generally submitted to 
 their consideration and judgment, unless they more pro- 
 perly come under the cognizance of other councils here- 
 after to be mentioned. 2. The " Meglis el-Gihadeeyeh" 
 (the Council of the Army); also called '"Meglis el- 
 Meshwar'ah el-'Askereeyeh" (the Council of Delibera- 
 tion on Military Affairs). The province of this court is 
 sufficiently shown by its name. 3. The Council of the 
 *' Tarskhaneh," or Navy. 4. The " Deewan et-Tug- 
 gar" (or Court of the Merchants). This court, the 
 members of which are merchants of various countries 
 and religions, presided over by the " Shah-bandar" (or 
 chief of the merchants of Cairo), was instituted in con- 
 sequence of the laws of the Kur-an and the Sunneh 
 
 h3
 
 154 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 being found not sufficiently explicit in some cases arising 
 out of modern commercial transactions. 
 
 The '* Ktidee" (or chief judge) of Cairo presides in 
 Egypt only a year, at the expiration of which term, a 
 new Kiidec having arrived from Constantinople, the 
 former returns. It was customary for this otiicer to pro- 
 ceed from Cairo, with the great caravan of pilgrims, to 
 Mekkeh, perform the ceremonies of the i)ilgrimage, and 
 remain one year as Kiidec of the holy city, and one year 
 at El-Medeeneh.* He purchases his place privately of 
 the government, which pays no particular regard to his 
 qualifications ; though he must be a man of some know- 
 lodge, an 'Osmanlee (that is, a Turk), and of the sect 
 of the Hanafees, His tribunal is called the " Mah- 
 kem'eh," or Place of Judgment. Few Kcidees are very 
 well acquainted with the Arabic language ; nor is it 
 necessary for them to have such knowledge. In Cairo 
 the K;iclee has little or nothing to do but to confirm the 
 sentence of his " Ntiib" (or deputy), who hears and 
 decides the more ordinary cases, and whom he chooses 
 from among the 'Ulama of Istambool, or the decision of 
 the " ^Nluftee" (or chief doctor of the law) of his own 
 sect, who constantly resides in Cairo, and gives judgment 
 in all cases of ditiicully. But in general the Niiib is, at 
 the best, but little conversant with the popular dialect of 
 Egypt ; therefore, in Cairo, where the chief jiroportion 
 of the litigants at the Mahkem'eh arc Arabs, the judge 
 must place the utmost confidence in the " Bash Tur- 
 gunian" (or Chief Interpreter), whose place is perma- 
 nent, and who is consequently well acquainted with all 
 the customs of the court, jxirticularly with the system of 
 bribery ; and this knowledge lie is generally very ready 
 to communicate to every new Kadce and Naib. A man 
 may be grossly ignorant of the law, and yet hold the 
 office of Kcidee of Cairo : several instances of this kind 
 
 * He iised to arrive in Cairo in the bc^'inning of Ramatlan ; but the 
 beginning of the first montli, Muharram, has of late been fixed upon, 
 iasteail of the former period.
 
 GOVERXMENT. 155 
 
 have occurred ; but the Xaib must be a lawyer of learn- 
 ing and experience. 
 
 When a person has a suit to prefer at the Mahkem'eh 
 against another individual or party, he goes thither, and 
 applies to the " Bash Rusul " (or chief of the bailiffs or 
 sergeants who execute arrests) for a " Rasool " to arrest 
 the accused. The llasool receives a piaster or two,* 
 and generally gives half of this fee privately to his chief. 
 The plaintiti' and defendant then present themselves in 
 the great hall of the JMahkem'eh ; which is a large 
 saloon, facing a spacious court, and having an open front, 
 formed by a row of columns and arches. Here are 
 seated several officers called " Shahids," whose business 
 is to hear and write the statements of the case to be sub- 
 mitted to judcrment, and who are under the authority of 
 the " Bash Katib" (or Chief Secretary). The plaintitf, 
 addressing any one of the Shahids whom he finds un- 
 occupied, states his case, and the Shahid commits it to 
 writing, and receives a fee of a piaster or more ; after 
 which, if the case be of a trifling nature, and the de- 
 fendant acknowledge the justice of the suit, he (the 
 Shahid) passes sentence ; but otherwise he conducts the 
 two parties before the Ntiib, who holds his court in an 
 inner apartment. The Naib, having heard the case, 
 desires the plaintiff to procure a " fetwa " (or judicial 
 decision) from the Muftee of the sect of the Hanafees, 
 who receives a fee, seldom less than ten piasters, and 
 often more than a hundred or two hundred. This is the 
 course })ursued in all cases but those of a very trifling 
 nature, which are settled with less trouble, and those of 
 great importance or intricacy. A case of tlie latter kind 
 is tried in the private apartment of the Kadee, before 
 the Kadee himself, the Niiib, and the Muftee of the 
 Hanafees, who is summoned to hear it, and to give his 
 decision ; and sometimes, in cases of very great difficulty 
 or moment, several of the 'Ulama of Cairo are, in like 
 manner, summoned. The Muftee hears the case, and 
 
 * Tlie Eg^•ptiaIl piaster is now equivalent to the fil'tk part of a sliilling;, 
 or 2|rf.
 
 15G THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 writes his sentence ; and the Kjldee confirms his Judg- 
 ment, and stanij)s the paper with his seal, which is all 
 that he has to do in any case. The accused may clear 
 himself by his oath, when the plaintiff has not witnesses 
 to produce : placing his right hand on a copy of the 
 Kur-an, which is held out to him, he says, ^ By God, 
 the (ireat!" three times; adding, " By what is con- 
 tained in this of the word of God !" The witnesses 
 must he men of good repute, or asserted to be such, and 
 not interested in the cause : in every case at least two 
 witnesses are requisite * (or one man and two women) ; 
 and each of these must be attested to be a person of 
 probity by two others. An infidel cannot bear witness 
 against a Muslim in a case involving capital or other 
 heavy punishment ; and evidence in favour of a son or 
 grandson, or of a father or grandfather, is not received ; 
 nor is the testimony of slaves ; neither can a master 
 testify in favour of his slave. 
 
 The fees, until lately, used to be paid by the success- 
 ful party ; but now they are paid by the other party. 
 The Kadee's fees for decisions in cases resj)ecting the 
 sale of property are two per cent, on the amount of the 
 property : in cases of legacies, four per cent., excepting 
 when the heir is an orphan not of age, who pays only 
 two per cent. : for decisions respecting property in 
 houses or land, when the cost of the property in question 
 is known, his fees are two per cent. ; but when the cost 
 is not known, one year's rent. These are the legitimate 
 fees; but more than the due amount is often exacted. 
 In cases which do not concern property, the Kiidee's 
 Niiib fixes the amount of the foes. There are also other 
 fees than those of the Kadee to be paid after the de- 
 cision of the case : for instance, if the Kiidee's fees bo 
 two or three hundred piasters, a fee of about two i)iasters 
 must be paid to the IJiish Tiu'gumiin ; about the same to 
 the Bash Rusul ; and one piaster to the Rasool, or to 
 each Rasool employed. 
 
 • Tliis law is borrowed from the Jews. See Deut. xix. 15. — A man 
 may refuse to give his testimony.
 
 GOVER>'ME>T. 1 57 
 
 The rank of a plaintiff or defendant, or a bribe from 
 either, often influences the decision of the judge. In ge- 
 neral the Naib and Muftee take bribes, and the Kadee 
 receives from his Naib. On some occasions, particularly 
 in long litigations, bribes are given by each party, and 
 the decision is awarded in favour of him who pays 
 highest. This frequently happens in difficult law-suits ; 
 and even in cases respecting which the law is perfectly 
 clear, strict justice is not always administered ; bribes 
 and false testimony being employed by one of the par- 
 ties. The shocking extent to which the practices of 
 bribery and suborning false witnesses are carried in 
 Muslim courts of law, and among them in the tribunal of 
 the Kiidee of Cairo, may be scarcely credited on the 
 bare assertion of the fact : some strong proof, resting on 
 indubitable authority, may be demanded ; and here I 
 shall give such proof, in a smnmary of a case which was 
 tried not long since, and which was related to me by the 
 Secretary and Imam of the Sheykh El-Mahdee, who was 
 then supreme Muftee of Cairo (being the chief Muftee 
 of the Hanafees), and to whom this case was referred 
 after judgment in the Kadee's court. 
 
 A Turkish merchant, residing at Cairo, died, leaving 
 property to the amount of six thousand purses,* and no 
 relation to inherit but one daughter. The seyyid 
 Mohammad El-Mahrookee, the Shah-bandar (chief of 
 the merchants of Cairo), hearing of this event, suborned 
 a common fellah, who was the bowwiib (or door-keeper) 
 of a respected sheykh, and whose parents (both of them 
 Arabs) were known to many persons, to assert himself a 
 son of a brother of the deceased. The case was brought 
 before the Kadee, and, as it was one of considerable im- 
 portance, several of the principal 'Ulama of the city were 
 summoned to decide it. They were all bribed or influ- 
 enced by El-Mahrookee, as will presently be shown ; 
 false witnesses were brought forward to swear to the 
 truth of the bowwiib's pretensions, and others to give 
 
 * A purse is the sum of five hundred piasters, and was then equivalent 
 to nearly seven pounds sterling, but is now equal to only ti%-e pounds.
 
 158 THE MODERN' EGYPTIANS. 
 
 ti'stimony to the good character of these witnesses. 
 Tliree thousand jnirses were adjudged to the daughter of 
 the deceased, and the other hall" of the ])roj)erty to the 
 bowwab. El-Mahrookee received tlic sliare of the latter, 
 deducting only three hundred piaftors, which he })re- 
 sented to the bowwub. The chief !Muftee, EI-Mahdee, 
 was absent from Cairo when the case was tried. On his 
 return to the inctro))olis, a lew days after, the daughter 
 of the decciised merchant rei)aircd to his house, stated 
 her case to him, and earnestly solicited redress. The 
 ]Muftee, though convinced of the injustice which she had 
 suffered, and not doubting the truth of what she related 
 respecting the part which El Mahrookce had taken in 
 this aiiiiir, told her that he feared it was impossible for 
 him to annul the judgment, unless there were some in- 
 fornudity in the j)roceedings of the court, but that he 
 would look at the record of the case in the register of the 
 Mahkem'eh. Having done this, he betook himself to the 
 Basha, with whom he was in great favour for his know- 
 ledge and inflexible integrity, and complained to him 
 that the tribunal of the Kadee was disgraced by the ad- 
 ministration of the most flagrant injustice; that false wit- 
 ness was admitted by the 'Ulania, however e\ident and 
 glaring it might be ; and that a judgment which they had 
 given in a late case, during his absence, was the general 
 talk and wonder of the town. The Biisha summoned the 
 Kadee and all the 'Ulama who had tried this case, to 
 meet the Muftee in the Citadel ; and when they had 
 assembled there, addressed them, as from himself, with 
 the Muftee's comj)laint. The Kadee, appearing, like 
 the 'Ulama, highly indignant at this charge, demanded 
 to know upon what it was grounded. The Basha replied 
 that it was a general charge, but particularly grounded 
 on the case in which the court had admitted the claim of 
 a bowwab to a relationshi)) and inheritance which they 
 could not believe to be his right. The Kadee here 
 nrged that he had passed sentence in accordance with the 
 imanimous decision of the 'Ulama then ])rcsent. " Let 
 the record of the case be read," said the Basha. The 
 journal being sent for, this was done ; and when the se-
 
 GOVERNMENT 159 
 
 cretary had finished reading the minutes, the Kddee, in a 
 loud tone of proud authority, said, '* And I judged so." 
 The Muftee, in a louder and more authoritative tone, 
 exclaimed, "And thy judgment is false!" All eyes 
 were fixed in astonishment, now at the Muftee, now at 
 the Biisha, now at the otiier 'Ulama. The Kadee and 
 the 'Ulama rolled their heads and stroked their beards. 
 The former exclaimed, tapping his breast, " I, the 
 Kadee of Misr, pass a false sentence ! " " And we,"" 
 said the 'Ulama, we, Sheykh Mahdee ! we 'Ulama el- 
 Islam, give a false decision!'' " O Sheykh ]Mahdee," 
 said Ei-Mahrookec (who, from his commercial transac- 
 tions with the Basha, could generally obtain a place in 
 his councils), " respect the 'Ulama as they respect 
 thee ! " " O Mahrookee ! " exclaimed the Muftee, " art 
 thou concerned in this afiair ? Declare what part thou 
 hast in it, or else hold thy peace : go, speak in the 
 assemblies of the merchants, but presume not again to 
 open thy mouth in the council of the 'Ulama ! " El- 
 MahrooJfee immediately left the palace, for he saw how 
 the aftair would terminate, and had to make his arrange- 
 ments accordingly. The Muftee was now desired, by 
 the other 'Ulama, to adduce a proof of the invalidity of 
 their decision. Drawing from his bosom a small book on 
 the laws of inheritance, he reac( from it. " To establish a 
 claim to relationship and inheritance, the names of tlie 
 father and mother of the claimant, and those of his ia- 
 ther's father and motlier, and of his mother's father and 
 mother, must be ascertained." The names of the father 
 and mother of the pretended father of the bowwab the 
 false witnesses had not been prepared to give ; and this 
 deficiency in the testimony (which the 'Ulama, in trying 
 the case, purposely overlooked) now caused the sentence 
 to be annulled. The bov.wab was brought before the 
 council, and, denying the imposition of which he had 
 been made the principal instrument, was, by order of the 
 Basha, very severely bastinaded ; but the only confession 
 that could be drawn from him by the torture which lie 
 endured was, that he had received nothing more of the 
 three thousand purses than three hundred piasters.
 
 IGO Tin: MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Meanwhile, El-Muhrookce had re})iired to thebowwab's 
 master : he told the latter what had hajipened at the 
 Citadel, and what he hail foreseen would be the result, 
 put into his hand three thousand purses, and begged him 
 innnediately to go to the couneil, give this sum of money, 
 and say that it had been ])laccd in his hands in trust by 
 his servant. This was done, and the money was paid to 
 the daughter of the deceased. 
 
 In another case, when the Kadce and the council of 
 the 'Ulama were influenced in their decision by a Biisha 
 (not Mohammad 'Alee), and passed a sentence contrary 
 to law, they were tiiwarted in the same manner by EU 
 Mahdee. This Muftee was a rare example of integrity. 
 It is said that he never took a fee for a fetwa. He died 
 shortly after my first visit to this country. — I could men- 
 tion several other glaring cases of bribery in the court of 
 the Kadce of Cairo; but the above is sutiicient. 
 
 There arc five minor jNIahkem'ehs in Cairo ; and like- 
 wise one at its ])rincipal port, Boolak ; and one at its 
 southern port, Masr El-'Atcekah, A Shahid from the 
 great Mahkem'eh presides at each of them, as deputy of 
 the chief Kadee, who confirms their acts. The matters 
 submitted to these minor tribunals are chiefly respecting 
 tlie sales of property, and legacies, marriages, and di- 
 vorces ; lor the Kadee marries female orphans under age 
 -who have no relations of age to act as their guardians ; 
 and wives often have recourse to law to compel their hus- 
 bands to divorce them. In every country-town there is 
 also a Kiidee, generally a native of the place, and never 
 a Turk, who decides all cases, sometimes from his own 
 konwledge of the law, but connnonly on the authority of 
 a Multee. One Kadee generally serves for two or three 
 or more villages. 
 
 Each of the four orthodox sects of tlie Muslims (the 
 Hanafecs, Shafe'ees, Malikccs, and Hambcl'ees) has its 
 '•Sheykh," or religious chief, who is chosen from among 
 the most learned of the body, and resides in the metro- 
 polis. The Sheykh of the great mosque El-Azhar (who 
 is always of the sect of the Shafe'ees, and sometimes 
 Sheykh of that sect), together with the other Sheykhs
 
 GOVERNMENT.' 161 
 
 above mentioned, and the Kadee, the Nakeeb el-Ashrtit' 
 (the chief of the Shereefs, or descendants of the Pro- 
 phet), and several other persons, constitute the council of 
 the 'Ulama* (or learned men), by whom the Turkish 
 Bashas and Memlook chiefs have often been kept in awe, 
 and by whom their tyranny has frequently been re- 
 stricted : but now this learned body has lost almost all 
 its influence over the government. Petty disputes are 
 often, by mutual consent of the parties at variance, sub- 
 mitted to the judgment of one of the four Sheykhs first 
 mentioned, as they are the chief Muftees of their re- 
 spective sects ; and the utmost deference is always paid 
 to them. Difficult and delicate causes, which concera 
 the laws of the Kur-an or the Traditions, are also fre- 
 quently referred by the Basha to these Sheykhs ; but 
 their opinion is not always followed by him : for instance, 
 after consulting them respecting the legality of dissecting 
 human bodies, for the sake of acquiring anatomical know- 
 ledge, and receiving their declaration that it was repug- 
 nant to the laws of the religion, he, nevertheless, has 
 caused it to be practised by Muslim students of anatomy. 
 The police of the metropolis is more under the direc- 
 tion of the military than of the civil power. A few years 
 ago it was under the authority of the " Walee " and the 
 *' Zabit ;" but since my first visit to this country the 
 office of the former has been abolished. He was charged 
 whh the apprehension of thieves and other criminals ; 
 and under his jurisdiction were the public women, of 
 whom he kept a list, and from each of whom he exacted 
 a tax. He also took cognizance of the conduct of the 
 women in general ; and when he found a female to have 
 been guilty of a single act of incontinence, he added her 
 name to the list of the public women, and demanded from 
 her the tax, unless she preferred, or could afford, to 
 escape that ignominy, by giving to him, or to his officers, 
 a considerable bribe. This course was always pursued ^ 
 and is still, by a person who ftirms the tax of the public 
 
 ■ • In the singular " 'A'lim." This title is more particularly given to 
 a professor of jurisprudence. European writers <jenerally use the plural 
 form of this appellation for the singular.
 
 162 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 \vonion,* in the case of unmarried females, antl generally 
 in the case of the married also ; but the latter are some- 
 times privately ])ut to death, if they cannot, by bribery or 
 some other artifice, save themselves. Such proceedings 
 are, however, in two ])oints, contrary to the law, which 
 ordains that a person who accuses a woman of adultery 
 or fornication, without producing four witnesses of the 
 crime, shall be scourged with eighty s1rij)es, and decrees 
 other jnmishments than those of degradation and tribute 
 against women convicted of such oHences. 
 
 Tlie office of the Z:il)it has before been mentioned. 
 He is now the chief of the police. His officers, m ho 
 have no distinguishing mark to render them known as 
 such, are interspersed through the metropolis: they 
 often visit the cotlee-shops, and observe the conduct, and 
 listen to the conversation, of the citizens. Many of them 
 are pardoned thieves. They accompany the military 
 guards in their nightly rounds through the streets of the 
 metropolis. Here, none but the blind are allowed to go 
 out at night later than about an hour and a half after sun- 
 set, without a lantern or a light of some kind. Few per- 
 sons are seen in the streets later than two or three hours 
 after sunset. At the fifth or sixth hour, one might pass 
 through the whole length of the metropolis and scarcely 
 meet more than a dozen or twenty persons, excepting 
 the watchmen and guards, and the porters at the gates of 
 the by-streets and quarters. The sentinel, or guard, 
 calls out to the approaching passenger, in Turkish, 
 "Who is thatV't and is answered, in Arabic, " A 
 citizen."! The private watchman, in the same case, 
 exclaims, "Attest the unity of God!"^S or merely, 
 "Attest the unity !'"|| The reply given to this is, 
 " There is no deity but God !"^ which Christians, as 
 well as Muslims, object not to say ; the former under- 
 
 • Since this was written, tlie public women tlirougliout ligypt liave 
 been compelled to relinquish their licentious profession, 
 f " Keemen dur 6," for "keem dur 6." 
 J " Ibn beled." If blind, he answers " Aama." 
 6 " Wahhed Allaii." 
 
 11 " Wahhed ;" or, to more than one person, " Wahhedoo." 
 <!T "Laiiahailla-llah."
 
 GOVERNMENT. 163 
 
 standing these words in a different sense from the latter. 
 It is supposed that a thief, or a person bound on any 
 unlawful undertaking, would not dare to utter these 
 words. Some persons loudly exclaim, in reply to the 
 summons of the watchman, " There is no deity but God : 
 Mohammad is God's Apostle." The private watchmen 
 are employed to guard, by night, the sooks (or market- 
 streets) and other districts of the town. They carry a 
 nebboot (or long statf ), but no lantern. 
 
 The Zabit, or A'gha of the police, used frequently to 
 go about the metropolis by night, often accompanied 
 only by the executioner and the " shealeg'ee," or bearer 
 of a kind of torch called " shealeh," which is still in 
 use.* This torch burns, soon alter it is lighted, without 
 a flame, excepting when it is waved through the air, 
 when it suddenly blazes forth : it therefore answers the 
 same purpose as our dark lantern. The burning end is 
 sometimes concealed in a small pot or jar, or covered 
 with something else, when not required to give light ; 
 but it is said that thieves often smell it in time to escape 
 meeting the bearer. When a person without a light is 
 met by the police at night, he seldom attempts resistance 
 or flight ; the punishment to which he is liable is beat- 
 ing. The chief of the police had an arbitrary power to 
 put any criminal or offender to death without trial, and 
 when not obnoxious, by law, to capital punishment ; and 
 so also had many inferior officers, as will be seen in sub- 
 sequent pages of this work : but within the last two or 
 three years, instances of the exercise of such power have 
 been very rare, and I believe they would not now be 
 permitted. The officers of the Zabit perform their 
 nightly rounds with the military guards merely as being 
 better acquainted than the latter with the haunts and 
 practices of thieves and other bad characters ; and the 
 Zabit himself scarcely ever exercises any penal authority 
 beyond that of beating or flogging. 
 
 * Baron Hammer-Purgstall is mistaken in substituting " Meshaale- 
 dschi" for " Shealeg'ee." The officer who bears the latter appellation 
 does not carry a meslral, but a twisted torch. The mesh' al is described 
 and figured iii Chapter VI.
 
 1G4 THE MODEEN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Very curious measures, such as we read of in some of 
 the tales of * The Thousand and One Nifrlits,' were often 
 adoj)tcd by the police magistrates of Cairo, to discover 
 an offender, before the late innovations. I may mention 
 an instance. The authenticity of the followinc^ case, 
 and of several others of a similar nature, is well known. 
 I shall relate it in tlie manner in which I have heard it 
 told. A poor man applied one day to the A'gha of the 
 police, and said, " Sir, there came to me to-day a 
 woman, and she said to me, ' Take this " kurs,"* and let 
 it remain in your possession for a time, and lend me five 
 hundred piasters:' and I took it from her. Sir, and gave 
 her the hve hundred piasters, and slie went away : and 
 when she was gone away, I said to myself, * Let me look 
 at this kurs ;' and I looked at it, and behold, it was 
 yellow brass : and 1 slapped my face, and said, ' I will 
 go to the A'gha, and relate my story to him ; ])erhaps 
 he will investigate the affair, and clear it up ;' for there 
 is none that can help me in this matter but thou." The 
 A'gha said to him, " Hear what I tell thee, man. Take 
 whatever is in thy shop ; leave nothing ; and lock it up ; 
 and to-morrow morning go early ; and when thou hast 
 opened the shoj), cry out, ' Alas for my property !' then 
 take in thy hands two clods, and beat thyself w ith them, 
 and cry, ' Alas for the property of others !' and whoever 
 says to thee, * What is the matter with thee?' do thou 
 answer, ' The property of others is lost : a pledge that I 
 had, belonging to a woman, is lost ; if it were ray own, I 
 should not thus lament it ;' and this will clear up the 
 affair." The man promised to do as he was desired. 
 He removed everything from his shop, and early the 
 next morning he went and opened it, and began to cry 
 out, " Alas for the property of others!" and he took 
 two clods, and beat himself with them, and went about 
 every district of the city, crying, " Alas for the pro- 
 perty of others ! a pledge that 1 had, belonging to a 
 woman, is lost; if it were my own, I should not thus 
 lament it." The woman who had given him the kurs in 
 
 * An ornament worn on the crown of the head-dress by women, de- 
 scribed in the Appendix to this work.
 
 GOVEBNMEXT. 165 
 
 pledge heard of this, and discovered that it was the man 
 whom she had cheated ; so she said to herself, " Go and 
 bring an action against him." She went to his sliop, 
 riding on an ass, to give herself consequence, and said to 
 him, " Man, give me my property that is in thy posses- 
 sion." He answered, "It is lost." *' Thy tongue be 
 cut out!" she cried: "dost thou lose my property? 
 By Allah ! I will go to the A'gha, and inform him of it." 
 " Go," said he ; and she went, and told her case. The 
 Agha sent for the man ; and, when he had come, said 
 to his accuser, " What is thy property in his posses- 
 sion '?■' She answered, " A kars of red Venetian gold." 
 " Woman," said the A'gha, " I have a gold kurs here : 
 I should like to show it thee." She said, " Show it me, 
 Sir, for I shall know my kurs." The A'gha then untied 
 a handkerchief, and, taking out of it the kurs which she 
 had given in pledge, said, " Look." She looked at it 
 and knew it, and hung down her head. The A'gha said, 
 " Raise thy head, and say where are the five hundred 
 piasters of this man." She answered, " Sir, they are in 
 my house," The executioner was sent with her to her 
 house, but without his sword ; and the woman, having 
 gone into the house, brought out a purse containing the 
 money, and went back with him. The money was given 
 to the man from whom it had been obtained, and the 
 executioner was then ordered to take the woman to the 
 Rumeyleh (a large open place below the Citadel), and 
 there to behead her ; which he did. 
 
 The markets of Cairo, and the weights and measures, 
 are under the inspection of an officer called the " Moh- 
 tes'ib." lie occasionally rides about the town, preceded 
 by an officer who carries a large pair of scales, and fol- 
 lowed by the executioners and numerous other servants. 
 Passing by shops, or through the markets, he orders 
 each shopkeeper, one after another, or sometimes only 
 one here and there, to produce his scales, weights, and 
 measures, and tries whether they be correct. He also 
 inquires the prices of provisions at the shops where such 
 articles are sold. Often, too, he stops a servant, or other 
 passenger, in the street, whom he may chance to meet
 
 166 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 carrying any article of food that he has just bought, and 
 asks liini for what sum, or at what weight, he ])urchased 
 it. WluMi he finds that a shopkeeper has incorrect 
 scales, weights, or measures, or that he has sold a thing 
 deficient in weight, or above the regular market-price, he 
 punishes him on the spot. The general punisluiient is 
 beating or flogging. Once I saw a man tormented in a 
 diticrent way, for selling bread deficient in weight. A 
 hole was bored through his nose, and a cake of bread, 
 about a s})an wide, and a finger's breadth in thickness, 
 was suspended to it by a ])iece of string. He was 
 stripped naked, with the exce[)tion of having a piece of 
 linen about his loins, and tied, with his arms bound be- 
 hind him, to the bars of a window of a mostjuc called 
 the Ashrafee^'eh, in the main street of the metropolis, 
 his feet resting upon the sill. He remained thus about 
 three hours, exposed to the gaze of the multitude which 
 thronged the street, and to the scorching rays of the 
 sun. 
 
 A person who was appointed Mohtes'ib shortly after 
 my former visit to this country (Mustafa Kashif, a 
 Kurd) exercised his ])0wer in a most brutal manner, 
 clipping men's ears (that is, cutting off' the lobe, or car- 
 lap), not only lor the most trifling transgression, but 
 often for no offence whatever. He once met an old man, 
 driving along several asses laden with water-melons, and, 
 pointing to one of the largest of these fruits, asked its 
 price. The old man put his finger and thumb to his 
 ear-lap, and said, " Cut it, Sir." He was asked again 
 and again, and gave the same answer. The Mohtes'ib, 
 angry, but unable to refrain from laughing, said, " Fel- 
 low, are you mad or deaf?" " No," rej)licd the old 
 man, " I am neither mad nor deaf; but I know that, if 
 I were to say the price of the melon is ten faddahs, you 
 would say, ' Clip his ear;' and if I said Jive faddahs, or 
 one faddah, you would say, ' Clip his ear ;' therefore clip 
 it at once, and let me pass on." His humour saved him. 
 Clipping ears was the usual punishment inflicted by this 
 Mohtes'ib ; but sometimes he tortured in a diflerent 
 manner. A butcher, who had sold some meat wanting
 
 GOVERNMENT. 167 
 
 two ounces of its due weight, he punished by cutting off 
 two ounces of" flesh from his back. A seller of " kunafeh" 
 (a kind of paste resembling vermicelli), having made his 
 customers pay a trifle more than was just, he caused him 
 to be stripped, and seated upon the round copper tray on 
 which the kumifeh was baked, and kept so until he was 
 dreadfully burnt. He generally punished dishonest 
 butchers by putting a hook through their nose, and hang- 
 ing a piece of meat to it. Meeting, one day, a man car- 
 rying a large crate full of earthen water-bottles from 
 Semennood, which he oftered for sale as made at Kine, 
 he caused his attendants to break each bottle separately 
 against the vender's head. Mustafa Kashif also exer- 
 cised his tyranny in other cases than those which pro- 
 ])erly fell under his jurisdiction. He once took a fancy 
 to send one of his horses to a bath, and desired the 
 keeper of a bath in his neighbourhood to prepare for re- 
 ceiving it, and to wa?h it well, and make its coat very 
 smooth. The bath-keeper, annoyed at so extraordinary 
 a command, ventured to suggest that, as the pavements 
 of the bath were of marble, the horse might slip, and 
 fall ; and also, that it might take cold on going out ; and 
 that it would therefore be better for him to convey to 
 the stable the contents of the cistern of the bath in 
 buckets, and there to perform the operation. Mustafa 
 Kashif said, " I see how it is ; you do not like that my 
 horse should go into your bath." He desired some of 
 his servants to throw him down, and beat him with 
 staves until he should tell them to stop. They did so ; 
 and beat the poor man till he died. 
 
 A few years ago there used to be carried before the 
 Mohtes'ib, when going his rounds to examine the weights 
 and measures, &c., a pair of scales larger than that used 
 at present. Its beam, it is said, was a hollow tube, con- 
 taining some quicksilver, by means of which the bearer, 
 knowing those persons who had bribed his master, and 
 those who had not, easily made either scale prepon- 
 derate. 
 
 As the Mohtes'ib is the overseer of the public mar-
 
 168 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 kets, so there are officers who have a siniihir charge in 
 siiperintemlinjr each branch of the Busha's trade and ma- 
 nufactures ; and some of these persons have been known 
 to peri)etrate most abominable acts of tyraruiy and cruelty. 
 One of this class, who was named 'Alee liey, " Niizir 
 el-K.um:ish " (or Overseer of the Linen), when he found 
 a person in jiosscssion of a private loom, or sellings the 
 })roduce of such a loom, generally bound him up in a 
 piece of his linen, soaked in oil and tar; then suspended 
 him, thus enveloped, to a branch of a tree, and sot light 
 to the wra))per. After having destroyed a number of 
 men in this horrible manner, he was himself, among 
 many others, burnt to death by the explosion of a 
 powder-magazine on the northern slope of the Citadel of 
 Cairo in 18-24, the year before my first arrival in Egypt. 
 A friend of mine, who spoke to me of the atrocities of 
 this monster, added, " When his corpse was taken to be 
 buried, the Sheykh El-'Aroosec (who was Sheykh of 
 the great mosque El-Azhar) recited the iimeral prayers 
 over it in the mosque of the Hasancyn ; and I acted as 
 " muballigh " (to repeat the words of the Imam) : when 
 the Sheykh uttered the words, ' Give your testimony re- 
 si)ecting him,' and when I had repeated them, no one of 
 all the persons present, and they were many, presumed 
 to give the answer, ' He was of the virtuous:' all were 
 silent. To make the circumstance more glaring, I said 
 again, ' Give your testimony respecting him ;' but not an 
 answer was heard : and the Sheykh, in confusion, said, 
 but in a very low voice, ' May God have mercy upon 
 him.' Now we may certainly say of this cursed man," 
 continued my friend, " that he is gone to hell: yet his 
 wife is constantly having ' khatmchs ' (recitations of the 
 Kur-iin) performed in her house for him ; and lights two 
 wax candles for his sake every evening at the niche of 
 the mosque of the Ilasaneyn." 
 
 Ever}' quarter in the metropolis has its sheykh, called 
 " Sheykh el-Harah," whose influence is exerted to main- 
 tain order, to settle any trifling disputes among the inha- 
 bitants, and to expel those who disturb the peace of
 
 GOVERNMENT. 1 Oy 
 
 their neighbours. The whole of the metropolis is also 
 divided into eight districts, over each of which is a 
 sheykh, called " Sheykh et-Tnmn." 
 
 The members of various trades and manufactures in 
 the metropolis and other large towns have also their re- 
 spective sheykhs, to whom all disputes respecting- mat- 
 ters connected with those trades or crafts are submitted 
 for arbitration ; and whose sanction is required for the 
 admission of new members. 
 
 The servants in the metropolis are likewise under the 
 authority of particular sheykhs. Any person in want of 
 a servant may procure one by applying to one of these 
 officers, who, for a small fee (two or three piasters) be- 
 comes responsible for the conduct of the man whom he 
 recommends. Should a servant so engaged rob his 
 master, the latter gives information to the sheykh, who, 
 whether he can recover the stolen property or not, must 
 indemnify the master. 
 
 Even the common thieves used not many years since 
 to respect a su])erior, who was called their sheykh. He 
 was often required to search for stolen goods, and to 
 bring offenders to justice ; which he generally accom- 
 plished. It is very remarkable that the same strange 
 system prevailed among the tHicient Egyptians.* 
 
 The Coptic Patriarch, who is the head of his church, 
 jjidges petty causes among his people in the metropolis ; 
 and the inferior clergy do the same in other places ; 
 but an appeal may be made to the Kadee. A Muslim 
 aggrieved by a Copt may demand justice from the 
 Patriarch or the Kadee : a Copt who seeks redress from 
 a Muslim must apply to the Kadee. The Jews are 
 similarly circumstanced. The Franks, or Europeans in 
 general, are not answerable to any other authority than 
 that of their respective consuls, excepting when they are 
 aggressors against a Muslim ; they are then surrendered 
 to the Turkish authorities, who, on the other hand, will 
 render justice to the Frank who is aggrieved by a 
 Muslim. 
 
 The inhabitants of the country-towns and villages are 
 
 * See Diodorus Siculus, lib, i. cap. 80.
 
 170 TIIK MODKRN KGVPTIAXS. 
 
 under the government of" Turkish officers and of their 
 own countrymen. The whole of Egypt is divided into 
 several large provinces, each of which is governed by an 
 'Osniilnlee (or a Turk) ; and these provinces are sub- 
 divided into districts, which arc governed by native 
 officers, with the titles of " Manioor and Niizir." Every 
 village, as well as town, has also its Shcykh, called 
 " Shcykh el-Belcd ;" who is one of the native Muslim 
 inhabitants. All the officers above mentioned, except- 
 ing the last, were formerly Turks ; and there were other 
 'J'urkish governors of small districts, who were called 
 " Kiishifs," and " K;iim-makams :" the change was 
 made very shortly i)efore my present visit to this 
 country ; and the Fellaheen coni])lain that their condi- 
 tion is worse than it was before ; but it is generally from 
 the tyranny of their great Turkish governors that they 
 sutier most severely. 
 
 The following case will convey some idea of the con- 
 dition of Egyi)tian peasants in some ])rovinces. A Turk,* 
 infamous for many barbarous acts, j)residing at the town 
 of Tanta, in the Delta, went one night to the govern- 
 ment-granary of that town, and finding two ])easants 
 sleeping there, asked them who they were, and what 
 was their business in that ])lace. One of them said that 
 he had brought 130 ardcbbs of corn from a \illage of the 
 district ; and the other, that he had brought GO ardebbs 
 from the land belonging to the town. " You rascal !" 
 said the governor to the latter ; "this man brings 130 
 ardebbs from the lands of a small village ; and you, but 
 60 from the lands of the town," " This man," answered 
 the peasant of Tanta, "brings corn but once a week; 
 and I am now bringing it every day." " Be silent !" 
 said the governor ; and, pointing to a neighbouring tree, 
 he ordered one of the servants of the granary to hang 
 the peasant to one of its branches. The order was 
 obeved, and the governor returned to his house. The 
 next morning he went again to the granary, and saw a 
 man bringing in a large quantity of corn. He asked 
 w ho he was, and w hat quantity he had brought ; and 
 
 * Suleymun A'gha, tlie Silal dar : he has died since tliis wa.s written.
 
 GOVER.NMENT, 171 
 
 was answered, by the hangman of the preceding night, 
 " This is the man, Sir, whom I hanged by your orders, 
 last night ; and he has brought IGOardebbs." " What I" 
 exclaimed the governor : " has he risen from the dead ?" 
 He was answered " Xo, Sir ; I hanged him so that his 
 toes touched the ground ; and when you were gone, I 
 untied the rope ; you did not order me to kill him." 
 The Turk muttered, " Aha 1 hanging and killing are 
 different things : Arabic is copious ; next time I will 
 say kill. Take care of Aboo-Da-ood.'"* This is his 
 nick-name. 
 
 Another occurrence may here be aptly related, as a 
 fiu'ther illustration of the nature of the government to 
 M-hich the people of Egypt are subjected. A fellah, 
 who was appointed Niizir (or governor) of the district 
 of El-Manoofeeyeh (the southernmost district of the 
 Delta), a short time before my present visit to Egypt, 
 in collecting the taxes at a village, demanded, of a poor 
 peasant, the sum of sixty riyiils (ninety faddahs each, 
 making a sum total of a hundred and thirty-five piasters, 
 which was then equivalent to about thirty shillings). 
 The poor man urged that he possessed nothing but a 
 cow, which barely afforded sustenance to himself and his 
 family. Instead of pm'suing the method usually fol- 
 lowed when a fellah declares himself unable to pay the 
 tax demanded of him, which is to give him a severe 
 bastinading. the Nazir, in this case, sent the Sheykh-el- 
 Beled to bring the poor peasant's cow, and desired some 
 of the fellaheen to buy it. They saying that they had 
 not sufficient money, he sent for a butcher, and desired 
 him to kill the cow ; which was done : he then told him 
 to divide it into sixty pieces. Tiie butcher asked for 
 his pay ; and was given the head of the cow. Sixty 
 fellaheen were then called together ; and each of them 
 was compelled to purchase, for a riyal, a piece of the 
 cow. The owner of the cow went, weeping and com- 
 
 * Aboo Da-ood, Aboo-'Alee, &c., are patronymics, used by the 
 Egytian peasants in general, not as signifying " Father of Da-ood," 
 
 " F'ather of 'Alee," &c., but " whose father is (^or was) Da-ood," " 
 
 'Alee," ike. 
 
 I 2
 
 172 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 ])lainintr, to the Nslzir's superior, the late Mohammad 
 Hev, Def'tardiir. " () my master," said he, " I am 
 oppressed and in misery : I had no property but one 
 cow, a milch cow : I and my family lived ujjon her 
 milk ; and she ploufrhed for me, and threshed my corn ; 
 and my whole subsistence was derived from her: the 
 Niizir has taken her, and killed her, and cut her up into 
 sixty pieces, and sold the pieces to my neighbours ; to 
 each a piece, for one riy.'il ; so that he obtained but 
 sixty riyiils for the whole, while the value of the cow- 
 was a hundred and twenty riyals, or more. I am op- 
 pressed and in misery, and a stranirer in the place, for I 
 came from another villasfe: but the Nilzir had no pity 
 on me. I and my family are become beg-g-ars, and have 
 nothing left. Have mercy upon me, and give me 
 justice : I implore it by thy hareem." The Deftardilr 
 having caused the Nazir to be brought before him, 
 asked him, " Where is the cow of this fellah ?" *' I 
 have sold it," said the Niizir. "For how much?" 
 ** For sixty riyals." " Why did you kill it and sell it ?" 
 *' He owed sixty riyals for land : so I took his cow, and 
 killed it, and sold it lor the amount." " Where is the 
 butcher that killed it ?" " In Manoof." The butcher 
 was sent for, and bronght. The Doftardiir said to him, 
 "Why did you kill this man's cow V" "The Niizir 
 desired me," he answered, " and I could not oppose 
 him : if I had attempted to do so, he would have beaten 
 me, and destroyed my house : I killed it ; and the 
 Nazir gave me the head as my reward." " Man," said 
 the Deftardiir, " do you know the persons who bought 
 the meat?" The butcher replied that he did. The 
 Deftardiir then desired his secretary to write the names 
 of the sixty men, and an order to the shcykh of their 
 village to bring them to Manoof. where this complaint 
 was made. The Niizir and butcher were placed in con- 
 finement till the next morning; when the sheykh of the 
 village came, with the sixty fellaheen. The two pri- 
 soners were then brought again before the Deftardar, 
 who said to the shoykh and the sixty peasants, " Was 
 the value of this man's cow sixty riyals?" "O our
 
 GOVERNMENT. 173 
 
 master," they answered, " her value was greater." 
 The Deftardar sent for the Kadee of Manoof, and said 
 to him, "O Kcldee, here is a man oppressed by this 
 Nazir, who has taken his cow, and killed it ; and sold 
 its flesh for sixty riyals. What is thy judgment V 
 The Kadee replied, " He is a cruel tyrant, who op- 
 presses every one under his authority. Is not a cow 
 worth a hundred and twenty riyals, or more ? and he 
 has sold this one for sixty riyals : this is tyranny towards 
 the owner." The Deftardar then said to some of his 
 soldiers, '' Take the Nazir, and strip him, and bind 
 him." This done, he said to the butcher, " Butcher, 
 dost thou not fear God '? Thou hast killed the cow un- 
 justly." The butcher again urged that he was obliged 
 to obey the Nazir. "Then," said the Deftardar, "if 
 I order thee to do a thing wilt thou do it?" " I will 
 do it," answered the butcher. " Slaughter the Nazir," 
 said the Deftardar. Immediately several of the soldiers 
 present seized the Nazir, and threw him down ; and the 
 butcher cut his throat, in the regular orthodox manner 
 of killing animals for food. " Now, cut him up," said 
 the Deftai-dar, "into sixty pieces." This was done: 
 the people concerned in the affair, and many others, 
 looking on ; but none daring to speak. The sixty 
 peasanl:s who had bought the meat of the cow were then 
 called forward, one after another, and each was made to 
 take a piece of the flesh of the Nazir, and to pay for it 
 two riyals ; so that a hundred and twenty riyals were 
 obtained from them. They were then dismissed ; but 
 the butcher remained. The Kadee was asked what 
 should be the reward of the butcher ; and answered that 
 he should be paid as he had been paid by the Nazir. 
 The Deftardar therefore ordered that the head of the 
 Nazir should be given to him ; and the butcher went 
 away with his worse than valueless burden, thanking God 
 that he had not been more unfortunate, and scarcely 
 believing himself to have so easily escaped until he 
 arrived at his village. The money paid for the flesh of 
 the Nazir was griven to the owner of the cow.
 
 174 Tin; modern Egyptians. 
 
 Most of tlie governors of provinces and districts carry 
 their oppression far beyond the limits to which they are 
 authorized to proceed by the Biisha ; and even the 
 shevkh of a village, in executing the commands of his 
 superiors, abuses his lawful power : bribes, and the ties 
 of relationship and marriage, influence him and them, 
 and by lessening the oppression of some, who are more 
 able to bear it, greatly increase that of others, But the 
 othce of a sheykh of a village is far from being a sine- 
 cure : at the i)eriod when the taxes are demanded of 
 him, he frequently receives a more severe bastinading 
 than any of his inferiors ; for when the population of a 
 village does not yield the sum required, their sheykh is 
 often beaten for their defaelt : and not always does he 
 ])roduce his own proportion until he has been well 
 thrashed. All the fellaheen are proud of the stripes 
 they receive for withholding their contributions ; and 
 are often heard to boast of the number of blows which 
 were inflicted ujjon them before they would give up 
 their money. Ammianus Marcellinus gives precisely the 
 same character to the Egyptians of his time.* 
 
 The revenue of the Basha of Egypt is generally said 
 to amount to about three millions of pounds sterling. f 
 Nearly half arises from the direct taxes on land, and 
 from indirect exactions from the fellaheen : the re- 
 mainder, princi))ally Irom the custom-taxes, the tax on 
 l)alm-trees, a kind of income-tax, and the sale of various 
 jjroductions of the land ; by which sale, the government, 
 in most instances, obtains a profit of more than fifty per 
 cent. 
 
 The ))resent Basha has increased his revenue to this 
 amount by most oppressive measures. He has dispos- 
 sessi'il of their lands almost all the private ])roprietors 
 throughout Egypt, allotting to each, as a partial com- 
 ])cnsation, a pension lor life, proportioned to the extent 
 
 * Lib. xxii. The more easily tlie peasant pays, the more is he made 
 to pav. 
 
 ■f Some estimate is at Jlre millions ; others, at little more than two 
 millions.
 
 GOVERNMENT. 175 
 
 and quality of the land which belonged to him. The 
 farmer has, therefore, nothing to leave to his children 
 Ijut his hut, and perhaps a few cattle and some small 
 savings. 
 
 The direct taxes on land are proportioned to the na- 
 tural advantages of the soil. Their average amount is 
 about Ss. per feddan, which is nearly equal to an Eng- 
 lish acre.* But the cultivator can never calculate ex- 
 actly the full amount of what the government will require 
 of him: he suffers from indirect exactions of quantities 
 (differing in different years, but always levied per fed- 
 dan) of butter, honey, wax, wool, baskets of palm-leaves, 
 ropes of the fibres of the palm-tree, and other commodi- 
 ties : he is also obliged to pay the hire of the camels 
 which convey his grain to the government shooneh (or 
 granarv), and to defray various other expenses. A por- 
 tion of the produce of his land is taken by the govern- 
 ment,t and sometimes the whole produce, at a fixed and 
 fair price, which, however, in many parts of Egypt, is 
 retained to make up for the debts of the insolvent pea- 
 sants. :|: The fellah, to suj)ply the bare necessaries of 
 life, is often obliged to steal, and convey secretly to his 
 hut, as much as he can of tlie produce of his land. He 
 may either himself supply the seed for his land, or obtain 
 it as a loan from the government : but in the latter case 
 he seldom obtains a sufficient quantity ; a considerable 
 portion being generally stolen by the peisons through 
 whose hands it passes before he receives it. To relate 
 all the opjjressions which the peasantry of Egypt endure 
 from the dishonesty of the !Ma-moors and inferior officers 
 would require too much space in the present work. It 
 would be scarcely possible for them to suffer more, and 
 live. It may be hardly necessary, therefore, to add, 
 
 * The feddan has lately been reduced : it was equal to about an Eng- 
 lish acre and one-tenth' a few years ago, and somewhat more at an 
 earlier period. 
 
 f Of some productions, as cotton, flax, &c., the government always 
 takes the whole. 
 
 + Even tlie debts of the peasantry of one village are often imposed 
 upon the inhabitants of another who have paid all that is justly due 
 from them.
 
 17G TIIK MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 (liat few of tlioni CMigago, with assuidity, in tho labours 
 of apricultiiro, unless compelled to do so by their su- 
 periors. 
 
 The Basha has not only taken j)ossession of the lands 
 of the ])rivatc ])roprietors, but he has also thrown into 
 his treasury a considerable ])roj)ortion of the incomes of 
 relijiious and charitable institutions, deeming their ac- 
 cunudated wealth superfluous. He first imposed a tax 
 (of nearh^ half the amount of the regular land-tax) upon 
 all land which had become a" wakf" (or legacy un- 
 alienable by law) to any mosque, fountain, ])ublic school, 
 &c. : and afterwards took absolute possession of such 
 lands, granting certain amiuities in lieu of them, for 
 keeping in rej air the respective buildings, and for the 
 maintenance of tliose persons attached to them, as Nazirs 
 (or wardens), religious ministers, inferior servants, stu- 
 dents, and other pensioners, lie has thus rendered 
 himself extremely odious to most i)ersons of the religious 
 and learned j)rofessions, and es])ecially to the Nazirs of 
 the moscpies, who too generally enriched themselves 
 from the funds intrusted to their care, which were, in 
 most cases, superabundant. The household jjroperty of 
 the ntosques and other public institutions (the wakfs of 
 numerous individuals of various ranks) the Basha has 
 hitherto left inviolate. 
 
 The tax upon the i)alm-trees has been calculated to 
 amount to about a hundred thousand pounds sterling. 
 The trees are rated according to their qualities; ge- 
 nerally at a piaster and a half each. 
 
 The income-tax, which is called " firdeh," is gene- 
 rally a twelfth or more of a man's annual income or 
 salary, when that can be ascertained. The maximum, 
 however, is fixed at five hundred piasters. In the large 
 towns it is levied uj)on individuals ; in the villages, upon 
 houses. The income-tax of all the inhabitants of the 
 metropolis amounts to eight thousand purses, or about 
 forty thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 The inhabitants of the metropolis and of other largo 
 towns pay a heavy tax on grain, &c. The tax on each
 
 G0VERN3IENT. 177 
 
 kind of grain is eighteen piasters per ardebb (or about 
 five bushels) ; which sum is equal to the price of wheat 
 in the country after a good harvest.* 
 
 * The above account of the government of Egypt, having been wTitten 
 in the years 1834 and 1835, is not altogether correct with respect to the 
 present time. Great changes are now being made in various depart- 
 ments ; and as the Bdsha has no longer to maintain an enormous mili- 
 tary and naval force, he will be able to ameliorate very considerably the 
 condition of the people whom he governs. Most of the evils of which 
 the people of Egypt have hitherto had to complain have arisen from the 
 vast expense incurred in war, from the conscription, and from the dis- 
 honestv of almost all the Basha's civil officers. 
 
 i3
 
 ( 1-8 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 
 
 Having sufficiently considered the foundations of the 
 moral and social state of the Muslims of Egypt, we may 
 now take a view of their domestic life and ordinary 
 habits ; and, first, let us confine our attention to the 
 higher and middle orders. 
 
 A master of a iamily, or any person who has arrived 
 at manhood, and is not in a menial situation, or of very 
 low condition, is commoidy honoured with the appella- 
 tion of " the sheykh," prefixed to his name. The word 
 " sheykh " literally signifies " an elder," or " an aged 
 person ;" but it is often used as synonymous with our 
 aj)pellation of " Mister;" though more particularly ap- 
 plied to a learned man, or a reputed saint. A " shereef," 
 or descendant of the Prophet, is called " the seyd," or 
 " the seyyid " (master, or lord), whatever be his sta- 
 tion. Many shereefs are enn)loyed in the lowest offices : 
 there are servants, dustmen, and beggars, of the honoured 
 race of Mohammad ; but all of them arc entitled to the 
 distinctive appellation above mentioned, and privileged 
 to wear the green turban ;* many of them, however, not 
 only among those of humble station, but also among the 
 wealthy, and particularly the learned, assume neither of 
 these prerogatives; preferring the title of "sheykh," 
 and the white turban. A man who has i)erformcd the pil- 
 grimage is generally called " the hagg;"t and a woman 
 
 * Men and women of this race often contract marriafjos with persons 
 who are not members of the sjime ; and as the title of shereef is inhe- 
 rited from either of the parents, the number of persons who enjoy this 
 distinction has become very considerable. 
 
 f This word is thus pronounced by the inhabitants of Cairo and tlie 
 greater part of Egypt ; but in most other countries where Arabic is 
 spoken, " hajj." The Turks and Persians use, instead of it, the synony- 
 mous Arabic word " liajjee."
 
 DOiMESTIC LirE. 179 
 
 uho has alike distinguished herself, " the hdggeh :" yet 
 there are many pilgrims who, like those shereefs just 
 before alluded to, prefer the title of- sheykh."' The 
 general appellation of a lady is " the sitt," which sig- 
 nifies '• the mistress," or '' the lady." 
 
 Before I describe the ordinary habits of the master of 
 a family, I must mention the various classes of persons of 
 whom the family may consist. The hareem, or the 
 females of the house, have distinct a])artments allotted 
 to them ; and into these apartments (which, as well as 
 the persons to whom they are ai)})ropriated, are called 
 " the hareem") no males are allowed to enter, excepting 
 the master of the family, and certain other near relations, 
 and children. The hareem may consist, first, of a wife, 
 or wives (to the number of four) ; secondly, of female 
 slaves, some of whom, namely, white and Abyssinian 
 slaves, are generally concubines, and others (the black 
 slaves) kept merely for servile offices, as cooking, wait- 
 ing upon the ladies, &c. ; thirdly, of female free ser- 
 vants, who are, in no case, concubines, or not legiti- 
 mately so. The male dependants may consist of white 
 and of black slaves, and free servants ; but are mostly of 
 the last-mentioned class. Very few of the Egyptians 
 avail themselves of the licence, which their religion 
 allows them, of having four wives ; and still smaller is 
 the number of those who have two or more wives, and 
 concubines besides. Even most of those men who have 
 but one wife are content, for the sake of domestic peace, 
 if for no other reason, to remain without a concubine 
 slave : but some prefer the possession of an Abyssinian 
 slave to the more expensive maintenance of a wile ; and 
 keep a black slave-girl, or an Egyi)tian female servant, 
 to wait upon her, to clean and keej) in order the apart- 
 ments of the hareem, and to cook. It is seldom that two 
 or more wives are kept in the same house: if they be, 
 they generally have distinct apartments. Of male ser- 
 vants, the master of a family keeps, if he can attbrd to 
 do so, one or more to wait u])on him and his male guests ; 
 another, who is called a '• sakka," or water-carrier, but 
 w ho is particularly a servant of the hareem, and attends
 
 180 Tin: MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 the ladies when they go out;* a'' bowwub," or door- 
 keej)er, who constantly sits at the door of the house ; 
 and a " sais," or groom, for the horse, mule, or ass. 
 Few of the Egyptians have " mendooks,"or male white 
 slaves : most of these being in the jjossession of rich 
 'Osmanlees (or Turks) ; and scarcely any but Turks of 
 high rank keep eunuchs: but a wealthy Egyptian mer- 
 chant is proud of having a black slave to ride or walk 
 behind him, and to carry his pi|)e. 
 
 The Egyptian is a very early riser ; as he retires to 
 sleep at an early hour ; it is his duty to be up and 
 dressed before daybreak, when he should say the morn- 
 ing-prayers. In general, while the master of a family 
 is performing the religious ablution, and saying his 
 prayers, his wife or slave is preparing for him a cup of 
 coffee, and filling his pipe, which she presents to him as 
 soon as he has acquitted himself of his religious duties. 
 
 Many of the Egyptians take nothing before noon but 
 the cup of coffee and the j)ipe : others take a light meal 
 at an early hour. The meal of breakfast (" el-fatoor ") 
 generally consists of bread, with eggs, butter, cheese, 
 clouted cream, or curdled milk, kc. ; or of a " fateereli," 
 which is a kind of i)astry, saturated with butter, made 
 very thin, and folded over and over like a nai)kin : it is 
 eaten alone, or with a little honey poured over it, or 
 sugar. A very common dish for breakfast is " fool 
 mudemmes," or beans, similar to our horse-beans, slowly 
 boiled, during a whole night, in an earthen vessel, buried, 
 all but the neck, in the hot ashes of an oven or a bath, and 
 having the mouth closely stopped : they are eaten with 
 linseed-oil, or butter, and generally with a little lime-juice; 
 thus prepared, they are sold in the morning in the sooks 
 (or markets) of Cairo and other towns. A meal is often 
 made (by those who cannot afford luxuries) of bread and 
 a mixture called " dukkah," which is connnonly com- 
 posed of salt and pepper, with " zaatar" (or wild mar- 
 joram) or mint or cumin-seed, and with one, or more, 
 or all, of the following ingredients, namely, coriander- 
 
 * Unless there be a eunuch. The sakka is generally the chief of the 
 
 servants.
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 181 
 
 seed, cinnamon, sesame, and " hommus '' (or chick- 
 peas) : eacii mouthful of bread is dipped in this mix- 
 ture. The bread is always made in the form of a round 
 flat cake, generally about a span in width, and a finger's 
 breadth in thickness. 
 
 The ])ipe and the cup of coffee are enjoyed by 
 almost all persons who can aftbrd such luxuries, very 
 early in the morning, and oftentimes during the day. 
 There are many men who are scarcely ever seen w ithoiit 
 a pipe either in their hand or carried behind them by a 
 servant. The smoker keeps his tobacco for daily use 
 in a purse or bag made of shawl-stuff, or silk, or velvet, 
 which is often accompanied with a small pouch contain- 
 ing a flint and steel, anfl some agaric tinder, and is usually 
 crammed into his bosom. 
 
 The pipe (which is called by many names, as '• shi- 
 buk,"* '' 'ood, &c.) is generally between four and five 
 feet long : some pipes are shorter, and some are of greater 
 length, The most common kind used in Egypt is made 
 of a kind of wood called " garmash'ak."t The greater 
 part of the stick (from the mouth-piece to about three- 
 quarters of its length) is covered with silk, which is con- 
 fined at each extremity by gold thread, otten intertwined 
 with coloured silks, or by a tube of gilt silver ; and at the 
 lower extremity of the covering is a tassel of silk. The co- 
 vering was originally designed to be moistened with water, 
 in order to cool the pipe, and, consequently, the smoke, 
 by evaporation : but this is only done when the pipe is 
 old, or not handsome. Cherry-stick pipes, which are 
 never covered, are also used by many persons, particu- 
 larly in the winter. In summer, the smoke is not so cool 
 from the cherry-stick pipe as from the kind before men- 
 tioned. The bowl J is of baked earth, coloured red or 
 brown. ^ The mouth-piece || is composed of two or more 
 pieces of opaque, light-coloured amber, interjoined by 
 ornaments of enamelled gold, agate, jasper, carnelion, or 
 
 * From the Turkish " chibook." -J- I believe it is maple. 
 
 + " Hagar." 
 
 9 To preserve the matting or carpet from injury, a small brass tray is 
 often placed beneath the bowl ; and a small tray of wood is made use of 
 to receive the ashes of the tobacco. 
 II " Fum," or " tarkeebeh."
 
 Pipes.
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE, 183 
 
 some other precious substance. It is the most costly part 
 of the pipe : the price of one of the kind most generally 
 used by persons of the middle order is from about one to 
 three pounds sterling. A wooden tube passes through it. 
 This is often changed, as it soon becomes foul from the 
 oil of the tobacco. The pipe also requires to be cleaned 
 very often, which is done with tow, by means of a long 
 wire. Many poor men in Cairo gain their livelihood by 
 going about to clean pipes. 
 
 The tobacco smoked by persons of the higher orders, 
 and some others, in Egypt, is of a very mild and delicious 
 flavour. It is mostly from the neighbourhood of El- 
 Ladikeeyeh, in Syria. The best kind is the " mountain to- 
 bacco," * grown on the hills about that town. A stronger 
 kind, which takes its name from the town of Soor,t some- 
 times mixed with the former, is used by most persons of 
 the middle orders. In smoking, the people of Egypt and 
 of other countries of the East draw in their breath freely ; 
 so that much of the smoke descends into the lungs ; and 
 the terms which they use to express " smoking tobacco " 
 signify " drinking smoke," or ^'■drinking tobacco :" for the 
 same word signifies both " smoke " and " tobacco." Few 
 of them spit while smoking : I have very seldom seen any 
 do so. 
 
 Some of the Egyptians use the Persian pipe, in w hich 
 the smoke passes through water. The pipe of this kind 
 most commonly used by persons of the higher classes is 
 called " nargeeleh," because the vessel that contains the 
 water is a cocoa-nut, of which " nargeeleh'' is an Arabic 
 name. Another kind, which has a glass vase, is called 
 " sheesheh.":j: Each has a very long, flexible tube. A 
 particular kind of tobacco, called " tumbak," from Persia, 
 is used in the water-pipe : it is first washed several times, 
 and put into the pipe-bowl while damp ; and two or three 
 pieces of live charcoal are placed on the top. Its flavour 
 is mild, and very agreeable ; but the strong inhalation 
 necessary in this mode of smoking is injurious to persons 
 
 Dukhkhan sebelee." f " Dukhkhan Sooree. 
 
 + A Persian word, signifying "glass."
 
 184 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 oi' delicate lungs.* In usinc the Persian i)ii)e, the person 
 as I'recly draws the smoke into his lungs as he would in- 
 hale })ure air. The great prevalence of liver-complaints 
 in Arabia is attributed to the general use of" the nargee- 
 leh ; and many persons in Egypt sutler severely from the 
 same cause. A kind of pij)e connnonly called " gozeh," 
 which is similar to tlie nargeeleh, excepting that it has a 
 short cane tube, instead of the snake (or flexible one), and 
 no stand, is used by men of the lowest class, lor smoking 
 both the tumbak and the intoxicating " hasheesh," or 
 hemp. 
 
 The coffee (" kahweh " f) is made very strong, and 
 without sugar or milk. The coH'ee-cup (which is called 
 " fingan ") is small ; generally holding not cpiite an ounce 
 and a half of liquid. It is of porcelain, or Dutch-ware, 
 and, being without a handle, is placed within another cup 
 (called ''zarf "), of silver or brass, according to the circum- 
 
 Coffee-scrvice. 
 
 Stances of the owner, and both in shape and size nearly 
 
 * It is, however, often reoominended in the case of a cough. One of 
 mv friends, the most celebrated of the poets of Cairo, who is much 
 troubled by asthma, uses the nargeeleh almost incessantly from morning 
 
 f This is the name of the beverage ; the berries (whetlier whole or 
 pounded) are called " bunn."
 
 DOMESTIC LIFK. 185 
 
 resembling our egg-cup.* In preparing the coffee, the 
 water is first made to boil : the coffee (freshly roasted, 
 and pounded) is then put in, and stirred ; after which the 
 pot is again placed on the fire, once or twice, until the 
 coffee begins to simmer ; when it is taken off, and its con- 
 tents are poured out into the cups while the surface is yet 
 creamy. The Egyptians are excessively fond of pure and 
 strong coffee, thus prepared ; and very seldom add sugar 
 to it (though som.e do so when they are unwell), and 
 never milk or cream ; but a little cardamom-seed f is often 
 added to it. It is a common custom, also, to fumigate 
 the cup with the smoke of mastic ; and the wealthy some- 
 times impregnate the coffee with the delicious fragrance 
 of ambergris. J The most general mode of doing this is, 
 to put about a carat-weight of ambergris in a coffee-pot, 
 and melt it over a fire ; then make the coffee in another 
 pot, in the manner before described, and, when it has 
 settled a little, pour it into the pot which contains the 
 ambergris, Some persons make use of the ambergris, for 
 the same purpose, in a different way ; sticking a \nece of 
 it, of the weight of about two carats, in the bottom of the 
 cup, and then pouring in the coffee : a piece of the weight 
 above mentioned will serve for two or three weeks. This 
 mode is often adopted by persons who like always to have 
 the coffee which they themselves drink flavoured with 
 this perfume, and do not give all their visiters the same 
 luxury. The coffee-pot is sometimes brought in a vessel 
 of silver or brass (called " 'az"kee "§), containing burn- 
 ing charcoal. This vessel is suspended by three chains. 
 
 * In a full service there are ten fingans and zarfs of uniform kinds, 
 and ofccn another tingan and zarf of a superior kind for the master of 
 tlie house, or for a distinguished guest. In the accompanying sketch, 
 the cofiee-pot (•' bekreg," or " bakrag "j and the zarfs and tray are of 
 silver, and are represented on a scale of one-eighth of tlie real size. 
 Below this set are a similar zarf and tingan, on a scale of one-fourth, 
 and a brass zarf, witli the tingan placed in it. Some zarfs are of plain 
 or gilt silver filigree ; and a few opulent persons have them of gold. 
 Many Muslims, however, religiously disallow all utensils of gold and of 
 silver. 
 
 J " Habb-han." J " 'Ambar." 
 
 9 Baron Hammer-Rirgstall considers this word a corruption, and, 
 writes " chasseki " in its stead : " 'az'kee " (_tbr " 'azikee ") is, however 
 the term used by the Egyptians,
 
 186 
 
 Tin: MODEUN IXiyPTIANS, 
 
 In presenting; the cotiee, the servant holds the foot of the 
 zarf with his thumb and first finder. In receivinj; tlie 
 
 'A'z'kee and Mankals.* 
 
 finsran and zarf, he makes use of both hands, placing the 
 left beneath and the right above at the same instant. 
 
 In cold weather, a brasier, or chafing-dish (called 
 *' manual," and vulgarly *' mankad "), of tinned copper, 
 full of burning charcoal, is placed on the Hoor ; and 
 sometimes perfume is burnt in it. The Egyptians take 
 great delight in perfumes ; f and often fumigate their 
 apartments. The substance most commonly used for this 
 })urpose is frankincense of an inferior quality, called 
 '• bakhoor el-barr." Benzoin J and aloes-wood ^S are also 
 used for the same purpose. 
 
 If he can conveniently afford to keep a horse, mule, or 
 ass, or to hire an ass, the Egyptian is seldom seen walk- 
 ing far beyond the threshold of his own house ; but very 
 few of the people of Cairo, or of the other towns, venture 
 
 * One of the latter (that to tlie right) is an earthen vessel. Each of 
 the above utensils is representeil on a scale of about one eighth of the 
 real size. 
 
 + Tliey sometimes perfume the beard and mustaches with civet. 
 
 + " Gilwoe." ^ ""Ood."
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. lb/ 
 
 to expose themselves to the suspicion of possessing super- 
 fluous wealth, and, consequently, to greater exactions of 
 the government than they would otherwise sutfer, by 
 keeping horses.* The modern saddle of the horse is 
 generally padded, and covered with cloth or velvet, em- 
 broidered, or otherwise ornamented : and the head-stall 
 and breast-leather are adorned with silk tassels, and coins, 
 or other ornaments, of silver. Wealthy merchants, and 
 the great 'ulama, usually ride mules. The saddle of the 
 mule is, generally, nearly the same as that of the ass, of 
 which a sketch is inserted : w hen the rider is one of the 
 
 An .\ss equipped in the usual manner for riding.f 
 
 'ulama, it is covered with a " seggadeh " (or prayer- 
 carpet) : so, also, sometimes, is the ladies' saddle ; from 
 which, however, the former differs considerably, as will 
 
 * Whether walking or riding, a pprson of the liigher class is usually 
 attended by a servant bearing his pipe. 
 
 f Nearly tlie whole of its coat is closely shorn.
 
 188 Tin: modern E(;\ptians. 
 
 be shown heroiif'ter. Asses are most generally used for 
 riding through tlu' narrow and crowded streets of" Cairo ; 
 and there are many tor hire : their usual pace is an easy 
 amble. Eirypt has long been tamed for its excellent 
 asses, which are, in urcneral, larger than those of our 
 country, and very superior to the latter in every resj)ect. 
 The usual j)rice of one of a good breed and well trained 
 is about three or tour ])ounds sterling. Tiie ass is fur- 
 nisheil with a stuffed saddle ; the fore])art of which is 
 covered with red leather, and the seat, most connnonly, 
 with a kind of soft woollen lace, similar to our coach- 
 lace, of red, yellow, and other colours. The stirrup- 
 leathers are, in every case, very short. The horseman is 
 preceded by a servant, or by two servants, to clear the 
 way ; and, for the same purpose, a servant generally runs 
 beside or behind the ass, or sometimes before ; calling out 
 to the ])assengers to move out of the way to the right or 
 left, or to take care of their backs, faces, sides, feet, or 
 heels.* The rider, however, must be vigilant, and not 
 trust merely to his servant, or he may be thrown down 
 by the wide load of a camel ; which accident, indeed, is 
 sometimes unavoidable in the more narrow and crowded 
 streets. His ))ipe is generally carried by the servant; 
 and filled and lighted if he dismount at a house or shop. 
 If lie have no regular business to employ him, the 
 Egyptian spends the greater part of the day in riding, 
 paying visits, or making j)urchases ; or in smoking and 
 sipping coffee and chatting w ith a friend at home ; or he 
 
 • " Yemeenak ! shimalak !'' (to tliy right ! to thy left !), " dahrak !" 
 (thv back !), " wishshak !" (thy lace 1 j, " gembak !" (thv side !), " rig- 
 lakV' (thy foot ! J, " kaabak !"" ( thy lieel !), and, to a Turk, " sakin !" 
 (take care !), are the most common' cries. The following appellations 
 are also often added : — " ya efendee !" (to a Turk), " yasheykh !" (toan 
 old or a middle-aged Muslim native), " ysi sabee I" (to a young man), 
 " va weled ! ' or ya ibnee !" (to a boy),'ya shereef!" (to a green tur- 
 baned descendant of the l»rophet), " ya m'allim !" (to a native Christian, 
 or a Jew), " ya khawageh !" (to a Frank), " ya sitt !" (to a lady, or a 
 female of the middle order), and "' ya bint!" that is, "daugliter," or 
 *' girl " (to a poor female). A woman of the lower class, however old 
 she be, the servant must call "girl," or " daughter," or probably she 
 will not move an inch out of the way. A little girl, or young woman, is 
 often called " "arooseh," or "bride;" and " haggeh," or "female pil- 
 grim,'' is an appellation o.ten given to women'in the streets.
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 189 
 
 passes an hour or more in the morning enjoying the hix- 
 ui'ies of a public bath. At noon, he has again to say- 
 prayers, if he fulfil the duties imposed on him by his reli- 
 gion : but, as I have remarked on a former occasion, there 
 are comparatively few persons among the Egyptians who 
 do not sometimes neglect these duties ; and there are 
 many who scarcely ever pray. Directly alter midday (if 
 he has not taken a late breakfast), he dines ; then takes 
 a pipe and a cup of cotlee. and, in hot weather, usually 
 indulges himself with a nap. Often he retires to recline 
 in the l.areem ; where a wife or female slave watches 
 over his repose, or rubs the soles of his feet with her 
 hands. On such occasions, and at other times when he 
 wishes to enjoy privacy, every person who comes to pay 
 him a visit is told, by the servant, that he is in the 
 hareem ; and no friend expects him to be called thence, 
 unless on very urgent business. From the time of the 
 afternoon-prayers, until sunset (the next time of prayei-), 
 he generally enjoys, again, his pipe and a cup of coffee 
 in the society of some one or more of his friends at home 
 or abroad. Shortly after sunset he sups. 
 
 I must now describe the meals of dinner (" el-ghada ") 
 and supper (" el-'asha"), and the manner and etiquette 
 of eating. The same remarks will apply to both these 
 repasts, excepting that supper is always the principal 
 meal. It is the general custom to cook in the afternoon, 
 and what remains of the supper is eaten the next day 
 for dinner, v/hen there are no guests in the house. The 
 master of a family generally dines and sups with his 
 wife or wives and children ; but there are many men, 
 particularly of the higher classes, who are too proud to 
 do this, or too much engaged in society to be able to do 
 so, unless on some few occasions ; and there are men 
 even of the lowest class who scarcely ever eat with their 
 wives or children. When a person is paying a visit to a 
 friend, and the hour of dinner or supper arrives, it is in- 
 cumbent on the master of the house to order the meal 
 to be brought ; and the same is generally considered ne- 
 cessary if the visiter be a stranger. 
 
 Every person, before he sits down to the table, or
 
 190 
 
 THK MODKKN EGYl'TIANS. 
 
 ratlior to the tray, washes his hands,* and sometimes his 
 mouth also, with soap and water ; or, at least, has some 
 water jjoured npon his riirht hand. A servant brings to 
 him a hasin and ewer (called " tisht " and " ibreek "), 
 of tinned coj)i)er or of brass. f The former of these has 
 a cover pierced with holes, with a raised receptacle for 
 
 Tisht and Ibreek.;}: 
 
 the soap in the middle; and the water, being poured 
 upon the hands, passes through this cover into the space 
 below ; so that when the basin is brought to a second 
 person, the water with which the former one has washed 
 is not seen. A napkin (" footah ') is given to each 
 person. 
 
 Around tray (called " seeneeyeh," and " saneeyeh ") 
 of tinned coj)per, or sometimes of brass, generally be- 
 tween two and three feet in diameter, serves as a table, 
 being placed upon a stool (*' kursee ") about fifteen inches 
 high, made of wood, and often covered with mother-of- 
 
 * See Mark, vii. 3. 
 
 •f- In tlie houses of some of the opulent, these utensils are of silver. 
 I have also seen some of j^ilt copper. 
 
 + Tlie width of the former is fourteen inches ; and the height of the 
 latter tlie same.
 
 [i(iif!ii!i!iih!iti}fe!i//^^.'iiilKi;!;i i-'iM'^li^iii!i'ii^^ 
 
 Kursse and Seencevcl:
 
 192 TIIK MODERN EGYTTIANS. 
 
 j)parl, tortoi.-=o-shell, bono, &c. These two ])ieces of fur- 
 niture compose tlie " sufrah." Round cakes of bread, 
 such as liave been before described, sometimes cut in 
 halves across the middle, are placed round the tray, with 
 several limes, cut in two, to be sciueezed over any of the 
 dishes that may require the acid ; and a spoon of box- 
 wood, or of el)ony, or tortoise-shell, is put for each 
 person. The bread often serves as a ])latc. Several 
 dishes of tinned copper, or of china, containing' different 
 kinds of viands, vegetables, &c., are then placed upon 
 the tray, accordiuir to the conmion fashion of the coun- 
 try, or only one dish is put on at a time, after the Turkish 
 mode. 
 
 The persons who are to partake of the rei)ast sit upon 
 the floor around the tray, each with his napkin upon his 
 knees ; or, if the tray be placed near the edge of a low 
 deewan, which is often done, some of the persons may 
 sit on the deewdn and the others on the floor; but if the 
 party be numerous, the tray is placed in the middle of 
 the room, and they sit round it with one knee on the 
 ground, and the other (the right) raised; and in this 
 manner as many as twelve persons may sit round a tray 
 three feet wide. Each person bares his right arm to the 
 elbow, or tucks up the hanging end of his sleeve. Be- 
 fore he begins to eat he says " Bi-smi-llah " (In the 
 name of God).* This is generally said in a low but 
 audible voice, and by the master of the house first. It 
 is considered both as a grace and as an invitation to any 
 person to partake of the meal ; and w hen any one is ad- 
 dressed with "Bi-smi-llah," or " Tafaddal" (which 
 latter signifies, in this case, *' Do me the favour to par- 
 take of the repast"), he must reply, if he do not accept 
 the invitation, " Heneean " (or " May it be productive 
 of enjoyment," or "benefit"), or use some similar ex- 
 pression ; else it will be feared that an evil eye has been 
 cast upon the food ; and they say that, " in the food 
 that is coveted " (or upon which an envious eye has 
 fallen) " there is no blessing." But the manner in 
 
 * C>r " Bi-'imillahi-r-rnhniani-r-rahecm" (In the name of God, the 
 Corn passionate, the Mercilul).
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 
 
 193 
 
 A Party at Dinner or Supper.* 
 
 which the Egyptian often presses a stranger to eat with 
 him shows that feelings of hospitality most forcibly dic- 
 tate the " Bi-smi-llah." The master of the house first 
 begins to eat, the guests or others immediately follow 
 his example. Neither knives nor forks are used ; the 
 thumb and two fingers of the right hand serve instead 
 of those instruments, but the spoons are used for soup or 
 rice or other things that cannot be easily taken without; 
 
 * One of the servants is holding a water-bottle ; the other, a fly-whisk 
 made of palm-leaves. 
 
 VOL. I. K.
 
 194 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 and botli hands may be used in particular casos, as will 
 be presently exjjlaincd. When there arc several dishes 
 upon the tray, each person takes of any that he likes, or 
 of" every one in succession : when only one dish is placed 
 upon the tray at a time, each takes from it a few niouth- 
 fuls, and it is quickly removed to give place to another.* 
 To pick out a delicate morsel and hand it to a friend is 
 esteemed polite. The manner of eating with the fingers, 
 as practised in Egypt and other Eastern countries, is 
 more delicate than may be imagined by Europeans who 
 have not witnessed it, nor heard it correctly described. 
 Each person breaks off a small piece of bread, dips it in 
 the dish, and then conveys it to his mouth, together with 
 a small portion of the meat or other contents of the 
 dish.f The piece of bread is generally doubled together, 
 so as to enclose the morsel of meat, &c. ; and only the 
 thumb and first and second fingers are commonly used. 
 When a ])erson takes a piece of meat too large for a 
 single mouthful, he usually places it upon his bread. 
 
 The food is dressed in such a manner that it may be 
 easily eaten in the mode above described. It generally 
 consists, for the most part, of "yakhnee," or stewed 
 meat, with choj)ped onions, or with a quantity of " ba- 
 miyehs,"J or other vegetables ; " kawurmeh," or a richer 
 stew, with onions; " warak mahshee," or vine-leaves, 
 or bits of lettuce-leaf or cabbage-leaf, with a mixture of 
 rice and minced meat (delicately seasoned with salt, 
 pepper, and onions, and often with garlic, parsley, &c.) 
 wrapped up in them and boiled ; cucumbers (" khiydr "), 
 or black, white, or red " bildingans,"§ or a kind of 
 gourd (called " kara kooseh ") of the size and shape of 
 
 * Our Saviour and his disciples thus ate from one dish. See Matt, 
 xxvi. 23. 
 
 t Or he merely sops his morsel of bread in the dish. See llutli, ii. 
 14 ; and John, xiii. 26. 
 
 + The bdmiyeh is the esculent " hibiscus :" the part which is eaten 
 is a polygonal pod, generally between one and tliree inches in length, 
 and of the thicKness of a small linger : it is full of seeds and nutritive 
 Ttiucilaue, and has a very pleasant flavour. A little lime-juice is usually 
 dropped on tlie plate of bamiyehs. 
 
 $ The black and white badingan are the fruits of two kinds of egg 
 plant : the red is the tomata.
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 195 
 
 a small cucumber, which are all "mahshee," or stuffed, 
 with the same composition as the leaves above mentioned ; 
 and " kebab," or small morsels of mutton or lamb, roasted 
 on skewers. Many dishes consist wholly, or for the 
 most part, of vegetables ; such as cabbag-e, purslain, spi- 
 nach, beans, lupins, chick-peas, gourd cut into small 
 pieces, colocasia, lentils, &c. Fish, dressed with oil, is 
 also a common dish. Most of the meats are cooked with 
 clarified butter, on account of the deficiency of fat, and 
 are made very rich ; the butter, in the hot season, is 
 perfectly liquid. When a fowl is placed whole on the 
 tray, both hands are generally required to separate the 
 joints ; or two persons, each using the right hand alone, 
 perform this operation together ; but some will do it very 
 cleverly without assistance and with a single hand. Many 
 of the Arabs will not allow the left hand to touch food 
 in any case,* excepting when the right is maimed. A 
 boned fowl, stuflTed with raisins, pistachio-nuts, crumbled 
 bread, and parsley, is not an uncommon dish, and even a 
 whole lamb, stuftied with pistachio-nuts, &c,, is sometimes 
 served up, but the meat is easily separated with one 
 hand. Sweets are often mixed with stewed meat, &c. ; 
 as, for instance, " 'anndb" (or jujubes), peaches, apri- 
 cots, &c., and sugar, with yakhnee. Various kinds of 
 sweets are also served up, and often in no particular order 
 with respect to other meats. A favourite sweet dish is 
 " kunafeh," which is made of wheat-flour, and resembles 
 vermicelli, but is finer ; it is fried with a little clarified 
 butter, and sweetened with sugar or honey. A dish of 
 water-melon (" batteekh "), if in season, generally forms 
 part of the meal. This is cut up about a quarter of an 
 hour before, and left to cool in the external air, or in a 
 current of air, by the evaporation of the juice on the 
 surfaces of the slices ; but it is always watched during 
 this time, lest a serpent should come to it, and poison it 
 by its breath or bite ; for this reptile is said to be ex- 
 tremely fond of the water-melon, and to smell it at a 
 great distance. Water-melons are very abundant in 
 Egypt, and mostly very delicious and wholesome. A 
 
 * Because used for unclean purposes. 
 
 k2
 
 196 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 dish of boiled rice (called " ruzz mufelf'el," the '' pilav'* 
 of the Turks), mixed with a little butter, and seasoned 
 with salt and pe|)i)cr, is generally that from which the 
 last morsels are taken ; but, in the houses of the wealthy, 
 this is often followed by a bowl of " khushaf,"* a sweet 
 drink, commonly consisting of water with raisins boiled 
 in it, and then sugar: when cool, a little rose-water is 
 dropj)ed into it.f The water-melon frequently supplies 
 the place of this. J 
 
 The Egyptians cat very moderately, though quickly. 
 Each ])erson, as soon as he has finished, says, " El-hamdu 
 li-lhlh " (Praise be to God),§ and gets up, without wait- 
 ing till the others have done :|| he then washes his hands 
 and mouth with soap and water ; the basin and ewer 
 being held by a servant, as before. 
 
 The only beverage at meals is water of the Nile, or 
 . sometimes, at the tables of the rich, sherbet, which will 
 presently be described. The Arabs drink little or no 
 water during a meal, but generally take a large draught 
 immediately after. The water of the Nile is remarkably 
 good ; but that of all the wells in Cairo, and in other 
 parts of Egypt, is slightly brackish. In general, water 
 is drunk cither from an earthen bottle or from a brass 
 cup.^ The water-bottles are of two kinds ; one called 
 "dorak," and the other " kulleh :" the former has a 
 narrow and the latter a wide mouth. They are made 
 of a greyish, porous earth, which cools the water deli- 
 ciously, by evaporation ; and they are therefore gene- 
 rally placed in a current of air. The interior is often 
 
 * So called from the Persian " khosh ab," or " sweet water." 
 
 -j- It is drunk with ladles of tortoise-slu'll or cocoa-nut. 
 
 X The principal and best fruits of Kiiypt are dates, grapes, oranges, 
 and citrons of %arious kinds, common figs, sycamore-ligs, prickly pears, 
 pomegranates, bananas, and a great variety of melons. From this enu- 
 meration it appears that there are not many good fruits in this country. 
 
 \ Or "El-hamdu li-lUhi rabbi -l-'alame'en" (Praise be to God, the 
 Lord of all creatures). 
 
 II It is deemed higlily improper to rise during a meal, even from re- 
 spect to a superior wlio may approach. It lias been mentioned before 
 that the Prophet forbade liis followers to rise while eating, or when 
 about to eat, even if tlie time of prayer arrived. 
 
 *^ The ancient Egyptians used drinking-cups of brass. (Herodotus, 
 lib. ii. cap. 37.) ■ jit^"
 
 aSi^ 
 
 Water-bottles (Doraks), with covers of different kinds. — The bottles in 
 the foremost row are one-sixth of the real size. 
 
 Water-bottles (Kullehs).
 
 198 THE MODERN' EGYPTIANS. 
 
 blackened with the smoke of some resinous wood, and 
 then perfumed with the smoke of ''kafal"* wood and 
 mastic ; the latter used last. A small earthen vessel 
 (called " mibkhar'ah ") is em})loyed in perforniine^ these 
 operations, to contain the burning charcoal, which is re- 
 
 Earthen Mibkliar'ali and China D6rak, one sixth of the real size. 
 
 quired to ignite the wood and the mastic ; and the water- 
 bottle is held inverted over it. A strip of rag is tied 
 round the neck of the dorak, at the distance of about an 
 inch from the mouth, to prevent the smoke-black from 
 extending too far upon the exterior of the bottle. Many 
 persons also put a little orange-flower-waterf into the 
 bottles. Tiiis gives a very agreeable flavour to their 
 contents. The bottles have stoppers of silver, brass, tin, 
 wood, or palm-leaves ; and are generally ])laced in a tray 
 of tinned copper, which receives the water that exudes 
 from them. In cold weather, china bottles are used in 
 many houses instead of those above described, which then 
 render the water too cold. J The two most common forms 
 of drinking-cups are here represented. Some of them 
 
 * " AmjTis kafal " of Forskal. An Arabian tree. 
 
 ■f- " Moyet zahr," or " moyet zahr narin^." 
 
 + Baroii Ilamraer-Purgstall has remarked that two other vessels 
 should have been mentioned liere (in the first edition of tliis work), 
 more especially because their names have been adopted in European 
 langua-jes : they are the " garrah " or "jarrah," a water-jar or pitcher; 
 and the " demigjin " or " demijan," a large bottle, " la dame Jeanne."
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 199 
 
 Brass drinking cups, one-fifth of the real size. 
 
 have texts of the Kur-an, &c., engraved in the interior, 
 or the names of " the Seven Sleepers :" but inscriptions 
 of the former kind I have seldom seen. Every person, 
 before and after drinking, repeats the same ejaculations 
 as before and after eating ; and this he does each time 
 that he drinks during a meal : each friend present then 
 says to him, " ^lay it be productive of enjoyment," or 
 "benefit;"* to which the reply is, " God cause thee to 
 have enjoyment."! 
 
 Though we read, in some of the delightful tales of 
 ' The Thousand and One Nights,' of removing " the 
 table of viands " J and bringing " the table of wine," § 
 this prohibited beverage is not often introduced in general 
 society, either during or after the meal, or at other times, 
 by the Muslims of Egypt in the present day. Many of 
 them, however, habitually indulge in drinking wine with 
 select parties of their acquaintance. The servants of a 
 man who is addicted to this habit know such of his 
 friends as may be admitted, if they happen to call when 
 he is engaged in this unlawful pleasure ; and to all others 
 they say that he is not at home, or that he is in the 
 hareem. Drinking wine is indulged in by such persons 
 before and after supper, and during that meal ; but it is 
 most approved before supper, as they say that it quickens 
 the appetite. The " table of wine " is usually thus pre- 
 pared, according to a penitent Muslim wine-bibber, who 
 is one of my friends (I cannot speak on this subject from 
 my own experience, for, as I never drink wine, I have 
 
 * "Heneean." f " Allah yehenneek " (for " >-uhenneek "). 
 J " Sutrat et-ta'am." ^ " Sufrat el-mudam."
 
 20O THE MODERN EGTPTIANS. 
 
 never been invited to join a Muslim wine-party) : — A 
 round jajKinned tray, or a glass dish, is plaeed on the stool 
 l)efore mentioned : on this arc generally arranged two 
 cut-glass jugs, one containing wine,* and the other 
 rosoglio :f and sometimes two or more bottles besides : 
 several small glasses are placed with these ; and glass 
 saucers of dried and fresh fruits, and perhaps pickles : 
 lastly, two candles, and often a bunch of flowers stuck in 
 a candlestick, are put ujxtn the tray. 
 
 The Egyi)tians have various kinds of sherbets, or sweet 
 drinks. The most common kind J is merely sugar and 
 water, but very sweet ; lemonade § is another ; a third 
 kind, the most esteemed, |J is prepared from a hard con- 
 serve of violets, made by pounding violet-flowers, and 
 then boiling them w ith sugar : this violet-sherbet is of a 
 green colour : a fourth kind ^ is prepared from mulber- 
 ries ; a fifth,** from sorrel. There is also a kind of sher- 
 bet sold in the streets. ff which is made with raisins, as 
 its name implies ; another kind, which is a strong infusion 
 of licorice-root, and called by the name of that root ; f J 
 and"a third kind, which is prepared from the fruit of the 
 locust-tree, and called, in like manner, by the name of 
 the fruit. §§ The sherbet is served in covered glass cups, 
 generally called " kullehs," containing about three-quar- 
 ters of a pint ; some of which (the more common kind) 
 are ornamented with gilt flowers, &c. The sherbet-cups 
 are placed on a round tray, and covered with a round 
 piece of embroidered silk, or cloth of gold. On the 
 right arm of the person who presents the sherbet is hung 
 a large oblong napkin with a wide embroidered border of 
 gold and coloured silks at each end. This is ostensibly 
 offered for the purpose of wiping the lips after drinking 
 
 • " Nebeed " (more properly, "nebeedh:" see note, page 130), or 
 "muddm." 
 
 f " 'Amber'ee.'* 
 
 t Called simply " sharbdt," or " sliarbit sukkar," or only " sukkar." 
 
 $ " Ix?ymoonateh," or " shardb el-leymoon." 
 
 II " Sharab el-benefseg." 5[ •• Sharab et-toot." 
 
 ** " Sliaral) el-homraeyd." 
 
 f f Called " zebeeb." Tliis name is also given to an intoxicating con- 
 serve. 
 
 ++ " 'Erk 8ooe." $5 " Kharroob."
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 
 
 201 
 
 Sherbet-cups. 
 
 the sherbet ; but it is really not so much for use as for 
 display : the lips are seldom or scarcely touched with 
 it. 
 
 The interval between supper and the " 'eshe," or time 
 of the night-prayers, is generally passed in smoking a 
 pipe and sipping a cup of coftiee. The enjoyment of 
 the pipe may be interrupted by prayer, but is continued 
 afterwards ; and sometimes draughts or chess, or some 
 other game, or at least conversation, contributes to make 
 the time glide away more agreeably. The members of 
 an Egyptian familj in easy circumstances may pass their 
 time very pleasantly ; but they do so in a quiet way. 
 The men often pay evening visits to their friends, at or 
 after supper-time. They commonly use, on these and 
 similar occasions, a foldhig lantern ("fanoos"), com- 
 posed of waxed cloth strained over rings of wire, and a 
 top and bottom of tinned copper. This kind of lantern 
 is here represented, together with the common lamp 
 ('' kandeel"), and its usual receptacle of wood, which 
 serves to protect the flame from the wind. The lamp is 
 a small vessel of glass, having a little tube in the bottom, 
 in which is stuck a wick formed of cotton twisted round 
 a piece of straw. Some water is poured in first, and 
 then the oil. A lamp of this kind is often hung over 
 the entrance of a house. By night the interiors of the 
 houses present a more dull appearance than in the day : 
 the light of one or two candles (placed on the floor or on 
 
 k3
 
 202 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 a stool, and sometimes surrounded by a large glass shade, 
 or enclosed in a glass lantern, on account of the windows 
 being merely of lattice-work) is generally thought suffi- 
 
 Lantern and Lamp. 
 
 cient for a large and lofty saloon. Few of the Egyptians 
 sit up later, in summer, than three or four o'clock, which 
 is three or four hours after sunset ; for their reckoning of 
 time is from sunset at every season of the year : in winter 
 they often sit up five or six hours. 
 
 Thus the day is usually spent by men of moderate 
 wealth who have no regular business to attend to, or 
 none that requires their own active superintendence. 
 But it is the habit of the tradesman to repair, soon after 
 breakfast, to his shop or warehouse, and to remain there 
 until near sunset.* He has leisure to smoke as much as 
 he likes; and his customers often smoke with him. To 
 some of these he offers his own pipe (unless they have 
 theirs with them), and a cup of cotiee, which is obtained 
 
 * A description of the shops,an(l a further account of the tradesmen 
 of Cairo, will be given in Chapter XIV,, on Industry.
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 203 
 
 from the nearest cofFee-shop. A great portion of the 
 day he sometimes passes in agreeable chat with customers, 
 or with the tradesmen of the next or opposite shops. He 
 generally says his prayers without moving from his shop. 
 Shortly after the noon-prayers, or somedmes earlier or 
 later, he eats a light meal, such as a plate of kebab and 
 a cake of bread (which a boy or maid daily brings from 
 his house, or procures in the market), or some bread and 
 cheese or pickles, &c., which are carried about the streets 
 for sale ; and if a customer be present, he is always in- 
 vited, and often pressed, to partake of this meal. A large 
 earthen bottle of water is kept in the shop, and reple- 
 nished, whenever necessary, by a passing "sakka," or 
 water-carrier. In the evening the tradesman returns to 
 his house, eats his supper, and soon after retires to bed. 
 
 It is the general custom in Egypt for the husband and 
 wife to sleep in the same bed, excepting among the 
 wealthy classes, who mostly prefer separate beds. The 
 bed is usually thus prepared in the houses of persons of 
 moderate wealth : a mattress,* stuffed with cotton, about 
 six feet long, and three or four feet in width, is placed 
 upon a low Irame ; f a pillow is placed for the head, and 
 a sheet spread over this and the mattress ; the only 
 covering in summer is generally a thin blanket, | and in 
 winter a thick quilt, ^ stuffed with cotton. If there be 
 no frame the mattress is placed upon the floor, or two 
 mattresses are laid one upon the other, with the sheet, 
 pillow, &c., and often a cushion of the deewan is placed 
 on each side. A musquito-curtain || is suspended over 
 the bed by means of four strings, which are attached to 
 nails in the wall. The dress is seldom changed on going 
 to bed ; and in winter many people sleep with all their 
 ordinary clothes on, excepting the gibbeh, or cloth coat ; 
 but in summer they sleep almost, or entirely, unclad. 
 In winter the bed is prepared in a small closet (called 
 "khazneh"); in summer, in a large room. All the 
 
 * "Tarrahah." f "Sereer." J "Heram." $ " Lehaf." 
 
 II " Namooseeyeh," It is composed of muslin, or linen of an open 
 texture, or crape', and forms a close canopy.
 
 204 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 bed-clothes are rolled up in the day-time, and placed on 
 one side, or in the closet above mentioned. During the 
 hottest weather many people sleep upon the house-top, 
 or in a " fes-hah " (or ".fesahah "), which is an un- 
 covered apartment ; but ophthalmia and other diseases 
 often result from their thus exposing themselves to the 
 external air at night. The most common kind of frame 
 for the bed is made of palm-sticks ; but this harbours 
 bugs, which are very abundant in Egypt in the summer, 
 as fleas are in the winter. These and other plagues to 
 which the peo[)le of Egypt are exposed by night and 
 day have been before mentioned.* With regard to the 
 most disgusting of them, the lice, it may here be added, 
 that, though they are not always to be avoided even by 
 the most scrupulous cleanliness, a person who changes 
 his linen after two or three days' wear is very seldom 
 annoyed by these vermin ; and when he is they arc 
 easily removed, not attaching themselves to the skin ; 
 they are generally found in the linen. A house may be 
 kept almost clear of fleas by frequent washing and sweep- 
 ing ; and the flies may be kept out by placing nets at the 
 doors and windows ; but it is impossible to purify an 
 Egyptian house from bugs if it contain much wood- work, 
 which is generally the case. 
 
 The male servantsf lead a very easy life, with the ex- 
 ception of the " sais," or groom, who, whenever his 
 master takes a ride, runs before or beside him ; and this 
 he will do in the hottest weather for hours together 
 without appearing fatigued. Almost every wealthy per- 
 son in Cairo has a " bowwflb," or doorkeeper, always at 
 the door of his house, and several other male servants. 
 Most of these are natives of Egypt ; but many Nubians 
 are also employed as servants in Cairo and other Egyptian 
 towns. The latter arc mostly bowwabs, and are gene- 
 rally esteemed more honest than the Egyptian servants ; 
 but I am inclined to think, from the ojnnion of several 
 of my friends, and from my own exjjerience, that they 
 
 * In the Intro<liiction to this work. 
 
 f " Khaddameen, "singular " khaddam."
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 205 
 
 have acquired this rejmtation only by superior cunning. 
 The wages of the male servants are very small, usually 
 from one to two dollars (or from four to eight shillings) 
 per month ; but they receive many presents.* On the 
 " 'eed " (or festival) after Ramadan the master generally 
 gives to each of his servants part or the whole of a new 
 suit of clothes, consisting of an " 'eree " (a blue shirt, 
 which is their outer dress), a " tarboosh," and a turban. 
 Other articles of dress which they require during the 
 year (excepting, sometimes, shoes) the servants are 
 obliged to provide for themselves. Besides what their 
 master giv^es them, they also receive small presents of 
 money from his visitors, and from the tradespeople with 
 whom he deals ; particularly whenever he has made any 
 considerable purchase. They sleep in the clothes which 
 they wear during the day, each upon a small mat ; and 
 in winter they cover themselves with a cloak f or blanket. 
 In some respects they are often familiar in their manners 
 to their master, even laughing and joking with him ; in 
 others they are very submissive, paying him the utmost 
 honour, and bearing corporal chastisement from his hand 
 with child-like patience. 
 
 The male black slave :j: is treated with more consider- 
 ation than the free servant ; and leads a life well suited 
 to his lazy disposition. If discontented with his situation 
 he can legally compel his master to sell him. Many of 
 the slaves in Egypt wear the Turkish military dress. 
 They are generally the greatest fanatics in the East ; and 
 more accustomed than any other class to insult the 
 Christians and every people who are not of the faith 
 which they have themselves adopted, without knowing 
 
 * " The habit of irregular remuneration, in lieu of fixed, invariable, 
 and actionable wages, produces a difference of mental habits, as regards 
 servants and masters, that I am sure is not to be understood through 
 description ; and yet every day you see Europeans, those men who 
 affect such comprehensive views and such powers of logic, reviling the 
 habit of giving presents, not perceiving that this practice leads to the 
 preservation of those interesting domestic relations which I conceive to 
 be the greatest lesson, political and moral, that is presented to us by the 
 Eastern world." — Urquhart's ' Spirit of the East,' vol. ii. p. -102. 
 
 t See Exodus, xxii. 26, 27. J Called " "abd."
 
 206 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 more of its doctrines than Arab children who have been 
 but a week at school. Of the female slaves, some ac- 
 comit will be given in the next Chapter. 
 
 An acquaintance with the modern inhabitants of Egypt 
 leads us often to compare their domestic habits with those 
 of Europeans in the middle ages; and, perhaps, in this 
 comparison, the points of resemblance which we observe, 
 with regard to the men, are more striking than the con- 
 trasts ; but the reverse will be found to be the case when 
 we consider the state of the females.
 
 ( 207 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE — contiiiued. 
 
 QuiTTiyG the lower apartments, where we have been 
 long detained, I must enter upon a more presumptuous 
 office than I have yet undertaken, which is that of a guide 
 to the " Hareem : " * but first I must give some account of 
 marriage and the marriage-ceremonies. 
 
 To abstain from marrying when a man has attained a 
 sufficient age, and when there is no just impediment, is 
 esteemed, by the Egyptians, improper, and even dis- 
 reputable. For being myself guilty of this fault (to use 
 no harsher term), I have suffered much inconvenience 
 and discomfort during my stay in this country, and 
 endured many reproaches. During my former visit to 
 Egypt, having occasion to remove from a house which I 
 had occupied for some months in a great thoroughfare - 
 street in Cairo, I engaged another house in a neighbour- 
 ing quarter : the lease was written, and some money paid 
 in advance ; but a day or two after, the agent of the owner 
 came to inform me that the inhabitants of the quarter, 
 who were mostly "shereefs" (or descendants of the 
 Prophet), objected to my living among them because I 
 was not married. He added, however, that they would 
 gladly admit me if I would even purchase a female slave, 
 which would exempt me from the opprobrium cast upon 
 me by the want of a wife. I replied that, being merely 
 a sojourner in Egypt, I did not like to take either a wife 
 or female slave, whom I must soon abandon : the money 
 
 * The term " hareem " (which, as before mentioned, is applied botli 
 to the females of a family and to the apartments which they occupv) 
 signifies prohibited, sacred, &c. The Turks, and many of the Arabs, 
 use the synonymous Arabic term " haram.' which the former pronounce 
 " harem."
 
 208 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 that I had paid was, therefore, returned to me. In an- 
 other quarter I >vas less unfortunate; such heavy objec- 
 tions on account of my being unmarried were not raised : 
 I was only required to promise that no persons wearing 
 hats should come into the quarter to visit me ; yet, after 
 I had established myself in my new residence, the sheykh 
 (or chief) of the (|uarter often endeavoured to persuade 
 me to marry. All my arguments against doing so he 
 deemed of no weight. " You tell me," said he, "that 
 in a year or two you mean to leave this country : now, 
 there is a young widow, who, I am told, is handsome, 
 living within a few doors of you, who will be glad to be- 
 come your wife, even with the express understanding 
 that you shall divorce her when you quit this place ; 
 though, of course, you may do so before, if she should 
 not ])lease you." This young damsel had several times 
 contrived to let me catch a glimpse of a pretty face as I 
 passed the house in which she and her parents lived, 
 vVhat answer could I return ? I replied, that I had 
 actually, by accident, seen her face, and that she was the 
 last woman I should wish to marry under such circum- 
 stances ; for 1 was sure that I could never make up my 
 mind to part with her. But I found it rather difficult to 
 silence my officious friend. It has been mentioned be- 
 fore, in the Introduction, that an unmarried man, or one 
 who has not a female slave, is usually obliged to dwell in 
 a wekiilch, unless he have some near relation with whom 
 to reside ; but that Franks are now exempted from this 
 restriction. 
 
 The Egyptian females arrive at puberty much earlier 
 than the natives of colder climates. Many marry at the 
 age of twelve or thirteen years ; and some remarkably 
 precocious girls are married at the age of ten ;* but such 
 occurrences are not common. Few remain unmarried 
 after sixteen years of age. An Egyptian girl at the age 
 of thirteen, or even earlier, may be a mother. The 
 w omen of Egyj)t are generally very prolific ; but females 
 of other countries residing here are often childless ; and 
 the children of foreigners, born in Egyj)t, seldom live to 
 
 * They are often betrothed two or three or more years earlier.
 
 MARRIAGE. "209 
 
 a mature age, even when the mother is a native. It was 
 on this account that the emancipated Memlooks (or mili- 
 tary slaves) usually adopted Memlooks. 
 
 It is very common among the Arabs of Egypt and of 
 other countries, but less so in Cairo than in other parts 
 of Egypt, for a man to marry his first cousin. In this 
 case the husband and wife continue to call each other 
 "cousin;" because the tie of blood is indissoluble; but 
 that of matrimony very precarious. A union of this kind 
 is generally lasting, on account of this tie of blood ; and 
 because mutual intercourse may have formed an attachment 
 between the parties in tender age ; though, if they be of 
 the higher or middle classes, the young man is seldom 
 allowed to see the face of his female cousin, or even to 
 meet and converse with her, after she has arrived at or 
 near the age of puberty, until she has become his wife. 
 
 Marriages in Cairo are generally conducted, in the 
 case of a virgin, in the following manner ; but in that of 
 a widow, or a divorced woman, with little ceremony. 
 Most commonly, the mother or some other near female 
 relation of the youth or man who is desirous of obtaining 
 a wife describes to him the [personal and other qualifica- 
 tions of the young women with whom she is acquainted, 
 and directs his choice : * or he employs a " khat'beh," or 
 " khatibeh ;" a woman whose regular business it is to 
 assist men in such cases. Sometimes two or more women 
 of this profession are employed- A khat'beh gives her 
 report confidentially, describing one girl as being like a 
 gazelle, pretty, and elegant, and young ; and another, as 
 not pretty, but rich, and so forth. If the man have a 
 mother and other near female relations, two or three of 
 these usually go with a khat'beh to pay visits to several 
 hareems, to which she has access in her professional cha- 
 racter of a match-maker ; for she is employed as much by 
 the women as by the men. She sometimes also exercises 
 the trade of a "dellaleh" (or broker) for the sale of 
 
 * Abraham's sending a messenger to his own countr\- to seek a wife 
 for his son Isaac (see Genesis, xxi v.) was just such a measure as most 
 modern Arabs would adopt under similar circumstances, if easily prac- 
 ticable.
 
 2J6 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 ornaments, clothinjr, &c., which procures her admission 
 into almost every hareem. The women who accomj)any 
 her in search of a wile for their rehUion are introduced 
 to the dirterent hareems merely as ordinary visitors ; and 
 as such, if disappointed, they soon take their leave, thouo:h 
 the object of their visit is of course understood by the 
 other party : but if they find aniouir the females of a 
 family (and they are sure to see all who are marriageable) 
 a girl or young woman having the necessary ])ersonal 
 qualifications, they state the motive of their visit, and ask» 
 if the proposed match be not at once disapproved of, 
 what property, ornaments, &c., the object of their wishes 
 may possess. If the father of the intended bride be dead, 
 she may perhaps possess one or more houses, shops, &c. ; 
 and in almost every case a marriageable girl of the middle 
 or higher ranks has a set of ornaments of gold and 
 jewels. The women-visitors, having asked these and 
 other questions, bring their report to the expectant youth 
 or man. If satisfied with their report he gives a present 
 to the khat'beh, and sends her again to the family of his 
 intended wife to make known to them his wishes. She 
 generally gives an exaggerated description of his per- 
 sonal attractions, wealth, &c. For instance, she will say 
 of a very ordinary young man, of scarcely any property, 
 and of whose disposition she knows nothing, "My 
 daughter, the youth who wishes to marry you is young, 
 graceful, elegant, beardless, has plenty of money, dresses 
 handsomely, is fond of delicacies, but cannot enjoy his 
 luxuries alone ; he wants you as his (Companion ; lie will 
 give you everything that money can procure ; he is a 
 stayer-at-home, and will spend his whole time with you, 
 caressing and fondling you." 
 
 The parents may betroth their daughter to whom they 
 please, and marry her to him without her consent if she 
 be not arrived at the age of pul)erty ; but after she has 
 attained that age she may choose a husband for herself, 
 and appoint any man to arrange and effect her marriage. 
 In the former case, however, the khat'beh and the rela- 
 tions of a girl sought in marriage usually endeavour to 
 obtain her consent to the proposed union. Very often,
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 211 
 
 a father objects to giving a daughter in marriage to a man 
 who is not of the same profession or trade as himself; 
 and to marrying a younger daughter before an elder,* The 
 bridegroom can scarcely ever obtain even a surreptitious 
 glance at the features of his bride until he finds her in 
 his absolute possession, unless she belong to the lower 
 classes of society ; in which case it is easy enough for 
 him to see her face. 
 
 AVhen a female is about to marry she should have a 
 " wekeel " (or deputy) to settle the compact and conclude 
 the contract for her with her proposed husband. If she 
 be under the age of puberty this is absolutely necessary ; 
 and in this case her father, if living, or (if he be dead) 
 her nearest adult male relation, or a guardian appointed 
 by will, or by the Kadee, performs the office of wekeel : 
 but if she be of asre she appoints her own wekeel, or may 
 even make the contract herself; though this is seldom 
 done. 
 
 After a youth or man has made choice of a female to 
 demand in marriage, on the report of his female relations, 
 or that of the khat'beh, and, by proxy, made the preli- 
 minary arrangements before described with her and her 
 relations in the hareem, he repairs with two or three of 
 his friends to her wekeel. Having obtained the wekeel's 
 consent to the union, if the intended bride be under age, 
 he asks what is the amount of the required " mahr " (or 
 dowry). 
 
 The giving of a dowry is indispensable, as I have men- 
 tioned in a former Chapter. It is generally calculated in 
 " riyals," of ninety faddahs (now equivalent to five pence 
 and two fifths) each. The riyal is an imaginary money, not 
 a coin. The usual amount of the dowry, if the parties be 
 in possession of a moderately good income, is about a thou- 
 sand riyals (or twenty-two pounds ten shillings) ; or, 
 sometimes, not more than half that sum. The wealthy 
 calculate the dowry in purses of five hundred piasters 
 (now, five pounds sterling) each, and fix its amount at 
 ten purses or more. It must be borne in mind that we 
 are considering the case of a virgin-bride ; the dowry of 
 * See Genesis, xxix. 26.
 
 ^it 
 
 THE MODERN EGYrXIANS. 
 
 a widow or a divorced v»x>man is much less. In settling 
 the amount of the <lowry, as in other ])ecuniary transac- 
 tions, a little haggling trecjuently takes place : if a thou- 
 sand rivals bo demanded through the wekeel, the party 
 of the intended bridegroom will |)robably make an otier 
 of six hundred : the former ])arty then gradually lower- 
 ing the demand, and the other increasing the otier, they 
 at length agree to fix it at eight hundred. It is gene- 
 rally stipulated that two-thirds of the dowry shall be paid 
 immediately before the marriage contract is made ; and 
 the remaining third held in reserve, to be paid to the 
 wife in case of divorcing her against her own consent, or 
 in case of the husband's death. 
 
 This aflair being settled, and confirmed by all persons 
 present reciting the opening chapter of the Kur-an (the 
 Fat'hah), an early day (perhaps the day next following) is 
 appointed for paying the money, and performing the 
 ceremony of the marriage contract, which is properly 
 called " 'akd ennikah."* The making this contract is 
 commonly called " ketb el-kitab" (or the writing of the 
 writ) ; but it is very seldom the case that any document 
 is written to confirm the marriage, unless the bridegroom 
 is about to travel to another place, and fears that he may 
 have occasion to prove his marriage where witnesses ot 
 the contract cannot be procured. Sometimes the mar- 
 riage contract is concluded immediately after the arrange- 
 ment respecting the dowry, but more generally a day or 
 two after. On the day appointed for this ceremony the 
 bridegroom, again accompanied by two or three of his 
 friends, goes to the house of the bride, usually about 
 noon, taking with him that portion of the dowry which 
 he has promised to pay on this occasion. He and his 
 companions are received by the bride's wekeel, and two 
 or more friends of the latter are usually present. It is 
 necessary that there be two witnesses (and those must be 
 Muslims) to the marriage-contract, unless in a situation 
 
 * It is a common belief in Egypt, tliat, if any one make a marriage- 
 contract in the month of Moharram, the marriage will be unhappy, and 
 soon dissolved : wherefore, few persons do so. The most propitious 
 period is the month of Showwal.
 
 MARRIAGE. 213 
 
 where witnesses cannot be procured. All persons pre- 
 sent recite the Fat'hah ; and the bridegroom then pays 
 the money. After this, the marriage contract is per- 
 formed. It is very simjjle. The bridegroom and the 
 bride's wekeel sit upon the ground, face to face, w ith one 
 knee upon the ground, and grasp each other's right hand, 
 raising the thumbs, and pressing them against each other. 
 A iikee * is generally employed to instruct them what 
 they are to say. Having j)laced a handkerchief over 
 their joined hands, he usually prefaces the words of the 
 contract with a " khutbeh," consisting of a few words of 
 exhortation and prayer, with quotations Irom the Kur-an 
 and Traditions, on the excellency and advantages of 
 marriage. He then desires the bride's wekeel to say, 
 "I betroth [or marry], to thee, my daughter [or the 
 female who has appointed me her wekeel], such a one 
 [naming the bride], the virgin f [or the adult virgin], for 
 a dowry of such an amount." (The words " for a 
 dowry," &c., are sometimes omitted.) The bride's 
 wekeel having said this, the bridegroom, prompted in the 
 same manner by the fikee, says, " 1 accept from thee her 
 betrothal [or marriage] to myself, and take her under my 
 care, and bind myself to atibrd her my protection ; and 
 ye who are present bear witness of this." The wekeel 
 addresses the bridegroom in the same manner a second 
 and a third time ; and each time, the latter replies as be- 
 fore. They then generally add, "' And blessing be on the 
 Apostles, and praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures : 
 amen :" after which, all present again repeat the Fafliah. 
 It is not always the same form of " khutbeh " that is re- 
 cited on these occasions : any form may be used ; and it 
 may be repeated by any person : it is not even necessary ; 
 and is often altogether omitted. The contract concluded, 
 the bridegroom sometimes (but seldom unless he be a 
 person of the lower orders) kisses the hands of his friends 
 and others there present ; and they are presented with 
 
 * This appellation is commonly given to a schoolmaster. See a note 
 in page 90.' 
 
 f If the bride be not a virgin, a word importing this is substituted ; 
 namely, " seyyib," or, more properly, " theyyib."
 
 214 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 sherbet, and g:enerally remain to dinner. Each of them 
 receives an embroidered handkerchief, provided by the 
 family of the bride ; excepting: the fikee, who receives a 
 similar handkerchief, with a small gold coin tied up in it, 
 from the bridegroom. Before the i)ersons assembled on 
 this occasion disperse, they settle when the " leylet ed- 
 dukhleh " is to be : this is the night when the bride is 
 brought to the house of the bridegroom, and the latter, 
 for the first time, visits her. 
 
 In general, the bridegroom waits for his bride about 
 ciirht or ten days after the conclusion of the contract. 
 iNIeanwhile, he sends to her, two or three or more times, 
 some fruit, sweetmeats, &c. ; and perhai)s makes her a 
 present of a shawl, or some other article of value. The 
 bride's family are at the same time occupied in preparing- 
 for her a stock of household furniture (as deewiins, mat- 
 ting, carpets, bedding, kitchen utensils, &c.) and dress. 
 Tiie portion of the dowry which has been paid by the 
 bridegroom, and generally a much larger sum (the addi- 
 tional money, which is often more than the dowry itself, 
 being supplied by the bride's family), is expended in 
 purchasing the articles of furniture, dress, and ornaments 
 for the bride. These articles, which are called " gahaz," 
 are the property of the bride; and if she be divorced, 
 she takes them away with her. She cannot, therefore, 
 with truth be said to be purchased* The furniture is 
 sent, commonly borne by a train of camels, to the bride- 
 groom's house. Often, among the articles of the gahaz 
 is a chair for the turban or head-dress, f alluded to in a 
 former page. It is of a large size, but slight make ; the 
 bottom and back generally of cane-work ; sometimes with 
 a canopy. It is never used to sit upon. The turban, 
 when j)laced upon it, is covered with a kerchief of thick 
 silk stuff, usually ornamented with gold thread. There 
 are sometimes sent two of these chairs ; one for the hus- 
 band, and the other for the wife. 
 
 * Amont; the peasants, however, tlie father, or other lawful guardian 
 of Uie bride, receives the dowry, and gives nothing in return but the 
 girl, and sometimes a little corn, &c. The bridegroom, in this case, 
 supplies everything, even the dress of the bride. 
 
 f " Kursee el-'emameh."
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 215 
 
 The bridegroom should receive his bride on the eve of 
 Friday, or that of Monday ;* but the former is generally 
 esteemed the more fortunate period. Let us say, for in- 
 stance, that the bride is to be conducted to him on the 
 
 Lantern, &c., suspended on the occasion of a Wedding. 
 
 eve of Friday. During two or three or more preceding 
 
 * Burckhardt has erred in stating that Monday and Thursday are the 
 days on which the ceremonies immediately previous to the marriai^e 
 night are performed : he should have said Sunday and Thursday. He 
 has also fallen into some other errors in the account which he has given 
 of the marriage ceremonies of the Egyptians, in the illustrations of his 
 'Arabic Pro%-erbs' (pp. 112 — 118). To mention tliis I feel to be a 
 duty to myself, but one which I perform with reluctance, and not with- 
 out the fear that Burckhardt s just reputation for general accuracy may 
 make my reader think that he is right in these cases, and that I am 
 wrong. I write these words in Cairo, with his book before me, and jifter 
 sufficient experience and inquiries.
 
 216 THE MODERN' EOyPTIAXS. 
 
 nights, the street or quarter in which the bridegroom 
 lives is illuminated with chandeliers and lanterns, or 
 with lanterns and small lamjw, some susj)ended from 
 cords drawn across from the bridegroom's and several 
 other houses on each side to the houses opposite ; and 
 several small silk flags, each of two colours, generally 
 red and green, are attached to these or other cords.* 
 An entertainment is also given on each of these nights, 
 particularly on the last night before that on which the 
 wedding is concluded, at the bridegroom's house. On 
 these occasions it is customary for the persons invited, 
 and for all intimate friends, to send presents to his house, 
 a day or two before the feast which they jmrpose or ex- 
 pect to attend : they generally send sugar, coffee, rice, 
 wax-candles, or a lamb : the former articles are usually 
 placed upon a tray of copper or wood, and covered with 
 a silk or embroidered kerchief. The guests are enter- 
 tained on these occasions by musicians and male or female 
 singers, by dancing girls, or by the performance of a 
 " khatmeh " or a " zikr."t 
 
 In the houses of the wealthy, the kh^t'beh or khat'- 
 behs, together with the " dayeh " (or mids\ife) of the 
 family, the " bellaneh " (or female attendant of the 
 bath), and the nurse of the bride, are each presented, a 
 day or two after the conclusion of the contract, with a 
 piece of gold stuff, a Kashmeer shawl, or a piece of 
 striped silk, such as yeleks and shintiyans arc made of; 
 and, placing these over the left shoulder, and attaching 
 the edges together on the right side, go upon asses, with 
 two or more men before them beating kettle-drums or 
 tabours, to the houses of all the friends of the bride, to 
 
 • The lantern here represented, which is constructed of wood, and 
 painted snreen, red, wliite, and blue, is called "tureiya" (the Arabic 
 name of the Pleiades), and, together with the frame above, from which 
 six lamps are suspended, and which is termed " khatim Suleyman " (or 
 Solomon's seal), composes what is called a " heml kanaded." 
 
 ■f These entertainments I do not here particularly describe, as it is my 
 intention to devote the whole of a subsequent Cliapter to tlie subject of 
 private festivities. The " khatmeh " is tlie recitation of the whole of the 
 Kur-an ; and the " zikr," the repetition of the name of God, or of the 
 profession of his unity, iicc. : I shall have occasion to speak of both more 
 fully in another Chapter on the periodical public festivals.
 
 MARRIAGE, 217 
 
 invite the females to accompany her to and from the 
 bath, and to partake of an entertainment given on that 
 occasion. At every house where they call they are 
 treated with a repast, having sent' notice the day before 
 of their intended visit. They are called " mudnat." * 
 I have sometimes seen them walking, and without the 
 drums before them ; but making- up for the want of these 
 instruments by shrill, quavering cries of joy, called 
 " zaghareet."t 
 
 On the preceding Wednesday (or on the Saturday if 
 the wedding be to conclude on the eve of Monday), at 
 al)out the hour of noon, or a little later, the bride goes 
 in state to the bath. J The procession to the bath is 
 called " Zeffet el-Hammam." It is headed by a party 
 of musicians with a hautboy, or two. and drums of dif- 
 ferent kinds. ^ Frequently, as I have mentioned in a 
 former Chapter, some person avails himself of this oppor- 
 tunity to parade his young son previously to circumcision : 
 the child and his attendants, in this case, follow next 
 after the musicians, in the manner already described. 
 Sometimes, at the head of the bride's party are two men 
 who carry the utensils and linen used in the bath, upon 
 two round trays, each of which is covered with an em- 
 broidered or a plain silk kerchief: also, a sakka, who 
 gives water to any of the passengers, if asked ; and two 
 other persons, one of whom bears a " kumkum," or 
 bottle, of plain or gilt silver, or of china, containing 
 rose-water or orange-flower- water, which he occasionally 
 sprinkles on the passengers; and the other, a " mib- 
 khar'ah " (or perfuming-vessel) of silver, with aloes- 
 wood, or some other odoriferous substance, burning in 
 
 * " From the verb " adna," " he brought," &c. 
 
 •j- These cries of the women, which are heard on various occasions of 
 rejoicing in Egypt and other Eastern countries, are produced by a sharp 
 utterance of the voice, accompanied by a quick, tremulous motion of the 
 tongue. 
 
 X I have once seen this " zeffeh," or procession, and a second which 
 will be described hereafter, go forth much later, and return an hour 
 after sunset. 
 
 ^ The music is generally of a very rude kind, and the airs usually 
 played are those of popular songs, specimens of which will be found in 
 this work. 
 
 VOL. I. I.

 
 220 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 it : but it is seldom that the procession is thus attended. 
 In general, the first persons anionfj the bride's party are 
 several of her married female relations and friends, walk- 
 ing in pairs ; and next, a number of young virgins. 
 The former are dressed in the usual manner, covered 
 with the black silk habarah : the latter have white silk 
 habarahs or shawls. Then follows the bride, walking 
 under a canopy of silk, of some gay colour, as pink, 
 rose-colour, or yellow, or of two colours comjiosing wide 
 stripes, often rose-colour and yellow. It is carried by 
 four men, by m(\ins of a ])ole at each corner, and is open 
 only in front; and at the fop of each of the four poles 
 is attached an embroidered handkerchief. The dress of 
 the bride, din-ing this procession, entirely conceals her 
 person. She is generally covered, from head to foot, 
 with a red Kashmeer shawl, or with a white or yellow 
 shawl, though rarely. Upon her head is placed a small 
 pasteboard cap or crown. The shawl is placed over 
 this, and conceals from the view of the public the richer 
 articles of her dress, her face, and her jewels, &c., ex- 
 cepting one or two " kussahs"* (and sometimes other 
 ornaments), generally of diamonds and emeralds, attached 
 to that j)art of the shawl which covers her forehead. 
 She is accom])anied by two or three of her female rela- 
 tions within the canopy ; and often, when in hot weather, 
 a woman, walking backwards before her, is constantly 
 employed in fanning her, with a large fan of black 
 ostrich feathers, the lower part of the front of which is 
 usually ornamented with a piece of looking-glass. Some- 
 times one zeffeh, with a single canopy, serves for two 
 brides, who walk side by side. The procession moves 
 very slowly, and generally pursues a circuitous route, for 
 the sake of greater display. On leaving the house it 
 turns to the right. It is closed by a second party of 
 musicians, similar to the first, or by two or three drum- 
 mers. 
 
 In the bridal processions of the lower orders, which 
 are often conducted in the same manner as that above 
 
 * For a description of these ornaments, see the Appendix.
 
 MARRIAGE. 221 
 
 described, the women of the party frequently utter, at 
 intervals, those shrill cries of joy called zaghareet, which 
 I have before had occasion to mention ; and females of 
 the poorer classes, when merely spectators of a zeffeh, 
 often do the same. 
 
 The whole bath is sometimes hired for the bride and 
 her party exclusively. They pass several hours, or sel- 
 dom less than two, occupied in washing, sporting, and 
 feasting ; and frequently '• 'A'lmehs " (or female singers) 
 are hired to amuse them in the bath : they then return 
 in the same order in which they came. The expense of 
 the zeffeh falls on the relations of the bride ; but the 
 feast is supplied by the bridegroom. 
 
 Having returned from the bath to the house of her 
 family, the bride and her companions sup together. If 
 'A'l'mehs have contributed to the festivity in the bath, 
 they also return with the bride to renew then* concert. 
 Their songs are always on the subject of love, and of the 
 joyous event which occasions their presence. After the 
 company have been thus entertained, a large quantity of 
 henna having been prepared, mixed into a paste, the 
 bride takes a lump of it in her hand, and receives contri- 
 butions (called "nukoot") from her guests: each of 
 them sticks a coin (usually of gold) in the henna which 
 she holds upon her hand ; and when the lump is closely 
 stuck with these coins, she scrapes it off her hand upon 
 the edge of a basin of water. Having collected in this 
 manner from all her guests, some more henna is applied 
 to her hands and feet, which are then bound with pieces 
 of linen ; and in this state they remain until the next 
 morning, when they are found to be sufficiently dyed 
 with its deep orange-red tint. Her guests make use of 
 the remainder of the dye for their own hands. This 
 night is called '"Leylet el-Henna," or " the Xight of 
 the Henna." 
 
 It is on this night, and sometimes also during the 
 latter half of the preceding day, that the bridegroom 
 gives his chief entertainment. " Mohabbazeen " (or low 
 farce-players) often perform on this occasion before the 
 house, or, if it be large enough, in the court. The other
 
 222 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 and more common pprformancos by which the guests are 
 amused have been before mentioned. 
 
 On the following day the bride goes in procession to 
 the house of the bridegroom. The [woeession before 
 described is called "the Zotteh of the Bath," to distin- 
 guish it from this, which is the more important, and 
 which is therefore j)articularly called " Zetiet el-Aroo- 
 seh," or " the Zefi'eh of tiie Bride." In some cases, to 
 diminish the expenses of the marriage-ceremonies, the 
 bride is conducted ])rivately to the bath, and only ho- 
 noured with a zetieh to the bridegroom's house. This 
 procession is exat^tly similar to the former. The bride 
 and her i)art3% after breakfasting together, generally set 
 out a little after midday. They proceed in the same 
 order, and at the same slow pace, as in the zetieh of the 
 bath ; and, if the house of the bridegroom be near, they 
 follow a circuitous route through several principal streets 
 for the sake of display. The ceremony usually occupies 
 three or more hours. 
 
 iSometimes, before bridal processions of this kind, two 
 swordsmen, clad in nothing but their drawers, engage 
 each other in a mock combat ; or two peasants cudgel 
 each other with nebboots, or long staves. In the pro- 
 cession of a bride of a wealthy family, any ])erson who 
 has the art of [)erforming some extraordinary feat to 
 amuse the spectators is almost sure of being a welcome 
 assistant, and of receiving a handsome ))resent.* When 
 the seyyid 'Omar, the Nakeeb el-Ashraf (or chief of 
 the descendants of the Prophet), who was the main in- 
 strument of ailvancing Mohammad 'Alee to the dignity 
 of ]3asha of Egypt, married a daughter, about twenty- 
 
 * One of the most common of the feats witnessed on such an occasion 
 is the p'-rformance of a laborious tajsk by a water-carrier, termed a 
 " keiyim," who, for the sake of a present, and this empty title, carries a 
 water-skin filled w ith sand and water, ot ;,'reater weight, and for a longer 
 period, than any of his brethren will venture to do; and this he must 
 aecomplisli without ever sitting down, except in a crouchiiij,' position, to 
 rest. In the case of a bridal procession which I lately witnessed, the 
 keiyim began to carry his burden, a skin of sand and water weighing 
 about two hundred pounds, at sunset of the preceding day; bore it the 
 wliole ni^'ht, and the ensuing day, before and during tlie procession, and 
 continued to do so till sunset.
 
 MARRIAGE, 223 
 
 seven years since, there walked before the procession a 
 young man who had made an incision in his abdomen, 
 and drawn out a large portion of his intestines, which he 
 carried before him on a silver tray. After the procession, 
 he restored them to their proper place, and remained in 
 bed many days before he recovered from the effects of 
 this foolish and disgusting act. Another man, on the 
 same occasion, ran a sword through his arm, before the 
 crowding spectators, and tlien bound, over the wound, 
 without withdrawing the sword, several handl<erchiefs, 
 which were soaked with the blood. These facts were 
 described to me by an eye-witness. A spectacle, of a 
 more singular and more disgusting nature used to be not 
 uncommon on similar occasions, but is now very seldom 
 witnessed.* Sometimes, also, " hawees " (or conjurers 
 and sleight-of-hand ])erformers) exhibit a variety of 
 tricks on these occasions. But the most common of all 
 the performances here mentioned are the mock figlits. 
 Similar exhibitions are also sometimes witnessed on the 
 occasion of a circumcision. •!' 
 
 The bride and her party, having arrived at the bride- 
 groom's house, sit down to a repast. Her iriends, shortly 
 after, take their departure ; leaving with her only her 
 mother and sister, or other near female relations, and one 
 or two other women ; usually the bellaneh. The en- 
 suing night is called " Leylct ed-Dukhleh," or " the 
 Night of the Entrance." 
 
 The bridegroom sits below. Before sunset, he goes 
 to the bath, and there changes his clothes ; or he merely 
 does the latter at home, and, after having sujiped with a 
 party of his friends, waits till a little before the " 'cshe " 
 (or time of the night-prayer), or until the third or fourth 
 hour of the night, when, according to general custom, 
 he should repair to some celebrated mosque, such as that 
 
 * A correct description of this is given in Burckhardt's ' Arabic Pro- 
 verbs,' pp. 115, 116. 
 
 t Grand zeffehs are sometimes accompanied by a number of cai-s, each 
 bearing a trroup of persons of some manufacture or trade performing the 
 usual work of their craft; even such as builders, Nvliitewashers, &c. ; 
 including members of all, or almost all, the arts and manufactures prac- 
 tised in the metropolis.
 
 224 
 
 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 of the Hasaneyn, and there say his prayers. If young, 
 he is generally lionoured with a zeti'eh on this occasion : 
 he goes to the mosque j)recedeil by musicians with drums 
 and one or more hautboys, and accompanied by a number 
 
 of friends, and by several men bearin 
 
 jsh'als." Th 
 
 ms^iSi 
 
 Mesli'als. 
 
 mesh'al is a staff' with a cylindrical frame of iron at the 
 top filled with flaming wood, or having two, three, four, 
 or five of these receptacles for fire. The party usually 
 proceeds to the mosque w ith a quick pace, and without 
 much order. A second group of musicians, with the 
 same instruments, or with drums only, closes the pro- 
 cession. The bridegroom is generally dressed in a 
 kuftan with red stripes, and a red gibbeh, with a Kash-
 
 MAERIAGE. 22.5 
 
 meer shawl of" the same colour for his turban ; and walks 
 between two friends similarly dressed. The prayers are 
 commonly performed merely as a matter of ceremony ; 
 and it is frequently the case that the bridegroom does 
 not pray at all, or ])rays without having previously per- 
 formed the wudoo, like memlooks, who say their prayers 
 only because they fear their master.* The procession 
 returns from the mosque with more order and display, 
 and very slowly ; perhaps because it would be considered 
 unbecoming in the bridegroom to hasten home to take 
 possession of his bride. It is headed, as before, by mu- 
 sicians, and two or more bearers of mesh'als. These 
 are generally followed by two men, bearing, by means 
 of a i^ole resting horizontally upon their shoulders, a 
 hanging frame, to which are attached about sixty or more 
 small lamps, in four circles, one above another; the 
 uppermost of which circles is made to revolve, being 
 turned round occasionally by one of the two bearers. 
 These numerous lamps, and several mesh'als besides 
 those before mentioned, brilliantly illumine the streets 
 through which the procession passes, and produce a re- 
 markably picturesque effect. The bridegroom and his 
 friends and other attendants follow, advancms: in the 
 form of an oblong ring, all facing the interior of the ring, 
 and each bearing in bis hand one or more wax candles, 
 and sometimes a sprig of henna or some other flower, 
 excepting the bridegroom and the friend on either side 
 of him. These three form the latter part of the ring, 
 which generally consists of twenty or more persons. 
 At frequent intervals, the party stops for a few minutes ; 
 and during each of these pauses, a boy or man, one of 
 the persons who compose the ring, sings a few words of 
 an e})ithalamium. The sounds of the drums, and the 
 shrill notes of the hautboy (which the bride hears half 
 an hour or more before the procession arrives at the 
 house), cease during these songs. The train is closed, 
 as in the former case, by a second group of musicians. 
 In the manner above described, the bridegroom's 
 
 * Hence this kind of prayer is called " salah memaleekeeyeh,"' or 
 " the prayer of memlooks." 
 
 T.3
 
 226 THE MODERN KGYPTIANS. 
 
 zcffeh is most commonly conducted ; but there is another 
 mode, that is more resj)ectable, called " zetieh siuiatee," 
 which signities "the gentlenien's zeft'eh." In this, the 
 bridegroom is af'C()ni))anied by his friends in the same 
 manner as belbre related, and attendetl and j)receded by 
 men bearing mesh'als, but not by musicians : in the place 
 of these are about six or eight men, who, irom their 
 being em])loyed as singers on occasions of this kind, are 
 called " wilad el-layalee," or " sons of the nights." 
 Thus attended, he goes to the mosque ; and while he 
 returns slowly thence to his house, the singers above 
 mentioned chant, or rather sing, " muweshshahs " (or 
 lyric odes) in praise of the Prophet. Having returned 
 to the house, these same j)ersons chant portions of the 
 Kur-an, one after another, for the anmsement of the 
 guests ; then, altogether, recite the opening chapter 
 (the Fat'nah) ; after which, one of them sings a " ka- 
 seedeh " (or short poem) in praise of the Prophet: 
 lastly, all of them again sing nmweshshalis. After having 
 thus performed, they receive " nukoot " (or contribu- 
 tions of money) from the bridegroom and his friends. 
 
 Soon after his return from the mosque, the bridegroom 
 leaves his friends in a lower aj)artnient, enjoying their 
 pipes and coffee and sherbet. The bride's mother and 
 sister, or whatever other female relations were left with 
 her, are above ; and the bride herself, and the belhineh, 
 in a separate a})artment.* If the bridegroom be a 
 youth or young man, it is considered ])roper that he, as 
 well as the bride, should exhibit some degree of bash- 
 fulness : one of his friends, therefore, carries him a part 
 of the way up to the hareem. On entering the bride's 
 aj)artment, he gives a ])resent to the belhineh, and she 
 retires. The bride has a sha\A 1 thrown over her head ; 
 and the bridegroom must give her a present of money, 
 which is called " the ])rice of the uncovering of the 
 face,"t before he attempts to remove this, which she 
 
 * Sometimes, vhen the parties are persons of wealth, the bride is 
 displayed before tlie bridegroom in different dresses, to the number of 
 se\en. 
 
 -f- " Hakk keshf el-wishsh." " Wishsh " is a vulgar corruption of 
 " wegh," or " wejh,"
 
 MARRIAGE. ^-i-t 
 
 docs not allow him to do without some apparent reluc- 
 tance, if not violent resistance, in order to show her 
 maiden modesty. On removing the coverinor, he says, 
 '• In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful ;" 
 and then greets her with this compliment: "The night 
 be blessed," or " — is blessed:" to which she replies, 
 if timidity do not choke her utterance, " God bless thee." 
 The bridegroom now sees the face of his bride for the 
 first time, and generally finds her nearly what he has 
 been led to expect. Often, but not always, a curious 
 ceremony is then performed. The bridegroom takes otf 
 every article of the bride's clothing excepting her shirt ; 
 seats her upon a mattress or bed, the head of which is 
 turned towards the direction of Mekkeh, placing her so 
 that her back is also turned in that direction ; and draws 
 forward, and spreads upon the bed, the lower part of 
 the front of her shirt : having done this, he stands at the 
 distance of rather less than a yard before her, and per- 
 forms the prayers of two rek'ahs ; laying his head and 
 hands, in prostration, u))on the part of her shirt that is 
 extended before her lap. He remains with her but a 
 few minutes longer : * having satisfied his curiosity re- 
 specting her personal charms, he calls to the women 
 (who generally collec.-t at the door, where they wait in 
 anxious suspense) to raise their cries of joy, or zaghii- 
 reet ; and the shrill sounds acquaint the persons below 
 and in the neighbourhood, and often, responded by other 
 women, spread still further the news, that he has ac- 
 knowledged himself satisfied with his bride: he soon 
 after descends to rejoin his friends, and remains with 
 them an h^air, or more, before he returns to his wife. It 
 very seluom happens that the husband, if disappointed 
 in his bride, immediately disgraces and divorces her ; in 
 general, he retains her, in this case, a week or more. 
 
 Having now described the most usual manner in which 
 the marriages of virgin-brides are conducted in Cairo, I 
 
 * I beg to refer the reader, if he desire further details on this subject, 
 to page 117 of Burckhardt's ' Arabi.- Proverbs.' His account might 
 hnve been more complete, but he seems to have studied to be particu- 
 larlv concise in this case.
 
 228 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 may a<kl a few words on some of the ceremonies observed 
 in other ciises of matrimony, both of virgins and of 
 widows or divorced women. 
 
 The daucrhters of the great, prenerally having- baths in 
 their own houses, sehlom «ro to the |»ubHc})ath previously 
 to marriage. A bride of a wealthy family, and her 
 female relations and friends, if there be not a l)ath in her 
 house, go to the j)ublic bath, which is hired for them ex- 
 clusively, and to the bridegroom's house, without music 
 or canopy, mounted on asses : the bride herself generally 
 wearing a Kashmeer shawl, in the manner of a habarah. 
 
 If the bridegroom or the bride's family have eunuchs, 
 these ride before the bride ; and sometimes a man runs 
 at the head of the ])rocession, crying, " Bless ye the 
 Prophet!"* This man, on entering the house, throws 
 down, upon the threshold, some leaves of the white beet 
 (" salk"), over which the ladies ride. The object of 
 this act is to propitiate fortune. The same man then 
 exclaims, '* Assistance from God, and a speedy vic- 
 tory !"t 
 
 Marriages, among the Egyptians, arc sometimes con- 
 ducted without any pom[) or ceremony even in the case 
 of virgins, by mutual consent of the bridegroom and the 
 bride's family, or the bride herself; and widows and 
 divorced women are never honoured with a zeifeh on 
 marrying again. The mere sentence, " I give myself up 
 to thee, "J uttered by a female to a man who ])roposes to 
 become her husband (even without the presence of wit- 
 nesses, if none can easily be ])rocured), renders her his 
 legal wife, if arrived at jjuberty ; and marriages with 
 widows and divorced women, among the Muslims of 
 Egyj)t, and other Arabs, are sometimes concluded in 
 this sim[)le manner. The dowry of such women is 
 generally one quarter or third or half the amount of that 
 of a virsrin. 
 
 In Cairo, among persons not of the lowest order, 
 though in very humble life, the marriage ceremonies are 
 
 * " Salloo 'a-n-nebee." " 'A-n-nebee " is a vuls^ar contraction of 
 " 'ala-n-nebee." 
 
 f Kur-dn, chap. Ixi. ver. lo. % " Wahebtu lak nefsee."
 
 THE HAEEEM. '229 
 
 conducted in the same manner as among the middle 
 orders. But when the expenses of such zeffehs as I 
 have described cannot by any means be paid, the bride 
 is paraded in a very simple manner, covered with a 
 shawl (generally red), and surrounded by a group of her 
 female relations and friends, dressed in their best, or in 
 borrowed, clothes, and enlivened by no other sounds of 
 joy than their zaghareet, which they repeat at frequent 
 intervals. 
 
 The general mode of zeffeh among the inhabitants of 
 the villages is different from those above described. The 
 bride, usually covered with a shawl, is seated on a camel ; 
 and so conveyed to the bridegroom's dwelling. Some- 
 times four or five women or girls sit with her, on the same 
 camel ; one on either side of her, and two or three others 
 behind : the seat being made very wide, and usually 
 covered with carpets or other drapery. She is followed 
 by a group of women singing. In the evening of the 
 wedding, and often during several previous evenings, in 
 a village, the male and female friends of the two parties 
 meet at the bridegroom's house, and pass several hours 
 of the night, in the open air, amusing themselves with 
 songs and a rude kind of dance, accompanied by the 
 sounds of a tambourine or some kind of drum : both 
 sexes sins: ; but only the women dance, — I have intro- 
 duced here these few words on the marriage- ceremonies 
 of the peasantry to avoid scattering notes on subjects of 
 the same nature. I now revert to the customs of the 
 people of Cairo. 
 
 On the morning after the marriage, "khawals"'* or 
 "ghazeeyehs" (dancing men or girls) perform in the 
 street before the bridegroom's house, or in the court. f 
 On the same morning also, if the bridegroom be a young 
 man, the person who carried him up stairs generally 
 takes him and several friends to an entertainment in the 
 country, where they spend the whole day. This cere- 
 mony is called " el-huroobeh," or the flight. Sometimes 
 the bridegroom himself makes the arrangements for it ; 
 
 * A khawal is also called " gha"sh ; plural, " gheeyash." 
 J This performance is called the bride's '' sabaheeyeh."
 
 230 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 and jiays part of the ox))cnscs, if thoy exceed the amount 
 of the contributions of his friends ; for they give nukoot 
 on this occasion. Musicians and dancinja: girls are often 
 hircil to attend the entertainment. If the bridegroom 
 be a j)erson of the lower orders, he is conducted back in 
 proce>sion, yjrcccdcd by three or ibur musicians with 
 drums and hautboys ; his friends and other attendants 
 carrying each a nosegay, as in the zetieh of the preced- 
 ing night ; and if their return be after sunset, they arc 
 accompanied by men bearing meshals, lamps, &c. ; and 
 the friends of the bridegroom carry lighted wax candles, 
 besides the nosegays.* Subsequent festivities occasioned 
 by marriage will be described in a later Chapter. 
 
 The husband, if he can conveniently so arrange, 
 generall}' prefers that h's mother should reside with him 
 and his wife ; that she may protect his wife's honour, and 
 consequently his own also. It is said that the mother- 
 in-law is, for this reason, called " hamah."f The women 
 of Egyi)t are said to be generally prone to criminal in- 
 trigues ; and I fear that, in this respect, they are not un- 
 justly accused. Sometimes a husband keeps his wife in 
 the house of her mother, and j)ays the daily expenses of 
 both. This ought to make the mother very careful with 
 regard to expenditure, and strict as to her daughter's 
 conduct, lest the latter should be divorced ; but it is 
 said, that, in this case, she often acts as her daughter's 
 ])rocuress, and teaches her innumerable tricks, by which 
 to gain the upi)er hand over her husband, and to drain 
 Ills purse. The influence of the wile's mother is also 
 
 * Among the peasants of Upper Egypt, the relations and acquain- 
 tances of the bridegroom and bride meet together on the day after the 
 marriage: and while a numb 'r of the men clap their liands, as an ac- 
 companiment to a tambourine, or two, and any other instruments that 
 can be procured, tlie bride <)ances before tliem for a short time. She 
 has a liead-veil reacliing to her heels, and a printed cotton handkerchief 
 complt tely covering her face, and wears, externally, the most rem.irk- 
 able of her bridal garments (mentioned by Hurckhardt, in the place 
 l)efore referred to, and, in some parts of Egypt, hung over the door of a 
 
 Feasant's house after marriai,'e). Other women, similarly veiled, and 
 ressed in their best, or borrowed, clothes, continue the dance about two 
 hours, or more. 
 
 f Til ;s commonly pronouncd, for "hamah,"a word derived from 
 the verb " hama," " he protected, or guarded."
 
 THE HAREEM. 231 
 
 scarcely less feared when she only enjoys occasional 
 opportunities of seeing her daughter : hence it is held 
 more prudent for a man to marry a female who has 
 neither mother nor any near relations of her own sex ; 
 and some wives are even prohibited receiving any female 
 friends but those who are relations of the husband : they 
 are very few, however, upon whom such severe restric- 
 tions are imposed. 
 
 For a person who has become familiar with male Mus- 
 lim society in Cairo, without marrying, it is not so diffi- 
 cult as might be imagined by a stranger to obtain, directly 
 and indirectly, correct and ample information resj)ecting 
 the condition and habits of the women. Many husbands 
 of the middle classes, and some of the higher orders, 
 freely talk of the affairs of the hareem with one who 
 professes to agree with them in their general moral sen- 
 timents, if they have not to converse through the medium 
 of an interpreter. 
 
 Though the women have a particular portion of the 
 house allotted to them, the icives, in general, are not to 
 be regarded as prisoners ; lor they are usually at liberty 
 to go out and pay visits, as well as to receive female 
 visiters, almost as often as they please. The slaves, 
 indeed, being subservient to the ^iv^^s, as well as to 
 their master, or, if subject to the master only, being 
 under an authority almost unlimited, have not that 
 liberty. One of the chief objects of the master in ap- 
 propriating a distinct suite of apartments to his women, 
 is to prevent their being seen by the male domestics and 
 other men without being covered in the manner pre- 
 scribed by their religion. The following words of the 
 Kur-an show the necessity under which a Muslim^eh is 
 placed of concealing whatever is attractive in her person 
 or attire from all men, excepting certain relations and 
 some other persons. " And speak unto the believing 
 women, that they restrain their eyes, and preserve their 
 modesty, and discover not their ornaments, except what 
 [necessarily] appeareth thereof: and let them throw 
 their veils over their bosoms, and not show their orna- 
 ments, unless to their husbands, or their fathers, or their
 
 232 THE MODERN' EGYPTIAXS. 
 
 husbands' fathers, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, 
 or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' 
 sons, or their women, or those [ca])tives] whieh their 
 riiiht hands sliall possess, or unto sueli men as attend 
 [them] and liave no need [of women], or unto children :" 
 "and let them not make a noise with their feet, that 
 their ornaments which they hide may [thereby] be dis- 
 covered."* The last passage alludes to the practice of 
 knocking together the anklets which flie Arab women 
 in the time of the Prophet used to wear ; and which are 
 still worn by many women in Egy[)t. 
 
 1 must here transcribe two notes of eminent commen- 
 tators on the Kur-an, in illustration of the above extract, 
 and inserted in Sale's translation. This I do, because 
 they would convey an erroneous idea of modern customs 
 with regard to the admission, or non-admission, of certain 
 persons into the hareem. The first is on the above 
 words " or their women," which it thus explains : — 
 " That is, such as are of the Mohammadan religion: it 
 being reckoned by some unlawful, or, at least, indecent, 
 for a woman who is a true believer to uncover herself 
 before one who is an infidel ; because the latter will 
 hardly refrain from describing her to the men : but 
 others suppose all women in general are here excepted ; 
 for, in this particular, doctors differ." In Egypt, and, 
 I believe, in every other jNIuslim country, it is not now 
 considered improper for any woman, whether inde])en- 
 dent, or a servant, or a slave, a Christian, a Jewess, a 
 Muslim'eh, or a pagan, to enter a Muslim's hareem. — 
 The second of the notes above alluded to is on the words 
 "or those captives;" and is as follows: — "Slaves of 
 either sex are included in this exception, and, as some 
 think, domestic servants who are not slaves, as those of 
 a different nation. It is related that Mohammad once 
 made a present of a man-slave to his daughter Fatimeh ; 
 and when he brought him to her, she had on a garment 
 which was so scanty, that she was obliged to leave cither 
 her head or her feet uncovered : and that the Prophet, 
 seeing her in great confusion on that account, told her, 
 
 * Chap. xxiv. ver. 31.
 
 THE HABEEM. 233 
 
 she need be under no concern, for that there \\as none 
 present but her father and her slave." Among the Arabs 
 of the Desert this may still be the case ; but in Egypt I 
 have never heard of an instance of an adult male slave 
 being allowed to see the hareem of a respectable man, 
 whether he belonged to that hareem or not; and am 
 assured that it is never permitted. Perhaps the reason 
 why the man-slave of a woman is allowed this privilege 
 by the Kur-an is, because she cannot become his lawful 
 w ife as long as he continues her slave : but this is a poor 
 reason for granting him access to the hareem, in such a 
 state of society. It is remarkable that, in the verse of 
 the Kur-iln above quoted, uncles are not mentioned as 
 privileged to see their nieces unveiled : some think that 
 they are not admissible, and for this reason, lest they 
 should describe the persons of their nieces to their sons ; 
 for it is regarded as highly improper for a man to de- 
 scribe the features or person of a female (as to say, that 
 she has large eyes, a straight nose, small mouth, &c.) to 
 one of his own sex by whom it is unlawful for her to be 
 seen, though it is not considered indecorous to describe 
 her in general terms, as, for instance, to say, " She is a 
 sweet girl, and set off with kohl and henna." 
 
 It may be mentioned here, as a general rule, that a 
 man is allowed to see unveiled only his own wives and 
 female slaves, and those females whom he is prohibited, 
 by law, from marrying, on account of their being within 
 certain degrees of consanguinity or family connexion, or 
 having given him suck, or being nearly related to his 
 foster-mother.* The high antiquity of the veil has been 
 alluded to in the first chapter of this work. It Iws also 
 been mentioned, that it is considered more necessary, in 
 Egypt, for a woman to cover the upj)er and back part of 
 her head than her face ; and more requisite for her to 
 conceal her face than most other parts of her person : 
 for instance, a female who cannot be persuaded to unveil 
 her face in the presence of men, will think it but little 
 shame to display the whole of her bosom, or the greater 
 
 * See the chapter on Religion and Laws. Eunuchs are allowed to see 
 
 the face of anv woman : so also are voung bovs.
 
 234 THE MODKRX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 part of her leg. There are, it is true, many women 
 ainonp: tlie lower classes in this country who constantly 
 apjx'ar in public with unveiled face ; but they are almost 
 constrained to do so by tl.'e want of a burko' (or face- 
 veil), and the dithculty of adjusting the tarl.ah (or head- 
 veil), of which scarcely any woman is destilute, so as to 
 suj)i)ly the place of the former ; particularly when both 
 their hands are occupied in holding some burden which 
 they are carrying- uj)on the head. When a respectable 
 woman is, by any chance, seen with her head or i'ace 
 uncovered, by a man who is not entitled to enjoy that 
 j)rivilege, she quickly assumes or adjusts her tarhah, and 
 often exclaims, " O my misfortune! "* or "O my sor- 
 row ! "f Motives of coquetry, however, frequently in- 
 duce an Egyj)tian woman to expose her face before a 
 man when she thinks that she may apj)ear to do so unin- 
 tentionally, or that she may be suj)posed not to see him. 
 A man may also occasionally enjoy oi)portunities of see- 
 ing the face of an Egyptian lady when she really thinks 
 herself unobserved ; sometimes at an open lattice, and 
 sometimes on a house-top. Many small houses in Cairo 
 have no apartment on the ground-floor ibr tiie reception 
 of male visiters, who therefore ascend to an upj)er room ; 
 but as they go ujjstairs, they exclaim, several times, 
 *' Destoor !" ("Permission!"), or " Ysi Satir I" (" O 
 Protector!" that is, "O protecting God!"), or use 
 some similar ejaculation, in order to warn any woman 
 who may hapj)en to be in the way, to retire, or to veil 
 herself; which she does by drawing a part of her tarhah 
 before her face, so as to leave, at most, only one eye 
 visible. To such an absurd pitch do the Muslims carry 
 their feeling of the sacredncss of women, that entrance 
 into the tombs of some females is denied to men ; as, for 
 instance, the tombs of the Prophet's wives and other 
 females of his family, in the burial-ground of El-Me- 
 deeneh ; into which women are ireely admitted : and a 
 man and woman they never bury in the same vault, unless 
 a wall separate the bodies. Yet there are, among the 
 
 * " Ya dahwet'ee," for " daawet'ee." 
 f " Va neJam'tee," for " nedametee."
 
 THE HAREEM. 235 
 
 Egyptians, a few persons who are much less particular in 
 this respect : such is one of my Muslim friends here, who 
 generally allows me to see his mother when I call upon 
 him. She is a widow, of about fifty years of age ; but, 
 being very fat, and not looking so old, she calls herself 
 forty. She usually comes to the door of the ajjartment 
 of the hareem in which I am received (there being no 
 lower apartment in the house for male visiters), and sits 
 there upon the floor, but will never enter the room. 
 Occasiouctlly, and as if by accident, she shows me the 
 whole of her face, with plenty of koul round her eyes ; 
 and does not attempt to conceal her diamonds, emeralds, 
 and other ornaments ; but rather the reverse. The wife, 
 however, I am never permitted to see ; though once I 
 was allowed to talk to her, in the presence of her hus- 
 band, round the corner of a passage at the top of the 
 stairs. 
 
 I believe that, in Egypt, the women are generally under 
 less restraint than in any other country of the Turkish 
 Empire ; so that it is not uncommon to see females of the 
 lower orders flirting and jesting with men in public, and 
 men laying their hands upon them very freely. Still it 
 might be imagined, that the women of the higlier and 
 middle classes feel themselves severely oppressed, and 
 are much discontented with the state of seclusion to w hich 
 they are subjected : but this is not commonly the case ; 
 on the contrary, an Egyptian w ife who is attached to her 
 husband is apt to think, if he allow her unusual liberty, 
 that he neglects her, and does not sufficiently love her ; 
 and to envy those wives who are kept and watched with 
 greater strictness. 
 
 It is not very common for an Egyptian to have more 
 than one wife, or a concubine-slave ; though the law 
 allows him Jbicr wives (as I have before stated), and, 
 according to common opinion, as many concubine-slaves 
 as he may choose. But, though a man restrict himself 
 to a single wife, he may change as often as he desires ; 
 and there are certainly not nr.any persons in Cairo who 
 have not divorced one wife, if they have been long mar- 
 ried. The husband may, whenever he pleases, say to
 
 236 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 his wife, "Thou art divorced:"* if it bo his wish, 
 Mhothcr reasonable or not, she must return to her parents 
 or friends. Tliis liability to an unmerited divorcement 
 is the source of more uneasiness to many wives than all 
 the other troubles to which they are exposed ; as they 
 may thereby be reduced to a state of great destitution : 
 l)ut to others, who hope to better their condition, it is, of 
 course, exactly the reverse. I have mentioned, in a 
 former Chapter,! that a man may divorce his wife twice, 
 and each time receive her again without any ceremony; 
 but that he cannot lej:ally take her again after a third 
 divorce until she has been married and divorced by an- 
 other man. The consequences of a triple divorce con- 
 veyed in one sentence J are the same, unless the man 
 and his wife agree to infringe the law, or the former 
 deny his having ])ronounced the sentence ; in which 
 latter case, the woman may have much difficulty to en- 
 force his compliance with the law, if she be inclined to 
 do so. 
 
 In illustration of this subject, I may mention a case in 
 which an acquaintance of mine was concerned as a wit- 
 ness of the sentence of divorce. He was sitting in a 
 cortee-shop with two other men, one of whom had just 
 been irritate(i by something that his wife had said or 
 done. After a short conversation upon this aflair, the 
 angry husband sent for his wife, and, as soon as she 
 came, said to her, " Thou art trebly divorced:" then, 
 addressing his two companions, he added, " You, my 
 brothers, are witnesses.'" Shortly after, however, he 
 rei)ented of this act, and wished to take back his divorced 
 ■wife ; but she refused to return to him, and appealed to 
 the " Shara Allah" (or Law of God), The case was 
 tried at the Mahkem'eh. The woman, who was the 
 plaintiff, stated that the defendant was her husband ; 
 that he had pronounced against her the sentence of a 
 triple divorce ; and that he now wished her to return to 
 him, and live with him as his wife, contrary to the law, 
 and consequently in a state of sin. The defendant denied 
 
 * " Entee talikah." f On tlie Religion and Laws. 
 
 ' i " Entee tallkah l)i-t-telateh."
 
 THE HAREEM. 237 
 
 that he had divorced her. " Have you witnesses ? " 
 said the judge to the plaintiff. She answered, " I have 
 here two witnesses." These were the men who were 
 present in the coffee- shop when the sentence of divorce 
 was pronounced. They were desired to give their evi- 
 dence ; and they stated that the defendant divorced his 
 wife, by a triple sentence, in their presence. The de- 
 fendant averred that she whom he divorced in the coffee- 
 shop was another wife of his. The plaintiff declared 
 that he had no other wife : but the judge observed to 
 her that it was impossible she could know that ; and 
 asked the witnesses what was the name of the woman 
 whom the defendant divorced in their presence '? They 
 answered that they were ignorant of her name. They 
 were then asked if they could swear that the plaintiff 
 was the woman who was divorced before them '? Their 
 reply was, that they could not swear to a woman whom 
 they had never seen unveiled. Under these circum- 
 stances, the judge thought it right to dismiss the case ; 
 and the woman was obliged to return to her husband. 
 She might have demanded that he should produce the 
 woman whom he professed to have divorced in the coffee- 
 shop ; but he would easily have found a woman to play 
 the part he required ; as it would not have been neces- 
 sary for her to show a marriaere-certificate ; marriages 
 being almost always performed in Egypt without any 
 written contract, and sometimes even without witnesses. 
 It not unfrequently happens, that, when a man who 
 has divorced his wife the third time wishes to take her 
 again (she herself consenting to their reunion, and there 
 being no witnesses to the sentence of divorce), he does 
 so without conforming with the offensive law before men- 
 tioned. It is also a common custom for a man under 
 similar circumstances to employ a person to marry the 
 divorced woman on the condition of his resigning her, 
 the day after their union, to him, her former husband, 
 whose wife she again becomes, by a second contract ; 
 though this is plainly contrary to the spirit of the law. 
 The wife, however, can withhold her consent, unless 
 she is not of age j in which case, her father, or other
 
 238 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 lawful guardian, may marry her to whom he j)lcases 
 A ])oor man (generally a very ugly person, and often 
 one who is blind) is usually chosen to j)erform this 
 office. lie is termed a " Mustahall," or " Mustahill," 
 or a " Mohalld." It is often the ease that the man thus 
 employed is so pleased with the beauty of the woman to 
 Ni'hom he is introduced on these terms, or with her riches, 
 that he refuses to give her up; and the law cannot 
 compel him to divorce her, unless he act unjustly towards 
 her as her husband ; which of course he takes good care 
 not to do. But a person may employ a mustahall without 
 running this risk. It is the custom of many wealthy 
 Turks, and some of the people of Egypt, to make use of 
 a slave, generally a black, their own property, to officiate 
 in this character. Sometimes, a slave is purchased for 
 this ])urpose ; or if the })erson who requires him for 
 such a service be acquainted with a slave-dealer, he asks 
 from the latter a present of a slave; signifying that he 
 will give him back again. The uglier the slave, the 
 better. The Turks generally choose one not arrived at 
 puberty ; which the tenets of their sect allow. As soon 
 as the woman has accomplished her "'eddeh" (or the 
 period during which she is obliged to wait before she 
 can marry again), the husband who divorced her, having 
 previously obtained her consent to what he is about to 
 do, introduces the slave to her, and asks her if she will 
 be married to him. She replies that she will. She is 
 accordingly wedded to the slave, in the presence of 
 witnesses ; and a dowry is given to her, to make the 
 marriage perfectly Icffal. The slave consummates the 
 marriage ; and thus becomes the woman's legitimate 
 husband. Immediately after, or on the following morn- 
 ing, her former husband presents this slave to her as her 
 own property, and the moment that she accepts him, her 
 marriage with him becomes dissolved; for it is unlawful 
 for a woman to be the wife of her own slave : though 
 she may emancipate a slave, and tlieii marry him. As 
 soon as her marriage is dissolved by her accepting the 
 gift of the slave, she may give back this slave to her hus- 
 band : but it seldom happens that the latter will allow
 
 THE HAREEM. 239 
 
 a person who has been a mustahall for him to remain in 
 his house. The wile, after this proceeding, may, as soon 
 as she has again accomplished her 'eddeh, become re- 
 united to her former husband, after having been sepa- 
 rated from him, by the necessity of her fulfilling two 
 'eddehs, about half a year, or perhaps more. 
 
 That the facility of divorce has depraving effects upon 
 both sexes may be easily imagined. There are many 
 men in this country who, in the course of ten years, 
 have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more wives ; 
 and women not far advanced in age who have been wives 
 to a dozen or more men successively, I have heard of 
 men who have been in the habit of marrying a new wife 
 almost every month. A person may do this although 
 possessed of very little property : he may choose, from 
 among the females of the lower orders in the streets of 
 Cairo, a handsome young widow or divorced woman who 
 will consent to become his wife for a dowry of about 
 ten shillings ; and when he divorces her, he need not 
 give her more than double that sum to maintain her during 
 her ensuing 'eddeh. It is but just, however, to add, that 
 such conduct is generally regarded as very disgraceful ; 
 and that few parents in the middle or higher classes will 
 give a daughter in marriage to a man who has divorced 
 many wives. 
 
 Polygamy, which is also attended with very injurious 
 effects upon the morals of the husband and the wives, 
 and only to be defended because it serves to prevent a 
 greater immorality than it occasions, is more rare among 
 the higher and middle classes than it is among the lower 
 orders ; and it is not very common among the latter. 
 A poor man may indulge himself with two or more 
 wives, each of whom may be able, by some art or occu- 
 pation, nearly to provide her own subsistence ; but most 
 persons of the middle and higher orders are deteiTcd from 
 doing so by the consideration of the expense and dis- 
 comfort which they would incur. A man having a wife 
 who has the misfortune to be barren, and being too much 
 attached to her to divorce her, is sometimes induced to 
 take a second wife, merely in the hope of obtaining ofi-
 
 240 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 spring; and from the same motive, lie may take a third, 
 and a fourth ; but tickle j)assion is the most evident and 
 common motive both to polygamy and repeated divorces. 
 They are comparatively very few who gratify this passion 
 by the former ])ractice. 1 believe that not more than 
 one iiusl)and among twenty has two wives. 
 
 When there are two or more wives belonging to one 
 man, the first (that is, the one first married) generally 
 enjoys the highest rank ; and is called " the great lady."* 
 Hence it often happcms that, when a man who has 
 already one wife wishes to marry another girl or woman, 
 the father of the latter, or the female herself who is 
 sought in marriage, will not consent to the union unless 
 the first wife be previously divorced. The women, of 
 course, do not aj^prove of a man's marrying more tlian 
 one wife. Most men of wealth, or of moderate circum- 
 stances, and even many men of the lower orders, if they 
 have two or more wives, have, for each, a separate house. 
 The wife has, or can oblige her husband to give her, a 
 particular description of lodging,! which is either a sepa- 
 rate house, or a suite of apartments (consisting of a room 
 in which to sleej) and pass the day, a kitchen, and a 
 latrina) that are, or may be made, sej)arate and shut out 
 from any other apartments in the same house. A 
 fellow-wife is called " durrah." J The quarrels of 
 durrahs are often talked of : for it maybe naturally in- 
 ferred, that, when two wives share the affection and 
 attentions of the same man, they are not always on terms 
 of amity with each other ; and the same is generally the 
 case with a wife and a concubine-slave living in the same 
 house, and under similar circumstances. § If the chief 
 lady Jac barren, and an inferior, either wife or slave, bear 
 a child to her husband or master, it commonly results 
 that the latter woman becomes a favourite of the man, 
 
 * " Es-sitt el-kebeereh.'' -j- Called " meskin shar'ee." 
 
 + Commonly thus pronounced (or rather " durrah," with a soft <f) 
 
 for " darrah ;" originally, perhaps, by way of a pun ; as " durrah " is a 
 
 common name for a pnrnA. 
 
 ^ The law enjoins a husband who has two or more wives to be strictly 
 
 impartial to them in every respect, but compliance with its dictates in 
 
 this matter is rare.
 
 THE HAREEM. 241 
 
 and that the chief wife or mistress is " despised in her 
 eyes," as Abraham's wife was in the eyes of Hagar on 
 the same account.* It therefore not very unfrequently 
 happens that the first wife loses her rank and privileges ; 
 another becomes the chief lady, and, being the favourite 
 of her husband, is treated by her rival or rivals, and by 
 all the members and visiters of the hareem, with the 
 same degree of outward respect which the first wife pre- 
 viously enjoyed : but sometimes the poisoned cup is em- 
 ployed to remove her. A preference given to a second 
 wife is often the cause of the first's being registered as 
 " nashizeh,"f either on her husband's or her own appli- 
 cation at the Mahkem'eh. Yet many instances are 
 known of neglected wives behaving with exemplary and 
 unfeigned submission to their husband, in such cases, and 
 with amiable good nature towards the favourite. J 
 
 Some wives have female slaves who are their own pro- 
 perty, generally purchased for them, or presented to 
 them, before marriage. These cannot be the husband's 
 concubines without their mistress's permission, which is 
 sometimes granted (as it was in the case of Hagar, 
 Sarah's bondwoman) ; but very seldom. Often, the 
 wife will not even allow her female slave or slaves to ap- 
 ])ear unveiled in the presence of her husband. Should 
 such a slave, without the pei mission of her mistress, 
 become the concubine of the husband, and bear him a 
 child, the child is a slave, unless, prior to its birth, the 
 mother be sold, or presented, to the father. 
 
 The white female slaves are mostly in the possession 
 of wealthy Turks. The concubine-slaves § in the houses 
 of Egyptians of the higher and middle classes are, 
 generally, Abyssinians, of a deep brown or bronze com- 
 
 • See Genesis, xvi. 4. 
 
 f This has been explained in Chapter Ilf., p. 138. • 
 
 ^ In general the most beautiful of a man's wives or slaves is, of 
 course, for a time, his greatest favourite ; but in many (if not most) 
 cases, the lasting favourite is not the most handsome." The love of a 
 Muslim, therefore, is not always merely sensual ; nor does the relati%'e 
 condition and comfort of his wife, or of each of his wives, invariably 
 depend so much on his caprice, or her own personal charms, as on her 
 general conduct and disposition. 
 
 ^ A Muslim cannot take as a concubine a slave wiio is an idolatress. 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 plexion. In their fcatnros. as well as llioir complexions, 
 thev appear an intermediate race between tiie neuroes 
 and wliite j)eople : but the ditierenee between them and 
 either of the above-mentioned races is consi<ierable. 
 They themselves, iiowever, think that they differ so 
 little from the white peoi)le, that they cannot be per- 
 suaded to act as servants, with due obedience, to their 
 masters' w ives ; and the black (or neprro) slave-jrirl feels 
 exactly in the same manner towards the Abyssinian ; 
 but is perfectly willing to serve the white ladies. 1 
 should here mention, that the slaves who are termed 
 Abyssinians are not from the country properly called 
 Abyssinia, but from the neighbouring territories of the 
 Gallas. Most of them are handsome. The average 
 price of one of these girls is from ten to fifteen ])Ounds 
 sterling, if moderately handsome ; but this is only about 
 half the sum that used to be given for one a few years 
 ago. They are much esteemed by the voluj)tuaries of 
 Egypt ; but are of delicate constitution : many ot them 
 die, in this country, of consumption. The price of a 
 white slave-girl is usually from treble to tenfold that of 
 an Abyssinian ; and the price of a black girl, about half 
 or two-thirds, or considerably more if well instructed in 
 the art of cookery. The black slaves are generally em- 
 ployed as menials.* 
 
 Almost all of the slaves become converts to the faith 
 of El-Islam ; but, in general, they are little instructed 
 in the rites of their new religion ; and still less in its 
 doctrines. Most of the white female slaves v\ho were 
 in Egypt during my former visit to this country were 
 Greeks : vast nunibers of that unfortunate people having 
 been nmde prisoners by the Turkish and Egy])tian army 
 under Ibraheem Basha ; and many of them, males and 
 females, including even infants scarcely able to walk, 
 sent to Egyj)t to be sold. Latterly, from the impoverish- 
 ment of the higher classes in this country, the demand 
 for white slaves has been small. A few, some of whom 
 undergo a kind of preparatory education (being instructed 
 
 • The wliite female slave is called " (Jiriyeh Beyda ;" the Abys-inian, 
 " Gariyeh Hahasheeyeh ;" and the black, " Gariyeli .S6da."
 
 THE HAREEM. 243 
 
 in music or other accomplishments, at Constantinople), 
 are brought from Circassia and Georgia. The white 
 slaves, being often the only female companions, and 
 sometimes the wives, of the Turkish grandees, and being 
 generally preferred by them before the free ladies of 
 Egypt, hold a higher rank than the latter in common 
 opinion. They are richly dressed, presented with va- 
 luable ornaments, indulged, frequently, with almost every 
 luxury that can be procured, and, when it is not their 
 lot to wait upon others, may, in some cases, be happy : 
 as lately has been proved, since the termination of the 
 war in Greece, by many females of that country, cap- 
 tives in Egyptian hareems, refusing their offered liberty, 
 which all of these cannot be suj)posed to have done from 
 ignorance of the state of their {parents and other rela- 
 tions, or the fear of exposing themselves to povertv. 
 But, though some of them are undoubtedly happy, at 
 least for a time, their number is comparatively small : 
 most are fated to wait upon more favoured fellow-pri- 
 soners, or upon Tuikish ladies, or to receive the unwel- 
 come caresses of a wealthy dotard, or of a man who has 
 impaired his body and mind by excesses of every kind ; 
 and, when their master or mistress becomes tired of them, 
 or dies, are sold again (if they have not borne children), 
 or emancipated, and married to some person in humble 
 life, who can afford them but few of the comforts to 
 which they have been accustomed. The female slaves 
 in the houses of persons of the middle classes in Egypt 
 are generally more comfortably circumstanced than those 
 in the hareems of the wealthy : if concubines, they are, 
 in most cases, without rivals to disturb their peace : and 
 if menials, their service is light, and they are under less 
 restraint. Often, indeed, if mutual attachment subsist 
 between her and her master, the situation of a concubine- 
 slave is more tortuuaie than that of a wife : for the 
 latter may be cast off by her husband in a moment of 
 anger, by an irrevocable sentence of divorce, and reduced 
 to a state of poverty : whereas a man very seldom dis- 
 misses a female slave without providing for her in such a 
 manner that, if she have not been used to luxuries, she 
 
 M 2
 
 244 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 sufiors but little, if at all, by the change : this he 
 poMorally does by emancipating her, giving her a dowry, 
 and marrying her to some ])erson oT honest rej)utation ; 
 or by ])resenting her to a friend. I have already men- 
 tioned, that a master cannot sell nor give av\ay a slave 
 who has borne him a child, if he acknowledge it to be 
 his own ; and that she is entitled to her freedom on his 
 death. It often happens that such a slave, immediately 
 after the birth of her child, is emancipated, and becomes 
 her master's wife : when she has become free, she can 
 no longer lawfully supi)ly the place of a wife unless he 
 marry her. Many persons consider it disgraceful even 
 to sell a female slave who has been long in their service. 
 Most of the Abyssinian and black slave-girls are abomi- 
 nably corrupted by the Gellubs, or slave-traders, of 
 Upper Egyj)t and Nubia, by whom they are brought 
 from their native countries : there are very few of the 
 age of eight or nine years who have not sutlercd brutal 
 violence ; and so severely do these children, i)articularly 
 the Abyssinians, and boys as well as girls, ieel the treat- 
 ment which tiiey endure from the Gelhibs, that many 
 instances occur of their drowning themselves during the 
 voyage down tlie Nile.* The female slaves of every 
 class are somewhat dearer than the males of the same 
 age. Those who have not had the small-pox are usually 
 sold for less than the others. Three days' trial is ge- 
 nerally allowed to the purchaser ; during which time, 
 the girl remains in his, or some friend's, hareem ; and 
 the women make their rejwrt to him, Snoring, grind- 
 ing the teeth, or talking during sleep, are commonly 
 considered sufficient reasons for returning her to the 
 dealer. The dresses of the female slaves are similar to 
 those of the Egytian women. 
 
 The female servants, who are Egyi)tian girls or women, 
 are those to whom the lowest occuj)ati(ms are allotted. 
 Tliey generally veil their faces in the presence of their 
 masters, with the head-veil ; drawing a })art of this be- 
 fore the face, so that they leave only one eye and one 
 
 * The GelUbs generally convey their slaves partly over the desert and 
 partly down the river.
 
 THE HAREEM. 245 
 
 hand at liberty to see and perform what they have to do. 
 When a male visiter is received by the master of a house 
 in an apartment of the hareem (the females of the family 
 having been sent into another apartment on the occasion), 
 he is usually, or often, waited upon by a female servant, 
 who is always veiled. 
 
 Such are the relative conditions of the various classes 
 in the hareem. A short account of their usual habits 
 and employments must be added. 
 
 The wives, as well as the female slaves, are not only 
 often debarred from the privilege of eating with the 
 master of the family, but also required to wait upon him 
 when he dines or sups, or even takes his pipe and coffee 
 in the hareem. They frequently serve him as menials ; 
 fill and light his pipe, make coffee for him, and prepare 
 his food, or, at least, certain dainty dishes ; and, if I 
 might judore from my own experience, I should say that 
 most of them are excellent cooks ; for, when a dish has 
 been recommended to me because made by the wife of 
 my host, I have generally found it especially good. The 
 wives of men of the higher and middle classes make a 
 great study of pleasing and fascinating their husbands by 
 unremitted attentions, and by various arts. Their co- 
 quetry is exhibited, even in their ordinary gait, when 
 they go abroad, by a peculiar twisting of the body.* In 
 the presence of the husband, they are usually under more 
 or less restraint ; and hence they are better pleased when 
 his visits, during the day, are not very frequent or long : 
 in his absence, they often indulge in noisy merriment. 
 
 The diet of the women is similar to that of the men, 
 but more frugal ; and their manner of eating is the same. 
 Many of them are allowed to enjoy the luxury of 
 smoking ; for this habit is not considered unbecoming in 
 a female, however high her rank ; the odour of the finer 
 kinds of the tobacco used in Egypt being very delicate. 
 Their pipes are generally more slender than those of the 
 men, and more ornamented ; and the mouth-piece is 
 sometimes partly composed of coral, in the j)lace of amber. 
 They generally make use of perfumes, such as musk, 
 
 * The motion here described they term " ghung."
 
 246 TUE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 civet, &c. ; and often, also, of cosmetics, and particularly 
 of several i)rc|)arations which they eat or drink with the 
 view of ac(|uirin^ what they esteem a ))roi)er degree of 
 j)lunij)ness ;* one of these preparations is extremely dis- 
 trusting- ; being chiefly composed of mashed beetles. f 
 Many of them also have a habit of chewing frankin- 
 cense4 and labdanum.§ which impart a perfume to the 
 breath. The habit of frequent ablutions render them 
 cleanly in j)erson. They spend but little time in the 
 oj)eratioiis of the toilet ; and, after having dressed them- 
 selves in the morning-, seldom chantre their clothes durint^ 
 the day. Their iiair is generally braided in the bath ; 
 and not undone afterwards for several days. 
 
 The care of their chddren is the primary occupation 
 of the ladies of Egypt : they are also charged with the 
 superintendence of domestic ati'airs ; but, in most families, 
 the husband alone attends to the household exj)enses. 
 Their leisure-hours are mostly spent in working with the 
 needle ; particularly in embroidering handkerchiefs, 
 head-veils, &c., upon a frame called " menseg," with 
 coloured silks and gold. Many women, even in the 
 houses of the wealthy, replenish their })rivate purses by 
 ornamenting handkerchiefs and other things in this 
 manner, and emj)loyinir a " delUileii " (or female broker) 
 to lake them to the market, or to other hareems, for sale. 
 The visit of one hareem to another often occupies nearly 
 a whole day. Eating, smoking, drinking cotiee and 
 sherbet, gossiping, and displaying their finery, are suf- 
 ficient amusements to the company. On such occasions, 
 the master of the house is never allowed to enter the 
 hareem, unless on some j)articular and unavoidable busi- 
 
 * The Egyptians (unlike the Maghrab'ees, and some other people of 
 Africa and of tlie East) do not t,'ener;illy admire very fat women. In 
 his love-songs, the l.gyptian commonly describes the object of his affec- 
 tions as of slender ligure and small waist. 
 
 f I observed here,—" It would seem that these insects were eaten 
 by tlie Jews (see Leviticus, xi. ^2) ; but we cannot suppose that they 
 derived this custom from the Egyptians, who regarded the beetle as 
 sacred." — A It-arned friend, however, has informed me, that the word 
 rendered " beetle " in our version of the passage of Scripture which 
 occasioned this remark properly signities a kind of locust. 
 
 1 " Libiin." $ " Ladin."
 
 THE HAREExM. 
 
 247 
 
 ■*#';"'' 
 
 The Menseg. — This is of vvalnut-wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and 
 tortoise-shell. The more common sort is of beech. 
 
 ness ; and in this case he must give notice of his approach, 
 and let the visiters have sufficient time to veil themselves, 
 or to retire to an adjoining room. Being thus under no 
 fear of his sudden intrusion, and being naturally of a 
 lively and an unreserved disposition, they indulge in 
 easy gaiety, and not unfrequently in youthful frolic. 
 When their usual subjects of conversation are exhausted, 
 sometimes one of the party entertains the rest with the 
 recital of some wonderful or facetious tale. The Egyp- 
 tian ladies are very seldom instructed either in music or 
 dancing ; but they take great delight in the performances 
 of professional musicians and public dancers ; and often 
 amuse themselves and their guests, in the absence of 
 better performers and better instruuients, by beating the 
 " darabukkeh " (which is a kind of drum) and the " tar "
 
 248 THE MODEKX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 (or tambourine *) ; though seldom in houses so situated 
 that many i)assengers might hear the sounds of festivity. 
 On tlie occasion of any great rejoicing among the women 
 (such as takes place on account of the birth of a son, or 
 the celebration of a circumcision, or a wedding, &c.), 
 " 'ATmehs" (or professional female singers) are often 
 introduced ; but not for the mere amusement of the 
 women, on common occasions, in any respectable family ; 
 for this would be considered indecorous. The *' Gha- 
 zceyehs " (or public dancing-girls), who exhibit in the 
 streets with unveiled faces, are very seldom admitted 
 into a hareem ; but on such occasions as those above 
 mentioned they often perform in front of the house or in 
 the court, though by many persons even this is not deemed 
 strictly proper. The " A'iatees " (or male musicians) 
 are never hired exclusively for the amusement of the 
 women ; but chiefly for that of the men : they always 
 perform in the assembly of the latter : their concert, 
 however, is distinctly heard by the inmates of the ha- 
 reem. f 
 
 When the women of the higher or middle classes go 
 out to pay a visit, or for any other purpose, they gene- 
 rally ride upon asses. They sit astride, u])on a very 
 high and broad saddle, which is covered with a small 
 carpet ; and each is attended by a man on one or on each 
 side. Generally, all the women of a hareem ride out 
 together ; one behind another. Mounted as above de- 
 scribed, they present a very singular apj)earance. Being 
 raised so high above the back of the " homsir J 'alee" 
 (or the "high ass" — for so the animal which they ride, 
 furnished with the high saddle, is commonly called §), 
 they seem v(ry insecurely seated ; but I believe this is 
 not really the case : the ass is well girthed and sure- 
 footed ; and proceeds with a slow, ambling ])ace, and 
 very easy motion. The ladies of the highest rank, as 
 
 * Descriptions and enpravings of these instruments will be given in 
 Chapter XVIII. 
 
 t The performances of the A'iatees, 'ATmehs, and Ghazeeyehs, will 
 be desi ribed in Chapter XIX. 
 
 J Thus commonly pronounced for " hemar. ' 
 
 ^ It is also called " homar mughattee"' (covered ass)
 
 THE HAREEM. 
 
 249 
 
 U^.^=^::
 
 250 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 well as those of" the middling- classes, ride asses thus 
 e(jui|)|)ed : they are." very seldom seen u|)on mules or 
 horses. The asses are generally hired. When a lady 
 cannot procure a homiir "alee, she rides one of the asses 
 equipjied for the use of the men ; but has a " scggadeh " 
 (or prayer-carpet) placed over its sadtlle ; and the infe- 
 rior members of the hareem, and females of the middle 
 orders, often do the same. Ladies never walk abroad, 
 unless they have to go but a very short distance. They 
 have a slow and shuttling gait, o\\ing to the difficulty of 
 retaining the slipj)ers upon their feet; and, in walking, 
 they always hold the front edges of the habarah in the 
 manner represented in the engraving in page 73 of this 
 volume. Whether walking or riding, they are regarded 
 with nmch respect in public : no well-bred man stares at 
 them ; but rather directs his eyes another way. They 
 are never seen abroad at night, if not comj)eIled to go out 
 or return at that time by some pressing and extraordinary 
 necessity : it is their usual rule to return from ])aying a 
 visit before sunset. The ladies of the higher orders never 
 go to a shop, but send for whatever they want ; and there 
 are numerous delhilehs who have access to the hareems, 
 and bring all kinds of ornaments, articles of female apparel, 
 &c,, for sale. Nor do these ladies, in general, visit the 
 public bath, unless invited to accompany thither some of 
 their friends ; for most of them have baths in their own 
 houses.
 
 ( 251 ) 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 DOMESTIC LIFE — contuiued. 
 
 The domestic life of the loicer orders will be the subject 
 of the present Chapter. In most respects ic is so simple 
 that, in comparison with the life of the middle and higher 
 classes, of which we have just been taking a view, it otters 
 but little to our notice. 
 
 The lower orders in Egypt, with the exception of a very 
 small proportion, chiefly residing in the large towns, con- 
 sist of Fellaheen (or Agriculturists). Most of those in 
 the great towns, and a few in the smaller towns and some 
 of the villages, are petty tradesmen or artificers, or obtain 
 their livelihood as servants, or by various labours. In 
 all cases their earnings are very small ; barely sufficient, 
 in general, and sometimes insufficient, to supply them and 
 their families with the cheapest necessaries of life. 
 
 Their food chiefly consists of bread (made of millet or 
 of maize), milk, new cheese, eggs, small salted fish,* cu- 
 cumbers and melons and gourds of a great variety of kinds, 
 onions and leeks,t beans, chick-peas, lupins, the fruit of 
 the black egg-plant, lentils, &c., dates (both fresh and 
 dried), and pickles. Most of the vegetables they cat in 
 a crude state. When the maize (or Indian corn) is nearly 
 ripe, many ears of it are plucked, and toasted or baked, 
 and eaten thus by the peasants. Rice is too dear to be 
 an article of common food for the fellaheen ; and flesh- 
 meat they very seldom taste. There is one luxury, how- 
 ever, which most of them enjoy ; and that is smoking the 
 cheap tobacco of their country, merely dried, and broken 
 up. It is of a pale, greenish colour, ^hen dried, and of a 
 mild flavour. Though all the articles of food mentioned 
 above are extremely cheap, there are many poor persons 
 who often have nothing with which to season their coarse 
 bread but the mixture called " dukkah," described in a 
 
 * Called " feseekh." f See Numbers, xi. 5.
 
 252 TIIK MODERX EGYPTIANS. 
 
 former Chapter.* It is surprising- to observe how simple 
 ami poor is the diet of the Egyj)tian peasantry, and yet 
 how robust and healthy most of them are, and how severe 
 is the labour which they can undergo. 
 
 The women of the lower orders seldom pass a life of 
 inactivity. Some of them are even condemned to greater 
 drudgery than the men. Their chief occupations are the 
 preparing of the husband's food, fctciiing water (which 
 they carry in a large vessel on the head), spinning cotton, 
 linen, or woollen yarn, and making the fuel called " gel- 
 Ich," which is comj)Osed of the dung of cattle, kneaded 
 with chopj)ed straw, and formed into round flat cakes: 
 these they stick upon the walls or roofs of their houses, 
 or upon the ground, to dry in the sun ; and then use for 
 heating their ovens, and for other purposes. They are in 
 a state of much greater subjection to their husbands than 
 is the case among the superior classes. Not always is a 
 poor woman allowed to eat with her husband. When 
 she goes out with him she generally walks behind him ; 
 and if there be anything for either of them to carry, it is 
 usually borne by the wife ; unless it be merely a pipe or 
 a stick. Some women, in the towns, keej) shops ; and 
 sell bread, vegetables, &c. ; and thus contribute as much 
 as their husbands, or even more than the latter, to the 
 support of their families. When a poor Egyptian is de- 
 sirous of marrying-, the chief object of his consideration is 
 the dowry, which is usually from about twenty " riydls " 
 (or nine shillings) to four times that amount, if consisting 
 only of money ; and rather less, if, as is the case through- 
 out a great part of Egrypt, it comj^rise certain articles of 
 clothing : if he can atibrd to give the dowry, he seldom 
 hesitates to marry ; for a little additional exertion will 
 enable him to support a wife and two or three children. 
 At the age of five or six years the children become of 
 use to tend the flocks and herds ; and at a more advanced 
 age, until they marry, they assist their fathers in the 
 operations of agriculture. The jmor in Egypt have often 
 to depend entirely upon their sons for sui)port in their 
 old age ; but many j)arents are deprived of these aids, 
 and consequently reduced to beggary, or almost to star- 
 • Chapter V., pages 180, 181.
 
 THE LOWER OBDEKS. 253 
 
 vation. A few months ago the Bdsha, during his voyage 
 from Alexandria to this city (Cairo), happening to land 
 at a village on the bank of the Nile, a jjoor man of the 
 place ran up to him, and grasped his sleeve so tightly 
 that the surrounding attendants could not make him quit 
 his hold: he complained, that, although he had been 
 once in very comfortable circumstances, he had been re- 
 duced to utter destitution by having his sons taken from 
 him in his old age as recruits for the army. The Basha 
 (who generally pays attention to personal applications) 
 relieved him ; but it was by ordering that the richest 
 man in the village should give him a cow. 
 
 A young family, however, is sometimes an insupport- 
 able burden to })Oor parents. Hence, it is not a very 
 rare occurrence, in Egypt, for children to be publicly 
 carried about for sale, by their mothers or by women em- 
 ployed by the fathers : but this very seldom happens 
 except in cases of great distress. When a mother dies, 
 leaving one or more children unweaned, and the father 
 and other surviving relations are so poor as not to be 
 able to })rucure a nurse, this singular mode of disposing 
 of the child or children is often resorted to ; or some- 
 times an infant is laid at the door of a mosque, generally 
 when the congregation is assembled to perform the 
 noon-prayers of Friday ; and in this case it usually 
 happens that some member of the congregation, on com- 
 ing out of the mosque, and seeing the poor foundling, is 
 moved with pity, and takes it home to rear in his family, 
 not as a slave, but as an adopted child ; or, if not, it is 
 taken under the care of some person until an adoptive 
 father or mother be found ibr it. A short time ago, a 
 woman oilered for sale, to the mistress of a family with 
 whom a friend of mine is acquainted in this city, a child 
 a few days old, which she j)rol'essed to have found at the 
 door of a mosque. The lady said that she would take 
 the child, to rear it for the sake of God, and in the hope 
 that her own child, an only one, might be spared to her 
 as a reward for her charity ; and handed, to the woman 
 who brought the infant, ten piasters (then equivalent to 
 a little more than two shillings) : but the otiered remu- 
 neration was rejected. This shows that infants are some-
 
 254 THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 times made mere objects of traffic ; and some persons 
 who j)iircliasc them may make them their slaves, and sell 
 them aiiain. I have been informed, by a slave-dealer 
 (and his assertion has been contirmod to me by other 
 ])ersons), that yoimg Esryptian j;irls arc sometimes sold 
 as slaves from other countries, either by a j)arent or by 
 some other relation. 'J'he slave-dealer here alluded to 
 saiil, that several such girls had been committed to him 
 for sale ; and by their own consent: they were taught to 
 exj)ect rich dresses and great luxuries ; ant! were in- 
 structed to say, that they had been brought from their 
 own country w hen only three or foiu' years of age, and 
 that they consequently were ignorant of their native lan- 
 guage, and could speak only Arabic. 
 
 It often hap])ens, too, that a fellah, in a state of great 
 poverty, is induced, by the otter of a sum of money, to 
 place his son in a situation far worse than that of ordinary 
 slavery. When a certain number of recruits are re- 
 quired from a village, the sheykh of the village often 
 adopts the j)lan that gives him the least trouble to ob- 
 tain them, which is, to take the sons of those persons 
 who are possessed of most property. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, a father, rather than part with his son, 
 generally oHers, to one of his j)Oorer iellow-villagers, a 
 sum equivah^nt to one or two jwunds sterling, to procure 
 a son of the latter, as a substitute lor his own ; and 
 usually succeeds ; though the love of ofispring jn'cvails 
 among the Egyjjtians as much as filial j)iety ; and most 
 parents have a great horror of j)arting with their childien, 
 ])articularly if taken for recruits, as is proved by the 
 means to which they have recourse for the prevention of 
 such an occurrence. There is now (in 1834) seldom to 
 be found, in any of the villages, an able-bodied youtli or 
 young man who has not had one or more of his teeth 
 broken out (that he may not be able to bite a cartridge), 
 or a finger cut off, or aTi eye pulled out or blinded, to 
 prevent his being taken for a recruit. Old women and 
 others make a regular trade of going about from village 
 to village, to perform these operations uj)on the boys; 
 and the parents themselves are sometimes the o])erators. 
 But, from w hat has been said before, it appears that it is
 
 THE I>OWER ORDERS. 255 
 
 not always affection alone that prompts the parents to 
 have recourse to such expedients to prevent their being 
 deprived of their children. 
 
 The Fellaheen of Eg-ypt cannot be justly represented 
 in a very favourable light with regard to their domestic 
 and social condition and manners. In the worst ])oints 
 of view, they resemble their Bedawee ancestors, without 
 possessing many of the virtues of the inhabitants of the 
 desert, unless in an inferior degree ; and the customs 
 which they have inherited from their forefathers often 
 have a very baneful effect upon their domestic state. It 
 has before been mentioned that they are descended from 
 various Arab tribes who have settled in Egypt at dif- 
 ferent periods ; and that the distinction of tribes is still 
 preserved by the inhabitants of the villages throughout 
 this country. In the course of years, the descendants 
 of each tribe of" settlers have become divided into nu- 
 merous branches, and these minor tribes have distinct 
 appellations, which have also of\en been given to the 
 village or villages, or district, which they inhabit. Those 
 who have been longest established in Egypt have re- 
 tained less of Bedawee manners, and have more in- 
 fringed the purity of" their race by intermarriages with 
 Copt proselytes to the Muslim faith, or with the de- 
 scendants of such jiersons : hence, they are often desj)ised 
 by the tribes more lately settled in this country, who fre- 
 quently, in contemj)t, term the former "Fellaheen,"' 
 while they arrogate to themselves the appellation of 
 " Arabs" or " Bedawees," The latter, whenever they 
 please, take the daughters of the former in marriage, 
 but will not give their own daughters in return ; and if 
 one of them be killed by a person of the inferior tribe, 
 they kill two, three, or even four, in blood-revenge. The 
 prevalence of the baibarous Bedawee law of blood-re- 
 venge among the inhabitants of the villages of Egypt 
 has been mentioned in a former Chapter : the homicide, 
 or any j)erson descended from him, or from his great- 
 grandfather's father, is killed by any of such rela- 
 tions of the person whom he has slain ; and when the 
 homicide haj)pcns to be of one tribe, and the person 
 killed of another, often a petty war breaks forth between
 
 256 TUB MODERN EGYPTIANS. 
 
 these two tribes, and is sometimes continued, or occa- 
 sionally renewed, durinj; a period of several years. The 
 same is also (requeiitly the result of a trifling: injury com- 
 mitted by a member of one tribe upon a j)erson of 
 another. In many instances, the blood-revent^e is taken 
 a century or more after the commission of the act which 
 has occasioned it ; when the feud, for that time, has lain 
 dormant, and j)erhaps is remembered by scarcely more 
 than one individual. Two tribes in Lower E<:ypt, which 
 are called " 8aad " and " Hanim," are most notorious 
 for these petty vvars and feuds;* and hence their names 
 are commonly applied to any two jjcrsons or parties at 
 enmity with each other. It is astonishinjr that, in the 
 present day, such acts (which, if committed in a town or 
 or city in Egyj)t, would be punished by the death of, 
 perhaps, more than one of the persons concerned) should 
 be allowed. Some other particulars respecting blood- 
 revenge, and its consequences, have been stated in the 
 chapter above alluded to. The avenging of blood is 
 allowed by the Kur-ftn ; but moderation and justice are 
 enjoined in its execution ; and the petty wars which it 
 so often occasions in the present age are in oi)position to 
 a ])recept of the Prophet, who said, " If two Muslims 
 contend with their swords, the slayer and the slain will 
 be^in the fire [of Hell]." 
 
 The Fellaheen of Egypt resemble the Bedawees in 
 other resi)ects. When a Fellahah is found to have been 
 unfaithful to her husband, in general, he, or her brother, 
 throws her into the Nile, with a stone tied to her neck ; 
 or cuts her in pieces, and then throws her remains into 
 the river. In most instances, also, a father or brother 
 ])unishes in the same manner an unmarried daughter or 
 sister who has been guilty of incontinence. These rela- 
 tions are considered as more disgraced than the husband 
 by the crime of the woman ; and are oitcu desi)ised if 
 they do not thus punish her. 
 
 • Like the ".Keys'" and " Yemen" of Syria. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
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