An Account of The Manners and Customs of The Modern Egyptians, Volume 1 E-Book

Edward William Lane

• Herausgeber: Jazzybee Verlag
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 566

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

It is now more than one hundred years since Lane gave to the world his admirable work on the Egyptians. It has become a classic, and no writer has given us such unsurpassed descriptions of the manners and customs of the people. Lane went to Egypt in 1825, and adopting the native customs, and with a good knowledge of Arabic, he mingled with the people, living at one time in a tomb, with bones, rags, and mummies for his companions. He associated, almost exclusively, with Moslems, of various ranks in society, lived as they lived, conforming with their general habits and their religious ceremonies, and abstaining from the use of the knife and fork at meals. He ascended the Nile to the Second Cataract, and everywhere recording his exact impressions, making plans and careful drawings, and taking the trouble to secure accurate knowledge. A second trip to Egypt, remaining two years, enabled him to still more completely enter into the life of the Egyptians. Upon his return to England he published this book. Its success was immediate, and many editions have been called for since. This is volume one out of two and comes with a wealth of illustrations.

Leseprobe

An Account of The Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians

Volume 1

EDWARD WILLIAM LANE

An Account of The Manners and Customs of The Modern Egyptians, Volume 1, E. W. Lane

Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck

86450 Altenmünster, Loschberg 9

Deutschland

ISBN: 9783849649654

www.jazzybee-verlag.de

[email protected]

Front Cover: By http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/b1/43/eb191fd5057af3d1bc074420bfd1.jpgGallery: http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/L0071554.html, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36271256

CONTENTS:

EDITOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. 1

AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 3

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION. 10

THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. INTRODUCTION. COUNTRY AND CLIMATE—METROPOLIS—HOUSES—POPULATION. 13

CHAPTER I. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, AND DRESS, OF THE MUSLIM EGYPTIANS. 31

CHAPTER II. INFANCY AND EARLY EDUCATION. 51

CHAPTER III. RELIGION AND LAWS. 60

CHAPTER IV. GOVERNMENT. 96

CHAPTER V. DOMESTIC LIFE. 113

CHAPTER VI. DOMESTIC LIFE—continued. 130

CHAPTER VII. DOMESTIC LIFE — continued. 159

CHAPTER VIII. COMMON USAGES OF SOCIETY. 163

CHAPTER IX. LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE. 170

CHAPTER X. SUPERSTITIONS. 183

CHAPTER XI. SUPERSTITIONS—continued. 203

CHAPTER XI. MAGIC, ASTROLOGY, AND ALCHYMY. 216

CHAPTER XIII. CHARACTER. 227

EDITOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

THE present edition of the “Modern Egyptians: is printed in the same manner as the companion-volumes of the “Thousand and One Nights,” from the text of Mr. Lane's last edition, with the additions and alterations which he has, from time to time, made in a copy of the work.

The duty of correcting the press I undertook because important studies rendered it impossible for the Author to do so: and my endeavour has been to produce, by careful collation, a faithful text of a book which I feel it is not in my power to improve. In superintending a new edition of the “Thousand and One Nights” I was conscious how little might be added of use or relevance. What was then difficult I found in the “Modern Egyptians” to be impossible, and determined to insert nothing in the text, even as a foot-note. The notes I wished to make are therefore confined to an Appendix, and even in that form I have doubted the propriety of printing them. But though not necessary to the completeness of an account of manners and customs, they touch on subjects relative to the Muslim inhabitants of Egypt, and may therefore be found of interest. What I have said in them, I have endeavoured to say as briefly as may be, relying on facts rather than opinions, in the hope of supplying materials for more elaborate treatises.

Of the “Modern Egyptians,” as the work of an Uncle and Master, it would be difficult for me to speak, were its merits less known and recognized than they are. At once the most remarkable description of a people ever written, and one that cannot now be rewritten, it will always live in the literature of England. With a thorough knowledge of the people and of their language, singular power of description, and minute accuracy, Mr. Lane wrote his account of the “Modern Egyptians,” when they could, for the last time, be described. Twenty-five years of steam-communication with Egypt have more altered its inhabitants than had the preceding five centuries. They then retained the habits and manners of their remote ancestors: they now are yearly straying from old paths into the new ways of European civilization. Scholars will ever regard it as most fortunate that Mr. Lane seized his opportunity, and described so remarkable a people while yet they were unchanged.

A residence of seven years in Egypt, principally in Cairo, while it enabled me to become familiar with the people, did not afford me any new fact that might be added to this work: and a distinguished English as well as Biblical scholar, the Author of “Sinai and Palestine,” not long ago remarked to me, “‘The Modern Egyptians’ is the most provoking book I ever read: whenever I thought I had discovered, in Cairo, something that must surely have been omitted, I invariably found my new fact already recorded.” I may add that a well-known German Orientalist has lately visited Cairo with the express intention of correcting Mr. Lane's descriptions, and confessed that his search after mistakes was altogether vain.

I have not thought it expedient to add to the chapter on Late Innovations in Egypt. That chapter brought down the history of its inhabitants to the best time of the rule of Mohammad 'Alee, and closed the record of an exclusively Eastern nation. To continue it would be only to chronicle the gradual disuse of their national and characteristic customs, and the adoption of Western habits that must mark a new era in their history as a nation.

The woodcuts in this edition are the same as those of the former editions, printed from the same blocks, with the exception of the Frontispiece, which, though it is from a sketch of Mr. Lane's, was not, like the rest, drawn by him on the wood.

London, November, 1860.

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

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

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

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

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

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

For several years before he adopted the trade of a book-seller, 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 Saạdeeyeh darweeshes, who are particularly famous for devouring live serpents; and he is said to have been one of the serpent-eaters: but he did not confine himself to food so easily digested. One night during a meeting of a party of darweeshes of his order, at which their Sheykh was present, my friend became affected with religious frenzy, seized a tall glass shade which surrounded a candle placed on the floor, and ate a large portion of it. The Sheykh and the other darweeshes, looking at him with astonishment, upbraided him with having broken the institutes of his order; since the eating of glass was not among the miracles which they were allowed to perform; and they immediately expelled him. He then entered the order of the Ahmedeeyeh; and as they, likewise, never ate glass, he determined not to do so again. However, soon after, at a meeting of some brethren of this order, when several Saạdeeyeh also were present, he again was seized with frenzy, and, jumping up to a chandelier, caught hold of one of the small glass lamps attached to it, and devoured about half of it, swallowing also the oil and water which it contained. He was conducted before his Sheykh, to be tried for this offence; but on his taking an oath never to eat glass again, he was neither punished nor expelled the order. Not-withstanding this oath, he soon again gratified his propensity to eat a glass lamp; and a brother-darweesh, who was present, attempted to do the same; but a large fragment stuck between the tongue and palate of this rash person; and my friend had great trouble to extract it. He was again tried by his Sheykh; and, being reproached for having broken his oath and vow of repentance, he coolly answered, “I repent again: repentance is good: for He whose name be exalted hath said, in the Excellent Book. ‘Verily God loveth the repentant.’” The Sheykh, in anger, exclaimed, “Dost thou dare to act in this manner, and then come and cite the Kur-án before me?”-and with this reproof, he ordered that he should be imprisoned ten days; after which,he made him again swear to abstain from eating glass; and on this condition he was allowed to remain a member of the Ahmedeeyeh. This second oath he professes not to have broken.—The person whose office it was to prosecute him related to me these facts; and my friend reluctantly confessed them to be true.

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

A short time since, upon his offering me a copy of the Kur-án, for sale, he thought it necessary to make some excuse for doing so. He remarked that by my conforming with many of the ceremonies of the Muslims, I tacitly professed myself to be one of them; and that it was incumbent upon him to regard me in the most favourable light, which he was the more willing to do because he knew that I should incur the displeasure of my King by making an open profession of the faith of El-Islám, and therefore could not do it.

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

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

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

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

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION.

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

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

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

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

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

o    “a” as in our word “beggar:”

o    “á” as in “father:”

o    “e” as in “bed:”

o    “é” as in “there:”

o    “ee” as in “bee:”

o    “ei” as our word “eye:”

o    “ey” as in “they:”

o    “i” as in “bid:”

o    “o” as in “obey” (short):

o    “ó” as in “bone:”

o    “oo” as in “boot:”

o    “ow” as in “down:”

o    “u” as in “bull:”

o    “y” as in “you.”

o     

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

The vowel “a” with a dot beneath (a) represents the same sound when it is more forcibly pronounced.

Each of the consonants distinguished by a dot beneath has a peculiarly hard sound. The distinction of these letters is of great importance to Arabic scholars, and to travellers in Egypt.

Note: “Dh” is pronounced as “th” in “that:”—“g,” 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 pronounce it, and substitute for it an hiatus; while in Upper Egypt 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 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.”

The usual sign of a dioeresis I sometimes employ to shew 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 pronounce “Welee,” or “Wel'ee”): also, that the accents do not always denote the principal or only emphasis (“Sháweesh” being pronounced “Sháwee'sh”); and that “dh,” “gh,” “kh,” “sh,” and “th,” when not divided by a hyphen, represent, each, a single Arabic letter.

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

E. W. L.

May, 1842.

THE MODERN EGYPTIANS. INTRODUCTION. COUNTRY AND CLIMATE—METROPOLIS—HOUSES—POPULATION.

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

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

The climate of Egypt, during the greater part of the year, is remarkably salubrious. The exhalations from the soil after the period of the inundation render the latter part of the autumn less healthy than the summer and winter; and cause ophthalmia and dysentery, and some other diseases, to be more prevalent then than at other seasons; and during a period of somewhat more or less than fifty days (called “elkhamáseen”), 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°, are dreadfully oppressive, even to the natives.

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

When the plague visits Egypt, it is generally in the spring; and this disease is most severe in the period of the khamáseen. Egypt is also subject, particularly during the spring and summer, to the hot wind called the “samoom,” which is still more oppressive than the khamáseen winds, but of much shorter duration, seldom lasting longer than a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes. It generally proceeds from the south-east or south-south-east, and carries with it clouds of dust and sand. The general height of the thermometer in the middle of winter in Lower Egypt, in the afternoon, and in the shade, is from 50° to 60°: in the hottest season it is from 90° to 100°; and about ten degrees higher in the southern parts of Upper Egypt. But though the summer heat is so great, it is seldom very oppressive; being generally accompanied by a refreshing northerly breeze, and the air being extremely dry. There is, however, one great source of discomfort arising from this dryness, namely, an excessive quantity of dust: and there are other plagues which very much detract from the comfort which the natives of Egypt, and visiters to their country, otherwise derive from its genial climate. In spring, summer, and autumn, flies are so abundant as to be extremely annoying during the daytime, and musquitoes are troublesome at night (unless a curtain be made use of to keep them away), and often even in the day; and almost every house that contains much wood work (as most of the better houses do) swarms with bugs during the warm weather. Lice are not always to be avoided in any season, but they are easily got rid of; and in the cooler seasons fleas are excessively numerous.

The climate of Upper Egypt is more healthy, though hotter, than that of Lower Egypt. The plague seldom ascends far above Cairo, the metropolis; and is most common in the marshy parts of the country near the Mediterranean. During the last ten years before my second visit to Egypt, the country having been better drained, and quarantine regulations adopted to prevent or guard against the introduction of this disease from other countries, very few plague-cases occurred, except in the parts above mentioned, and in those parts the pestilence was not severe.

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

Ophthalmia is also more common in Lower Egypt than in the southern parts. It generally arises from cheeked perspiration; but is aggravated by the dust and many other causes. When remedies are promptly employed, this disease is seldom alarming in its progress; but vast numbers of the natives of Egypt. not knowing how to treat it, or obstinately resigning themselves to fate, are deprived of the sight of one or both of their eyes.

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

The modern Egyptian metropolis, to the inhabitants of which most of the contents of the following pages relate, is now called “Maṣr,” more properly, “Miṣr;” but was formerly named “El-Ḳáhireh;” “whence Europeans have formed the name of Cairo. It is situate at the entrance of the valley of Upper Egypt, midway between the Nile and the eastern mountain range of the Muḳaṭṭam. Between it and the river there intervenes a tract of land, for the most part cultivated, which, in the northern parts (where the port of Booláḳ is situate), is more than a mile in width, and, at the southern part, less than half a mile wide. The metropolis occupies a space equal to about three square miles;' and its population, during my second visit (since which it has much increased in consequence of the reduction of the army and from other causes), I calculated to amount to about two hundred and forty thousand. It is surrounded by a wall, the gates of which are shut at night, and is commanded by a large citadel, situate at an angle of the town, near a point of the mountain. The streets are unpaved; and most of them are narrow and irregular: they might more properly be called lanes.

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

Of the private houses of the metropolis it is particularly necessary that I should give a description. The accompanying engraving will serve to give, a general notion of their exterior. The foundation-walls, to the height of the first floor, are cased externally, and often internally, with the soft calcareous stone of the neighbouring mountain. The surface of the stone, when newly cut, is of a light-yellowish hue: but its colour soon darkens. The alternate courses of the front are sometimes coloured red and white, particularly in large houses; as is the case with most mosques.

Note: This mode of decorating the houses became more general than it had been previously in consequence of an order of the government, whereby the inhabitants were required thus to honour the arrival of Ibráheem Báshà from Syria. Several years later, the people of Cairo were ordered to whitewash the superstructures of their houses; and thus the picturesque aspect of the city was much injured; the contrast between the white walls and the dark wood of the old windows producing a disagreeable effect.

The street in the view which I have given is wider than usual. The projecting windows on opposite sides of a street often nearly meet each other; almost entirely excluding the sun, and thus producing an agreeable coolness in the summer months. On account of their facilitating the spreading of fires, their construction has of late years been prohibited.

The superstructure, the front of which generally projects about two feet, and is supported by corbels or piers, is of brick, and often plastered. The bricks are burnt, and of a dull red colour. The mortar is generally composed of mud in the proportion of one-half, with a fourth part of lime, and the remaining part of the ashes of straw and rubbish. Hence the unplastered walls of brick are of a dirty colour, as if the bricks were unburnt. The roof is flat, and covered with a coat of plaster. It is generally without a parapet.

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

The ground-floor apartments next the street have small wooden grated windows, placed sufficiently high to render it impossible for a person passing by in the street, even on horseback, to see through them. The windows of the upper apartments generally project a foot and a half, or more, and are mostly made of turned wooden lattice-work, which is so close that it shuts out much of the light and sun, and screens the inmates of the house from the view of persons without, while at the same time it admits the air. They are generally of unpainted wood; but some few are partially painted red and green, and some are entirely painted. A window of this kind is called a “róshan,” or, more commonly, a “meshrebeeyeh,” which latter word has another application that will be presently mentioned. Several windows of different descriptions are represented in some of the illustrations of this work; and sketches of the most common patterns of the lattice-work, on a larger scale, are given in the following page.

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

Sometimes a window of the kind above described has a little meshrebeeyeh, which somewhat resembles a róshan in miniature, projecting from the front or from each side. In this, in order to be exposed to a current of air, are placed porous earthen bottles, which are used for cooling water by evaporation. Hence the name of “meshrebeeyeh,” which signifies “a place for drink,” or “— for drinking.” The projecting window has a flat one of lattice-work, or of grating of wood, or of coloured glass, immediately above it. This upper window, if of lattice-work, is often of a more fanciful construction than the others; exhibiting a representation of a basin with a ewer above it, or the figure of a lion, or the name of “Allah,” or the words “God is my hope,” &c. Some projecting windows are wholly constructed of boards, and a few of these lean forward, from the bottom upwards, at an angle of about 20°, being open at the top for the admission of light. Some of the more common form have frames of glass in the sides. In the better houses, also, the windows of lattice-work are now generally furnished with frames of glass in the inside, which in the winter are wholly closed; for a penetrating cold is felt in Egypt when the thermometer of Fahrenheit is below 60°. The windows of inferior houses are mostly of a different kind, being even with the exterior surface of the wall: the upper part is of wooden latticework, or grating; and the lower, closed by hanging shutters; but many of these have a little meshrebeeyeh for the water-bottles projecting from the lower part.

The houses in general are two or three stories high; and almost every house that is sufficiently large encloses an open, unpaved court, called a “ḥósh,” which is entered by a passage that is constructed with one or two turnings, for the purpose of preventing passengers in the street from seeing into it. In this passage, just within the door, there is a long stone seat, called “maṣṭabah,” built against the back or side wall, for the door-keeper and other servants. In the court is a well of slightly-brackish water, which filters through the soil from the Nile; and on its most shaded side are, commonly, two water-jars, which are daily replenished with water of the Nile, brought from the river in skins.

Note Some large houses have two courts: the inner for the ḥareem; and in the latter, or both of these, there is usually a little enclosure of arched woodwork, in which trees and flowers are raised. The most common kind of tree n the court of a house is the grape-vine or the mulberry; but with one or both of these we often find the banana, the palm, and other trees.

 The principal apartments look into the court: and their exterior walls (those which are of brick) are plastered and whitewashed. There are several doors which are entered from the court. One of these is called “báb el-hareem” (the door of the hareem): it is the entrance of the stairs which lead to the apartments appropriated exclusively to the women, and their master and his children.

Note: In the view which I have given of the court of a house, the door of the ḥareem is that which faces the spectator.

In general, there is, on the ground-floor, an apartment called a “manḍarah,” in which male visiters are received. This has a wide, wooden, grated window, or two windows of this kind, next the court. A small part of the floor, extending from the door to the opposite side of the room, is about four or five inches lower than the rest; this part is called the “durká'ah.” In a handsome house, the duṛká'ah of the manḍarah is paved with white and black marble, and little pieces of fine red tile, inlaid in complicated and tasteful patterns, and has in the centre a fountain (called “fasḳeeyeh”) which plays into a small, shallow pool, lined with coloured marbles, &c., like the surrounding pavement. I give, as a specimen, the pattern of the pavement of a durḳá'ah, such as I have above described, and a sketch of the fountain. The water that falls from the fountain is drained off from the pool by a pipe. There is generally, fronting the door, at the end of the durḳá'ah, a shelf of marble or of common stone, about four feet high, called a “ṣuffeh,”supported by two or more arches, or by a single arch, under which are placed utensils in ordinary use; such as perfuming vessels, and the basin and ewer which are used for washing before and after meals, and for the ablution preparatory to prayer: water-bottles, coffee-cups, &c., are placed

Fountain.

Ṣuffeh.

upon the ṣuffeh. In handsome houses, the arches of the ṣuffeh are faced with marble and tile, like the pool of the fountain; see the two sketches above: and sometimes the wall over it, to the height of about four feet or more, is also cased with similar materials; partly with large upright slabs, and partly with small pieces, like the durḳá'ah. The estrade, or raised part of the floor of the room, is called “leewán.”

Note: The “leewán” is not to be confounded with the “deewán,” which is afterwards mentioned. It is also, sometimes, called “eewán,” which more properly signifies “an open-fronted porch or portico,” and “a palace,” &c. “Leewán” and “eewán” are both of Persian origin: but the former is commonly said to be a corruption of “el-eewán.”

Every person slips off his shoes on the durḳá'ah before he steps upon the leewán. The latter is generally paved with common stone, and covered with a mat in summer, and a carpet over the mat in winter; and has a mattress and cushions placed against each of its three walls, composing what is called a “deewán,” or divan. The mattress, which is about three feet, or somewhat less, in width, and three or four inches thick, is generally placed on the ground; and the cushions, which are usually of a length equal to the width of the mattress, and of a height equal to half that measure, lean against the wall. Both mattresses and cushions are stuffed with cotton, and are covered with printed calico, cloth, or some more expensive stuff. Sometimes the mattress is supported by a frame made of palmsticks, called “sereer:” and sometimes it lies upon a platform of stone, about half a foot high, called “sidilleh” or “sidillè,” a word of Persian origin, and also applied to a recess, of which the floor is similarly elevated, and nearly equal in width and depth, with a mattress and cushions laid against one, or two, or each, of its three sides. Some rooms have one, and some have two or more, of such recesses, generally used as sitting-places in cool weather, and therefore without windows. The walls of the room are plastered and whitewashed. There are generally, in the walls, two or three shallow cupboards, the doors of which are composed of very small panels on account of the heat and dryness of the climate, which cause wood to warp and shrink as if it were placed in an oven; for which reason the doors of the apartments, also, are constructed in the same manner. We observe great variety and much ingenuity displayed in the different modes in which these small panels are formed and disposed. I insert a few select specimens. The ceiling over the leewán is of wood, with carved beams, generally about a foot apart, partially painted, and sometimes gilt. But that part of the ceiling which is over the durḳá'ah, in a handsome house, is usually more richly decorated: here, instead of beams, numerous thin strips of wood are nailed upon the planks, forming patterns curiously complicated, yet perfectly regular, and having a highly ornamental effect. I give a sketch of the half of a ceiling thus decorated, but not in the most complicated style. The strips are painted yellow, or gilt; and the spaces within, painted green, red, and blue. In the example which I insert, the colours are as indicated in the sḳetch of a portion of the same on a larger scale, except in the square in the centre of the ceiling, where the strips are black, upon a yellow ground. From the centre of this square, a chandelier is often suspended. There are many patterns of a similar kind; and the colours generally occupy similar places with regard to each other; but in some houses these ceilings are not painted. The ceiling of a projecting window is often ornamented in the same manner. A sketch of one is inserted. Good taste is evinced by only decorating in this manner parts which are not always before the eyes; for to look long at so many lines intersecting each other in various directions would be painful.

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

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

Note: In the larger houses, and some others, there is also, adjoining the principal saloon of the ḥareem, an elevated closet, designed as an orchestra, for female singers, to conceal them from the view of the men of the family, as well as from that of the male guests if any of these (the women having retired) be present. A description of this will be found in the chapter on music.

All the apartments are lofty, generally fourteen feet or more in height; but the ḳá'ah is the largest and most lofty room, and in a large house it is a noble saloon.

In several of the upper rooms, in the houses of the wealthy, there are, besides the windows of lattice-work, others, of coloured glass, representing bunches of flowers, peacocks, and other gay and gaudy objects, or merely fanciful patterns, which have a pleasing effect. These coloured glass windows, which are termed “ḳamareeyehs,” are mostly from a foot and a half to two feet and a half in height, and from one to two feet in width; and are generally placed along the upper part of the projecting lattice-window, in a row; or above that kind of window, disposed in a group, so as to form a large square; or elsewhere in the upper parts of the walls. usually singly, or in pairs, side by side. They are composed of small pieces of glass, of various colours, set in rims of fine plaster, and enclosed in a frame of wood. On the plastered walls of some apartments are rude paintings of the temple of Mekkeh, or of the tomb of the Prophet, or of flowers and other objects, executed by native Muslim artists, who have not the least notion of the rules of perspective, and who consequently deface what they thus attempt to decorate. In most cases, these daubs have been executed to gratify the bad taste of Turks; and they are seldom seen in houses of good Arabian architecture. Sometimes the walls are beautifully ornamented with Arabic inscriptions, of maxims, &c., which are more usually written on paper, in an embellished style, and enclosed in glazed frames. No chambers are furnished as bed-rooms. The bed, in the day-time, is rolled up, and placed on one side, or in an adjoining closet, called “khazneh,” which, in the winter, is a sleeping-place: in summer, many people sleep upon the house top. A mat, or carpet, spread upon the raised part of the stone floor, and a deewán, constitute the complete furniture of a room. For meals, a round tray is brought in, and placed upon a low stool, and the company sit round it on the ground. There is no fire-place: the room is warmed, when necessary, by burning charcoal in a chafing-dish.

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

Many houses have, at the top, a sloping shed, mainly of boards, or of timbers and reeds, the latter plastered and whitewashed within and without, called a “malḳaf,” directed towards the north, and open in that direction, and generally on the west side also, to convey to a “fes-ḥah” or “fesaḥah” (an open apartment) below, the cool breezes which generally blow from those quarters. There is commonly a fes-ḥah before the entrance of one or more of the principal apartments; and in it the family often sit and sleep in the hot season.

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

 

Wooden Lock.

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

Another style of building, after the fashion of Turkey, lately very generally adopted for houses of the more wealthy, has been mentioned before. These houses do not differ much from those already described, except in the windows, and these are generally placed almost close together.

When shops occupy the lower part of the buildings in a street (as is generally the case in the great thorough fares of the metropolis, and in some of the by-streets), the superstructure is usually divided into distinct lodgings, and is termed “raba.” These lodgings are separate from each other, as well as from the shops below, and let to families who cannot afford the rent of a whole house. Each lodging in a rabạ comprises one or two sitting and sleeping rooms, and generally a kitchen and latrina. It seldom has a separate entrance from the street; one entrance and one staircase usually admitting to a range of several lodgings. The apartments are similar to those of the private houses first described. They are never let ready-furnished; and it is very seldom that a person who has not a wife nor a female slave is allowed to reside in them, or in any private house: such a person (unless he have parents or other near relations to dwell with) is usually obliged to take up his abode in a “wekáleh,” which is a building chiefly designed for the reception of merchants and their goods.