Page:Domestic Life in Palestine.pdf/415

408 blue-cloth pelisse, lined and edged with light fur, and she smiled brightly when she heard herself called, "Um Yusef"—the Mother of Joseph. "Peace be upon her!"

New-Year's day was as usual a general holiday; visits and good wishes were being exchanged from early morning till sunset. On the first New-Year's day which I passed in Syria, I was surprised to hear our servants, and the servants of our neighbors, and all the Arabs of the poorer classes, greet us with the word "Bastrîna!" I found it was a common custom on the coast, and a present of a few piasters is always expected by the person who pronounces the word, and this is rarely refused. The custom is rather a tax upon people who hold a prominent position in Levantine towns.

I could not guess the origin of the custom, or the meaning of the word. The Arabs said, "Allah knows where the word came from; it is very ancient, but it certainly is not genuine Arabic." I inquired among the Europeans, but they threw no light on the subject. But an "Essay on the Fine Arts," by E. L. Tarbuck, led me to believe that this custom is a relic of pagan worship, and that the word "Bastrîna" refers to the offerings which used to be made to the goddess Strenia. We could hardly expect that the pagans who embraced Christianity could altogether abandon their former creeds and customs. Macaulay says, "Christianity conquered paganism, but paganism infected Christianity; the rites of the Pantheon passed into her worship, and the subtilties of the Academy into her creed." Many pagan customs were adopted by the new Church. T. Hope, in his "Essay on Architecture," says: "The Saturnalia were continued in the Carnival, and the festival with offerings to the goddess Strenia was continued in that of the New Year, with the gifts called in France étrennes;" to this I may add, that on the coast of Syria they are called "Bastrîna." The prefix "Ba," in Arabic signifies "on account of"—"for the sake of"—"for"—"by."