Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/748

724 724 go usually barefoot. The ladies wear a shirt and drawers, a very full pair of silk trousers, and a close-fitting vest with hanging sleeves and skirts, open down the front and at the sides, and long enough to turu up and fasten into the girdle, which is generally a cashmere shawl; a cloth jacket, richly embroidered with gold, and having short sleeves, is com monly worn over the vest. The hair in front is combed down over the forehead and cut across in a straight line ; behind it is divided into very many small plaits, which hang down the back, and are lengthened by silken cords, and often adorned with gold coins and ornaments. A small tarboosh is worn on the back of the head, sometimes having a plate of gold fixed on the crown, and a handkerchief is tastefully bound round the temples. The women of the lower orders have trousers of printed or dyed cotton, and a clo.se waistcoat. All wear the long and elegant head-veil. This is a simple &quot; breadth &quot; of muslin, which passes over the head and hangs down behind, one side being drawn forward over the face in the presence of a man. A lady s veil is of white muslin, embroidered at the ends in gold and colours; that of a person of the lower class is simply dyed blue. In goiug abroad the ladies wear above their indoor dress a loose robe of coloured silk without sleeves, and nearly open at the sides, and above it a large envelop ing piece of black silk, which is brought over the head, and gathered round the person by the arms and hands on each side. A face-veil entirely conceals the features, except the eyes ; it is a long and narrow piece of thick white muslin, reaching to a little below the knees. The women of the lower orders have the same out-door dress of different materials and colour. Ladies use slippers of yellow morocco, and abroad, inner boots of the same material, above which they wear, in either case, thick shoes, having only toes. The poor wear red shoes, very like those of the men. Among the upper classes, however, the dress is rapidly becoming assimilated to that of Europeans in its most preposterous form. In religion the Muslim Egyptians are Sunnees, profess ing the creed which is commonly termed &quot;orthodox,&quot; and are principally of the persuasion of the Shafe ees, whose celebrated founder, the imam Esh-Shafe ee, is buried in the great southern cemetery of Cairo. Many of them are, however, Hanafees (to which persuasion the Turks chiefly belong), and iu parts of Lower, and almost universally in Upper, Egypt, Malikees. The civil administration of justice is conducted in four principal courts of judicature, that of the Zabit, or chief of the police, where trivial cases are summarily disposed of ; the Divan el-Khedivi, in the citadel, iu which the khedive or his deputy presides, and where judgment is given in cases which either do not require to be referred to the two other courts yet to be mentioned, or which do not fall within their province ; the Divan el-Mahkerneh, the court of the cadi (kadee), or chief judge, who must be a Hanafee, and who was formerly a Turk sent annually from Con stantinople, but is now appointed by the khedive, and paid a fixed salary of 4000 napoleons a year ; and that of the inuftee of the Hanafees, or chief doctor of the law, who decides all cases of difficulty. There are besides five minor mahkemehs, or courts, in Cairo, and one in each of the neighbouring towns of Boolak and Masr El- Ateekah, from which cases are always referred to the court of the k&dee; and each country town has a native kadee, whose authority is generally sufficient for the villages around. The Council of the Ulema, or learned men, consists of the sheykh, or religious chief, of each of the four orthodox persuasions, the sheykh of the great mosque called the Azhar, who is of the persuasion of the Shafe ees, aud is sometimes its sheykh, the kadee, and the chief (nakeeb) of the Shereefs, or descendants of the Prophet, with several [MODERN INHABITANTS, other persons. This body was until lately very powerful, but now has little influence over the khedive. Cairo is divided into quarters (Harah), each of which has its slieykh, who preserves order among the people : and the whole city is partitioned into eight larger divisions, each having a sheykh called Sheykh et-Turnn. Various trades also have their sheikhs or chiefs, to whom reference is made in disputes respecting the craft ; and the servants have similar heads who are responsible for their behaviour. The country is divided into governments, as before stated, each presided over by a Turkish officer, having the title of mudeer, aud subdivided into districts under the control of native officers, bearing the titles &quot; Mamoor &quot; and &quot; Nazir.&quot; A responsible person called Sheykh el-J3eled (or &quot; sheykh of the town&quot; or &quot;village&quot;) presides over each small town and village, and is a native of the place. It must also be mentioned that the Sa eed, or Upper Egypt, is governed by a pasha, whose residence is at Asyoot. Notwithstanding the consistent, able, and in many respects commendable, code of laws which has been founded on the Koran and the Traditions, the administration of justice is lamentably faulty. As is the custom throughout the East, judgment in Egypt is usually swayed by bribes, and a poor man s case is generally hopeless when his adversary is rich. To this rule there have been some notable exceptions, and the memory of a few virtuous judges is cherished by the people; but such instances are very rare. Tie moral and civil laws observed by the Muslim Egyptians, being those of El-Islam, will be noticed elsewhere. A great abuse formerly existed in Egypt in the system of consular jurisdiction. Natives were compelled to sue a foreigner before the latter s consul, and in nine cases out of ten lost their cause. Simi larly it was very difficult for a foreigner of one nation to obtain justice against one of another nation at the latter s consulate. This abuse has now been done away. At the instance of Nubar Pasha, arid after the deliberations of a European commission, three Courts of First Instance at Alexandria, Cairo, and Ismailia, and a Court of Appeal at Alexandria, were established in 1876, presided over by mixed benches of Europeans and natives, the former being the majority, and employing a new code based on the Code Napoleon, with such additions from Muslim law as were possible. These courts decide all cases between the Govern ment or native subjects and foreigners, and between foreigners of different nationalities ; and there can be no doubt that they will exercise a great influence for good on the administration of justice in Egypt. It is to be hoped that in course of time they may supersede the old native system in all causes. At present they do but supersede the consular system. It is very worthy of notice, that in Cairo, as in some other Muslim cities, any one may obtain gratuitously an elementary education, and he who desires the fullest attain able education may receive that also without the payment of a single fee, by joining a class of students in a collegiate mosque. The elementary instruction which most boys re ceive consists chiefly of reading, and learning the Koran by heart ; day-schools, as charitable institutions, abound in Cairo, and every town possesses its school; a trifling fee to the fikee (or master) is the only expense incurred by the scholars. Girls are seldom taught anything beyond needle work. The children of both sexes, except those of the wealthy, have generally a very dirty and slovenly appear ance ; and often intentional neglect is adopted to avert the effects of the &quot; evil eye,&quot; of which the Egyptians entertain great dread. The children of the upper classes are exces sively indulged, while the poor entirely neglect their offspring. The leading doctrines of El-Isldm, as well as hatred for all religions but their own, and a great rever ence tor their parents and the aged, are early inculcated.