Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/751

727 MODERN INHABITANTS.] EGYPT 727 of the people of Egypt ; the songs of the boatmen, the religious chants, and the cries in the streets are all musical. There are male and female musical performers ; the former are both instrumental and vocal, the latter (called Ahneh, pi. Awalim) generally vocal. The Awalim are, as their name (&quot;learned ) implies, generally accom plished women, and should not be confounded with the Ghawazee, or dancing-girls. There are many kinds of musical instruments. The music, vocal and instrumental, is generally of little compass, and in the minor key ; it is therefore plaintive, and strikes a European ear as somewhat monotonous, though often possessing a simple beauty, and the charm of antiquity, for there is little doubt that favourite airs have been handed down from remote ages. The prophet Mohammad condemned music, and its pro fessors are in consequence lightly esteemed by the generality of Muslims, who nevertheless scruple not to enjoy their performances, and resort to the coffee-shops and to private festivities, where they are almost always to be found. The Ghawazee (sing. Ghazeeyeh) form a separate class, very similar to the gypsies. They always intermarry among themselves onty, and are all brought up to the venal profession. Their performances are too well known to need a description here, but it should be observed that the religious and learned Egyptians hold them to be improper. They dance in public, at fairs and religious festivals, and at private festivities, but not in respectable houses, whether before the men or the ladies. Mehemet Ali banished them to Isne, in Upper Egypt ; and the few that remained, occasionally dancing in Cairo, called them selves Awalinij to avoid punishment. A most objection able class of male dancers also exists, who imitate the dances of the Ghawazee, and dress in a kind of nondescript female attire. Not the least curious of the public per formances are those of the serpent-charmers, who are generally Ilifa ee, or Saaclee dervishes. Their power over serpents has been doubted by most European travellers, yet their performances remain unexplained ; and apparently they possess means of ascertaining the haunts of these and other reptiles, and of alluring them forth ; they, however, always extract the fangs of venomous serpents. Jugglers, rope-dancers, and farce-players must also be mentioned. In the principal coffee-shops of Cairo are to be found reciters of romances, surrounded by interested audiences. They are of three classes, and recite from several works, among which was formerly included the Thousand and One Nights; but manuscripts of the latter have become so rare as to render it almost impossible to obtain a copy. The periodical public festivals are exceedingly interest ing, and many of the remarkable observances with which they abound are passing away. The first ten days of the Mohammadan year are held to be blessed, and especially the tenth ; and many curious and superstitious prac tices are observed on these days, particularly by the women. The tenth day, being the anniversary of the martrydom of El-Hoseyn, the mosque of the Hasaneyn is thronged to excess, mostly by women. Following the order of the lunar year, the next festival is that of the Return of the Pilgrims, which is the occasion of great rejoicing, many having friends or relatives in the caravan. The Mahmal, a kind of covered litter, first originated by the celebrated queen Sheger-ed-Durr, is brought into the city in procession, though not with as much pomp as when it leaves with the pilgrims. These and other processions have lost much of their effect since the extinction of the Memlooks, and the gradual disuse of gorgeous dress for the retainers of the officers of state. A regiment of regular infantry makes but a sorry substitute for the splendid cavalcade if former times. The Birth of the Prophet (Moolid en-Nebee), which is celebrated in the beginning of the third month, is the greatest festival of the whole year. During nine days and nights its religious ceremonies are observed at Cairo, in the open space called the Ezbekeeyeh. Next in time, and also in importance, is the Moolid El-Hasaneyn, commemorative of the birth of El-Hoseyn, and lasting fifteen days and nights ; and at the same time is kept the Moolid of Es-Salih Eiyoob, the last king but one of the Eiyoobee dynasty. In the seventh mouth occur the Moolid of the seyyideh Zeyneb, and the commemoration of the Mear&g, or the Prophet s miraculous journey to heaven. Early in the tenth month (Shnaban), the Moolid of the imam Esh-Shdfe ee is observed; and the night of the middle of that month has its peculiar customs, being held by the Muslims to be that on which the fate of all living is decided for the ensuing year. Then follows Kamadan, the month of abstinence, a severe trial to the faithful ; and the Lesser Festival (El- Eed es-Sagheer), which commences Showwal, is hailed by them with delight. A few days after, the Kisweh, or new covering for the Kaabeh at Meecca, is taken in procession from the citadel, where it is always manufactured, to the mosque of the Hasaneyn to be completed; and, later, tbe caravan of pilgrims departs, when the grand procession of the Mahmal takes place. On the tenth day of the last month of the year, the Great Festival (El- Eed el-Kebeer), or that of the Sacrifice, closes the calendar. The rise of the Nile is naturally the occasion of annual customs, some of which are doubtless relics of antiquity; these are observed according to the Coptic year. 1 The com mencement of the rise is fixed to the night of the llth of Ba-ooneh (Payni), the 17th of June, and is called that of the Drop (Leylet en-Nuktah), because a miraculous drop is then supposed to fall, and cause the swelling of the river. The real rise commences at Cairo about the summer solstice, or a few days later ; and on about the 3d of July a crier in each district of the city begins to go his daily rounds, announcing, in a quaint chant, the increase of water in tin; Nilonieter of the island of Er-R6dah. When the river has risen 20 or 21 feet, he proclaims the Wefa en-Neel, &quot; Com pletion &quot; or &quot; Abundance of the Nile.&quot; On the following day, the dam which closes the canal of Cairo is cut with much ceremony, and this is the signal for letting the inundation over the surface of the country. A pillar of earth before the dam is called the &quot; Bride of the Nile,&quot; and Arab his torians relate that this was substituted, at the Muslim con quest, for a virgin whom it was the custom annually to sacrifice, to ensure a plentiful inundation. A large boat, gaily decked out, representing that in which the victim used to be conveyed, is anchored near, and a gun on board is fired every quarter of an hour during the night. Rockets and other fireworks are also let off, but the best, strangely, after daybreak. The governor of Cairo attends the ceremony of cutting the dam, with the kadee and others. The crier continues his daily rounds, with his former chant, excepting on the Coptic New-Year s Day, when the cry of the Wefa is repeated, until the Saleeb, or Discovery of the Cross, the 26th or 27th of September, at which period, the river having attained its greatest height, he concludes his annual employment with another chant, and presents to each house some limes and other fruit, and dry lumps of Nile mud. 1 It may be mentioned here that the period of the hot winds, called the Khamaseen, that is, &quot;The Fifties, is calculated from the day after the Coptic Easter, and terminates on the day of Pentecost, and that the Muslims observe the Wednesday preceding this period, called &quot;Job s Wednesday,&quot; as well as its first day, when many go into the country from Cairo, &quot; to smell the air.&quot; This day is hence called Shemm en-Neseem, or &quot;the smelling of the zephyr.&quot; The Ulema observe the same custom on the first three days of the spring quarter.