Page:Palestine Exploration Fund - Quarterly Statement for 1894.djvu/173

Rh singing women and moving towards her future house, and tell her, "Fie on thee! what would your deceased husband say to all this"! When the people have withdrawn, the bride does not quit her shoes till the bridegroom has paid a sum for "untying the shoes," (Hal il watta). Wine is never used at Mohammedan ceremonies.

Question 18. Are second marriages allowed?

Answer. This is answered under Question 9 for the men, and as for women the preceding answer solves it partially. Some women refuse second marriages, especially if they have grown-up children and lands. A young man married a widow in Artas, and whilst the women were singing and some firing was going on, the moon rose eclipsed. The men shook their heads, and one told me it was a very bad omen, "This marriage has a dark face." To the bridegroom he said he remembered another marriage being on the evening of an eclipse (which they call swallowed by a whale, (Bala' o 'hud), and it turned out very unlucky. This one also did, for the widow never had any children, and the man abandoned her. Another man, having a wife in the village of Shiukh, near Hebron, came and married a widow who had a son in Artas. This son being entitled to gardens in Artas, both mother and son never left the village, whilst the husband, usually living at Shiukh, used to come once in a while and spend eight days with his Artas wife in her own house. She had several children by her second husband; he used to leave some piastres for his family to spend, and then go away again, sometimes for months, though this happened very seldom.

Question 19. ''What is done when a man is dying? Is he ever oiled {extreme unction)? Are doors and windows opened when a man dies?''

Answer. When a man is dying he is turned in the direction of Mecca-Kibleh, and witnesses three times, saying, "I witness that there is no God but God, and Mohammed is God's apostle,". He wishes all present good-bye, and asks and receives pardon from every one. He then gives liberty to his wife to marry again, if she chooses to do so, simply by pardoning her, "I pardon you, so and so," I never heard of oiling with Mohammedans, and in Artas the dying person's room is generally filled with people; fire, and consequently smoke, fills the room. Windows, if there be any at all, and the door, are always open; the air would be suffocating without this. I do not know whether, if the case were to present itself, they would be on purpose, but they repeat the witness to God and his prophet.

Question 20. ''Is the corpse washed and dressed? Are any charms placed on it?''

Answer. A man's corpse is completely washed by the Khateeb, and all issues are then stopped with cotton, and he is well wrapped in new