An account of the manners and customs of the modern EgyptiansLane, Edward William
History
An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians
Lane, Edward William
Egypt -- Social life and customs
The interval between supper and the “’eshë,” or time of the
night-prayers, is generally passed in smoking a pipe, and sipping a cup
of coffee. The enjoyment of the pipe may be interrupted by prayer, but
is continued afterwards; and sometimes draughts or chess, or some other
game, or at least conversation, contributes to make the time glide away
more agreeably. The members of an Egyptian family in easy circumstances
may pass their time very pleasantly; but they do so in a quiet way. The
men often pay evening visits to their friends, at, or after,
supper-time. They commonly use, on these and similar occasions, a
folding lantern (“fánoos”), composed of waxed cloth strained over rings
of wire, and a top and bottom of tinned copper. This kind of lantern is
here represented, together with the common lamp (“kandeel”), and its
usual receptacle of wood, which serves to protect the flame from the
wind. The lamp is a small vessel of glass, having a little tube in the
bottom, in which is stuck a wick formed of cotton twisted round a piece
of straw. Some water is poured in first, and then the oil. A lamp of
this kind is often hung over the entrance of a house. By night, the
interiors of the houses present a more dull appearance than in the day:
the light of one or two candles (placed on the floor or on a stool, and
sometimes surrounded by a large glass shade, or enclosed in a glass
lantern, on account of the windows being merely of lattice-work) is
generally thought sufficient for a large and lofty saloon. Few of the
Egyptians sit up later, in summer, than three or four o’clock, which is
three or four hours after sunset; for their reckoning of time is from
sunset at every season of the year: in winter they often sit up five or
six hours.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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