Belief in Superstitions — Divine and Satanic magic — Demons — A birthday — Naming the child — Women — Marriage and divorce — A wedding, the bride’s bath, fetching the bride, presents — “Ghrula,” customs of a widow — The Town Crier — Funerals — Cemeteries — Evil Eye, charms to avert the curse — A visit to a witch — Methods used to obtain a husband — Invoking demons — Discovering stolen property — Exposing a thief — Divination and fortune telling — Sacrificing a bull — The Pilgrimage, rolling the bangles, to ensure a safe journey — “Yom el Asher,” the children’s “Christmas” 207 CHAPTER VII “FANTASIAS” Social life in Siwa — Games — “Lubki” drinkers — Giving alms to the poor — Sheikhs in fiction and in fact — “Beit el Mal” — Ramadan, the Mohammedan Lent — The Mulid of Sidi Suliman — Paying calls — Etiquette of eating — The religious dance of the Medinia — The “Zikr” — Bacchanalian revels — Siwan music and singing — Women dancers 239 ILLUSTRATIONS The Walls of Siwa Frontispiece Col. The Honble. M. G. Talbot, C.B.; Sheikh Idris el Senussi; and The Idrisi of Luxor to face foreword The Author „ page 2 A Falconer outside a Bedouin Camp „ „ 26 Silugi Hounds „ „ 30 Camel Corps „ „ 44 Camel Corps trekking to Siwa, near Megahiz Pass „ „ 58 Sheikh Mahdi Abdel Nebi, of Aghourmi, with his Daughter and Cousin „ „ 70 Ruins of “Omm Beyda,” The Temple of Jupiter Ammon „ „ 86 The Citadel and Mosque of El Atik „ „ 98 Gate into the Western Quarter „ „ 112 “Kasr Hassuna,” The District Officer’s House „ „ 120 Sheikh Mohammed Idris, the Chief of the Senussi „ „ 132 The Western Quarter from an Eastern Roof „ „ 144 Cleaning Tamousy Spring „ „ 160 In the Western Quarter „ „ 176 The Spring of Zeitoun „ „ 178 Siwa Town from the South „ „ 200 A Bride — The Daughter of Bashu Habun before her Wedding „ „ 214 The Town-Crier’s Daughter „ „ 222 A Little Siwan Girl „ „ 238 A “Fantasia” at the tomb of Sidi Suliman „ „ 252 Map.