The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy LandKnox, Thomas Wallace
General
The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy Land
Knox, Thomas Wallace
Egypt -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature; Palestine -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
"The bath of to-day is much like that of thousands of years ago, as can
be seen by the pictures on the walls of the tombs. The bath is the
favorite resort of the women, and many of them spend the whole day
there, or at least a large part of it. The baths for women are much more
numerous than those for men; many of them are set apart on different
days of the week for different religious sects, and sometimes families
or parties of friends hire the bath for themselves, so that they shall
not be disturbed by others.
"Doctor Bronson says a good deal of nonsense has been written by
travellers concerning the baths of the East. He says better and more
comfortable bathing establishments may be found in Paris, London, or New
York than in Constantinople or Cairo, and the number is increasing every
year.
"The Oriental bath is recommended for a good many things besides
cleanliness, although the latter is the great consideration. It will
cure colds and slight touches of rheumatism, is excellent for many
maladies of the skin, improves the digestion, and has often restored
invalids whom medicine had failed to benefit. Doctor Bronson has a
friend in New York who suffers occasionally from gout, and whenever he
feels it coming upon him he goes straight to a Turkish bath, and, as he
says, 'boils it out.' One should be very careful, after taking a bath,
not to go too soon into the open air, for fear of catching cold."
While on their way from the bath to the hotel the youths encountered a
procession, and naturally asked the guide what it was.
"That is a wedding," was the reply; "somebody is going to be married,
and this is part of the ceremony."
It occurred to Frank on the instant that his sister and Miss Effie might
be interested in the subject of weddings, and here would be an
opportunity to write something to please them. Accordingly, he made note
of all he saw in the procession, interrogated the guide, and even took a
peep within the pages of "The Modern Egyptians," to assure himself that
he had made no mistake. As there may be others besides Mary and Effie
who want to know the matrimonial customs of Egypt, we will make an
extract from Frank's account:
"The procession that we saw was composed of the family and friends of
the bride on their way to the bath, where they would remain several
hours. There were four musicians in front, and right behind them were
six of the married friends of the bride, walking in couples; behind
these were several young girls, and all the party had their faces
covered with long veils that reached nearly to the ground. The married
women wore robes of black material, but the girls were in striped or
white shawls, so that it was easy to know at a glance whether one of
them was married or single.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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