An occasion of keen interest to all the villages where Moslems dwell is the annual Neby Mûsâ (prophet Moses) pilgrimage in April to the hill reputed among Moslems to be the place of the burial of Moses.[116] It lies due east from Jerusalem and southwest from Jericho. From Jebel Nâblus and Jebel el-Khalîl (Hebron and environs) and all the country about contingents arrive in Jerusalem. Banners are carried to denote the delegations. Dervishes are in attendance to excite the religious emotions by dancing,[117] howling and self-mutilation. Soldiers are there to represent the authority of the government. All assembled at Jerusalem, the procession starts from the Ḥarâm esh-Sherîf on Friday and, proceeding out through the St. Stephen’s Gate (Bâb Sitti Maryam), goes down into the Kidron Valley and off by the Bethany road. Spectators throng the hillside east of the gate. Groups of women, huddled in out-of-door ḥarîms, sit on the edge of the high embankments by the roadside. Venders of toys and delicacies ply their trade. Some of the dervishes have spikes, with filigree iron heads, thrust through their cheeks.[118] Drummers and singers and the marching pilgrims pass on, accompanied a part of the way by dignitaries in carriages. As the banners pass between the high embankments on the sides of the road the spectators sitting there are apt to take hold of the floating folds and kiss them, or rub their faces with them, afterward passing them on to friends.[119] The pilgrims spend a week at Neby Mûsâ, where they have a sort of camp-meeting and religious revival. It is an opportunity for the venders of supplies. On the following Friday the procession returns to the city with drumming, shouting and shooting of firearms. ----- -----