Travels in Arabia; comprehending an account of those territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacredBurckhardt, John Lewis
Islamic
Travels in Arabia; comprehending an account of those territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacred
Burckhardt, John Lewis
Arabian Peninsula -- Description and travel
In summer, many people, and all the lower Indians, wear the cap only,
without the turban. The usual turban is of Indian cambric, or muslin,
which each class ties round the head in a particular kind of fold. Those
who style themselves Olemas, or learned doctors, allow the extremity to
fall down in a narrow stripe to the middle of their back. The Mekkawys
are cleaner in their dress than any Eastern people I have seen. As white
muslin, or white cambric, forms the principal part of their clothing, it
requires frequent washing; and this is regularly done, so that even the
poorest orders endeavour to change their linen at least once a week.
With the higher and middle classes, the change is, of course, more
frequent. The rich wear every day a different dress; and it is no
uncommon thing with many to possess thirty or forty suits. The people of
the Hedjaz delight in dress much more than the northern Mohammedans; and
the earnings of the lower classes are mostly spent in clothes. When a
Mekkawy returns home from his shop, or even after a short walk into the
town, he immediately undresses, hangs up his clothes over a cord tied
across his sitting-room, takes off his turban, changes his shirt, and
then seats himself upon his carpet, with a thin under-cap upon his head.
In this dishabille they receive visitors; and to delineate a Mekkawy, he
should be represented sitting in his undress, near a projecting latticed
window, having in one hand a sort of fan, generally of this form, [not
included] made of chippings of date-leaves, with which he drives away
the flies; and in the other, the long snake of his Persian pipe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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