Volume 1

An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians, written in Egypt during the years 1833, -34, and -35, partly from notes made during a former visit to that country in the years 1825, -26, -27, and -28 / By Edward William Lane.

  • Edward William Lane
Date:
1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians, written in Egypt during the years 1833, -34, and -35, partly from notes made during a former visit to that country in the years 1825, -26, -27, and -28 / By Edward William Lane. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    » eee are generally placed along the upper part of the pro- jecting: lattice-window, in a row; or above that kind. of window, disposed in a group, so as to form a large square; or elsewhere in the upper parts of the walls, usually singly, or in pairs, side by side. ‘They are com- posed of small pieces of glass, of various colours, set in rims of fine plaster, and enclosed in a frame of wood. On the plastered walls of some apartments are rude paintings of the temple of Mek’keh, or of the tomb of the Prophet, or of flowers and other objects, executed by native Moos'lim artists, who have not the least notion of the rules of perspective, and who consequently deface what they thus attempt to decorate. Sometimes, also, the walls are ornamented with Arabic inscriptions, of maxims, &c., which are more usually written on paper, in an embellished style, and enclosed in glazed frames. No chambers are furnished as bed-rooms, The bed, in the day-time, is rolled up, and placed on one side, or in an adjoining closet,.called khuz'neh, which, in the winter, is a sleeping-place: in summer, many people sleep upon the house-top. A mat, or carpet, spread-upon the raised part of the stone floor, and a deewa/n, constitute the complete furniture of a room. For meals, a round tray is brought in, and placed upon a low stool, and the company sit round it on the ground. There is no fire-place*: the room is warmed, when necessary, by burning charcoal in a chafingdish. Many houses have, at the top, a sloping shed of boards, called a mul'ckuf+, directed towards * Excepting in the kitchen, in which are several small oe cles for fire, constructed on a kind of bench of brick. + See again the engraving opposite page 1].