An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians

by Edward William Lane

[Page 9

FOUNTAIN.

In general, there is, on the ground floor, an apartment called a “mandar′ah,” in which male visitors are received. This has a wide wooden grated window, or two windows of this kind, next the court. A small part of the floor, extending from the door to the opposite side of the room, is six or seven inches lower than the rest: this part is called the “durká’ah.”[^[21]] In a handsome house, the durká’ah of the mandar′ah is paved with white and black marble, and little pieces of fine red tile, inlaid in complicated and tasteful patterns, and has in the centre a fountain (called “faskeeyeh”), which plays into a small shallow pool, lined with coloured marbles, etc., like the surrounding pavement. I give a sketch of the fountain. The water which falls from the fountain is drained off from the pool by a pipe. There is generally, fronting the door, at the end of the durká’ah, a shelf of marble or of common stone, about four feet high, called a “suffeh,” supported by two or more arches, or by a single arch, under which are placed utensils in ordinary use—such as perfuming vessels, and the basin and ewer which are used for washing before and after meals, and for the ablution preparatory to prayer: water-bottles, coffee cups, etc., are placed upon the suffeh. In handsome houses, the arches of the suffeh are faced with marble and tile, like the pool of the fountain represented in the sketch above, and sometimes the wall over it, to the height of about four feet or more, is also cased with similar materials: partly with large upright slabs, and partly with small pieces, like the durká’ah. The raised part of the floor of the room is called “leewán”[^[22]] (a corruption of “el-eewán,” which signifies “any raised place to sit upon,” and also “a palace”). Every person slips off his shoes on the durká’ah before he steps upon the leewán.[^[23]] The latter is generally paved with common stone, and covered with a mat in summer, and a carpet over the mat in winter; and has a mattress and cushions placed against each of its three walls, composing what is called a “deewán,” or divan. The mattress, which is generally about three feet wide and three or four inches thick, is placed either on the ground or on a raised frame; and the cushions, which are usually of a length equal to the width of the mattress, and of a height equal to half that measure, lean against the wall. Both mattresses and cushions are stuffed with cotton, and are covered with printed calico, cloth, or some more expensive stuff. The walls are plastered and whitewashed. There are generally, in the walls, two or three shallow cupboards, the doors of which are composed of very small panels, on account of the heat and dryness of the climate, which cause wood to warp and shrink as if it were placed in an oven; for which reason the doors of the apartments also are constructed in the same manner. We observe great variety and much ingenuity displayed in the different modes in which these small panels are formed and disposed. A few specimens are here introduced. The ceiling over the leewán is of wood, with carved beams, generally about a foot apart, partially painted, and sometimes gilt. But that part of the ceiling which is over the durká’ah, in a handsome house, is usually more richly decorated; here, instead of beams, numerous thin strips of wood are nailed upon the planks, forming patterns curiously complicated, yet perfectly regular, and having a highly ornamental effect. I give a sketch of the half of a ceiling thus decorated, but not in the most complicated style. The strips are painted yellow or gilt; and the spaces within, painted green, red, and blue.[^[24]] In the example which I have inserted, the colours are as indicated in the sketch of a portion of the same on a larger scale, excepting in the square in the centre of the ceiling, where the strips are black, upon a yellow ground. From the centre of this square a chandelier is often suspended. There are many patterns of a similar kind; and the colours generally occupy similar places with regard to each other; but in some houses these ceilings are not painted. The ceiling of a projecting window is often ornamented in the same manner. A sketch of one is here given. Good taste is evinced by only decorating in this manner parts which are not always before the eyes; for to look long at so many lines intersecting each other in various directions would be painful.

SUFFEH.

In some houses (as in that which is the subject of the engraving opposite p. 9) there is another room, called a “mak’ad,” for the same use as the mandar′ah, having an open front, with two or more arches and a low railing; and also, on the ground floor, a square recess, called a “takhtabósh,” with an open front, and generally a pillar to support the wall above: its floor is a paved leewán; and there is a long wooden sofa placed along one, or two, or each of its three walls. The court, during the summer, is frequently sprinkled with water, which renders the surrounding apartments agreeably cool—or at least those on the ground-floor. All the rooms are furnished in the same manner as that first described.

SPECIMENS OF PANEL-WORK.
These are represented on a scale of one inch to twenty-four or thirty.

Among the upper apartments, or those of the Hareem, there is generally one called a “ká’ah,” which is particularly lofty. It has two leewáns—one on each hand of a person entering: one of these is generally larger than the other, and is the more honourable part. A portion of the roof of this saloon, the part which is over the durká’ah that divides the two leewáns, is a little elevated above the rest; and has, in the centre, a small lantern, called “memrak,” the sides of which are composed of lattice-work, like the windows before described, and support a cupola. The durká’ah is commonly without a fountain; but is often paved in a similar manner to that of the mandar’ah, which the ká’ah also resembles in having a handsome suffeh, and cupboards of curious panel-work. There is, besides, in this and some other apartments, a narrow shelf of wood, extending along two or each of the three walls which bound the leewán, about seven feet or more from the floor, just above the cupboards, but interrupted in some parts—at least in those parts where the windows are placed; upon this are arranged several vessels of china, not so much for general use as for ornament.[^[25]] All the apartments are lofty, generally fourteen feet or more in height; but the ká’ah is the largest and most lofty room, and in a large house it is a noble saloon.