An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians

by Edward William Lane

CEILING OF A DURKÁ’AH.—About eight feet wide.

CEILING OF A PROJECTING WINDOW.
The dimensions of this are about eight feet by three.

In several of the upper rooms, in the houses of the wealthy, there are, besides the windows of lattice-work, others, of coloured glass, representing bunches of flowers, peacocks, and other gay and gaudy objects, or merely fanciful patterns, which have a pleasing effect. These coloured glass windows, which are termed “kamareeyehs,”[^[26]] are mostly from a foot and a half to two feet and a half in height, and from one to two feet in width; and are generally placed along the upper part of the projecting 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 composed 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 Mekkeh, or of the tomb of the Prophet, or of flowers and other objects, executed by native Muslim 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, etc., which are more usually written on paper, in an embellished style, and enclosed in glazed frames. No chambers are furnished as bedrooms. The bed, in the daytime, is rolled up, and placed on one side, or in an adjoining closet, called “khazneh,” 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 deewán, 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:[^[27]] the room is warmed, when necessary, by burning charcoal in a chafing-dish. Many houses have, at the top, a sloping shed of boards, called a “malkaf,”[^[28]] directed towards the north or north-west, to convey to a “fes-hah,” or “fesahah” (an open apartment), below the cool breezes which generally blow from those quarters.

WOODEN LOCK.

Every door is furnished with a wooden lock, called a “dabbeh,” the mechanism of which is shown by a sketch here inserted. No. 1 in this sketch is a front view of the lock, with the bolt drawn back; Nos. 2, 3, and 4, are back views of the separate parts, and the key. A number of small iron pins (four, five, or more) drop into corresponding holes in the sliding bolt as soon as the latter is pushed into the hole or staple of the door-post. The key also has small pins, made to correspond with the holes, into which they are introduced to open the lock: the former pins being thus pushed up, the bolt may be drawn back. The wooden lock of a street-door is commonly about fourteen inches long:[^[29]] those of the doors of apartments, cupboards, etc., are about seven, or eight, or nine inches. The locks of the gates of quarters, public buildings, etc., are of the same kind, and mostly two feet, or even more, in length. It is not difficult to pick this kind of lock.

In the plan of almost every house there is an utter want of regularity. The apartments are generally of different heights—so that a person has to ascend or descend one, two, or more steps, to pass from one chamber to another adjoining it. The principal aim of the architect is to render the house as private as possible; particularly that part of it which is inhabited by the women; and not to make any window in such a situation as to overlook the apartments of another house. Another object of the architect, in building a house for a person of wealth or rank, is to make a secret door (“báb sirr”[^[30]]), from which the tenant may make his escape in case of danger from an arrest, or an attempt at assassination—or by which to give access and egress to a paramour; and it is also common to make a hiding-place for treasure (called “makhba”) in some part of the house. In the hareem of a large house there is generally a bath, which is heated in the same manner as the public baths.

Another style of building has lately been very generally adopted for houses of the more wealthy. These do not differ much from those already described, excepting in the windows, which are of glass, and placed almost close together. Each window of the hareem has, outside, a sliding frame of close wooden trellis-work, to cover the lower half. The numerous glass windows are ill adapted to a hot climate.