An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians

by Edward William Lane

The ornaments of the hair I shall next describe.—It has been mentioned, that all the hair of the head, excepting a little over the forehead and temples, is arranged in plaits, or braids, which hang down the back. These plaits are generally from eleven to twenty-five in number; but always of an uneven number: eleven is considered a scanty number: thirteen and fifteen are more common. Three times the number of black silk strings (three to each plait of hair, and each three united at the top), from sixteen to eighteen inches in length, are braided with the hair for about a quarter of their length; or they are attached to a lace or band of black silk which is bound round the head, and in this case hang entirely separate from the plaits of hair, which they almost conceal. These strings are called “keytáns;” and together with certain ornaments of gold, etc., the more common of which are here represented, compose what is termed the “safa.”[^[651]] Along each string, excepting from the upper extremity to about a quarter or (at most) a third of its length, are generally attached nine or more of the little flat ornaments of gold called “bark.” These are commonly all of the same form, and about an inch, or a little more, apart; but those of each string are purposely placed so as not exactly to correspond with those of the others. The most usual forms of bark are Nos. 1 and 2 of the specimens given on p. 529. At the end of each string is a small gold tube, called “másoorah,” about three-eighths of an inch long, or a kind of gold bead in the form of a cube with a portion cut off from each angle, called “habbeh.” Beneath the másoorah or habbeh is a little ring, to which is most commonly suspended a Turkish gold coin called “Ruba Fenduklee,” equivalent to nearly 1s. 8d. of our money, and a little more than half an inch in diameter. Such is the most general description of safa; but there are more genteel kinds, in which the habbeh is usually preferred to the másoorah, and instead of the Ruba Fenduklee is a flat ornament of gold, called, from its form, “kummetrë,” or “pear.” There are also other and more approved substitutes for the gold coin; the most usual of which is called “shiftish′eh,” composed of open gold work, with a pearl in the centre. Some ladies substitute a little tassel of pearls for the gold coin; or suspend alternately pearls and emeralds to the bottom of the triple strings; and attach a pearl with each of the bark. The safa thus composed with pearls is called “safa loolee.” Coral beads are also sometimes attached in the same manner as the pearls.—From what has been said above, it appears that a moderate safa of thirteen plaits will consist of 39 strings, 351 bark, 39 másoorahs or habbehs, and 39 gold coins or other ornaments; and that a safa of twenty-five plaits, with twelve bark to each string, will contain no fewer than 900 bark, and seventy-five of each of the other appendages. The safa appears to me the prettiest, as well as the most singular, of all the ornaments worn by the ladies of Egypt. The glittering of the bark, etc., and their chinking together as the wearer walks, have a peculiarly lively effect.

1, 2, 3, 4. BARK. 5. MÁSOORAH. 6. HABBEH. 7. SHIFTISH′EH.
Each, half the real size.

Anklets (“khulkhál”), of solid gold or silver, and of the form here sketched, are worn by some ladies; but are more uncommon than they formerly were. They are of course very heavy, and, knocking together as the wearer walks, make a ringing noise: hence it is said in a song, “The ringing of thine anklets has deprived me of my reason.” Isaiah alludes to this,[^[652]] or perhaps to the sound produced by another kind of anklet which will be mentioned hereafter.

ANKLETS—one-fourth the real size.

The only description of ladies’ ornaments that I have yet to describe is the “hegáb,” or amulet. This is a writing of one or other of the kinds that I have described in the eleventh chapter, covered with waxed cloth, to preserve it from accidental pollution, or injury by moisture, and enclosed in a case of thin embossed gold, or silver, which is attached to a silk string, or a chain, and generally hung on the right side, above the girdle; the string or chain being passed over the left shoulder. Sometimes these cases bear Arabic inscriptions; such as “Má sháallah” (“What God willeth [cometh to pass]”) and “Yá kadi-l-hágát” (“O decreer of the things that are needful!”). I insert an engraving of three hegábs of gold attached to a string, to be worn together. The central one is a thin, flat case, containing a folded paper: it is about a third of an inch thick: the others are cylindrical cases, with hemispherical ends, and contain scrolls: each has a row of bark along the bottom. Hegábs such as these, or of a triangular form, are worn by many children, as well as women; and those of the latter form are often attached to a child’s head-dress.

The ornaments worn by females of the lower orders must now be described.

HEGÁBS—one-fourth the real size.