Gymnastic games, or such diversions as require much bodily exertion, are very uncommon among the Egyptians. Sometimes two peasants contend with each other, for mere amusement, or for a trifling wager or reward, with “nebboots,” which are thick staves, five or six feet long: the object of each is to strike his adversary on the head. The nebboot is a formidable weapon, and is often seen in the hand of an Egyptian peasant: he often carries it when on a journey; particularly when he travels by night; which, however, is seldom the case. Wrestling-matches are also sometimes witnessed in Egypt: the combatants (who are called “musáre’een,” in the singular “musáre’”) strip themselves of all their clothing excepting their drawers, and generally oil their bodies; but their exercises are not remarkable, and are seldom performed but for remuneration, on the occasions of festivals, processions, etc.—On such occasions, too, mock combats between two men, usually clad only in their drawers, and each armed with a sabre and a small shield, are not unfrequently witnessed: neither attempts to wound his adversary: every blow is received on the shield.
The game of the “gereed,” as played by the Memlooks and Turkish soldiers, has often been described; but the manner in which it is practised by many of the peasants of Upper Egypt is much more worthy of description. It is often played by the latter on the occasion of the marriage of a person of influence, such as the sheykh of a tribe or village; or on that of a circumcision; or when a votive calf or ox or bull, which has been let loose to pasture where it will, by common consent, is about to be sacrificed at the tomb of a saint, and a public feast made with its meat. The combatants usually consist of two parties, of different villages, or of different tribes or branches of a tribe; each party about twelve or twenty or more in number; and each person mounted on a horse or mare. The two parties station themselves about five hundred feet or more apart. A person from one party gallops towards the other party, and challenges them: one of the latter, taking, in his left hand, four, five, six, or more gereeds, each six feet, or an inch or two more or less, in length, but generally equal in length to the height of a tall man, and very heavy (being the lower part of the palm-stick, freshly cut, and full of sap), pursues the challenger at full gallop: he approaches him as near as possible—often within arm’s length; and throws, at his head or back, one gereed after another, until he has none left. The gereed is blunt at both ends. It is thrown with the small end foremost, and with uplifted arm; and sometimes inflicts terrible, and even fatal, wounds.[[448]] The person against whom the gereeds are thrown endeavours to catch them, or to ward them off with his arm or with a sheathed sword; or he escapes them by the superior speed of his horse. Having sustained the attack, and arrived at the station of his party, he tries his skill against the person by whom he has been pursued, in the same manner as the latter did against him.—This sport, which reminds us of the tournaments of old, and which was a game of the early Bedawees, continues for several hours. It is common only among those tribes who have not been many years, or not more than a few centuries, settled on the banks of the Nile; and who have consequently retained many Bedawee customs and habits. About the close of the period of my former visit to this country, three men and a mare were killed at this game within an hour, in the western plain of Thebes. It is seldom, however, that a man loses his life in this exercise: at least, of late, I have heard of no such occurrence taking place.—In Lower Egypt, a gereed only half the length of those above described, or little more, is used in playing this game.
Other exercises, which are less frequently performed, and only at festivals for the amusement of the spectators, will be described in subsequent pages.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MUSIC.
The Egyptians in general are excessively fond of music; and yet they regard the study of this fascinating art (like dancing) as unworthy to employ any portion of the time of a man of sense; and as exercising too powerful an effect upon the passions, and leading a man into gaiety and dissipation and vice. Hence it was condemned by the Prophet: but it is used, notwithstanding, even in religious ceremonies; especially by the darweeshes. The Egyptians have very few books on music; and these are not understood by their modern musicians. The natural liking of the Egyptians for music is shown by their habit of regulating their motions, and relieving the dulness of their occupations, in various labours, by songs or chants. Thus do the boatmen, in rowing, etc.; the peasants in raising water; the porters in carrying heavy weights with poles; men, boys, and girls, in assisting builders, by bringing bricks, stones, and mortar, and removing rubbish: so also, the sawyers, reapers, and many other labourers. Though the music of the Egyptians is of a style very difficult for foreigners to acquire or imitate, the children very easily and early attain it. The practice of chanting the Kur-án, which is taught in all their schools, contributes to increase their natural fondness for music.
How science was cherished by the Arabs when all the nations of Europe were involved in the grossest ignorance, and how much the former profited by the works of ancient Greek writers, is well known. It appears that they formed the system of music which has prevailed among them for many centuries partly from Greek, and partly from Persian and Indian treatises. From the Greek language are derived the most general Arabic term for music, namely, “mooseeka,” and the names of some of the Arab musical instruments; but most of the technical terms used by the Arab musicians are borrowed from the Persian and Indian languages. There is a striking degree of similarity between many of the airs which I have heard in Egypt and some of the popular melodies of Spain;[[449]] and it is not surprising that this is the case: for music was much cultivated among the Arabs of Spain; and the library of the Escurial contains many Arabic treatises on this art.
The most remarkable peculiarity in the Arab system of music is the division of tones into thirds. Hence I have heard Egyptian musicians urge against the European systems of music that they are deficient in the number of sounds. These small and delicate gradations of sound give a peculiar softness to the performances of the Arab musicians, which are generally of a plaintive character: but they are difficult to discriminate with exactness, and are therefore seldom observed in the vocal and instrumental music of those persons who have not made a regular study of the art. Most of the popular airs of the Egyptians, though of a similar character, in most respects, to the music of their professional performers, are very simple; consisting of only a few notes, which serve for every one or two lines of a song, and which are therefore repeated many times. I must confess that I generally take great delight in the more refined kind of music which I occasionally hear in Egypt; and the more I become habituated to the style, the more I am pleased with it; though, at the same time, I must state that I have not met with many Europeans who enjoy it in the same degree as myself. The natives of Egypt are generally enraptured with the performances of their vocal and instrumental musicians: they applaud with frequent exclamations of “Allah!”[[450]] and “God approve thee!” “God preserve thy voice!” and similar expressions.
The male professional musicians are called “A′láteeyeh;” in the singular, “A′látee,” which properly signifies “a player upon an instrument;” but they are generally both instrumental and vocal performers. They are people of very dissolute habits; and are regarded as scarcely less disreputable characters than the public dancers. They are, however, hired at most grand entertainments, to amuse the company; and on these occasions they are usually supplied with brandy, or other spirituous liquors, which they sometimes drink until they can neither sing nor strike a chord. The sum commonly paid to each of them for one night’s performance is equal to about two or three shillings; but they often receive considerably more. The guests generally contribute the sum.
There are also female professional singers. These are called “’Awálim;” in the singular, “’A′l’meh,” or “’A′limeh;” an appellation literally signifying “a learned female.” The ’Awálim are often hired on the occasion of a fête in the hareem of a person of wealth. There is generally a small, elevated apartment, called a “tukeyseh,” or “mughanna,” adjoining the principal saloon of the hareem, from which it is separated only by a screen of wooden lattice-work; or there is some other convenient place in which the female singers may be concealed from the sight of the master of the house, should he be present with his women. But when there is a party of male guests, they generally sit in the court, or in a lower apartment, to hear the songs of the ’Awálim, who, in this case, usually sit at a window of the hareem, concealed by the lattice-work. Some of them are also instrumental performers. I have heard the most celebrated ’Awálim in Cairo, and have been more charmed with their songs than with the best performances of the A′láteeyeh, and more so, I think I may truly add, than with any other music that I have ever enjoyed. They are often very highly paid. I have known instances of sums equal to more than fifty guineas being collected for a single ’A’l’meh from the guests at an entertainment in the house of a merchant, where none of the contributors were persons of much wealth. So powerful is the effect of the singing of a very accomplished ’A′l’meh, that her audience, in the height of their excitement, often lavish upon her sums which they can ill afford to lose. There are, among the ’Awálim in Cairo, a few who are not altogether unworthy of the appellation of “learned females;” having some literary accomplishments. There are also many of an inferior class, who sometimes dance in the hareem: hence, travellers have often misapplied the name of “almé,” meaning “’ál’meh,” to the common dancing-girls, of whom an account will be given in another chapter of this work.