A boy was noticed who had a fiery temper. When in a passionate fit of anger he seemed to lose control of himself and wished to harm other boys, being restrained only by force. An experienced mother in the village who was related to the family explained the lad’s disposition to sudden fits of anger by saying that when the child was very young the mother’s milk was scanty and the baby had to be fed from the breasts of several different women to help out a little now and then, and that this variety of breasts for feeding accounted for the violent temper of the boy.
Few families, comparatively, have what we should call a family name. The nearest to it for the generality would be the name of the tribe to which the family belongs. The tribal name is not used except in a formal or legal designation. Generally a child bears two names, his own, or, as we should say, a Christian or first name, followed by the name of his father. Thus the child is given the personal name Yakûb (Jacob), and if his father’s personal name is Ibrahîm (Abraham), he goes by the two names, Yakûb Ibrahîm, which is equivalent to saying, “This is Yakûb, the son of Ibrahîm.” If Ibrahîm had a daughter, he might name her ‛Azîzeh, and she would be ‛Azîzeh Ibrahîm. Ibrahîm’s own father’s name may have been Dâûd (David), so Ibrahîm’s full name would be Ibrahîm Dâûd, that is, Ibrahîm, the son of Dâûd. But more likely Ibrahîm’s father’s name was Yakûb, the same names being used often in a family with the omission of a generation, so that grandfather and grandson may have the same name.[[80]] In such a case the list of names would run:
| (Grandfather) | Yakûb Ibrahîm. |
| (Father) | Ibrahîm Yakûb. |
| (Son) | Yakûb Ibrahîm. |
If this boy should have a son he probably would be called Ibrahîm Yakûb. Sometimes one of these names, say Ibrahîm, is kept as a continuous family name, and so ordinary names become stiffened into family or house names. Occasionally the name thus taken may have been that of a mother rather than a father. There is the very pretty custom, already mentioned, that is quite general, of calling a man and his wife after the name of their first-born son. So in the above case the father would seldom be called Ibrahîm Yakûb, but Abu Yakûb, that is, father of (the little) Yakûb, and the mother, Umm Yakûb, the mother of Yakûb. Even though the child die the parents will be called henceforth by these designations, which are esteemed titles of honor. In other cases family names are derived from trades, as Ḥadâd, blacksmith; Bannâ, mason; Bustâny, gardener or orchard-keeper; Ḥajjâr, stone worker. Or, it may be from a former place of residence, as Rafîdya (a village near Nâblus). If a member of the family has been a priest the name of all the family and descendants is apt to be Khûry. Some family names are hard to interpret. One of the most frequently heard names in the Lebanon district is that of Ma‛lûf. The word itself means a fatted sheep, but the history of the application of the name is obscure unless it was given to families possessing such animals. Another family name, possibly of modern origin, is Baṭâṭô, or Baṭâṭâ, the second form being the same as the word now used for the new vegetable, potato, which fact may explain the name, or it is possible that another significance attaches to the term.
Some names are indicative of the religion to which the bearer belongs. ‛Abd er-Raḥman, Muḥammad, Maḥmûd, Ḥasan, Zayd, would be understood as being Moslem names. A woman with the name Ḥâjar (Hagar) would be a Moslem. On the other hand, Ḥannâ (John) for a man (feminine, Ḥannâh), would be pretty sure to mark a Christian. Such masculine names as Khalîl, Mûsâ, Dîâb, ‛Azîz, Ghânim and Farîd would not betray the religion of the bearer, nor such feminine names as Ḥelweh, Anîseh, Ḥabîbeh and Ṣabḥah.
Many of the above names and others are very significant when translated.[[81]] Miladeh means that the little girl bearing it was born at Christmas, which is known as the “Feast of the Birth” (‛Aîd el-Mîlâd). Needless to say, this little girl was born in a Christian family. Tufâḥah, apple, makes a pretty feminine name. So also Farḥâ, joy, and Nijmeh, star. Not so pleasant are the names Tamâm, complete, and Kâfyeh, enough, which mean that girl babies are not welcome in the homes where such names are given.
Nicknames are often bestowed and often stick fast to individuals and families.[[82]] We knew a dumb man whose family went by the name Akhras, dumb. A trickster whose cleverness was really admired and honored by his fellows was dubbed esh-Shayṭân, Satan. No more enviable compliment can be paid a sharp business man than this same designation, Shayṭân. We knew a little girl who, in common with the family, shared the nickname that the villagers had given to her father, Ṣarṣûr (or Ṣurṣur), cricket.
Many customs and much lore of the people have been described from time to time during the past twenty-five years by Baldensperger in the Quarterly Statements of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
CHAPTER IV
HOME AFFAIRS
The houses of the peasants show at a glance the grade of well-being in the different villages. There are many in the lowlands made of mud, or a worse material, with thatch and straw. But in the hills stone is so plentiful that even the poorest builder may use it. The low, hutlike, sḳîfeh cabin is made of loose stone piled up without mortar. The roof is constructed of boughs, on which clay and straw are laid to make it water-tight. The usual stone house is called, in contrast to the above, ḥajjar-wa-tîn, that is, stone and mortar, and is more or less substantial according to the hardness of the stone, the care in dressing the blocks and the proportion of lime in the mortar. The arch for the roof of such a house is usually so high as to be able to support itself by its own weight. The result, in the typical house, is a square box room with a lofty ceiling, the walls being unrelieved in most instances even by whitewash. But as this must serve in many cases for the family and also for such animals as are possessed, or for a living-room and a store cellar combined, an extra floor is put in, over most of the room, from four to six feet higher than the ground. This platformed portion may be supported by small stone arches and paved with beaten clay, or lime, or flat stones. From the door stone steps ascend to this living floor. In former times these steps were so constructed that any shot from a firearm sent through the wooden door would strike them and thus fail of reaching either the people on the platform above, or the animals sheltered underneath. Sometimes there is excavated under the house a cistern to which the rain-water from the roof is conducted. As the family prospers and outgrows the accommodations of a single room, others may be built at right angles on either side around a little court on which all the doors open. Still more rooms may be added above as a second story, with stairs leading up outside. By such a process of agglutination the house grows, looking like a miniature fort or castle, where father, brothers and sons with their families live in patriarchal unity. Rooms with inner connecting doors come as a later refinement of the more wealthy.