The history of the condition of women in various ages and nations

by Lydia Maria Child

The Georgian women are tasteful and elegant in their dress, and great pains are taken to perfect them in those voluptuous arts of pleasing, which the Orientals call female accomplishments.

The men being almost always engaged in war, or hunting, there is very little companionship between the sexes.

The Armenians are Christians; but their customs with regard to women are very similar to the Turks, excepting that their laws do not permit a plurality of wives. They keep their wives and daughters as rigorously excluded as the Turks do theirs. A man never sees the face of the woman he is to marry, and courtship is a thing unknown.

The mother of a young man generally selects a bride for him, and makes all necessary arrangements concerning the dowry, bridal presents, &c. The nature of these presents are regulated by old laws and usages, and each article is blessed by a priest.

When the bridegroom goes to bring his bride from her father’s house to his own, his father-in-law gives him a new watch, and the nearest female relations hang pieces of gold tinsel on his hat. He is introduced to the bride, who sits on a low sofa, so completely buried in dresses, that not so much as the tip of her shoe is visible. A thick white linen veil, called the perkem, used only for bridals, is thrown over her head; over this is another veil composed of tinsel, or sheets of gilt paper. Her hair flows down, and, joined to a mass of false hair, rests upon the sofa. The priest leads her blindfolded to the centre of the room, places her hand in that of the bridegroom, and pronounces a blessing. All the company then form in procession; a priest goes first with a lighted torch, and is followed by the bridegroom; the march is closed by the bride, who, being unable to see for herself, is led by female relations. When they arrive at the bridegroom’s house, the bride is smoked with incense, and sprinkled with rose-water. She is then led to her apartments, and left with the women. The bridegroom proceeds to his apartment, where he is shaved and dressed in his wedding suit, every article of which is blessed by the priest, as he presents it. The couple are then led forth to the centre of another apartment, where the priest again joins their hands, and knocks their foreheads gently together. One of the family waves a crucifix over them, they again touch foreheads, and continue to lean against each other, while the priest chants some passages from the gospel. When he has done singing, the priest produces two strings exactly alike, made of white and rose-colored silk interwoven together. He ties one round the brow of the bridegroom, over whom the crucifix is held, and asks, with a solemn pause between each question, “If she is blind, thou acceptest her?” “If she is lame, thou acceptest her?” “If she is hump-backed, thou acceptest her?”

To each question the bridegroom answers, “I accept.” The other silken string is then tied round the brow of the bride, over whom the crucifix is held. The priest says, “Thou acceptest.” She answers, “I accept.”

The company then shower small pieces of money on the couple, the cross is waved, and the priests chant. All the men quit the room for a short time, while the matrons remove a quantity of the robes and veils, under which the bride is well nigh stifled. At a given signal, the husband is admitted, and allowed to see, for an instant, the countenance of his wife.

All the company then pass in. The bride is not again enveloped with the linen veil, but her face is covered with the tinsel and gold paper. The female guests kiss her, and put presents in her hand. After this, all the male relations, to the remotest degree, are allowed a glance at the bride’s face, and the favor of kissing her hand.

Feasting and amusements then commence, and continue for three days. All this time the bride is obliged to sit motionless on the sofa; it would be considered the height of indecorum for her even to whisper to any one, except the old matron who accompanied her from her father’s house, and who is generally her nurse.

Toward the end of the third day, the priest leads the bridegroom to the bride, removes the silken strings from their brows, and carries away the tinsel veil. The bride is now, for the first time, permitted to speak. According to the old laws, she was not allowed to open her lips in the presence of her mother-in-law, or her married sister-in-law, for one year; the practice is now less rigid, but the most profound respect, and implicit obedience, is still exacted from the bride toward the relatives of her husband.