"There were a couple of musicians behind the canopy, and then came a string of idle persons, just as we see a procession followed at home. We watched them as long as they were in sight, and were told they would spend several hours at the bath, where a feast had been ordered, and possibly an entertainment by dancers and singers hired for the occasion. Then they would go home to the house of the bride's parents, and on the following day the bride would be carried by a similar procession to the house of the bridegroom.
"Now we'll go back to the beginning, and see how marriages are arranged in Egypt.
"The guide says such a thing as an 'old bachelor' in Egypt is never heard of, as every man is expected to get married whether he wants to or not. Matches are made here much easier than in America, as it is not at all necessary for the parties to be acquainted, and consequently they cannot have any objections to marrying each other. There are regular marriage-brokers who arrange everything, and thus save a great deal of trouble and perplexity.
"When a man wishes to marry he tells his mother, or some near female relative; she goes directly to the relatives of any marriageable girls she knows of, or perhaps she engages a khatibeh, or woman who makes a business of negotiating marriages. The two go together to houses where there are young girls to be married, and when they find one that suits the mother's eye they begin talking business at once.
"They ask how much property the girl has, how old she is, and what she can do, and then go away without any positive promise to come again. If the young man does not like the account they bring the matter is dropped, but if he is pleased with it he makes a present to the broker, and sends her again to confer with the girl and her parents. Her parents have the right to arrange the whole matter without consulting the girl, unless she is over fifteen years of age; in the latter case she may choose her husband for herself, but her parents have still a good deal to say about it.
A KHATIBEH, OR MARRIAGE-BROKER.
"The broker does not confine herself very closely to the truth in dealing with either party. She will describe a girl of ordinary appearance as the greatest beauty in the world, and will represent an equally ordinary man as handsome, graceful, and well educated, with plenty of money which he is ready to throw at the feet of his bride. And all this when she does not know whether he has any money or not, and has never seen or heard of him till the day she was engaged to find a bride. It is the object of the broker to make a commission. Doctor Bronson says she is not unlike some brokers he has known in New York, and other cities of America.
"The girl must have a wekeel, or deputy, to arrange a marriage for her, and to sign the contract. This office is filled by her father, if living, or by some masculine relative or guardian; and when the preliminaries have been arranged by the broker, the bridegroom goes with two or three friends to meet the wekeel and sign the contract.