CHAPTER XLV—THE DANCING GIRLS OF KENEH.—THE TREASURES OF DENDERAH.
The Dates and Dancing Girls of Keneh—The Almeh and the Ghawazee—The Dalilahs of Cairo—Going to the Dance-Hall—An Outlandish Orchestra—The Drapery of the Dancers—The Cairo Wriggle—Curious Posturing—A Weird Scene—Dress and Undress—Miracles of Motion—A Fête at the German Consulate—Models for Painters and Sculptors—Arab and Nubian Nymphs—The Temple of Denderah—History Hewn in Stone—Cleopatra and her Portrait—The Fatal Asp—A Bit of Doggerel—The Coins of Old Egypt—The Professor’s Bargain—Digging for Treasure—Arrival at Luxor—Taking in Strangers.
THE first place of importance above Bellianah is Keneh, which stands about three miles inland from the river, and occupies a pretty situation. It is celebrated for its dates and dancing girls; we bought some of the former, and were invited to attend a performance of the latter at the house of the English.
We declined the invitation, for the reason that we had sent the dragoman to arrange a dance at the residence of the fair maidens and did not wish to impose upon the representative of Her Britannic or any other Majesty.
The dates were excellent, the best, in fact, I have ever tasted; they are packed in drums like figs, but are not pressed down into a solid mass like the dates we get in America. They are very sweet and soft, and each one of us laid in half a dozen boxes for his own use.
As for the dancing girls, a word in your ear. These ladies are not of the vestal sort, but, on the contrary, quite the reverse. They were known in Egypt in ancient times, and one can see pictures of them on the walls of some of the tombs in the valley of the Nile. In modern times they became so numerous at Cairo that Mohammed Ali banished them from that city and sent whole boat-loads of them to Keneh, Esneh, and other towns of upper Egypt. Those that he banished are not now on the stage of life, but their descendants or imitators are numerous, and have lent a sort of infamous fame to the places they inhabit.
Their Arabic name is ghawazee; they are sometimes improperly called Almehs, and there is a French painting of considerable celebrity which represents the Almeh dancing before a party of men.
The Almeh is a professional singer, and dancing is neither her profession nor practice; the ghawazee dance, but do not sing.