Mysteries of the Libyan Desert

by W. J. Harding King

Vegetation in Hattia Kairowin.

This shows the neglected palms and scrub to be seen in a Hattia, or uninhabited oasis. ([p. 222]).

Auguries as to the future of a child are drawn by his parents from events that happen about the time of his birth; thus, if his father, or any member of his family should meet with an accident, or fall ill at that period, it is considered that he will be unlucky. If, however, some stroke of luck should fall to his father, such, for instance, as his being able to conclude a good bargain, it is thought to be a good omen for the child’s future.

It is said to be unlucky to be born on a Wednesday, for this day of the week throughout the year is considered to be an ill-omened one in the oases—the last Wednesday of the month of Safar being considered to be the most unlucky of all.

As soon as a son has been born, in either Dakhla or Kharga Oases, a little ceremony takes place, which cannot be described here, but which is intended to cause the child when he grows up to become a very fast runner. In both these oases, a very curious ceremony takes place on the seventh day after his birth, which is known as “sieving the baby.” A pinch of salt and a small quantity of each of the grains—wheat, barley and rice—grown in the oases, is placed in a round sieve. In this sieve, too, is placed the baby. It is then shaken, as though it were being used in the ordinary way, while a woman close by beats as loudly as possible with a pestle on a mortar, as though she were pounding rice.

The grain and salt that pass through the sieve are then carefully collected and taken by the father of the child and thrown into the air to the north, south, east and west in various places throughout his village. The ceremony is completed by the father taking the sieve and bowling it like a hoop along the village streets.

The effect of this quaint proceeding is said to be as follows: the grain and salt put into the sieve with the child are supposed to protect him against want and cause him to have plenty to eat throughout his life. The pestle and mortar are beaten close to him to ensure that he will not be frightened by any noise when he grows up. The seed is thrown to the four points of the compass in his village to act as a charm to enable him to travel in security in any direction should he leave it. The bowling of the sieve about the streets is another charm intended to make him a fast runner.

These elaborate precautions, taken to ensure that the child shall be able to travel safely, and that he shall turn out a fast runner, seem quite out of character with such an eminently unathletic and sedentary race as the dwellers in the oases. They seem to be more in accordance with the character of the Arabs, from whom it is possible that these ceremonies may be derived, or perhaps they may owe their origin to some tribe in the Sudan. This sieving ceremony is said to be also occasionally performed in the Nile Valley.

The first cutting of a child’s hair and finger-nails is attended with some ceremony, and takes place when it is a year old. In the case of a boy, a tuft of hair is left long on his forehead, to remind his parents that they should be grateful to Allah for giving them a son—a male child being always considered of much greater value than a girl.