DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0034
14
M. M. 'Abd Allah
If the man was rich, food is given to the Darwishes of Sidi Soliman, to the members
of the nearest mosque, and to the pupils of the Kottab.50 This food consists of boiled rice
and oil. The Koran is read in the house before the procession moves, or, if not in the house,
at the grave either immediately after the burial or, in accordance with the old custom, after
three days.
A thikr51 is held in the first evening. The male relatives do not go to their houses
for three days, and in the meantime are fed by their neighbors and friends. No special
dress is worn. At the fortieth day and after one year they slaughter a sheep and give food
to the Darwishes and to the members of the nearest mosque, who in their turn hold a thikr
for the deceased.
The ceremonies are executed in the case of the death of a woman, but the widower
does not become a ghoul, nor does he live for three days outside of his house. He is fed
for three days by the neighbors and then looks for another wife. He generally marries
on the thirtieth day after the death of his wife, but without any ceremony at all. He does
not even send the dollar with the woman who goes to the bride’s house.
Children are buried without any ceremony except that attendance upon the funeral
is compulsory in this case also.
Inheritance. Property is inherited in Siwah exactly in accordance with Mohammedan
law. When a man makes a will the division of the property may differ somewhat from the
legal disposition, but only within certain limits.
Fortune telling. The people of Siwah seem to have had no fortune telling systems of
their own,52 but when they came in contact with the Egyptians they adopted their ways of
telling fortunes. The following are the methods used in Siwah: (a) A woman procures
some dry beans and the skin is peeled from one of the beans. This peeled bean serves as
an indicator. It represents the person whose fortune is being told; e. g. if a woman on
throwing the beans finds the peeled bean between two other beans, as in the following
position o <- peeled, she tells him that some special thing will happen to him. This
0 0
something will be different if the arrangement is as follows o peeled, or thus 0 «- peeled.
0 0
There are special women who are authorities in this manner of telling fortunes.
50 A kuttab is primary school at which boys first learn their letters.
51 A zikr is a religious performance in which a party of men join in rhythmically invoking the name of God or in
repeating some one of his attributes. Such performances are common through the Moslem world, and the men who
take part in them often work themselves into a state of frenzy. Cf. T. P. Hughes, op. cit., p. 703 sqq., s. v. “Zikr”.
52 Dr. 'Abd Allah is right in so far as he describes no methods of divination practiced at Siwah which are not well-
known in North Africa.
M. M. 'Abd Allah
If the man was rich, food is given to the Darwishes of Sidi Soliman, to the members
of the nearest mosque, and to the pupils of the Kottab.50 This food consists of boiled rice
and oil. The Koran is read in the house before the procession moves, or, if not in the house,
at the grave either immediately after the burial or, in accordance with the old custom, after
three days.
A thikr51 is held in the first evening. The male relatives do not go to their houses
for three days, and in the meantime are fed by their neighbors and friends. No special
dress is worn. At the fortieth day and after one year they slaughter a sheep and give food
to the Darwishes and to the members of the nearest mosque, who in their turn hold a thikr
for the deceased.
The ceremonies are executed in the case of the death of a woman, but the widower
does not become a ghoul, nor does he live for three days outside of his house. He is fed
for three days by the neighbors and then looks for another wife. He generally marries
on the thirtieth day after the death of his wife, but without any ceremony at all. He does
not even send the dollar with the woman who goes to the bride’s house.
Children are buried without any ceremony except that attendance upon the funeral
is compulsory in this case also.
Inheritance. Property is inherited in Siwah exactly in accordance with Mohammedan
law. When a man makes a will the division of the property may differ somewhat from the
legal disposition, but only within certain limits.
Fortune telling. The people of Siwah seem to have had no fortune telling systems of
their own,52 but when they came in contact with the Egyptians they adopted their ways of
telling fortunes. The following are the methods used in Siwah: (a) A woman procures
some dry beans and the skin is peeled from one of the beans. This peeled bean serves as
an indicator. It represents the person whose fortune is being told; e. g. if a woman on
throwing the beans finds the peeled bean between two other beans, as in the following
position o <- peeled, she tells him that some special thing will happen to him. This
0 0
something will be different if the arrangement is as follows o peeled, or thus 0 «- peeled.
0 0
There are special women who are authorities in this manner of telling fortunes.
50 A kuttab is primary school at which boys first learn their letters.
51 A zikr is a religious performance in which a party of men join in rhythmically invoking the name of God or in
repeating some one of his attributes. Such performances are common through the Moslem world, and the men who
take part in them often work themselves into a state of frenzy. Cf. T. P. Hughes, op. cit., p. 703 sqq., s. v. “Zikr”.
52 Dr. 'Abd Allah is right in so far as he describes no methods of divination practiced at Siwah which are not well-
known in North Africa.