DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0038
18
M. M. 'Abd Allah
Mouleds. The principal mouleds held at Siwah are those of Sidi Soliman, the
Prophet, Sanousy, Madany, Abou El Roash, Gad Aly, Itman, Salem, Abdou. (Sidi is a
prefix to all these names.)63 The mouled of Sidi Soliman is held immediately after the
harvest.64 That of the Prophet is held on his birth day. The others are held on the
anniversaries of the deaths of the respective saints. Except in the case of the mouled of
Sidi Soliman (see below), nothing is done in these mouleds except that the rich give food
to the poor in order to obtain the favor of the sheikhs, and in payment of promises made
in return for cures or other benefits conferred by them. For example, if I am ill I go to
Sidi Itman and say: “Sidi Itman, if I am cured I will give you food in your mouled and
XVII. Eye Troubles: —
a) White of egg and alum are mixed and applied on cotton during the night only.
b) Tea leaves slightly boiled made into a paste, and applied warm.
c) Cautery to temples or blood-letting.
d) Setons.
e) Milk from the breast of a woman who is nursing a girl — a Sudanese preferably. This is very common
amongst the pagan tribes of the West Coast of Africa.”
62 As Dr. 'Abd Allah gives us no further information on this topic, it may be permissible to supplement his account
with a brief notice of the charms used in the neighboring oases.
In Dakhlah “the women have many cures for barrenness, most of which are of an intensely revolting nature:
one of the least disgusting being to insert fenugreek seeds into the vagina”; W. J. H. King, op. cit., p. 168. The
medical officer at Dakhlah in 1914 forwarded to the Editor the following cures for barrenness: (a) The woman procures
a piece of gold of any sort; a bit of silver; any implement used by a barber (e. g., a razor); some seminal fluid, and
some menstrual blood. These five things are all placed in an earthen pot, which is then set on the top of a large rock
or on the summit of a hill, on the last night of the lunar month. The vessel and its contents remain undisturbed until
the dawn of the next day, when it is removed. At sundown on the first and second days of the new lunar month the
barren woman steps seven times over the vessel. It is then thought either that she has become pregnant, or that she
will become so on her husband’s first having intercourse, with her. In (b), a variant of this remedy, the woman takes
the five concomitants mentioned above, and adds to them a frog killed before her eyes by a man named Mohammad.
She then proceeds as above, with the same result.
Another procedure against sterility is as follows (c): — There is a spring in Dakhlah known as 'Ayn el-Masim.
To this spring the barren woman repairs in company with a midwife, having previously collected water from seven
different wells — about 8 liquid ounces from each —-which is poured into an earthenware drinking bottle, (a kullah).
Arrived at the spring, the woman strips and bathes in it, while the midwife so breaks the water-jar that its contents
pour over the woman’s body. The curse of barrenness is now thought to be removed from the woman. The time for
performing this ceremony is obviously dictated by Moslem sentiment, as it is thought that to be effective the bathing
should take place just before noon prayer on Friday. Sterile women of Dakhlah also visit disused cemeteries where
they pray for offspring; W. J. H. King, Ethnographical notes on Dakhla Oasis (Cairo Scient. Jour., vol. 7, no. 86,
Nov., 1913, p. 237). The first of these sterility cures is an exceptionally complete and clear piece of magic. The
mingled organic ingredients are regarded as a sort of mechanical generation; the barber’s' implement is added to
insure the child’s being a male; and the silver and gold are presumably put in to assure the future prosperity of the
child. The pot is exposed on an eminence to catch the baraka attaching to high places, or to be entered by some
spirit awaiting a chance to be born. The time is chosen rather in accordance with the latter view, as the last night
of the lunar month is a time peculiarly demonic. The stepping over the bowl in the last stage of the cure permits
the entrance of the impregnating influence. In the variant where a frog is killed, we have merely the addition of
another fertility idea. From very ancient times in Egypt the frog has been associated with ideas of fecundity; cf.
E. A. W. Budge, Osiris and the Egyptian resurrection, London, 1911, vol. 1, p. 279; A. Wiedemann, Religion of the
ancient Egyptians, London, 1897, p. 129 sq. For an interesting Indian parallel to the third cure, in which the patient
bathes in water drawn from seven springs, see E. S. Hartland, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 82.
63 Sidi is the common contraction of Seyyidi ( = my lord).
64 That is, in accordance with the solar year rather than with the Moslem lunar calendar. This is a point to be
taken into account in considering whether or not Sidi Suleyman is the modern descendant of some ancient deity or
spirit. Cf. E. Doutte, op. cit., p. 481; 541 sq.
M. M. 'Abd Allah
Mouleds. The principal mouleds held at Siwah are those of Sidi Soliman, the
Prophet, Sanousy, Madany, Abou El Roash, Gad Aly, Itman, Salem, Abdou. (Sidi is a
prefix to all these names.)63 The mouled of Sidi Soliman is held immediately after the
harvest.64 That of the Prophet is held on his birth day. The others are held on the
anniversaries of the deaths of the respective saints. Except in the case of the mouled of
Sidi Soliman (see below), nothing is done in these mouleds except that the rich give food
to the poor in order to obtain the favor of the sheikhs, and in payment of promises made
in return for cures or other benefits conferred by them. For example, if I am ill I go to
Sidi Itman and say: “Sidi Itman, if I am cured I will give you food in your mouled and
XVII. Eye Troubles: —
a) White of egg and alum are mixed and applied on cotton during the night only.
b) Tea leaves slightly boiled made into a paste, and applied warm.
c) Cautery to temples or blood-letting.
d) Setons.
e) Milk from the breast of a woman who is nursing a girl — a Sudanese preferably. This is very common
amongst the pagan tribes of the West Coast of Africa.”
62 As Dr. 'Abd Allah gives us no further information on this topic, it may be permissible to supplement his account
with a brief notice of the charms used in the neighboring oases.
In Dakhlah “the women have many cures for barrenness, most of which are of an intensely revolting nature:
one of the least disgusting being to insert fenugreek seeds into the vagina”; W. J. H. King, op. cit., p. 168. The
medical officer at Dakhlah in 1914 forwarded to the Editor the following cures for barrenness: (a) The woman procures
a piece of gold of any sort; a bit of silver; any implement used by a barber (e. g., a razor); some seminal fluid, and
some menstrual blood. These five things are all placed in an earthen pot, which is then set on the top of a large rock
or on the summit of a hill, on the last night of the lunar month. The vessel and its contents remain undisturbed until
the dawn of the next day, when it is removed. At sundown on the first and second days of the new lunar month the
barren woman steps seven times over the vessel. It is then thought either that she has become pregnant, or that she
will become so on her husband’s first having intercourse, with her. In (b), a variant of this remedy, the woman takes
the five concomitants mentioned above, and adds to them a frog killed before her eyes by a man named Mohammad.
She then proceeds as above, with the same result.
Another procedure against sterility is as follows (c): — There is a spring in Dakhlah known as 'Ayn el-Masim.
To this spring the barren woman repairs in company with a midwife, having previously collected water from seven
different wells — about 8 liquid ounces from each —-which is poured into an earthenware drinking bottle, (a kullah).
Arrived at the spring, the woman strips and bathes in it, while the midwife so breaks the water-jar that its contents
pour over the woman’s body. The curse of barrenness is now thought to be removed from the woman. The time for
performing this ceremony is obviously dictated by Moslem sentiment, as it is thought that to be effective the bathing
should take place just before noon prayer on Friday. Sterile women of Dakhlah also visit disused cemeteries where
they pray for offspring; W. J. H. King, Ethnographical notes on Dakhla Oasis (Cairo Scient. Jour., vol. 7, no. 86,
Nov., 1913, p. 237). The first of these sterility cures is an exceptionally complete and clear piece of magic. The
mingled organic ingredients are regarded as a sort of mechanical generation; the barber’s' implement is added to
insure the child’s being a male; and the silver and gold are presumably put in to assure the future prosperity of the
child. The pot is exposed on an eminence to catch the baraka attaching to high places, or to be entered by some
spirit awaiting a chance to be born. The time is chosen rather in accordance with the latter view, as the last night
of the lunar month is a time peculiarly demonic. The stepping over the bowl in the last stage of the cure permits
the entrance of the impregnating influence. In the variant where a frog is killed, we have merely the addition of
another fertility idea. From very ancient times in Egypt the frog has been associated with ideas of fecundity; cf.
E. A. W. Budge, Osiris and the Egyptian resurrection, London, 1911, vol. 1, p. 279; A. Wiedemann, Religion of the
ancient Egyptians, London, 1897, p. 129 sq. For an interesting Indian parallel to the third cure, in which the patient
bathes in water drawn from seven springs, see E. S. Hartland, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 82.
63 Sidi is the common contraction of Seyyidi ( = my lord).
64 That is, in accordance with the solar year rather than with the Moslem lunar calendar. This is a point to be
taken into account in considering whether or not Sidi Suleyman is the modern descendant of some ancient deity or
spirit. Cf. E. Doutte, op. cit., p. 481; 541 sq.