DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4372#0300
284
more Southward, under a heap of ruins apparently of the re-
motest antiquity, are the remains of Abydus, celebrated for the
oracles of Besa, and near to which Adrian is said to have founded
his new city.
About a mile West of the ruins is an elevated rock difficult of
access, which has been excavated and inhabited by some Chris-
tian or Mahometan hermit; and catacombs have been cut in the
neighbouring cliff's, whence we had a view of the Desert in all
its original wildness.
Before we quitted Antinoe we observed a large party of women
going out of Shckh Abade with a quantity of provisions, at-
tended by all the alines, or female dancers and songsters of the
village, to celebrate in the burial-place, which is in the Desert,
the feast of the Bairam. Each family assembles round the tomb
of its nearest relations, and passes the day in merriment and
feasting; while the almes utter their cries of joy, which, as well as
the cries used to denote fear or sorrow, are varied modifications
of the ululus or tXcvAfo.
This feast of the Bairam, or the sacrifice, takes place imme-
diately on the conclusion of the month Ramadan*; and the day
following the first appearance of the new moon is passed in
feasting and mirth in all Mahometan countries. It corresponds
in many particulars with the passover of the Jews, and the Easter
of the Christian church; but as the Mahometans have adopted
the lunar year, it does not take place at a stated period.
As we descended the river from Antinoe, we gradual!v lost
sight of the hills of the Western Desert, and the wide lands of
* Though the fast of the Ramadan never takes place among the Turks till the new
moon has actually been seen, the feast of the Bairam commences as soon as their
almanacs tell them it is above the visible horizon.
the
more Southward, under a heap of ruins apparently of the re-
motest antiquity, are the remains of Abydus, celebrated for the
oracles of Besa, and near to which Adrian is said to have founded
his new city.
About a mile West of the ruins is an elevated rock difficult of
access, which has been excavated and inhabited by some Chris-
tian or Mahometan hermit; and catacombs have been cut in the
neighbouring cliff's, whence we had a view of the Desert in all
its original wildness.
Before we quitted Antinoe we observed a large party of women
going out of Shckh Abade with a quantity of provisions, at-
tended by all the alines, or female dancers and songsters of the
village, to celebrate in the burial-place, which is in the Desert,
the feast of the Bairam. Each family assembles round the tomb
of its nearest relations, and passes the day in merriment and
feasting; while the almes utter their cries of joy, which, as well as
the cries used to denote fear or sorrow, are varied modifications
of the ululus or tXcvAfo.
This feast of the Bairam, or the sacrifice, takes place imme-
diately on the conclusion of the month Ramadan*; and the day
following the first appearance of the new moon is passed in
feasting and mirth in all Mahometan countries. It corresponds
in many particulars with the passover of the Jews, and the Easter
of the Christian church; but as the Mahometans have adopted
the lunar year, it does not take place at a stated period.
As we descended the river from Antinoe, we gradual!v lost
sight of the hills of the Western Desert, and the wide lands of
* Though the fast of the Ramadan never takes place among the Turks till the new
moon has actually been seen, the feast of the Bairam commences as soon as their
almanacs tell them it is above the visible horizon.
the