DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0034
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
23
house of his superior a number of men laid themselves
down with their faces upon the ground close to each
other across the road, and the Sheik and all his attend-
ants passed over them. As the dust and the mob pre-
vented our having a distinct view of this spectacle, we
Went through a stable into the Esbequier to see it re-
peated, when thirty or forty men laid down before us,
and were arranged close to each other by some attend-
ants; when the Sheik advanced in the same manner as
before, and rode over the whole of them. One or two of
them appeared to be uneasy and apprehensive as the
Sheik approached; and several either pretended, or had
in reality received slight injuries. After the Sheik had
dismounted I examined his horse; he was about fifteen
hands two inches, of good substance, and shod in the
common Turkish manner. There was not therefore any
deception, neither is the same horse always used. This
ceremony is repeated twice every year, and is minutely
described by Mr. Lane. We then returned to the house,
accompanied by the Sheik who had dismounted, and re-
sumed our seats on the divan. The lower end of the
apartment was filled by a number of people, many of
whom advanced, and kissed the Sheik's hands in the most
reverential manner. After some time a man naked down
to his waist came forward, and requested Muchtar Bey's
sabre, which he presented to the Sheik, who took it in
his hand, and muttering a prayer passed his mouth over
it from hilt to point, and then returned it. The man
kissed the back and front of the Sheik's hands, and,
having said a prayer, held the sword with both hands by
the hilt and by the point, and pretended to strike vio-
lently with the edge across his naked stomach. He after-
Wards knelt down, and put the edge of the centre of the
23
house of his superior a number of men laid themselves
down with their faces upon the ground close to each
other across the road, and the Sheik and all his attend-
ants passed over them. As the dust and the mob pre-
vented our having a distinct view of this spectacle, we
Went through a stable into the Esbequier to see it re-
peated, when thirty or forty men laid down before us,
and were arranged close to each other by some attend-
ants; when the Sheik advanced in the same manner as
before, and rode over the whole of them. One or two of
them appeared to be uneasy and apprehensive as the
Sheik approached; and several either pretended, or had
in reality received slight injuries. After the Sheik had
dismounted I examined his horse; he was about fifteen
hands two inches, of good substance, and shod in the
common Turkish manner. There was not therefore any
deception, neither is the same horse always used. This
ceremony is repeated twice every year, and is minutely
described by Mr. Lane. We then returned to the house,
accompanied by the Sheik who had dismounted, and re-
sumed our seats on the divan. The lower end of the
apartment was filled by a number of people, many of
whom advanced, and kissed the Sheik's hands in the most
reverential manner. After some time a man naked down
to his waist came forward, and requested Muchtar Bey's
sabre, which he presented to the Sheik, who took it in
his hand, and muttering a prayer passed his mouth over
it from hilt to point, and then returned it. The man
kissed the back and front of the Sheik's hands, and,
having said a prayer, held the sword with both hands by
the hilt and by the point, and pretended to strike vio-
lently with the edge across his naked stomach. He after-
Wards knelt down, and put the edge of the centre of the