DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0264
230 TRAVELS IN EGYPT, NUBIA,
window closed it. In the centre rose a fountain of marble,
into which water gently flowed from a small aperture in the
upper part. Both ends of the room were matted; broad
cushions, covered with blue cloth, raised above the ground
about the height of common chairs, surrounded the sides of
the left compartment of the room, in which sat the emir.
The other was hung round with the richest Cashmeer shawls
in folding drapery, which crossed and occupied the whole
breadth of that part of the room.
To complete this specimen of Eastern magnificence, which
brought the " Arabian Nights" to my remembrance, the walls
of the apartment were adorned with Arabic inscriptions,
taken from the Koran and Scripture, written in a large and
beautiful gilded character, embossed and in full relief, and
enclosed in panels of various sizes, but not without atten-
tion to arrangement. Every ornament was finished in a
manner 1 did not expect to see in an Eastern palace.
The emir sat alone on one side of the room ; his officer
stood mute in the centre passage: my attendants kissed his
hand, and remained standing near the door. I was received
by the emir with a gentle inclination of the head, and desired
to seat myself on the opposite side, which 1 did in the
European manner.
The first ceremonies being over, and pipes and coffee
haying been introduced, I desired one of my companions to
window closed it. In the centre rose a fountain of marble,
into which water gently flowed from a small aperture in the
upper part. Both ends of the room were matted; broad
cushions, covered with blue cloth, raised above the ground
about the height of common chairs, surrounded the sides of
the left compartment of the room, in which sat the emir.
The other was hung round with the richest Cashmeer shawls
in folding drapery, which crossed and occupied the whole
breadth of that part of the room.
To complete this specimen of Eastern magnificence, which
brought the " Arabian Nights" to my remembrance, the walls
of the apartment were adorned with Arabic inscriptions,
taken from the Koran and Scripture, written in a large and
beautiful gilded character, embossed and in full relief, and
enclosed in panels of various sizes, but not without atten-
tion to arrangement. Every ornament was finished in a
manner 1 did not expect to see in an Eastern palace.
The emir sat alone on one side of the room ; his officer
stood mute in the centre passage: my attendants kissed his
hand, and remained standing near the door. I was received
by the emir with a gentle inclination of the head, and desired
to seat myself on the opposite side, which 1 did in the
European manner.
The first ceremonies being over, and pipes and coffee
haying been introduced, I desired one of my companions to