DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4592#0124
124 A DANCE.
Patriarchs. They were dwellers in tents, and like
these wanderers of the desert, ■ moved from place to
place. Night approached and we retired to our tent.
Early in the evening we heard a strange, unhar-
monious singing in the vicinity of the Arab encamp-
ment. .Soon Tueileb came to our tent and told us we
must go and witness a dance. We followed him to a
level piece of ground, directly in rear of his family
tent, where about twenty women, one old man of
about eighty, and a large number of men were assem-
bled. They were singing in a loud, harsh tone, and
seemingly repeating the same words over and over to
the tune. A piece of carpeting was spread a short
distance in front of the singers, on which we were
bidden to sit down. The old sheik seated himself at
our right. The singers now arranged themselves
into two lines, forming an angle. They then com-
menced singing with great vehemence, the men clap-
ping their hands and bowing by way of keeping time.
The singing was also occasionally interlarded with a
wild, singular scream or shriek, uttered by some of
the women. Soon a woman stepped a short distance
in front of the line that faced the south, and another
took a position a few feet in front of the line that
faced the east. Both these commenced moving for-
ward and backward by short, slow steps, throwing up
theirs arms at each step. Two would thus perform a
dance for about five minutes, and then be succeeded
by two others. These changes were repeated five
or six times during our stay. These dancers were
dressed in a coarse dark colored fabric, and had thrown
over their heads a piece of black cloth in the form of
Patriarchs. They were dwellers in tents, and like
these wanderers of the desert, ■ moved from place to
place. Night approached and we retired to our tent.
Early in the evening we heard a strange, unhar-
monious singing in the vicinity of the Arab encamp-
ment. .Soon Tueileb came to our tent and told us we
must go and witness a dance. We followed him to a
level piece of ground, directly in rear of his family
tent, where about twenty women, one old man of
about eighty, and a large number of men were assem-
bled. They were singing in a loud, harsh tone, and
seemingly repeating the same words over and over to
the tune. A piece of carpeting was spread a short
distance in front of the singers, on which we were
bidden to sit down. The old sheik seated himself at
our right. The singers now arranged themselves
into two lines, forming an angle. They then com-
menced singing with great vehemence, the men clap-
ping their hands and bowing by way of keeping time.
The singing was also occasionally interlarded with a
wild, singular scream or shriek, uttered by some of
the women. Soon a woman stepped a short distance
in front of the line that faced the south, and another
took a position a few feet in front of the line that
faced the east. Both these commenced moving for-
ward and backward by short, slow steps, throwing up
theirs arms at each step. Two would thus perform a
dance for about five minutes, and then be succeeded
by two others. These changes were repeated five
or six times during our stay. These dancers were
dressed in a coarse dark colored fabric, and had thrown
over their heads a piece of black cloth in the form of