DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11637#0035
AND LOWER EGYPT. 21
it odoriferous waters, so that all its pores are pe-
netrated with the perfumes of Arabia. After a
profusion of these attentions to cleanliness, and
marks of respect for the inanimate remains of the
deceased, the corpse is committed to the earth,
and deposited in the bosom of eternity. A little
pillar of stone, terminated by a turban, is erected
over the spot where the head of the deceased re-
poses ; and to this mark his friends repair every
Friday, to repeat their melancholy adieus. The
women never fail to pay these visits, and express
their hopes and regrets in religious ejaculations :
the tears of the daughter water the face of the
mother, and the sighs of the mother prolong in
her mind with painful remembrance the existence
of the children she has lost. I say nothing of the
tears of husband and wife, for in this country
their relation is merely that of master and slave.
This pious expression of regard to the dead, so
neglected by us in the West, is a sacred duty
among the people of the East, and is no where
more punctually fulfilled. The idea, that in
death we must renounce every mark ot affection
from all who have been most dear to us, afflicts
the mind, and sinks it into despondency : but he
who is assured that expressions of regret and the
most tender sentiments will accompany him in
the grave 5 that an affectionate and durable inter-
c 3 course
it odoriferous waters, so that all its pores are pe-
netrated with the perfumes of Arabia. After a
profusion of these attentions to cleanliness, and
marks of respect for the inanimate remains of the
deceased, the corpse is committed to the earth,
and deposited in the bosom of eternity. A little
pillar of stone, terminated by a turban, is erected
over the spot where the head of the deceased re-
poses ; and to this mark his friends repair every
Friday, to repeat their melancholy adieus. The
women never fail to pay these visits, and express
their hopes and regrets in religious ejaculations :
the tears of the daughter water the face of the
mother, and the sighs of the mother prolong in
her mind with painful remembrance the existence
of the children she has lost. I say nothing of the
tears of husband and wife, for in this country
their relation is merely that of master and slave.
This pious expression of regard to the dead, so
neglected by us in the West, is a sacred duty
among the people of the East, and is no where
more punctually fulfilled. The idea, that in
death we must renounce every mark ot affection
from all who have been most dear to us, afflicts
the mind, and sinks it into despondency : but he
who is assured that expressions of regret and the
most tender sentiments will accompany him in
the grave 5 that an affectionate and durable inter-
c 3 course