32 DANCING GIRLS - CITY OF ESNEH. The scenes here represented exactly resemble those above described; excepting that in addition to the musicians, and singers, there are almé who perform in tight pantaloons, or without any, in a style of the utmost indecency, while ladies look on seeming to enjoy the exhibition. Manners, therefore, were nearly the same in the days of the Pharaohs as in those of Mohammed Ali: almé still perform at feasts in Egypt, and ladies not only regard their performance, but learn to perform in the same style. Among the musicians, who are all female, several are observed playing on the sistrum. Saturday, Feb. 9. THEBES. CCCCXXVIII. Having moored on the preceding evening at Esneh, I again visited the Temple, and spent some hours among the ruins. In the bazār were several Copts, who, like the Jews, whom they resemble in countenance, are a cunning, scheming, and thrifty people. Though apparently respectable individuals, they no sooner observed us enter than each selected from his personal ornaments something to sell; one a ring, another a signet, — all antiques for which, however, they demanded con (Ed. H. Stephan.) But, as Barbeyrac observes," Sine dubio Herodianus, apud quem nihil quod ad rem faciat, positus est heic pro Herodoto, undecumque error ortus fuit. At hic contrarium planè docet, nimirum omnes Ægyptios unâ uxore contentos fuisse, quemadmodum in more erat Græcis: Καὶ γυναικὶ μιῇ ἕκαστος αὐτέων συνοικέει, καταπερ 'Eaanves. l.ii. c. 92. Utri credemus? Herodoto, an Diodoro Siculo, ita inter se pugnantibus?" AMULETS AND TALISMANS. 33 siderably more than they would have sold for in Europe. Some had scarabaei, which they had picked up among the ruins, or purchased for a few paras from the Arabs; but they valued them very highly, perhaps as amulets. A Turk, who stood conversing with these Copts, brought forward an engraved ruby of great beauty; but he refused to part with it. Nothing seems to be more deeply rooted in the minds of the orientals than the idea that such gems possess certain magical powers, and the sight of a ring, a chaplet of beads, a signet, or an antique lamp or vase, immediately awakens the suspicion that it may, perhaps, be a talisman. The famous mohur Solimani, or Seal of Soliman Jared, the fifth monarch of the world, which invested its possessor with the command of the elements, demons, and every created thing, and the Turquoise Vase of Giamshid, discovered in sinking the foundations of Istakhar, are throughout the East the objects of research and speculation. But there are amulets, talismans, and spells, less rare and valuable, which find their way into the hands of the people. Both Nubians and Arabs are besotted with this superstition; in their opinion, there is not in life an evil to be dreaded or a good to be obtained, in the avoiding or gaining of which aid may not be derived from talismans, manufactured with secret ceremonies, by necromancers or magicians, from various strange substances, such as, tufts of the hair of the sea-cow; the wood of the tree Shebarick; shells, rings, or beads; water poured on earth, taken from a dead man's grave, or the bones 84 THE CESTUS OF VENUS. of the dead. There is the akret, a spherical amulet, worn by some women to prevent, by others to favour, conception. Other talismans are worn by girls round the neck to gain their lovers' affection *; and married women have an amulet, in the form of a knot, to ensure the constancy of their husbands. This kind of superstition likewise prevailed among the ancient Greeks; the κεστὸν ποικίλον t of Venus was merely a talisman worn round the waist to inspire love; and irresistible, according to Homer, was its power, since it subdued the Thunderer, rendering him unmindful of his dignity on the summit of Ida. Of a Turkish soldier, who sat in a kind of waking * See Richardson's Dissertation on the Languages, &c. of the Eastern Nations. † The description of the Cestus of Venus, which occurs in the fourteenth book of the Iliad, has been translated with infinite beauty by Pope; and as this was the most celebrated amulet of the ancient world, I will here subjoin the passage: — -The Queen of Love Obey'd the sister and the wife of Jove: And from her fragrant breast the zone unbraced, In this was every art, and every charm, To win the wisest, and the coldest warm: The kind deceit, the still-reviving fire, Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs, Tasso, as Pope observes, has finely imitated this passage in the magical girdle of Armida; "Teneri sdegni, e placide e tranquille Repulse, e cari vezzi, e liete paci, Sorrisi, parrolette, e dolce stille. Di pianto, e sospir tronchi, e molli baci." Gier. Liberat. 1. xvi. dream counting his beads in the bazar, I purchased a curious chaplet, probably from the interior of Africa; but I am ignorant whether or not it possesses any remarkable talismanic virtue. CCCCXXIX. Whatever may be the effect of religion on the hearts of the orientals, no one can doubt its influence on their language and manners. They seldom profess their intention of performing any action, however simple, without the provisional Inshallah! or "please God." Shortly after leaving Esneh, "Can we arrive at Thebes to-night?" I demanded of the reis. As I might have foreseen, "Inshallah" was his reply. "Very well, Mohammed: nothing certainly, can be brought to pass without God's permission; but will you exert yourself, in order that nothing may be wanting on our part?" This he promised, upon which I observed to the Hajji that this practice of the Arabs of acknowledging their entire dependence on the will of their Maker was highly praiseworthy, provided their words were accompanied by an inward conviction. His reply was that of a sensible man. "In those who were sincerely religious, the heart and tongue," he said, “were the same; but that all made use of the phrase, from a persuasion that to omit it would be impious;" in illustration of which, the Mohammedans have the following apologue: - In former ages, say they, no distinction existed between the tame and the wild goose; both living together in the wilderness, frequenting the same marshes, and the same rivers. 36 RETURN TO THEBES. Once upon a time, however, two of these birds, about to undertake in company a long journey, met on the eve of their departure, to confer upon the necessary preparations. Their deliberations ended, the ancestor of the wild goose observed, as they were about to separate, -"Be on the alert, friend; for, Inshallah! I shall commence my flight early in the morning." To which the other replied, " And so will I, whether it please God or not!" The morning came, the pious bird, having quenched his thirst in the Nile, rose upon the wing, and was presently out of sight. His impious companion also prepared to follow, but though he spread his wings, making many efforts to soar aloft, he found himself unable to rise from the ground; and being shortly afterwards found by man in this condition was easily caught and reduced to servitude, in which his whole race have ever since continued. The reis, according to promise, urging on the rowers by his authority and example, we arrived, about an hour before midnight, at Thebes. |