PART
I.

Dress of

the men.

Ancient dress.

The list is not extensive until the times of the later prophets. Aprons of

fig-leaves, man's first vain invention to hide the nakedness of sin-coats of skin, given in mercy by our heavenly Fathercloaks, mantles, shirts, breeches, girdles, bonnets, and sandals, invented at various dates, and most of them consecrated to religious purposes by Moses in the garments of the Hebrew priesthood-these constitute almost the entire wardrobe for the first three thousand years of man's history. The fact is, that the whole subject is much more doubtful and obscure than most people suppose. The ancient Hebrew costume is thought to have resembled, more or less closely, the Oriental dress of our day. But which? I would like to know. It differs more than that of Western nations. We shall select that of the Syrian Arab, which in all probability does actually approach nearest to that of the patriarchs; and with the aid of engravings, accompanied by explanations, the size and shape of the various articles, as well as

the ordinary mode of wearing them, will be sufficiently apparent. You need not attempt to remember, or even pronounce the Arabic names; but it is difficult to talk about nameless things, and therefore we cannot dispense with these hard words.

LIST OF MODERN GARMENTS.

LIST OF GARMENTS, WITH THEIR ARABIC NAMES EXPLAINED

117

CHAPTER

IX.

Kumis, inner shirt, of cotton, linen, or silk. Those of the Bedawîn are long, loose, Articles of a id made of strong cotton cloth,-the most important item in their wardrobe.

modern costume.

Libas, inner drawers of cotton cloth.

Shintian, drawers, very full.

Sherwal, very large, loose pantaloons.

Dikky, a cord or sash with which the pantaloons are gathered and tied round the

waist.

Suderiyeh, an inner waistcoat, without sleeves, buttoned up to the neck.

Mintian, an inner jacket,

worn

over the suderîyeh,

overlapping in front,-has pockets for purse, handkerchief, &c.

Gumbaz or Kuftăn, long open gown of cotton or silk, overlapping in front, girded tightly above the loins by the zunnar.

Zunnar, girdle of leather, camels' hair, cotton, silk, or woollen shawls.

Sulta, an outer jacket worn over the gumbaz.

Kubran, a stout, heavy jacket, with open sleeves fastened on at the shoulder by buttons.

Jibbeh, Jukh, Benish, a long loose robe or mantle, with short sleeves, very full, used in full dress.

'Aba, 'Abaiyeh, Meshleh, a strong, coarse cloak, of various forms and materials. The 'abaiyeh is often short, and richly ornamented with gold and silver thread inwoven with the cloth. The most common are made of black sackcloth, of goats' or camels' hair, very large, so that the owner wraps himself in it to sleep.

Búrnus, long loose cloak of white wool, with a hood to cover the head.

It is

sometimes called mugrabin,

from the Algerin Arabs.

Mamluk dress.

in Bible.

For the head there is, first, the

'Arukiyeh or Takîyeh, a cotton cap fitting closely to the head, whether shaven or not. If the head is shaved, a soft felt cap is often worn under the takîyeh. Tarbush or Fez, a thick red felt cap. The best come from Algiers. Turban, a shawl of wool, silk, or cotton, wound round the tarbush. The Turks now wear nothing but the fez, and many Arabs nothing but the tarbush, with its long tassel. Others have a small coloured handkerchief (mandeel) tied round the tarbush. The Bedawîn have a heavier article, woven with golden tissue, thrown over the tarbush, and confined there by a twisted rope of goats' or camels' hair, called 'Akal. This is a picturesque and very distinctive article in the costume of a genuine Arab of the Desert.

For the feet there is, first,

Jerabat or Kalsāt, socks or stockings of every variety.

Kalshin, inner slippers of soft leather, yellow or black.

Surmaiyeh, shoes, commonly of red morocco.

Bābuje, a kind of half slipper, answering in part to the ancient sandal, which is not now used.

Jezmeh, boots of red morocco, very stout and clumsy.

There are many variations and additions to this list in different parts of the vast regions inhabited by the Arab race; they are, however, only slight departures from the general types and patterns given above, and need not be described. The Mamluk dress is considered very graceful by Europeans. It is the official costume of the army and navy of Egypt, or was in the days of Mohammed Ali.

To the Biblical student, these matters are specially interesting so far only as they throw light on the sacred Scriptures; but this they do in very many Different passages. For example, it was the 'aba or meshleh, I suppose, with which garments Shem and Japheth covered the nakedness of their father.1 It was the referred to Jibbeh that Joseph left in the hands of that shameless wife of Potiphar, called Zuleîka, according to Moslem tradition.2 This jibbeh may answer to the mantle which fell from Elijah, and was taken up by Elisha;3 to the cloak in the precept, "If a man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also."4 The coat is probably the sulta. It was this jibbeh that our Saviour laid aside when he washed the feet of the disciples. It can be so worn, or taken off, or torn in grief or rage, as to answer every mention of it in the Bible. The same remark applies to the zunnar or girdle, to the surmaiyeh and bābûj—the shoes and sandals—and, in fact, to all other articles of dress which we have described.

5

By the time of Moses, the costume, I presume, had attained to about its present state among tribes purely Oriental; I mean as to pattern, not as to the number, nature, and quality of the materials. These have greatly multiplied and improved, both in variety and fineness of fabrics.

3

1 Gen. ix. 23.
Matt. v. 40.

2 Gen. xxxix. 12.

2 Kings il. 8, 13

5 John xiii. 4.

The toilet of the ladies corresponds in most respects to that of the men, CHAPTER

with, of course, certain additions. As was to be ex

Even dur

pected, it developed faster than the other. ing the life of Jacob there were habits appropriate to. maids, others to married women, and others again for widows; such, too, as distinguished those who were honest, and another habit for those who were otherwise. This implies a great variety in female attire; and thus it went on enlarging, until their toilets became as complicated and mysterious in Jerusalem as they now are in Paris or New York. In the за chapter of Isaiah we have a catalogue, about as intelligible to the English reader as the Hebrew seems to have been to our translators: Cawls, round tires like the moon, sweet balls, mufflers or spangled ornaments, tablets or houses of the soul,1 etc., etc., etc. It would require half a volume to discuss these names, and then they would be about as unintelligible as when we began.

I cannot muster sufficient courage to enter minutely into the female costume, nor is it necessary. It varies from that of the men mostly in the veils, which are very various, and in the head-dress, which with the tarbush for the basis, is complicated by an endless variety of jewels and other ornamental appendages; these, however, appear in the engravings, and can be better studied there than on the persons

1 Isa. iii. 18-23

IX.

Dress of the ladies.

PART
I.

Patriarchal dress,

The ma terials.

Linen

cotton.

who wear them. You will not easily get permission to inspect them there. To ask it would be, in most cases, a serious insult.

HEAD DRESS.

It is a remarkable fact, that after the first mention of coats in Genesis iii. 21, we hear no more about garments of any kind for sixteen or eighteen hundred years. Shem and Japheth, after the Deluge, had a garment so large that they laid it on each of their shoulders, in order to cover the nakedness of their drunken father without beholding his shame. Several hundred years later-in Abraham's day-we read of shoes, and of raiment presented to Rebekah ; and she covered herself with a veil when Isaac met her. Later in life, she had goodly raiment of her son Esau with her in the house. Then comes the coat of many colours, the occasion of sad calamities to Joseph; Reuben, not finding the lad in the pit, rent his clothes-the first time this action is mentioned. Jacob also rent his; and in after ages this expression of grief becomes common, as the fabrics out of which the garments Iwere made became of a finer texture, and more easily torn.

The materials first used were skins of animals, and many people are clothed with them at this day. Afterward linen and woollen fabrics were invented; and coarse cloth woven from the hair of camels and goats. Silk is mentioned in Proverbs xxxi. 22, and in Ezekiel xvi. 10, 13, but I suppose hemp is meant. There is no reason to suppose that Solomon's "virtuous wife" was woollen- acquainted with silk; nor was cotton known to the Jews until after the captivity. Possibly the mas or masi of Ezekiel was cotton. The Egyptians, and of course the Hebrews, were early skilled in embroidery with tissue of silver and gold; and Orientals are still extravagantly fond of embroidered garments. As to fine-twined linen, so celebrated among the Israelites in the wilderness and elsewhere, we must understand the term relatively. All Egyptian linen is coarse, and always was to judge from the wrappings of