Egypt : handbook for travellers / edited by K. Baedeker.

Date:
1885-1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Egypt : handbook for travellers / edited by K. Baedeker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and the oftener is the narrator applauded with protracted cries of ‘AalT, or ‘Allah’, or ‘Allabu akhar! The story-teller generally occupies a small stool on the mastaha, whence he delivers his address. Most of the members of this class belong to the so-called sho'arci (sing, sha'ir), literally ‘singers’. They are also known as rAndtireh (sing. 'Antari) or Abu-Zedlyeh, according as their theme consists of tales and romances from the history of fAntar, a Beduin hero, or from that of Abu Zed. Others again are called Mohadditin, i. e. narrators of history, theirprovince being the recital in prose of passages from the history of Sultan Ez-Zahir Bebars, who reigned over Egypt in 1260-77 (p. 104). The entertainments of the ‘alf leleh u leleti (thousand and one nights) are, however, no longer heard, as popular superstition has branded this collection of tales as ‘unlucky’. There are also profes- sional improvisors and travelling singers, whose performances are very popular; but the themes of the whole fraternity are too often of an immoral character. Musicians by profession, called alatlyeh (sing, alati), are in- dispensable on every festive occasion. The usual instruments are the rekk or tambourine with little bells, the nakkdreh, or semi- spherical tambourine, the zemr or hautbois, the tail beledi or drum, the tabl shdmi or kettle-drum , and the darabuhe.li, a kind of funnel-shaped drum (generally made of earthenware, but some- times of mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell, with a fish-skin stretch- ed over the broad end), which last is accompanied by the zummdra, a kind of double flute. A better class of instruments, used for chamber music, consists of the ndi, a kind of flute, the kemengeh or two-stringed violin, the body of which consists of a cocoa-nut shell, the rebdbeh, or one-stringed violin with a square wooden body, the fcdmln, a kind of zither with strings of sheep-gut, and lastly the fud, the lute or mandoline, the oldest of all the instruments. The Egyptians consider themselves a highly musical people, and the traveller will indeed often be struck by the frequency of their singing. The Egyptian sings when indulging in his kef (p. 23), whether sitting on his heels or stretched out on his mat, when driving his donkey, when carrying stones and mortar up a scaffolding, when working in the fields, and when rowing. He sings whether alone or in company, regarding his vocal music as a means of lightening his labour and of sweetening his repose. A peculiarity of the Egyptian songs, however, is that they have no tune, though they have a certain rhythm, which is always dependent on the text. They are sung through the nose on seven or eight different notes, on which the performer wanders up and down as he feels in- clined. f The character of this so-called music is exceedingly monotonous, and to a European ear displeasing. The songs (mcncwdl or shughl) are all of a lyrical description, most of them are erotic and often grossly obscene, and many are at the same time pointless and meaningless. Some of t In the large work entitled the ‘Book op Songs1 an endeavour is made to reduce Arabic music to a system, and the notes are divided into seven different keys, each having the same notes, differently arranged ; but the popular songs are sung without the least regard to these artificial rules. 2*