556 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [1880- 



large use is made of a sort of tenacious clay which is said 

 to stand better than stone, and is preferred to cement 

 (nora) for the roofs. The Mohtesib, who acted as our 

 host under orders from the Shereef , told us that his house 

 had not been repaired for a hundred years. As a fair 

 type of a small house of the better class, I may describe 

 that which was furnished for our reception- the house 

 of the Scingianas [?], it is called. It is a narrow building 

 of four storeys, opening into a sort of square, near the 

 northern gate. Before the door is a stone platform, on 

 which servants lounge, and which is also used as a mount 

 ing-block. Entering through a straight narrow passage, 

 one has in front the staircase, dark and narrow. To the 

 right, a small court opens off the passage, having on the 

 street side a small office (maqad), and opposite to this 

 the Divan or qaa, a raised platform with a lofty roof, 

 connected with the court by an open Moorish archway. 

 In the Divan, visits are received and business transacted. 

 It is a characteristic feature of the Arabian house, but 

 not quite an invariable one. The indispensable thing 

 is to have a room on the ground floor where visitors can 

 be received without disturbing the privacy of the house. 

 As the Divan is loftier than the other parts of the ground 

 floor, the upper rooms are at various levels. The stair 

 is a winding one in short flights, accommodated to this 

 peculiarity. The private rooms of the house are on the 

 intermediate floors, and the chief sitting-room, or mejlis, 

 with its appurtenances, occupies the upper storey, the 

 kitchen being only half-a-flight of stairs off. The mejlis 

 is entered through an ante -chamber called the suffe, 

 which is generally slightly different in level. In the 

 house provided for me the suffe was a step lower. It 

 was laid with sand, and at one side was a sink with con 

 veniences for washing. Off the other end was a small 

 bath-room. In the suffe stood a brazier with charcoal, 

 to supply the continued demand for coffee and hot coals 

 for the water-pipe, which goes on at all hours of the day. 



