THE PEOPLES OF EGYPT AND NUBIA 



397 



laymen, and are dependent for support on the free-will offerings of the people, which are 

 generally given in kind. Marriage is forbidden to the priests after ordination, but they 

 are allowed to marry before that event; and marriage bars their promotion to only the 

 highest posts in the Church. 



THE FELLAHIN. 



The Fellahin have been more altered by Arab and Berber influences than the Copts, 

 but in physique and cast of countenance the old Egyptian type is recognisable. They are of 

 middle height, on an average about 5 feet 6 inches high; they have a broad forehead, straight 

 nose, which lacks the Semitic flattening at the tip, large black eyes, and thick lips. The 

 Fellahin form the bulk of the Egyptian population, especially in the rural districts of the 

 Delta and Lower Egypt. The country Fellah wears a brown woollen shirt, with large loose 

 sleeves, and usually has also a shawl over his shoulders. On his head is a tight-fitting white 

 cap or a red fez, covered by the turban. The townsmen, on the other hand, dress in cotton 

 instead of wool; they wear a loose cotton shirt reaching to the knees or the feet, and often 

 tied round the waist by a girdle; beneath the shirt is a loin-cloth or a pair of short drawers. 

 The men of the upper classes have adopted Arab, Turkish, or European costumes. Their 

 women live in seclusion and never appear in public places except closely veiled. Klunzinger 

 has given a full account of their dress and ornaments. He tells us that they blacken their 

 eyelids with antimony and decorate their bodies by tattooing and paint. Their hair is bound 

 into slender tresses, some of which cover the sides of the head, and the rest hang freely 

 down the back. Their ornaments are elaborate and costly, being mostly made of gold. The 

 hair is fastened and adorned by golden pins and combs, and fringed with rows of ducats, tiny 



Photo bij Neurdeiii Frercs} 



ULED-NAILS AND TWO XEGRO GIRLS. 



