Wine and Beer in the Daily Lite and Religion of the Ancient Orientals, iaq 



houseljold. The Ghassanid king Jabala^ sat on a couch of 

 myrtle and jasmine and other sweet-smelling flowers when he 

 would drink wine. About him were gold and silver vessels 

 full of ambergris and musk (Agani, XVI, 15 1. 24 ff.). The wine 

 was served by a waiter, whose finger-tips were colored red 

 with firsad. He also wore a woman's upper-garment and was 

 adorned with ear-rings 2. The wine was drunk either from 



a glasscup [J^^^^ or from a goblet, called sahn (cr^"^) or from 

 a bowl, called qadah (^^^'), The tavern was distinguished 

 by a sign, probably a green branch^, which indicated that 

 the wineshop-keeper had still a supply of wine for sale. When 

 the wine had run out, the sign was taken down. 'Antara 

 calls him a gallant man "who causes to be taken dpwn the 

 taverner's sign". Lebid"* sings: "Moreover, you do not know 

 how many serene nights , pleasant in their amusement and mirth- 

 ful revelry I passed in gay conversation and how many a sign 

 of the wine merchant I went to, when it was raised and the 

 wine had become high in price". The drinking bouts were 

 attended by singing-girls. "My companions are bright as 

 stars, and a singing-girl comes to us at night, clad in a striped 

 robe and saffron-colored mantle" ^. In A'sha m. 30 the singing 

 girl {Qaine) wears a wide kimono and is^ therefore, called 

 fudul. According to Tarafa m. 50 the singing-girl was by no 

 means bashful. She is asked to sing by calling to her '' as- 

 nuina\ i. e. "let us hear". "When we say: 'Let us hear', she 

 steps before us at her ease, gently, in a voice not forced. 

 When she repeates her tones, you would believe her voice to 

 be that of a camel lamenting her lost young" 6. Abu Mihgan 

 compares her song to the buzzing of flies of the meadow '. 



i) Jabala was a contemporary of the ruler of Hira lyas ben Qabisa of 

 the tribe of Tayyi', who ruled from 602 611 A. D. 



2) al-Aswad ibn Ja'fur in Mufaddaliyat, ed, Thorbecke, XXXVII, 23 and 

 A sha mu all. 29, The upper-garment is called j^lj ^" kurtak. Com])are with 

 this garment that of the ancient Egyptian butler, p. 84. 



3) See Jacob, Georg, Studien in arabischen Dichtern, Heft I, p. 18. 



4) Lebid, m. 57 58; see also Lebid, XII, 20. 



5) Tarafa, m. 49. 



6) Tarafa, m. 51 52. 7) Sec Jacob, Georg, 0. c, Heft III, p. 103. 



