78 H. S. Jarrett — Customs among the Bedouins of the Haur&n. [No. 2, 



MODERN CUSTOMS AMONG THE BEDOUINS OF THE 



HAURAN. 



Betrothal. 

 A young man seeks in the first place a suitable girl to whom 

 he may pay his addresses. He then makes repeated visits to her 

 father's tent where he occasionally eats and drinks and may at times 

 impose on the girl the trouble of washing his head and combing his 

 hair. Thus the two have free intercourse with each other without the 

 slightest objection on the part of her people. But throughout the 

 whole of this period, notwithstanding the complete freedom of inti- 

 macy between the youth and the girl, they scrupulously adhere to 

 the injunctions of propriety and honour, following in this the custom 

 of civilized communities. When their mutual attachment is assured 

 and they are satisfied that there exists between them similarity of 

 tastes, the youth requests his father to solicit her betrothal to him 

 The father readily complies and invites the principal men of his 

 tribe and they all mount their horses and proceed to the house of 

 the girl's father who rises to meet them as they approach with the 

 rest of his relatives that may be present. They are helped to dismount 

 and the best carpets at hand are spread for them. Some cow-dung 

 and camel -dung is now quickly brought and a fire kindled in the 

 middle of the tent. Coffee is then prepared and poured out to the guests 

 in cups, each cup containing but a sip. As the oldest among them 

 takes a cup, he places it in front of him, saying to the girl's father, 

 " We will not drink of thy coffee unless thou give her to me." The 

 rest of his companions repeat the same thing in turn. The master 

 of the house, i. e., the father of the girl or one of the chief men of 

 his tribe then addresses them, saying ; " Drink your coffee and it shall 

 be as you wish." Upon this, each one takes his cup and drinks it off. 

 In the meanwhile the master of the house orders a sheep or a goat 

 to be slaughtered, the flesh of which is cut into pieces of about half an 

 ounce 1 weight each, and these are boiled in milk till they are thorough- 

 ly done and then placed in a large dish of burghul 2 not less in quantity 



1 An ounce, &-£>j\ (from the Greek 06771a or ovyicia) is one-twelfth of a riW or 

 pound of twelve ounces ; measured in dirhams, it was formerly equal to forty, 

 but at the present day it varies in most cities : In Syria, according to the Majdni 

 'I Adah, the ounce equals 66f dirhams. 



2 This is the name of the ordinary dinner of the Arab peasants. It consists 

 of boiled wheat, dried and husked, prepared with fat or butter, and eaten with 

 sour milk or meat. 



