A I. E 



With that of drinking wine, nnd is praflifed by few openly, 

 except by perfons regardlds of their reputation. Tlie 

 bagnio, or humnium, is niucl> reforted to by perfons of both 

 fexes. The people of Aleppo in general lead a fcdentary 

 life. Dancing is not reckoned a genteel accompliflinunt for 

 people of condition, and even among tiie vulgar it is fcldom 

 praftiled, unlefs by fuch as make it tlieir trade. Chefs, and 

 a kind of baek-ganimon, which tiiey are faid to have learned 

 from tiic Perfians, are played by both I'cxes. They have two 

 other games unknown in England, called mankah and tab- 

 waduk. The former is played by two perfons, and the i'uc- 

 cels depends chiefly onmcmoiy and a readlnefs in counting. 

 The latter is a mixed game ; the movement of the pins on 

 the board being dctermincj by carting four fmall flat Hicks, 

 on one fuk' white and black on the other. Tliey are par- 

 ticularly detcrlbed by M. d'Arvieux and Niebuhr. The 

 Turks play merely for amufement ; gaming being prohibited 

 by the Koran. The natives of every denomination obferve 

 veiy reguku- hours. 'I'iicy rife with the fun, and are in bed 

 between nine and ten at night. The women never appear 

 in the ilreet after it is dark. The coffee-honfcs, as we have 

 before obferved, are not frequented by perfons of the firit 

 rank, but by all others indifcriminately. Tliev are tnter- 

 tatned by a band of mufic, a puppet-lhow, and a llory-teller. 

 The Alcppeens have, in general, a correct ear, and are fond 

 ot mufic. Ike inilrumental mutic is of two kinds ; martial 

 and loud, intended for the field, and the other lefs fonorous, 

 adapted to the chamber. A band of mufic, belonging to 

 the callk, Imaller than tliat of tlie bafliaw, performs regu- 

 larly twicer day from the battlements; and the baihaw's band 

 performs alio twice a day in tlie court of the feraglio. The 

 feails of the natives, who are frugal in tlieir domertic eco- 

 nomy, have every appearance of plenty and hofpitality ; and 

 all great entertainments are commonly attended by a fet of 

 buffoons, who are pardy muficians, and others, who for hire 

 aiuime the charaAer of profelfed jefters. 



The firll clafs of the inhabitants of Aleppo confiRs of 

 Turks, comprehending all Mahometans, and they amoulK 

 according to Ruffell, to about 200,000. Thelc are a mixed 

 race, partly detcended from thofe who inliabited the city 

 before it was fubduedby the emperor Selim in 1516; paitly 

 fi-om fuch as came to fettle in the new conquell, and from 

 ethers drawn thither by commerce from mofl of the Otto- 

 man provinces. They are united under the fame government 

 and belong to the feft of Sonnites. The merchants at 

 Aleppo are numerous, and fome of them are clleemed opu- 

 lent. The trades are divided into different companies, under 

 their refpeftive mailers, or flieih? or flieiks. The mechanics 

 are, in general, induihious and frugal ; and the Alcppeens 

 poffefs the art of tent-making unrivalled ; the tents for the 

 fultan and great officers of the Porte being ufually made in 

 this city ; and inany hands are employed in the flk and 

 cotton manulaftures. The keifarias, or fmall mean houfes, 

 in the city and fuburbs, are inhabited by a canfiderable num- 

 ber of Arabs. Thcfe are called Bidowtens or Bldouins, 

 and the men are employed in various kinds of manual labour. 



In the fuburbs of Aleppo there are many families of 

 Turkmans, who are a flout hardy people, cliielly employed 

 ia agriculture, or as camel drivers in the caravans ; and there 

 are alio a great number of Kurdeess, who are fimilarly 

 employed. 



With regard to nuptial conlrafts and ceremonies at Alep- 

 po, they are fimilar to thofe generally obferved among the 

 Turks. When a matrimonial engagement is proicfted, the 

 propofal is intimated to the mother of the intended bride, 

 and the relations on both fides proceed to make the neceffary 

 inquiries. If the refult prove futisfactory, the young woman 



ALE 



is formally demanded of her parents by the father of the 

 young man. Subflitutes are tlien appointed to ftijjuljte the 

 neceffary conditions ; and thefe proxies adjull the Inni to be 

 paid to the bride's father, with other articles of the marriage 

 contract. When the money is paid, the ct)ntra<St is regularly 

 figned and lealed, and then the Cadi grants his licence for 

 the marriage. About ten days before the wedding, the bride 

 is invited by her female relations to the bagnio, and tltcre 

 file is entertained till the day preceding the marriage, when 

 they proceed to apply the henna. At Aleppo it iscuftomary 

 for the father of the bride to make i'ome addition to what is 

 paid by the bridegroom, and to lay it out for the benefit of 

 his daughter ; but among the Bidoween inhabitants and in 

 the villages, the father ufually retains a part of what he re- 

 ceived for his daughter ; and in this rcfpecl thty may be 

 faid to fell their dauj;htcrs. This cuflorn of purchafing 

 wives is pratfifed by aU llie oriental ChrilUaiis, as well as 

 the Turks, and appears from the facred writings, to have 

 been the ancient practice. Accordingly, among the Arabs, 

 daughters conflitute the riches of a family. On the nuptial 

 day, the women go in proceffion from the bridegroom's 

 houfe to fetch the bride, who is brought home aniidll the 

 acclamations of the women, accompanied by her mother, 

 and feveral other female relations. The procelTion is in the 

 day time, and at Aleppo, they do not carry tapers, as fome 

 travellers have reported. On their arrival in the houfe, the 

 remainder of the day is fpcnt in ftalling and mulic. When 

 the bride, covered with a veil of red gauze, and drefied in 

 her wedding garment, has been introduced to her hulhand, 

 the relations withdraw, and conlimie Ihiging and fealling till 

 morning ; and the nuptial I'ljoicings lall feveral days. The 

 mother for the moft part fuckh"; lier child, unlefs prevented 

 by incapacity, and the child is feldom kept at the breall lefs 

 than two years, fometimes three or four ; and the mother 

 often fuckles during the whole time of pregnancy. During 

 the firrt week the child is fwaddled, and then dreffcd iu 

 clothes which are more loofe and eafy ; and as foon as they 

 are able, they are left at liberty to crawl about on the carpet. 

 When children lan fupport themfelves, they are ul"iially car- 

 ried aibide on the flioulders ; and the expreffion ufed by 

 Ifaiah, ch. ]x. v. 4, upon which biihop I.owth comments 

 (Notes on Ifaiah, p. 258.), viz. S^f|5 ^'J is literally that 

 which is now ufed by the Arab women. The diflerencc of 

 carrying a chiltl in the bofom or on the flioulder, referred to 

 If. xhx. 22, and noticed by Harmer (Obf. on iScripture, 

 voL ii. p, i^if".), maybe owing to their different age, without 

 regard to lex. 



In the funeral ceremonies prarlifdat Aleppo, the women 

 perform a confpicuous part. When a perfon is dangeroufly 

 ill, one or two fiieiks are employed to read portions of the 

 Koran, and to pray by the bed-iule. At the approach of 

 death, the attendants turn the face of the dying perfon 

 towards the keblah, that is, towards Mecca. When he 

 expires, the women in the chamber give the alarm, by 

 llirieking as if thty were diiliaftcd, and are foon joined by 

 all the other females in the harem. This conclaniation is 

 termed the Wulwaly, and is fo flirill as'to be heard, efpe- 

 ciallv in the night, at a prodigious dillancc. Sehultens in 

 hib Ceimmentary on Job x. 15, (torn. i. p. 278.), confiders 

 the Arabic lyiilwal as corref'pondiug to the Ilebrew 'p^* 

 and to the Greek oAoAt^u and a/.a?.i(x', and he fuppofes that 

 the former Greek word was applied in a joyful fenfe. 

 However, the Arabic wulwaly is aiipUcablc only to diftrtfs 

 and affiiftion, and feenis to have a greater alhnity to the 

 latter term than to the former, which was commonly ufed by 

 the Greeks on facred or joyful oecafi(ms. See Mark, v. 

 38. Plutarch refers to this practice in his account of Portia's 



• fainting 



