July 1960 School Magazine

Iuly, 196CI

Brisbqno Girls' Grqmmar School Mcrgozine

Iuly, 1960

Brisbqner Girls' Grqmmqr School Mcrgcrzine

AI{ ARAB WET}DII{G The wedding I describe is not by any means the wedding of upper-class Arabs whose customs ate very much our own and whose weddings in some cases surpass in splendour any European wedding. On the contrary, I describe the wedding of the lower- class Arabs who live in the slum Arab quarters, detached from the cities of Egypt" All the affairs of the wedding are attended to by the parents of the couple, and indeed, the match is actually affanged ^by the parents, a bride sometimes having to marry a person as old as her father-or even older, if he is wealthy. There is no question of force, it is simply custom ary . The bridegroom meets the bride's father and brothers but seldom meets his future mother-in-law and certainly never sees the bride until the day of the wedding (although the bride can take a peek at him through the keyhole to satisfy her curiosity a little). Another custom is that during the negotiations, the groom pays his future parents-in-law a dowry of money according to his means. Part of the marriage festivities is the displaying of the dowry" This is done by placing all the bride's household and presents on carts which are drawn by mules through the streets. The mules are adorned with garlands of flowers and are preceded by musicials playing 9n flutes, tamborines and hand drums. As the procession proceeds, men join it to sing and dance in the streets; but women remain in the house and watch from behind the shutters from where they comment on the dowry and compare it with others they have seen. Most conspicuous in the dowry is the eiderdown-most highly prized if it is made of golden satin with rose backing-and the gold or rose pillows with white pillow- cases edged with cotton lace. Finally the wedding takes place at the bride's home one afternoon, the ceremony being perforrned by a priest or "sheikh" dressed in a white robe and wearing a red cap with a white scarf wound round it. The bride wears white, while the groom wears a new neck-to-ankle robe made for the occasion. Afterwards the official documents are siqned or finger-printed-for it is only recently that a measure of compulsory education has been intro- duced. Now, for the first time, the groom is taken by his father- in-law and introduced to the bride. The reception also takes place at the bride's home-and sometimes flows into the street, so that tarpaulins ate hired to cover part of the street. The parents or a caterer provide the guests with an elaborate meal spread on long tables at which the grrests stand and help themselves. 16

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