NOTES TO ALROY.
[Footnote 1: page 4.--_We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder_.--Hebrewproverb.]
[Footnote 2: page 12.--Our walls are hung with flowers you love. It isthe custom of the Hebrews in many of their festivals, especially inthe feast of the Tabernacle, to hang the walls of their chambers withgarlands of flowers.]
[Footnote 3: page 13.--_The traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai_.'I accompanied the priest through the town over much ruin and rubbishto an enclosed piece of ground, rather more elevated than any in itsimmediate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb-a square buildingof brick, of a mosque-like form, with a rather elongated dome at thetop. The door is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, verysmall, consisting of a single stone of great thickness, and turning onits own pivots from one side. Its key is always in possession ofthe eldest of the Jews resident at Hamadan. Within the tomb are twosarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with great intricacy ofpattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription inHebrew,' &c.--_Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 107_.]
[Footnote 4: page 16.--_A marble fountain, the richly-carved cupolasupported by twisted columns_. The vast magnificence and elaboratefancy of the tombs and fountains is a remarkable feature of Orientalarchitecture. The Eastern nations devote to these structures the richestand the most durable materials. While the palaces of Asiatic monarchsare in general built only of wood, painted in fresco, the rarest marblesare dedicated to the sepulchre and the spring, which are often richlygilt, and adorned even with precious stones.]
[Footnote 5: page 17.--_The chorus of our maidens._ It is still thecustom for the women in the East to repair at sunset in company tothe fountain for their supply of water. In Egypt, you may observe attwilight the women descending the banks of the Nile in procession fromevery town and village. Their graceful drapery, their long veils notconcealing their flashing eyes, and the classical forms of their vases,render this a most picturesque and agreeable spectacle.]
[Footnote 6: page 24.--I describe the salty deserts of Persia, alocality which my tale required; but I have ventured to introduce here,and in the subsequent pages, the principal characteristics of the greatArabian deserts: the mirage, the simoom, the gazelle, the oasis.]
[Footnote 7: page 28.--_Jackals and marten-cat._ At nightfall,especially in Asia Minor, the lonely horseman will often meet thejackals on their evening prowl. Their moaning is often heard during thenight. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the most singular screamswere heard at intervals throughout the night, from a forest on theopposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me proceeded from amarten-cat, which had probably found the carcass of some horse.]
[Footnote 8: page 30. Elburz, or Elborus, the highest range of theCaucasus.]
[Footnote 9: page 31.--_A circular and brazen table, sculptured withstrange characters and mysterious figures; near it was a couch on whichlay several volumes._ A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. Thebooks were doubtless _Sepher Happeliah_, the Book of Wonders; _SepherHakkaneh_, the Book of the Pen; and _Sepher Habbahir_, the Book ofLight. This last unfolds the most sublime mysteries.]
[Footnote 10: page 32.--_Answered the Cabalist._ 'Simeon ben Jochai,who flourished in the second century, and was a disciple of Akibha, iscalled by the Jews the Prince of the Cabalists. After the suppression ofthe sedition in which his master had been so unsuccessful, he concealedhimself in a cave, where, according to the Jewish historians, hereceived revelations, which he after-wards delivered to his disciples,and which they carefully preserved in the book called Sohar. His master,Akibha, who lived soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, was theauthor of the famous book Jezirah, quoted by the Jews as of Divineauthority. When Akibha was far advanced in life, appeared the famousimpostor Barchochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah, promisedto deliver his countrymen from the power of the Emperor Adrian. Akibhaespoused his cause, and afforded him the protection and support of hisname, and an army of two hundred thousand men repaired to his standard.The Romans at first slighted the insurrection; but when they found theinsurgents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they came, they sent outa military force against them. At. first, the issue of the contestwas doubtful. The Messiah himself was not taken until the end of fouryears.'--Enfield, _Philosophy of the Jews_, vol. ii.
'Two methods of instruction were in use among the Jews; the one public,or _exoteric_; the other secret, or esoteric. The exoteric doctrine wasthat which was openly taught the people from the law of Moses and thetraditions of the fathers. The esoteric was that which treated of themysteries of the Divine nature, and other sublime subjects, and wasknown by the name of the Cabala. The latter was, after the manner of thePythagorean and Egyptian mysteries, taught only to certain persons,who were bound, under the most solemn anathema, not to divulge it.Concerning the miraculous origin and preservation of the Cabala, theJews relate many marvellous tales. They derive these mysteries fromAdam, and assert that, while the first man was in Paradise, the angelRasiel brought him a book from heaven, which contained the doctrinesof heavenly wisdom, and that, when Adam received this book, angels camedown to him to learn its contents, but that he refused to admit them tothe knowledge of sacred things entrusted to him alone; that, after theFall, this book was taken back into heaven; that, after many prayersand tears, God restored it to Adam, from whom it passed to Seth. In thedegenerate age before the flood this book was lost, and the mysteries itcontained almost forgotten; but they were restored by special revelationto Abraham, who committed them to writing in the book _Jezirah.'--VideEnfield, vol. ii. p. 219_.
'The Hebrew word _Cabala,'_ says Dom Calmet, 'signifies tradition, andthe Rabbins, who are named Cabalists, apply themselves principally tothe combination of certain words, numbers, and letters, by the means ofwhich they boasted they could reveal the future, and penetrate thesense of the most difficult passages of Scripture. This science does notappear to have any fixed principles, but depends upon certain ancienttraditions, whence its name Cabala. The Cabalists have a great number ofnames which they style sacred, by means of which they raise spirits, andaffect to obtain supernatural intelligence.'--See Calmet, Art. _Cabala_.
'We spake before,' says Lightfoot, 'of the commonness of Magick amongthem, one singular means whereby they kept their own in delusion, andwhereby they affronted ours. The general expectation of the nation ofMessias coming when he did had this double and contrary effect, that itforwarded those that belonged to God to believe and receive the Gospel;and those that did not, it gave encouragement to some to take uponthem they were Christ or some great prophet, and to others it gave somepersuasion to be deluded by them. These deceivers dealt most of themwith Magick, and that cheat ended not when Jerusalem ended, though onewould have thought that had been a fair term of not further expectingMessias; but since the people were willing to be deceived by suchexpectation, there rose up deluders still that were willing to deceivethem.'--Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 371.
For many curious details of the Cabalistic Magic, Vide Basnage, vol. v.p. 384, &c.]
[Footnote 11: page 34.--_Read the stars no longer_. 'The modern Jews,'says Basnage, 'have a great idea of the influence of the stars.' Vol.iv. p. 454. But astrology was most prevalent among the BabylonianRabbins, of whom Jabaster was one. Living in the ancient land of theChaldeans, these sacred sages imbibed a taste for the mystic lore oftheir predecessors. The stars moved, and formed letters and lines, whenconsulted by any of the highly-initiated of the Cabalists. This theystyled the Celestial Alphabet.]
[Footnote 12: page 38.--__The Daughter of the Voice. 'Both the Talmudickand the latter Rabbins,' says Lightfoot, 'make frequent mention of _BathKol, or Filia Vocis_, or an echoing voice which served under the SecondTemple for their utmost refuge of revelation. For when Urim and Thummim,the oracle, was ceased, and prophecy was decayed and gone, they had,as they say, certain strange and extraordinary voices upon certainextraordinary occasions, which were their warnings and advertisementsin some special matters. I
nfinite instances of this might be adduced, ifthey might be believed. Now here it may be questioned why they calledit _Bath Kol, the daughter of a voice,_ and not a voice itself? If thestrictness of the Hebrew word Bath be to be stood upon, which always itis not, it may be answered, that it is called The Daughter of a Voicein relation to the oracles of Urim and Thummim. For whereas that was avoice given from off the mercy-seat, within the vail, and this, upon thedecay of that oracle, came as it were in its place, it might notunfitly or improperly be called a _daughter_, or successor of thatvoice.'--Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 485, 486. Consult also the learnedDoctor, vol. ii. pp. 128, 129: 'It was used for a testimony from heaven,but was indeed performed by magic art.']
[Footnote 13: page 44.--_The walls and turrets of an extensive city_.In Persia, and the countries of the Tigris and Euphrates, the travellersometimes arrives at deserted cities of great magnificence andantiquity. Such, for instance, is the city of Anneh. I suppose Alroy tohave entered one of the deserted capitals of the Seleucidae. They are ingeneral the haunt of bandits.]
[Footnote 14: page 49.--_Punctured his arm._ From a story told by anArab.]
[Footnote 15: page 52.--_The pilgrim could no longer sustain himself._An endeavor to paint the simoom.]
[Footnote 16: page 54.--_By the holy stone._ The Caaba.--The Caaba isthe same to the Mahomedan as the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian. It isthe most unseemly, but the most sacred, part of the mosque at Mecca, andis a small, square stone building.]
[Footnote 17: page 56.--_I am a Hakim;_ i.e. Physician, an almost sacredcharacter in the East. As all Englishmen travel with medicine-chests,the Turks are not be wondered at for considering us physicians.]
[Footnote 18: page 57.--_Threw their wanton jerreeds in the air_. ThePersians are more famous for throwing the jerreed than any other nation.A Persian gentleman, while riding quietly by your side, will suddenlydash off at full gallop, then suddenly check his horse, and take a longaim with his lance with admirable precision. I should doubt, however,whether he could hurl a lance a greater distance or with greater forceand effect than a Nubian, who will fix a mark at sixty yards with hisjavelin.]
[Footnote 19: page 58.--_Some pounded coffee._ The origin of the use ofcoffee is obscure; but there is great reason to believe that it had notbeen introduced in the time of Alroy. When we consider that the life ofan Oriental at the present day mainly consists in drinking coffee andsmoking tobacco, we cannot refrain from asking ourselves, 'What didhe do before either of these comparatively modern inventions wasdiscovered?' For a long time, I was inclined to suspect that tobaccomight have been in use in Asia before it was introduced into Europe; buta passage in old Sandys, in which he mentions the wretched tobacco smokein Turkey, and accounts for it by that country being supplied with 'thedregs of our markets,' demonstrates that, in his time, there was nonative growth in Asia. Yet the choicest tobaccos are now grown on thecoast of Syria, the real Levant. But did the Asiatics smoke any otherplant or substance before tobacco? In Syria, at the present day, theysmoke a plant called _timbac_; the Chinese smoke opium; the artificialpreparations for the hookah are known to all Indians. I believe,however, that these are all refinements, and for this reason, thatin the classic writers, who were as well acquainted with the Orientalnations as ourselves, we find no allusion to the practice of smoking.The anachronism of the pipe I have not therefore ventured to commit, andthat of coffee will, I trust, be pardoned.]
[Footnote 20: page 58.--_Wilder gestures of the dancing girls._ Thesedancing girls abound throughout Asia. The most famous are the Almeh ofEgypt, and the Nautch of India. These last are a caste, the first only aprofession.]
[Footnote 21: page 64.--_For thee the bastinado_. The bastinado is thecommon punishment of the East, and an effective and dreaded one. It isadministered on the soles of the feet, the instrument a long cane orpalm-branch. Public executions are very-rare.]
[Footnote 22: page 73.--_A door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl_.This elegant mode of inlay is common in Oriental palaces, and may beobserved also in Alhambra, at Granada.]
[Footnote 23: page 74.--_A vaulted, circular, and highly embossed roof,of purple, scarlet, and gold._ In the very first style of Saracenicarchitecture. See the Hall of the Ambassadors in Alhambra, and manyother chambers in that exquisite creation.]
[Footnote 24: page 74.--_Nubian eunuchs dressed in rich habits ofscarlet and gold._ Thus the guard of Nubian eunuchs of the present Pachaof Egypt, Mehemet Ali, or rather Caliph, a title which he wishes toassume. They ride upon white horses.]
[Footnote 25: page 74.--_A quadrangular court of roses._ So in Alhambra,'The Court of Myrtles,' leading to the Court of Columns, wherein is thefamous Fountain of Lions.]
[Footnote 26: page 75.--_An Abyssinian giant._ A giant is still a commonappendage to an Oriental court even at the present day. See a veryamusing story in the picturesque 'Persian Sketches' of that famouselchee, Sir John Malcolm.]
[Footnote 27: page 75.--_Surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped._'The hall of audience,' says Gibbon, from Cardonne, speaking of themagnificence of the Saracens of Cordova, 'was encrusted with gold andpearls, and a great basin in the centre was surrounded with the curiousand costly figures of birds and quadrupeds.'-_Decline and Fall_, vol. x.p. 39.]
[Footnote 28: page 76.--_A tree of gold and silver._ 'Among the otherspectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and silver,spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the lesserboughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals, aswell as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery effected spontaneousmotions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony.'-_Gibbon,_vol. x. p. 38, from Abulfeda, describing the court of the Caliphs ofBagdad in the decline of their power.]
[Footnote 29: page 76.--_Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds,with collars of gold and rubies_. I have somewhere read of an Indian orPersian monarch whose coursing was conducted in this gorgeous style: ifI remember right, it was Mahmoud the Gaznevide.]
[Footnote 30: page 76.--_A steed marked on its forehead with a star._The sacred steed of Solorhon.]
[Footnote 31: page 78.--_Instead of water, each basin was replenishedwith the purest quicksilver._ 'In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, oneof those basins and fountains so delightful in a sultry climate,was replenished, not with water, but with the purest quicksilver.'--_Gibbon_, vol. x, from Cardonne.]
[Footnote 32: page 78.-_Playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds_.Moslems of rank are never without the rosary, sometimes of amber andrare woods, sometimes of jewels. The most esteemed is of that peculiarsubstance called Mecca wood.]
[Footnote 33: page 78.--_The diamond hilt of a small poniard._ Theinsignia of a royal female.]
[Footnote 34: page 83.--_You have been at Paris_. Paris was known to theOrientals at this time as a city of considerable luxury and importance.The Embassy from Haroun Alraschid to Charlemagne, at an earlier date, isof course recollected.]
[Footnote 35: page 90.--_At length beheld the lost capital of hisfathers._ The finest view of Jerusalem is from the Mount of Olives. Itis little altered since the period when David Alroy is supposed to havegazed upon it, but it is enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, builtby the Moslem conquerors on the supposed site of the temple, and which,with its gardens, and arcades, and courts, and fountains, may fairly bedescribed as the most imposing of Moslem fanes. I endeavoured to enterit at the hazard of my life. I was detected, and surrounded by a crowdof turbaned fanatics, and escaped with difficulty; but I saw enoughto feel that minute inspection would not belie the general character Iformed of it from the Mount of Olives. I caught a glorious glimpse ofsplendid courts, and light aify gates of Saracenic triumph, flights ofnoble steps, long arcades, and interior gardens, where silver fountainsspouted their tall streams amid the taller cypresses.]
[Footnote 36: page 91.--_Entered Jerusalem by the gate of Zion_. Thegate of Zion still remains, and from it you descend into the valley ofSiloah.]
[Footnote 37: page 94.-_ King Pirgandic
us._ According to a Talmudicalstory, however, of which I find a note, this monarch was not a Hebrewbut a Gentile, and a very wicked one. He once invited eleven famousdoctors of the holy nation to supper. They were received in the mostmagnificent style, and were then invited, under pain of death, eitherto eat pork, to accept a pagan mistress, or to drink wine consecratedto idols. After long consultation, the doctors, in great tribulation,agreed to save their heads by accepting the last alternative, sincethe first and second were forbidden by Moses, and the last only by theRabbins. The King assented, the doctors drank the impure wine, and,as it was exceedingly good, drank freely. The wine, as will sometimeshappen, created a terrible appetite; the table was covered with dishes,and the doctors, heated by the grape, were not sufficiently careful ofwhat they partook. In short, the wicked King Pirgandicus contrived thatthey should sup off pork, and being carried from the table quite tipsy,each of the eleven had the mortification of finding himself next morningin the arms of a pagan mistress. In the course of the year all theeleven died sudden deaths, and this visitation occurred to them, notbecause they had violated the law of Moses, but because they believedthat the precepts of the Rabbins could be outraged with more impunitythan the Word of God.]
[Footnote 38: page 94.--_And conquered Julius Caesar._ This classic herooften figures in the erratic pages of the Talmud.]
[Footnote 39: page 94.--_The Tombs of the Kings._ The present pilgrim toJerusalem will have less trouble than Alroy in discovering the Tombs ofthe Kings, though he probably would not as easily obtain the sceptre ofSolomon. The tombs that bear this title are of the time of the Asmoneanprinces, and of a more ambitious character than any other of theremains. An open court, about fifty feet in breadth, and extremelydeep, is excavated out of the rock. One side is formed by a portico, thefrieze of which is sculptured in a good Syro-Greek style. There is nogrand portal; you crawl into the tombs by a small opening on one ofthe sides. There are a few small chambers with niches, recesses, andsarcophagi, some sculptured in the same flowing style as the frieze.This is the most important monument at Jerusalem; and Dr. Clarke,who has lavished wonder and admiration on the tombs of Zachariah andAbsalom, has declared the Tombs of the Kings to be one of the marvellousproductions of antiquity.]
[Footnote 40: Page 95.--'_Rabbi Hillel_ was one of the most celebratedamong the Jewish Doctors, both for birth, learning, rule, and children.He was of the seed of David by his mother's side, being of the posterityof Shephatiah, the son of Abital, David's wife. He was brought up inBabel, from whence he came up to Jerusalem at forty years old, and therestudied the law forty years more under Shemaiah and Abtalion, and afterthem he was President of the Sanhedrim forty years more. The beginningof his Presidency is generally conceded upon to have been just onehundred 'years before the Temple was destroyed; by which account hebegan eight-and-twenty years before our Saviour was born, and diedwhen he was about twelve years old. He is renowned for his fourscorescholars.'--_Lightfoot,_ vol. ii. p. 2008.
The great rival of Hillel was Shammai. Their controversies, and thefierceness of their partisans, are a principal feature of Rabbinicalhistory. They were the same as the Scotists and Thomists. At lastthe Bath Kol interfered, and decided for Hillel, but in a spirit ofconciliatory dexterity. The Bath Kol came forth and spake thus: 'Thewords both of the one party and the other are the words of the livingGod, but the certain decision of the matter is according to the decreesof the school of Hillel. And henceforth, whoever shall transgress thedecrees of the school of Hillel is punishable with death.']
[Footnote 41: page 97.--_A number of small, square, low chambers._ Theseexcavated cemeteries, which abound in Palestine and Egypt, were oftenconverted into places of worship by the Jews and early Christians.Sandys thus describes the Synagogue at Jerusalem in his time.]
[Footnote 42: page 08.--_Their heads mystically covered._ The Hebrewscover their heads during their prayers with a sacred shawl.]
[Footnote 43: page 98.--_Expounded the law to the congregation of thepeople._ The custom, I believe, even to the present day, among theHebrews, a remnant of their old academies, once so famous.]
[Footnote 44: page 99.--_The Valley of Jehoshaphat and the Tomb ofAbsalom._ In the Vale of Jehoshaphat, among many other tombs, are twoof considerable size, and which, although of a corrupt Grecianarchitecture, are dignified by the titles of the tombs of Zachariah andAbsalom.]
[Footnote 45: page 101.--_The scanty rill of Siloah._ The sublime Siloahis now a muddy rill; you descend by steps to the fountain which is itssource, and which is covered with an arch. Here the blind man receivedhis sight; and, singular enough, to this very day the healing reputationof its waters prevails, and summons to its brink all those neighbouringArabs who suffer from the ophthalmic affections not uncommon in thispart of the world.]
[Footnote 46: page 102.--_Several isolated tombs of considerable size_.There are no remains of ancient Jerusalem, or the ancient Jews. Sometombs there are which may be ascribed to the Asmonean princes; but allthe monuments of David, Solomon, and their long posterity, have utterlydisappeared.]
[Footnote 47: page 103.--_Are cut strange characters and unearthlyforms_. As at Benihassan, and many other of the sculptured catacombs ofEgypt.]
[Footnote 48: page 104.--_A crowd of bats rushed forward andextinguished his torch._ In entering the Temple of Dendara, our torcheswere extinguished by a crowd of bats.]
[Footnote 49: page 104.--_The gallery was of great extent, with agradual declination._ So in the great Egyptian tombs.]
[Footnote 50: page 105.--_The Afrite, for it was one of those dreadbeings._ Beings of a monstrous form, the most terrible of all the ordersof the Dives.]
[Footnote 51: page 106.--_An avenue of colossal lions of red granite._An avenue of Sphinxes more than a mile in length connected the quartersof Luxoor and Carnak in Egyptian Thebes. Its fragments remain. Manyother avenues of Sphinxes and lion-headed Kings may be observed invarious parts of Upper Egypt.]
[Footnote 52: page 107.--_A stupendous portal, cut out of the solidrock, four hundred feet in height, and supported by clusters of colossalCaryatides._ See the great rock temple of Ipsambul in Lower Nubia. Thesitting colossi are nearly seventy feet in height. But there is a Torsoof a statue of Rameses the Second at Thebes, vulgarly called the greatMemnon, which measures upwards of sixty feet round the shoulders.]
[Footnote 53: page 109.--_Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded bygolden lions._ See 1st Kings, chap. x. 18-20.]
[Footnote 54: page 120.--_Crossed the desert on a swift dromedary_. Thedifference between a camel and a dromedary is the difference between ahack and a thorough-bred horse. There is no other.]
[Footnote 55: page 121.--_That celestial alphabet known to the trueCabalist_. See Note 11.]
[Footnote 56: page 133.--_The last of the Seljuks had expired._ TheOrientals are famous for their massacres: that of the Mamlouks bythe present Pacha of Egypt, and of the Janissaries of the Sultan, arenotorious. But one of the most terrible, and effected under the mostdifficult and dangerous circumstances, was the massacre of the AlbanianBeys by the Grand Vizir, in the autumn of 1830. I was in Albania at thetime.]
[Footnote 57: page 136.--_ The minarets were illumined._ So, I remember,at Constantinople, at the commencement of 1831 at the departure of theMecca caravan, and also at the annual fast of Ramadan.]
[Footnote 58: page 138.--_One asking alms with a wire run through hischeek._ Not uncommon. These Dervishes frequent the bazaars.]
[Footnote 59: page 142.--_One hundred thousand warriors were nowassembled._ In countries where the whole population is armed, a vastmilitary force is soon assembled. Barchochebas was speedily at the headof two hundred thousand fighting men, and held the Romans long in checkunder one of their most powerful emperors.]
[Footnote 60: page 143.--_Some high-capped Tatar with despatches._ Ihave availed myself of a familiar character in Oriental life, butthe use of a Tatar as a courier in the time of Alroy is, I fear, ananachronism.]
[Footnote 61: page 144.--_Each day s
ome warlike Atabek, at the headof his armed train, poured into the capital of the caliphs._ I wasat Yanina, the capital of Albania, when the Grand Vizir summoned thechieftains of the country, and I was struck by their magnificent arrayseach day pouring into the city.]
[Footnote 62: page 153.--_It is the Sabbath etc_. 'They began theirSabbath from sunset, and the same time of day they ended it.'--Talm.Hierosolym. in _Sheveith_, fol. 33, col. I. The eve of the Sabbath,or the day before, was called the day of the preparation for theSabbath.--Luke xxiii. 54.
'And from the time of the evening sacrifice and forward, they began tofit themselves for the Sabbath, and to cease from their works, so asnot to go to the barber, not to sit in judgment, &c.; nay, thenceforwardthey would not set things on working, which, being set a-work, wouldcomplete their business of themselves, unless it would be completedbefore the Sabbath came--_as wool was not put to dye, unless itcould take colour while it was yet day! &c._--Talm. in Sab., par. I;Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 218.
'Towards sunsetting, when the Sabbath was now approaching, they lightedup the Sabbath lamp. Men and women were bound to have a lamp lightedup in their houses on the Sabbath, though they were never so poor--nay,though they were forced to go a-begging for oil for this purpose; andthe lighting up of this lamp was a part of making the Sabbath adelight; and women were especially commanded to look to thisbusiness.'--Maimonides in Sab. par. 36.]
[Footnote 63: page 156.--_The presence of the robes of honour_. Theseare ever carried in procession, and their number denotes the rank andquality of the chief, or of the individual to whom they are offered.]
[Footnote 64: page 158.--_Pressed it to his lips, and placed it in hisvest._ The elegant mode in which the Orientals receive presents.]
[Footnote 65: page 164.--A cap of transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.Thus a great Turk, who afforded me hospitality, was accustomed to drinkhis coffee.]
[Footnote 66: page 168.--_Slippers powdered with pearls_. The slippersin the East form a very fanciful portion of the costume. It is notuncommon to see them thus adorned and beautifully embroidered. Inprecious embroidery and enamelling the Turkish artists are unrivalled.]
[Footnote 67: page 185.--_The policy of the son of Kareah. Vide_Jeremiah, chap. xlii.]
[Footnote 68: page 191.--_The inviting gestures and the voluptuous graceof the dancing girls of Egypt._ A sculptor might find fine studies inthe Egyptian Almeh.]
[Footnote 69: page 194.--_Six choice steeds sumptuouslycaparisoned._ Led horses always precede a great man. I think there wereusually twelve before the Sultan when he went to Mosque, which he did inpublic every Friday.]
[Footnote 70: page 194.--_Six Damascus sabres of unrivalled temper._But sabres are not to be found at Damascus, any more than cheeses atStilton, or oranges at Malta. The art of watering the blade is, however,practised, I believe, in Persia. A fine Damascus blade will fetch fiftyor even one hundred guineas English.]
[Footnote 71: page 195.--_Roses from Rocnabad_. A river in Persia famousfor its bowery banks of roses.]
[Footnote 72: page 195.--_Screens made of the feather of a roc._ Thescreens and fans in the East, made of the plumage of rare birds withjewelled handles, are very gorgeous.]
[Footnote 73: page 196.--_A tremulous aigrette of brilliants._ Worn onlyby persons of the highest rank. The Sultan presented Lord Nelson afterthe battle of the Nile with an aigrette of diamonds.]
[Footnote 74: page 211.--_ To send him the whole of the next course._These compliments from the tables of the great are not uncommon inthe East. When at the head-quarters of the Grand Vizir at Yanina, hisHighness sent to myself and my travelling companions a course from histable, singers and dancing girls.]
[Footnote 75: page 212.--_The golden wine of Mount Lebanon_. A mostdelicious wine, from its colour, brilliancy, and rare flavour, justlymeriting this title, is made on Lebanon; but it will not, unfortunately,bear exportation, and even materially suffers in the voyage from thecoast to Alexandria.]
[Footnote 76: page 221.--_And the company of gardeners_. These gardenersof the Serail form a very efficient body of police.]
[Footnote 77: page 226.--Alroy retired to the bath. The bath is aprincipal scene of Oriental life. Here the Asiatics pass a great portionof their day. The bath consists of a long suite of chambers of varioustemperatures, in which the different processes of the elaborate ceremonyare performed.]
[Footnote 78: page 232.--_We are the watchers of the moon._ The feast ofthe New Moon is one of the most important festivals of the Hebrews.'Our year,' says the learned author of the 'Rites and Ceremonies,' 'isdivided into twelve lunar months, some of which consist of twenty-nine,others of thirty days, which difference is occasioned by the variousappearance of the new moon, in point of time: for if it appeared on the30th day, the 29th was the last day of the precedent month; but if itdid not appear till the 31st day, the 30th was the last day, and the31st the first of the subsequent month; and that was an intercalarymoon, of all which take the following account.
'Our nation heretofore, not only observing the rules of some fixedcalculation, also celebrated the feast of the New Moon, according tothe phasis or first appearance of the moon, which was done in compliancewith God's command, as our received traditions inform us.
'Hence it came to pass that the first appearance was not to bedetermined only by rules of art, but also by the testimony of suchpersons as deposed before the Sanhedrim, or Great Senate, that they hadseen the New Moon. So a committee of three were appointed from among thesaid Sanhedrim to receive the deposition of the parties aforesaid,who, after having calculated what time the moon might possibly appear,despatched some persons _into high and mountainous places, to observeand give their evidence accordingly, concerning the first appearance ofthe moon._
'As soon as the new moon was either consecrated or appointed to beobserved, notice was given by the Sanhedrim to the rest of the nationwhat day had been fixed for the New Moon, or first day of the month,because that was to be the rule and measure according to which they wereobliged to keep their feasts and fasts in every month respectively.
'This notice was given to them in time of peace, _by firing of beacons,set up for that purpose,_ which was looked upon as the readiest wayof communication, but, in time of war, when all places were full ofenemies, who made use of beacons to amuse our nation with, it wasthought fit to discontinue it.']
[Footnote 79: page 263.--_The women chatted at the fountain_. The bathand the fountain are the favourite scenes of feminine conversation.]
[Footnote 80: page 264.--_Playing chess._ On the walls of the palace ofAmenoph the Second, called Medeenet Abuh, at Egyptian Thebes, the Kingis represented playing chess with the Queen. This monarch reigned longbefore the Trojan war.]
[Footnote 81: page 272.--_Impaled._ A friend of mine witnessed thishorrible punishment in Upper Egypt. The victim was a man who hadsecretly murdered nine persons. He held an official post, and invitedtravellers and pilgrims to his house, whom he regularly disposed ofand plundered. I regret that I have mislaid his MS. account of theceremony.]
[Footnote 82: page 299.--In the _Germen Davidis of Gants_, translatedinto Latin by Vorstius, Lug. 1654, is an extract from a Hebrew MS.containing an account of Alroy. I subjoin a translation of a passagerespecting his death.
R. Maimonides deposes: That the Sultan asked him whether he were theMessiah, and that he answered him, "I am"; and that then the monarchinquired of him what sign he had. To this he replied that they might cutoff his head and that he would return to life. Then the King commandedthat his head should be cut off, and he died, having said previouslyto the monarch that the latter should not lack in his life the mostgrievous torments.
Seven years before the incident quoted above, the Israelites had serioustroubles on account of a son of Belial who called himself the Messiah,so that the tetrarch and the princes were justly incensed against theJews, to such an extent, indeed, that they sent to the latter to inquirewhether they desired the reign of the Messiah. The name of this accursedtrou
bler was David El-David, _alias_ Alroy, who hailed from the cityof Omadia, where were gathered about a thousand rich, honest, happy anddecently-living families, whose tabernacle was the principal resortof those that dwelt in the neighbourhood of the river Sabbathion; andaround them were gathered more than a hundred minor tabernacles.
This city was on the border of the region of Media, and the dialectused there was the Targum. Thence to the region of Golan is a journeyof fifty days. It is under the rule of Persia, to which it pays aheavy tribute every fifteen years, and one golden talent in addition.Moreover, this man David El-David was educated under the Prince of theChaldean captivity, in the care of the eminent Scholiarch, in the cityof Bagdad, who was preeminently wise in the Talmud and in all foreignsciences, as well as in all books of divination, magic, and Chaldeanlore; This David El-David, out of the boldness and arrogance of hisheart, lifted his hand against the ruling powers, and collected thoseJews who dwelt in the neighbourhood of Mount Chophtan, seducing them tofollow him into battle against all the neighbouring peoples. He showedthem signs-of what value they knew not: there were men, indeed, whosupported him on account of his magic art and of certain things to bedone; others said that his great power came from the hand of God. Thosewho flocked to him called him the Messiah, lauding and extolling him.
In another epoch of Persian history a certain Jew arose, calling himselfthe Messiah, and prospered greatly. A large part of the Israelitishpopulation believed in him. But when the King indeed heard of all thispretender's power, and that he proposed to join battle with him, he sentto the Jews who lived thereabouts and notified them that unless theydeserted this man, and came oui; from all association with him, theycertainly should be slain, every one of them, with the sword, andafterward the children and the women should perish. Then the wholepopulation of Israel assembled, and argued with this man, and threwthemselves down before him on the ground, strongly supplicating him,with clamour and tears, to depart from them. Why, indeed, should heput them and others in danger? Had not the King already sworn that theyshould perish by the sword, and wherefore should he bring afflictionupon all the Jewish inhabitants of Persia? Responding, he said: "I havecome to serve you, and ye will not have me. Whom do ye fear? Who daresstand in front of me, and what doth this Persian King that he dare notoppose me and my sword?" The Jews asked him what sign he had that hewas the Messiah. He answered: "My mission prospers: the Messiah needs noother sign." They answered that many had acted likewise, and that nonehad reached success. Then he drove them forth from his face with superbindignation.]
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends