Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

and acute writer, there are others, which his description of dress happily illustrates. Thus, a passage in the Acts of the Apostles, ch. ix. 39, fixes the difference between the upper garment and the tunic. Then again, it was these imatia, or upper garments, consisting of a loose square piece of cloth wrapped round the body, which the multitude who escorted Jesus in the triumphant procession into the capital spread in the road to serve as a carpet, Luke xix. 36. It was such a garment as this, also, that a young man (who, excited by the tumult and disturbance that was made in the dead of the night, when our Lord was taken,) hastily seized upon to throw over him, and which he left in the hands of the officers who would have taken him, and thus narrowly made his escape from them; see also Gen. xxxix. 12: and with reference to the custom of making presents of garments, see Gen. xlv. 22; 2 Chron. ix. 24; Ezra ii. 69; Neh. vii. 70.

FEMALE DRESS.

Although some of the articles of female dress are adverted to in the foregoing article, still a description of the whole is necessary to complete the design of this little work and as we find them specified in the prophecies of Isaiah, ch. iii. 18-24, we shall notice them briefly in the order we there find them.

Tinkling ornaments about their feet. These ornaments are such as they now wear in oriental countries. Mr. Lane thus speaks of them: "Anklets of solid gold, or silver, are worn by some ladies, but

DRESS AND ORNAMENTS OF FEMALES IN THE EAST. (FROM VARIOUS SCULPTURES AND PAINTINGS.)

[graphic]

are more uncommon than they formerly were. They are, of course, very heavy, and knocking together as the wearer walks, make a ringing noise; hence it is said in a song, "The ringing of thy anklets has deprived me of reason.' Isaiah alludes to this, or perhaps to the sound produced by another kind of anklet.” This he also describes: "Anklets of solid silver, already described, are worn by the wives of some of the richer peasants, and the sheyks of villages. Some anklets of iron are worn by many children. It was also a common custom among the Arabs for girls or young women to wear a string of bells on their feet. I have seen many little girls in Cairo with small round bells attached to their anklets. Perhaps it is to the sound of ornaments of this kind, rather than of the more common anklets, that Isaiah alludes." Rauwolf speaks to the same effect, and so also do other travellers; and there is a passage in the koran, analogous to that of the prophet Isaiah, which alludes to the same ornament. It runs thus: Let them not" (that is, the women)" make a noise with their feet, that the ornaments which they hide may thereby be discovered." That is, "Let them not make a noise with their feet, etc., by shaking the rings which the women in the East wear about their ancles, and which are usually of gold or silver." The pride which the Jewish ladies of old took in making a tinkling with these ornaments of the feet is, among other things of that nature, severely reproved by the prophet Isaiah.

66

Caul.-Much difference of opinion exists as to what

the caul alludes. The most probable is, that it refers to the manner in which the women set off the tresses of their hair as they hang down their backs. The hair is equally divided into a number of braids and tresses, to each of which is added three silken threads, each charged with small ornaments of gold, and terminating in small gold coins. Mr. Lane thus speaks of these ornaments: "The sufa appears to me the prettiest as well as the most singular of the ornaments worn by the ladies of Egypt. The glittering of the burck, etc., and their clinking together as the wearer walks, have a peculiarly lively effect."

Round tires like the moon.-This ornament most probably consisted of small moonlike figures, strung together and worn as a necklace. Some, however, think, that the denomination from the moon denotes the lustre of the ornament, and not the shape; while others think that it has reference to the jewelled crescents worn in front or by the side of oriental headdresses. Another ornament is pointed out, which is worn by the women of Egypt and western Asia; and this supposition is greatly strengthened by the consideration, that they have given it the name of ckumarah, moon."

66

[ocr errors]

Chains. This is literally "drops," or pendants, and we may, probably, understand by it various kinds of pendant ornaments, as nose-jewels, earrings, etc. The former of these, now worn in the East, are generally of silver or gold; but sometimes they are of coral, mother-of-pearl, and horn. The better sort, Chardin

says, are set with a ruby between two pearls. The earrings in use are generally thick, sometimes fitting close to the ear; and in other instances very large, perhaps three or four inches in diameter, and so heavy as greatly to distend the lobe of the ear, and enlarge the orifice made for the reception of the ring by the jeweller.

Bracelets." The bracelets of the East," says Chardin, "rather resemble manacles than bracelets. Their weight is very great, and their shape is sometimes flat, but more usually round, or semicircular, taking a cubical form at the section, where they open to admit the hand. They are made of gold, silver, amber, and mother-of-pearl. Those of silver are the most common; but poorer females are sometimes obliged to wear rings of copper, horn, glass, beads, and other material of inferior description. The bracelets Eliezer gave to Rebekah were of gold; and estimating gold by its weight, the two which he presented to her, which weighed ten shekels, must have been very valuable ; see Gen. xxiv. 22.

This is

Muffler. Some kind of vail is, doubtless, here intended; and it is supposed that the vail worn in Egypt and Syria is the article alluded to. commonly a long strip, black or white, plain or ornamented, fastened by bands to the head, just below the eyes, and sometimes descending to the feet.

Bonnets. This refers to the head-dress or turban of the females in the East; the general principle of which is, that it is a cap bound round with one or

« AnteriorContinuar »