p. 15 | An Egyptian Wedding by Mrs. J. J. Nethery

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 16, 1907

An Egyptian Wedding

By Mrs. J. J. Nethery

MRS. J. J. NETHERY

I THINK I shall tell you about a real Egyptian wedding which we attended while at Luxor. We went to the house where the ceremony was to take place, and waited patiently for the arrival of the bride, who was finally brought in a procession headed by singers and players on cymbals. When the guests heard the music, they went out to meet the bride, and joined in the music, which sounded more like Indian yells than anything else. The bride was brought in, all covered from head to foot with a white cloth about the size of a sheet, and was seated on a sofa. Then the procession went after the groom and brought him in the same manner as the bride, with the exception of the covering. He was seated beside her. Then the two Coptic priests began to read in their turns, and to swing incense, and every few minutes the singers would break forth, and the women, who were sitting on the floor in the corner, would screech out; and if too much noise was made, one of the priests would command them to keep quiet. There was also a man with a whip in his hand, which he was not backward in using when he deemed it necessary.

The reading, which continued about an hour and a half, was composed of nearly every chapter in the Bible which speaks of man and wife or the training of families. Brother Awada interpreted for us. Meanwhile, two shirts, containing a ring in each, were tied together, and thrown between them. Then they were crowned with red handkerchiefs, after which the bride's hand was drawn from her covering, and given to her husband. He did not see her face at all, and perhaps had never seen it, and would not until he had taken her to his home.

The average age of a bride here is from twelve to fifteen years. The young man always pays to the father of the girl a certain sum of money before they are married, usually about one hundred dollars, according to her value, which the father is supposed to return in jewels for the bride at her marriage. Surely it is sad to think what custom and tradition has done for these poor people.

Another strange custom is the manner in which funerals are conducted. When one dies, a number of women go to mourn with the friends. Sometimes they sit out beside the house in the dust, and weep and wail. In the funeral procession several men carry the corpse in a wooden box above their heads, with just a cloth thrown over the box. They are preceded by a number of men shouting, "There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet." Then following is a company of women, weeping and wailing, and throwing dust on their heads. The Coptic funerals are much the same, with the exception of the praises to Mohammed.