A Visit with the Khedive’s Wives

Khedive was the title of the viceroy of Egypt under Turkish rule 1867–1914. — Public domain image of Ismāíl Pasha, Khedive in 1892
 

A Notable Visit

As a special privilege we were allowed to visit the three Princesses, wives of the Khedive. We had been admonished to wear our best clothes, and if possible to avoid black, as the Egyptians are very superstitious about visits from people wearing that hue. Fortunately, we could overcome that objection. We were also told to wear all our jewelry, which was not a very laborious thing to do. So we went, and a row of black eunuchs stood before the door of the palace. Two of them helped us to alight. Having crossed the threshold we found ourselves in a little world of women, where one man has only the right to come. 

Here cigarettes were brought us, which etiquette required us to accept. A whiff or two quite satisfied our entertainers. We were presently introduced into the presence of the three wives, of whom the third one, also much the youngest and prettiest, spoke French tolerably. After shaking hands with each in turn we were invited to take seats, and chibouks were brought us, whose length reached from our mouths to the carpet. I was obliged to take one puff of the tobacco, which caused me to cough with some violence. Then we had coffee brought in porcelain cups, the stand for each cup being richly set with diamonds. Then, with profound courtesy, we took our leave. 

In the great hall below, several attendants brought us beautiful bowls of porcelain set with diamonds filled with sour-sweet drink, which we were afterward told was sherbet. These women also carried napkins with golden fringes. Then our carriage was brought to the door. The eunuchs helped us to get into it, our “dais” or footman ran on before, and we drove away. – Placer Argus, 1879

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Fans of Prince Forget Manners

Abbas Hilmi Pasha, the last Khedive and second Viceroy of Egypt
–Public domain image, 

The other Eastern Prince now in Europe, the Viceroy of Egypt, has been mobbed in London. The unfortunate man went to the Zoological Gardens, and in a moment became an attraction greater then even the monkeys or the cockatoos. Whether the hippopotamus from the banks of the Nile recognized his Sovereign Lord or not we cannot say, but the well-behaved public gave chase to the new lion and pursued him down all sorts of avenues and walks until, as we read, he regained his carriage, scared and breathless. So much for the politeness of Londoners. The Horse Guards had better detach a squadron to assist the Viceroy in his explorations of the English metropolis, or he may go away with the impression that the manners of the people are modeled upon the habits of the wild beasts in their show gardens.– New York Times, 1867

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette and Egyptian Harem Women

Veiled, Egyptian Harem Women, in a Dressmaker's Shoppe, circa 1918– "The women's movement in Egypt began during the last decades of the 19th century, when social and political changes overturned traditional Egyptian life. Until then, upper-class domestic life was defined by the harem, the part of the household where a man’s wives, concubines and young children lived in seclusion and were serviced by slaves. When these women went out they put on veils to ensure they could not be seen by men. Harem women were envied by the rest of society for their pampered and easy lives. And although less well-off urban women also veiled in public, women in the countryside did not, making the veil a kind of status symbol." –From The Middle East: A Guide to Politics, Economics, Society and Culture By Barry Rubin

"It is been pretended that it is not the jealousy of the husband which, in Mohammedan countries, confines the wife to her apartments; but the influence of laws and customs, enforced long before the time of Mohammed. From this peculiarity in their manners proceeds the style in which the Turks construct their houses, which are divided into two parts; one called a salamlik, corresponding to the andron of the Greeks, inhabited by the master of the family; the other, called harem (the retired or sacred apartments), in which the women reside.

The passages conducting from the former to the latter are reserved entirely to the master of the family; no servant, not even the eunuchs, ever entering the harem, where everything is performed by female slaves. Near relations are admitted twice a year, during the festival of Bairam, and on occasion of a marriage, lying-in, or circumcision; but their visits must be short, and in the presence of female slaves.

These—the only men before whom the ladies can appear unveiled—are denominated Mahhrem, and all strangers, to whom the harem is interdicted, Na-Mahhrem. According to the strict etiquette required by ancient usage, a lady cannot appear unveiled before a physician, even in presence of her husband, or have her pulse felt except through a muslin sleeve; but, in cases of danger, the law relaxes its severity.

Physic is generally practiced by women, who are the only accoucheurs in the empire. The employment of a man on such occasions would disgrace a family forever; so that these barbarians, gross and ignorant as they are, display infinitely more delicacy on this point then civilized nation."– From Egypt and Mohammed Ali; or, Travels in the valley of the Nile, Volume 2, By James Augustus St. John, Muḥammad 'Alî (pasha of Egypt.)

Women of Egypt Break Harem Laws

The “new woman” movement in Egypt is rapidly growing in strength, and despite the traditions of the Mohammedans is being favorably received. Harem laws are being broken with impunity and many of the younger women have discarded their face veils and are taking part in political processions engineered by the Egyptian nationalists. At the beginning of the political riots women of the lower classes took part in the looting, but now the cry for "emancipation" has spread to all classes. The girls in the government school joined the boy students when they went on strike against British rule. –Los Angeles Herald, March 5, 1920

‘Egyptian Princess’ Jailed in S. F. 

SAN FRANCISCO, July 14—Della Pattra, who claims to be an Egyptian princess, was sent to jail when she could not satisfactorily explain to the judge why she wore a harem costume in court.–Los Angeles Herald, July 14, 1920

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber is the Site Editor for Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia