with black pigments. She prepares an adhesive plaster of very strong, sweet gum, and applies it by degrees all over the body, letting it remain on for a minute or more; then she tears it off quickly, and it brings away with it all the soft down or hair, leaving the skin quite bare, with an unnaturally-bright and polished appearance, much admired by Orientals. The face requires very careful manipulation.[1] When women have once submitted to this process, they look frightful if from time to time they do not repeat it; for the hair never grows so soft and fine again. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why aged Arab women, who have quite given up all these arts of adornment, look so haggard and witch-like. In some instances this ordeal slightly irritates the skin, and perfumed sesame or olive oil is applied, or cooling lotions of elder-flower water are used.
The bride invites her friends to accompany her to the public bath previous to the wedding day, and sends to each one a packet of henna, two or three pieces of soap, and two wax candles. Angelina is generally the bearer of the message and of these articles, which are always to be paid for. I have now and then accepted such invitations.
Bridal parties assemble and sometimes pass three successive days in the luxury of the Turkish bath. Pipes, sherbet, coffee, and other refreshments are served, and songs are sung in honor of the bride, who is, of course, attended by Angelina, and forms the center of attraction. Her hair is unbraided, she is slowly disrobed, and then, with her loins slightly girdled with crimson silk, she is mounted on high clogs, and led through halls and passages gradually increasing in temperature, with fountains overflowing their marble floors. She is placed on a marble platform, near to
- ↑ Did David allude to this custom—which is evidently a very ancient one—when he prayed for the physical prosperity of his kingdom and said, "May our daughters be as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace?" It is only as brides or wives that they could be recognized as corner-stones, helping to build up the nation, and it is then that their faces are made to shine.
