The People Of Kerek, Intermarry With The Bedouins; And The Aeneze Even
Give The Kerekein Their Girls In Marriage.
The sum paid to the father of
the bride is generally between six and eighthundred piastres; young men
without property are obliged to serve the father five or six years, as
menial servants, in compensation for the price of the girl.
The Kerekein
do not treat their wives so affectionately as the Bedouins; if one of
them falls sick, and her sickness is likely to prevent her for some time
from taking care of the family affairs, the husband sends her back to
her father’s house, with a message that “he must cure her;” for, as he
says, “I bought a healthy wife of you, and it is not just that I should
be at the trouble and expense of curing her.” This is a rule with both
Mohammedans and Christians. It is not the custom for the
[p.386] husband to buy clothes or articles of dress for his wife; she
is, in consequence, obliged to apply to her own family, in order to
appear decently in public, or to rob her husband of his wheal and
barley, and sell it clandestinely in small quantities; nor does she
inherit the smallest trifle of her husband’s property. The Kerekein
never sleep under the same blanket with their wives; and to be accused
of doing so, is considered as great an insult as to be called a coward.
The domestic manners of the Christians of Kerek are the same as those of
the Turks; their laws are also the same, excepting those relating to
marriage; and in cases of litigation, even amongst themselves, they
repair to the tribunal of the Kadhy, or judge of the town, instead of
submitting their differences to their own Sheikhs. The Kadhy is elected
by the Sheikhs. With respect to their religious duties, they observe
them much less than any other Greeks in Syria; few of them frequent the
church, alleging, not without reason, that it is of no use to them,
because they do not understand one word of the Greek forms of prayer.
Neither are they rigid observers of Lent, which is natural enough, as
they would be obliged to live almost entirely on dry bread, were they to
abstain wholly from animal food. Though so intimately united with the
Turks both by common interests and manners, as to be considered the same
tribe, yet there exists much jealousy among the adherents of the two
religions, which is farther increased by the Sheikh’s predilection for
the Christians. The Turks seeing that the latter prosper, have devised a
curious method of participating in the favours which Providence may
bestow on the Christians on account of their religion: many of them
baptise their male children in the church of St. George, and take
Christian godfathers for their sons. There is neither Mollah nor fanatic
Kadhy to prevent this practice, and the Greek priest, who
[p.387] is handsomely paid for baptising, reconciles his conscientious
scruples by the hope that the boy so baptized may perhaps die a
Christian; added to this, he does not give the child entire baptism, but
dips the hands and feet only in the water, while the Christian child
receives total immersion, and this pious fraud sets all his doubts at
rest as to the legality of the act. The priests pretend nevertheless
that such is the efficacy of the baptism that these baptised Turks have
never been known to die otherwise than by old age.
Kerek is the see of a Greek bishop, who generally resides at Jerusalem.
The diocese is called Battra (Arabic) in Arabic, and [Greek] in Greek;
and it is the general opinion among the clergy of Jerusalem, that Kerek
is the ancient Petra;[The Greek bishops belonging to the Patriarchal see
of Jerusalem are: 1. Kaisaryet Filistin; 2. Bysan: 3. Battra; 4. Akka;
5. Bethlehem; 6. Nazareth. The Greek bishops in partibus (Arabic) are;
1. Lyd; 2. Gaza; 3. Syna; 4. Yaffa; 5. Nablous; 6. Shabashye; 7. Tor
Thabour: 8. Djebel Adjeloun.] but it will be seen in the sequel of this
journal that there is good reason to think they are mistaken; Kerek
therefore is probably the Charax Omanorum of Pliny. The bishop’s revenue
is about six pounds sterling per annum; he visits his diocese every five
or six years. During my stay, a Greek priest arrived from Jerusalem, to
collect for his convent, which had been at a great expense in rebuilding
the church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Greeks delivered to him in sheep
to the value of about fifteen pounds sterling.
The Kerekein cultivate the plains in the neighbouring mountains and feed
their cattle on the uncultivated parts. One-third of the people remain
encamped the whole year at two or three hours distant from the town, to
superintend the cattle; the rest encamp in the harvest time only. During
the latter period the Christians have two large camps or Douars, and the
Turks five. Here they
[p.388] live like Bedouins, whom they exactly resemble, in dress, food,
and language. The produce of their fields is purchased by the Bedouins,
or exchanged for cattle. The only other commercial intercourse carried
on by them is with Jerusalem, for which place a caravan departs every
two months, travelling either by the route round the southern extremity
of the Dead sea, which takes three days and a half, or by crossing the
Jordan, a journey of three days. At Jerusalem they sell their sheep and
goats, a few mules, of which they have an excellent breed, hides, wool,
and a little Fowa or madder (Rubia tinctorum), which they cultivate in
small quantities; in return they take coffee, rice, tobacco, and all
kinds of articles of dress, and of household furniture. This journey,
however, is undertaken by few of the natives of Kerek, the trade being
almost wholly in the hands of a few merchants of Hebron, who keep shops
at Kerek, and thus derive large profits from the indolence or ignorance
of the Kerekein.
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