Two Hours And Three Quarters, The Village Beszeyra
(Arabic).
Our road lay S.W. along the western declivity of the
mountains, having the Ghor continually in view.
The Wadys which descend
the mountains of Djebal south of Tafyle do not reach the lowest part of
the plain in the summer, but are lost in the gravelly soil of the
valley. Beszeyra is a village of about fifty houses. It stands upon an
elevation, on the summit of which a small castle has been built, where
the peasants place their provisions in times of hostile invasion. It is
a square building of stone, with strong walls. The villages of Beszeyra,
Szolfehe, and Dhana are inhabited by descendants of the Beni Hamyde, a
part of whom have thus become Fellahein, or cultivators, while the
greater number still remain in a nomadic state. Those of Beszeyra lived
formerly at Omteda, now a ruined village three or four hours to the
north of it. At that time the Arabs Howeytat were at war with the
Djowabere, whose Sheikh was an ally of the Hamyde. The Howeytat defeated
the Djowabere, and took Tafyle, where they constructed a castle, and
established a Sheikh of their own election; they also built, at the same
time, the tower of Beszeyra. The Hamyde of Omteda then emigrated to this
place, which appears to have been, in ancient times, a considerable
city, if we may judge from the ruins which surround the village. It was
probably the ancient Psora, a bishopric of Palaestina tertia.[See
Reland. Palæst. vol i. p. 218.] The women of Beszeyra were the first
whom I saw wearing the Berkoa (Arabic), or Egyptian veil, over their
faces.
The Sheikh of Kerek had come thus far, in order to settle a dispute
concerning a colt which one of the Hamyde of Beszeyra demanded of him.
We found here a small encampment of Howeytat Arabs, to one of whom the
Sheikh recommended me: he professed to know the man well, and assured me
that he was a proper guide. We settled the price of his hire to Cairo,
at eighty piastres; and he was to provide me with a camel for myself and
baggage. This was
AIN DJEDOLAT
[p.408] the last friendly service of Sheikh Youssef towards me, but I
afterwards learnt, that he received for his interest in making the
bargain, fifteen piastres from the Arab, who, instead of eighty, would
have been content with forty piastres. After the Sheikh had departed on
his return, my new guide told me that his camels were at another
encampment, one day’s distance to the south, and that he had but one
with him, which was necessary for the transport of his tent. This avowal
was sufficient to make me understand the character of the man, but I
still relied on the Sheikh’s recommendation. In order to settle with the
guide I sold my mare for four goats and for thirty-five piastres worth
of corn, a part of which I delivered to him, and I had the remainder
ground into flour, for our provision during the journey; he took the
goats in payment of his services, and it was agreed that I should give
him twenty piastres more on reaching Cairo.
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