An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians

by Edward William Lane, Jason Thompson (Introduction)

Overview

Few works about the Middle East have exerted such wide and long-lasting influence as Edward William Lane’s An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. First published in 1836, this classic book has never gone out of print, continuously providing material and inspiration for generations of scholars, writers, and travelers, who have praised its comprehensiveness, detail, and perception. Yet the editions in print during most of the twentieth century would not have met Lane’s approval. Lacking parts of Lane’s text and many of his original illustrations (while adding many that were not his), they were based on what should have been ephemeral editions, published long after the author’s death. Meanwhile, the definitive fifth edition of 1860, the result of a quarter century of Lane’s corrections, reconsiderations, and additions, long ago disappeared from bookstore shelves. Now the 1860 edition of Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians is available again, with a useful general introduction by Jason Thompson. Lane’s greatest work enters the twenty-first century in precisely the form that he wanted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789774165603
Publisher:	American University in Cairo Press, The
Publication date:	12/15/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	664
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Edward William Lane (1801–76), a name known to almost everyone in all the many fields of Middle East studies, was the author of a number of highly influential works: An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (1836), his translation of The Thousand and One Nights (1839–41), Selections from the Kur-an (1843), and the Arabic–English Lexicon (1863–93). In 2000, his long-forgotten manuscript Description of Egypt was published for the first time by the AUC Press. Jason Thompson is currently a visiting associate professor at Bates College. He is the editor of Lane’s Description of Egypt (AUC Press, 2000) and the author of A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present (AUC Press, 2008) and Edward William Lane, 1801-76: The Life of the Pioneering Egyptologist and Orientalist (AUC Press, 2010).

Table of Contents

Editor’s Preface Author’s Preface Advertisement to the Third Edition

Introduction:
The Country and Climate - Metropolis - Houses - Population Chapter I:
Personal Characteristics, and Dress, of the Muslim Egyptians Chapter II:
Infancy and Early Education Chapter III:
Religion and Laws Chapter VI:
Government Chapter V:
Domestic Life (Men of the Higher and Middle Orders)
Chapter VI:
Domestic Life - continued (Women of the Higher and Middle Orders)
Chapter VII:
Domestic Life - continued (The Lower Orders)
Chapter VIII:
Common Usages of Society Chapter IX.
Language, Literature, and Science Chapter X:
Superstitions (Genii, Saints, and Darweeshes)
Chapter XI:
Superstitions - continued (Charms, and Auguration)
Chapter XII:
Magic, Astrology, and Alchymy Chapter XIII:
Character Chapter XIV:
Industry Chapter XV :
Use of Tobacco, Coffee, Hemp, Opium, etc Chapter XVI:
The Bath Chapter XVII:
Games Chapter XVIII:
Music Chapter XIX:
Public Dancers Chapter XX:
Serpent-Charmers, and Performers of Legerdemain Tricks, etc.
Chapter XXI:
Public Recitations of Romances Chapter XXII:
Public Recitations of Romances - continued Chapter XXIII:
Public Recitations of Romances - continued Chapter XXIV:
Periodical Public Festivals, etc (Those of the first three months of the Muslim Year)
Chapter XXV:
Periodical Public Festivals, etc - continued (Those of the fourth and following months of the Muslim Year)
Chapter XXVI:
Periodical Public Festivals, etc. - continued (Those of the Solar Year)
Chapter XXVII:
Private Festivities, etc Chapter XXVIII :
Death, and Funeral Rites Supplement:
The Copts The Jews of Egypt Of late Innovations in Egypt Appendix A: Female Ornaments Appendix B: Egyptian Measures, Weights, and Moneys Appendix C: Household Expenditure in Cairo Appendix D: Prayer of Muslim School-Boys Appendix E: Directions for the Treatment of Dysentery and Ophthalmia Appendix F: Editor’s Notes, Index