Note 35 — Chapter II

Note 35. The Koofeeyeh is described in a great Arabic Lexicon (Táj el-'Aroos) as "a thing worn on the head; so called because of its roundness:" and this is the only description of it that I have been able to find. I was told in Cairo, that "koofeeyeh" is the correct appellation of the head-kerchief commonly called "keffeeyeh:" but this is a mistake. The latter is a square kerchief, which is worn on the head, measuring about a yard in each direction, and of various colours, generally a dull, brownish red, bright green, and yellow, composing broad and narrow stripes, and having a deep fringe of strings and tassels along two opposite edges. The most common kind is entirely of cotton; another, of cotton interwoven with silk; and a third, of silk interwoven with gold. It is now chiefly worn by the Wahhábees and several tribes of Bedawees; but the former wear only the first kind, as they hold articles of dress composed wholly or partly of silk or gold to be unlawful. In former times it was in common use among the inhabitants of the towns. It is mostly worn by men, and is doubled diagonally, and placed over the cap in such a manner that the two corners which are folded together hang down the back; and the other two corners, in front. A piece of woollen rope, or a strip of rag, or a turban, is generally wound round it; and the corners, or those only which usually hang down in front, are sometimes turned up, and tucked within the upper edge of the turban. The inhabitants of the towns usually wear the turban over the keffeeyeh. Burckhardt, who calls this head-kerchief "keffie," mentions, that the Bedawees of Mekkeh and El-Yemen tie over it, instead of the woollen rope which is used by the Northern Bedawees, "a circle made of wax, tar, and butter, strongly kneaded together: this," he adds, "is pressed down to the middle of the head, and looks like the airy crown of a saint. It is about the thickness of a finger; and they take it off very frequently to press it between their hands, so that its shape may be preserved."168 The better kinds of keffeeyeh above mentioned are worn by some of the Turks, but not in the Arab manner; being wound tight round the cap.