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FELLAH (pl. Fellahin)

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 242 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FELLAH (pl. Fellahin) , Arabic for " ploughman " or " tiller," the word used in Arabic-speaking countries to designate peasantry. It is employed especially of the peasantry of See also:Egypt, " Fellahin " in See also:modern See also:English usage being almost See also:equivalent to " Egyptians." In Egypt the name is applied to the peasantry as opposed to the See also:Arabs of the See also:desert (and even those who have settled on the See also:land), the See also:Turks and the townsfolk. Fellah is used by the Arabs as a See also:term of reproach, somewhat like the English " boor," but rather implying a slavish disposition; the fellahin, however, are not ashamed of the name and may See also:pride themselves on being of See also:good fellah descent, as a "fellah of a fellah." They may be classified as Hamito-Semites, and preserve to some extent the See also:blood of the See also:ancient Egyptians. They See also:form the bulk of the See also:population of Egypt and are mainly See also:Mahommedan, though some villages in Upper Egypt are almost exclusively Copt (See also:Christian). Their See also:hybridism is well shown by their See also:great divergence of See also:colour, fellahin in the See also:Delta being sometimes lighter than Arabs, while in Upper Egypt the prevailing complexion is dark See also:brown. The See also:average fellah is some-what above See also:medium height, big-boned, of clumsy but powerful build, with See also:head and See also:face of See also:fine See also:oval shape, cheek-bones high, forehead broad, See also:short flattish See also:nose with wide nostrils, and See also:black but not woolly See also:hair. The eyebrows are always straight and smooth, never bushy. The mouth is thick-lipped and large but well formed. The eyes are large and black, and are remarkable for the closeness of the eyelashes. The See also:women and girls are particularly noted for their graceful and slender figures and their fine See also:carriage, due to the See also:custom of carrying burdens, especially See also:water-jars, on their heads. The men's heads are usually shaved.

The women are not as a See also:

rule closely veiled: they generally paint the lips a deep See also:blue, and See also:tattoo a floral See also:device on the See also:chin, sometimes on the forehead and other parts of the See also:body. All but the poorest See also:wear necklaces of cheap pearls, coins or gilt disks. The men wear a blue or brown See also:cotton See also:shirt, See also:linen drawers and a See also:plain See also:skull-cap, or on occasion the See also:tarbush or See also:fez, See also:round which sometimes a See also:turban is See also:wound; the women wear a single cotton smock. The See also:common fellah's See also:home is a See also:mere mud hut, roofed with See also:durra See also:straw. Inside are a few mats, a sheepskin, baskets and some earthenware and wooden vessels. He lives almost entirely on vegetables, See also:millet See also:bread, beans, lentils, See also:dates and onions. But some of the sheikhs are wealthy, and have large houses built of crude See also:brick and whitewashed with See also:lime, with courtyard, many apartments and good See also:furniture. The fellah is laborious in the See also:fields, and abominates See also:absence from his occupations, which generally means loss of See also:money to him. Military service on the old See also:oriental See also:plan was both ruinous and distasteful to him; hence voluntary mutilations to avoid See also:conscription were formerly common and the ingrained See also:prejudice against military service remains. Trained by See also:British See also:officers the fellahin make, however, excellent soldiers, as was proved inthe See also:Sudan See also:campaigns of 1896-98. The fellah is intelligent, cheerful and sober, and as hospitable as his poverty allows.

End of Article: FELLAH (pl. Fellahin)

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