IV. MARRIAGE FEASTS. 25. Great Feasts.-The typical Oriental has no special marriage ceremony in the Occidental sense. An Oriental marriage culminates in a festival of great pomp, given by the father of the bridegroom. It usually lasts from three to seven days. The feast on the last day is attended with no little splendor. A preliminary invitation has already been sent to the guests, and as the time for the feast arrives or approaches, other messengers are sent to call the guests. So Esther invited Haman to a banquet, and "on the morrow" sent to bring him unto the banquet.1 And in the parable of the King's Son's marriage, the king sent his servants "to call them that were bidden to the wedding." So, too, in the parable of the great supper, the man "sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden" perhaps twice before, "Come."3 Sometimes, but rarely, the invitations are more widely given, so that a chief of a village and his people might attend, reminding one of the invitation. -wisdom is represented as giving. This will be further noticed under banquets and social feasts. In ancient Babylonia, the marriage took place at a house called the "wedding house" or "house of males." Later, it was the "father's house." 2 26. Its Magnificence.-Mr. Haddad tells how in Eastern Syria "the house is decorated, sheep and oxen slaughtered, great bonfires made, rockets sent to the sky, salutes of firearms continually heard, bands of music play, dancing and singing in the court-yard, crowds coming and going, congratulations offered to the parent of the groom, the guests bringing gifts of every kind, further to supply the feast,-sheep, oxen, chickens, milk, sugar, coffee, rice, fruit, incense, perfumes, even vegetables, wood, and charcoal." The West might discover some new 1 Esth. 5:8; 6: 14. 2 Matt. 22: 3, 4. 3 Luke 14: 16, 17. 4 Prov. 9: I-5. wedding gifts, and new ways of placing them on exhibition from the ingenuity of the Orientals in these matters. Sometimes all the dresses, diamonds, jewels, and showy shawls are loaded upon their slaves, who attend them, to show off the gifts. When the guests have come, the "ruler" takes charge. The "ruler of the feast" being before selected, usually a friend, is in a conspicuous dress with wide girdle. He sees that every one is provided with refreshments, and that proper honor is shown to the bridegroom. Thus, in the marriage at Cana, following their custom, Jesus directed the water that had been turned to wine, to be first borne to the ruler or "governor of the feast," that he might decide whether it was befitting the feast.1 He may also see that persons of note have a seat of honor given them.2 27. Its Variety.-The feast is always very sumptuous in a high-class family of the East. Prof. Post graphically reports what he frequently witnessed in North Syria: "The meal is served on vast platters or trays, five or six feet in diameter." "The dishes consist of immense piles of pilaf" [rice cooked with meat or, as I have eaten it, with goat's butter], savory sauces, stuffed sheep, fowls, soups, leben (curdled milk), cheese, olives, pickles, and Kibby. Kibby is a compound of cracked wheat and meat pounded together in a mortar, a layer of the compound is spread on a copper tray, a layer of sliced onions, pine seeds, and spices placed on it, covered with another layer of wheat and meat, then baked in an oven and basted with fat, "a rich, delicious, but unwholesome dish." "Besides these there are vegetables, stuffed mallows, stuffed and fried eggplants, Mejedderah (Esau's pottage), sweets, and fruits of immense number and diverse flavors." "Orange flower-water and rose-water enter into many of them and some are flavored with musk." "The feast is served with much ceremony." "As fast as one guest finishes his meal, he rises and gives place to another." The conversation comes after the meal, and "over the pipes and coffee which follow." 28. Congratulations.-The courtyard is usually provided with rugs, mats, divans, and bolsters and pillows, while lamps and lanterns hang overhead, brilliantly lighted. The bridegroom has on his richest robes. "The Orientals love gay col ors. They are specially skilled in striped and watered patterns. 'The sober dress of the West is not admired by true Orientals, both sexes dressing in as bright garb with as strong colors as possible." There are often "three distinct periods of congratulation" during the festivities. In families of Moslems, the merrymaking is in the respective apartments of the men and of the women separately. Near the close of these festivities, the bridegroom is placed within the women's apartment or near the entrance facing the door. The bride, arrayed in her costume, veil, bracelets, bells, rings, and chains, is presented or seated where the bridegroom can view her. Sometimes she withdraws and comes again arrayed in a different costume, and this is done seven or more times. The last time she comes, the groom steps forward at a signal from his mother, lifts the veil from his bride's face, throws it over her right shoulder, and looks upon her face, perhaps for the first time of his life. It must be borne in mind, however, that all these customs, under Moslem influence have become more rigidly exclusive in regard to woman. Her condition has been steadily sinking in Oriental lands for more than a thousand years, except where Christianity has come in to better her position. Thus, the parading of the bride in successive bridal costumes is, by no means, universal or widespread among Orientals. The same is, in a measure, true in respect to some other marriage customs. In fact, they vary widely, as I have before intimated. Those given are common in some lands and tribes, and throw light on similar customs alluded to in the Bible. 29. Unveiling the Face.-The veiling and unveiling of the face, however, is a very old Oriental custom. Rebekah "covered herself" with "her veil" or mantle when she first saw Isaac coming to meet her. Yet when his servant met her at the well he probably saw her face, since it is said, "the damsel was very fair to look upon.' So Tamar "covered herself with a veil" to deceive her father-in-law.2 And Boaz said to Ruth, "Bring the " veil or "mantle that is upon thee," and he filled it with barley for her.3 Thus, the veil covering the bride made it possible for the deception upon Jacob in giving him Leah at the marriage instead of Rachel. Similar deceptions have been successfully practised in modern times among Oriental families. Thus, Hartley mentions one in Smyrna, when a young Armenian asked for the younger daughter in marriage. The parents consented; the marriage festival followed. The festival or ceremony was perfected, the young man was married to a closely veiled woman, and it came to pass in the morning, behold, it was the elder daughter, as in Jacob's case, and the excuse of the parents was precisely that of Laban, "It is not so done in our place, to give the younger before the first-born." 4 The bridegroom is not only gorgeously apparelled and perfumed, but often he wore a crown or chaplet on his head. Thus the king is represented as crowned by his mother "in the day of his espousals." The joy and mirth of the companions of the bride and the groom were used by our Lord in speaking of the disciples, "Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them?" " 30. Wedding Garment.-There is another feature of interest in marriage feasts. Some state that proper wedding garments, as an outer robe, were sometimes provided by the bridegroom for guests as they came, when he was of a noble or wealthy family. Others deny that certain traces of such an Oriental custom can be found. Prof. Post affirms that it is not now the custom to furnish garments to guests, and recent tourists in the East fail to note any such custom. On the other hand, history and travelers assure us that Oriental princes and nobles had immense stores of costly apparel, and that these were often bestowed as marks of favor. 1 Gen. 24: 16, 65. 4 Gen. 29: 25, 26. 2 Gen. 38: 14. Ruth 3:15. Matt. 9: 15. Thus, Joseph gave each of his brothers "changes of raiment," and to Benjamin "five changes of raiment." And Queen Esther "sent raiment to clothe Mordecai."2 Naaman took "ten changes of raiment" among the gifts to be made to the prophet.3 Some travelers in the Orient of a century or more ago found distinct traces of the custom of providing robes for guests at notable banquets. Thus, Olearius in his travels, says he and the ambassadors were invited by the Persian ruler, and were provided with splendid vestments to hang over their dresses. Schultz describes a garment furnished him as "a long robe with loose sleeves," to put on before appearing in the presence of the Sultan. And Chardin related a similar instance in which the robe was not used, and it cost the subject his life.* The evidence is that an outer mantle or garment was provided to cover the dress. It is also said that at the marriage of Sultan Mahmoud each guest was furnished a robe at the Sultan's expense. Other travelers and natives tell of feasts at which the generous host provided a Kuftan, or cloak, for the guest to throw over his dress. A native Syrian, Mr. Wad El-Ward, recently speaking of marriage feasts, says, "One of the main preparations, of which the expense is defrayed by the father of the bridegroom, is the preparation of outer garments made of some cheap material of any gay color he may fancy, so that a poor man having no clothes with which to deck himself is provided for, and if any are found without that garment among the guests the governor of the feast will reprimand him for his misdemeanor. Such a custom would be ground for the condemnation of the man without a "wedding garment" in the parable of our Lord.5 And Dr. Tristram tells of attending a feast at Orfa, in Mesopotamia, where, in an anteroom, there was a great pile of light cloaks, one of which was handed to each guest on entering, and it was delivered again to the servant on his departure.® The Persian merchant provides a robe for the guest he enter 1 Gen. 45 22. 2 Esther 44. Matt. 22: 12. 2 Kings 5: 5. |