The wedding is celebrated by a festivity. Generally the men and women live and eat together, although among sonic tribes the women are obliged to eat alone. Among the Tuarick they turn their backs to the men while speaking, which is considered a mark of respect. Much work is assigned to the women, but in this respect the Tuarick occupy a high rank; among the \Vaknafi they carry the burdens, because a man is not permit ted to carry anything on his head or back. If a woman becomes a widow, the brother of the deceased husband must marry her. The old Egyptians permitted marriage between brother and sister, and traces of this custom are found elsewhere in Africa and Asia. In other places (South-Berber tribes, tribes of the Arabians) some remains of the ancient custom of car rying off the bride by force have been preserved.
children are on the whole treated well, and among the more civilized nations are educated and instructed. The mutual love of parents and children is, as among the Negroes, very strong. But among some Arabian tribes new-born girls are frequently killed. The Plicenicians often sacrificed their children to the gods, and traces of the same custom are found among the Hebrews (Abraham and Isaac, Gen. xxii.). The Gallas sometimes expose their children. Circumcision, which is prac tised by the different nations at different times, with some only at the time of manhood, is often celebrated with a festivity.
the Tuarick and some Berber tribes in the south and north the daughters 'are the principal heirs, and inheritance passes through the female line. Among the Gallas, on the contrary, we find the same conditions regarding inheritance as among the Hottentots: the oldest son inherits everything—even during the lifetime of the father if the latter becomes old and unfit for war. The heir must care for his father and give a dowry to the sisters, while the younger brothers get nothing. Among the Asiatic Semites the oldest sons are the principal heirs, but the younger sisters and brothers receive a share. Joint responsibility of the family and blood-revenge are obligatory, and the obligation of the latter is inherited from generation to generation.
polity of the Semites has developed from the fam ily. The Tuarick and the Berbers have three castes—the nobility, the priests (marabouts), and the serfs; and besides these there arc slaves, who are generally war-captives. The serfs are composed partly of members of the nobility who sought the protection of more powerful families, of sub jugated tribes of the same race—the same class is found among the Waktiafi, who have no slaves—aud filially of liberated slaves; for here, as among the Arabians, it is customary to free the slaves at the death of their master.
The priests are closely connected with the liability. From time latter
one or other family may have risen to royal power, but it did not main tain itself for any length of time; the other families displaced the mon arch and again assumed their old power. The nobles alone constitute the public assemblies in which important affairs of the people are discussed; and in each noble family, in each clan (Duveyrier calls them tribus), the oldest has the supremacy. The northern Tuarick consist of two tribes, the Azdjer and the Ahaggar, no marabout families belonging to the latter.
Consiiiit!ion.—The separate households (families in the strict sense) constitute the family (tribus); the different families, who are originally related to each other, the tribe, but the different tribes have no other connection. This was essentially the constitution of the ancient Egyptians, whose division of castes was based entirely on the family, and whose warriors and priests corresponded to the nobility; it was also that of the ancient Hebrews, and remains among the Arabs, the Gallas, the WTakuafi, and the Nubians, only that among some of these nations a kingdom has appeared, either merely temporarily, as among the Jews and many Arabic tribes who are now entirely free, or permanently, as iu Egypt, Abyssinia, and among the Gallas.
Chiefiainship.—Among the Waknafi the dignity of the chief is not hereditary; it is awarded to the ablest man. But this king was originally only the head of the family or of the tribe, as is shown in the fact that a stranger is perfectly secure among the Gallas if the chief declares himself to be his father—that is, if he accepts him among his children or tribe. The stranger has by this act become a Galla. The original sanctity of the king, such as we have found it in Assyria (comp. p1. 106, 1), in Egypt, and among the Gallas, favors the idea that the king was considered the supreme head of the family, and everywhere had charge of the family sanctuaries.
Among the Abyssinians the king is not allowed to eat with his hands: certain officials, the only persons who are allowed to see him eat, put the meat into his mouth: consequently, whenever he arranges a festivity he does not eat with the others, but looks on from an adjoining room, his table being screened by a curtain (fit. 99, fig. I). We have already learned the meaning of this custom in Polynesia (p. 194): the king was sacred, and whatever he touched became sacred and was removed from ordinary use, and hence all food was put into his mouth. For the same reason he could not be in the same place with the others, and therefore he had a separate cabinet in the banquet-ball of Ankober, and a separate house from which lie pronounced judgment loo, fig. 1).