6.0080 Rs: Psylli (1/27)
Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Mon, 15 Jun 1992 21:31:11 EDT
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 6, No. 0080. Monday, 15 Jun 1992.
Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1992 12:24:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: Nicholas Heer <heer@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: 6.0076 Qs: Psylli
Oliver Phillips asks whether anyone can supply an Arabic
derivative from Psylli. I know of no Arabic derivative from this word.
The usual Arabic term for snake charmer is _hawi_ or _hawwa'_. Perhaps of
interest in this connection is what E.W. Lane in his _Account of the
Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_ (first published in 1836) has
to say concerning snake charmers:
``Many modern writers upon Egypt have given surprising accounts of a
class of men in this country, supposed, like the ancient ``Psylli'' of
Cyrenaica, to possess a secret art, to which allusion is made in the
Bible, enabling them to secure themselves from the poison of serpents. I
have met with many persons among the more intelligent of the Egyptians who
condemn these modern Psylli as impostors, but none who has been able to
offer a satisfactory explanation of the most common and most interesting
of their performances, which I am about to describe.'' (Beginning of
chapter 20)
He then goes on to describe some of the performances he has witnessed.
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Nicholas Heer, Professor Emeritus
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization
University of Washington, DH-20
Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Internet: heer@u.washington.edu
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