The method of building both in Barbary and the Levant seems to
have continued the same from the earliest ages. All the windows open
into private courts, if we except sometimes a latticed window or balcony
toward the street. It is only during the celebration of some _zeenah_,
or public festival, that these houses and their latticed windows are
left open; for this being a time of great liberty, revelling, and
extravagance, each family is ambitious of adorning both the inside and
outside of their houses with the richest part of their furniture; while
crowds of both sexes, dressed out in their best apparel, and laying
aside all ceremony and restraint, go in and out where they please. The
account we have, 2 Kings ix, 30, of Jezebel’s painting her face, tiring
her head, and looking out at a window upon Jehu’s public entry into
Jezreel, gives us a lively idea of an eastern lady at one of those
solemnities.
have continued the same from the earliest ages. All the windows open
into private courts, if we except sometimes a latticed window or balcony
toward the street. It is only during the celebration of some _zeenah_,
or public festival, that these houses and their latticed windows are
left open; for this being a time of great liberty, revelling, and
extravagance, each family is ambitious of adorning both the inside and
outside of their houses with the richest part of their furniture; while
crowds of both sexes, dressed out in their best apparel, and laying
aside all ceremony and restraint, go in and out where they please. The
account we have, 2 Kings ix, 30, of Jezebel’s painting her face, tiring
her head, and looking out at a window upon Jehu’s public entry into
Jezreel, gives us a lively idea of an eastern lady at one of those
solemnities.