The Handbook of Palestine/Part 7

Moslem Kalendar.—The Hejra, or flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina, is reckoned to have taken place on the night of the 20th June, 622 A.D. The Mohammedan era, instituted seventeen years later by the Khalif ʾOmar, dates from the first day of the first lunar month, Muharram (Thursday, 15th July, 622 A.D.). The years are lunar, consisting of twelve lunar months, each commencing with the approximate new moon, without any intercalation to keep them to the same season with respect to the sun, so that they retrograde through all the seasons in about 32½ years. They are partitioned also into cycles of 30 years, 19 of which are common years of 354 days each, and the other 11 intercalary years, having an additional day added to the last month.

The Ottoman 'Financial (Malieh) Year,' an invention of the Turkish Government, is divided into solar months, and is now about three years behind the Mohammedan era.

To find the year of the Christian era corresponding to any Mohammedan (Hejra) date, deduct 3 per cent. from the Mohammedan year and add 621·54 to the result. Thus, take A.H. 1318:

Solar Months (Shuhur Shamsiyeh):

The year 1341 A.H. began on the 25th August, 1922.

Moslem Prayers (Salat).—The hours of prayer are:

1. Salat al-Fajr, between dawn and sunrise.

2. Salat al-Duhr, when the sun has begun to decline.

3. Salat al-ʾAsr, midway between Nos. 2 and 4.

4. Salat al-Maghreb, a few minutes after sunset.

5. Salat al-ʾEsha, when the night has closed in.

​Moslem Festivals.—The principal Moslem festivals are:

Orthodox Kalendar.—The members of the Orthodox Eastern Church, in Palestine and elsewhere, still retain the Julian Kalendar (Old Style), and their reckoning is now thirteen days behind the rest of Europe.

​Orthodox Festivals.—The principal Orthodox festivals are:

Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Epiphany or Theophania, Purification, Annunciation, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Day, S. George, Ascension, SS. Constantine and Helen, Whitsunday, SS. Peter and Paul, Transfiguration, Assumption, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Exaltation of the Holy Cross, S. James, S. Nicolas.

Orthodox Services.—The principal services of the Orthodox Church are:

1. Matins (ὄρθρος), 6 a.m. to 7 a.m.

2. Eucharist (ἡ Θεία λειτουργία), 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

3. Evensong (ἑσπερινός), 4 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. (in summer 5 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.).

Jewish Kalendar.—The Jewish year consists of 12 months, namely, Tishri (30), Heshvan (29), Kislev (30), Tevet (29), Shevat (30), Adar (29), Nisan (30), Eeyar (29), Sivan (30), Tamuz (29), Ab (30), Elul (29).

In enumerating the months it is usual to start with Nisan, following God’s command to Moses (Exodus xii., 2).

In spite of the fact that the ordinary year is a lunar year, it is made to correspond with the solar year in the course of a cycle of 19 years by making seven years in one cycle leap-years. A leap-year is an ordinary year with Adar B (30) added. A cycle terminates with the years in the Jewish Kalendar (creation of the Universe) that are a multiple of 19. The following years in any one cycle are leap-years: Nos. 1, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, and 17. The last cycle closed in 5671.

Thus 19 solar years (including 4–5 days in leap-years) = 6939−40 days; 19 Jewish years = 6936 days. The difference of 3–4 days is made up by occasionally adding a day to Heshvan. The addition of this day incidentally serves another purpose. The Day of Atonement cannot fall either on a Friday or a Sunday, and, when it would normally fall on such a day, this additional Heshvan day puts it off until the following Saturday or Monday. When ​more than 3–4 days have been added this way in the course of the cycle, and the same danger is in sight, a day is taken off Kislev when necessary and replaced by an additional day in Heshvan at a later date.

The year 5683 began on the 23rd September, 1922.

Jewish Festivals.—The Jewish festivals are divided into three categories: (a) days of rest; (b) festivals on which work is permissible; (c) fasts. The following is a complete list:

The official holidays are as follows:

The joint committee for Arabic and Hebrew transliteration appointed by the Government of Palestine to recommend a system for official use in the country has adopted the following principles:

Several recognized systems of transliteration were studied by the Committee, who, however, came to the conclusion that, having regard to the special needs of the Palestine Administration, there would have to be evolved a new system, which took into account the paramount importance of simplicity, the limitations of the typewriter, and, in general, the exigencies of administrative routine. It was felt that there was no room for the adoption of an exact and strict system involving the use of diacritical marks and conventional signs. At the same time, the Committee wished so to frame their system as to ensure a standardized and uniform spelling of Arabic names in English.

The system outlined below aims, therefore, at standards of consistency and simplicity rather than of scholarly exactitude. It is not intended to be an ideally perfect system; but it is believed that, in admitting a certain sacrifice of precision, it achieves a greater gain in convenience.

​(i) The Alphabet:

(N.B.—All English vowels are pronounced as in Italian.)

(ii) Vowel-sounds:

The vowels are deemed to be pronounced as in the Italian alphabet.

Sheva na' is transliterated by the addition of the "e" to the consonant. Dagesh is indicated by doubling the consonant, except in the case of ‘sh,’ which is underlined to indicate the dagesh; e.g. לקשר, "leqasher" (to bind).

Proper names, geographical or otherwise, that have a commonly accepted spelling and pronunciation, are maintained as commonly spelt and pronounced in English, e.g. Tiberias, not Tiveria; Jerusalem, not Yerushalayim; Isaiah, not Yesha'ia.

Official (periodical) publications are the Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, published on the 1st and 15th of each month in English, Arabic and Hebrew, and the Commercial Bulletin of the Department of Commerce and Industry, issued fortnightly.

The periodical publications include:

The provisions of the Ottoman Press Law of 1327 apply to all publications, the most important being the necessity for registration with the local authorities of all relevant particulars of the publishers and responsible editors, and the deposit of a security for good conduct. The Law precribes penalties for the usual forms of Press offences of conduct and context.

The War Cemeteries in Palestine are situated at Beersheba, Gaza, Ramleh, Deir al-Belah, Jerusalem (Mt. of Olives) (General and Indian), Sarona, Wilhelma and Haifa, and are administered from Jaffa by representatives of the Imperial War Graves Commission.

There are some 10,000 dead buried in these cemeteries, whose welfare is the special care of a local organization, the Anglo-Palestine War Graves Committee.

The sites of all the war cemeteries have been presented to the Imperial War Graves Commission by the people of Palestine, in pursuance of a resolution spontaneously ​proposed by the non-official members of the Advisory Council in December, 1920. This act of generosity is commemorated in the inscription which it is proposed to set up at the entrance of each cemetery:

A Memorial Service for the fallen is conducted by the Bishop in Jerusalem at the War Cemetery on the Mount of Olives on the 15th April of each year, when offerings of flowers are laid upon the graves.

Boy Scouts.—There are two organizations of Boy Scouts in Palestine:

Both organizations are recognized by the High Commissioner, who is Chief Scout for Palestine; and matters which affect the welfare of both are discussed by a joint Council, to which both send representatives.

Girl Guides.—In addition to the Girl Scout troops belonging to the Jewish Boy Scout Association, Girl Guides were started in Palestine in the year 1919 in direct connexion with the Girl Guide Association in England. At present there are three companies of Guides, all in Jerusalem, connected with the British High School for Girls and the Evelina de Rothschild School. A training camp for Guide Officers was held at Ramallah in 1921. The Honorary Secretary in Palestine is Mrs. F. Rowlands, Jerusalem.

A Jerusalem branch of the R.S.P.C.A. was founded in 1909, but ceased working in 1915 on account of the war. Anti-cruelty work was carried out under Army auspices during the British Occupation. In 1921 the Society was re-started under the presidency of the High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel.

The Veterinary Hospital situated in Mamilla Street, Jerusalem, has been taken over by the Society on lease from the Municipality, and is now entirely under the Society's own management. Only those animals are detained which are suffering from serious causes. A minimum charge for forage is made and treatment is provided free to animals whose owners cannot afford to pay. The Hospital is under the inspection of the veterinary officials of the Government, and is open to visitors at all times by arrangement with the Secretary.

The efforts of the Society are strictly limited by the amount of voluntary support that is forthcoming from the public.

The Honorary Treasurer is Mrs. K. L. Reynolds, S. George's School, Jerusalem.