CHAPTER XVI
THE HAREM IN MODERN EGYPT
The significance of the word harem has been interpreted variously as "that which is forbidden" and the "Abode of Bliss." These establishments, in which women are segregated in luxurious surroundings, exist in much of their former splendour in Cairo to-day.
The round, central hall, roofed with a high dome, is in some harems about one hundred and fifty feet across. Around this spacious apartment are divans of red velvet. In the centre there is, in some instances, a sunk circular bath.
The following description of the interior of a regal harem in Egypt is taken chiefly from Miss Lott's "Harem Life in Turkey and Egypt."
The whole of the floor is covered with a thick, hand-made carpet, very soft to the tread. Women and eunuchs pass to and fro noiselessly.
Innumerable doors, each one a mirror, surround the interior of the great hall. These are the entries to the apartments of the women. In all these chambers
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