Trials by ordeal, a judicial practice in which the guilt or
innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to a
painful task, have taken place from ancient Mesopotamia until the
present day. This volume focuses on a special type of ordeal by
fire called the bishah ceremony, which originated in Bedouin
societies and continues to be practiced in Egypt today. In Bedouin
and Arab rural societies, when somebody suspects another person of
theft, property damage, murder, manslaughter, illicit sexual
relations, rape, or witchcraft, and there are no witness to the
crime, this individual can request the suspect or suspects to
accompany him to the mubasha', a Bedouin notable who conducts the
ordeal by fire. The bisha'h ceremony was previously performed in
Jordan and in Saudi Arabia as well as in Egypt. In Jordan, the late
King Hussein banned the ordeal by fire in 1976. In Saudi Arabia,
the mubasha' died in the late 1980s, without leaving a successor.
Today, in Egypt, near Ismaliyya, a mubasha' continues to practice
the ceremonial ordeal in which the suspect licks a ladle that is
heated to between 600-900 degrees Celsius. If the suspect's tongue
blisters, they are deemed guilty. If the tongue is clear, they are
declared innocent. The author observed 169 of such ordeals, many of
which are documented and illustrated in this volume. People who
take part in the bisha'h ceremony not only come from various
regions in Egypt, but also from other North African countries, and
from several Middle Eastern countries, including the Gulf States.
Most of the cases involve rural peasants rather than Bedouin, but
there are also instances where city dwellers take part in the
ordeal.
General
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