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ADHA

Volume 8 · 133 words · 1810 Edition

a festival which the Mahometans celebrate on the 10th day of the month Dhoulbegiat, which is the 12th and last of their year. This month being particularly destined for the ceremonies which the pilgrims observe at Mecca, it takes its name from thence, for the word signifies the month of Pilgrimage. On that day they sacrifice with great solemnity, at Mecca, and nowhere else, a sheep, which is called by the same name as the festival itself. The Turks commonly call this festival the Great Bairam, to distinguish it from the lesser, which ends their fast, and which the Christians of the Levant call the Easter of the Turks. The Mahometans celebrate this festival, out of the city of Mecca, in a neighbouring valley; and sometimes they sacrifice there a camel. See Bairam.