Guns at a Circumcision: Regulating Celebration in Nineteenth-Century Syria

Chris Gratien, Georgetown University

During the nineteenth century, Şehr-i Zor (or modern-day Deir ez-Zor) in Eastern Syria was one of many Ottoman frontier towns that served as a bastion of order, facilitating trade and helping the state consolidate power across vast tracts of loosely controlled space. This image shows the relatively wide streets of the new city of Zor, one of few significant settlements standing between Damascus and a newly rejuvenated Baghdad.

New developments may have brought some security and commercial activity to the region, but as always, the state had to rain on the parade of the local communities, in this case, Arab and Kurdish tribes practicing herding and long-distance trade. In any frontier town, a good party is not complete without a little celebratory gunfire. Yet, gun-free fun is exactly what the Ottoman governor was asking for in this document affirming the prohibition of the firing of guns (silah andahtı) at social gatherings such as circumcisions and weddings in the countryside. One wonders if this was simply the urban sensibilities of Ottoman officials getting the best of them or if some incident may have provoked the ban.

guns	circumcision