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Abstract

In Middle Eastern cultures, the focal point of marriage is the wedding night where def loration, dukhla, takes the form of a ritual. It means the entry and signifies the consummation of marriage by the double confirmation of the female virginity and male virility, an indispensable condition for living a marital life together. In Oman, they build a honeymoon hut, kille, for the newly wed spouses at the groom’s home, consisting of one room, richly decorated by the groom’s female kin. The bride and groom spend seven days, in solitude, with no chores except defloration, and when this is over, the hut is torn down.1

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Notes

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© 2015 David Ghanim

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Ghanim, D. (2015). Ritual of Defloration. In: The Virginity Trap in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137507082_11

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