Tuesday evening, comments on the fusion of Arab and European influences that created the salons of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries: "Mayy revives by this salon a long-established Arab practice, just as she transfers to Egypt a long-established European practice, ancient and modern." An evening spent in the salon Unlike salon sessions in England, which sometimes took place during the day or over several days the salons in cities such as Cairo, Jerusalem and Aleppo were usually held in the evening or at night in the family homes of salonnières. One of the less well-known salons in Beirut, for example, was convened on three consecutive full-moon nights each month, where male and female guests stayed awake until dawn, enjoying the entertainment and lively literary discussions. It was the norm for salonnières to invite participants, and with notable exceptions such as Mayy Ziyadah who invited guests from different social standings in order to give young writers the opportunity to show off their talents to a discerning audience, the majority of salons were a space for male and female members of the educated middle class elite. Within the confines of the salon, the free-flow of conversation and reciprocity was encouraged, and a sense of equality was fostered. The salon evenings were also regarded as arbiters of music and literature, as well as places were social and political ideas were aired and discussed, and where guests could embrace new trends and fashions exported from Europe. There was something unique about these salon sessions, according to the historian Keith Watenpaugh, who lends a description of a salon evening: "...soirées were unrelated men and women circulated with one another freely, and where Christians and Muslims, who shared a similar educational background, drank and smoked cigarettes—rather than sharing a nargileh (hookah pipe)—together while they sat in straight back chairs around high tables..." The tone and topics of discussion were usually at the discretion of the salonnières or hostesses, who administered the conversation. Of course, every salon was slightly different, but most evenings offered a mix of serious and lighthearted conversation, with musical entertainment in some cases. As the conversation flowed, it was not uncommon for guests to colour their conversations with personal anecdotes or local gossip. Indeed, it was thought to be a necessary talent of a successful hostess to encourage such digressions. As these salons were conducted during the Arab Awakening, which advocated a