Veiled or unveiled, these lovely harem women overwhelmingly conveyed the idea that smoking Turkish cigarettes was part of the good life. This good life, though, didn't necessarily extend to the harem girls. At the whim of cruel sultans and powerful eunuchs, these helpless women could be exploited, ravaged, tortured, and killed. Ibrahim I, Sultan of Turkey, had the 280 women in his harem bagged and dropped into the Bosporus to drown. Some Islamic countries still suppress women, but this hasn't always been the case. Koranic law allows women to control their own property. This novel idea preceded the laws that gave European and American women that right. Besides the colorful early 20th Century Turkish cigarette advertising, America's fascination with Middle Eastern motifs included Irving Berlin's 1913 song "In My Harem," and Rudolph Valentino's 1921 movie The Sheik.