Chapter XIV: Section III

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FROM THE SQUARE TO THE SOUTHERN QUARTERS.

ROUTE:—By the Place St. Catherine and Pompey’s Pillar to the
Mahmoudieh Canal, taking the Karmous Tram (Green Lozenge). The
Ragheb Pasha Tram (Red Crescent) and the Moharrem Bey tram (Red
Circle) also go from the Square to the Canal. There is also the
“Circular” Tram (Green Triangle) which crosses the three lines just
mentioned, on its course from Cairo Railway Station to the Docks.
There is a carriage road along the Canal.

CHIEF POINTS OF INTEREST:—Pompey’s Pillar, Kom es Chogafa Catacombs,
the Canal.

The Southern Quarters are neither smart nor picturesque. But they
include the site of Rhakotis, the nucleus of ancient Alexandria, and
preserve some remarkable antiquities (_see_ pp. 7, 18). Here too are
the churches and schools of the various religious and political
bodies (_see_ p. 211).

We start from the south side of the Square, and immediately reach
the _Place St. Catherine_, a triangular green. Here is the
traditional site of St. Catherine’s martyrdom, whence she was
transported to Mount Sinai by angels. But the legend only dates from
the 9th cent. and it is unlikely that the saint ever existed (_see_
p. 46). Franciscans settled here in the 15th cent. and built a
church that has disappeared. In 1832 Mohammed Ali granted land to
the Roman Catholics, and the present _Cathedral Church of St.
Catherine_ was begun. It fell down while it was being put up, but
undeterred by the omen the builders persisted, and here is the
result. Gaunt without and tawdry within, the Cathedral makes no
attempt to commemorate the exquisite legend round which so much that
is beautiful has gathered in the West; St. Catherine of Alexandria
is without grace in her own city. The approach to the church has
however a certain ecclesiastic calm.—Behind (entered from Rue Sidi
el Metwalli) is the Catholic Archbishop’s Palace; the wayside tomb
of the Mohammedan Saint Sidi el Metwalli, a prior arrival, abuts
into his Grace’s garden.

Left of the Cathedral is another in equally bad taste—the Cathedral
of the Greek Community (Greek Orthodox) dedicated to the
Annunciation. The Schools of the Community are close to it.

Left, after leaving the Place St. Catherine:—Rue Sidi el Metwalli,
following the line of the ancient Canopic Way; it leads past the
_Attarine Mosque_, which is worth looking at. In the past, buildings
of greater importance stood on this commanding site. Here was a
church to St. Athanasius, dedicated soon after his death (4th
cent.). In the Arab Conquest (7th cent.) the church was adapted into
a great mosque, square in shape like the Mosque of Ibn Touloun at
Cairo, and stretching some way to the north of the present building;
travellers mistook it for the tomb or the palace of Alexander the
Great. In it stood an ancient sarcophagus, weighing nearly seven
tons. The English, informed that Alexander had once lain here, took
the sarcophagus away when they occupied Alexandria in 1801. (_see_
p. 88). The French protested, and the sheikhs of the Mosque, deeply
moved, came down to the boat to bid the relic farewell. The
sarcophagus is now in the British Museum, and has proved to belong
to the native Pharaoh Nekht Heru Hebt. B.C. 378.—The present Mosque
is wedge shaped with a minaret at the point; a good little specimen
of modern Mohammedan architecture. It has a second facade in the Rue
Attarine, (Scent Bazaar) whence its name. Inside is the Tomb of Said
Mohammed (13th cent.), a friend of Abou el Abbas (p. 126).—Beyond it
the road becomes the Rue Rosette (_see_ Section I); right is the
American Mission Church and the Cairo Station.

Right after leaving the Place:—district inhabited by the Armenian
community (_see_ p. 212). Their church is simple and rather
attractive, and has the projecting western vestibule characteristic
of Armenian architecture, e.g. of the Metropolitan Cathedral of
Etchmiadzine. In the grave yard are monuments of Nubar Pasha by
Puech (_see_ p. 155), and of Takvor Pasha. In the grounds of the
school, a black basalt sphinx.

Straight ahead after leaving the Place: is the Rue Abou el Dardaa.
In a turning out of it to the right (Rue Prince Moneim) in the
grounds of a florist named Mousny, are some remains of the _Old
Protestant Cemetery_.—The burials are of a later date than those at
St. Saba (p. 106). The most interesting is the Tomb of Henry Salt.
Salt, a vigorous but rather shady Englishman with an artistic
temperament, first came to these parts in 1809, when he was sent on
a mission to Abyssinia. Six years later he became Consul General and
fell in with the financial plans of Mohammed Ali (p. 90), and
acquiesced in his illegal monopolies. He was an ardent archaeologist
of the commercial type and got concessions for excavating in Upper
Egypt, offering the results, at exorbitant rates, to the British
Museum. After much haggling the Museum bought his collection in
1823. He died near Alexandria in 1827. The quaint inscription on his
tomb says:—

His ready genius explored and elucidated the Hieroglypics (sic)
and other antiquities of this country. His faithful and rapid
pencil and the nervous originality of his untutored senses
conveyed to the world vivid ideas of the scenes that had
delighted himself.

Some of the tombs are hidden among plants and ferns. The Cemetery
was once much larger; the road has cut through it.

At the end of the Rue Abou el Dardaa, where the tram turns, is the
_Mosque of Amr_. Here probably stood the Mosque of Mercy which the
conqueror Amr ordered to be built where he had sheathed his sword
after the recapture of the city in 643 (_see_ p. 57).

We turn right for a few yards, along a road that follows the line of
the vanished Arab Walls (p. 81). Then to the left by the big Italian
schools. The tram has now entered the ancient district of Rhakotis.

“POMPEY’S PILLAR” and the TEMPLE OF SERAPIS.

As often happens in Alexandria, history and archaeology fail to
support one another. Ancient writers do not mention “Pompey’s
Pillar,” but they tell us a great deal about the buildings that
stood in its neighbourhood and have now disappeared. This shapeless
hill was from early times covered with temples and houses. Long
before Alexander came it was the citadel of Rhakotis (p. 7). Osiris
was worshipped here. Then with Ptolemy Soter it leaps into fame.
Osiris is modified into Serapis (p. 18), and the hill, encased in
great bastions of masonry was built up into an acropolis on whose
summit rose the God’s temple. Under Cleopatra it gained additional
splendour. The great library of Alexandria had been burnt in the
Caesarian war, and the queen began a new collection which she
attached to the Serapeum. Here for four hundred years was the most
learned spot on the earth. The Christians wiped it out. In 391 the
Patriarch Theophilus (p. 50) led a mob against the temple, sacked
it, and broke the statue of the God. It is impossible that the books
should not have perished at the same time: they were arranged in the
cloisters that surrounded the temple (_see_ below) so that the mob
had to pass them to reach its central prey. The monks now swarmed
over the hill and built a church to St. John the Baptist in the
gutted shrine. Here were the head quarters of Theophilus’ nephew,
Cyril (p. 51) and hence his supporters issued to murder Hypatia at
the other end of the town (415). With the invasion of the Arabs the
darkness increases. The library had already disappeared (the legend
accusing them of burning it has the flimsiest foundations), but they
did plenty of harm in other ways: one of the Arab governors threw a
quantity of columns into the sea in the hope of obstructing a
hostile fleet. When the Crusaders visited Egypt (15th cent.) the
original scheme of the Acropolis had vanished, and their attention
was caught by this solitary pillar. The Crusaders were no scholars
but they had heard of Pompey, so they called the pillar after him,
and said that his head was enclosed in a ball on the top. (_see_
Belon’s View p. 83). The error has been perpetuated and the visitor
must remember, firstly that the pillar has nothing to do with Pompey
and secondly that it is a subordinate monument that the accident of
time has preserved: it is a part and a small one of the splendours
of the Temple of Serapis.

The following remains can be visited (_see_ Plan 144).

(i). _“Pompey’s Pillar.”_ 84 feet high and about 7 thick; made of
red granite from Assouan. An imposing but ungraceful object.
Architecture has evolved nothing more absurd than the monumental
column; there is no reason that it should ever stop nor much that it
should begin, and this specimen is not even well proportioned. The
substructure is interesting. It is made up of blocks that have been
taken from older buildings. On the eastern face (nearest turnstile)
is a block of green granite with an inscription in Greek in honour
of Arsinoe, the sister and wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus (p. 14). On
the opposite face (upside down in a recess) is the figure and
hieroglyph of Seti I (B.C. 1350), suggesting the great age of the
settlement on Rhakotis.

Why and when was the pillar put up?

Probably to the Emperor Diocletian, about A.D. 297. There is a four
line Greek inscription to him on the granite base on the western
side, about 10 feet up. It is illegible and indeed invisible from
the ground. Generations of scholars have worked at it with the
following result:—

“To the most just Emperor, the tutelary God of Alexandria,
Diocletian the invincible: Postumus, prefect of Egypt.”

The formidable Emperor (p. 46) had crushed a rebellion here and was
a god to be propitiated; the pillar, erected in the precincts of
Serapis, would celebrate his power and clemency and presumably bore
his statue on the top.—There is another theory: that the column was
dedicated after the triumph of the Christians in 391 and glorifies
the new religion; if this is so it must itself have previously been
pagan, for by this date the Alexandrians had not the means or the
power to erect a new monument of such a size.

(ii). _The Temple of Serapis._ West of the Pillar, reached by a
staircase, are long subterranean galleries, excavated in the rock
and lined with limestone. These were probably part of the
Serapeum—basements of some sort—and enthusiastic visitors have even
identified them with the library where the books were kept; in them
are some small semi-circular niches of unknown use. Some marble
columns stand on the ground above.—South of the Pillar, near the
Sphinxes, are more passages, lined with cement; these too may have
been part of the temple. All is conjectural, and the plan of the
Serapeum, as we gather it from classical writers, can in no way be
fitted in with existing remains. According to them, it was
rectangular, and stood in the middle of a cloister, with each of
whose sides it was connected by a cross-colonnade. The temple
consisted of a great hall and an inner shrine. The architecture was
probably Greek; certainly the statue was—made of blue-black marble
(p. 19), the work of Bryaxis.

(iii). _The Temple of Isis._ Isis, wife of Osiris, was equally
united to his successor Serapis, and had in Ptolemaic times her
temple on the plateau. North of the Pillar are some excavations that
have been identified with it.

(iv). _Two Sphinxes._ Found in the enclosure and set up south of the
Pillar. Of Assouan granite.

(v). _Fragments of a Frieze._ These, magnificently worked in
granite, lie on the slope east of the Pillar; we pass them on the
way up. Date:—about 1st cent. A.D. They may have belonged to the
great entrance gate of the temple enclosure. He who meditates on
them for a little may recapture some idea of the shrine. Note the
Pillar itself so suggests vanished glory and solidity.

This concludes the remains. They are disappointing for so famous a
site, but there is one satisfaction: this is the actual spot. Long
in doubt, it has been identified by the statues and inscriptions
that have been found here; they are now in the Museum; _see_ Rooms
6, 12, and 16.

* * * * *

Just beyond the enclosure of Pompey’s Pillar we leave the tram route
and turn to the right, reaching in ten minutes the Kom es Chogafa
Catacombs.

CATACOMBS OF KOM ES CHOGAFA.

Through the turnstile (5 piastres) is modern asphalt laid down to
preserve the subterraneans from wet. Left, four fine sarcophagi of
purplish granite. Above, the original level of the hill, which has
been cut down by quarrying and excavations; in its slopes are some
cemented passages, antique but uninteresting. On the top of the
hill, a mosaic of black and white stones, much broken away. The
entrance to the catacombs is down the larger of the two glassed
well-shafts.

The Catacombs of Kom es Chogafa (“Hill of Tiles”) are the most
important in the city and unique anywhere: nothing quite like them
has been discovered. They are unique both for their plan and for
their decorations which so curiously blend classical and Egyptian
designs; only in Alexandria could such a blend occur. Their size,
their picturesque vistas, their eerie sculptures, are most
impressive, especially on a first visit. Afterwards their spell
fades for they are odd rather than beautiful, and they express
religiosity rather than religion. Date—about the 2nd cent., A.D.
when the old faiths began to merge and melt. Name of
occupants—unknown. There is a theory that they began as a family
vault which was developed by a burial syndicate. They were only
discovered in 1900.

The scheme should be grasped before descending; there are three
stories, the lowest is under water. (_See_ Plan p. 148).

The Staircase (A) is lit from a well, down which the dead bodies
were lowered by ropes.—It ends at the Vestibule (B). Here are two
semi-circular niches, each fitted with a bench and elegantly vaulted
with a shell—a classical motive unknown to the art of ancient Egypt.
Close by is the Rotunda (C): in its centre is a well, upon whose
parapet stand 8 pillars, supporting a domed roof. A circular passage
runs round the well.—Left from the Rotunda is the Banquet Hall (D),
where the friends and relatives ate ceremonially in memory of the
dead. It is a gloomy scene. Here, cut out of the limestone, are the
three couches where they reclined upon mattresses; the table in the
middle has disappeared; it was probably of wood. Pillars support the
roof.—From the Rotunda a Staircase (E) goes down to the second
story; the amazing Central Tomb is now revealed; weird effects can
be got by adjusting the electric lights. The Staircase is roofed by
a shell ornament; half-way down, it divides on each side a thing
that looks like a prompter’s box; this masks yet another staircase
that descends to the third story, now under water.

THE CENTRAL TOMB.

In the Vestibule (F) the Egyptian note predominates. In front, two
fine columns with ornate capitals and two pilaster with square
papyrus capitals—the four supporting a cornice adorned with the
winged Sun (Ra), and guardian falcons. Inside the Vestibule, to
right and left, are white limestone statues of a man and woman—the
proprietor and his wife, perhaps. On the further wall the religious
and artistic confusion increases. Two terrific bearded serpents
guard the entrance to the Tomb Chamber, and each not only enfolds
the pine-cone of Dionysus and the serpent-wand of Hermes, but also
wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Above each serpent
is a Medusa in a round shield. Over the lintel of the inner door is
the winged Sun and a frieze of snakes.

The Tomb Chamber (G) contains three large sarcophagi, all cut out of
the rock. They are classical in style—decorated with festoons of
fruit or flowers, Medusa Heads, Ox skulls, &c. The lids do not take
off; the mummies would have been pushed in from the passage behind
(_see_ below). But as a matter of fact none of three sarcophagi have
ever been occupied; it is part of the queerness of Kom es Chogafa
that its vast and elaborate apparatus for mourning should culminate
in a void.

In the niche over each sarcophagus are bas reliefs, Egyptian in
style but executed with imperfect understanding.

Centre niche (G.i). A mummy on a lion shaped bier: the lion wears
the crown of Osiris and has at its feet the feather of Maat, goddess
of truth. Behind the bier, Anubis as the god of embalming; at its
head Thoth with the symbol of immortality; at its foot, Horus;
beneath it three “Canopic” deities—vases for the intestines—there
ought to be four.—Lateral relief: Left, a man with a priest, right a
woman with a priest.

Right-hand niche (G.ii). Graceful design of a prince, who wears the
double crown of Egypt, offering a collar to the Apis Bull, who, with
the Sun between his horns stands on a pedestal. Behind Apis, Isis,
holding the feather of truth and stretching out her protective wings
with good decorative effect.—Lateral reliefs: Left, a king before a
god (Chons?); right, two “Canopic” deities, one ape headed, one a
mummy.

Left-hand niche (G.iii).—Similar to right hand, except that on the
right lateral wall one of the “Canopic” deities has the head of a
hawk.

On either side of the entrance door stands an uncanny figure. Right,
(as one goes out) is Anubis, with a dog’s head, but dressed up as a
Roman soldier, with cuirass short sword lance and shield complete.
Left, the god Sebek, who though mainly a crocodile is also crushed
into military costume with cloak and spear. Perhaps the queer couple
were meant to guard the tomb, but one must not read too much into
them or into anything here; the workmen employed were only concerned
to turn out a room that should look suitable for death, and judged
by this standard they have succeeded.

Surrounding the central tomb is a broad Passage (HHH) lined with
cavities in two rows that provided accommodation for nearly 300
mummies. Where the passage passes behind the central tomb one can
see the apertures through which the three grand sarcophagi were
hollowed out, and through which the mummies would have been
introduced. Leading out of this passage is another tomb chamber (I)
and, to the left, a big Gallery (JJJJ), fitted up with receptacles
in the usual style.

* * * * *

All the above chambers form part of a single scheme. We now return
to the Rotunda (C), and enter, through a breach in the rock, an
entirely distinct set of tombs. They are lighted by a square Well
(K) and were reached by a separate staircase now ruinous. The Hall
(L) is fancifully called the Hall of Caracalla because that emperor
massacred many Alexandrian youths whom he had summoned to a review,
and because many bones of men and horses have been found
intermingled on its floors; it is lined with tomb cavities on the
usual plan.—The Gallery (M) contains rather a charming tomb: it was
once covered with white stucco and delicately painted. In the niche
above the sarcophagus are Isis and her sister Nephtys, spreading
their wings over the mummy of Osiris. More figures on the lateral
walls. Above, on the inner wall, the soul as a bird. Above the
entrance, the Sun and golden Vase on either side of which is a
sphinx with her paw on a wheel.

We now ascend the staircase (A). View of Mariout. Those who are not
tired of empty tombs will find plenty more to the right, down a
stairway cut in the rock.

Immediately below Kom es Chogafa flows the _Mahmoudieh Canal_, made by Mohammed Ali (for the circumstances _see_ p. 91). There is a road along it which leads, right, into the region of cotton warehouses. (Section VI).—To the left one can walk or drive all the way to Nouzha (Section IV). The route is partly pleasant partly not. It crosses, at Moharrem Bey, the Farkha Canal, which leaves the Mahmoudieh Canal at right angles and which went all the way to the sea.—Further on, there is a shady tract called the “Champs Elysées” it resembles, neither for good or evil, its Parisian original.

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