Chapter XVIII: Section VII

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ABOUKIR AND ROSETTA.

ROUTE:—By train from the Main (Cairo) sta., or from Sidi Gaber, where all trains stop, and which is also a sta. for the Ramleh tram (Section VI).

CHIEF POINTS OF INTEREST:—Montazah; Canopus; Aboukir Bay; Rosetta.

At Sidi Gaber sta. is a view of Lake Hadra on the right.—Five stations on:—Victoria, close to the College and tram terminus.—The train passes over sand and through a palm oasis, which is carpeted with flowers in spring.

* * * * *

MANDARAH STA.—One of the houses in the village is painted outside in commemoration of the inmates pilgrimage to Mecca—pictures of things that he saw or would like to have seen, such as a railway train, a tiger, a siren, and a very large melon.

* * * * *

MONTAZAH STA.—Close to the station is the _Summer Resort_ of the ex-Khedive Abbas II, now (1922) being restored and refurnished by King Fouad. Permission to enter should be obtained if possible, for the scenery is unique in Egypt and of the greatest beauty. The road leads by roses, oleanders and pepper trees. From it a road turns, right, up the hill to the Selamlik (men’s quarters), built by the Khedive in a style that was likely to please his Austrian mistress; on the terrace in front is a sun dial and some guns. From the terrace, _View_ of the circular bay with its fantastic promontories and breakwaters; the coast to the right is visible as far as Aboukir, whose minaret peeps over a distant headland; to the left are the Montazah woods; beneath, down precipitous steps, a curved parade. Beautiful walks in every direction, and perfect bathing. On the promontory to the right is a kiosk, and at its point are some remains of buildings or baths—fragments of the ancient Taposiris Parva that once stood here; some of them form natural fishponds. The woods are Pines Maritimes, imported by the Khedive from Europe, and in the western section, beyond the Pigeon House, the trees have grown high. Various buildings are in the estate; in one corner are the foundations of an enormous mosque. During the recent war (1914-1919) Montazah became a Red Cross Hospital; thousands of convalescent soldiers passed through it and will never forget the beauty and the comfort that they found there.

* * * * *

MAMOURAH STA.: The low ground to the right is on the site of the Aboukir Lake (p. 87), drained in the 19th cent. Here the Aboukir and Rosetta railways part.

ABOUKIR.

ROUTE:—Aboukir Station is the terminus. Walk or take donkey. Turn sharply to the left to Canopus, 1 mile, then follow coast all the way round by Fort Kait Bey to Fort Ramleh; return to Aboukir Village.

Aboukir, though intimately connected with Alexandria, has a history of its own. Three main periods.

(i). ANCIENT (_see_ also p. 7).

Geologically, this is the end of the long limestone spur that
projects from the Lybian desert (p. 5). The Nile had to round it to
reach the sea, and it is to the Nile that its early fame is due. The
river poured out just to the east, through the “Canopic” Mouth,
which has now dried up, and there were settlements here centuries
before Alexandria was founded. On the left bank of the Nile (south
of the present Fort Ramleh) Herodotus (B.C. 450) saw a temple to
Heracles, and was told that Paris and Helen had sought shelter here
on their flight to Troy—shelter that was refused by the local
authorities, who disapproved of their irregular union. There was a
second settlement at Menouthis (Fort Ramleh itself), and a third and
most famous at _Canopus_ (present Fort Tewfikieh), from which the
whole district took its name.

Canopus, according to Greek legend, was a pilot of Menelaus who was
bitten here by a serpent as they returned from Troy, and, dying,
became the tutelary God. The legend, like that of Paris and Helen,
shows how interested were the Greeks in the district, but has no
further importance. There is also a legend that Canopus was an
Egyptian God whose body was an earthenware jar: this too may be
discredited. With the foundation of Alexandria (B.C. 331) the
district lost much of its trade, but became a great fashionable and
religious resort. There was a canal from Alexandria, probably
connecting with the Nile just where it entered the sea, and the
Alexandrians glided along it in barges, singing and crowned with
flowers. In connection with his new cult of Serapis (p. 18) Ptolemy
Soter built a temple here (_see_ below) whose fame spread over the
world and whose rites made the Romans blush with shame or pale with
envy; here originated the idea, still so widely held in the west,
that Egypt is a land of licentiousness and mystery. The district
decayed as soon as Christianity was established; it had not, like
Alexandria, a solid basis for its existence in trade. But Paganism
lingered here, and as late as the end of the 5th century twenty
camel-loads of idols were found secreted in a house and were carried
away to make a bonfire at Alexandria. Demons gave trouble even in
later times.

(ii). CHRISTIAN.

The Patriarch Cyril (p. 51) having destroyed the cults of Serapis
and Isis in the district (A.D. 389) sent out the relics of St. Cyr
to take their place. The relics were so intermingled with those of
another martyr, St. John, that St. John had to be brought too, and a
church to them both arose just to the south of the present Fort Kait
Bey. The two Saints remained quiet for 200 years, but then began to
disentangle themselves and work miracles, and recovered for the
district some of its ancient popularity; indeed many of their cures
are exactly parallel to those effected in the temple of Serapis.
With the Arab invasion their church vanishes, but St. Cyr has given
his name to modern Aboukir (“Father Cyr.”) In the 9th century the
Canopic branch of the Nile dried up. The Turks built some forts here
for coastal defence, but history does not recommence until the
arrival of Nelson.

(iii). MODERN.

In Napoleonic times Aboukir saw two great battles.

(_a_). _“Battle of the Nile._”

For the event that led to this engagement _see_ p. 86. Brueys,
Napoleon’s admiral, brought his fleet into the bay for safety,
and anchored them in a long line, about two miles from the
coast. He had 13 Men-of-War, 4 Frigates, 1182 canons, and 8000
men. To the north was “Nelson’s Island,” as it is now called,
which he had fortified and upon which his line was supposed to
rest. His flagship, the _Orient_, was midway in the line. He
took up this position on July 7th, 1798.

On August 1st Nelson arrived in pursuit, with 14 Men-of-War,
1012 canons and 8068 men. The wind was N.W., a usual direction
in summer. Half his fleet, including his flagship the
_Vanguard_, attacked Brueys from the expected quarter, the east.
The other half, led by the _Goliath_, executed the brilliant
manœuvre that brought us victory. It gave Brueys a double
surprise: in the first place it passed between the head of his
line and “Nelson Island” where he thought there was no room; in
the second place it took up a position to his west, between him
and the shore, where he thought the water was too shallow. Thus
he was caught between two fires—attacked by the whole British
Fleet with the exception of the _Culloden_, which, sailing too
near Nelson Island, stranded.

The engagement began at 6.00 p.m. At 7.00 Brueys was killed, at
9.30 the _Orient_ caught fire and blew up shortly afterwards;
the explosion was tremendous and terminated the first act of the
battle; an interval of appalled silence ensued. Casabianca was
sailing the _Orient_, and it was on her “burning deck” that the
boy of Mrs. Hemans’ poem stood. The fighting recommenced,
continuing through the night, and ending at midday on the 2nd
with the complete victory of Nelson. The French fleet had been
annihilated; only two Men-of-War and two Frigates escaped, and
Napoleon had lost for ever his command of the Mediterranean.
Nelson accordingly signalled the following message:—

Almighty God having blessed His Majesty’s arms with victory,
the Admiral intends returning public thanksgiving for the
same at two o’clock this day, and he recommends every ship
doing the same as soon as convenient.

The French expected an attack on Alexandria, but Nelson had
suffered too much himself to attempt this; having rested for a
little, he dispersed his fleet, leaving only a few ships behind
to watch the coast. In his despatches home he stated that the
engagement had taken place not far from the (Rosetta) mouth of
the Nile; hence the official “Battle of the Nile” instead of the
more accurate “Naval Battle of Aboukir.”

(_b_). _Land Battle of Aboukir._

Less important than its predecessor, but the strategy is
interesting, and Napoleon himself was present. For the events
that led up to it _see_ p. 87; Turkey, at the instigation of
England, had declared war on France, and in July 1799 the Turks
occupied Aboukir Bay and landed 15,000 men. Their left rested on
the present Fort Ramleh, their right on the present Fort
Tewfikieh, their camp was in the narrow extremity of the
peninsula, between the redoubt and the Fort at the very tip.
They were supported on three sides by their fleet, which was
stationed in the Mediterranean, in the Bay of Aboukir, and in
the (vanished) Lake of Aboukir. From this stronghold they
proposed to overrun Egypt.

On receiving the news, Napoleon hurried down from Cairo and
arrived (July 25th) with only 10,000 men, mostly cavalry. Murat
and Kléber accompanied him. He began by clearing the Turkish gun
boats out of Lake Aboukir; then his force attacked Forts Ramleh
and Tewfikieh, while his cavalry under Murat, advancing over the
level ground between them, drove the flying defenders of each
into the Mediterranean and the Bay respectively. 5,400 Turks
were drowned. The tip of the peninsula remained and resisted
vigorously, but Napoleon managed to mount some of his guns on
the hard spit of sand that still extends along the shore of the
Bay, and thus to cannonade the Turkish Camp, which was finally
taken by storm.

RUINS OF CANOPUS.

The ruins (_see_ above) lie round Fort Tewfikieh which is seen to the left as the train runs into the station. They were once of interest, but have been almost entirely destroyed by the military authorities, who use the limestone blocks for road making, and allow treasure hunting to go on. The remains are not easy to find, as the area is pitted with excavations. Consult map.

(_a_) About 50 yds. from the gateway of the fort, in a hollow to the
left of the road, are two huge _Fragments_ of a granite temple. Here
were found the busts of Rameses II in the Museum (Room 7) and the
colossi of the same King and his daughter (Museum, Court). Date of
statues:—B.C. 1300.

(_b_) Further to the left, round the Fort, is the site of the
_Temple of Serapis_, the most famous building on the peninsula, and
celebrated throughout the antique world. It was dedicated by Ptolemy
III Euergetes (p. 15) and his wife Berenice. A few years later (B.C.
238) their baby daughter died, and the priests met here in conclave
to make her a goddess, and incidentally to endorse some reforms in
the Calendar that the King, who had a scientific mind, was pressing.
The pronouncement has been preserved in the “Decree of Canopus,” now
one of the chief documents for Ptolemaic history. As for miracles,
the temple even outstripped the original Temple of Serapis at
Alexandria: invalids who slept here even by proxy discovered next
day that they were well. It was also the abode of magic and
licentiousness according to its enemies, and of philosophy according
to its friends. Christianity attacked it. Just before its
destruction (A.D. 289) Antoninus, an able pagan reactionary, settled
here, and tried to revive the cult. “Often he told his disciples
that after his time there would be no temple, and that the great and
venerable sanctuary would remain only as an unmeaning mass of ruins,
forgotten by all.” (Eunapius, life of Edesius). Antoninus was right.

In ancient time the Temple probably stood on the highest ground, but
with the general rising of level the site is now in a deep
depression and must be hunted for patiently. An oblong space has
been cleared and some columns and capitals from the excavations have
been ranged round it, but it is impossible to reconstruct the
original plan, and much has yet to be unearthed. Indeed it is not
quite certain that this is the right temple; an inscription has been
discovered dedicating it not to Serapis but to Osiris—with whom
however Serapis was often identified. The columns are of granite or
of stucco-coated limestone. Beneath the broken tin shelter was once
a pretty mosaic. The finest object is a stupendous fluted column of
red granite that lies in a pit close by; no use for it has yet
occurred to the military authorities. To the south and east of the
Temple were the houses of the priests, showing fine cemented
passages; these have been destroyed.

The canal by which revellers and worshippers approached this shrine
ran to the south, through the low land by the railway; its course is
uncertain; its exit was either into the (vanished) Nile, or into
Aboukir Bay.

(_c_) _The Upper Baths._ These lie about 100 yds. nearer the sea, on
the slope just above the corner of the great bay that stretches to
Montazah (p. 175). When excavated a few years ago they were almost
perfect. The swimming bath—lined with the hard pink cement that
indicates Ptolemaic or Roman work—had at the top a double step for
the bathers. All round its sides were inserted large earthenware
pots, their mouths level with the surface. Of this unique building a
small fragment now survives. The brick central cistern and the hot
baths can also still be traced.

(_d_). _The Lower Baths and Broken Colossus._—Continuing to round
Fort Tewfikieh we reach the coast and follow it N.E. Awash with the
sea are the foundations of some large baths, showing the entrance
channels which were probably closed with sluices, also some grooves
of unknown use. On the shore above are the hot baths of the same
establishment, retaining traces of pink cement. In the surf to the
left lie blocks of granite: closely inspected, they resolve into
fragments of a Colossus (Rameses II?) and a sphinx.

(_e_). _Catacombs._—Fifty yards on, at a point about half-way
between the coast and the fort are a couple of catacombs, lying each
of them in a hollow. One has a subterranean room, the other a
sarcophagus slide. Traces of tombs and tunnels all over the area and
along the low cliff by the shore.

This completes our survey of Canopus, once so enchanting a spot. Of
its ancient delights only the air and the sea remain.

* * * * *

Continue to follow the coast. Perfect bathing. To the right, half-way between the coast and the railway sta. in some rising ground, are catacombs that have been filled in. Then comes the end of the promontory, which is fine. There are two forts:—Fort Saba, closing the neck, where the French resisted when the Turks landed in 1799 (_see_ above); and Fort Kait Bey, on the extremity, founded in the 15th cent. by the Sultan of that name as part of his defence scheme against the Turks (cf. Fort Kait Bey at Alexandria, p. 81). The views are good, with the Mediterranean on one side and the tranquil semi-circle of Aboukir Bay on the other, and from here or from Fort Ramleh the scene of the “Battle of the Nile” can be surveyed, and Nelson’s great manoeuvre appreciated; “Nelson’s Island” from which the French line depended and where the Culloden was wrecked lies straight ahead. (_see_ above.) The promontory was anciently called Zephyrium, because it caught the cool zephyr winds; here stood a little temple to Aphrodite and when the great queen Arsinoe, died in B.C. 270, one of the court admirals had the happy idea of associating her with the elder goddess so that mariners might render thanks to both. The shrine then became fashionable and Queen Berenice hung up her hair here in 244 as a thank-offering for her husband’s safe return; in the following year the hair was snatched up to heaven, where it may still be observed on any fine night as the constellation of Coma Berenice. The temple was less fortunate, and all that remains of it is the base of a column, down among the rocks.—In Christian times the Church of St. Cyr and St. John (_see_ above) stood here, on the side of Aboukir Bay.

* * * * *

_Aboukir Bay._—The shore is airless and there are palm trees, the waters shallow. From a boat one can look down on the mud in which the Orient, Brueys’ flagship, has disappeared with all her treasure; attempts have been made to locate her, but in vain. Good sailing. Turtle fishing. On the projecting spit to which Napoleon dragged his guns (_see_ above) is the landing enclosure for the fishing boats; many of the fishermen are Sicilians; they have lived at Aboukir for generations and form a community by themselves. Here (site uncertain) once stood Menouthis.

Fort Ramleh.—Topped by the waterworks. Magnificent view. The flat ground to the south marks the Canopic Mouth of the Nile, through which Herodotus entered Egypt; here Heracleum stood (_see_ above).

About quarter mile S.W. of Fort Ramleh, and close to a small modern pumping tower, are the so-called _Baths of Cleopatra_. She had nothing to do with them, but they are worth seeing. The western outer wall, of limestone blocks, is well preserved. Steps lead up through it. Within are pavements of pebble mosaic, fragments of stucco, a stone with a drain groove, &c. In a chamber to the left, is an oblong bath nearly six feet deep; steps lead down to it and in the centre of its pebbled floor is a little depression; in the edge of the brim and on the wall opposite are niches, as if to support beams, and provision for the entrance and exit of the water can also be seen. Further on, past a small stucco cistern, is an entrance to a small room which contains an oblong bath to lie down in, quite modern and suburban in appearance; close to it, under a niche, is a footbath—the bather sat on a seat which has disappeared but whose supports can be seen.—These baths are all in the western part of the enclosure; the rest contains other and larger chambers but is in worse preservation. It is much to be wished that these baths, which have been recently excavated, could be protected properly; otherwise they will share the fate of the other antiquities within the military zone.

_Aboukir Village_, to which we return through palm trees, contains nothing of note.

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On leaving Mamourah Junction (p. 176) the railway to Rosetta bears to the right, and crosses the salt marshy ground over which the Canopic branch of the Nile once flowed to the sea. Rural Egypt can be seen at last. Beyond El Tarh station the train crosses a bit of Lake Edku; view of the village to the left.

_Edku_ (no hotel or café) stands on a high mound between the lake and the Mediterranean. The houses in its steep streets are of red brick strengthened with courses of palm and other woods; they anticipate the more complicated architecture of Rosetta; there are some carved doors, Italianate in style. Mosques, unimportant. On the top of the ridge are some eight sailed windmills; they grind corn. Fine date palms grow on the sand dunes towards the sea, for there is fresh water just beneath the surface. There is an interesting local weaving industry, chiefly of silk, imported in its rough state from China. The work rooms are generally on the upper floors of the houses, and reached by an outside staircase. Quiet pleasant places; on the walls of some are Cufic inscriptions, inlaid in brick. The weavers sit to their looms in small oval pits; they have the hands of craftsmen and produce on their simple wooden machinery fabrics that are both durable and beautiful.

Fish are caught in Lake Edku. Some of the fishermen wade far into shallow waters; there is also a fleet of boats which moor to the long wooden jetty by the station. Occasional flamingoes.

The railway continues between lake and sea, finally bending northward and curving round great groves of palm trees, behind which lie the town of Rosetta and the river Nile.

ROSETTA.

Rosetta and Alexandria are rivals; when one rises the other declines. Rosetta, situated on the Nile, would have dominated but for an overwhelming drawback: she has, and can have, no sea-harbour, because the coast in this part of Egypt is mere delta; the limestone ridges that created the two harbours of Alexandria do not continue eastward of Aboukir. Alexandria required organising by human science, but once organised she was irresistible. It is only in an unscientific age that Rosetta has been important. Let us briefly examine the birth and death, rebirth and decay, of civilisation here.

(i). In Pharaonic times the town and river-port of _Bolbitiné_ were
built hereabouts—probably a little up stream, beyond the present
mosque of Abou Mandour. Nothing is known of the history of
Bolbitiné. When Alexandria was founded (B.C. 331) traffic deserted
the “Bolbitiné” mouth of the Nile for the “Canopic” and for the
Alexandrian harbours, and the town decayed consequently. Its chief
memorial is the so-called “Rosetta Stone,” a basalt inscription now
in the British Museum. The inscription enumerates the merits of King
Ptolemy V Epiphanes (B.C. 196; see genealogical tree p. 12). It is a
dull document, a copy of the original decree which was set up at
Memphis and reproduced broadcast over the country. But it is
important because it is written in three scripts—Hieroglyphic,
Demotic and Greek—and thus led to the deciphering of the ancient
Egyptian language. The antique columns &c. that may be seen in
Rosetta to-day also probably came from Bolbitiné. But it was never
important, and the sands have now covered it.

(ii). _Rosetta_ itself was founded in A.D. 870 by El Motaouakel, one
of the Abbaside Caliphs of Egypt. The date is most significant. By
870 the Canopic mouth of the Nile had dried up, and isolated
Alexandria from the Egyptian water system. Shipping passed back to
the Bolbitiné mouth, and frequented it again for nearly a thousand
years. “El Raschid” as the Arabs named the new settlement, became
the western port of Egypt, Damietta being the eastern. It was
important in the Crusades; St. Louis of France (1049) knew it as
“Rexi.” In the 17th and 18th centuries it was practically rebuilt in
its present form; the mosques, dwelling houses, cisterns, the great
warehouses for grain that line the river bank, all date from this
period, it evolved an architectural style, suitable to the locality.
The chief material is brick, made from the Nile mud, and coloured
red or black, there was no limestone to hand, such as supplied
Alexandria: with the bricks are introduced courses of palm wood,
antique columns &c. and a certain amount of mashrabiyeh work and
faience. The style is picturesque rather than noble and may be
compared with the brick style of the North German Hansa towns.
Examples of it are to be found throughout the Delta and even in
Alexandria herself (p. 125), but Rosetta is its head quarters. In
architecture, as in other matters, the town kept in touch with
Cairo; an Oriental town, scarcely westernised even to-day. So long
as Alexandria lay dormant, it flourished; at the beginning of the
19th century its population was 35,000, that of Alexandria 5,000.

In 1798 Napoleon’s troops took Rosetta, in 1801 the British and
Turks retook it, in 1807 the reconnoitring expedition of General
Frazer (p. 89) was here repulsed. These events, unimportant in
themselves, were the prelude to an irreparable disaster: the revival
of Alexandria, on scientific lines, by Mohammed Ali. As soon as he
developed the harbours there and restored the connection with the
Nile water systems by cutting the Mahmoudieh Canal, (p. 91), Rosetta
began to decay exactly as Bolbitiné had decayed two thousand years
before. The population now is 14,000 as against Alexandria’s
400,000, and it has become wizen and puny through inbreeding. The
warehouses and mosques are falling down, the costly private
dwellings of the merchants have been gutted, and the sand, advancing
from the south and from the west, invades a little farther every
year through the palm groves and into the streets. One can wander
aimlessly for hours (it is best thus to wander) and can see nothing
that is modern, nor anything more exciting than the arrival of the
fishing fleet with sardines. It is the East at last, but the East
outwitted by science, and in the last stages of exhaustion.

The main street of Rosetta starts from the Railway Station and runs due south, parallel to the river, so it is easy to find one’s way. In it is the only hotel, kept by a Greek; those who are not fastidious can sleep here: the rest must manage to see the sights between trains. The hotel has a pleasant garden, overlooked by the minaret of a mosque.

In the main street, to the right;—_Mosque of Ali-el-Mehalli_, built 1721, but containing the tomb of the Saint, who died in the 16th century. A large but uninteresting building, with an entrance porch in the “Delta” style—bricks arranged in patterns, pendentives, &c.

Further down, to the left, by the covered bazaars: Entrance with old doors to a large ruined building, probably once an “okel” or courtyard for travellers and their animals; one can walk through it and come out the other side through a fine portal, in the direction of the river. All this part of the town is most picturesque. The houses are four or five stories high, and have antique columns fantastically disposed among their brickwork. The best and oldest example of this domestic architecture is the _House of Ali-el-Fatairi_, in the Haret el-Ghazl, with inscriptions above its lintels that date it 1620: its external staircase leads to two doors, those of the men’s and women’s apartments respectively. Other fine houses are those of:—Cheikh Hassan el Khabbaz in Rue Dahliz el Molk; Osman Agha, at some cross roads,—carved wood inside, date 1808; Ahmed Agha in the Chareh el Ghabachi to the west of the town, invaded by sand.

At the end of the main street is the most important building in the town, the _Mosque of Zagloul_. It really consists of two mosques: the western was founded about 1600 by Zagloul, the Mamaluke or body-servant of Said Hassan; the other and more ruinous section is the mosque of El Diouai. There is a courtyard with fountain in centre. The entire mass measures about 80 by 100 yds. All is brick except the two stone minarets; the ruined one was “cut with scissors” according to local opinion, but according to archaeology fell in the early 19th cent. The sanctuary of the Mosque of Zagloul proper is a stupendous hall; over 300 columns, many of them antique, are arranged in six parallel rows, there are four praying niches, three of them elaborately decorated, there is the tomb of the ex-body-servant himself, now worshipped as a saint and wooed by votive offerings of boats, and, in the tomb, his former master, the Said Hassan, lies with him, and shares his honours. The sanctuary is ruinous and carelessly built, but its perspective effects, especially from the south wall, near the tomb, are very fine and rival those of the Mosque of El Azhar at Cairo. Light enters through openings in the roof.

East of the Mosque of Zagloul and close to the river is the Mosque of _Mohammed el Abbas_, date 1809, of superior construction but on the same style; it has, unlike the other mosques of Rosetta, a fine dome, covering the tomb of the saint.

Other Mosques:—Toumaksis Mosque, built by Saleh Agha Toumaksis in 1694; it is reached up steps; fine iron work round the key holes; there is a good pulpit inside, also tiles, and the prayer niche retains its original geometrical decoration of hexagons and “Solomon’s seals.”—Mosque of Cheikh Toka, which stands in an angle of the Chareh Souk el Samak el Kadim; portal in “Delta” style with rosace over its arches; inside, pulpit dated 1727.

About a mile to the south of the town, best reached by boat, is the _Mosque of Abou Mandour_, a showy modern building, well placed on the bend of the river bank, and backed by huge sand hills that threaten to bury it, as they have buried Bolbitiné.

North of the town, and half-way between it and the sea, is the site of Fort St. Julien, which Napoleon’s soldiers built, and where they discovered the Rosetta Stone. The Fort has disappeared; there is a sketch of it in the Alexandria Museum (Vestibule).

Sailing on the Nile: delightful.

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