Chapter VI: Part II: Egypt (1)

Egypt remained for a considerable time in quiet subjection to the Chalîfs, successors of Mohammed. But their power being on the decline, owing to the insolence of their Turcoman militia, the janizaries of that period, and other causes, this fertile country began to throw off the yoke.

DYNASTY I.

_The Tholonides._

In the year of the Hejira 265, A.D. 879, Achmed, son of Tholon or Teilûn, governor of Egypt, usurped the sovereignty from the Chalîf Motamid-b’-illah. This short-lived dynasty expired in Sultan Harôn, grandson of the usurper, about thirty years after.

DYNASTY II.

_The Fatimites._

The conquest of Egypt by Abu-Tammîm, Sultan of Africa, has been already mentioned.

975. Abu-Tammîm or Moaz was succeeded by his son Aziz. He carried on several wars in Syria.

996. Hakim, his successor, is only famed for his cruelty.

1021. Daher, fourth Chalîf of Egypt, conquered Aleppo, but was forced to abandon it.

1036. Abu-Tamîm Mostansir. In the reign of this Chalîf most of the Egyptian possessions in Syria were lost.

1094. Mostali. This Chalîf, in 1098, regained Jerusalem from the Turks; next year it was taken by the Franks, under Godefroy de Boulogne.

1101. Amer, a child. The Wizîr Afdhal exercised the sovereignty during his reign of thirty years.

1130. Hafed.

1149. Dafer. In his Chalîfate the Christians took Ascalon.

1155. Fayez.

1160. Aded. The Fatimite race had before this period sunk into such imbecility, that the Wizirs held the whole executive power. Shawûr, the _reigning_ Wizir, having been supplanted by the intrigues of Dargham, passed to Syria, to implore the assistance of Nûr-el-din, Sultan of Damascus[19]. In 1164 his request was complied with. Shirakûk, called Syracon by the Christian writers, and his nephew, the famous Salah-el-dîn, or Saladin, were sent to re-establish Shawûr, who soon finding his associates too powerful, formed an alliance with the Franks. Shirakûk however defeated all his projects; and in 1169 procured an order from the Chalîf Aded for the decapitation of Schawûr, with the robe and firmân of wizîr for himself. He died in the same year, and was succeeded by his nephew Saladin.

1171. Saladin obliges the Franks to evacuate Egypt. An enemy of the Fatimites, from religious schism, he omits the name of Aded, in the public prayers, and substitutes that of the Chalîf of Bagdad. Aded died on the 13th of September 1171; and in him terminated the dynasty of the Fatimites. His successors renounced the title of Chalîf, and assumed only that of Sultans.

DYNASTY III.

_The Aiûbite Sultans._

Salah-ed-din, son of Aiûb, a Kurd, usurped the title of Sultan of Egypt in 1174. Not contented with that sovereignty, he extended his views to Syria. In 1177 he is defeated at Ramlé by Rainaud de Chatillon.

1182. More success attended his arms in Syria; and next year he seized Amida in Mesopotamia, and forced Aleppo to a capitulation.

1187. Saladin gains over the Franks his famous victory at Hittîn: the Christian power falls, and Saladin becomes master of Jerusalem on the 2d of October.

1189. The Franks besiege Akka, or Ptolemais, which did not surrender till after it had been invested for two years.

1192. Saladin concludes a truce with Richard king of England. Akka and Yaffa were almost the only places left to the Franks.

Saladin died on the 4th March 1193, aged only fifty-seven, leaving sixteen sons and a daughter.

1193. Malek-el-Azîz, second son of Saladin. He seized Damascus, and left to his brother only Samosata.

1198. Malek-el-Mansûr. His uncle Afdhal, prince of Samosata, was called by the Emîrs to rule the kingdom during the minority, by the title of Atabek.

1200. Adel-Seif-el-dîn, brother of Saladin, usurps the crown.

1209. The Franks penetrate into Egypt, and retire with considerable booty. Nine years afterward they returned, and seized the isle Pharos and Damiatt.

1218. Malek-el-Kâmel, son of Seif-el-dîn. The crusaders abandon Damiatt in 1221.

1228. Malek surrenders, by treaty, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Sidon, to Frederic II. the Emperor of Germany.

1239. Malek Adel deposed by his brother.

1240. Malek Salah. In 1244 he defeated the Franks and Syrians, who were about to penetrate into Egypt.

1249. St. Louis seized Damiatt; and in the same year Malek Salah died.

He had bought from the Tatars a number of Turkish slaves from Kaptchak, to form a guard and marine. These he raised to the highest employments; and they became the famous MAMLÛKS, who seized the sovereignty of Egypt.

1249. Turân Shah, son of Malek. Next year he captures St. Louis, and his army of 20,000. On the 1st May 1250, Turân Shah is massacred by the Mamlûks, who assign the sceptre to his step-mother, and afterwards to a boy of the Aiubite race, which in him closed its domination over Egypt.

* * * * *

MAMLUKS.

SECT. I.

_Baharite Mamlûks._

These were so styled, from having been originally employed as _mariners_ on board the ships of the Sultan of Egypt. They were Turks.

A.D. 1254. Ezz-ed-dîn Moaz Ibegh was the first sovereign of this dynasty. He was assassinated.

1255. Nûr-ed-dîn Ali, son of Sultan Ezz-ed-dîn, followed.

It would be uninteresting to mark the names and short reigns of these princes, most of whom fell by assassination. The chief events alone shall be commemorated.

Bibars I. who reigned from A.D. 1260 to 1277, was an active prince, and seized most of the Christian possessions in Syria.

Kalîl Ascraf, who ascended the throne in 1290, took Ptolemais, and terminated the power of the Christians in Palestine.

During successive reigns many contests took place in Syria, the possession of which was disputed by the Mamlûk Sultans and the Moguls.

Nazr Mohammed, who died in 1341, distinguished himself by the protection which he granted to agriculture and the arts.

In 1348 a pestilence appeared in Egypt, or perhaps originally in Syria, which spread over a great part of Europe.

A.D. 1365. In October, Peter de Lusignan, king of Cyprus, besieged Alexandria; but he was soon constrained to abandon it, for want of provisions[20]. Shabân Ascrâf was then Sultan, and he was the first who ordered the Sherîfs, or descendants of the Prophet, to wear a green turban.

SECT. II.

_Borgite Mamlûks._

This race was of Circassian extract, and continued to rule Egypt till the French invasion.

1382. Barkûk-Daher, who had been Atabek in the minority of Hadgi Salah, deposed his pupil, and seized the supreme authority. Timûr invading Syria, Barkûk obtained two victories over the Moguls, and forced them to withdraw.

1399. Faradj, son of Barkûk. Few of these Sultans reigned above a year, till

1442. Bursbai, who reigned sixteen. He sent a fleet against Cyprus, which took Lymissos and Nicosia, and brought John II. and most of his nobility, captives. Syria remained almost a constant appanage to Egypt.

1461. Abu-’l-Fathe Achmed received tribute from Cyprus, and assigned the crown to James, natural son of John III.

Of the succeeding Sultans we find nothing remarkable; and the Mamlûk aristocracy began to render their station more and more precarious.

In 1501 Kansû El-ghûri was raised to the throne.

In 1516, Selim II. emperor of Constantinople, having declared war against him, defeated and slew him near Aleppo, and seized Syria.

Tomân Bey was appointed his successor by the Mamlûks. On the 24th January 1517, he lost, at Rodania near Kahira, a great battle against the Othman troops. After another obstinate conflict, Tomân Bey was again defeated by Selim, taken prisoner, and hanged at one of the gates of Kahira on the 13th April.

* * * * *

Selim was contented with abolishing the _monarchy_ of the Mamlûks, but suffered their _aristocracy_ to retain its former power, on certain conditions; the chief of which were, an annual tribute, obedience in matters of faith to the Mufti of Constantinople, and the insertion of the name of the Othman Emperors in the prayers, and on the coin.

Syria, its usual appanage, being withdrawn, Egypt has rarely intermeddled with foreign affairs, and the Beys have generally been contented with squeezing the people, and enjoying in ease the fruit of their extortions. During the pre-eminence of the Othman power, Egypt appears one of the most quiet and submissive of the provinces: and the travellers of this and the two preceding centuries may supply what few materials arise, concerning its history, or rather its condition. The evening of the Turkish domination was marked by the appearance of that meteor, Ali Bey, who had scarcely dazzled the nations with his wild effulgence before he disappeared.

CHAP. VIII.

UPPER EGYPT.

_Design to penetrate into Habbesh or Abyssinia — Voyage on the Nile — Description of Assiût — General course of the Nile — Islands and villages — Caverns — Kaw — Achmîm — Painted caverns — Girgi — Dendera — Antient Temple — Kous — Topography of Upper Egypt — El-wah-el-Ghurbi — Situation of the Oasis parva._

Ever eager to accomplish my proposed journey into Abyssinia, I was nevertheless not able to set out till Monday 10th of September, and, even then, not with all the advantages that might have been expected. I had indeed employed part of the summer, which was passed in Kahira, in learning the Arabic language; which is a task of difficulty to those who are unable to supply the utter want of books, and method and perspicuity in the teacher. My friends were forward in representing the dangers to be encountered, rather than in furnishing the means of avoiding them. I determined to adopt such a method as an imperfect knowlege of the country suggested as the least exceptionable, and leave the rest to fortune. Judging that I should yet have occasion for an interpreter, I took care to provide a Greek, who, besides his native language, was acquainted with the Turkish, Arabic, and Italian. I had also with me a Mohammedan of the lower class of Kahirines, who, as belongs to that character, was prepared for every office. Thus provided, we commenced our voyage, and on the eighth day reached Assiût.

If we except some few inconveniences from the motley company that fills the boats, it is not easy to conceive a more pleasurable mode of travelling than that by the Nile when it overflows. The great body of water, perfectly calm and unruffled, the banks on each side covered with the rich product of the husbandman’s labour, form a scene in every sense alluring. The passengers are protected by a simple awning of branches from the immediate action of the sun, and the great heat of the tropical latitude is assuaged by a gentle breeze, which generally continues during four or five meridian hours. The mariners chaunt responsive to the motion of their oars; and the vessel offers an apt emblem of finding fortune in her most prosperous career.

I landed near Assiût, and went to an okal in that city to lodge. Here I suffered no kind of inconvenience.—A small room, dry and perfectly quiet, not infested with vermin, answered the purpose of security to property; and in this climate, at such a season, no shelter is required except from the sun’s rays. Assiût is, at this time, by far the most considerable city in the higher Egypt. This character formerly belonged to Girgi, which is in effect still a place of note, but less so than Assiût. The situation is in all respects favourable, and the manner in which the water is conducted round the town is worthy of remark. A canal, dug probably from an early period, parallel to the Nile, in this part of the country laves the foot of the mountains which are near to Assiût, and having surrounded that city, and the villages adjacent, descends again into the river. The water, however, is not admitted into it but at a certain period of its increase, and then it overflows all the surrounding lands, and Assiût only communicates with the Nile, by a road, artificially raised above the common level, which leads down to the point where the boats resort, and are laden and discharged; and by two bridges, the one leading to this road, and the other towards the mountains.

It has become much more populous within a few years by the good government of Solyman Bey, who has also adorned it by planting many trees. Assiût was formerly known to the Arabic writers by the name of _hâut-es-Sultân_, the king’s fish, or fish-pond, for حوض signifies both. It would be curious to inquire from what circumstance; whether from having been appointed to supply the king’s table with fish, or what other reason? The mountains above Assiût abound with caverns which have probably originally answered the purpose of sepulture, and then, in the Christian age, may have been the resort of persons who sought religious retirement. There are some hieroglyphic inscriptions, but nothing very remarkable, and they have been already described by former travellers, so that it is not necessary to give a detailed account of them here. The principal antiquities between Kahira and Assiût, are at Shech Abade[21], the antient Antinoopolis, and at Ashmunein. In the former are two Corinthian columns, highly adorned, standing diagonally opposed to each other, and having each a Greek inscription. The first words of the one are as follow,

ΑΓΑΘΗ ΤΥΧΗ

ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΙ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΙ ΜΑΡΚΩ ΑΥΡΗΛΙΩ.

The next word appears to be ΣΕΚΟΥΝΔΩ, but it is obliterated[22].

Having passed about fourteen days in Assiût, waiting for a boat to go forward, which, in this season, when the corn is transported into the magazines, it is rather difficult to find, at length was able to hire one, of a moderate size, and entirely devoted to ourselves. We left Assiût on the 4th of October, and passed the night before a village called Mehâla. It has been built by a certain Osman Bey, within twenty years; and however destitute of any spirit of improvement persons of this description may be thought in Europe, this village is an evidence of some attention thereto; for the four streets of which it consists are at right angles with each other, built in right lines, and four times as wide as what is generally seen in places of the same kind. It is true, the materials are mean, and the number of houses inconsiderable.

The villagers of the Upper Egypt are at little expense for building. Clay and unburned bricks, the chief materials used in fabricating houses, are to be had for the labour of collecting or forming them. The same may be said of the thatch; and the date tree, though perishable, furnishes the timber required. If a carpenter be employed, his time is not occupied in preparing useless ornaments. In the towns however, as Ghenné, Assiût, Girgi, &c. the habitations are constructed of better materials, with much more art, and are some of them sumptuous.

Many considerable islands exist in the course of the Nile, but they are too frequently changing place, in consequence of new depositions of mud, to admit of their being marked with permanent accuracy.

The number of towns and villages which I distinguished on the Eastern side between Kahira and Assuân, amounted to about one hundred and sixty.

On the Western, where the cultivable lands are more extended, two hundred and twenty-eight. Yet they cannot be enumerated very accurately in passing on the stream; for there are many within the limits of the arable land on both sides, but principally on the West, which are not visible from the river, and the names and numbers of which the circumstances then existing did not permit me to learn from those to whom I could have recourse for information.

The more populous of the towns seem to be those which follow:

_East of the Nile._ _West of the Nile._

1. Achmîm. 1. Benesoef.

2. Ghenné. 2. Mînié; city.

3. Kous. 3. Melawi.

4. Assuân. 4. Monfalût; city.

5. Assiût; city.

6. Tachta.

7. Girgi; city.

8. Bardîs.

9. Bagjúra.

10. Nakade.

11. Erment.

12. Isna; city.

In the mountain above Assiût are several remarkable caverns, very spacious, and adorned with hieroglyphics and emblematic figures. Some appear to have been sepulchral, as they contain fragments of the jars in which were deposited, not only the Ibis, but cats, dogs, and other animals, whether considered as sacred, or slain to attend their master or mistress in the other world. In one of these caverns, besides the entrance, there are three chambers hewn in the rock, which is free-stone, one sixty feet by thirty, another sixty by twenty-six, a third twenty-six by twenty-five. Farther up the mountain there are caverns yet more spacious than these.

In other parts of the mountain are numerous rough cavities, from which the stone has been extracted for the purposes of building, but they have afterwards been used for various objects; some for sepulture, as appears from the remains of jars curiously stopped with bitumen, others for summer retreats, as they are exposed to the North, and very cool.

Large quantities of fine flax are cultivated in the neighbourhood of Assiût: this article and wheat are transported from Upper to Lower Egypt. Salt and other articles are brought in return. From Mecca by way of Cossîr are imported Indian goods; but the European articles of broad-cloth, tin, &c. are here rarely seen. The Soudân caravans form a chief support of Assiût, which, with respect to them, serves as a midway station. Assiût is regarded as the capital of Middle Egypt; and in population exceeds all the towns to the South of Kahira. I should not be inclined to estimate the inhabitants at less than twenty-five thousand. The _Senjiak_, or Bey of Saïd, divides the year of his office between Assiût and Girgi; the internal government consists of the Cadi, assisted by other civil officers; and five Cashefs, mostly appointed by Soliman Bey, constantly reside there. It is the seat of a Coptic bishop, but the Copts are not very numerous, the people being chiefly Mohammedans.

So severely is female chastity guarded in this country, that instant death follows its violation. If tenderness of disposition should prevent the father, brother, husband from inflicting this punishment, he is shunned by all his acquaintance, and becomes a stranger to society.

Provisions are considerably cheaper at Assiût than in Kahira.

Lentilles form a considerable article of food to the inhabitants of the Upper Egypt, who rarely enjoy the luxury of rice. The lentilles are so prepared as to be very palatable.

In Dar-Fûr are no lentilles.

The Egyptian onions are remarkably mild, more so than the Spanish, but not so large. They are of the purest white, and the _lamina_ are of a softer and looser contexture than those of any other species. They deteriorate by transplantation; so that much must depend on the soil and climate. They remain a favourite article of food with all classes; and it is usual to put a layer or two of them, and of meat, on a spit or skewer, and thus roast them over a charcoal fire. The desire of the Israelites for the onions of Egypt is not to be wondered at.

About four hours from Assiût we had passed Monfalût, a city which I afterwards returned to view at more leisure. Monfalût is of considerable extent and population. Between it and Assiût stands Ben-Ali, a populous town. Those three places constitute, with Girgi, the chief marts of the trade of Upper Egypt.

October 4th, 1792. Continued our navigation up the Nile.

6th. Passed Kaw or Gaw-es-Sherkî, the Antæopolis of antiquity, where remains part of a curious temple, consisting of several columns, built of large stones, as usual in Egyptian remains, and covered with emblematical figures, interspersed with hieroglyphics. Some of the stones in the temple are from eighteen to twenty feet in length. At How on the West, supposed the ancient Diospolis, observed no ruins.

8th. Came to Achmîm, the antient Chemmis or Panopolis, on the East side of the Nile, now a pleasant village or small town. Heliodorus, in his celebrated romance, often mentions Chemmis, and speaks of a dispute between its people and those of Bessa or Antinoe. Many cities intervened between Bessa and Chemmis, the latter of which he seems to place not far from a lake near the Heracleotic mouth of the Nile. The whole geography of that ingenious prelate forms one puzzle, though he was a native of the neighbouring country of Syria.

At Achmîm some fragments of columns still remain, and in the adjacent mountain are caverns resembling those at Assiût. The hieroglyphics have been painted in distemperature, as usual with all those executed on the smooth surface of free-stone. A mummy had been recently taken out of the principal room, as appeared from the remains of prepared cloth, and human bones. The ceilings of the chambers have been plaistered and coloured. Perhaps the antient Egyptians had a custom, not unknown to other Oriental nations, of annual visits to the dead[23]; and these chambers might be constructed for the reception of the relations on those occasions.

The neighbourhood of Achmîm abounds with sycamores.

This kind of sycamore, it is well known, bears a small dry fig, of a yellowish colour, adhering to the trunk of the tree. Many gardens are also seen, in which grow date and other trees.

11th October, arrived at Girgi, formerly the capital of Upper Egypt, now declining. There is a large market-place, with shops in abundance. At Menshié, antient Ptolemais, and at Girgi, observed several large pieces of granite, seemingly antique mill-stones. They are about six feet in diameter, and nearly three feet thick, with a perforation of one foot square in the centre, from which waving radii, about an inch deep, pass to the circumference.

The Senjiak, or Emîr-es-Saïd, passes half the year at Girgi, as already mentioned. His office is esteemed the third in importance, and is now filled by Soliman Bey, an honest and respectable character.

15th October. Passed onward to Farshiût, a populous town, with many Christian inhabitants.

17th. Arrived at Dendera, the antient Tentyra. Saw the noted temple, the most perfect remain of Egyptian architecture. It is in the form of an oblong square, 200 feet by 150—Pococke says 145; is now almost buried in the sand. Ascending some steps in the middle of the wall, you come to a dark gallery, passing through all the sides. Many of the columns are standing. The inside of the _pronaos_ and of the gallery is covered with painted hieroglyphics in all their original freshness. A Cashef, imagining treasures were concealed, was employed in the laudable work of blowing up part of the walls!

The same night, about twelve, reached Ghenné, the antient Cœne, or Cœnopolis. The navigation on the Nile is particularly delightful in the stillness of the night, diversified by the bright reflection of the moon on the water, or the clear sparkling of innumerable stars; among which the brilliant Canopus, unseen in European climates, is observable, except when some mountain conceals that part of the hemisphere.

19th. Came opposite to Coptis, now Kepht. The rubbish may fill a circumference of two miles, evincing its antient extent. Several small columns of grey granite lie on the ground, and some large stones, engraved with hieroglyphics. The distance from the Nile to Coptis is much smaller than has been supposed by European geographers.

A small part of a bridge remains near Kepht or Coptis, sufficient to determine that there once was one, but it is impossible to say of what æra. There is nothing grand in the structure, which consists of small stones.

20th. Stopped at Kous, the Apollinopolis parva. Observed at a small distance on the North-east an antient gate, adorned with figures, and a deep cornice. Kous is a populous town, about a mile on the East of the Nile.

21st October 1792. Passed the night at Nakadé, where is a Catholic convent. On the following day came to Aksôr, the antient Thebes.

A brief general retrospect of the topography of Upper Egypt may here be given. The towns and cultivation are wholly confined to the banks of the Nile, but especially on the East. Mountains continue to present a regular barrier behind on both sides. Beyond this natural wall, on the West, is a vast sandy desert, traversed at times by the Muggrebîn Arabs; here and there, at the distance of about a hundred miles or more from the Nile, are Oases or fertile isles, in the ocean of sand. On the East, between the river and the Arabian gulf, are vast ranges of mountains, abounding with marble and porphyry, but generally destitute of water, so that no town or village can be built. Among these ranges, however, some tribes of Bedouin Arabs, as the _Ababdi_ and _Beni Hossein_, contrive to find some fertile spots and diminutive springs, so as to furnish residences for about three or four thousand inhabitants. Even the shores of the Red Sea, corresponding with Egypt, contain but a small number of tribes; and the Arabs on the East in general are little formidable. The Muggrebîns are more ferocious, and might send forth thirty thousand men capable of bearing arms, could they ever be united, a thing almost impossible, their parties seldom exceeding four or five hundred, and the tribes being divided by intestine enmities. The Lesser Oasis, now _El-wah el-Ghurbi_, forms a kind of capital settlement, if I may so speak, of the Muggrebîn Arabs, who extend even to Fezzân and Tripoli. They are dressed in a linen or cotton shirt, over which is wrapped a blanket of fine flannel; all have fire-arms and are good marksmen, and their musquets are their constant companions. Their chief employment lies in breeding horses[24], camels, and sheep. They are very hardy and abstemious, a small cake of bread and leathern bottle of water supplying a man with ample provision for a day.

It is said that several ruins are to be found at _El-wah-el-Ghurbi_. Of the _Oasis Magna_, now El-wah, I shall speak at large in treating of my journey to Dar-Fûr; but must observe that the distance between this Oasis and that styled _Parva_ is erroneously laid down in the most recent maps. I was informed by the Muggrebîns at _El-wah_, that _Charjé_, the most northern village of that district, was but two days journey from the nearest part of _El-wah-el-Ghurbi_; that is, about forty miles. _Oasis Magna_ seems rightly to correspond with the latitude of Dendera, and of course that of the southern extremity of _Oasis Parva_ should be a little to the South of that of Assiût, and not far North of Tinodes Mons, in D’Anville’s map; apparently the chain on the East of both the Oases, or الواحات. On the West I observed no mountains, nor on the South. The most northern Oasis known near Egypt is that of _Siwa_, already described.

CHAP. IX.

UPPER EGYPT.

_Thebes — Site and antiquities — Painted caverns — Their discovery and plan — Manners of the people at Thebes — Isna — Fugitive Beys — Antiquities — Rain — Assûan or Syene — Obstacles to farther progress — Return to Ghenné._

I found the inhabitants of the Thebaic district had been recently in open rebellion against the Mamlûks, but they were now somewhat more quiet. The Troglodytes of the caverns remained tumultuous, and sometimes opposed the troops of the Bey, by firing from their recesses; at other times they would retreat to the mountains, and leave all pursuit behind.

The massy and magnificent forms of the ruins that remain of antient Thebes, the capital of Egypt, the city of Jove, the city with a hundred gates, must inspire every intelligent spectator with awe and admiration. Diffused on both sides of the Nile, their extent confirms the classical observations, and Homer’s animated description rushes into the memory:

“Egyptian Thebes, in whose palaces vast wealth is stored; from each of whose hundred gates issue two hundred warriors, with their horses and chariots.”

These venerable ruins, probably the most antient in the world, extend for about three leagues in length along the Nile. East and West they reach to the mountains, a breadth of about two leagues and a half. The river is here about three hundred yards broad. The circumference of the antient city must therefore have been about twenty-seven miles.

In sailing up the Nile, the first village you come to within the precincts is _Kourna_, on the West, where there are few houses, the people living mostly in the caverns. Next is _Abuhadjadj_, a village, and _Karnak_, a small district, both on the East. Far the largest portion of the city stood on the Eastern side of the river. On the South-west _Medinet-Abu_ marks the extremity of the ruins; for Arment, which is about two leagues to the South, cannot be considered as a part.

Modern authors have styled the site of Thebes _Luxor_, a name which is not in my journal taken on the spot, nor does my memory retain a trace of such an appellation, not to mention that the word is not Arabic. Some write _Aksor_, which convinces me that both are corruptions of _El Kussûr_, the real term, which is still applied to the ruins by the Arabs. Norden is very imperfect in his Arabic names, as well as his topography.

In describing the ruins, we shall begin with the most considerable, which are on the East of the Nile. The chief is the Great Temple, an oblong square building of vast extent, with a double colonnade, one at each extremity. The massy columns and walls are covered with hieroglyphics, a labour truly stupendous. 1. The Great Temple stands in the district called _Karnac_.

2. Next in importance is the temple at _Abu-Hadjadj_.

3. Numerous ruins, avenues marked with remains of Sphinxes, &c. On the West side of the Nile appear,

1. Two colossal figures, apparently of a man and woman, formed of a calcareous stone like the rest of the ruins.

2. Remains of a large temple, with caverns excavated in the rock.

3. The magnificent edifice styled the _palace of Memnon_. Some of the columns are about forty feet high, and about nine and a half in diameter. The columns and walls are covered with hieroglyphics. This stands at _Kourna_.

4. Behind the palace is the passage styled Bibân-el-Molûk, leading up the mountain. At the extremity of this passage, in the sides of the rock, are the celebrated caverns known as the sepulchres of the antient kings.

Several of these sepulchres have been described by Pococke with sufficient minuteness; he has even given plans of them. But in conversation with persons at Assiût and in other parts of Egypt, I was always informed that they had not been discovered till within the last thirty years, when a son of Shech _Hamâm_, a very powerful chief of the Arabs, who governed all the South of Egypt from Achmîm to Nubia, caused four of them to be opened, in expectation of finding treasure.

They had probably been rifled in very antient times; but how the memory of them should have been lost remains to be explained. One of those which I visited exactly answers Dr. Pococke’s description; but the other three appear materially different from any of his plans. It is therefore possible that some of those which he saw have been gradually closed up by the sand, and that the son of _Hamâm_ had discovered others.

They are cut into the free-stone rock, in appearance upon one general plan, though differing in parts. First, a passage of some length; then a chamber; a continuation of the first passage turns abruptly to the right, where is the large sepulchral chamber, with a sarcophagus of red granite in the midst.

In the second part of the passage of the largest are several cells or recesses on both sides. In these appear the chief paintings, representing the mysteries, which, as well as the hieroglyphics covering all the walls, are very fresh. I particularly observed the two harpers described by Bruce; but his engraved figures seem to be from memory. The French merchants at Kahira informed me that he brought with him two Italian artists; one was Luigi Balugani, a Bolognese, the other Zucci, a Florentine.

On landing with my Greek servant at _Kourna_, no male inhabitants appeared, but two or three women were standing at the entrance of one of their dens. As we passed in quest of the Shech-el-belad, to request a guide, one of the women said in Arabic, “Are not you afraid of crocodiles?” I replied in the negative. She said emphatically, “We are crocodiles;” and proceeded to depict her own people as thieves and murderers. They are indeed a ferocious clan, differing in person from other Egyptians. Spears twelve or fourteen feet in length are sudden and deadly weapons in their hands. At Kahira, Mohammed Bey Elfi had told me I should here need a guard of twenty men, but I found two guides assigned me by the Shech-el-belad sufficient.

In the temple at _Medinet Abu_ we observed a large quantity of blood, and were told by the peasants of Beirât that the Kournese had there murdered a Muggrebîn and a Greek, travellers passing from Assuân to Kahira, who had strayed thither from mere curiosity, or perhaps with a view of finding treasure, in which the Muggrebîns pretend to superior skill.

At the village called _Beirât_ is a native spring; and some others, I was told, are found in the neighbourhood, the water of which is different from that of the Nile, yet sweet.

Walled towns, it has been observed by Pococke, were not common in Egypt, and therefore, he adds, it is probable that Thebes was never surrounded by a wall.—That the passage in Homer refers not to the gates of the city, must readily be admitted. But it appears to me likely that Thebes was walled, from some feint remains, which are even to this day visible. In the precincts of the vast temple at Aksor, or El-Kussûr, is discoverable a small chamber, lined either with red granite or with porphyry, on ascending to the roof of which from without, and directing the eye to the Southward in a straight line, as far as it can reach, an insulated mass is seen, which has the appearance of having been a gate. With a telescope, from the same spot, are visible other still more imperfect remains, under the same circumstances, in the directions West and North. From their situation, precisely opposed to each other, and at the three cardinal points, at so great a distance, rather than from any stronger circumstance, I was inclined to believe that these may have been three gates.—That to the West is very near the mountains on that side.

After passing three days in and about antient Thebes, we advanced on the 26th Oct. 1792 on our voyage up the Nile.

27th Oct. Came to Isna, a large town, the residence of the fugitive Beys. Here is also found a temple of the same kind as those of Thebes, inferior in size, but tolerably well preserved.

The Beys now resident here, are, _Hassan el Giddawi_, _Achmet el Uali_, _Osman Bey Hassan_, and another, whose name I did not learn. They are very poor and dejected, in consequence of their long exclusion from the government. Hassan Bey has about thirty Mamlûks with him; the rest only eight or ten each. Their whole revenues are drawn from the country near Isna and Assuân, which is but unproductive. Passed one night at Isna, and thence proceeded towards _Edfû_.

The people here have a superstition concerning crocodiles similar to that entertained in the West Indies; they say there is a king of them, who resides near Isna, and who has ears, but no tail; and he possesses an uncommon regal quality, that of doing no harm (“the king can do no wrong”). Some are bold enough to assert that they have seen him.

28th Oct. Near a village called Hillal, observed reliques of an antient town; part of two small Egyptian temples, and a statue of less than the human size, in a kneeling posture, but broken off above the knees; the feet and legs remaining entire. The place has been surrounded by a thick wall of unburned brick, but of what date it is now impossible to determine.

The following day, a little shower fell in the morning; the only instance I met with of rain in Upper Egypt. Arrived at Edfû, and inspected a gate or portico, and a small Egyptian temple adjoining.

30th. Passed by _Gebel-el-Silsili_, the chained mountain, where, in antient times, a chain was passed across the Nile. Here are some sculptures in the rock, which is of hard free-stone, not of granite, as Norden mentions by mistake.

Same day sailed by _Kûm-Ombû_, literally the heap or ruins of Ombos. Saw there the temple described by the traveller just mentioned.

On the following day arrived at _Assuân_, the antient Syene. The remains of antiquity are here few, and some seem rather of Roman than Egyptian fabric. Even the modern town is almost in ruins, and contains very few houses and inhabitants; it is chiefly supported by a small duty upon dates, passing from Ibrîm to Kahira. Near Assûan may be still seen the tombs of the Mamlûks who fled from Selim on his invasion of Egypt. They are now very ruinous.

Some remains of antiquity are yet visible in the isle opposite Syene, antiently called Elephantine[25]. The Arabs use one as an inclosure for cattle. A statue of granite also appears, holding a lituus in each hand. It is remarkable that many of the present inhabitants of this island have the negro countenance, hair, and person.

About three hours walk from Assûan is the _cataract_, in Ar. _Shelal_, more properly _rapides_, being merely an easy descent of the river among numerous isles and rocks of granite, which obstruct the current. Far from deafening the spectator, the noise is hardly audible.

Near the cataract I observed some black rocks; but whether of basaltes, or any other substance, the distance prevented me from distinguishing. It is well known that many of the antient statues and engraved stones found in Egypt are of that material, but it is believed to have been drawn from Abyssinia. I observed no quarries of basaltes either in Egypt or the other parts of Africa which I visited.

At Assûan I remained three days, contriving, if possible, to pursue my route up the Nile. But a war having arisen between the Mamlûks of Upper Egypt and the Cashef of Ibrîm, no one was suffered to pass from Egypt to Nubia. The caravans had all been stopped for many months, and not even a camel could be procured. At Kahira I could attain no previous knowlege of this war having originated with the fugitive Beys.

With deep regret for the disappointment in my earnest wish of proceeding to Abyssinia by this route, I was constrained to abandon all hope for that season, and to think of returning.

Left Assûan the 4th of November 1792, and proceeding rapidly down the Nile, arrived at Ghenné on the 7th.

CHAP. X.

JOURNEY TO COSSÎR ON THE RED SEA.

_Inducements and danger — Route — Account of Cossîr — Commerce — Return by another route — Granite rocks and antient road — Marble quarries — Pretended canal — Earthen ware of Ghenné — Murder of two Greeks, and subsequent report of the writer’s death._

Arriving on my return at Ghenné (غنه), I could not resist the impulse of curiosity excited by the late descriptions of curious marbles, &c. which had been found in that route. It was not difficult to find the means of passing, though the Bedouins then infested the road; but I determined to take nothing that could be of importance to lose, not intending to stay long at Cossîr. For which indeed there was another motive—An English vessel, commanded, as was said, by a Captain Mitchell, having three or four years before moored there, a quarrel had arisen between them and the natives about a supply of water, which is a commodity furnished at Cossîr not without extreme difficulty. From a violent contention blows ensued, and the Captain thought himself justified in firing on the town: in consequence several individuals were killed, it is said there that they amounted to fourteen, and much damage done. The natives were exceedingly exasperated, and swore to sacrifice the first Englishman that should fall into their hands. I however conceived it possible to pass undiscovered; and so in fact it happened. Having agreed with an Arab for two dromedaries and a man, also mounted on a dromedary, for all which I was to pay fifteen mahbûbs, I left Ghenné at one in the morning of 8th November 1792, and travelling diligently, arrived at Cossîr on the 11th before sun-rise. We took the most northern route, which is not that apparently which Bruce travelled, (and which seems to be the longest by two or three hours,) as being the least frequented by robbers. Our course on the first day occupied twelve hours, the second fifteen, and the third thirteen hours; in all about forty hours. The principal inhabitants of Cossîr came successively to compliment us on our arrival. They all scanned me with an eye of suspicion, and the more so as I could not yet speak the Arabic fluently. But none so much as an old Sherîf, a considerable man in the place, who having travelled to Mecca, Constantinople, Bakdad, and other parts of the Turkish empire, had become acquainted with the various orders of men, and acquired an intuitive discrimination of character which very few in that country possess. After the common salutations had passed, “Are you not a Frank?” said he.—“No,” replied I.—“But of Frank origin?”—“No,” said I, “I am a Georgian by birth, but have passed so short a time in Constantinople, that I believe I cannot speak Turkish much better than I do Arabic;” (for I knew he spoke a little, and was beginning to address me in that language.) My servant then joined the conversation, and I escaped discovery. The dress, and apparently the language of the people of Cossîr, approach more to those of the Eastern shore of the Arabian gulph, than to those of the Egyptians. They are armed with the _Jembîa_, a crooked knife, often not less than a yard long, and commonly a lance. Indeed they altogether appear rather settlers from the opposite shore than native Egyptians. The commerce in coffee here is not inconsiderable. Formerly all Upper Egypt was supplied with coffee by way of Suez and Kahira, but the Beys having laid a very heavy duty on that commodity, the inhabitants began to import from Cossîr for themselves, whence they are now supplied with the best coffee, and at a cheaper rate than from Suez. The town is provided with excellent fish, and pepper and other spices are brought there free of duty. Some Abyssinian slaves, transported from Jidda, are landed there and carried to Kahira, but in very small number. While I was there, a beautiful girl, of about fifteen, was sold for an hundred mahbûbs, or about 30l. sterling. There is no plenty of provisions at Cossîr, there being no cultivable land near the town. Even the butter they use there is brought from Arabia. The only good water they have is supplied by the Bedouins from Terfowi, which is at the distance of three hours. If any quarrel ensue with them about the price, the town is compelled to use brackish water. We paid twenty-five medines for the _ghirbé_ of fresh water. I observed but two vessels lying in the road, and these were lately arrived from Jidda. The houses in Cossîr are built of clay, and the number of inhabitants settled there is very small, though the strangers, who are continually passing and repassing, augment them prodigiously. I could observe no remain of antiquity within the limits of Cossîr, and it was not then possible to stray to a distance from it. Finding the resentment of the people as strong as ever against the Franks, in consequence of what had happened between them and the English vessel in 1786, I thought it most advisable to hasten my departure, though otherwise inclined to have made some excursions by sea, as to the emerald mine, _maadden ezzummerud_, &c.

13th Nov. at 7½ hours A.M. we left Cossîr, and proceeding by the strait road, apparently that which Bruce travelled, on the 15th, about five P.M. arrived at the village called Bîr-Ambar, having met a caravan coming from Ghenné the second day on the road. The morning of the 16th at sun-rise we proceeded to Ghenné, which is distant about three hours, having slept at Bîr-Ambar in the house of a villager, who was very civil and hospitable. There was an officer at Cossîr, who belonged to the Cashef of Kenné, but he seemed to have very little authority with the people, being there only to collect the customs.

The road we travelled in going to Cossîr, as well as that we took in returning, have both something in them very remarkable. The rough and lofty rocks of granite and porphyry with which it is on all sides environed have a magnificent and terrific appearance; and the road between them, which is almost level throughout, gives the idea of immense labour in cutting it. All these circumstances concur in testifying the importance Cossîr must once have had as a port. In the route we took in going, at certain distances on the highest rocks is observable a succession of small structures, formed with uncemented stones, and which, by the marks of fire within them, seem to have served as signals. These are numerous, but they are too rude to enable one to fix any time for their erection. They appear to me to be pretty antient. The red granite is in vast quantities, and the chain of rocks consisting of that substance appears to extend itself in a North and South direction. Huge rocks of porphyry, both red and green, are distinguishable, and, as appears, more of it in the road we pursued in going, than in that by which we returned. I observed veins of alabaster in both, but particularly in returning. The _verde antico_ it was long before I could discover; at length I found it, in returning, by the signs Bruce had described. In short, this route unfolds a treasure of marbles that astonishes the beholder, and demonstrates, that on any future occasion the quarries may be again wrought, and modern architecture equal that of the best ages of Greece or Rome as to richness and durability of ornament, if ever it shall in justness of proportion, simplicity of taste, or unity of parts in one sublime whole, which indeed seems sufficiently problematical.

The immense excavations in these rocks, which greatly contribute in many places to facilitate the road, are abundantly sufficient to supply any quantity of these marbles that is any where known to exist. And it was more convenient to bring them thence, than from any other part of Egypt, to the Southward, or by a long land carriage from Arabia Petræa and the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai: yet, as the stones were to be carried some way by land, perhaps a day’s journey at least, it was necessary to have a road more level and easy, than could have been required for the passage of less ponderous and cumbrous materials. Whether observation of the fact, without reflecting enough on the probable cause, might have given rise to the report respecting a canal communicating in this quarter between the Nile and the Arabian gulf, or whether it was the effect of misunderstanding the antient writers on the subject, is unimportant; such an idea has prevailed, and it is countenanced by some intelligent authors. In frequenting the places, and not wholly unimpressed by this thought, I have never yet been able to persuade myself that such a canal had existed, or could have been formed. There are no marks, in either of the roads I passed, of water having ever flowed there, and the level of the road, after leaving the river, is much higher than that of the river itself. But the level of the river is certainly not lower than in former ages, and the water, if ever it flowed there, must have flowed from the Nile to the sea, and not from the sea to the Nile.—The conclusion is obvious.

The coloquintida, cœlocynth, abounds near _Bîrambar_, and between it and Ghenné. The natives scarcely think it worth gathering, so low is the price in Kahira. At Ghenné is a manufactory of the best _bardaks_, _kullé_, earthen bottles, and jugs for water. They are made of a fine blue or bluish white clay; very thin and light, not too much baked, of a pretty shape and convenient size. Something of the same kind is made in other places, but none so much esteemed as those of Ghenné. The fabric is in few hands, but great numbers are made. They sell for double the price at Kahira which they fetch here. Large jars are also constructed, which are called _hamâm_, or bath. These too are very elegantly formed, and both by filtration purify and cool the water, in a greater degree than might be imagined. The people of the country however drink the water that remains within, not that which has passed through the jar or bottle.

On going to Cossîr, I had sent my baggage forward to Assiût. Nothing remained therefore but to find a small boat, on my return to Ghenné, in which to be conveyed to Assiût. This offered itself on the second day, and two Derwîshes were my companions in that journey, one of them a very intelligent man. We stopped at all the principal towns, but without any new occurrence, and reached Assiût on the 21st.

I remained in that city till the 30th, when we set sail for Kahira, or rather trusted ourselves to the current, the wind blowing constantly from North-west. I stopped a night at Benesoef, intending to have passed thence to Feiume: but finding it not easy to meet with a conveyance, declined that journey, and arrived in Kahira on the 8th of December.

The wind, which was high during our excursion to Cossîr, and afterwards on the Nile, contained such penetrating cold, that, on coming to Assiût, I found myself affected strongly with a fever. A large dose of James’s powder however removed it.

A short time before my arrival at Ghenné, two Greeks, who were going to seek their fortune, as they reported, in Habbesh, came to Kous. The one had a small supply of money, of which the other was destitute—Words arose between them, and some good friend advised them to have recourse to the Cashef of the place to settle their difference. This officer, who was a young man, and noted for the violence of his character, heard their respective narratives, and then, finding that money was the cause of their disagreement, terminated the hopes of the one, and the fears of the other, by an order for the instant death of both.

The report, in reaching Kahira, was charged with various circumstances of aggravation, and even the persons of the sufferers were changed. It was there said, that the Frank who was in Saïd was one of the two massacred, and the Cashef’s master was among the number of those who had been deceived. _Keid Aga_, in whose department Kous was situated, sent word of this event, accompanied with a suitable comment, and, as was said, an offer of any reasonable reparation, to the Austrian Consul, the only one resident in Kahira. The latter had forwarded it to the British Consul at Alexandria, when I arrived at Kahira in time personally to contradict it. The death of the two Greeks, it was said, remained unnoticed.

CHAP. XI.

OCCURRENCES AT KAHIRA.

_Arrival of the Pasha — Death of Hassan Bey — Decline of the French factory in Kahira — Expulsion of the Maronite Christians from the Custom-house — Riot among the Galiongîs — Obstruction of the canal of Menûf — Supply of fish in the pools of Kahira — Expedition of Achmet Aga, &c._

On the 13th October 1796, the newly-appointed Pasha made his entrance into the city, in a manner more public than has been usual for some years. His name is Bekîr: he is a Pasha of three _tôk_ or tails, and was formerly Grand Wizîr. The procession consisted of, first, the great officers of the city, and among them the Janizary aga, then some bostangîs, two and two. Several of the Beys, superbly mounted, two and two, preceded and followed by a body of Mamlûks. Twelve fine led horses, richly caparisoned. The band of music belonging to the Pasha. The tails, the officers and servants of his house-hold; and lastly, the Pasha himself.