-< Yi^l i yf^> ^6'Ayviiaui^'- S^^l 1^^- =3 ;'JNV-;iUi-^' mill o ^lOSANCflfJV;, I E ,^\\EUS'IVEPJ-/A mw ;>vlllBKAl!YOr *^\M1.IBR, ^r^ ^ ij^ 'c/uiiivJJO'>^ '^*03m :5 ^T- ?? ^.. .JAINllJUV ^OFCAllFOftil^ ^OFCAt ^<9Aava9ii^^ >&Aava ^ ^'rtE■UK^ A^' ^'^ AWEl)NIVERJ/A ^lOSANCElfj-^ "^simmfn^^ ■^/iajMNnmv ^OFCAIIFOR^ AIIFO/?^ AWEUNIVERS/a .VlOSANCElfj> o ^TiUDNVSOV^ "^/SaMINrt^WV ^HIBRARYOc. ^^tllBRARYQ^ %oi\mi(s^ lAlMl iW^ o _ CO >• %a]AIN(l-3\\V^ ^IIIBRARYQa ^tllBRARYQ^ ^^OdnVDJO"^ A'l^EliNIVERS/A ^lOSANCElfx* o ^lllBRARYflc^ ^lllBRARYQ^ '^iOJITVOJO'^' ^TilJDWSOl^^ "^AaJAINIimV^ %OJI1V3JO^ -^OJITVD JO'^ X;OFCAIIFO% '^(?ASvagii-^# ^.OFCAIIFOff^ ^CAavaan-^^ AWElJfJIVER% ^lOSANCElfj-^ o ^ajAiNniwv aofcaiifo% ^OFCAllFO% i5; ^SAavaaiT^- >'(?Aavaani'^ . .\W[ UNIVtRJ/A a.lOSA'JGElfx. *^ — "^ cn anb iPcncil DV THE REV. SAMUEL MANNING, LL.D. AUTHOR OF 'THOSE MOLV FIELDS,' 'SWISS PICTURES,' ETC. NEW EDITION REVISED AND PARTLY RE-WRITTEN RICHARD LOVETT, M.A. AUTHOR OF 'NORWEGI.AN PICTURES,' 'PICTURES FROM HOLLAND,' ETC. THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 56 PATERNOSTER ROW AND 164 PICCADILLY 18S7 A^53 i ' No two countries in the world offer so many claims on the attention of the Christian inquirer as Palestine and Eg,ypt ; the promised land and the house of bondage, the holy and the unclean, the type and gate of heaven, and the image of a w-orld that lieth in wickedness. In the Old Testament they are at once connected and opposed, like the Church and the world under the Gospel. The allegory is continued into the New Testament, which opens with the announce- ment, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son." If the student of Holy Scripture gives the first place in his inquiries to the land of the Law and the Prophets, the mountains and valleys which echoed the daily psalmody of the temple, tlie scenes of the Saviour's life and miracles and passion, — the second place is as naturally claimed by the nation from the midst of whom the chosen people were brought out " by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm;" a land that sheltered Israel from the famine, and Jesus from the sword.' Cciuon Trevor, -- Lw' M 31 ^. TuMBS OF THE Caliphs, Cairo. PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION. THE first edition of this book has been before the public for some years. Written with all the original author's brightness and skill, and dealing with one of the most fascinating countries on the globe, it deserved, as it has attained, a high place in the popular regard. The lamented death of Dr. Manning, in i88i, prevented him from undertaking the work of revision that had become necessary in the course of j'ears. Increased facilities for travel, many new discoveries illustrative of the ancient Egyptian life, the recent development of Egyptian scholarship, and the growth in number and greater excellence in quality of engravings, depicting Egyptian people and places, have all combined to render a new edition of the book desirable. The public events of recent years have also tended to deepen the general interest in Egyptian matters. In fact, Egypt has a curious power of keeping herself well to the front in the international relations of the various European nations. In 1878, the obelisk, which now adorns the Thames PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION. Embankment, and upon whicli the eye of Moses probably rested once and again during his Egyptian life, was brought to England. In the following year Ismail Pasha abdicated, and the state of affairs reached a position which soon led to active interposition on the part of England. The crisis came in 1882. In June riots broke out in Alexandria, and large numbers of Europeans left the city. On July iith, Alexandria was bombarded, and the forts silenced. War followed, and on September 12th Arabi Pasha was defeated at Tel-el-Kebir, and banished. In the same year Professor Palmer was murdered by Bedouins in the Sinai region. In 1883 the troubles connected with the Mahdi began, and in 1884 the total rout of Hicks Pasha's army led to General Gordon's mission to Khartoum. This was followed by the British Expedition up the Nile for his rescue. In 1SS5 the battle of Abu-Klea was fought, the expedition failed to reach Khartoum in time, and that city was taken by the Mahdi, Gordon losing his life. Soon after this the Mahdi also died, and the English troops retired to Assouan. Very naturally, this series of events did not pass without wide differ- ences of opinion as to the policy and the justice of the part played by England. The extremes are represented, on the one hand by those who hold that we had no right to go near Egypt at all ; and on the other by those who think that we ought to take Egypt and govern it ' in the interest of the natives,' as we have done in India. But with all such divergencies of view we have nothing to do here. We allude to the series of events only because it is impossible in any work on Egypt to ignore them. The blood and treasure we have spent during the last ten years in that ancient land have necessarily deepened the interest felt in it by all thoughtful readers. Deeds of bravery and heroism have not been lacking, whether we deem them to have been done in a righteous cause or not. And this Volume, in its new and improved form, will help to make clear to those at home the land and the people on whose behalf they were done. The two chief events throwing light upon ancient Egypt have been carefully noted in this new edition. The first is that marvellous discovery at i Jcir-el-Bahari in 18S1, by which we are enabled to look upon the mummied faces of mighty Egyptian Kings and Queens who flourished at the period of, and even long before the Exodus. The other is the establishment PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION. \ of the Egypt Exploration Fund, which bids fair to do useful work in the way of exploring ancient sites. The editor's object has been to alter the original work as little as possible. Lapse of time had rendered some statements obsolete, and had compelled the modification of others. The only entirely new portion Is Section IV., which deals with events that have happened since the last edition was printed. A considerable number of the old Illustrations have been omitted, and their space has been occupied by fifty-four of the best recent engravings illustrative of Egyptian natives, scenery, architecture and antiquities. The editor has also to express his grateful acknowledgments to Mr. E. A. Wallis Budge, M.A., of the department of Oriental Antiquities In the British Museum, not only for many valuable hints, but also for reading the proof sheets of a large part of the work. In this new and revised form, the ' Land of the Pharaohs ' Is sent forth with the hope that It may tend to satisfy that desire for knowledge about the oldest kingdom in the world, which every Intelligent general reader feels, and which Is especially needful and interesting to the devout Biblical student. R. LOVETT. View on the Nile near Phil.b. In 1 lit bLULRiis ul> CAiKy. SS*fe>i' T?ai^ ^^7=>rr~7r » Lf ST • Q'F • The Great Hall at Kamak ........ Frontispiece Tombs of the Caliphs, Cairo ......... 5 View on the Nile near Philiv . 7 In the Suburbs of Cairo . . . . . . . . . ■ . 8 The .Stepped Pyramid at Sakkara ........ 12 SECTION I. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. General View of Cairo, with the Pyramids in the Distance . . . _ . . . pa^^e 14 A Street in Cairo ...... 15 Pompey's Pillar . . . . . . !6 An Egyptian Donkey- Boy . . . . . iS An Egyptian Dragoman .... 19 Donkey-Boys at Alexandria . . . . ig Cleopatra's Needles as they were prior to 18S0.. 20 Thothmes lir 2i The Ruins of Tanis ..... 24 Girls coming to the Nile for Water ... 26 Sakieh. ....... 28 Fellaheen at Work in Egypt .... 29 Lattice Windows in Cairo .... 32 An Egyptian Footman ..... 33 A Minaret in Cairo ..... 34 A Cairene Woman and Cliild .... 35 A Street in Cairo ...... 36 A Water-Seller ...... 37 A Street in Cairo 38 — Interior of the Mosque of the Sultan Hasan .. Bab Ez-Zuweleh or Bab El-Mutawellee, Cairo . " Sanctuary of the Mosque of Ibn-Tooloon Villa and Garden near Cairo .... Coffee-House in the Suburbs of Cairo . The Nilometer . . . . . . The Citadel at Cairo The Cemetery and Tombs of the Caliphs, Cairo. ■^ Mosque of Mohammed Ali in the Citadel The Obelisk of Usertesen t. at Heliopolis The Pyramids ....... Distant View of the Pyramids Section of the Great Pyramid from North to South Cartouche of Cheops . ■ . . . View of Gallery in the Great Pyramid, from the Lower and Upper Landing-Places Bust of Chephren in the Museum at Boolak Cartouche of Chephren . . . Cartouche of Mycerinus .... Ascending the Great Pyramid pa^c 40 41 • 42 44 ■ 45 ■ 47 . 48 50 • 51 52 • 53 55 58 58 59 60 60 61 63 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. SECTION II. CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. Money-Changer at Siout . . . page 08 On the Banks of the Nile 69 Crew of Nile Boat ...... 70 A Dahabiyyeh or Nile Boat . . . -71 Kitchen of Nile Boat ..... 72 Plan of Dahaljiyyeh, for Four Persons, 60 feet long 72 Dhow or Trading Boat on the Nile ... 73 Prostrate Colossal Statue of Rameses ir. at Mem- phis 74 Rameses 11. ...... . 75 Sarcophagus in the Serapeum of Memphis . . 76 The Ibis 78 The Death of the First-born .... So Ibis Mummy from Memphis .... 81 Sand-storm in the Desert ..... S3 Map of the Nile, from .Mexandria to the Second Cataract ...... 85 Nile Cliffs 85 An Egyptian Vill.age ..... 87 The Call to Prayer 88 The School of Sultan Hassan. ... 89 Egyptian Fowler ...... 91 Watching Fields in Egypt .... 92 The Papyrus Plant ...... 93 Egyptian Entertainment ; each Guest with a Lotus Flower ....... ^s, Lotus Flower and Leaf ..... 95 Manfaliit ....... 96 Governor's Palace at Manfalut .... 97 Portico of the Tomb of the Nomark Aneni at Beni Hassan ....... 100 Visit of a Family of the Semitic Nation called .\mu to Egypt 102 Valley of the Nile at Beni I Lissan . . . 103 Christian Symbols at Beni Hassan Sebak and Chnumis Remains of the Temple at Abydos The Great Hall in the Temple of .\bydos Portico of the Temple of Denderah Brick with the Cartouche of Rameses 11. The Ramesseum, Thebes . Osiride Columns of Ramesseum, Thebes Palace of Rameses in., Medinet-Abu . Palace of Rameses in., Medinet-.\bu The Colossi of Thebes Columns of Temple at Luxor . Luxor ...... Propylon at Karnak Great Hall at Karnak Hypostyle Hall, Karnak Columns and Part of Obelisk of Thothmes III., Karnak ....... A Captive Jew of Shishak's time Fran9ois Champollion ..... Sculptured Wall, Karnak .... Shishak and his Captives on Sculptured Wall at Karnak ....... Tombs of the Kings at Tiiebes Frescoes in Tombs of the Kings at Thebes . Harper in Tomb at Thebes .... In the Tombs at Thebes ..... The Judgment Hall of Osiris .... Soul visiting its Body, .and holding the emblems of Life and Breath in its claws .... Erment, or Hermonthis, near Thebes Portico and Temple at Esneh .... The Temple at Edfou ..... Edfou . Grottoes of Silsilis ..... page 104 104 105 106 137 109 no 112 "3 114 116 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 124 125 126 127 128 128 129 130 131 132 '33 •34 13s 136 SI'XTIOX III. ASSOUAN TO ABU-SIMBEL. A Koptic Woman Landing-Place at Assouan Island of I'.lephanline Pharaoh's Bcil on the Island of I'liihx' ■38 139 140 144 Amen, Isis, and Clionsu .... 145 Head of Bcs. ...... 145 Isis Columns with l■'.a^lcnl C'olonnade and Pylon . 146 InliTior nf Great Court ..... 146 IJST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. SECTION III. {contiuued). Portico of Temple at Phila; ■ Ai'^- 147 Christian Symbols at Philje . 148 The Doum Palm in Nubia . . 149 Mud Huts 151 Sheikh's House. . 151 Nubian Woman .... 152 Nubian Musicians • 153 A Roadside Well .... 154 Egyptian Girl . • 154 Wooden Pillow .... 154 Temple of Dandour . ■ 155 Entrance of the Temple of Dekkeh . Arabs in the Wady Sabooah .... Fa9ade of Smaller Temple at Abu-Sinibel I'art of Fayade of Great Temple at Abu-Simbel . Great Temple at Abu-Simbel .... Ethiopian, Negro, and Asiatic Captives before Rameses ....... Rameses sl.aying a group of African and Asiatic Captives ...... Meneplitah, the probable Pharaoh of the Exodus . page 156 • "57 158 159 160 161 161 162 SECTION IV. RECENT DISCOVERIES IN EGYPT. Crocodiles on the Upper Nile .... 166 Entrance Pass.ige to the Empty Tomb of Seti I. . 167 Outer Mummy Case of Queen Nefertati . . 169 Maspero, Brugsch Bey, and Mohammed Abd-er- Rasiil 171 The Profile of the Mummy of Rameses ir. . 173 The Head of the Mummy of Rameses II. . . 174 Gold-faced inner Mummy case of Queen Nefert-ari The Head of Seti i The HeaJ of Pinetem II. ..... Entrance to the Tomb of Seti I. in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes . . . Head of Queen Nefert-ari, Wife of Rameses II. . 176 179 I So 181 1S2 SECTION V. THE SUEZ CANAL. View of Suez from the Canal . M. Lesseps .... Line of Ancient Canal in the Desert Zagazig, on the Fresh-water Canal Map of the Canal .... 1S4 ISS 187 1 89 190 Port S.aid Caravan starting from Suez .... Kantarah, near the Junction of the Canal and Lake Menzaleli ...... 191 192 >93 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. SECTION VI. EGYPT TO SINAI. plain of Er-Rahah, Sinai, showing the Convent pa^c 196 Crossing the Desert 197 The Sinaitic PeninEula 19S Mount Serbal 201 Wells of Moses 202 Wady Gharandel 203 Ruins at Serabet cl Khadim . . . . 204 Sinaitic Inscriptions 205 Sinaitic Inscriptions ...... 2o5 Flint Implements from the Sinaitic Peninsula , 20S Jlonnt Serbal .... The Wady Feiran .... The Convent, Sinai . Superior of the Convent . Entrance to the Convent, Sinai . Jebel Musa ..... Interior of the Convent, Sinai A Monk of the Convent, Sinai Ras Sufsafeh and Plain of Er-Rahah Archway on Mount Sinai t«S 209 211 212 213 214 215 217 218 219 221 The Stkitfj) Pvramih at Sakkara. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. iiliiiliiill A Street in Cairo. SECTION I. Alexandria to Cairo. IN the dim grey dawn of a February morning, I was on the deck of the Austrian steamer Urano, peering eagerly through the mist to the southward. The clear crystalline blue of the Mediterranean had changed to a greenish grey, showing that we were in shallow water. As the sun rose, the haze vanished, and we could make out the coast line, a long stretch of sand, here and there broken by a hillock, a clump of palm-trees, an Arab village, or the white walls and dome of a satifoiis tomb. Then a forest ot masts came into view, and, rising above them, a venerable column and a lighthouse. The column we recognise as Pompey's Pillar ; the lighthouse is the modern representative of the famous Pharos of Alexandria, one of the wonders of the ancient world. We were approaching that mysterious land i6 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. which had attained a high civilisation, and a settled monarchy, when Abram 'went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan.'' It was in its glory when the Hebrews were there held in bondage. It had passed its prime when David and Solomon sat upon the throne of Israel. It had sunk into decay when Rome rose to power, and at the dawn of modern history it had ceased to exist as a nation. Hebrew patriarchs, Greek philosophers, Persian, Macedonian, and Roman conquerors, have all been drawn hither, and its annals are inextricably interwoven with theirs. It played an important part in the greatest event in our world's history, when Joseph ' arose and took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt : and was there until the death of Herod : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son.' - In later ages the land of the Pharaohs is ever coming into prominence. Amongst the early Christians, Cyril, and Atha- nasius, and Origen ; amongst the early Mohammedans, Amrou and Omar ; amongst the Crusaders, St. Louis of France, and Saladin, the chivalrous enemy of Richard Coeur de Lion, all lead our thoughts to Egypt. What wonder, then, that it was with a feeling of almost reverential awe, that I first gazed upon the soil which, for four thousand years, had been the scene of so many memorable deeds ? The gravity of those of our Pompey's Pillar. party who were for the first time visiting Mohammedan countries, was somewhat disturbed by the appearance of the pilot who now came along- side. His dress was a curious combination of eastern and western attire, very characteristic of the mongrel population of Alexandria. It consisted of n Turkish fez, an Arab abba, baggy linen knickerbockers, and a pair of ' Genesis xi. 31. " Mallhcvv ii. 14, 15. Iloscaxi. I *x^■.. An Egvi'tian Donkey-Boy. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. unmistakable English boots with elastic sides. Having seated himself cross- legged on the gangway of the steamer, pipes and coffee were served, and he steered us through the intricate channel into the harbour of Alexandria. The usual scene of confusion now ensued. Scores of boats came round us, manned, as at Jaffa, by half-naked negroes and Arabs. I was seized by half-a-dozen fellows at once, each endeavouring to appro- priate me. A similar conflict was going on over every article of my baggage, and it was only by a vigorous application of the drago- man's whip that I and my belongings were rescued from them and stowed away in one of the boats. We only escaped from the hands of the boatmen to fall into those of the donkey- boys, who effectually dissipated whatever feelings of reverence yet remained. These Arab lads are surely the cleverest and most impudent little urchins on earth. Our city- Arabs cannot compare with them. In broken English they vaunt the praises of their animals : ' Take my donkey ; him berry good donkey ; him name Billy Barlow.' If the traveller be presumably an American, the sobriquet is changed to ' Yankee Doodle.' One ingenious youth, whose only garment was a ragged cotton shirt, through which his tawny skin showed conspicuously, having tried ' Billy Barlow,' ' Champagne Charley,' and half-a-dozen names besides, made a final appeal, by exclaiming, ' Him name Rosher Tishburne ; him speak English ; him say, " How you do, sar ? " ' It was impossible either to lose one's temper or retain one's gravity amid this merry, clamorous crowd. At length we extricated ourselves from them and made our way to the hotel. Anywhere, except in Egypt, Alexandria would be regarded as a very ancient city. Its history goes back more than two thousand years, to the An EGYPXrAN Dr.\goman. Donkey-Boys at .\lexandria. THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. time of its founder, Alexander the Great, B.C. 333. But here, this venerable antiquity seems quite modern. It is a mere parvemic, which sprang up when the kingdom of the Pharaohs had run its course and reached its close. It is now a busy thriving port in which the cast and west meet in strange confusion. Nubians, Arabs, Berbers, Greeks, Italians, French, English, Circassian pilgrims, Lascar sailors, Chinese coolies, jostle one another in the crowded streets. A string of camels pass with their burdens into the railway station. A Bedouin sheikh takes a ticket for Cairo, or wrangles over the price of a piece of Manchester goods. Hadjis from Mecca are waiting to go on board the steamer bound for Constantinople or Beirout. Sailors from the harbour, or soldiers en route for India, shoulder their way through the bazaars. Go into a bank or counting-house, and you might fancy yourself to be in the heart of London. Step out into the street, and you see a devout Mussulman spreading his prayer-carpet in the roadway, and perform- ing his devotions, as little dis- turbed by the bustle around him as though he were alone in the desert. The northern coast-line of Egypt is a sterile waste, consisting of little else than salt swamps, lakes of brack- ish water, and barren sand. The importance and prosperity of Alexandria are therefore due, not to the surrounding district, but to the fact that it is the port for the only African river which flows into the Mediterranean. Regions of boundless fertility stretch southward to the equator, through which the Nile flows and forms their sole means of communication with the sea. To the ancient world, Alexandria, which lay near the mouths of this mighty river, formed the meeting-place of eastern and western civilisation— the emporium of European, Asiatic, and African commerce. With the downfall of the Byzantine Empire, its glory departed. The Mohammedan conquest fell like a blight upon its prosperity, and the discovery of the route by the. Cape of Good Hope gave the death-blow to its commerce. For many generations Cleopatra's Needles as they were prior to 18S0. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. it was little more than an obscure village of the Turkish Empire. During the present century it has again been rising into importance. Its present population is estimated at a quarter of a million. In the year 1883, its exports reached upwards of twelve millions sterling, its imports seven and a half millions. The opening of the Suez Canal diverted the through traffic to India into the new channel. But other causes have since been at work, which have more than made up for the loss thus sustained, and the population and commercial prosperity of the city are rapidly increasing. There are few remains of the ancient splendour of the city of Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies. Pompey's Pillar and Cleopatra's Needles have no right to the names they bear. The former was erected by Pompeius, prefect of Egypt, in honour of the Emperor Diocletian (a.d. 302). The monoliths of red syenite granite, covered with hieroglyphics, known as Cleo- patra's Needles, formerly stood at Heliopolis, where they were raised by Thothmes in., a Pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty." They were removed to Alexandria by one of the Ca.'sars, and are doubtless the same which Pliny described as standing in front of the Caisarium. One of them has been removed to New York ; the other, presented to the British nation by Mohammed Ali, was brought to this country and placed upon the Thames Embankment at the cost of Dr. Erasmus Wilson in 1877. On the downfall of the Hebrew monarchy, Alexandria became a new home to the exiled Jews. They so greatly increased in wealth and numbers, that at one period they formed a third of the whole population of the city. Numer- ous synagogues were built in the cities of Lower Egypt, and a temple upon the plan of that at Jerusalem was erected in the nome of Heliopolis. It was for the use of these Hellenistic Jews that the Septuagint translation was made, which had so important an influence in preparing the way for the introduc- tion of the Gospel, by making the Old Testament Scriptures known to the Gentile world. The history of this version is obscured by myth and legend. All that is known, with certainty, is that the translators were Alexandrian Jews, and that it was completed under the patronage of Ptolemy Philadelphus. ' The mummy of this rrreat monarch was iliscovcred al DLir-el-i;ah.ari in iSSi. Sec Sccliuu IV. of this volume, also Cleopatra's NcedU: By-paths of BihU Knowh-Jgc, No. i, pp. H9-121. Thothmes III. From the Bust in the British Museum. THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. A remarkable case of deliverance from persecution, and of punishment coming upon the persecutors, is recorded of the Jewish colony at Alexandria. Ptolemy Philopator (b.c. 217), being incensed at the refusal of the high- priest to admit him into the temple at Jerusalem, returned to Egypt and cast into prison all the Jews upon whom he could lay his hands. Those of Alexandria were confined in the Hippodrome, a vast amphitheatre used for gladiatorial shows and public games. The king ordered that they should be trampled to death by elephants, made furious by wine and stimulating drugs. For two days the execution was delayed by the drunken carousals of the king. This interval was spent by the prisoners in ceaseless prayer to God for deliverance. On the third day the savage beasts were driven into the arena and urged upon the prisoners. But, instead of attacking them, they turned upon the guards and spectators, many of whom were killed, the rest fleeing in terror. Ptolemy was so impressed by this manifestation of the Divine power, that he ordered the prisoners to be released, restored their privileges, and, as in the days of Esther and Ahasuerus, gave them permission to kill their enemies. The journey from Alexandria to Cairo is now almost always made by railway, a distance of one hundred and twenty-eight miles. The road first skirts the shores of Lake Mareotis, with myriads of pelicans, wild ducks, and other water-fowl swimming or wading in its brackish waters, or soaring in dense clouds overhead. The narrow strip of desert which forms the northern coast-line of Egypt is soon crossed, and we enter the Delta of the Nile, which continues almost as far as Cairo. The soil, a deposit of Nile mud, is of extraordinary fertility. The Delta used to be regarded as the granary of Rome. Innumerable vessels were employed in conveying the wheat grown in this district to the imperial city. In one of these the Apostle Paul was wrecked, and in another he completed his voyage to Italy as a prisoner.' The river formerly ran through it in seven channels. Five of these are now dried up, and two only remain, known as the Rosetta and the Damietta branches. The change was foretold by the prophet Isaiah : ' The Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.' ^ It seems certain that the eastern portion of the Delta was the land of Goshen, in which the patriarchs were settled on their coming down into Egypt. It lay between Canaan and the residence of Joseph at On, or Heliopolis, for, on receiving tidings of the arrival of his father, 'Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and pre- sented himself unto him.' From the marvellous fertility of the soil it was well suited for a pastoral people, it was ' the best of the land.' Though belonging ' Acts xxvii. 6-3S ; xxviii. II. ' Isaiah xi. 15 ; xix. 5. The literal fulfilment of this prophecy becomes still more apparent when it is re- membered that the two mouths still remaining are artificial, not natural channels. C 2 I ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 2$ to the Egyptian monarchy, and used as a pasture-ground for Pharaoh's cattle, it did not form part of Egypt Proper. Hence, it was allotted to a shepherd race, where they lived without coming into offensive contact with the native population, ' for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.'' It is probable that yet another reason for the settlement of his brethren in this frontier province suggested itself to the sagacious mind of Joseph. The nomad races of Palestine were, about this period, a serious peril to the Egyptian monarchy. The mysterious Hyksos, or shepherd kings, were a Canaanitish horde, who poured across the Isthmus, and, for a time, established themselves as conquerors in the Nile Valley. Whether this invasion had already taken place, or whether it was now an object of alarm, may be doubted. But, in either case, the location of a band of hardy and warlike herdsmen on the frontier, to bear the brunt of the first assault, was a piece of policy worthy of the wisdom of the illustrious Grand Vizier, who had already saved his adopted country from the horrors of famine. The most interesting city of this district was T'san, which in Hebrew becomes Zoan, in Greek Tanis, and in Arabic San. Tanis in all probability is referred to in Numbers xiii. 22, where we read, 'Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt,' and in Psalm Ixxviii. 12, 'Marvellous things did He in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.' For ages it was a great and powerful city, and at one period was the chief centre of the Hyksos power. A king named Apepi in. was ruling there when Ra-Sekenen of Thebes (the recent discovery and unwrapping of whose mummy is referred to in Section IV.) led the national movement which resulted in the expulsion, eighty years afterwards, of the shepherd kings. Tanis was captured finally by Aahmes i., and the hatred felt by the Egyptians towards the foreign dynasty which had so long ruled them led them to mutilate or destroy all existing monuments of the Hyksos rule, which had extended over a period of 5 1 1 years. Until 1798 the site of Tanis was unexplored, and in that year it was only surveyed by the French engineers; but between 181 5 and 1836 many of its antiquities were carried off and sold to wealthy collectors. In i860, Mariette uncovered the temple ruins, and in so doing revealed an enormous number of most valuable remains. The engraving depicts the site of Tanis at the time of his excavation. In 1884, Mr. Flinders Petrie explored the site anew under the direction of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Although productive of no exceptional discoveries, many most valuable antiquities were thus brought to light.'' In 1883, the same society sent out M. Naville to explore what was then known as Tel-el-Maskhutah, and was supposed to be the site of the ancient Raamses. M. Naville claims to have proved by his excavations ' Genesis xlvi. 28-34 ! xlvii. 1-6. ^ See an interesting paper by Miss Edwards, in Harpcy's Magazine for October, 1SS6. 26 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. that the site is Pithom, the ancient store city built by the Israelites, and that it is identical with Succoth, Pithom and Succoth being only different names for the same place. These results have not been accepted as final by all Egyptologists, but they all tend to increase our knowledge of what was anciently the Land of Goshen.' As the train bears us slowly, and with frequent stoppages, over the district where the sons of Jacob pastured their flocks and herds, we have abundant opportunities for observing the habits of the people. A wide expanse of verdure stretches to the very verge of the horizon. Groups of fellaheen, or peasantry, are seen sitting under the shadow of a palm grove, or lounging by the wayside, utterly indifferent to the intense heat, which makes the atmosphere quiver like the ' See The Store City of Pithom, and the Route of the Exodus. Hy E. Naville. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 27 mouth of a furnace. Veiled women, clad only in a blue cotton skirt, come down to the river to fill their water-jars, and then, poising them on their heads, walk away with a firm, graceful step. A family pass along the road ; the husband, a big, stalwart fellow, rides a donkey ; the wife, bearing a load which would be heavy for an English porter, walks by his side ; a group of brown naked children run alongside the train holding out their hands and crying for backsheesh, and in this cry their elders join them whenever they have an opportunity. Notwithstanding this universal begging, I saw little or no actual destitution in Egypt. The wants of the peasant are so few, and the soil is so productive, and so easily cultivated, that everybody, even the very poorest, seems to be well fed. Fuel costs nothing ; and drink, the curse of European countries, is unknown. A draught of Nile water, a handful of lentils, or a piece of bread, made like a pancake, and tough as wash-leather, are all that his necessities demand. Give him a little oil or vinegar, an onion or two, and a cup of coffee, and he feasts luxuriously. A careful observation of the condition of the fellaheen convinced me of the accuracy of Miss Martineau's remarks : ' I must say that I was agreeably surprised, both this morning and through- out my travels in Egypt, by the appearance of the people. About the dirt there can be no doubt ; the dirt of both dwellings and persons, and the diseases which proceed from want of cleanliness ; but the people appeared to us, there, and throughout the country, sleek, well-fed and cheerful. I am not sure that I saw an ill-fed person in all Egypt. There is hardship enough of other kinds, abundance of misery to sadden the heart of the traveller ; but not that, so far as we saw, of want of food. I am told, and no doubt truly, that this is owing to the law of the Koran, by which every man is bound to share what he has, even to the last mouthful, with his brother in need ; but there must be enough, or nearly enough, food for all, whatever be the law of distribution. Of the progressive depopulation of Egypt for many years past, I am fully convinced ; but I am confident that a deficiency of food is not the cause, nor, as yet, a consequence. While I believe that Egypt might again, as formerly, support four times its present population, I see no reason to suppose, amidst all the misgovernment and oppression that the people suffer, that they do not raise food enough to support life and health. I have seen more emaciated, and stunted, and depressed men, women and children in a single walk in England, than I observed from end to end of the land of Egypt.'' Though the Delta is not so entirely rainless as many parts of the Nile Valley, yet the productiveness of the soil is mainly dependent on artificial irrigation. The water left by the annual inundation is stored up in canals and reservoirs, and distributed over the soil by various devices. Sometimes a large wheel is run out into the river and turned by the force of the ' Eastan Life, Present and Past. By Harriet Mardneau, vol. i. p. 9. 28 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. current. The floats of the wheel are made hollow, so as to take up a quantity of water. As they rotate, and begin to descend, the contents of each are poured out into a trench, or tank, rudely constructed on the bank. A more common method is the sakieh. In every part of Egypt we may see a rude roof of thatch under which a camel or buffalo plods round a worn path, turning a series of wheels cogged and creaky, drawing up an endless and dripping string of earthen vessels, which splash out their crj'stal gatherings into one leaky and common pool ; and thence, along a moss-clad shaft, into a little babbling rill of pure water flowing off on a bounteous errand. The groaning and creaking of these sakiehs is one of the most familiar sounds on the Nile. It becomes associated, in memory, with hot, sultry afternoons, spent in delicious indolence on the deck of a dahabeah, gliding downward with the current ; with cool evenings, when the stars come out in the deep blue of an Egyptian sky, to shine with a lustre unknown in our northern latitudes ; less pleasantly asso- ciated with restless nights, when the boat has been moored near one of these machines, and the incessant noise combines with rats, mosquitoes, fleas, and innumerable other plagues of Egypt to banish sleep. More common than either is the shadoof, a primitive contrivance con- sisting only of a long pole working on a pivot, a lump of clay, or a stone fixed at one end, a bucket at the other. For hundreds of miles up the Nile the river is lined with these shadoofs ; men, women, and children, either absolutely naked, or with only a strip of cloth round their loins, spending their whole lives in lifting water out of the bountiful river to irrigate their fields. No wonder that the ancient Egyptians worshipped the Nile, and that it needs all the force of Mohammedan iconoclasm to prevent the fellaheen of to-day from worshipping it too. The very existence of Egypt, as we shall see hereafter, is absolutely due to the river. Were its beneficent current to fail, or its mysterious inundation to cease, Egypt would again Sakieh. Fellaheen at Work in Egypt. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 3> become a part of the desert from which it has been reclaimed, and which hems it in on either hand. / The distribution of water over the soil is effected by means of trenches leading into small channels, these again into yet smaller gutters. Each plot of land is divided into squares by ridges of earth a few inches in height. The cultivator uses his feet to regulate the flow of water to each part. By a de.xterous movement of his toes, he forms a tiny embankment in one of the trenches, or removes the obstruction, or makes an aperture in one of the ridges, or closes it up again, as the condition of the crop requires. (He is thus able to irrigate each square yard of his land with the utmost nicety, giving to it just as much or as little water as he thinks fit. This mode of cultivation is very ancient, and was probably referred to by Moses, when, contrasting the copious rainfall and numerous fountains of Palestine with the laborious irrigation of Egypt, he said,^ ' For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs : but the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven.' ' Though the trains on Egyptian railways are probably the slowest and most irregular in the world, yet some progress is made, and, in the course of a few hours, it becomes evident that our destination cannot be far distant. The broad expanse of verdure narrows as the Delta approaches its southern apex at Cairo. The tawny line of desert which bounds it on either side draws nearer. The Libyan and Mokattam ranges of hills, which inclose the Nile Valley, come into view. Then, those who know where to look for them, may make out, through the quivering haze, at a distance of ten or twelve miles, the most extraordinary group of buildings in the world. In approaching almost any other object of interest for the first time — St. Peter's at Rome, for instance, or Mont Blanc — there is a brief interval of hesita- tion and doubt before its definite recognition. But at the very first glance, without a moment's pause, we exclaim, The Pyramids ! They are at once the vastest and the oldest buildings on the earth. They were standing, perhaps were even already ancient, when Abraham came down into Egypt. Their origin was lost in the recesses of a remote and legendary past, when the Father of History conversed with the priests of Sais and Memphis. It may have been bombast, but it was scarcely exaggeration, when Napoleon, on the eve of the battle of the Pyramids, issued his famous ordre du Jour, ' Soldiers, forty centuries are looking down on you ! ' And now, by a strange anachronism, we are gazing quietly out of the window of a railway carriage, at edifices which seem to be nearly coeval with the existence of man upon the earth. ' Deuteronomy xi. lo, ix. THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. But our reveries are broken in upon by our arrival at the railway station, where a struggle like that at Alexandria awaits us with the havimah and donkey-boys contending for the possession of our persons and baggage. Havino- extricated ourselves from their clutches with some difficulty, we make our way to the hotel. Cairo lies at the entrance of the Nile Valley, near the point at which the river branches out into the channels which form the Delta. Its modern name is a European corruption of that given to it by its Arab con- querors—^/ Kaherah, the victorious. By the natives it is called Mis7' or Masr, and the same name is given by them to the whole of Egypt. This is evidently a modern form of the Scriptural Mizraim, and affords another instance of the survival of ancient names through a long course of centuries, and after repeated conquests by #?./,-> foreign nations.' It is situated about a mile from the river. A long straggling street leads down to Bulak, which is the port ; and Fostat, or Old Cairo, runs along the Nile bank. The population of the city was given in the census of 1882 as 368,108, but good authorities reckon it as 400,000 in round numbers. The resident Europeans amount to 2 1,000. Those who wish to see the Cairo of romance, and of the Arabian Nights Entertainments, should lose no time in visiting it, for it is being rapidly ' improved off the face of the earth.' The new quarter is but a shabby reproduction of modern Paris, from which all characteristic Oriental features — the graceful lattice-work windows, the overhanging stories, the picturesque colour — have disappeared. The Ezbekeeyah garden has nothing but its semi-tropical vegetation to distinguish it from the public gardens of any European capital. Young Egypt, sallow-faced, and dressed in fez cap, baggy, ill-fitting black clothes, and patent leather boots, unsuccessfully affects the airs, and only too successfully cultivates the vices, of Parisian JIdneurs. Said Pasha, who died in 1863, greatly benefited Egypt by his administrative skill and enlightened policy ; but since his day the old picturesque life of the East has been fast passing away, and a thin veneer of European civilisation has been superimposed upon unalloyed native barbarism. That the sanitary condition of the city was horrible, and that improvement was ' Sec for numcious par-illcl instances T/iose Holy FkUs, p. Sy. Lattice Windows in Cairo. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 33 urg^ently needed, cannot be questioned. If the Khedive had set himself to effect the necessary reforms by developint^r a system of architecture in harmony with the habits of the people, the requirements of the climate, and the characteristics of Arabian art, he would have done a good work. But the new Boulevards satisfy none of these requirements. They are simply poor imitations of a faulty orit,rinal. And this applies to the whole system of administration. It is an exotic which has no roots in the soil, and no adaptation to surrounding conditions. But, as an American gentleman said to me, ' Cairo is a big place, and can stand a great deal of improving.' In a few minutes we may pass from the Frank quarter into the labyrinthine windings of bazaars, which are almost unchanged since the days of Saladin, and in which ' Haroun Alraschid, Giaffar, the Grand Vizier, and Mesrour, the chief of the eunuchs,' might have wandered and found little to surprise them. The Mooskee affords us a good line of transition from the one to the other. We enter the main thorough- fare, broad for an Eastern city, with a Bavarian bicr-hallc at one corner, and at the other a shop for the sale of French books and photographs. The roadway is, of course, unpaved, but it is wide enough to allow a carriage to drive along it, with space for foot-passengers on either side. Each carriage is preceded by its running footmen — lithe, agile fellows, who can keep ahead of the horses, going at full speed, for an incredible distance. They wear a light dress of white linen, which leaves the arms and legs bare. Each carries a wand by day, a flambeau by night. Their duty is to warn pedes- trians to get out of the way, which they do by incessant cries : ' To the right.' ' To the left.' ' Look out in front,' mingled with good-humoured abuse of those who are slow to take their warnings. Lines of camels " with their long swaying necks, soft, silent tread, and peevish groans, stalk solemnly ' Barham Zincke's description of the camel, though long, is too good not to be quoted : ' Its long neck is elevated and stretched forward. It is carrying its head horizontally, with its upper lip drawn down. In this drawn- down lip, and on its whole demeanour, there is an expression of contempt — contempt for the modern world. You can read its thoughts. "I belong," it is saying to itself, for it cares nothing about you, still you can't help under- An Egyptian Footman. 34 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS, alone the middle of the rcadwav. A string of donkeys, surmounted by inflated balloons of black silk or white muslin, from which dainty little slippers of red or yellow morocco leather peep out, are carry- ing the ladies of a harem to take o the air. Here comes a procession of blind men chanting the Kordn, followed by a group of women wailing and crying in tones of well-simulated grief; between them is a board carried on men's shoulders and covered by a pall, beneath whose folds it is easy to make out the rigid lines of a corpse on its way to the cemetery. Shrill gurgling cries fall upon the ear, taken up and repeated by the female by- standers, perhaps with the accom- paniment of a hautboy and a drum or two. It is a marriage procession. The bride, a mere child ten or twelve years of age, swathed from head to foot in red or yellow shawls, and inclosed in a canopy or tent, is being conducted to the standing it, "I belong to the old world. There was time and room enough then for everytliiiig. What reason can there be for all this crowding and hastening ? I move at a pace which used to satisfy kings and patriarchs. My fashion is the old-world fashion. Railways and telegraphs are nothing to me. Before the P)Tarai(ls were thought of, it had been settled what my burden was to be, and at what pace it was to be carried. If any of these unresting pale faces (what business have they with me?) wish not to be knocked over, they must get out of the way. I give no notice of my approach ; I make w ay for no man. What has the grand calm old world come to? There is nothing now anywhere but noise and pushing and money-grubbing ; " and every camel that you will meet will be going the same measured pace, holding its head in the same position, drawing down its lip with the same contempt, and soliloquising in the same style.'— £5;)/^ of the J'haraolis and the Khedive. A MiNAUET IN Cairo. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 55 bath or to her husband's house.' Veiled women, black slaves, Bedouin sheikhs, burly pashas, water-carriers, blind beggars, Greek and Coptic priests, donkeys and their drivers, and street-sellers innumerable, make up the picturesque and bewildering throng. The street-sellers in their number and variety would demand a chapter to do them justice ; and to interpret their cries requires a far greater know- ledge of Arabic than I possess. They form, however, so important and characteristic a feature in the aspect of an Eastern city, that they cannot be altogether passed over. I avail myself, therefore, of Mr. Lane's help in the matter. ' The cries of some of the hawkers are curious, and deserve to be mentioned. The seller of " tirmis " or (lupins) often cries, "Aid! O Imbabee ! Aid ! " This is understood in two senses ; as an invocation for aid to the sheikh El-Imbdbee, a celebrated Muslim saint, buried at the village of Imbabeh, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Cairo, in the neighbourhood of which village the best tirmis is grown ; and also as imply- ing- that it is through the aid of the saint above-mentioned that the tirmis of Imbabeh is so excellent. The seller of this vegetable also cries, "The tirmis of Imbabeh sur- passes the almond." Another ciy of the seller of tirmis is, " O how sweet the little offspring of the river ! " The seller of sour limes cries, " God make them light " (or easy of sale). The toasted pips of a kind of melon called "abdalldwee," and of the water- melon, are often announced by the cry of " O consoler of the embarrassed ! O pips ! " A curious cry of the seller of a kind of sweetmeat (" halaweh "), composed of treacle fried with some other ingredients, is, " For a nail, O sweetmeat ! " He is said to be half a thief ; children and servants often steal implements of iron, etc., from the house in which they live, and give them to him in exchange for his sweetmeat. The hawker of oranges cries, " Honey ! O oranges ! honey ! " And similar cries are used by the sellers of other fruit and vegetables, so that it is sometimes impossible to guess what the person announces for sale, A Cairene Woman and Child. as when we hear the cry of ' Sycamore-figs ! O grapes ! ' except by the rule that what is for sale is the least excellent of the fruits, etc., mentioned ; as sycamore-figs are not as good as grapes. A very singular cry is used by ' I saw a curious illustration in the streets of Cairo of the irresistible innovations of the West, and the unchanging customs of the East. The bride was being taken home in a cab, but the canopy was tied over the roof, and fixed to the four corners, to represent the four poles which usually support it. 3^ THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. the sellers of roses : " The rose was a thorn ; from the sweat of the Prophet it blossomed." This alludes to a miracle related of the Prophet. The fragrant flowers of the henna-tree are carried about for sale, and the seller cries, "Odours of Paradise! O flowers of the henna!" A kind of cotton-cloth, made by machinery which is put in motion by a bull, is announced by the cry of " The work of the bull ! O maidens ! " '' A familiar cry in the streets of Cairo is that of the water- carrier. Sometimes he uses almost the very words of the prophet Isaiah : ' O ye thirsty, water ! ' He does not, how- ever, go on to say, ' without money and without price ; '" but for a small coin, less than an English farthing, he fills one of the brass cups which he chinks incessantly as he walks along. A more ambiguous cry, but one in common use is, ' Oh, may God compensate me ! ' More frequently he exclaims, ' The gift of God ! ' recalling the words of our Lord, speaking to the Samaritan woman of the Holy Spirit : ' If thou kncwest iJie gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.'^ ' Maiiiicis and Cusloiiis of ihi: MoJcin E;j'/i/iiV!S. By E. W. Lane, jip. 31S, 319. ' Isaiah Iv. i. " John iv. 10. A Street in Cairo, ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 37 As we leave the Mooskee behind us, and enter the purely native quarter, the streets become narrower, till at lent^^th a laden camel can scarcely pass, its burden touching the wall on either side. The upper stories of the A Water-seller. houses, which project as they ascend, almost meet overhead, leaving only a narrow strip of sky visible. But even yet we have not penetrated into the innermost arcana of the bazaars. I was several days searching for the D 38 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. goldsmiths' bazaar before I could find it. At length, passing out of a very narrow street, through a dark and filthy archway, I found myself in a gloomy passage, in which it was im- possible for two persons to walk abreast. On either side the goldsmiths were busy, each with his charcoal fire, blowpipe and anvil, producing the exquisite jewellery for which Cairo is so justly famous. Filigree work, fine as the finest lace, jewelled necklaces and nose rings, head-dresses inlaid with diamonds and pearls, were offered for sale, in dirty holes and corners, by men black with the smoke of the forge at which they had been working. There was no dis- play of wealth. Every article was brought out sepa- rately, and its price fixed by weight. Yet even here the intrusive West had made its way. Each A SfKiiiii' IN Cairo. Interior of the Mosque of the Sultan Hasan. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 41 jeweller had at the back of his forge an iron safe made in London or Birming- ham, in which his treasures were stored. Bab Ez-Zuweleh or Bab El-Mutawellee, Cairo. The mosques in Cairo are very numerous, not fewer, it is said, than four hundred. Many of them are of considerable size and architectural 42 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. merit. But, with the single exception of that of Mohammed AH, recently erected, they are all falling into dilapidation. Many reasons are assigned for their ruinous condition. It is said that the Egyptians are deterred from repairing them by superstitious feelings. Others ascribe the neglect to a decay of religious faith and zeal. The more probable explanation is, that the government having confiscated the estates of the mosques, as well as Sanctuary of the Mosque of Ibn-Tooloon. those of private individuals, now fail to discharge the duty of keeping the edifices in repair. The mosque of Sultan Tooloon is interesting to architects from the fact, that although built a thousand years ago (a.d. 879), it had pointed arches at least three hundred years before their introduction into England. That of Sultan Hassan, near the citadel, is a building of great beauty, constructed out of the casing stones of the Great Pyramid. ' It Vn.i.A AND Gardkn nkar Cairo. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 45 abounds,' says Fairholt, 'with the most enriched details of ornament within and without; not the least remarkable of its fittings being the rows of coloured glass lamps hanging from its walls, of Syrian manufacture, bearing the Sultan's name, amid glowing coloured decorations ; they are some of the finest early glass-work of their kind, but many are broken, and others hanging unsafely from half-corroded chains.' Though this mosque is the boast and pride of the Cairenes, yet it is allowed to remain in a condition of filth and a^-^^'-^s*, COFFEE-HOUSE IN THE SUBURBS OF CAIRO. dilapidation which seems to prove that all religious zeal is dying out from the hearts of the people. The suburbs of Cairo, and the surrounding district, are very interesting. Weeks may be spent in visiting and revisiting the many points of attraction. In the environs are charming villas, each standing in a garden, rich in all the products of a semi-tropical country, and abundantly supplied with water. As we ramble in the outskirts of the city, we often come upon an open space occupied as a fair. How like, and yet how unlike, an English fair ! Swings and round-abouts are here, but dark-skinned, bright-eyed Arab youngsters 46 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. have taken the place of our ' young hopefuls.' Yonder is a serpent- charmer with necklace and girdle of snakes ; before him are half-a-dozen puff-adders, erect upon their tails, and waving to and fro with a rhythmic motion to the music of a rude guitar. Near him sits a story-teller, reciting in guttural Arabic some interminable tale from the Thousand and One Nigkis, the group seated round him listening with a fi.\ed attention which nothing seems to weary. Jugglers, mountebanks, and acrobats are performing their feats precisely as we see them at home. Booths, constructed with a few poles and rafters, over which a vine has been trained, afford shadow to loungers who sit hour after hour, sipping coffee or sherbet, and listening to the dismal tones of a tarabookah or Nubian drum, a reed pipe, and a dulcimer. It is a merry, and yet a sad scene. These men are mere children, with no occupation for the present ; no care, or purpose, or hope, for the future. Continuing our ramble along the banks of the Nile, we cross a branch of the river to visit the Nilometer. It was built in the year 716 a.d. by order of the Caliph Suleiman, and has been restored many times since that date. A pit lined with masonry is sunk to the level of the bed of the river, but the lower part is choked with mud and with the remains of the dome, which has fallen in. A grraduated column rises in the centre indicatinof in cubits the height to which the inundation reaches. The sixteenth cubit is called the Sultan's water, as the land tax is only levied when this height is attained. It is notorious that the official and the true record never agree. ' A good Nile,' as it Is called, is from eighteen to twenty-two cubits. Less than this leaves the soil insufficiently irrigated ; more than this drowns the country and inflicts immense mischief upon the peasantry. Every morning during the rise of the river criers go throughout Cairo proclaiming the level to which the inundation has reached. The announce- ment Is awaited with Intense and eager interest, for upon it depends the question whether the coming year shall be one of famine or of abundance. When the proper height has been attained the dams are cut, allowing the water to flow into the canals, and universal rejoicings prevail throughout the city. / Perhaps there is no place in the immediate vicinity of the city which Is visited and revisited with deeper interest than the Citadel. It stands on a rocky eminence which rises to the east of Cairo, and commands a mag- nificent view extending over the city, the desert, and far down the Nile Valley. In this wonderful view the Pyramids form the most impressive feature. Though clearly visible, and within easy reach, they stand quite apart from the surrounding landscape. The narrow strip of cultivated soil along the banks of the river approaches, but does not touch, them. The solitude and silence of the desert broods over them. The noise from the city at our feet falls upon our ears. Its busy life moves beneath our eyes. But nothing breaks in upon the sense of awful mystery and separation from the existing world which invests these venerable monuments of antiquity. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 47 A tragic interest attaches to one of the courts of the Citadel. In iSii Mohammed AH learned that the Mamlukes intended to rebel against him. ^rt-'iiiiiiiiiiii'"'^'^ iisii's.* The Nilometer. He therefore invited their chiefs to be present in the Citadel on the investiture of his son Toossooni Pasha with the command of the army. iS THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. Upwards of 400 came. The ceremony over, on mounting their horses to ride away, they found the gates closed. At the same moment, a fierce fire of musketry was opened upon them from the windows of the surrounding barracks. Resistance and escape were ahke impossible. They galloped .^i»^.«'iihi'*»*i7^|^B(r' The Citadel at Cairo. round the narrow inclosure, seeking in vain to find a way of escape or an enemy whom they might attack. Men and horses fell in heaps in the court- yard. Only one of them, Emin Bey, survived. He leaped his horse over the precipice which forms the western front of the Citadel. The animal was killed by the fall, but he escaped as by a miracle, and reached a camp Jz i^y/y^- <^y y y ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. SI of Arnauts in the plain below, who refused to surrender him to the Pasha ; and he succeeded in making his way from the country in disguise. The soldiers who had taken part in the massacre were rewarded by beino- permitted to plunder the houses of their victims and to complete the ex- termination of the Mamlukes by slaughtering those who had not been present at the ceremony. Upwards of twelve hundred are said to have perished. As we visit the splendid Mosque of Mohammed Ali, close to the scene of the massacre, it is impossible not to remember with horror this frightful tragedy. Though few or none of the remains of the Egypt of the Pharaohs are to be found in Cairo, yet it stands in close proximity to some of the most impor- tant cities of the ancient dynasties. The site of Memphis, which we shall visit on our journey up the Nile, is only a few miles to the south. Helio- polis is still nearer. Pass- ing out from the city, and leaving the Citadel and the tombs of the Caliphs on our right, the road leads, under avenues of tamarisk and acacia, through a richly-cultivated district. Soon, however, the limits of vegetation are reached, and we enter upon the vast tract of sand which bounds Egypt on every side. The line of fertility and barrenness is not, however, continuous and unbroken. Wherever a depression in the soil or an extension of irrigation brings the waters of the Nile to a point in advance of the ordinary limit of cultivation, there the desert 'rejoices and blossoms as the rose.' In one of these projecting points of fertile soil, immediately before we reach the site of the ancient city, is a garden, in the midst of which stands a venerable sycamore tree, hollow, gnarled, and Mosque of Mohammed Ali in the Citadel. 52 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. almost leafless with extreme age. It is enclosed by palisades, and is regarded with veneration by the Copts as the place where Joseph, Mary, and the infant Saviour rested on their flight into Egypt. The fact that there was a great Jewish settlement in this neighbourhood gives a certain measure of plausibility to the legend. The tree itself, though evidently of great age, cannot be as ancient as the legend affirms. The road now leads through a wide plain, covered with a luxuriant growth of sugar-cane. From amidst the broad green glossy leaves a single column of red granite rises, covered from summit to base with hieroglyphics. It is the sole relic above the soil of the once famous City of the Sun — the Heliopolis of Herodotus and Strabo, the Bethshemesh of Jeremiah,' the On The Obelisk of Usertesen I. ai Heliopolis. of Joseph.' To this great university city of ancient Egypt, Plato, Eudoxus, and the wisest of the Greeks, came to be initiated into the mystic lore of the priests. Here, as Manetho tells us, Moses was instructed in all ' the learning of the Egyptians.' This solitary column, raised about a century before the time of Joseph, looked down on his marriage with ' Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah.' It has stood in its present position for nearly four thousand years, and is the sole survivor of the avenues of sphinxes, the temples and palaces, and colleges and obelisks, described by Greek historians. Even in Egypt we shall visit few spots invested with a deeper and more various interest than this. ' Jeremiah xliii. 13. ' Genesis xli. 45. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 53 /r But the great excursion from Cairo yet awaits us — that to the Pyramids. I had seen them so frequently from a distance, and had been so deeply impressed by their solemn and solitary grandeur, that it was with an appre- hension of disappointment that I started in the early morning to spend a long day in examining them more closely. Until recently, the trip was not without some difficulty. The Nile had to be crossed by a ferry; donkeys were the only means of conveyance ; and the traveller must often go some miles out of his way to avoid a canal or a tract of land under water, or he The Pyramids. must be carried over it on men's shoulders. Now a noble bridee is thrown across the river, and a broad highway, above the reach of the inundation, leads under an avenue of carob trees, past the Viceroy's palace, to the very foot of the plateau on which the Pyramids stand. Lovers of romance and adventure complain of the change, and they hear with dismay that a branch railway is talked of. It is certainly a very prosaic aftair to drive out to Gizeh in a carriage and pair, with as little risk or trouble as is involved in a trip to Richmond. But for those who have only a E 5+ THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. single day to devote to the excursion, the new road is not without its advantages. In about an hour after leaving the Ezbekeeyah, we see the Pyramids rising from the sandy plain, evidently close at hand. The first view is cer- tainly disappointing. They are much smaller, and also much nearer, than we had supposed. Two hours was the time allotted for the journey thither, yet our watches show that only one has passed. We soon discover that we are under an optical delusion. The perfect clearness of the air, the want of any intervening objects to break the monotony of the plain, or to mark the distance, and the immense size of the Pyramids themselves, had led us to suppose that we had reached our destination when less than half of the distance had been traversed. As we sped on our way, they loomed larger and larger before us, till at length, when we found ourselves at the foot of the plateau, they fully realised all our expectations. I, at least, felt nothing of the disappointment and disenchantment to which many travellers have given expression. Vast and imposing as are the Pyramids even at the present day, it is important to remember that we do not see them in their original condition. It has been said that, 'All things dread Time; but Time itself dreads the Pyramids.' The destructive agency of man, however, has effected what mere natural decay was powerless to accomplish. The huge masses of masonry are indeed proof against the assaults alike of man and of time. But as originally constructed, they offered not the rough and broken outline up which we now climb, but a smooth and polished surface, perhaps covered with hieroglyphics. For centuries they furnished quarries out of which modern Egyptians have built their cities. Though their beauty has been thus destroyed, their bulk is not perceptibly diminished. Abd-el-Atif, an Arab physician, writing in the twelfth century, when the casing stones were yet in their places, says : ' The most admirable particular of the whole is the extreme nicety with which these stones have been prepared and adjusted. Their adjustment is so precise that not even a needle or a hair can be inserted between any two of them. They are joined by a cement laid on to the thickness of a sheet of paper. These stones are covered with writing in that secret character whose import is at this day wholly unknown. These inscriptions are so multitudinous, that if only those which are seen on the surface of these two Pyramids were copied upon paper, more than ten thousand books would be filled with them.' One of these inscriptions is j^ said by Herodotus to have recorded that sixteen hundred talents of silver i^-). were expended in purchasing radishes, onions, and garlic for the workmen ; f reminding us of the complaint of the Israelites: 'We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely ; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the I leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.'' ' Numbers xi. 5. The general opinion of Egyptologists is that the Pyramids were williout hieroglyphics. The statements of Alxl-el-Atif anrl Herodotus, however, are so precise, that it seems dilTicult to doul)t thcni. E 2 ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 57 If, as we stand upon the plateau of Gizeh, now covered with mounds of ruin and debris, we would picture to ourselves the scene which it pre- sented in the time of the Pharaohs, wc must conceive of the three Pyramids as huge masses of highly-polished granite, the area around them covered with pyramids and temples, amongst which the vSphinx rose in solemn, awful grandeur to a height of a hundred feet. What is now a silent waste of desert sand would be thronged with priests, and nobles, and soldiers, in all the pomp and splendour with which the monuments make us familiar, while just below us, stretching along the Nile, the palaces of Memphis glittered in the sun. As we realise to ourselves this magnificent spectacle, we may understand something of the self-denial manifested by Moses when ' he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; ' and of his dauntless courage when he stood before the king, and demanded that he should ' let the people go.' It was only as 'by faith he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible,' that he was able to rise to this height of heroism ; ' choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt : for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.'' The following are the dimensions of these stupendous monuments, as measured by Mr. Perring.^ Sides of the base . Slant height .... Perpendicular height . Angle of elevation Area of the base, sq. yards 1st Pyramid. Trescnt. Original. Feet. Feet. 746 767 568 614 450 479 — 51 "20 61,835 65,437 2nd Pyramid. Present. Feet. 690 447 53-015 Original. Feet. 705 577 457 52-21 55>32o 3rd Pyramid. Present. Feet. 352 Original. Feet. 352 283 219 51-10 853 The Great Pyramid is, therefore, more than half as long again on every side as Westminster Abbey, and, though deprived of more than thirty feet l)y the removal of its apex, it is still fifty feet higher than the top of St. Paul's, and more than twice as high as the central tower of York Minster. -, It covers thirteen acres of ground, equal to the area of Lincoln's Inn Fields, j and is computed to have contained 6,848,000 tons of solid masonry. The pyramid itself contains two chambers, which have received the appellation of the King's and Queeiis. The latter is lined with slabs of ' Heb. xi. 24-27. ^ Baron Bunscn has justly pointed out that, in their present slate of dilapidation, no admeasurements, however carehilly taken, arc more than an approximation. 58 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. polished stone, very carefully finished, and artistically roofed with blocks leaning against each other to resist the pressure of the mass above. This apartment is reached by a sloping passage, which terminates in a gallery or hall twenty-eight feet high. From the entrance to the gallery a horizontal passage, one hundred and nine feet long, leads to the ' queen's chamber,' which measures seventeen feet (north and south) by eighteen wide, and is twenty feet high to the top of the inclined blocks. The gallery con- tinues to ascend till it reaches a sort of ves- tible, which leads to the 'king's chamber.' This chamber is fin- ished with as much care as the other, and measures thirty-four feet by seventeen, and nineteen in height. The north and south walls are pierced by two shafts or tubes, about eight inches square, slanting up through the entire fabric to the ex- terior of the pyramid. The ' king's chamber ' contained a red granite sarcophagus without a lid ; it was empty, and had neither sculpture nor inscription of any kind. The door was guarded by a succession of four heavy stone portcullises, intended to be let down after the body was deposited, and impenetrably seal up the access. The roof of the chamber is flat ; and, in order to take off the weight above, five spaces, or entresols, have been left in the fn%\ structure. On the wall of one of these garrets, never intended to be entered. General Vyse discovered, in 1836, what had been searched for in every other part of the pyramid in vain. Drawn in red ochre. Cartouche ^ppareutly as quarry marks on the stones previously to their insertion, are several hieroglyphic characters, among which is seen the oval ring which encircles the royal titles, and within it a name which had already been noticed on an adjoining tomb. On the latter it was read Sluifn or C/iu/u, a word sufficiently near, in the Egyptian pronunciation, to Cheops, whom Herodotus gives as the founder of the largest pyramid. One of the most singular features in this pyramid is a perpendicular Section of the Great Pyramid from North to South. Subterranean Vai'lt. ^ 2. Queen's Chamber. 3. King's Chamber. ilWr of Cheops. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 59 shaft descending from the gallery in front of the 'queen's chamber' down to the entrance passage underground, a depth of 155 feet. The workman- ship shows that this well was sunk through the masonry after the comple- tion of the pyramid, in all probability as an outlet for the masons, after barring the sloping ascent with a mass of granite on the inside, which long concealed its existence. The lower opening of the well was closed with a similar stone ; the builders then withdrawing by the northern entrance, which was both barricaded and concealed under the casing, left the interior, as they supposed, inaccessible to man. These extraordinary precau- tions go to confirm the tradition related by Herodotus, that Cheops was not buried in the vault he had prepared, but secretly in some safer retreat, on account of violence apprehended from the people. As no other pyramid is known to contain an upper room, it seems not improbable that the ' queen's chamber ' was the refuge where his mummy lay concealed while the vault was broken open and searched in vain. Lepsius has shown that the Pyramids were constructed by degrees. The vault was excavated, and a course of masonry laid over it, in the first year of the king's reien. If he died before a second was completed, the corpse was in- terred, and the pyramid built up solid above. With every year of the king's life an addition was made to the base as well as to \'iEW OF Gallery in the Great Pyramid, from the Lower and Upper Landing-Places. the superstructure, so that the years of the reign might have been numbered by the accretions, as the age of a tree by its annual rings. When the last year came, the steps were filled out to a plane surface, the casing put on, and the royal corpse conveyed through the slanting passage to its resting-place. The Second Pyramid stands about 500 feet to the south-west of the First, and is so placed that the diagonals of both are in a right line. It is 6o THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. somewhat smaller, but stands on higher ground. The construction is similar to the other, save that no chamber has been discovered above ground. It was surrounded by a pavement, through which a second entrance, in front of the northern face, descends deep into the rock, and then rises again to meet the usual passage from the regular opening in the face of the pyramid. From the point of junction a horizontal passage leads to a vault, now called by the name of Belzoni ; it measures forty-six feet by sixteen, and is twenty- two feet in height. It is entirely hewn in the rock, with the exception of the roof, which is formed of vast limestone blocks, leaning against each other and painted inside. When discovered, this vault con- tained a plain granite sarcophagus, without inscription, sunk into the floor. The lid was half destroyed, and it was full of rubbish. Some bones found in the interior turned out to be the remains of oxen ; but the sarcophagus was not large enough to admit more than a human mummy. Besides the large vault, Belzoni found a smaller one, eleven feet long, and a third, measuring thirty-four feet by ten, and eight feet five in height, but neither contained any sepulchral remains. The general workmanship of this pyramid is inferior to that of the larger one. It retains its outer casing for about 150 feet from the top, and is, consequently, more difficult of ascent. No name has been found on any part of the Second Pyramid, and its erection is not mentioned by Manetho. A tradition preserved by Diodorus assigned it to Amasis ; but an adjacent tomb contains an inscription to a royal architect, in which the monarch is called ' Shafra the Great of the Pyramid,' and this has been supposed to be Chcphrcii, the brother of Cheops, to whom Herodotus ascribes the Second Pyramid. The Third or Red Pyramid — so called from the colour of the granite casing which covered the lower half, and has protected its base from diminu- tion — is described by the classical writers as the most sumptuous and magni- ficent of all. It certainly surpasses the other two in beauty and regularity of construction. It covers a suite of three subterranean chambers, reached as usual by a sloping passage from the northern face. The first is an anteroom twelve feet long, the walls panelled in white stucco. Its door was blocked by huge stones, and when these had been removed, three granite portcullises, in close succession, guarded the vault beyond. In this apartment, which measures forty-six feet by twelve, and is nearly under the apex of the pyramid, a sarcophagus had ajiparently been sunk, but none remained. The floor was covered with its fragments (as Perring supposed) in red granite ; Bust of Chephren in the Museum at Boolak. r^ Cartonclu of Chephren. ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. 61 & and Bunsen ascribes the fracture to Egyptian violence. Others, however, imagine these fragments to be only the chippings made by the masons in fitting the portcullises. Beyond and below this vault is a second, somewhat smaller, in which General Vyse found an elegant sarcophagus of basalt : ' the outside was very beautifully carved in compartments in the Doric style,' or rather ' had the deep cornice which is characteristic of the Egyptian style.' It was empty, and the lid was found broken in the larger apartment. This valuable relic being very brittle, and in danger of disappearing under the curiosity of visitors. General Vyse removed the sarcophagus with great difficulty, and embarked it for England in 1838, but the vessel which conveyed it unfortunately went down off the coast of Spain. The Red Pyramid was opened by the Moslems in the thirteenth cen- tury, when, the narrator states, ' nothing was found but the decayed rotten remains of a man, but there were no treasures, excepting some golden tablets, inscribed with characters which nobody could under- stand.' Some portion of the remains were found in the outer apartment, which are now deposited in the British Museum. Amongst them was the lid of a sarcophagus inscribed with an epitaph con- taining the king's name, which is at once identified with Mycerinus, to whom Herodotus attributes the erection of the pyramid. At the eastern edge of the platform of Gizeh stands the Great Sphinx, a fabulous monster, compounded of the bust of a man with the body and legs of a lion. This combination is supposed to symbolise the union of intellect and power required in a king. The conception originated apparently in Thebes, and seems as intimately connected with that city as the pyramid is with Memphis. This gigantic monster is consequently some centuries later than the neighbouring Pyramids. Bunsen is inclined to assign it to Thothmes iv., who is represented, in a tablet on the breast of the Sphinx, offering incense and libations. It is carved out of the living rock, excavated for the purpose to a depth of above sixty feet. The sands had so accumulated about the figure, that only the head, neck, and top of the back were visible, when Caviglia began to excavate the front in 1S17. In recent years it has been wholly uncovered by M. Mariette. The figure lies with its face to the Nile, with the paws protruding, in an attitude of majestic repose. The countenance has the semi-negro, or ancient Egyptian cast of features, but is much injured by the Arabs hurling their spears and arrows at the ' idol.' Fragments of the beard have been found, and some traces of red remain on the cheeks, which are perhaps of a later date. The head was covered with a cap, of which, only the lower part remains. It is named in the hieroglyphics Hor-evi-Klioo, ' Horus in the horizon ; ' that is to say, the Sun-god, the type of all the kings. The height from the crown of the head to the floor between the paws 62 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. is seventy feet ; the body is a hundred and forty feet in length, and the paws protrude fifty feet more. Between them was the altar or temple where sacrifices were offered to the deity, which was apparently the Genius of the Theban monarchy. Rameses the Great is among the worshippers, and inscriptions on the paws testify to the continuance of the rite in the Roman age. A small building on the steps in front is inscribed to the Emperor Severus, who visited Egypt a.d. 202. From the floor, where the altar stood, a flight of forty-three steps as- cended to a platform, whence an inclined plane led to the top of the rock facing the .Sphinx. The whole intermediate space had been excavated with prodigious labour. Nothing could be grander than the appearance of this mysterious creature fronting the worshippers, and rising more and more over their heads, as they descended the long flight of steps to lay their offerings at its feet. The platform of Gizeh abounds in tombs of various ages, and more than a hundred have been opened by Lepsius. One adorned with pillars, and brilliantly painted, was the resting-place of a ' Prince Merhet,' a priest, and, as Lepsius thinks ' more than probable,' a son, of Chufu ; he is described as ' superintendent of the royal buildings.' From these tombs the enthusiastic explorer says — ' I could almost write a court and state directory of the time of King Cheops or Chephren.'' In another row of tombs Lepsius imagines he has discovered the remains of the Fifth Dynasty, hitherto sup- posed to have reigned at Elephantine contemporaneously with the Fourth at Memphis ; but we must certainly hesitate to accept his conclusions, when he tells us ' these are formed into one civilized epoch, dating about the year 4000 B.c.'^ The common fault of Egyptologists is to assume a chronology in their own minds, and then attach it to the monuments, as if it were inscribed on them in unmistakable characters. Lepsius acknowledges that he has ' not found a single cartouche that can be safely assigned to a period previous to the Fourth Dynasty. The builders of the Great Pyramid seem to assert their right to form the commencement of monumental history.' The date of his ' civilized epoch,' therefore, will depend on that of the Pyramids, which no sober chronology places higher than 2400 B.C., while much may be said for a later date. The ascent of the Great Pyramid is a rather laborious task. The great blocks of stone form a series of steps of unequal height, varying from two to four or five feet. A tribe of Arabs occupying a village at the foot claim the right to assist travellers. Their sheikh levies a tribute of two shillings upon each person making the ascent, and appoints two or three of his people to help him up. The difficulty is thus materially diminished, and the mag- nificent view from the summit — even finer, in some respects, than that from the Citadel — amply repays the traveller for the toil he has undergone. The ' LdUrs, iv. ASCENUING THE GrBAT PvK.\M1D, ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO. desert stretches to the vcrire of the horizon. A narrow valley, inclosed by the Libyan and the Mokattani Mountains, runs to the southward. In the centre of this valley the noble river is seen winding along, with a belt of verdure on either side. The emerald green of the cultivated soil con- trasts finely with the red of the mountains and the tawny sand of the desert. The pyramids of Sakkara, the palm groves of Mitrahenny, Cairo, with its innumerable minarets and cupolas, and the Citadel seated on its rocky height above the city, make up a picture which can scarcely be equalled, and which once seen can never be forgotten. , It is difficult, however, to abandon oneself to the full enjoyment of the ' scene. Crowds of Arabs follow the party to the summit, and pester them with entreaties for backsheesh, or with clamorous recommendations of the forged antiquities they have for sale. They are merry, good-humoured fellows, quick at taking a joke, and great as the annoyance may be, it is impossible to lose one's temper. I tried the effect of a retort upon them by asking backsheesh in return. One ragged scoundrel drew himself up with a dignified air, and putting his hand into some mysterious pocket of a cotton shirt, the only garment he possessed, drew out a small coin worth about half a farthing. Putting it into my hand with a condescending gesture, he folded his arms and walked away, amidst shouts of laughter from his comrades. To one of the dealers in forged antiquities, I said, ' I shan't buy those ; they were made in Birmingham.' A rival trader plucked me by the coat, and said, ' No, Mr. Doctor, his were not made in Birmingham ; his were made in London ; ' and then proceeded to vouch for his own as 'bono anticos.' One great feat is for an Arab to leap down the side of the First Pyramid, run across the intervening space of desert sand, and up the Second Pyramid in nine minutes. The sheikh was demanding a shilling apiece from the twenty-four Europeans who were on the summit. I remon- strated, saying that a dollar for the whole was the regular tariff. The sheikh drew me aside and whispered in my ear, ' Mr. Doctor, you say nothing, and pay nothing.' When he came round to collect the money from the contributors, he passed me by with a merry wink and shrug of his shoulders. A member of our party had a very powerful opera-glass, which he lent to one of the Arabs. Mohammed, looking through it, was beyond measure astounded to see not only his village in the plain below, but his two wives, Fatima and Zuleika, gaily disporting themselves in his absence, little thinking that ' he held them with his glittering eye.' When he had given free vent to his feelings, I said to him, ' Mohammed, how do you keep two wives in order? We in England find one quite as much as we can manage with advantage ; sometimes rather more.' He replied, ' Oh, Mr. Doctor, dey berry good ; dey like two sisters ; I give them much stick ; ' and I have no doubt that they had a good deal of stick on his return home. All this may seem quite out of keeping with the feelings proper to a 66 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. visit to the Pyramids — as no doubt it is — but I have been so much annoyed by the unreaHty and sentimentaHsm of many books of travel, that I prefer to state facts exactly as they happened. The gift of a shilling to the sheikh, on condition that he allowed no one to speak to me for a quarter of an hour, at length secured a brief interval of quiet, in which I abandoned myself to the undisturbed enjoyment of the scene and its associations. What a wonderful history is unrolled before us as we look around ! Across that waste of sand, which stretches away to the north-east, came Abram and Sarai his wife, and his nephew Lot, ' to sojourn in the land.' The young Hebrew slave, who should rise to be second only to Pharaoh, is brought by the same route, and is followed once and again by his brethren seeking corn in Egypt. Where the palm-trees cluster so thickly round the ruined mounds on the banks of the river, Moses and Aaron stood before the kino-, and demanded that he should let the people go. It was across the plain at our feet that the armies of Shishak and Pharaoh Necho marched for the invasion of Palestine. Here, too, came the fugitives, Jeroboam, Urijah, and others,' seeking refuge amongst their ancestral enemies. Near that obelisk of red granite rising amid the glossy green of the sucrar-canes, Joseph married his wife : and when the Jewish monarchy had fallen, Onias, the high-priest, erected a temple upon the plan of that at Jerusalem for his brethren who had settled in Egypt. There, too, if we may trust tradition, the infant Saviour was brought when escaping from the wrath of ' Herod the king.' Turning from sacred to secular history, memories of Persian, Macedonian, and Roman conquerors -— Cambyses, Alexander, and Caesar — start into life as we look down upon the plain. Acain the scene changes, as Amrou and Omar unfurl the banner of the False Prophet, and wrest the richest province of the empire from the enfeebled hand of the Byzantine rulers. Again, as we gaze, we seem to see at the head of his armies the magnificent Emir Yusef Salah-e'deen march from Cairo to confront the Crusaders under Richard the Lion-hearted, King of England, and, having given some of its most romantic chapters to modern history, to return, and dying, send his shroud round the city, whilst criers went before it, exclaiming, ' This is all that remains of the pomp of Saladin.' Coming down to our own times, we cannot forget the Battle of the Pyramids, when a small compact French army withstood the attack of 60,000 Mam- lukcs and compelled them to retreat, leaving 15,000 dead upon the field. In the four thousand years over which the history of Egypt extends, what generations have lived and died, what empires have risen and flourished and decayed ! Surrounded by these affecting memorials of bygone ages, we seem to hear a voice sounding from the silence of the past, and saying, ' All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field : the grass withereth, the flower fadeth : . . . but the word of our God shall stand for ever.'' ' I Kings xi. 40; xiv. 25, 26; Jciciniali xwi. 21 ; xli. 17 ; xliii. 7. ' Isaiali xl. 6, i>. CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. Monev-Changer at SlOUT. On the Banks of the Nile. SECTION II. Cairo to Assouan. ' /'"^ AIRO to Assitjt direct by railway!' Grotesque as this sounds, it has V ' for some years been possible, a railway having been constructed over the 230 miles separating the two towns. Few persons, however, would care to 'do' the Nile in this fashion. The traveller, who wishes really to enjoy the journey, has the choice of two preferable modes of transit. He may go by steamer or by dahabiyyeh. If pressed for time and of limited purse, he must needs choose the former. If he is able to control abundant supply of money and time, he may choose the latter. Since 1870 the steamer arrangements on the Nile have been passing more and more completely under the control of Messrs. T. Cook & Son. This firm has now almost a monopoly of the steamer traffic on the Nile. The result is that a regular service of boats runs between Cairo and the First F 70 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. Cataract twice weekly during the season, from November to Marcli. New steamers, constructed witli a knowledge of all the special requirements of the service, have begun running this year (1886) ; and what used to be both a formidable and costly journey, is now within the reach of all who can afford to visit the East. Travellers who make the journey by dahabiyyeh often find that the smoothness and enjoyment of the trips are increased by leaving the needful arrangements in the hands of the same firm. o Crew of Nile Boat. The chief advantage of the steamboat trip is that we are able to run rapidly past the uninteresting portions of the river. The Nile scenery is for the most part dull and flat. On a dahabiyyeh we may find ourselves becalmed for days off a mud-bank or a long stretch of sand, with nothing to do except watching the antics or listening to the monotonous singing of the crew. If, weary of waiting for a wind, the crew are ordered to tow the boat against the stream, the progress is exceedingly slow and tedious — six or eight miles a day are the utmost that can be accomplished. CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 71 But Steamboat speed is not advantages. The delicious sense dolce far nicnie, which constitutes Nile trip, is impossible on board a slow as compared with that on E too rapid to let indolence which is over-wrought brain Then, too, it is impos- sible to linorer where we o please. We must hurry on. Two hours may be enough for the tombs of Beni Hassan, three hours for the temple of Esneh, four days for Luxor and Karnak ; but it is distressing to feel that we cannot stop if we like. Haunted by the fear of being too late, we complete our survey, watch in secured without great compensating dis- of repose, the Oriental AV^>.>^ of the splendour of ancient Memphis. The city has utterly disappeared. If any traces of it yet exist, they are buried beneath the vast mounds of crumbling bricks and broken pottery which meet the eye in every direction. Near the village of Mitrahenny is a colossal statue of Rameses the Great. It is apparently one of two described by Herodotus and Diodorus as standing in front of the Temple of Ptah. They were originally about fifty feet in height. The one which remains, though mutilated, measures forty-eight feet. It is finely carved in a limestone which takes a high polish, and is evidently a portrait. It lies in a pit, which during the inundation is filled with water. As we gaze at this fallen and battered statue of the mighty conqueror, who was probably contemporaneous with Moses, it is impossible not to remember the words of the prophet Isaiah : — ' They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms ; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners ? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit.' ' Riding across the mounds of debris already referred to, we soon reach Rameses II. ' Isaiah xiv. 16-19. 76 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. the vast subterranean tomb in which, for a period of at least fifteen hundred years, the bodies of the sacred bulls were interred. In the year 1856, M. Mariette observed the head of a sphinx protruding from the sand, and remembered that Strabo described the Serapeum of Memphis as approached Sarcophagus in the Serapeum of Memphis. through an avenue of sphinxes. He at once commenced his explorations in search of the temple in which Apis was worshipped when alive, and the tomb in which it was buried when dead. With immense exertions, the sand- drift was cleared away, and the avenue was laid bare from beneath a super- CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 77 incumbent mass, which was in some places seventy feet in depth. The splendour of this imposing approach may be inferred from the fact that one hundred and forty-one sphinxes were discovered in situ, besides the pedestals of many others. The temple to which they led has disappeared, but the tomb remains. It consists of a huge vault or tunnel, divided into three parts, one of which was four hundred yards in length, another two hundred and ten yards. Only the latter of these is now accessible. Chambers lead out from it on either side, in each of which is a ponderous granite sarcophagus hollowed out in the centre. In this cavity, which will hold four or five persons with ease, the embalmed body of the sacred bull was deposited. A granite slab of great size and weight, placed over the sarcophagus, closed it like a lid. The Viceroy, anxious to place one of these sarcophagi in his museum at Biilak, succeeded in conveying it from the chamber into the subterranean passage. But there it remains. The inclined plane which leads to the surface of the soil offers an insurmountable obstacle to its further progress. Yet the ancient Egyptians transported these huge blocks of granite from the quarries near Syene to Memphis, a distance of nearly six hundred miles ! The pomp and splendour with which the worship of the bull Apis was celebrated at Memphis may help us to understand the apostasy of the Israelites in the wilderness, when, having made a molten calf, they said, ' These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' ' They had been so accustomed to see divine honours paid, even by the mightiest of their task-masters, to this supposed incarnation of the Deity, that at Sinai itself they yielded to the influence of long habit, and ' corrupted themselves, turning aside quickly out of the way which the Lord commanded them.' It was not the bull alone which was worshipped during life by the Egyptians and embalmed on its death. Every nome, almost every city, had its tutelar animal, which received similar honours. Dogs, cats, jackals, wolves, crocodiles, baboons, held in abhorrence in one district, were revered in another. Thus the Tentyrites, regarding the crocodile as the symbol of Typhon, killed it as a religious duty. Elsewhere, temples were built in its honour, in which these disgusting reptiles were tended with the most sedulous care. In all parts of Egypt are large pits, in which the embalmed remains of various animals are to be found in prodigious numbers. One species of ibis seems to have been worshipped everywhere. The bird itself has dis- appeared, but its embalmed remains exist by millions. Bayle St. John, who made his way into the Ibis pits near Memphis, says : ' We began to explore a vast succession of galleries and apartments, closed up here and there with walls of unburnt brick. I can give no idea of the extent of these bird catacombs, except by saying that they appeared large enough to contain all ' Exodus xxxii. 4, S. 78 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. the defunct members of the feathered creation since the beginning of the world. Some of the chambers were vast caves, and there were hundreds of them.' It was scarcely an exaggeration of the Roman satirist, who, when The Ibis. ridiculing the animal worship of the Egyptians, said that it was 'more easy in Egypt to find a god than a man.' In the sandy plains near the site of Memphis are the Pyramids of CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 8i Sakkdra. They stand in a vast necropolis four and a half miles in length, where lie interred the dead of the earliest periods of Egyptian history. One of them is built in stages, and is said by a doubtful tradition preserved by Manetho to have been erected by a monarch of the First Dynasty. If this be true, it is much older than those of Gizeh, and is the most ancient monument in the world. The Gizeh Pyramids, from their superior size and imposing position, have come to be spoken of as iJie Pyn-amids, leading many persons to suppose that they are the only ones. This, however, is a mistake. There are eleven still standing in Sakkara. Throwing out of account various pyramidal structures in Upper Egypt, Ethiopia, and else- where, the total number may be put down at about a hundred. They are not scattered indiscriminately throughout the country, but occupy an area about forty-five miles in length, from Gfzeh in the north to the Fayum in the Ibis Mummy from Memphis. south. Some persons have conjectured that their concentration within these limits seems to point to some peculiar phase of religion or civilisation as prevailing at the period of their erection, and that they were built, not by a native Egyptian race, but by foreign conquerors, who had placed their capital at Memphis, and introduced this mode of sepulchre, which lasted only during their period of occupation, and ceased when they were expelled. This view has not found favour with Egyptologists, and there can be no doubt that they were pyramid-sepulchres. We cannot leave the plain of Memphis without recurring yet once again to the most memorable event in all its eventful history. It was probably here that Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh and demanded that he should let the people go. In the city now buried beneath mouldering heaps and desert sand the faithful and fearless leader braved the 'wrath of the 82 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.' This was the spot where ' Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians ; and there was a great cry in Egypt ; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.' ' Our thoughts pass away from the palaces smitten with this sudden and sore bereavement to the homes of the enslaved race waiting securely for the signal to depart, whilst through faith they ' kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest He that destroyed the first- born should touch them.' ' Great as was the historical importance of this event, seeing that it was the birth of a nation, it gains yet deeper signifi- cance in the fact that it was a type of the great Antitype : ' For even Christ our passover is sacrificed tor us.' ^ It is of the next one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles of the journey up the Nile that travellers often complain as being tedious and wearisome. The scenery is monotonous, and the monumental remains are few and unimportant. And yet I cannot say that I felt either tedium or weariness. The great river itself is a constant source of wonder. For fifteen hundred miles below the point at which the Tacazze enters it from the mountains of Abyssinia, it flows onward to the sea without receiving a single tributary. Not even a tiny rill or brooklet trickles through the desert sand throughout this immense distance, and rain is almost unknown. The main occupation of the peasantry on its banks is to pump water from its ample stream. .Sakiyehs and shadufs are busy all day and all night long levying contributions upon it for the irrigation of the land. Absorbed throughout its course by the scorching sand, and evaporated by an unclouded sun, its volume remains apparently undiminished. Fed by the lakes, and annually swollen by the tropical rains of Central Africa, it is an object of ceaseless interest. Then the atmospheric phenomena are of great variety and beauty. There is, indeed, no ' weather ' on the Nile, in our English sense of the term. By force of habit we commence the voyage by saying, ' Fine morning ; ' ' Fine evening ; ' but gradually we awake to the consciousness that every day is fine. The subtle criticisms, the striking and original remarks on the weather, which make up so large a part of the small talk of con- versation at home, are felt to be absurdly out of place where rain is almost a prodigy. In the early spring the kluxiiisin does, indeed, afford a very unpleasant change to comment upon. It is a hot, dry wind, laden with fine particles of dust, which penetrate everywhere, fill one's eyes and ears, irritate the skin, and produce a sense of extreme discomfort. Everything is seen through a lurid haze. The sands of the desert are whirled by it into rotating columns, which march to and fro till they suddenly break up and disappear. On the river this is merely a cause of annoyance, but in the ' Lxoilus xii. 30. = Ikljrews xi. 2i>. ' I Coiintliians v. 7. CAIRO TO ASSOUAX. 8S desert it becomes a serious dant;cr. Caravans are said to have perished and been buried beneath the driftinyf sands. Apart from this most un- desirable ' change in the weather,' the days resemble one another. But Map of the Nile, from Alexandria to the Second Cataract. the parts of each day have to the observant eye an ever-varying charm. The mornings are delightful, clear and cool and bright, with no mist to blur the outlines or veil the sun. Towards mid-day, all colour seems to be discharged from the landscape, which is wrapped in a white, blinding glare. G 86 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. Yet even now it is pleasant to lie under an awning on deck, and with a feeling of delicious indolence listen to the lapping of the water against the sides of the boat, and watch the banks glide past us as in a dream. With the drawing on of evening a glory of colour comes out in the light of the setting sun. Purple shadows are cast by the mountains. The reds and greys of sandstone, granite, and limestone cliffs blend exquisitely with the tawny yellow of the desert, the rich green of the banks and the l^lue of the river, giving combinations and contrasts of colour in which the artist revels. The cold grey twilight follows immediately upon sunset ; but in a few minutes there is a marvellous change. The earth and sky are suffused with a delicate pink tinge, known as the after-glow. This is the most fairy-like and magical Nile Clifj-s. effect of colour I have ever seen. Swiss travellers are familiar with some- thing like it in the rosy flush of the snowy Alps before sunrise and after sunset. The peculiarity in Egypt is that light and colour return after an interval of ashy grey, like the coming back of life to a corpse, and that it is not confined to a part of the landscape, but floods the whole. I have seen no explanation of this most beautiful jihenomenon, and can only con- jecture that it is connected with the reflection and refraction of the light of the setting sun from the sands of the Libyan Desert. Then comes on the night — and such a night ! The stars shine with a lustrous brilliancy so intense that I have seen a distinct shadow cast by the planet Jupiter, whilst CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 87 his satellites were easily visible through an ordinary opera-glass." Orion was an object of indescribable splendour. Under which of her aspects the moon was most beautiful I cannot say — whether the first slender thread of light, invisible in our denser atmosphere, or in her growing brightness, or in her full-orbed radiance. Addison's familiar lines gained a new meaning when read under this hemisphere of glory : Soon as the evening shades prevail. The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And, nightly, to the listening earth. Repeats the story of her birth ; ^Vhilst all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole. A.N I'^GVITIAN ViLI.AGIi. The river flows on through a narrow strip of vegetation varying from a few feet to a few miles in width, but always bounded by the desert. Sometimes the mountains retreat to a considerable distance from the river, sometimes they come down to its very brink, and form a series of bold cliffs, often surmounted by a Coptic convent. The villages are commonly picturesque, as seen from a distance, standing as they do under a grove of palms, and often placed on the top of a mound which hides the ruins of an ancient city. But on a nearer approach they are dirty and dilapidated beyond description. Still these wretched squalid hamlets have a charm for the European traveller. ' On one occasion we believed that we could see the principal satellite with the naked eye. Is this possible? G 2 83 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. The minaret of the mosque, though often constructed only of mud, is brilliant with white-wash, and it rises gracefully amongst the palm-trees. At sunset, after nightfall, at daybreak, at noon, and towards evening, the Muezzin takes his stand in the gallery, and in a loud, sonorous voice calls the faithful to prayer — ' God is most great. I testify that there is no Deity but God. I testify that Mo- hammed is God's apostle. Come to prayer. Come to security. God is most great ; ' add- ing, during the night, and in the early morning, ' Prayer is better than sleep." At- tached to the mosque is com- monly a school, the noise of which is a sufficient guide to the spot. The children re- cite their lessons all together, an-d each scholar en- deavours to make his voice heard above the din by shouting his loudest. The in- struction given is of the slightest possible kind, consistino- of little else than the re- citation of the master is often a blind rote, can teach it to The Call to Prayer. Koran and the simplest rules of arithmetic. The man, who, being able to repeat the Koran by the children. His payment is little more than nominal, hut is apparently quite equal to his merits. Mr. Lane gives some curious illustrations of the nature of the instruction given, and tells the following droll story : ' I was lately told of a man who could neither read nor write succeeding to the office w — o .■a- o ■^ o I- G ■R: ^ - H > in > 5; CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 91 of a schoolmaster in my nciijhbourhood. Being able to recite the whole of the Kordn, he could hear the boys repeat their lessons : to write them, he employed the "'areef" (or head boy and monitor in the school), pretending that his eyes were weak. A few days after he had taken upon himself this office, a poor woman brought a letter for him to read to her from her son, who had gone on pilgrimage. The fikee pretended to read it, but said nothing ; and the woman, inferring from his silence that the letter contained bad news, said to him: — "Shall I shriek?" He answered "Yes." "Shall I tear my clothes?" she asked. He replied, "Yes." So the poor woman returned to her house, and with her assembled friends performed the lamentation and other ceremonies usual on the occasion of a death. Not many days after this, her son arrived, and she asked him what he could mean by causing a letter j«^^ to be written stating that he was dead. He explained the contents of the letter, and she went to the school- master and begged him to inform her why he had told her to shriek, and to tear her clothes, since the letter was to inform her that her son was well, and he was now arrived at home. Not at all abashed, he said, " God knows futurity. How could I know that your son would arrive in safety ? It was better that you should think him dead than be led to expect to see him, and perhaps be dis- appointed." Some persons who were sitting with him praised his wisdom, exclaiming, "Truly our new fikee is a man of unusual judgment," and for a little while he found that he had raised his reputation by this blunder.' The profusion of bird-life on the Nile is one of its most striking features. Myriads of storks, cranes, geese, wild ducks, pelicans, hawks, pigeons, and herons are seen clustering on the islands in the river, lining its banks, or flying in dense clouds overhead. To protect the growing crops the fellaheen often construct little stands for boys armed with slings, who acquire wonderful dexterity in bringing down their feathered game. In Ancient Egypt birds were as numerous as now. Geese are represented as forming an important part of every banquet, and they are seldom wanting in the offerings to the Egyptian Fowler. [From the British Muse7tw.) 92 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. k gods. Fowling was a favourite amusement. Visitors to the British Museum are familiar with the tablet which represents the flocks of geese possessed by a large landed proprietor. In another the sportsman is seen catching water- fowl in a **■' thicket of pa- pyrus and lo- tus-lilies on the ;,*„'- ~' ' '--•-.- river-bank; a *■' - "^ .--.„■-- vr-.-/:i-->;c-^^~: decoy duck '^:^^ni^^ii^O'^-'~" '' stands on the prow of his boat, and a cat is trained to act as a re- triever.' These countlessflocks of birds may serve to illus- trate the dream of Pharaoh's chief baker. 'I had three white baskets on my head : and in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of hakemeats for Pharaoh ; and thcbirdsdideat them out of the basket upon my head.' ^ Quadrupeds are much less numerous. As in all Oriental countries, homeless, masterless dogs roam round the villages, and act as scavengers. Among the swamps of the Delta wild boars are Watching Fields rN Egypt. ' An Enylish nobleman wlu) visileil the Nile fur purpoies of sport published, on his return, an account of his prowess. He shot, within two months, 9 pelicins ; 1 5 14 geese; 328 wild clucks; 47 widgeon; 5 teal; 66 pintails; 47 flamingoes (I); 37 curlews; 112 herons; 2 quails; 9 partridges; 3,283 pigeons; and 117 miscellaneous. Total, 5,576 head. Even persons who are not scrupulous in the m.itter must concur in reprobating this wholesale and useless slaughter. ' Genesis xl. 16, 17. CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 93 common. Jackals and foxes may be met with everywhere. In the neighbourhood of Luxor and Karnak a hyccna is often seen, with its heavy, clumsy form and slouching gait, prowl- ing amongst the ruins. The crocodile has almost disappeared from Lower ligypt. Notwithstanding its impenetrable coat of mail and its terrible jaws, it is a shy, timid creature, and is said to have been driven away by the paddle-wheels of the steamboats. Formerly they might occasionally be seen sunning themselves on the mud and sand- banks between Keneh and Assouan, but they have not been seen between these points now for a number of years past. It is only as we enter Nubia that they are found in considerable numbers. The flora of Egypt is not very remark- able. Excepting palms, the trees are few and unimportant. A few fine sycamores may be seen, generally in the neighbourhood of a mosque, or shadowing a saiitoii''s tomb Midway between Cairo and the First Cataract the Doum palm makes its appearance. It differs greatly from the ordinary date-palm. Instead of the single straight stem, it divides into two main branches, which again bifurcate as the tree grows. Its fruit, which is about the size and colour of a pomegranate, is said to taste like orinucrbread. It contains an exceedingly hard stone, which is used by the modern, as it was by the ancient, Elgyptian carpenters for making sockets, drills, and hina;es. One very remarkable change has passed upon the water-plants of the Nile. The lotus and the papyrus were formerly the most common and characteristic of its products, insomuch that they formed the symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt. The papyrus was used not only for making paper, to which it gave its name, but for the construc- tion of boats, baskets, and innumerable other The Papyrus Plant. 94 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. articles ; as in the Upper Jordan Valley, where it still grows abundantly, even cottages were built with it. No religious service, no state ceremonial, no domestic festival is found without the lotus ilower. It forms part of every offering to the gods. The guests at a banquet all hold one in their hands. It is, perhaps, the object of all others most constantly represented on the monuments. Yet both the lotus and the papyrus have disappeared from Egypt. No trace of either can be found." Unaccountable as is the disappearance of these plants, it was yet foretold by the prophet Isaiah, as a part of the Divine judgment upon Egypt : ' The brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up : the reeds and flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks, . . . and everything sown by the brooks, shall wither, be Egyptian Entertainment ; each Guest with a Lotus Flower. [From the British Must-n//t.) driven away, and be no more.'" The phrase 'brooks ol defence' in this passage has greatly perplexed commentators. Brooks, in the proper sense of the term, there are none in Egypt. Of course the reference is to the canals with which the country is intersected. But why ' brooks of defence ' ? It has been commonly supposed that they were constructed simply for irrigation. But it affords a striking illustration of the minute accuracy of Scripture phraseology to find that they served the further purpose of guarding the land against the raids of the Bedouin horsemen, who then, ' It is iiulecd said that, in some rcniole and iiiwisited portions of tlio Delia, an occasional papyrus reed mav be discovered. The fact is doubted, and the statement in the text is substantially true. ' Isaiah xix. 6, 7. CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 95 as now, infested the desert, and whose depredations were checked by these canals. There is little to interest or detain us in the modern towns on the Nile bank. Occasionally, as at Manfalut, the governor's palace offers .some characteristic bits of Arabic architecture. These, however, are rare. Even in the larger towns, Keneh, for instance, or Siut, there is little to be seen save wretched, dilapidated hovels, lanes almost impassable for their filth and narrowness, with, here and there, a huge sugar factory or cotton mill worked by forced labour for the benefit of the Viceroy. The situation of Siut (Assiut, as it is now usually spelt) is very beautiful. A ride of about two miles over a raised cause- way, which leads amongst fields of great fertility, brings us to a pictu- resque gateway not unlike that at IManfaliit. In front of it is a large courtyard, overshadowed by fine trees, in which are seated numbers of fel- laheen or townspeople waiting to present petitions to the governor, or to plea,d their cause before him. In one corner a group of conscripts are squatting, who have been dragged from their homes to serve in the army, the navy, or the factories of the Khedive, as the officials may decide. Entering the city gate, we find our- selves in the capital of Upper Egypt. The bazaars, though dark and gloomy, are crowded with buyers and sellers. A military officer, peacefully mounted on a donkey, is transacting business at the door of a money-changer's shop. A group of Bedouin are bargaining for swords, daggers, and long Arab guns at an armourer's forge, women are haggling over the price of a piece of blue cloth or a measure of flour. Passing out from this busy scene by the gate on the opposite side of the city to that at which we entered, we find ourselves almost immedi- ately in the silence and solitude of the great Libyan Desert. Fragments of mummies, mummy-cases, and cere-cloth lie about unheeded on the sand. The steep, rocky hill-side is honeycombed with tombs, in which are found remains of embalmed wolves. It was from the worship of these animals that the town took its ancient name of Lycopolis. The view from the Lotus Flower and Leaf. (N)'m//i(Ca Lotus.] Veiled 96 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. summit of this lange of hills is very stiikin;:;, especially as I saw it, at sunset Except where the Valley of the Nile broke the monotony, the eye ranged over a boundless expanse of desert. To the very vero-e of the horizon stretched un- dulations of marl and sand, like the one swell of ocean in a calm. On the edge of the cultivated soil a few black tents of the Bedouin were pitched. Two or three Arabs, their naked bodies almost black with exposure, were stalking solemnly across CAIRO TO ASSOUAX. 97 the silent waste at our feet, over which loni:^^ sliadovvs were cast in the slanting beams of the setting sun. They were laden with the skins of wild beasts, which they were bringing into Siut to sell. No other living beings were visible, and they harmonised well with the sentiment of the scene. I felt at the time that the grandest mountain scenery of Switzerland was less impressive than this sublime monotony of sky and desert. It is but seldom that ordinary travellers can have any direct com- munication with the people of the country. The lan- guage in most cases forms an in- superable barrier. The fellah can speak nothing but Arabic, of which the traveller is commonly quite ignorant. If the dragoman is em- ployed as inter- preter, he is pretty sure to reproduce the comical scene described by King- lake.' The don- key-boys and local guides often know a little English, of which they make very droll use. I was greatly amused and puzzled by the application of the word lunch. 'See, Osiris hab lunch,' said my guide one day, pointing to an altar piled with offering before the god, sculptured on a temple wall. On another occasion, ridine throuoh some fields of doorah and vetch, I was told that the former was ' Arabs' lunch ; ' the latter, ' camels' lunch.' The explanation I found to be, that as Europeans breakfast and dine on board their boat, whilst lunch is often eaten on shore, it is the only meal of which the natives see or hear anything; hence it has come to be used for food in general. ' Eotluii, \(j1. i. p. 12. Governor's Palace at Manfalut. 98 THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. Whenever travellers can speak or read to the people in their own language, they are listened to with eager interest. Readers of the Simday at Home are familiar with Miss Whately's interesting narratives of conversa- tions with them. Havinsf described the sonq^s and rude music of the boat's, crew, she says : — ' At last, after several songs and dances, the whole party became tired, and began to light their pipes. It seemed a sad thing that these poor fellows should have nothing better than such childish diversions ere they went to rest. After a little consultation, it was agreed to desire our Moslem servant to ask if they would like the lady to read them a stor)-. "What! in Arabic? Could the Sitt {lady') read Arabic?" they asked. Incre- dulously, not knowing that the lady In question was from Syria, and Arabic her native tongue. They all said It was good, and they would like to listen. ' So the Arabic Bible was brought out, and, muffled in our cloaks, we sat on the deck beside our friend, who was seated on a box ; one of us held a fanoiis, or native lamp, which threw its bright light on the sacred page, while all around was darkness, except where the moon here and there shone on the swarthy faces of the Nubian boatmen, who formed a circle about us, crouching in various postures, and wrapped In their striped blue and crimson mantles. The servants stood leaning against the masts, listening with deep attention ; not a sound interrupted the reader's voice but the low ripple of the current, as the water plashed against the sides of the boat. It was a scene one would never forget — that first opening of God's book In the presence of these Ignorant, benighted followers of the False Prophet. Our friend read of the sheep lost In the wilderness, and the piece of silver lost In the house — those simple Illustrations of God's wondrous dealings with man, which are understood and felt In every age and every land. Then she read the history of the prodigal son, and the interest of the hearers increased, and was shown by their frequent exclamations of " Good ! " — " Praise God ! " — " That is wonderful ! " — " Ha ! " (with an expressive tone Impossible to write, though easy to conceive). The look of intelligence which the silvery rays of the moon revealed on more than one dark upturned face and bright black eyes spoke no less plainly. ' As she went on, pausing occasionally to e.xplain a word or show the application, it was deeply Interesting to watch the effect on her listeners ; and when she closed the book, fearing to tire them, there was a universal cry of " LIssa ! lissa ! " (Not yet ! not yet ! ) She read then the Ten Com- mandments, pointing out the necessity for atonement, as shown by man's frequent breaking of God's laws. ' One of the men made a remark relative to the inferiority of women, whom he affirmed, according to Moslem doctrine, to be not only weaker, but more sinful creatures than man. He did not Intend anything personal by this, for the Sitt was evidently looked on as one quite beyond the CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 99 common race of women ; and we heard them observe to each other, with most emi)hatic gestures, that she was " very good ! " and " knew everything ! " Without manifesting surprise or annoyance, she explained to him the love of God for all His creatures, and the equal necessity for His pardon for all. '"If the water in a vessel is pure," she said, " it signifies but little what ilu! vessel is in itself, whether of clay or of silver; and the Spirit of God, dwelling in our hearts, can alone make us vessels fit for the Master's use ; whatever we are by nature. He will give us His Holy Spirit, and change our sinful hearts, if we ask as He has told us." ' The boatmen's songs referred to by Miss Whately are amongst the most familiar memories of a Nile trip. The crew, whether rowing or hauling on a rope, or squatting in a circle on the deck with nothing to do, will continue hour after hour intoning a monotonous and interminable chant, the words of which are frequently quite unmeaning. The principal performer improvises a single line, to which his companions add a chorus, and, when possible, mark the time by a rhythmical clapping of hands, and the measured beat of a tarabookaJi. The following is a fair specimen ; ' I wish I was at Osioot, O Allah ! O my prophet ! Then I'd buy a new felt cap, O Allah ! O my prophet ! The wind is blowing very strong, O Allah ! O my prophet ! ' etc., etc. Mr. Macereeor, in his amusing and interesting little book, Eas/crii Mtisic, has given some of these chants, which he caught by ear and noted down. Here is one : Con spirito. ^ w=^f^ 'm^ '\ — A - (ly joob V=^ tcrfc ta sa ■ li - a - la Ua - la • fo. =§=1 =?=^ ^^^ "1 — A - dy joob sa - li • a — (^ — 1^ ''=- tci^tz^ ka - la - fo, Mi - ny och - tin an ■ i - o - kit ka ■ dy buk- ke- ty a - ni poy He gives another, a great favourite on the Nile. We are told that it was played ' With the Nile drum obligate, and a clapping of hands at every bar.' The Egyptian drum is called tarabookah, and that used by the Nile boatmen is generally made of clay covered with fishes' skin. It is placed under the left arm, generally suspended by a string that passes over the left shoulder, and is beaten with both hands. It yields different sounds when struck near the edge and in the middle. The mode of accompanying a song by clapping the hands is very ancient, and may be seen depicted in several engravings in Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. We quote the first eight bars because the melody is remarkable for the introduction of the minor seventh (the F natural) in the sixth bar, which gives it a peculiar effect, and is an evidence of its extreme antiquit}'. THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. AUe«ro. LO\E SONG OF Till-: NILE BOATMEN. ^^ Am - val lo Hub - by ±: re - val at 511 etc. -1*'- se lat. Freii me no a ra ba Hull - by a l a ,5 W 5 o ^ CAIRO TO ASSOUAN. 103 a famous wrestler. His attention was riveted by a series of wall-paintings, representing athletic sports, chiefly wrestling matches. I said to him, ' Are those pictures like the truth?' He replied enthusiastically, 'By Jove, there isn't a grip or a throw that I haven't used ; and I defy the best wrestler in the north of England to do it better.' In the tomb of Chnum-hctep the arrival of a party of Canaanitish shepherds in Egypt is depicted. They are being introduced to the monarch of the district by a scribe who holds a tablet, giving their number as Valley of the Nile at Beni Hassan. thirty-seven, and calling them Amu ; by which name the Aramaic races were known to the Egyptians. A hieroglyphic inscription styles the leader of the party Hek-absh. He is leading a Syrian goat as a present to the monarch, and in the panniers of the asses which follow are other presents, among them jars of stibium, at that time largely imported into Egypt from Palestine.^ On its first discovery this fresco was supposed to represent the ' In the inscription it is said that they came from Bat Mestem, which probably means, ' the stibium mine.' \ place of this name is mentioned in the Apocrypha as existing in the Plain of Jezreel. H 2 I04 THE LAND OF THE THARAOHS. coming down into Egypt of Jacob and his family. This opinion, now o-enerally abandoned, was, however, strongly advocated at one of the early meetings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology. It was shown that Jacob, his sons, their wives and children, give the exact number required, thirty-seven ; J i Christian Symbols at Beni Hassan. the Biblical number of seventy-two being made up by concubines and their descendants ; and it was maintained that Hck-absh is simply a transliteration into hieroglyphics of the Hebrew name, Jacob. A yet more startling view was propounded at the same meeting. An eminent Egyptolo- gist held it to be a record of the visit of Abraham. The date was asserted to be coincident with that of the Biblical narrative, and the name to be a translation of Abraham, meaning, ' the father of a multitude.' These identifi- cations are doubtful ; but the fresco is interesting, as a contem- porary illustration of patriarchal history. It has been mentioned that the rock-tombs of Egypt were used after the commencement of the Christian era as the abode of monks. Of this there are many curious traces at Beni Hassan. Among the ancient frescoes, we find Christian symbols, placed there by the anchorites, and closely resembling those in the Roman catacombs. In at least two cases we have the cross upon which doves are resting, symbolising the atoning Skhak and Cii.numis. C.UKO TO ASSOUAN. sacrifice of Christ, with the operations of the Spirit needful to give it effect upon the hearts of men. One of these has a leaf of trefoil, typical of the Trinity, and the Alpha and the Omega conjoined, so as to form a single letter. The familiar monogram of Christ into which the cross is worked is Remains of the Temi'le at Auydos. {From Photograph l