been recently discovered here, in a cellar, under lock and key,
and inclosed in a sycamore chest. Some of them are on vellum,
and very beautiful. Such a number was found as filled a very large
chest. Murad Bey, being informed that treasures were hid under the
antient mosque, had recourse to the finesse of pretending to rebuild
it; he did rebuild part of a wall; and the cellar and books were
discovered in clearing the foundations.
From the convent of St. George, one distinguishes clearly on the west
the ruins of an antient city, ascertained to have been the Babylon
built by the Persians. They constitute merely a heap of rubbish,
already described by former travellers.
Fostât is a long street, running parallel to the river, and
occupying part of the space between Kahira and its bank. It nearly
joins Misr-el-Attiké on the South.
Bulak is a large irregular town, which has gradually risen around the
place of embarkation. It is marked by an extensive and convenient
okal, built by Ali Bey the Great, and called the Alexandrian okal,
being chiefly used for goods brought from that city. Gardens, filling
the fertile grounds between the houses, and betwixt Bulak and Kahira,
afford an ample supply of fruits and vegetables. Boats croud the
river at Bulak, which is the port of Lower Egypt, as Misr-el-Attiké
is of the Upper.
An island is situated in the middle of the river, nearly opposite
Bulak, where Murad Bey has a kind of summer-house, or place of
retirement. Here are also several gardens. On the opposite coast
is Embabîl, a village, where cows are kept, that furnish excellent
butter.
Farther to the south, and nearly opposite Misr-el-Attiké, is Jiza,
a considerable town, fortified by Ismaîl Bey, who also built a
palace there, completed and since inhabited by Murad Bey, by whom
has been established a foundery, constructed by a Zanthiote, who has
embraced Mohammedism. I found six mortars and twenty-three cannon,
some of them however almost useless. Three of the mortars and six of
the field-pieces, cast by that Zanthiote, were excellent, considering
the place, the instruments, and the workmen. The guns are twenty-four,
eighteen, and twelve pounders. These are in reserve, and the Bey has
a larger number mounted, in different parts of the fort. The walls
of Jiza are of great extent, and have only one gate to the country;
they are ten feet high, three feet thick, and have six half-moons:
but are only fit to resist cavalry, the original intention in raising
them. Murad Bey has suffered the iron work about the loop-holes,
&c. to be plundered or ruined.
The palace is in the southern quarter of Jiza, close to the water. It
has numerous apartments for the Mamlûks, and every convenience for
ease or luxury.
Murad Bey has, of late years, thought it necessary to institute
a marine; to effect which, he has caused three or four vessels
to be built, and has purchased some from the Europeans. The whole
has been attended with no small expense, and promises no adequate
advantage. The largest of these vessels carries twenty-four guns. Six
of them were moored before Jiza, whence they cannot be navigated,
except during the time of the Nile’s increase. They were well
appointed, and had their full complement of mariners, chiefly Greeks
of the Archipelago, moderately skilful in their art, and receiving
every encouragement from the Bey. They were commanded by a native
of Sagos named _Nikôla reis_, Admiral, or Captain Nicholas.
Not far south of Jiza is _Geziret-ed-dahab_, a small island, intended,
as appears, by Diodorus Siculus under the name of _Venus aurea_.
North-east of the city are gardens, and some spacious houses,
the property of the great, who occasionally leave the city to
divert themselves in this retreat; and have there an open space,
where the Mamlûks perform their military evolutions, and exercise
their horses. The ground under the mountains to the East is filled
with tombs. The mountain is of white sand and calcareous stone,
and destitute of verdure.
The tomb of the Imâm Shafei is without the walls of the city,
near the castle. It is in a mosque of good architecture, and kept in
complete repair. On Friday, the day of devotion among the Mohammedans,
the women being at liberty to visit the tombs of their relations,
crowd to this mosque to provide substitutes, the place being the
Daphne of Kahira, and sacred to the blandishments of Venus.
There is a much more considerable canal, styled _Chalige ibn Menji_,
which, from its opening to the Nile near Bulak, extends to _Bilbeis_,
(according to D’Anville, the _Pharbæthus_ of antiquity, which
Herodotus, Pliny, and Ptolemy, make the capital of a _Nome_,) where
it joins another canal, and passes to the lake _Sheib_.
The pleasure boats used by the great on the increase of the Nile are
very numerous. They are light and of elegant form; rowers from four
to eight. Those for the women covered with wainscot; such as are for
the use of the men, are covered above, and open at the sides, or only
latticed. Others are kept for hire, like the Venetian gondolas. They
are used in the chalige, and upon the river.
The gates of Kahira are numerous; but the most striking are two
at the northern extremity of the city, called _Bab-el-Nasr_, and
_Bab-el-Fituch_, which present a splendid display of Saracenic
architecture.
_Romeili_ is an open place, of an irregular form, where feats of
juggling are performed. The charmers of serpents also seem worthy of
remark, their powers appearing extraordinary. The serpent most common
at Kahira is of the viper class, and undoubtedly poisonous. If one
of them enter a house, the charmer is sent for, who uses a certain
form of words. I have seen three serpents enticed out of the cabin
of a ship, lying near the shore. The operator handled them, and then
put them into a bag. At other times I have seen the serpents twist
round the bodies of these Psylli in all directions, without having had
their fangs extracted or broken, and without doing them any injury.
The Egyptians pretend to numerous kinds of magic. The powerful influence
of the name of the Divinity, _Ism Ullah_, an account of which is
contained in the _Kitab-el-rihani_, is supposed to work various
miracles. The mode of its application is divided into _halâl_, lawful,
and _harâm_, unlawful. Though the practice terminate in perpetual
disappointment, the credulous, who still confide in it, are not few.
There are three or four places on the mountain, above Kahira, to which
the Arabs ascribe some influence of magic. _El Maraga_, where they say
the earth trembles. _Bîr-el-kuffâr_, the well of the infidels.—_Cassaat
el Molûk_.—_Ain el Siré_, a spring of salt water, to which they
attribute medical virtues.
The dancing girls form a distinct class. They are always attended by
an old man and woman, who play on musical instruments, and look to
the conduct of the girls, that they may not bestow their favours for
an inadequate reward; for, though not chaste, they are by no means
common. Their dances exhibit all that the most luxurious imagination
can picture—all the peculiar motions and arts for which Martial
has remarked the Egyptians as celebrated,
_Nequitias Tellus scit dare nulla magis._
Their forms are elegant, their faces rather expressive than beautiful.
The following amusements are chiefly exhibited during the Ramadân:
After breaking the fast by some refreshments, the prayer commences,
which is a long one. The principal meal then has place, and then the
arrival of strangers to pay their respects to the Bey, or to transact
business, occupies some time. The amusements then commence. The
Gerîd and various other exercises are practised by day-light, but
at night wrestling is commonly the first. In this the lower class
of people in Egypt shew considerable vigour and activity at least,
though perhaps not consummate skill. When the Bey and his company
are tired of these exercises, singers (male) appear. The plaintive
vocal music of Kahira, and the agreeable sensations occasioned by it,
have been the subject of remark to many who have described Egypt. Then
appear the story-tellers, who with wonderful readiness and rapidity of
utterance go through the romantic adventures resembling the _Thousand
and One Nights_, of which the varieties are innumerable. These are
succeeded by wits, who with droll and unexpected similies often set the
company in fits of laughter. The adversary brings some similitude
equally unexpected.—Whoever holds out the longest is rewarded as
conqueror.—“Methel Sire”—“Let us wrestle in similies;” the other
answers, “Ma Methel-lak”—“What is your similitude?” “You are like the
city ass, look sleek and carry dung.” Some of these have really a
portion of wit, and it is almost the only occasion that I remember, when
the Arabs exhibit any thing that can properly be so denominated. The
place of these, when they have received a present according to the
pleasure of the Bey, is often supplied by female singers, who frequently
accompany their voices with an instrument, touched like the guitar.
There are women who are highly valued for this talent of amusing the
public; and if any judgment may be formed from the manner in which they
are sometimes rewarded, the gratification of their auditors is far
from being moderate. There are occasions when some of the _Harem_
exhibit their vocal powers in the presence of select company; but
this is not common; and in that case the performer is concealed
behind a curtain or lattice.
The last are the female dancers or _ghawasié_. These, it may be
supposed, if they are able to fascinate the eye of the multitude,
in the public streets, with only ordinary exertions, neglect not
to have recourse to the more laboured blandishments of their art in
the presence of a prince.
_Pehlawân_, rope-dancers, &c. are introduced, whose exertions are
not contemptible.
Chess and the Polish drafts are the only games that are indulged
in, and in these some of the Beys are skilled. They play remarkably
quick, and apparently without much premeditation. But habit has given
this facility. They practise daily, and their minds are occupied by
few objects.
Convenient markets appear in every part of the city. Coffee-houses
are equally numerous, where the natives pass a great part of the
day smoking and conversing. These commonly consist of one apartment,
not very large. Only coffee and fire for the pipe are furnished. But
at Damascus I afterwards saw coffee-houses remarkably large, some
of them placed over running water. The furniture is however very
simple, and unlike the splendid apartments, for the same purposes,
to be seen in Constantinople. One, in particular, at Damascus, under
the castle wall, is capable at a very moderate calculation of holding
one thousand persons: it has no walls, but an extensive roof spreads
over numerous benches, and it is encircled with trees and water.
The number of small imposts in Egypt is almost inconceivable; they are
estimated to amount to three hundred and sixty. One is for all goods
crossing from Jiza to Kahira; a poor woman bringing a basket of eggs,
worth two paras, must pay the fifth part of a para for passing. Upon
the whole, the revenue can hardly be raised to a greater amount than
it is.
In May 1792 there was a famine, occasioned by various accidental
circumstances; and wheat sold at 20 and 22 patackes the _ardeb_. In
October 1796 it was at five patackes. When I made my inquiries at
the latter period, the following prices of provisions were stated:
Mutton, per rotal, 10 paras.
Beef, ditto, 8 ditto.
Sugar, per rotal, 20 to 25 paras.
Sweet oil, ditto, 12 ditto.
Milk, ditto, 4 ditto.
Tobacco of Ladakîa, per oke, 45 to 70 paras.
Fowls, small, 12 paras each.
The recent history of Egypt, till the time of Ismaîl Bey, is
sufficiently known. On the death of Ismaîl, Hassan Bey succeeded him
in his office of Shech-el-bellad, governor of the city, and implying
the precedence among the Beys. Hassan was soon expelled by Murad Bey,
who held the office till the Capitan Pasha arrived from Constantinople
with a fleet, and drove him into Upper Egypt. The Pasha, after
satisfying his avarice, withdrew, and the Beys returned. Ibrahim Bey,
who had been a slave of Ali Bey the Great, had however acquired such
authority, that Murad was constrained to share the government with
him; and they have since ruled Egypt, Ibrahim as _Shech-el-bellad_,
and Murad as _Defter-dâr_. Mutual jealousies prevail between them,
each seeking the destruction of the other. They however conspire
together to recruit the number of the Mamlûks, and to collect
treasure from all quarters.
These are considered as usurpers by the Beys of Upper Egypt, who are
favoured by the Porte; one of whom, named Ali, contrived to escape
from Saïd into Syria, where he courted the nearest Pasha, Jezzâr
of Akka, to support their interest; but that potent and able leader
refused to listen to his suggestions, or amused him with false hopes.
The year before I arrived, there had been a pestilence which had
destroyed great numbers of the Mamlûks. The next memorable event
was the contest with Alexandria, before stated.
To strengthen his interest, Ibrahim Bey had negotiated a marriage
between his daughter and another powerful Bey, of the same name, but
no relation. The wedding-day, 30th of August 1792, was celebrated
with great pomp. A splendid equipage was prepared, in the European
form, of a coach, drawn by two horses, and ornamented with wreaths
of artificial flowers, in which a beautiful slave from the _harem_,
personating the bride, whose features were very plain, was carried
through the principal streets of Kahira. The blinds of the coach were
however drawn up, and the fair deputy sat concealed. The procession
was attended by some Beys, several officers and Mamlûks, and ended at
the house of the bridegroom, who received her from the carriage in his
arms. The Beys have baths in their houses, otherwise this procession,
on arriving at the house of the bridegroom, would have attended the
female to the bath, and then returned thither. In general, at Kahira,
the bride, completely veiled, walks under a canopy, and supported
by two women, to the house of the bridegroom.
The fête had continued for three days preceding the marriage. In
the evening, fire-works were exhibited at the houses of the husband
and the father, and presents of shawls, caffetans, and other parts
of dress and money were liberally distributed. After consummation
the ensanguined cloth was shown to the relations of the bride,
especially the mother. The virgin had been before instructed by
matrons in what manner to receive the conjugal embraces, and the same
women remained in an adjoining chamber during this final ceremony,
to lend assistance if required. The Oriental virgins marry in such
early youth that the marks of their purity are seldom deficient.
A curious circumstance occurred to mark the systematic rapacity
of the Beys, which could not be lulled even by such a season of
festivity. Ibrahim Bey, the father of the bride, having heard that
a company of female singers, who usually attend on these occasions,
had been employed in singing in Birket-el-fîl, the chief open
place in the city, not only during the day, but also most part of
the ensuing night, and had in consequence collected donations to a
considerable amount, sent for the leading woman to his house. She,
supposing that she had been summoned to receive some reward,
or that the charms of her voice had been made known to the Bey,
readily obeyed the mandate. On entering the apartment, the first
question was, “How many half sequins (_nusfiat_) did you collect
yesterday?”—She replied, “About ten thousand.”—“Pay me
eight thousand, then,” said the Bey, “and I will give you a note
of credit on Ibrahim Jeuhari, my secretary.” The money was paid,
but the woman was turned out of the house without receiving any
security whatever. She is said to have died of the disappointment
a short time after.
Some negotiations took place that summer between the Beys here, and
those in Upper Egypt (whom I afterwards found at Isna, attended by
a small party of Mamlûks); the former were so powerful that they
rejected the applications of the latter. All continued quiet till
I went to Upper Egypt.
I shall now endeavour to give some idea of the most celebrated Beys,
who at present have the sway in this unhappy country. Ibrahim Bey
is upwards of sixty years of age, a tall thin man, with an aquiline
nose. He is very avaricious, but by his treasures and connections
has secured a large party. His Mamlûks may amount to about a
thousand. Though reputed to manage the sabre with dexterity, he has
nothing of enterprise in his character, which has the mean rapacity
of the vulture, nothing of the daring flight of the eagle.
Murad Bey, once his superior, now his equal in power, has passed
a life of tumult and activity. Originally a slave of Mohammed Bey
Abu-dhahab, at the head of a detachment of his master’s Mamlûks,
he defeated and made prisoner Ali Bey the great, whose death shortly
after ensued. Murad is detested by the Porte. He is an energetic
character, and his profusion is supplied by his rapacity: about
forty-five years of age, of a replete habit of body. His Mamlûks,
in 1796, amounted to about seventeen hundred. His party, though not
so numerous as that of Ibrahim Bey, is yet of a more decided and
military stamp. Murad Bey is married to the widow of his master,
the daughter of the celebrated Ali Bey.
Next in power is Mohammed Bey Elfi, a young man of not more than
thirty-five years: his name imports that he was bought for a
thousand patackes. His master was Murad Bey, just mentioned. Quick
in apprehension, impetuous in action. Mamlûks eight hundred. Power
great and increasing.
Ibrahim Bey, _el Uali_, a name derived from the second military
magistracy in the city, is a young man, about the same age with the
last. He is married, as has been mentioned, to the daughter of the
elder Ibrahim, and is firmly attached to his interests. Of a sedate,
yet firm character. Mamlûks six or seven hundred.
Aiûb Bey, _el zogheir_, or junior, is another powerful leader,
perhaps the most eminent in capacity among the whole, and on
all occasions consulted by the rest. His age, between thirty and
forty. Mamlûks not many. He is a prudent manager, and rarely accused
of extortion.
Fatmé, now the aged daughter of the famous Ali, is held in much
respect by all the Beys. Even Murad, her husband, stands reverently
in her presence. When a Bey is appointed to a government, he never
fails to pay a visit to this old lady, who lectures him on his duties;
and will say, “Do not pillage the people; they were always spared
by my father.”
CHAP. VII.
_Abstract of the history of Africa in general, and Egypt in
particular, under the domination of the Arabs._
As this portion of history is little known, and may lend illustration
to many topics discussed in these pages, I have been induced to insert
a brief idea of it, abstracted chiefly, in what regards Africa,
from the valuable work of Cardonne, a compilation which has saved
me much research into the original writers[16].
Syria and Persia had already fallen under the rapid progress of
the followers of Mohammed, and it was so early as the 19th year
of the Hejira, the 640th of the Christian æra, that the Chalîf
Omar commanded Amrû to subdue Egypt. Memphis, or Misr, submitted
through the treason of the governor; but Alexandria stood a siege of
fourteen months. The loss of the library has been much regretted;
it was probably replete with the absurd philosophy and divinity of
the times; and amid the number of libraries in the Greek empire,
it is impossible to conceive, that the work of any truly valuable
author should have existed only in one copy.
A.D. 643. A famine desolating Arabia, Amrû re-opened the canal,
formed by the Romans from Memphis to the Red Sea. The capital seat
of the Chalîfs being soon after removed from Medina to Damascus,
it was neglected and went to ruin.
A.D. 647. Abd-ullah, governor of Egypt, proceeds to the conquest
of Africa. He vanquishes the Greek patrician Gregory in the battle
of Yakûb.
PART I.
_AFRICA._
THIS and the subsequent events are so ably narrated by Mr. Gibbon[17],
that it would be presumptuous to enter the same ground. It is
sufficient to observe that the Arabs, alternately advancing and
repulsed, were not complete masters of Africa, or rather that portion
of this vast continent which extends along the Mediterranean Sea,
till about the year 709 of our æra. They had not only been opposed
by the Greeks, but by the _Berbers_, or natives of the West. These
Berbers were, according to Cardonne, an ancient Arabian colony,
which had migrated into Africa, and retained its native speech.
They were divided into five tribes, which now amount to about six
hundred lineages, partly dwelling under tents, and partly in towns
and villages.
Mûsa ben Nasr had effectuated the conquest of Africa before he
proceeded to that of Spain. Till this period Africa had remained an
appendage to the government of Egypt, which was in quiet submission
to the Chalîfs, successors of Mohammed. But Abd-el-aziz, governor
of Egypt, having been guilty of great extortions from Hassan the
general in Africa, the Chalîf, Walid I. had assigned to Mûsa an
independent authority.
Mohammed-ben-Yezîd succeeded Mûsa in the government of Africa.
A.D. 721. Nechrên Seffran was appointed governor of Africa by the
Chalîf Yezîd, and died in 727, after having made some incursions
into the interior of that continent.
The natives soon after revolted against the Arabs, whom they defeated
with great slaughter.
A.D. 741. Hantele-ben-Seffran, governor of Egypt, was sent against
them by the Chalîf Hakim. He succeeded in his enterprise; subdued the
insurgents with great slaughter, and regained possession of Cairoan,
the Arabian capital of Africa, founded by Akbal, about A.D. 670,
fifty miles to the south of Tunis.
The revolt reviving, Hantelé again conquered the rebels, whose
vast army was conducted by Abd-el-wahhad. The exaggeration of the
Arabian authors computes the insurgents slain at an hundred and sixty
thousand; and Hantelé, in giving an account of his operations to
the Chalîf Hakim, reported that a more sanguinary contest had never
been fought.
A.D. 749. The sceptre of the Chalîfs passing from the Ommiades to
the Abbassides, Abd-el-rachmân, governor of Africa, refused tribute,
assembled the people in the mosque of Cairoan, tore his robe, and
abjured the authority of the new Chalîf.
Abd-el-rachmân being slain by his brothers, a civil war arose.
A.D. 772. The Chalîf Abu-Mansûr Djafar sends Yezîd with a strong
army to regain Africa. He succeeds, re-establishes tranquillity,
and attracts arts and manufactures to Cairoan the capital.
A.D. 786. On the death of Yezîd, the Chalif names Dawûd, son of that
leader, to be his successor. Dawûd conquers the insurgent Berbers,
and accepts the government of Egypt; his uncle, Ruhh-ben Chatem,
succeeding him in that of Africa.
SECT. I.
_Dynasty of the Aglabites._
A.D. 800. It was under the reign of the famous Harôn-el-Rashîd,
that Ibrahim ben-el-Aghleb, governor of Africa, finally threw off
the yoke of the Chalîf of Damascus. Ibrahim secured his authority
by maintaining a regular body of troops; and died in 811, being
succeeded by his son Abu-’l-abbâs.
Ziadet-Ullah, his successor, subdued Sicily.
837. Abu Akkal ascended the throne of Africa.
840. The next prince, Abu-’l-abbâs, reigned thirty-four years;
humane, liberal, and a lover of justice. He was however too much
addicted to the pleasures of the table; and it is related, that one
day being in a state of intoxication in the town of Sût, he embarked
for the isle of Kûssa, and when the fumes of the wine had evaporated,
was not a little surprised to find himself in the open sea.
874. Abu-’l-Abbâs had obtained of his brother Ishak an open
renunciation, in the chief mosque of Cairoan, of all claim to the
crown; yet that prince seized it on his death, to the prejudice of
the former’s son. Ishak built a new town, called Rifadé.