fills the boats, it is not easy to conceive a more pleasurable mode of
travelling than that by the Nile when it overflows. The great body of
water, perfectly calm and unruffled, the banks on each side covered
with the rich product of the husbandman’s labour, form a scene
in every sense alluring. The passengers are protected by a simple
awning of branches from the immediate action of the sun, and the
great heat of the tropical latitude is assuaged by a gentle breeze,
which generally continues during four or five meridian hours. The
mariners chaunt responsive to the motion of their oars; and the vessel
offers an apt emblem of finding fortune in her most prosperous career.
I landed near Assiût, and went to an okal in that city to lodge. Here
I suffered no kind of inconvenience.—A small room, dry and perfectly
quiet, not infested with vermin, answered the purpose of security
to property; and in this climate, at such a season, no shelter is
required except from the sun’s rays. Assiût is, at this time, by
far the most considerable city in the higher Egypt. This character
formerly belonged to Girgi, which is in effect still a place of
note, but less so than Assiût. The situation is in all respects
favourable, and the manner in which the water is conducted round the
town is worthy of remark. A canal, dug probably from an early period,
parallel to the Nile, in this part of the country laves the foot of
the mountains which are near to Assiût, and having surrounded that
city, and the villages adjacent, descends again into the river. The
water, however, is not admitted into it but at a certain period
of its increase, and then it overflows all the surrounding lands,
and Assiût only communicates with the Nile, by a road, artificially
raised above the common level, which leads down to the point where
the boats resort, and are laden and discharged; and by two bridges,
the one leading to this road, and the other towards the mountains.
It has become much more populous within a few years by the good
government of Solyman Bey, who has also adorned it by planting many
trees. Assiût was formerly known to the Arabic writers by the name
of _hâut-es-Sultân_, the king’s fish, or fish-pond, for حوض
signifies both. It would be curious to inquire from what circumstance;
whether from having been appointed to supply the king’s table
with fish, or what other reason? The mountains above Assiût abound
with caverns which have probably originally answered the purpose of
sepulture, and then, in the Christian age, may have been the resort of
persons who sought religious retirement. There are some hieroglyphic
inscriptions, but nothing very remarkable, and they have been already
described by former travellers, so that it is not necessary to give
a detailed account of them here. The principal antiquities between
Kahira and Assiût, are at Shech Abade[21], the antient Antinoopolis,
and at Ashmunein. In the former are two Corinthian columns, highly
adorned, standing diagonally opposed to each other, and having each
a Greek inscription. The first words of the one are as follow,
ΑΓΑΘΗ ΤΥΧΗ
ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΙ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΙ ΜΑΡΚΩ ΑΥΡΗΛΙΩ.
The next word appears to be ΣΕΚΟΥΝΔΩ, but it is obliterated[22].
Having passed about fourteen days in Assiût, waiting for a boat to
go forward, which, in this season, when the corn is transported into
the magazines, it is rather difficult to find, at length was able to
hire one, of a moderate size, and entirely devoted to ourselves. We
left Assiût on the 4th of October, and passed the night before
a village called Mehâla. It has been built by a certain Osman
Bey, within twenty years; and however destitute of any spirit of
improvement persons of this description may be thought in Europe,
this village is an evidence of some attention thereto; for the four
streets of which it consists are at right angles with each other,
built in right lines, and four times as wide as what is generally
seen in places of the same kind. It is true, the materials are mean,
and the number of houses inconsiderable.
The villagers of the Upper Egypt are at little expense for
building. Clay and unburned bricks, the chief materials used in
fabricating houses, are to be had for the labour of collecting or
forming them. The same may be said of the thatch; and the date tree,
though perishable, furnishes the timber required. If a carpenter be
employed, his time is not occupied in preparing useless ornaments. In
the towns however, as Ghenné, Assiût, Girgi, &c. the habitations
are constructed of better materials, with much more art, and are
some of them sumptuous.
Many considerable islands exist in the course of the Nile, but they
are too frequently changing place, in consequence of new depositions
of mud, to admit of their being marked with permanent accuracy.
The number of towns and villages which I distinguished on the
Eastern side between Kahira and Assuân, amounted to about one
hundred and sixty.
On the Western, where the cultivable lands are more extended,
two hundred and twenty-eight. Yet they cannot be enumerated very
accurately in passing on the stream; for there are many within the
limits of the arable land on both sides, but principally on the West,
which are not visible from the river, and the names and numbers of
which the circumstances then existing did not permit me to learn
from those to whom I could have recourse for information.
The more populous of the towns seem to be those which follow:
_East of the Nile._ _West of the Nile._
1. Achmîm. 1. Benesoef.
2. Ghenné. 2. Mînié; city.
3. Kous. 3. Melawi.
4. Assuân. 4. Monfalût; city.
5. Assiût; city.
6. Tachta.
7. Girgi; city.
8. Bardîs.
9. Bagjúra.
10. Nakade.
11. Erment.
12. Isna; city.
In the mountain above Assiût are several remarkable caverns, very
spacious, and adorned with hieroglyphics and emblematic figures. Some
appear to have been sepulchral, as they contain fragments of the
jars in which were deposited, not only the Ibis, but cats, dogs,
and other animals, whether considered as sacred, or slain to attend
their master or mistress in the other world. In one of these caverns,
besides the entrance, there are three chambers hewn in the rock, which
is free-stone, one sixty feet by thirty, another sixty by twenty-six,
a third twenty-six by twenty-five. Farther up the mountain there
are caverns yet more spacious than these.
In other parts of the mountain are numerous rough cavities, from which
the stone has been extracted for the purposes of building, but they
have afterwards been used for various objects; some for sepulture,
as appears from the remains of jars curiously stopped with bitumen,
others for summer retreats, as they are exposed to the North, and
very cool.
Large quantities of fine flax are cultivated in the neighbourhood
of Assiût: this article and wheat are transported from Upper to
Lower Egypt. Salt and other articles are brought in return. From
Mecca by way of Cossîr are imported Indian goods; but the European
articles of broad-cloth, tin, &c. are here rarely seen. The Soudân
caravans form a chief support of Assiût, which, with respect to them,
serves as a midway station. Assiût is regarded as the capital of
Middle Egypt; and in population exceeds all the towns to the South
of Kahira. I should not be inclined to estimate the inhabitants
at less than twenty-five thousand. The _Senjiak_, or Bey of Saïd,
divides the year of his office between Assiût and Girgi; the internal
government consists of the Cadi, assisted by other civil officers;
and five Cashefs, mostly appointed by Soliman Bey, constantly reside
there. It is the seat of a Coptic bishop, but the Copts are not very
numerous, the people being chiefly Mohammedans.
So severely is female chastity guarded in this country, that
instant death follows its violation. If tenderness of disposition
should prevent the father, brother, husband from inflicting this
punishment, he is shunned by all his acquaintance, and becomes a
stranger to society.
Provisions are considerably cheaper at Assiût than in Kahira.
Lentilles form a considerable article of food to the inhabitants of
the Upper Egypt, who rarely enjoy the luxury of rice. The lentilles
are so prepared as to be very palatable.
In Dar-Fûr are no lentilles.
The Egyptian onions are remarkably mild, more so than the Spanish, but
not so large. They are of the purest white, and the _lamina_ are of
a softer and looser contexture than those of any other species. They
deteriorate by transplantation; so that much must depend on the soil
and climate. They remain a favourite article of food with all classes;
and it is usual to put a layer or two of them, and of meat, on a spit
or skewer, and thus roast them over a charcoal fire. The desire of
the Israelites for the onions of Egypt is not to be wondered at.
About four hours from Assiût we had passed Monfalût, a city which
I afterwards returned to view at more leisure. Monfalût is of
considerable extent and population. Between it and Assiût stands
Ben-Ali, a populous town. Those three places constitute, with Girgi,
the chief marts of the trade of Upper Egypt.
October 4th, 1792. Continued our navigation up the Nile.
6th. Passed Kaw or Gaw-es-Sherkî, the Antæopolis of antiquity,
where remains part of a curious temple, consisting of several columns,
built of large stones, as usual in Egyptian remains, and covered with
emblematical figures, interspersed with hieroglyphics. Some of the
stones in the temple are from eighteen to twenty feet in length. At
How on the West, supposed the ancient Diospolis, observed no ruins.
8th. Came to Achmîm, the antient Chemmis or Panopolis, on the East
side of the Nile, now a pleasant village or small town. Heliodorus,
in his celebrated romance, often mentions Chemmis, and speaks of
a dispute between its people and those of Bessa or Antinoe. Many
cities intervened between Bessa and Chemmis, the latter of which he
seems to place not far from a lake near the Heracleotic mouth of the
Nile. The whole geography of that ingenious prelate forms one puzzle,
though he was a native of the neighbouring country of Syria.
At Achmîm some fragments of columns still remain, and in the adjacent
mountain are caverns resembling those at Assiût. The hieroglyphics
have been painted in distemperature, as usual with all those executed
on the smooth surface of free-stone. A mummy had been recently
taken out of the principal room, as appeared from the remains of
prepared cloth, and human bones. The ceilings of the chambers have
been plaistered and coloured. Perhaps the antient Egyptians had
a custom, not unknown to other Oriental nations, of annual visits
to the dead[23]; and these chambers might be constructed for the
reception of the relations on those occasions.
The neighbourhood of Achmîm abounds with sycamores.
This kind of sycamore, it is well known, bears a small dry fig, of
a yellowish colour, adhering to the trunk of the tree. Many gardens
are also seen, in which grow date and other trees.
11th October, arrived at Girgi, formerly the capital of Upper
Egypt, now declining. There is a large market-place, with shops in
abundance. At Menshié, antient Ptolemais, and at Girgi, observed
several large pieces of granite, seemingly antique mill-stones. They
are about six feet in diameter, and nearly three feet thick, with
a perforation of one foot square in the centre, from which waving
radii, about an inch deep, pass to the circumference.
The Senjiak, or Emîr-es-Saïd, passes half the year at Girgi, as
already mentioned. His office is esteemed the third in importance,
and is now filled by Soliman Bey, an honest and respectable character.
15th October. Passed onward to Farshiût, a populous town, with many
Christian inhabitants.
17th. Arrived at Dendera, the antient Tentyra. Saw the noted temple,
the most perfect remain of Egyptian architecture. It is in the
form of an oblong square, 200 feet by 150—Pococke says 145; is
now almost buried in the sand. Ascending some steps in the middle
of the wall, you come to a dark gallery, passing through all the
sides. Many of the columns are standing. The inside of the _pronaos_
and of the gallery is covered with painted hieroglyphics in all their
original freshness. A Cashef, imagining treasures were concealed,
was employed in the laudable work of blowing up part of the walls!
The same night, about twelve, reached Ghenné, the antient Cœne, or
Cœnopolis. The navigation on the Nile is particularly delightful in
the stillness of the night, diversified by the bright reflection of
the moon on the water, or the clear sparkling of innumerable stars;
among which the brilliant Canopus, unseen in European climates,
is observable, except when some mountain conceals that part of
the hemisphere.
19th. Came opposite to Coptis, now Kepht. The rubbish may fill a
circumference of two miles, evincing its antient extent. Several small
columns of grey granite lie on the ground, and some large stones,
engraved with hieroglyphics. The distance from the Nile to Coptis
is much smaller than has been supposed by European geographers.
A small part of a bridge remains near Kepht or Coptis, sufficient to
determine that there once was one, but it is impossible to say of
what æra. There is nothing grand in the structure, which consists
of small stones.
20th. Stopped at Kous, the Apollinopolis parva. Observed at a small
distance on the North-east an antient gate, adorned with figures,
and a deep cornice. Kous is a populous town, about a mile on the
East of the Nile.
21st October 1792. Passed the night at Nakadé, where is a Catholic
convent. On the following day came to Aksôr, the antient Thebes.
A brief general retrospect of the topography of Upper Egypt may
here be given. The towns and cultivation are wholly confined to the
banks of the Nile, but especially on the East. Mountains continue to
present a regular barrier behind on both sides. Beyond this natural
wall, on the West, is a vast sandy desert, traversed at times by the
Muggrebîn Arabs; here and there, at the distance of about a hundred
miles or more from the Nile, are Oases or fertile isles, in the
ocean of sand. On the East, between the river and the Arabian gulf,
are vast ranges of mountains, abounding with marble and porphyry,
but generally destitute of water, so that no town or village can be
built. Among these ranges, however, some tribes of Bedouin Arabs,
as the _Ababdi_ and _Beni Hossein_, contrive to find some fertile
spots and diminutive springs, so as to furnish residences for about
three or four thousand inhabitants. Even the shores of the Red Sea,
corresponding with Egypt, contain but a small number of tribes;
and the Arabs on the East in general are little formidable. The
Muggrebîns are more ferocious, and might send forth thirty thousand
men capable of bearing arms, could they ever be united, a thing almost
impossible, their parties seldom exceeding four or five hundred,
and the tribes being divided by intestine enmities. The Lesser Oasis,
now _El-wah el-Ghurbi_, forms a kind of capital settlement, if I may
so speak, of the Muggrebîn Arabs, who extend even to Fezzân and
Tripoli. They are dressed in a linen or cotton shirt, over which is
wrapped a blanket of fine flannel; all have fire-arms and are good
marksmen, and their musquets are their constant companions. Their
chief employment lies in breeding horses[24], camels, and sheep. They
are very hardy and abstemious, a small cake of bread and leathern
bottle of water supplying a man with ample provision for a day.
It is said that several ruins are to be found at _El-wah-el-Ghurbi_. Of
the _Oasis Magna_, now El-wah, I shall speak at large in treating of my
journey to Dar-Fûr; but must observe that the distance between this
Oasis and that styled _Parva_ is erroneously laid down in the most
recent maps. I was informed by the Muggrebîns at _El-wah_, that
_Charjé_, the most northern village of that district, was but two days
journey from the nearest part of _El-wah-el-Ghurbi_; that is, about
forty miles. _Oasis Magna_ seems rightly to correspond with the latitude
of Dendera, and of course that of the southern extremity of _Oasis
Parva_ should be a little to the South of that of Assiût, and not far
North of Tinodes Mons, in D’Anville’s map; apparently the chain on the
East of both the Oases, or الواحات. On the West I observed no mountains,
nor on the South. The most northern Oasis known near Egypt is that
of _Siwa_, already described.
CHAP. IX.
UPPER EGYPT.
_Thebes — Site and antiquities — Painted caverns — Their
discovery and plan — Manners of the people at Thebes — Isna
— Fugitive Beys — Antiquities — Rain — Assûan or Syene —
Obstacles to farther progress — Return to Ghenné._
I found the inhabitants of the Thebaic district had been recently
in open rebellion against the Mamlûks, but they were now somewhat
more quiet. The Troglodytes of the caverns remained tumultuous,
and sometimes opposed the troops of the Bey, by firing from their
recesses; at other times they would retreat to the mountains, and
leave all pursuit behind.
The massy and magnificent forms of the ruins that remain of antient
Thebes, the capital of Egypt, the city of Jove, the city with a
hundred gates, must inspire every intelligent spectator with awe and
admiration. Diffused on both sides of the Nile, their extent confirms
the classical observations, and Homer’s animated description rushes
into the memory:
“Egyptian Thebes, in whose palaces vast wealth is stored; from
each of whose hundred gates issue two hundred warriors, with their
horses and chariots.”
These venerable ruins, probably the most antient in the world, extend
for about three leagues in length along the Nile. East and West they
reach to the mountains, a breadth of about two leagues and a half. The
river is here about three hundred yards broad. The circumference of
the antient city must therefore have been about twenty-seven miles.
In sailing up the Nile, the first village you come to within the
precincts is _Kourna_, on the West, where there are few houses,
the people living mostly in the caverns. Next is _Abuhadjadj_,
a village, and _Karnak_, a small district, both on the East. Far
the largest portion of the city stood on the Eastern side of the
river. On the South-west _Medinet-Abu_ marks the extremity of the
ruins; for Arment, which is about two leagues to the South, cannot
be considered as a part.
Modern authors have styled the site of Thebes _Luxor_, a name which
is not in my journal taken on the spot, nor does my memory retain
a trace of such an appellation, not to mention that the word is
not Arabic. Some write _Aksor_, which convinces me that both are
corruptions of _El Kussûr_, the real term, which is still applied
to the ruins by the Arabs. Norden is very imperfect in his Arabic
names, as well as his topography.
In describing the ruins, we shall begin with the most considerable,
which are on the East of the Nile. The chief is the Great Temple,
an oblong square building of vast extent, with a double colonnade,
one at each extremity. The massy columns and walls are covered with
hieroglyphics, a labour truly stupendous. 1. The Great Temple stands
in the district called _Karnac_.
2. Next in importance is the temple at _Abu-Hadjadj_.
3. Numerous ruins, avenues marked with remains of Sphinxes, &c. On
the West side of the Nile appear,
1. Two colossal figures, apparently of a man and woman, formed of
a calcareous stone like the rest of the ruins.
2. Remains of a large temple, with caverns excavated in the rock.
3. The magnificent edifice styled the _palace of Memnon_. Some of
the columns are about forty feet high, and about nine and a half in
diameter. The columns and walls are covered with hieroglyphics. This
stands at _Kourna_.
4. Behind the palace is the passage styled Bibân-el-Molûk, leading
up the mountain. At the extremity of this passage, in the sides of
the rock, are the celebrated caverns known as the sepulchres of the
antient kings.
Several of these sepulchres have been described by Pococke with
sufficient minuteness; he has even given plans of them. But in
conversation with persons at Assiût and in other parts of Egypt,
I was always informed that they had not been discovered till within
the last thirty years, when a son of Shech _Hamâm_, a very powerful
chief of the Arabs, who governed all the South of Egypt from Achmîm
to Nubia, caused four of them to be opened, in expectation of
finding treasure.
They had probably been rifled in very antient times; but how the
memory of them should have been lost remains to be explained. One of
those which I visited exactly answers Dr. Pococke’s description;
but the other three appear materially different from any of his
plans. It is therefore possible that some of those which he saw have
been gradually closed up by the sand, and that the son of _Hamâm_
had discovered others.
They are cut into the free-stone rock, in appearance upon one general
plan, though differing in parts. First, a passage of some length;
then a chamber; a continuation of the first passage turns abruptly to
the right, where is the large sepulchral chamber, with a sarcophagus
of red granite in the midst.
In the second part of the passage of the largest are several cells
or recesses on both sides. In these appear the chief paintings,
representing the mysteries, which, as well as the hieroglyphics
covering all the walls, are very fresh. I particularly observed
the two harpers described by Bruce; but his engraved figures seem
to be from memory. The French merchants at Kahira informed me that
he brought with him two Italian artists; one was Luigi Balugani,
a Bolognese, the other Zucci, a Florentine.
On landing with my Greek servant at _Kourna_, no male inhabitants
appeared, but two or three women were standing at the entrance of one
of their dens. As we passed in quest of the Shech-el-belad, to request
a guide, one of the women said in Arabic, “Are not you afraid of
crocodiles?” I replied in the negative. She said emphatically,
“We are crocodiles;” and proceeded to depict her own people as
thieves and murderers. They are indeed a ferocious clan, differing in
person from other Egyptians. Spears twelve or fourteen feet in length
are sudden and deadly weapons in their hands. At Kahira, Mohammed
Bey Elfi had told me I should here need a guard of twenty men,
but I found two guides assigned me by the Shech-el-belad sufficient.
In the temple at _Medinet Abu_ we observed a large quantity of blood,
and were told by the peasants of Beirât that the Kournese had there
murdered a Muggrebîn and a Greek, travellers passing from Assuân
to Kahira, who had strayed thither from mere curiosity, or perhaps
with a view of finding treasure, in which the Muggrebîns pretend
to superior skill.
At the village called _Beirât_ is a native spring; and some others,
I was told, are found in the neighbourhood, the water of which is
different from that of the Nile, yet sweet.
Walled towns, it has been observed by Pococke, were not common in
Egypt, and therefore, he adds, it is probable that Thebes was never
surrounded by a wall.—That the passage in Homer refers not to the
gates of the city, must readily be admitted. But it appears to me
likely that Thebes was walled, from some feint remains, which are even
to this day visible. In the precincts of the vast temple at Aksor,
or El-Kussûr, is discoverable a small chamber, lined either with
red granite or with porphyry, on ascending to the roof of which from
without, and directing the eye to the Southward in a straight line,
as far as it can reach, an insulated mass is seen, which has the
appearance of having been a gate. With a telescope, from the same
spot, are visible other still more imperfect remains, under the same
circumstances, in the directions West and North. From their situation,
precisely opposed to each other, and at the three cardinal points,
at so great a distance, rather than from any stronger circumstance,
I was inclined to believe that these may have been three gates.—That
to the West is very near the mountains on that side.
After passing three days in and about antient Thebes, we advanced
on the 26th Oct. 1792 on our voyage up the Nile.
27th Oct. Came to Isna, a large town, the residence of the fugitive
Beys. Here is also found a temple of the same kind as those of Thebes,
inferior in size, but tolerably well preserved.