CHAPTER IX.

MOSQUES— TOMBS-MASSACRE OF MAMELUKES-HELIOPOLIS.
N tlie east bank and a little over a mile from the Nile, stands Cairo, the capital of Egypt, latitude 30° 6' North and longitude 31° 20' East of the meridian of Greenwich. This celebrated city includes four original sites. The first of which was founded by Amru after conquering Egypt. When the ancient fortress of Babylon sur- rendered in A. D. 641 to this celebrated general of the Caliph Omar he " pitched his tent " (Fostat) and the place where he camped was called " El Fostat," which eventually became the capital of Egypt. It remained such until, in the year A. D. 751, when Marwan II. was defeated by Abu-1'Abbas, who lost his life at Abusir in the Fayoum, then the Omayyade Dynasty ended in Egypt and the Abbaside Dynasty began under the reign of Abu-1' Abbas (a descendent of Abbas who defeated Marwan II). In A. D. 744 this ruler removed his residence a little farther to the northeast of the site that had been selected by Amru. It was again changed when Ahmed ibn-Tulun, Governor of Egypt, wrested the power from the ruling dynasty and founded a new line which bears his name.
This Caliph removed the site of the growing capitol still farther to the northeast and founded a suburb known as " El-Katiya," where he built the celebrated mosque bearing his name. At the restoration of the Abbaside Governor and during the rule of the Ikshidide dynasty they held their court at the palace of Ahmed ibn-Tulun, where it remained until El Muizz sent an army under Gohar to invade Egypt which he captured. He founded the new city of El-Kahira, or " The Victorious," which has been corrupted into " Cairo."
This city is the headquarters of nearly all the tourists that intend "doing Egypt." Here is the starting-place to many delightful jaunts, to various points of interest in the immediate vicinity of Cairo, as well as
202 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
to those lying farther to the south aud beyond the cataracts, up to the confluence of the Blue and White Nile and the city of Khartoum. Cairo is the principal starting-point for the pilgrimage to Mecca and for the examination of the Pyramids.
When I first visited the Capital of Eg^'pt the railroad from Alex- andria was not completed to the city of Cairo and the Suez Canal had not been started; but a very large force of Europeans were constructing a fine bridge across the river Nile, the first of a series of improvements destined to transform Egypt into a modern nineteenth century progres- sive country, with all the stir and bustle pertaining to many a European and American city. Civilization seemed to have touched Egypt with her magic wand and changed all things, connecting the two seas, building bridges, making railroads, introducing electric lights and power, giving them phonographs and all the wonderful inventions of the commencement of the twentieth century. Egypt was transformed from a semi-civilized barbarous condition into a new order and a new era.
I again visited this country and Cairo, on my return from India, and the memory of it will remain with me while life shall last. I came this time for the express purpose of carefully examining the various points and places of interest, to study the man}^ tombs, temples, monuments, and mummies, as well as the symbology of Ancient Free Masonry and the evidence of its prehistoric existence.
I first saw the Light in India, the birthplace of our most Illustrious Fraternity, and discovered evidences that it was cradled upon the banks of the Nile, in the hoary ages of antiquity, long centuries before the Babylonian Magi had come into an existence, or the Hebrews were a people. I had often rambled with my father, when a boy, from one city to another, in order to see for myself the demonstrated thoughts of our ancient craftsmen, who had wrought in quarries, for the purpose of adorning the banks of the grand old river Nile with magnificient tombs and temples, whose very ruins are the wonder and admiration of the learned men of this twentieth century. I have stood in awe before many of these tombs and temples, and have spent years in careful examina- tions, for the express purpose of telling you, my dear brothers and readers, the result of my investigations. In this chapter I will describe some of the scenes and incidents which charmed and delighted me in
MOSQUE OF AKBAR,
CAIRO.
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 203
this grand old city of the Caliphs, " Masr," the Mother of the World, " The Precious Diamond in the handle of the green Fan of the Delta."
One of the first places the student or tourist should visit in this wonderful old city of Cairo is the citadel, built by Saladin in 1166 with stones that were brought from the small pyramids in the plains of Gizeh. It was erected by the ruling power for the express purpose of protecting and defending the town from the assault of enemies. This fortress most certainly commands the whole city ; but // is commanded by the Mokattum hills, which rise immediately above it. Mohammed Ali took advantage of this site, Gebel Givitsha^ in 1805, when he was elected by the people to become their ruler.
At this time Khursid, who had been appointed the Turkish Pasha by the Sublime Porte, held the citadel until Mohammed Ali, at the head of a large body of Albanians, and assisted by the people, planted a battery upon the above-named site on the Mokattum hills, whence a con- tinuous fire was kept up from -the minaret of the mosque of Sultan Hassan, as well as from the battery at Gebel Giyusha, until he finally compelled Khursid to surrender the citadel into the hands of the people and gave the dominant power to their leader, Mohammed Ali.
On entering this celebrated fortress and inner court by the New Gate and following along a walled passage we come to the Alabaster Mosque, erected by Mohammed xA.li, which occupies the site of Saladin's old palace, blown up in the year 1824. No one is allowed (European or American) to enter into this building without putting on straw or cloth shoes, and paying a fee of one piastre. The citadel stands overlooking the city, just where the Mokattum hills begin to descend to the plain beneath. Here rises the towering walls of this celebrated fortress that contain within them a veritable town itself, whose many very interesting objects and edifices are really worth seeing.
It was within the walls of this fortress that the massacre of the Mamelukes occurred and to me it was one of the most interesting places within its blood-stained walls. After Mohammed Ali had compelled the Tvirkish Pasha Khursid to surrender the citadel to him and had received the finna7i appointing him Governor of Egypt, his title was disputed by nearly every one outside the city of Cairo, but more especially by the Mameluke Beys, whose forces had been strengthened by the
204 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
great majority of the army of Khursid Pasha, who had been deposed by Mohammed Ali. This fact caused the Governor to use all means in his power to destroy every one opposed to his rule. Therefore, in order that you may be enabled to read one of the best accounts of what led up to the actual massacre itself, I will quote you from that valuable little work of Stanley Lane Poole on " Egypt,'' page i6S :
"An attempt was made to ensnare certain of the Beys, who were encamped north of the metropolis. On the seventeenth of August, 1805, the dam of the Canal of Cairo was to be cut and some chief of Mohammed Ali wrote informing them that he would go forth early in the morning, with most of his troops, to witness the cere-mony, inviting them to enter and seize the city, and to deceive them, stipulated for a certain sum of money as a reward. The dam, however, was cut early in the preceding night, without any ceremony.
" On the following morning these Beys, with their Mamelukes, a very numerous body, broke open the gate of the suburb El-Hoseyniyeh and gained admittance into the city from the north through the gate called Bab-el-Futuh. They marched along the principal street for some distance, with kettle-drums behind each company and were received with apparent joy by the citizens. At the mosque called the AslirafiyeJi they separated, one party proceeding to the Azhar and the house of certain Sheiks, and the other party continuing along the main street and through the gate called Bab-Ziiweyleh^ where they turned up towards the Citadel. Here they were fired on by some soldiers from the houses and with this signal a terrible massacre commenced.
" Falling back towards their companions, they found the by-streets closed, and in that part of the main thoroughfare called Bcyii-el Kasi-eyn^ they were suddenly placed between two fires. Thus shut up in a narrow street, some sought refuge in the collegiate mosque of the Barkukiyeh^ while the remainder fought their way through their enemies and escaped over the city wall with the loss of their horses. Two Mamelukefe had in the meantime, succeeded by great exertions, in giving the alarm to their comrades in the quarter of the Azkar, who escaped by the eastern gate called Bab-el-Ghtireyib .
"A horrible fate awaited those who had shut themselves up in the Barkiikiyeh. Having begged for quarter and surrendered, they were im-
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 205
mediately stripped nearly naked, and about fifty were slaughtered on tlie spot, while about the same number were dragged away, with the most brutal aggravation of their painful condition, to Mohammed AH. Among these were four Beys, one of whom, driven to madness by Mohammed All's mockery, asked for a drink of water. His hands were untied that he might take the bottle, but he snatched a dagger from one of the soldiers, rushed at the Pasha and fell covered with wounds.
" The wretched captives were then chained and left in the court of the Pasha's house. On the following morning the heads of their com- rades, who had perished the ds.y before, were skinned and stuffed with straw before their eyes. One Bey and two other men paid their ransom and were released ; the rest, without exception, were tortured and put to death in the course of the ensuing night. Eighty-three heads (many of them belonging to Frenchmen and Albanians) were stuffed and sent to Constantinople, with a boast that the Mameluke chiefs were utterly destroyed. This ended Mohammed All's ' first massacre of his two confiding victims,' which displays the ferocious and vindictive nature of this inhuman brute.
" The Beys were disheartened bj' this revolting butchery and most of them retired to the upper country. Urged by England, or more proba- bly by the promise of a bribe from El-Elfj^'s, the Porte began a leisurely interference in favor of the Mamelukes ; but the failure of El-Elfy's treasury, with a handsome bribe from Mohammed Ali, soon changed the Sultan's views and the Turkish fleet sailed away. The cause of the Beys then suffered an irreparable loss in the death of their rival leaders, El-Elfy and El-Bardisy, whose suicidal jealousy lasted to the end; and Mohammed Ali discomfited the chief surviving Bey, Shamin, in a decisive battle. An attempt of the English Government to restore the Mame- lukes by the action of a force of five thousand men under General Eraser ended in disaster and humiliation, and the citizens of Cairo had the satis- faction of seeing the heads of Englishmen exposed on stakes in the Ezbekiyeh.
" Mohammed Ali now adopted a more conciliatory policy towards the Mamelukes, granting them land and encouraging them to return to Cairo. This clemency was only assumed, in order to prepare the way for the act of consummate treachery which finally viprooted the Mameluke
206 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY,
power, and seated the author of the crime firmly on the throne, where his great grandson now sits. Early in the j^ear 1811, the preparation for an expedition against the Wahhabis, in Arabia, being complete, all the Mameluke Beys then in Cairo were invited to the ceremony of investing Mohammed All's favorite son, Tiisiin, with a pelisse and the command of the army. As on the former occasion the unfortunate Mamelukes fell into the snare.
" On the ist of March, Shahin Be}' and the other chiefs (one only excepted) repaired with their retinues to the Citadel and were cour- teously received by the Pasha. Having taken coffee the}^ formed in procession and preceded and followed by the Pasha's troops, slowly descended the steep and narrow road leading to the great gate of the Citadel ; but as soon as the Mamelukes arrived at the gate it was sud- denly closed before them. The last of those who made their exit before the gate was shut were Albanians, under Sali Kush. To those troops their chief now made known the Pasha's orders to massacre all the Mame- lukes within the Citadel. Returning by another way, they gained the summit of the walls and houses hemming in the road in which the Mamelukes were, and some stationed themselves upon the eminences of the rock through which the road is partly cut.
" Thus securely placed, thej^ commenced a heavy fire on their defenceless victims, and immediately the troops who closed the procession and who had the advantage of higher ground, followed their example. Of the betrayed chiefs many were laid low in a few moments ; some dismounting and throwing off outer robes, vainly sought, sword in hand, to return and escape by some other gate. The few who regained the summit of the Citadel experienced the same cruel fate as the rest (for those whom the Albanian soldiers made prisoners met with no mercy from their chiefs or from Mohammed Ali) ; but it soon became impossible for any to retrace their steps, even so far ; the road was obstructed by the bleeding bodies of the slain Mamelukes, and their richly-caparisoned horses and their grooms. Four hundred and seventy Mamelukes entered the Citadel, and of these very fcAv, if any, escaped. One of these is said to have been a Bey. According to some, he leaped his horse from the ramparts and alighted uninjured, though the horse was killed by the fall. Others say that he was prevented from joining his comrades and discov-
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 207
ered the treachery while waiting without the gate. He fled and made his ■way to Syria.
" This massacre was the signal for an indiscriminate slaughter of the Mamelukes throughout Egypt, orders to this effect being given and trans- mitted to every governor. In Cairo itself the houses of the Beys were given over to the soldiery, who slaughtered all their adherents, treated their women in the most shameless manner, and sacked their dwellings. During the two following days, the Pasha and his son Tusun rode about the streets and endeavored to stop those atrocious proceedings; but order was not restored until five hundred houses had been completely pillaged."
Such is the account of this terrible massacre, so carefully planned and studied out by this ferocious Governor Mohammed Ali, which showed very plainly that he would not allow anything to stand in the way of his plans of progress. He was devoting the whole of his life and energy to the improvement of Eg3'pt and her peoples, building canals, introducing printing presses, adopting more advanced ideas of agricultural processes, founding schools, etc. He realized that the Mamelukes were bitterly opposed to his rule and ideas of progress, hence they had to fall, so that Egvpt might rise, and take her stand beside the other nations of the world to become a factor in the affairs of Europe.
Joseph's well as it is called, was discovered by the great Saladin when he laid out the site of this celebrated fortress. It was at that time filled up with sand ; but after ordering it to be cleaned out he discovered that it was a most remarkable excavation of Ancient Egyptian origin, composed of two different parts, cut down through the solid rock to the depth of two hundred and ninety feet, which depth was supposed to cor- respond with the level of the river Nile.
It is a remarkable specimen of ancient Egyptian industry, persever- ance and labor, and dates back beyond authentic history. The first part of this most extraordinary well is about one hundred and sixty feet in depth and the second or lower part is one hundred and thirty feet deeper. A landing marks the division between the upper and lower shafts. The bottom of the well is reached by a circular stairway, as near as I can remember, about ten feet wide.
When I first visited this celebrated well the water was raised by means of the Sakiyeh, two of which were used for the purpose, one right
208 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
above the other, both worked by oxen, the water being far different from that of the Nile, that which I tasted being quite brackish and unpala- table. To-day they do not use the water of this well for drinking or household purposes, as the Citadel and city are both supplied with water by the Cairo Water Company.
Before closing my remarks on the Citadel, I desire to call your attention, once again, to the celebrated Mosque of Mohammed Ali, whose towering minarets are conspicuous from all parts of the city of Cairo and its surroundings ; in fact, we may say that these graceful towers form one of its landmarks. From the southern side of this Mosque we are enabled to obtain one of the most magnificent views, not only of the city, but of the surrounding country. Rising directly in front of us is the magnifi- cent Mosque of Sultan Hassan, situated just outside the gates of the Citadel, and the flat roofs of myriads of houses, nearly all of which are adorned with the " nalkaf' or ventilators which, catching the cooling breezes of the North Wind, circulates it through the different rooms below, making it far more pleasant for the people who live within them. We can see the Nile boats down upon the river, loading and unloading their cargoes, while some go skimming across the turbid waters like birds with their immense lateen sails swelling out before the breeze. We can plainly trace the green vegetation that fringes the river until it is lost in a misty haze, away off to the South. Rising in silent majesty from the plains of Gizeh, to the West, are to be seen the celebrated pyramids of Egypt, with the Sphinx crouching in the sand a short distance away from the Great Pyramid, still looking to the East, as in the golden days of long ago.
In this queer, quaint old city of Cairo everything seems new, strange and full of interest to the traveller. Here the antiquary, student, artist, or savant will find a rich field for his especial edification. Every street has a history of its own, and every mosque, tower and dome has an especial attraction for every one which sees them. There is not a building or ruined mosque in Cairo but has its own peculiar charms, and around each and every one there is woven a hundred associations of early Saracenic history. Every Mosque, dome and slender minaret, pointing into the starry vault above are exquisite specimens of ancient Saracenic Architecture, that will carry us back to the days of the
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EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 209
Crusades. It was from this city that Saladin went forth in all the panoply of war, marshalling his Saracenic followers with blare of trumpet and rattle of drums, to do battle with Richard the " Lion-hearted " and the Crusaders, upon the field of Acre.
The very stones of which the city is built were priceless treasures (in a great many instances) of ancient Pharaonic days, that were torn from some of the most ancient cities of the world's history, such as Memphis, Heliopolis and others, in order to build up the remarkable city of El-Kahira. Standing to-day upon the Mokattum hills, overlooking the Citadel and city, we can see the ruins of cities, monuments, tombs, and temples which have been the wonder, not only of the ancient, but of the modern world. No matter where we turn our gaze something will present itself, full of the deepest interest.
The manners and customs of the people of Eg3'pt, to-day, are in many instances like those of the ancient Egyptians in its Golden Age, and present the same scenes now as in the days so long gone b3\ Just as the physical make up of the inhabitants of this wondrous valley were in ancient times, so we find them now, across the threshold of the twentieth century. The very style of clothing worn by the lower classes to-day, in many parts of this remarkable valley, are identical with that of a prehis- toric age. The toiler at the Shaduf, for instance, stands as nude as when Pharaoh's daughter saw the infant Moses sleeping on the throbbing bosom of old " god Nilus."
The men who work in the fields and till the soil scratch up the earth with the same kind of a machine their great ancestors used in the days of Rameses, although there are to be seen now, some of our modern gang plows. The poorer class of people may very often be seen plowing with a cow and camel hitched together before their primitive machines, toiling along in the same way their forefathers did when Joseph was sold into the land of bondage. They use the same old method of threshing their grain as in the G Iden Age of Egypt, a method that I have described in a previous chapter.
The food of these people who wearily toil in the fields of Egypt,
consists principally of beans and bread with a sauce composed of onions
and butter. It is of very rare occurrence for them to partake of meat
at their tables ; but, upon special occasions they enjoy a sort of cake,
14
210 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
something like our cookies, with a fig stuck in the center of it. They make their coffee by grinding the bean as fine as flour, boiling it as we do chocolate and drinking it in the same way, grounds and all. It is a very palatable beverage, and I rather liked it. These people are very hospitable, without hypocrisy, and when once you have eaten at their table you are especiall}' welcome among them.
The Bedouins are noted for their hospitality and if you have eaten salt with them your person is held sacred while among these sons of the desert, who make their homes in the wild wastes of the South and West, continually wandering from place to place, restless as the waves of the ocean, ever moving. The water-carriers in the larger cities of Egypt carry around the waters of the river Nile in skins, just as the ancients did in the days of Abraham, and the women, who go down to the river to obtain water for household purposes carry the jars upon their heads, after the same old style and in the self-same manner as did the Avomen who lived in the days of Thothmes and his dynasty.
In walking through the streets in the evening one can very frequently see people performing their devotions, as mentioned in the scriptures. Just as mothers carried their children in the days of the builders of the Pyramids, straddled upon their shoulders, the infant holding its mother's head with its tiny hands, so is the child carried to-day by the mother in this celebrated valley of the Nile. When the Mummy of Rameses was seen by M. Maspero in the Boulak Museum, Cairo, June i, 1886, his hands were henna-stained lying across his " ample breast." Upon many of the walls of the ancient tombs of Egypt are to be seen pictures of people whose hands are stained red henna colored, and to-day \\\ the streets of Cairo and all through the land of Egypt are to be seen hands henna-stained, stretched out to lis for baksheesh. The houses of those living in ancient times were built, as they are occasionally now, of sun-dried bricks, wood and sometimes cane and corn stalks, to last but for a day as it were, while their tombs and temples were built of the hardest kind of stone, to endure for ever, comparatively speaking.
As I have stated previously " The peculiar physical make-up of the ancient Egyptians are like the inhabitants of to-day." To verify this statement I will quote from Maspero's " Dawn of History." A statue called Kaapiru was discovered by Mariette Bey, at Sakkara, near
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 211
Memphis, " The head, torso, arms and even the staff were intact, but the
pedestal was hopelessly decayed and the statute only kept upright by the
sand surrounding it. Mariette repaired the statue and placed it in the
Boulak Museum. Kaapiru when found was the exact likeness of one of
the ' Sheiks-el-Beled ' or Mayors of the village of Sakkara. The Arab
workmen noticed the likeness and called it the ' Sheik-el-Beled,' which
name it has retained ever since. He seems to be coming forward to meet
the beholder with an acacia staff in his hand, heavy, thick-set, broad
shoulders of a bull and a common cast of countenance, whose vulgarity
is not wanting in energy. The largely opened eye has, by a trick of the
sculptor, an almost uncanny reality about it. The socket which holds it
has been hollowed out and filled with an arrangement of black and white
enamel ; a rim of bronze marks the outline of the lids, while a little
silver peg, inserted at the back of the pupil, reflects the light and gives
the effect of a living glance. The statue is short in height and was
carved from pieces of wood that had been fastened together. The statue
is called by some authors Ra-em-ka. According to the chronological
table of Mariette, this statue is over six thousand years old," and yet he
has the same peculiar physical make-up of the men of our own day.
The donkey boys are quite a feature in Cairo. They are smart, quick-witted, well up-to-date, fond of a joke, full of quaint humor and love to take trips to the various points of interest in the immediate vicinity of Cairo. It is rather funny to see them running along behind their enduring little animals, carrying a bunch or wisp of clover for the dinner of the little animal that you bestride, and very often eating nothing themselves until their day's work is done. These boys and their donkeys are to be found at many places in the city, and should you desire one at anj^ time during the night, all you would have to do, would be to stand out in the street and shout out the Arabic word " /lamrnar" (donkey), when you would very soon find yourself surrounded by quite a number of them.
I was never bothered much myself about donkeys, as many of my acquaintances were, because I hunted for one that suited me directly I arrived in the city and immediately hired it by the week, giving the boy extra baksheesh for his care of me during my rambles. I have ridden a donkey all over this quaint old city of Cairo and have taken many
212 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
delightful excursions to various points of interest within a radius of ten or twelve miles. One can go around and through the narrow streets of this city on donkey-back, and visit the numberless mosques and places of interest far better than with any other conveyance.
In this way I visited a number of celebrated mosques, among them The Mosque of Akbar^ the place where the howling and whirling dervishes perform their peculiar Zikr. This mosque is a square building with a pointed dome, very finely ornamented with arabesque figures. The minaret is square and rises over one corner of the building in recessed stages. The entrance to the interior of the building is through a very fine trifoliate arch, the floor of which is of wood, worn smooth by the continual performance of their Zikrs^ each one lasting about an hour. The center of the building is circular, fenced with a railing to keep the spectators from crowding in too close to the dancers, and the whole interior is painted in dark and horizontal bands.
The celebrated Mosque El-Azhar was founded about A. d. 973 and converted into a university by El-Aziz, of the Fatimide dynasty, during his rule. Very little of the exterior of this building is to be seen, from the fact that it is so enclosed by the houses surrounding it. There is nothing of especial architectural interest about this mosque and only a small portion of the eastern wall can be seen, which is of but little interest to the tourist or student. It has six minarets, erected b}^ different people at various periods, some of which are painted in brilliant colors. The ' entrances to this mosque are by six gates, the principal one being known as the " Gate of the Barbers " (Bab-el-Muzeyinin). It has a very fine portal that is extremely interesting, and right here in this entrance many students are to be seen under the hands of the tonsorial artists, who con- gregate here to make a living by wielding their razors upon the heads of those who come here to study.
This mosque is celebrated as the principal existing Mohammedan University. It is the oldest in the history of the world, and ip one of the richest institutions of its kind known to-day. It is still growing richer, as not a wealthy Mohammedan who dies but bequeaths some of his wealth to El-Azhar. There is one good thing about this university, no pupil is compelled to pay for his tuition ; but he may, if so disposed, contribute toward the expenses of his education. This mosque contains
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY, 213
within its archives unbroken records of about nine hundred and twenty years and there are to-day in attendance within its courts about nine thousand eight hundred students, who are taught by at least two hundred and thirty-one sheiks or professors.
The scholars who attend come from all parts, and wherever the Koran is accepted. The education given here includes grammar, arith- metic, logic and philosophy, after which they may enter into theology^ with the Koran as a text book, enabling them to thoroughly comprehend the Mohammedan religion, according to the four great sects of Islam — the Shafeite, the Malakite, the Hanafeite and the Hambalite. Every student, before he can receive his diploma, must be thorough in all the various branches. Here, in this most extraordinary establishment, you may see the son of the rich man clad in silk and fine linen, sitting close beside those who are very scantily clad, in the coarse cotton garments of the peasant, with no evidence of au}^ superiority among them, excepting their clothing, each one squatted upon the ground in a semicircle before the sheik, who occupies a seat upon a sheepskin rug at the base of one of the stone pillars, lecturing his especial class. While others, occupying similar positions, with their pupils are reciting passages from the Koran in concert, and all the time swaying their heads from side to side, in rythmic motion.
At another column you will hear the professor of another group addressing his class in low gutteral Arabic tones upon some especial subject in the curriculum of this wonderful old university in Cairo. Each sect and nationality has its own particular compartment wherein to study, for instance, the Turk is in one, the student from Morocco in another, Avhile those that come from Algeria and other places are to be found in a separate compartment by themselves. A visit to this cele- brated university of El-Azhar will well repay any one for the time and trouble.
TAe Mosque of Sultan Hassan stands immediately below the Citadel, and is considered to be one of the most beautiful specimens of Arabian architecture known to-day, ranking as one of the most superb and famous buildings in the City of Cairo. The foundation of this magnificent edifice was laid in the year A. D. 1356, and was completed in the 3-ear A. D. 1360. The high and lofty porch is a marvel of beauty, command-
214 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
ing the attention of all who visit it. The towering walls inclose a spacious court, and rise to the height of one hundred and thirteen feet, corbelled out fully six feet in successive lines of dentils that form a most magnificent cornice, beneath which are to be seen panels, arches and windows. This mosque is surmounted by two minarets and a painted brick dome, which rises over the mausoleum of the Sultan.
The minaret on the South is the highest in the world, being fully two hundred and eighty feet high. The other one was overthrown by an earthquake, killing an immense number of people in its fall. It was again rebuilt, but not according to its original dimensions. The stones that were used in the construction of this magnificent building were taken from the Pyramids. It is a well-known fact that the monuments, tombs and temples of ancient Egypt were used by the Arabs simply as a quarry, wherewith to build up their own quaint city of Cairo, and it is very much to be regretted that the priceless monuments of the golden age of Egypt should ever have been destroyed to supply materials for the upbuilding of that city. This mosque has been the chief center or rallying point for all who rebel against the government or ruling power. Mohammed Ali took possession of it, and used it as a fortress in order to drive Khursid Pasha from the Citadel. It bears the scars of many a hard fought battle, and to-day there are to be seen upon its walls the effects of the cannonading by the French when the inhabitants of this grand old city revolted against their rule. There are many other mosques and tombs that are well worth a visit, more especially the following :
The Tombs of the Circassian Mamehikes generally known, as The Tombs of the Khalifs. The Tomb of Kait Bey is a beautiful specimen of Arabian architecture. It is not a large mosque, but its small dimensions are full of most exquisite grace and beauty. Fergusson, in his " Hand- book of Architecture," says : " This mosque, looked at externally or internally, nothing can exceed the grace of every part of this bi^ilding. Its small dimensions exclude it from any claim of grandeur, nor does it pretend to the purity of the Greek and some other styles ; but as a perfect model of the elegance we generally associate with the architecture of this people, it is perhaps unrivalled by anything in Egypt, and far surpasses the Alhambra or the Western buildings of its age."
MOSQUE OF SULTAN HASSAN,
CAIRO.
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY, 215
There is upon the slopes of the Mokattum hills the celebrated Tomds of the Mamelukes^ well worth a visit, for amid the ruins are to be found some very fine specimens of Arabian architecture, with here and there some very beautiful minarets which will deeply interest any one willing to take the trouble of visiting this place and to hunt them up.
One of the best known places in Cairo is the Esbekiyeh^ a public garden, which was named in honor of the Emir Ezbek, a celebrated general of the Sultan Kait Bey, one of the independent Mameluke Sul- tans who reigned in the year A. D. 1468. Originally there was a mosque erected here ; but during the rule of Mohammed Ali it was simply a pond of water, formed by the inundations of the Nile, until he altered the site and laid out a garden, by filling in the pond and cutting a canal around it. Said Pasha improved upon what Mohammed had done ; but it was not until Ishmael Pasha improved it by tearing down the old and build- ing up anew that it reached its present state of perfection.
The gardens of to-day have beautiful walks and contain a very rare and choice collection of trees, shrubs and flowers. During the afternoon it is simply delightful to promenade the many charming pathways that wind around these beautiful grounds, Avith an area of over twenty acres. It contains a variety of places of amusement, such as cafes, a theatre and surrounding it are quite a number of the principal hotels. During the evening, from five to eight, either an Egyptian or an English band performs there. It used to be the special rendezvous for Americans and Europeans, but now it is used by all classes of people, and we may often see the veiled wives with their children, of both the rich and poor Arabs, promenading among the trees, shaded from the noonday sun, rubbing up against travellers and tourists from all parts of the world. What a contrast exists among them ! Such a motley assemblage of people, and what a confusion of tongues. In these gardens one may hear nearly every language spoken upon the face of the earth. I have spent many a very pleasant evening in this delightful spot in listening to the band, watching the people, catching a few sentences from those who pass along, and pondering upon the rise and fall of nations and the mutations in Egypt.
The site of the celebrated old city of Heliopolis is situated about six miles to the northeast of Cairo, and the route to it lies along a very
216 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
nice carriage road which passes through many places of historical interest to a person visiting the ruins of this celebrated city, one of the oldest in the history of the world.
How well I remember my trip to the various places I am about to describe. It seems to me but as yesterday that I came down the steps of Shepherd's Hotel and found my donkey and boy awaiting me, as well as a very large party of acquaintances and friends, who were going to make the trip with me. What a jolly, happy, rollicking, joyous lot we were, as we mounted our little animals, and skurried along the road, shouting and laughing, like so many school boys, as we started out to visit the various points of interest that lie along our pathway, which led us on to where Joseph found his wife, in the grand old cit}- of Beih-Shemesh, On, or the ciiy of the Sun, Heliopolis.
We rode out of the city at a rapid rate and kept it up until we reached a place where we stopped to arrange our refreshments, carried with us for luncheon ; after which we started on our way again, passing quite a number of modern European residences and at length arrived at a rather peculiar looking building that is used as a Commissariat Depot of the English Army. During the French occupation it was used as a stronghold and was called Fort Zulkowski. The places where the loopholes used to be are in sight to-day.
Close to this place we passed through a gateway called Bab-el- Hasaniya and found ourselves upon the road leading to Abbasiya. We passed an Arabian tomb with a very fine sculptured dome, and still pushing along we see a public drinking fountain on our right, at which we refreshed ourselves and animals, after which we kept riding along until we arrived at and passed the barracks which were occupied by the English and Egyptian troops. We noticed the Astronomical Obser- vatory and the Zaffaren Palace which Ishmael Pasha is said to have built in forty days, and then presented it to his mother. We now begin to realize that our way leads us on through pleasant paths, for our route is lined with orange and lemon groves, and vineyards that fringe the desert sands, showing what irrigation can do in reclaiming the arid sands of the desert. We now enter upon a beautiful shaded avenue and pass through some very finely cultivated grounds, until we arrive at the Palace of Qubba, which Ishmael built for his son Tewfik. We do not stop here, but
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 217
continue along througli groves and vine3'ards and through a beautiful olive orchard, coming out into a v&vy richly cultivated plain, the scene of two decisive battles, long destined to live in the annals of Egyptian History. The first was when the Sultan Selim, on the twenty-sixth day of January, 15 17, destroyed the power of the Mamelukes and made it a Turkish province. The second was on the twenty-first day of March, iSoo, when the French, under General Kleber, conquered the Turks and regained Cairo.
We arrived at Matariyeh, the village near where these two battles were fought, and visited a living spring of water noted for being the only one in the valley of the Nile. Tradition informs us that originally the water flowing from it was salty ; but that when the Holy F^amily visited this village " Our Lady, the Virgin Mother " bathed in it, when immedi- ately it became soft and sweet. It was here in this place that were located the famous gardens belonging to Cleopatra, wherein grew the precious balsam, the true " Balm of Gilead," spoken of in the Scriptures ; but, to- day, cotton has taken its place, and the balsam plants have been removed to Arabia where they flourish under the fostering care of the people who have charge of them. A short distance beyond the village we came to an old s3'camore, called " The Virgin's Tree," from the fact, as tradition informs us again, the Holy Family rested beneath its spreading branches after their flight into " The Land of Egypt." About half a mile farther on we come to the site of Heliopolis and immediately recognize one peculiarity about it, that there were no heaps and mounds of rubbish representing the remains of the walls, tombs, temples, etc., for like Alemphis, it too has been a quarr}' for the upbuilding of Cairo.
In the ancient days of Egypt this city was in the height of its glory, the very fact of Usertesen's obelisk standing there to-da}' proves its antiquity and links it with the beginning of the Middle Empire, in the year b. c. 3604. During the time that Mariette Bey was excavating here in 1S58 he unearthed a great man 3^ stones bearing the names of Rameses Second and Thothmes Third, both of whom, no doubt, beautified and adorned some of the temples in this ancient cit3^ of On. It was celebrated for its temple of the Sun, which was a most magnificent edifice, standing at one end of an inclosure fully three miles in circumference, and leading up to it, from the entrance, were rows of beautiful sphinxes and obelisks.
218 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
The priests of Heliopolis were famous for their learning, and enjoyed the reputation of being the most learned men of their age. There Solon, Eudoxus and man}- others came to study and acquire some of the wisdom that flowed forth from their celebrated fountain, the college of priests, and yet, to-day, there is no remains of this most magnificent city standing to mark the spot where Moses drew his inspiration, nothing to tell of its vanished glory and the splendor of its tombs, temples and monuments, excepting one solitary obelisk to testify to the ancient grandeur and departed glory which existed b. c. 3000.
This obelisk is made of rose granite, and the length of the stone measures sixty-six feet, with an average face at the ground of six feet and one inch. The pyramidium or apex shows that it was encased at one time with a metal covering, and the inscriptions which are blazoned upon its stony sides inform us that Usertesen First (Ra-Kheper-Ka), King of Upper and Lower Egypt, dedicated and erected this monument at the beginning of a thirty years' cycle. There is only one other obelisk older than this, which is a very much smaller stone, and was found by Lepsius at Memphis.
Close to this ancient monolith we spread our luncheon, and amidst the popping of corks, the clatter of knives and forks, we feasted and talked of the wonderful civilization that belonged to these people, in the hoary ages of the past, whose architecture has been admired by people of every age, and continues to be the wonder and admiration of the people of the twentieth century, as in every other. We discussed the decadence of her Arts, Sciences and Philosophies, since the " Golden Age of Egypt," and the wonderful changes in the valley of the Nile and Delta since this grand old monument was quarried and erected on the borders of the desert in the city of Beth-shemesh (Heliopolis) close upon thirty centuries B. C.
It was to this city the Phoenix used to come, once in every five hundred years to reincarnate. This most extraordinary Arabian bird is said to have been the size of a full grown turkey, with ^ the most beautiful plumage imaginable. Tradition informs i:s that about the time that this Arabian wonder was to arrive to reincarnate, a priest of the temple would prepare a fire upon an altar within its sacred precincts, into which the bird would fly and be consumed. The fire would then be allowed to die out and the embers to remain undisturbed for a certain
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 219
number of days after, when the reincarnated bird would be seen to arise from the ashes, spread out its golden wings and with a plumage most exquisite soar away into the infinitude of space. There is no question but that this is an allegor}^ which every one must interpret for himself
There is one peculiar thing to be noticed in this wonderful valley of the Nile and that is there are three Sabbaths observed here. The first Friday — that of the Mohammedan. Saturday — that of the Hebrew and Sunday the Christian Sabbath. In fact, every day of the week is a Sabbath da}- to some nationality ; for Monday is the Greek, Tuesday is the day of rest for the Persians, and Wednesday is the Sunday for the Assyrians. So you see every day is the Lord's day and is observed as such by different people in different places.
" The mean annual temperature at Cairo is about 71° F. The thermometer seldom falls to 40° F. at Cairo, but it is frequently lower on the Nile. The coldest months in the year are December and January and the hottest are June, Jul}' and August, but even then it is cool in the shade and at nights. The humidit}' in the atmosphere is principally controlled by the rise and fall of the Nile. Fogs prevail during the first two months of the receding of the waters. Evening fogs descend very quickly as the sun goes down and are as quickly deposited after the sun has set, leaving the sky clear and the air as fresh as after a good shower. Morning fogs are soon dispelled by the heat of the sun, and then follows the clear beautiful sky. On the desert the air is always dry and bracing and much cooler than that over cultivated land. Dews at night are common in the earl}' and latter parts of the year. During the winter the nights are piercingly cold on the desert. The moonlight nights are singularly brilliant and when there is no moon the starlit sky is as wonderful as any moonlight night in Europe." (Murray.)
^sottrir ^cacfttng of tT)f g>tottisTj Xiiit Brain antr Efjougijt,
'Man 19 made ■Jt*cc !— Man, by birthright is free,
"Chough the tyrant may deem him but bom for his tool. Whatever the shout of the rabble may be —
Whatever ranting misuse of the fool — Still fear not the Slave, when be breaks from his chain, for the Man made a freeman grows safe in his gain."
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EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 223