DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0037
CAIRO AND THE MEGGA PILGRIMAGE. 19
have said, our first mosque, and I well remember the sur-
prise with which we saw that tailor sewing on his buttons
and the sleepers lying about in the shade. "We did not
then know that a Mohammedan mosque is as much a place
of rest and refuge as of prayer ; or that the houseless Arab
may take shelter there by night or day as freely as the
birds may build their nests in the cornice, or as the blind
man's dog may share the cool shade with his sleeping
master.
From the mosque of this Memlook sovereign it is but a
few minutes' uphill drive to the mosque of Mehemet Ali,
by whose orders the last of that royal race were massacred
just sixty-four years ago.* This mosque, built within the
precincts of the citadel on a spur of the Mokattam Hills
overlooking the city, is the most conspicuous object in
Cairo. Its attenuated minarets and clustered domes show
fron\ every point of view for miles around, and remain
longer in sight, as one leaves, or returns to, Cairo, than
any other landmark. It is a spacious, costly, gaudy, com-
monplace building, with nothing really beautiful about it.
except the great marble court-vard and fountain. Tho
inside, which is entirely built of" oriental alabaster, is car-
peted with magnificent Turkey carpets and hung with in-
numerable cut-glass chandeliers, so that it looks like a
huge vulgar drawing-room from, which the furniture has
been cleared out for dancing.
The view from the outer platform is, however, magnifi-
cent. "We saw it on a hazy day, and could not therefore
distinguish the point of the delta, which ought to have
been visible on the north ; but we could plainly see as far
southward as the pyramids of Sakkarah, and trace the
windings of the Nile for many miles across tho plain.
The pyramids of Glrizeh, on their dais of desert rock
about twelve miles off, looked, as they always do look
from a distance, small and unimpressive ; but the great
alluvial valley dotted over with mud villages and inter-
sected by canals and tracts of palm forest; the shining
river specked with sails ; and the wonderful city, all fiat
roofs, cupolas, and minarets, spread out like an intricate
model at one's feet, were full of interest and absorbed our
* Now, seventy-seven years ago; the first edition of this book
having been published thirteen years ago. [Note to second edition.]
have said, our first mosque, and I well remember the sur-
prise with which we saw that tailor sewing on his buttons
and the sleepers lying about in the shade. "We did not
then know that a Mohammedan mosque is as much a place
of rest and refuge as of prayer ; or that the houseless Arab
may take shelter there by night or day as freely as the
birds may build their nests in the cornice, or as the blind
man's dog may share the cool shade with his sleeping
master.
From the mosque of this Memlook sovereign it is but a
few minutes' uphill drive to the mosque of Mehemet Ali,
by whose orders the last of that royal race were massacred
just sixty-four years ago.* This mosque, built within the
precincts of the citadel on a spur of the Mokattam Hills
overlooking the city, is the most conspicuous object in
Cairo. Its attenuated minarets and clustered domes show
fron\ every point of view for miles around, and remain
longer in sight, as one leaves, or returns to, Cairo, than
any other landmark. It is a spacious, costly, gaudy, com-
monplace building, with nothing really beautiful about it.
except the great marble court-vard and fountain. Tho
inside, which is entirely built of" oriental alabaster, is car-
peted with magnificent Turkey carpets and hung with in-
numerable cut-glass chandeliers, so that it looks like a
huge vulgar drawing-room from, which the furniture has
been cleared out for dancing.
The view from the outer platform is, however, magnifi-
cent. "We saw it on a hazy day, and could not therefore
distinguish the point of the delta, which ought to have
been visible on the north ; but we could plainly see as far
southward as the pyramids of Sakkarah, and trace the
windings of the Nile for many miles across tho plain.
The pyramids of Glrizeh, on their dais of desert rock
about twelve miles off, looked, as they always do look
from a distance, small and unimpressive ; but the great
alluvial valley dotted over with mud villages and inter-
sected by canals and tracts of palm forest; the shining
river specked with sails ; and the wonderful city, all fiat
roofs, cupolas, and minarets, spread out like an intricate
model at one's feet, were full of interest and absorbed our
* Now, seventy-seven years ago; the first edition of this book
having been published thirteen years ago. [Note to second edition.]