DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0081
SAKEARAll AND MEMPHIS. 03
to Alexandria in population and extent; and it continued
to be inhabited up to the time of the Arab invasion. It
then became the quarry from which Fostiit (old Cairo) was
built; and as the new city rose on the eastern bank the
people of Memphis quickly abandoned their ancient
capital to desolation and decay.
Still a vast field of ruins remained. Abd-el-Latif,
writing at the commencement of the thirteenth century,
speaks with enthusiasm of the colossal statues and lions,
the enormous pedestals, the archways formed of only three
stones, the bas-reliefs and other wonders that were yet to
be seen upon the spot. Marco Polo, if his wandering
tastes had led him to the Nile, might have found some of
the palaces and temples of Memphis still standing; and
Sandys, who in a.d. 1010 went at least as far south of
Cairo as Kafr el Iyat, says that " up the river for twenty
miles space there was nothing but mines." Since then,
however, the very "mines" have vanished; the palms
have had time to grow; and modern Cairo has doubtless
absorbed all the building material that remained from the
middle ages.
Memphis is a place to read about, and think about, and
remember; but it is a disappointing place to see. To miss
it, however, would be to miss the first link in the whole
chain of monumental history which unites the Egypt of
antiquity with the world of to-day. Those melancholy
mounds and that heron-haunted lake must be seen, if only
that they may take their due place in the picture-gallery of
one's memory.
It had been a long day's work, but it came to an end at
last; and as we trotted our donkeys back toward the
river a gorgeous sunset was crimsoning the palms and
pigeon-towers of Bedreshayn. Everything seemed now to
be at rest. A buffalo, contemplatively chewing the cud,
lay close against the path and looked at us without moving.
The children and pigeons were gone to bed. The pots had
baked in the sun and been taken in long since. A tiny
column of smoke went up here and there from amid the
clustered huts ; but there was scarcely a moving creature
to be seen. Presently we passed a tall, beautiful fellah
woman standing grandly by the wayside, with her veil
thrown back and falling in long folds to her feet. She
smiled, put out her hand, and murmnr'd "bakhshish!"
to Alexandria in population and extent; and it continued
to be inhabited up to the time of the Arab invasion. It
then became the quarry from which Fostiit (old Cairo) was
built; and as the new city rose on the eastern bank the
people of Memphis quickly abandoned their ancient
capital to desolation and decay.
Still a vast field of ruins remained. Abd-el-Latif,
writing at the commencement of the thirteenth century,
speaks with enthusiasm of the colossal statues and lions,
the enormous pedestals, the archways formed of only three
stones, the bas-reliefs and other wonders that were yet to
be seen upon the spot. Marco Polo, if his wandering
tastes had led him to the Nile, might have found some of
the palaces and temples of Memphis still standing; and
Sandys, who in a.d. 1010 went at least as far south of
Cairo as Kafr el Iyat, says that " up the river for twenty
miles space there was nothing but mines." Since then,
however, the very "mines" have vanished; the palms
have had time to grow; and modern Cairo has doubtless
absorbed all the building material that remained from the
middle ages.
Memphis is a place to read about, and think about, and
remember; but it is a disappointing place to see. To miss
it, however, would be to miss the first link in the whole
chain of monumental history which unites the Egypt of
antiquity with the world of to-day. Those melancholy
mounds and that heron-haunted lake must be seen, if only
that they may take their due place in the picture-gallery of
one's memory.
It had been a long day's work, but it came to an end at
last; and as we trotted our donkeys back toward the
river a gorgeous sunset was crimsoning the palms and
pigeon-towers of Bedreshayn. Everything seemed now to
be at rest. A buffalo, contemplatively chewing the cud,
lay close against the path and looked at us without moving.
The children and pigeons were gone to bed. The pots had
baked in the sun and been taken in long since. A tiny
column of smoke went up here and there from amid the
clustered huts ; but there was scarcely a moving creature
to be seen. Presently we passed a tall, beautiful fellah
woman standing grandly by the wayside, with her veil
thrown back and falling in long folds to her feet. She
smiled, put out her hand, and murmnr'd "bakhshish!"