DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4372#0443
427
provisions during their stay in the province; a compulsory and indefinite
contribution which did not enter into public accounts. Further payments to
be made to the Caimacans, or lieutenants of these chiefs, when they could
not attend in person.
The manufactures now carried on in Egypt are still in a state very far
removed from perfection ; that of bricks baked in the sun is one of the most
general, but much inferior to what it was in earlier times, specimens of which
are to be traced on the sites of most of the antient cities. A small mixture
of sand and ashes and bruised straw is added to the Nile mud of which
they are made: but while they have increased the proportions, they have not
retained the consistency of the antient.
The art of pottery is still in a very rude state; and it is only at Kenne
where they attempt to make their water-jars of a fine quality, and in
some degree pay attention to the elegance ©f their shape. The soft stone
with which the outsides of them are polished is the common soap-rock, or
steatite, which I was informed was found among the primitive rocks near
Syene.
The peasants wear a coarse woollen garment manufactured from their own
wool, which is of a coarse nature and a dark brown colour; and the
summer dress of those near Siouth is of blue linen, made and dyed on the
spot. That of the women is generally a cotton shirt, which covers them
from head to foot; the only ornament of which consists in blue and red
stripes. The raw material is for the most part brought from Syria and from
the Delta. The cotton of the Said is only used at Siouth, where is fabri-
cated a much finer kind of cloth. These manufactures are for the most part
supported by Coptic and Catholic Christians.
In general Upper Egypt may be said to furnish grain in abundance, linen
and cotton cloths, various kinds of oil, loaf-sugar, and saffron, in exchange
for rice and salt from the Delta; soap, silks, and cotton from Syria; and
for iron, lead, copper, woollens, and pitch from Europe.
The towns of Upper Egypt which keep up the most uniform com-
mercial intercourse with the interior of the Desert are, Esneh, Es Souan, Gou-
banich and Kenneh.
Esneh is the emporium of the trade with Abyssinia, which, under the
3 I 2 escort
provisions during their stay in the province; a compulsory and indefinite
contribution which did not enter into public accounts. Further payments to
be made to the Caimacans, or lieutenants of these chiefs, when they could
not attend in person.
The manufactures now carried on in Egypt are still in a state very far
removed from perfection ; that of bricks baked in the sun is one of the most
general, but much inferior to what it was in earlier times, specimens of which
are to be traced on the sites of most of the antient cities. A small mixture
of sand and ashes and bruised straw is added to the Nile mud of which
they are made: but while they have increased the proportions, they have not
retained the consistency of the antient.
The art of pottery is still in a very rude state; and it is only at Kenne
where they attempt to make their water-jars of a fine quality, and in
some degree pay attention to the elegance ©f their shape. The soft stone
with which the outsides of them are polished is the common soap-rock, or
steatite, which I was informed was found among the primitive rocks near
Syene.
The peasants wear a coarse woollen garment manufactured from their own
wool, which is of a coarse nature and a dark brown colour; and the
summer dress of those near Siouth is of blue linen, made and dyed on the
spot. That of the women is generally a cotton shirt, which covers them
from head to foot; the only ornament of which consists in blue and red
stripes. The raw material is for the most part brought from Syria and from
the Delta. The cotton of the Said is only used at Siouth, where is fabri-
cated a much finer kind of cloth. These manufactures are for the most part
supported by Coptic and Catholic Christians.
In general Upper Egypt may be said to furnish grain in abundance, linen
and cotton cloths, various kinds of oil, loaf-sugar, and saffron, in exchange
for rice and salt from the Delta; soap, silks, and cotton from Syria; and
for iron, lead, copper, woollens, and pitch from Europe.
The towns of Upper Egypt which keep up the most uniform com-
mercial intercourse with the interior of the Desert are, Esneh, Es Souan, Gou-
banich and Kenneh.
Esneh is the emporium of the trade with Abyssinia, which, under the
3 I 2 escort