DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6359#0097
§5 EGYPT AND ITS MONUMENTS.
upon the alluvial plain of the Nile, hut the eastern part of the
city rests upon the lower declivity of Mount Mokattam, a part
of the long range which separates Egypt from the Desert of
the Red Sea. Thus while from its northern and western gates
you issue forth at once into the luxuriant verdure of the Delta,
from its southern and eastern you plunge as suddenly into an
arid wilderness."
Probably no more complete Arabian city now exists,
for, as yet, few foreign innovations have been made, though
the work has begun. In the interior of the city may be
found, here and there, a public square ; but its streets are nar-
row and crooked lanes, the widest of which are barely wide
enough to permit two loaded camels to pass abreast. The
houses are built in successive stories, each overlapping that
below, from the latticed windows of which the inmates can
look upon the passengers in the street, while they themselves
are concealed. Sometimes, as in the Jews' quarter, the sto-
ries of opposite houses approach nearer and nearer, until at the
top they actually meet. Over the doors of the houses the
ancient Egyptian custom of an inscription is still observed,
and these now are generally of a religious character. By the
sides of the walls are frequently to be seen what are called
" sibeels," or public fountains, often the work of private bene-
volence, in a land where water is among the first of blessings-
Whoever pleases (says a traveller of our own country) ascends
the two or three steps from the street, takes a metal cup
through an aperture in the gilt iron-work, and drinks his fill-
The cup is fastened by a chain.
The crowd in the streets is represented as incessant, and
in almost every variety of costume. The Bazaars are objects
of striking interest to strangers.
upon the alluvial plain of the Nile, hut the eastern part of the
city rests upon the lower declivity of Mount Mokattam, a part
of the long range which separates Egypt from the Desert of
the Red Sea. Thus while from its northern and western gates
you issue forth at once into the luxuriant verdure of the Delta,
from its southern and eastern you plunge as suddenly into an
arid wilderness."
Probably no more complete Arabian city now exists,
for, as yet, few foreign innovations have been made, though
the work has begun. In the interior of the city may be
found, here and there, a public square ; but its streets are nar-
row and crooked lanes, the widest of which are barely wide
enough to permit two loaded camels to pass abreast. The
houses are built in successive stories, each overlapping that
below, from the latticed windows of which the inmates can
look upon the passengers in the street, while they themselves
are concealed. Sometimes, as in the Jews' quarter, the sto-
ries of opposite houses approach nearer and nearer, until at the
top they actually meet. Over the doors of the houses the
ancient Egyptian custom of an inscription is still observed,
and these now are generally of a religious character. By the
sides of the walls are frequently to be seen what are called
" sibeels," or public fountains, often the work of private bene-
volence, in a land where water is among the first of blessings-
Whoever pleases (says a traveller of our own country) ascends
the two or three steps from the street, takes a metal cup
through an aperture in the gilt iron-work, and drinks his fill-
The cup is fastened by a chain.
The crowd in the streets is represented as incessant, and
in almost every variety of costume. The Bazaars are objects
of striking interest to strangers.