DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0137
102
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
by a canal, that probably joins the Bahr Yousef near
Benisouef.9 Having applied to the Nazir of Shendowee
for horses, and guides to the Red, and White Convents,
(the latter of which is also called Amba Shnoodeh), he
sent his nephew, some armed attendants, and a Coptic
secretary, with whom I immediately proceeded. Such
was the fertility of the plain over which we passed, that
the crops were reaped in four months after sowing. They
were extremely luxuriant, and quantities of cattle, camels,
sheep, and goats tethered in rows to long ropes, were
depastured on all sides. The sheep, as in other parts of
the country, were badly shaped, and marked with brown,
and white ; but the cattle, and particularly the oxen, were
very handsome, and fine in the horn. The best were of
a dark brown, or of a cream colour.
We crossed the canal at a ford, and arrived in about
two hours at the White Convent, which is a lofty quad-
rangular building situated in the sands, at the termi-
nation of the cultivated ground, and not far from the
mountains, where several antient tombs have been found.
The walls are of stone, and have a projecting cornice.
The door is very strong, and opens into a square,
cloistered court. The church is in the form of a Greek
cross, and contains four arched recesses, surmounted in
the middle by a cupola. The arches are rounded. The
altar is of common stone, but appears to have been plated.
The coved roof above it had been originally adorned
with mosaics, and a wooden screen before it had been
painted with figures of the Holy Virgin, of St. George
and the Dragon, and of other saints. The whole is in
9 An oasis is distant four days'journey from this place.
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
by a canal, that probably joins the Bahr Yousef near
Benisouef.9 Having applied to the Nazir of Shendowee
for horses, and guides to the Red, and White Convents,
(the latter of which is also called Amba Shnoodeh), he
sent his nephew, some armed attendants, and a Coptic
secretary, with whom I immediately proceeded. Such
was the fertility of the plain over which we passed, that
the crops were reaped in four months after sowing. They
were extremely luxuriant, and quantities of cattle, camels,
sheep, and goats tethered in rows to long ropes, were
depastured on all sides. The sheep, as in other parts of
the country, were badly shaped, and marked with brown,
and white ; but the cattle, and particularly the oxen, were
very handsome, and fine in the horn. The best were of
a dark brown, or of a cream colour.
We crossed the canal at a ford, and arrived in about
two hours at the White Convent, which is a lofty quad-
rangular building situated in the sands, at the termi-
nation of the cultivated ground, and not far from the
mountains, where several antient tombs have been found.
The walls are of stone, and have a projecting cornice.
The door is very strong, and opens into a square,
cloistered court. The church is in the form of a Greek
cross, and contains four arched recesses, surmounted in
the middle by a cupola. The arches are rounded. The
altar is of common stone, but appears to have been plated.
The coved roof above it had been originally adorned
with mosaics, and a wooden screen before it had been
painted with figures of the Holy Virgin, of St. George
and the Dragon, and of other saints. The whole is in
9 An oasis is distant four days'journey from this place.