DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9059#0098
92
the monuments of uppeb egypt.
II.-THE PYRAMIDS.
The excursion to the Pyramids, like the ex-
cursion to Heliopolis, is usually made by car-
riage. The route lies through the new quarter
of Cairo, called after its founder, Ismallia.
The Nile is crossed by the Kasr-el-Nil bridge,
and one soon enters the charming road con-
structed by his highness the Khedive, which
leads from Geezeh to the foot of the Pyramids.
From the Esbekyeh to the Pyramids the dis-
tance in a straight line is twelve kilometres, or
about seven miles and a half. There are 8,300
metres, or 5 miles 280 yards from the banks
of the Nile to the tableland on which stand the
monuments we are about to describe.
andria by Augustus Caesar in the eighth year of his
reign, 23 B.C. Here they were called "Cleopatra's
Needles," though it is certain that Cleopatra had nothing
to do with .their removal from Heliopolis. The gradual
encroachments of the sea caused one of these obelisks to
fall, as nearly as can be ascertained, about three hundred
years ago. This obelisk was given to George IV. on his
accession to the throne of England, in 1820, by Mehemet
Ali, and with surprising promptness was removed in
1877 to the Thames embankment. The other obelisk
was presented in May, 1879, to the United States, by
Mohammed Tewfik, the present viceroy, and, through
the munificence of the late William H. Vanderbilt, was
set up in Central Park, New York, with appropriate
ceremonies, Jan. 22, 1881. — [Ed.]
the monuments of uppeb egypt.
II.-THE PYRAMIDS.
The excursion to the Pyramids, like the ex-
cursion to Heliopolis, is usually made by car-
riage. The route lies through the new quarter
of Cairo, called after its founder, Ismallia.
The Nile is crossed by the Kasr-el-Nil bridge,
and one soon enters the charming road con-
structed by his highness the Khedive, which
leads from Geezeh to the foot of the Pyramids.
From the Esbekyeh to the Pyramids the dis-
tance in a straight line is twelve kilometres, or
about seven miles and a half. There are 8,300
metres, or 5 miles 280 yards from the banks
of the Nile to the tableland on which stand the
monuments we are about to describe.
andria by Augustus Caesar in the eighth year of his
reign, 23 B.C. Here they were called "Cleopatra's
Needles," though it is certain that Cleopatra had nothing
to do with .their removal from Heliopolis. The gradual
encroachments of the sea caused one of these obelisks to
fall, as nearly as can be ascertained, about three hundred
years ago. This obelisk was given to George IV. on his
accession to the throne of England, in 1820, by Mehemet
Ali, and with surprising promptness was removed in
1877 to the Thames embankment. The other obelisk
was presented in May, 1879, to the United States, by
Mohammed Tewfik, the present viceroy, and, through
the munificence of the late William H. Vanderbilt, was
set up in Central Park, New York, with appropriate
ceremonies, Jan. 22, 1881. — [Ed.]