DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11637#0332
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The castle of Cairo stands on the back of the
chain of mountains which is to the east of the
Nilej and which is called Mokatlam (cut moun-
tain), because it is very steep, and in fact almost
perpendicular*. It commands the city; but is it-
self commanded by the summit of the mountain
on which it is built. Flanked with towers, and
provided with a few bad pieces of cannon, of small
calibre, this fortress, the only one that defends
Cairo, is falling into ruin in every part. It enjoys
an admirable prospect. Remains of spacious and
magnificent apartments, which are still supported
in pait by pillars of granite and the most valuable
marble, may be seen in it. In the midst of it is the
deep excavation, which all travellers have mention-
ed, and which is commonly called Joseph's Well;
not because it was dug under the patriarch of that
name, as many have supposed, but because it was
a work of Joseph the vizir of Sultan Mahomet, son
of Calaun\. This well, which it was not very dif-
ficult to cut in a soft calcareous rock, is formed in
two sections, which arc not in the same perpendi-
cular line. The descent inHi them is by a winding
staircase, the declivity of which is not steep, and on
* " Jlbbel Moc-catte, or Mocaltcm ; i. e. the mountain that is
" hewn or cut through :" so called " perhaps because the way
" up to the castle is cut all the way through the rock." Shaw's
Travels, p. 340, 341.—T.
■j- Pocock's Travels.
the
The castle of Cairo stands on the back of the
chain of mountains which is to the east of the
Nilej and which is called Mokatlam (cut moun-
tain), because it is very steep, and in fact almost
perpendicular*. It commands the city; but is it-
self commanded by the summit of the mountain
on which it is built. Flanked with towers, and
provided with a few bad pieces of cannon, of small
calibre, this fortress, the only one that defends
Cairo, is falling into ruin in every part. It enjoys
an admirable prospect. Remains of spacious and
magnificent apartments, which are still supported
in pait by pillars of granite and the most valuable
marble, may be seen in it. In the midst of it is the
deep excavation, which all travellers have mention-
ed, and which is commonly called Joseph's Well;
not because it was dug under the patriarch of that
name, as many have supposed, but because it was
a work of Joseph the vizir of Sultan Mahomet, son
of Calaun\. This well, which it was not very dif-
ficult to cut in a soft calcareous rock, is formed in
two sections, which arc not in the same perpendi-
cular line. The descent inHi them is by a winding
staircase, the declivity of which is not steep, and on
* " Jlbbel Moc-catte, or Mocaltcm ; i. e. the mountain that is
" hewn or cut through :" so called " perhaps because the way
" up to the castle is cut all the way through the rock." Shaw's
Travels, p. 340, 341.—T.
■j- Pocock's Travels.
the