DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11638#0142
AND LOWER EGYPT. 12,J
every reason to presume that it owes its origin to
that period when the Romans were the masters of
Egypt.
An ancient mosque is still the pbject of the ve-
neration of the Christians, who pretend that it
was formerly one of their churches. The Cophts
allege that it is more than a thousand years old,
which is a falsehood. In reality, the edifice, to
speak truth, is falling in every part; but the build-
ing, as little durable as that of more modern houses,
sufficiently demonstrates that this is not the work-
manship of a period when edifices possessed greater
solidity. The temple is spacious; you enter it on
several sides ; it is enlightened all around by a line
of contiguous windows. The interior, resembling
that of all the mosques in the same country, is an
immense empty and naked enclosure; but you
look with admiration on the small pillars of granite
which support it, and which were extracted from
the ruins of Panopolis.
The lands cultivated in the environs of Echnhnm
are in great reputation for fertility. They produce
the finest corn in Egypt, sugar canes, and cotton,
which serves for the material of a manufactory of
coarse cloths. Gardens, where different species of
plants grow under the shade of the fruit-trees, fur-
nish a copious supply for the support of life, and an
agreeable
every reason to presume that it owes its origin to
that period when the Romans were the masters of
Egypt.
An ancient mosque is still the pbject of the ve-
neration of the Christians, who pretend that it
was formerly one of their churches. The Cophts
allege that it is more than a thousand years old,
which is a falsehood. In reality, the edifice, to
speak truth, is falling in every part; but the build-
ing, as little durable as that of more modern houses,
sufficiently demonstrates that this is not the work-
manship of a period when edifices possessed greater
solidity. The temple is spacious; you enter it on
several sides ; it is enlightened all around by a line
of contiguous windows. The interior, resembling
that of all the mosques in the same country, is an
immense empty and naked enclosure; but you
look with admiration on the small pillars of granite
which support it, and which were extracted from
the ruins of Panopolis.
The lands cultivated in the environs of Echnhnm
are in great reputation for fertility. They produce
the finest corn in Egypt, sugar canes, and cotton,
which serves for the material of a manufactory of
coarse cloths. Gardens, where different species of
plants grow under the shade of the fruit-trees, fur-
nish a copious supply for the support of life, and an
agreeable