Wilkinson, John Gardner: Topographie of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile, to the second cataracte and Wadi Samneh, with the Fyoom, Oases and eastern desert, from Sooez to Bertenice (London, 1835)

Chap. VI.] TOMBS OF THE MEMLOOKS. 307

ties of oriental taste; the most remarkable of which
are those of Toossan and Ismail Pashas,rthe sons
of Mohammed Ali, and some of older date in' the
centre of the town.

Without the walls, on the east side, are the tombs
of the Memlook * kings, erroneously styled of the
Caliphs. Attached to each is a handsome mosk,
schools and dwelling-houses, and it is impossible
to look upon these splendid monuments of Saracenic
architecture without feeling regret at their neglected
condition and approaching ruin. They were erected
by the kings of the Circassian or Borgite dynasty,
who reigned from 1382 to the invasion of Soltan
Seleem in ] 517; and they have received the general
appellation of El Qaeed Bai or Ka'itbay, from one
of those princes, who died and was buried there
in 1496. Between them and the Bab e' Nasr
is a part of the old wall, called Boorg-e' ZifFr,
at whose northern angle is a staircase of curious
construction, with some Cufic inscriptions. Many
of the stones in the walls have remains of hiero-
glyphics, and were probably brought from the ruins
of Heliopolis, or the site of Memphis. On the
mounds that cover part of these walls, and command

* Memlook signifies a captive, or one in the possession of
another. These princes were originally slaves, and rose by merit,
ambition, or intrigue, to the rank of beys and kings of Egypt.
The first Memlook dynasty, the Baharite, was founded by the
slaves of Saleh Eiyoob, The Memlooks who possessed Egypt at
the time of the French invasion are called Ghooz, or warriors.

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