being situate on the South of Cairo The Hogia's or Priests of Mahomet turn that way their Faces when they begin to call the Congregation to Prayers because Mecha is towards the South in respect of all the Territories of the Ottoman Empire Giafer ibn Daleb an Arabian Historian saith that it is twelve days journey long as they march with Camels in Egypt but it is not above four Hours travelling from side to side in the Country that is inhabited for if we should comprehend in the breadth the Mountains of Sand on the East and West it is a great deal broader than we have said The City of Isvan is the farthest Confine towards the South which is in the Cascieflick of Ibrîm On the East it stretcheth forth as far as the Red-sea and on the West as far as the Province of Vah The Chief City heretofore was Hú whereof I shall speak hereafter more at large but now the Capital City is Girge where lives the Sangiac-Bey that governs it Anciently certain Princes ruled here in the time of the Arabians called in their Language Omara Said They dwelt then at Hú which is the old Diospolis surnamed the Upper distant from Girgé about a days journey and on the same side of the River Nilus as we go up But when Girgé was inlarg'd by time and Hú fell to decay the Princes of Said settled their abode at Girgé which hath been always the Chief City since that time till now About fifty years ago the Turks drove away from thence those Arabian Princes and in their stead they put the Sangiac-Beys who are Natural Turks the first was named Soliman-Gianballat This puts me in mind of a mistake of James Albertus in his discourse of Egypt he saith that Said was about 60 years ago a Kingdom of it self to which the Grand Seignior did usually assign a Pacha This Errour hath no ground First because in all the Histories ancient and new of the Arabians the Province of Said is never nam'd Memleke a Kingdom nor Pachalick the Government of a Pacha but only Arde Said i. e. the Country of Said and its Rulers were not nam'd Kings or Pachas but only Omara Said or Princes of Said Secondly because all the Governours of the Turkish Race who have govern'd it since the driving out of the Arabian Princes are never call'd in the Registers of the Divan nor of the common people otherwise than Sangiac-Beys two only excepted who were named Pachas because they had been Pachas before they were the Governours of this Province and though they did bear this Title they were always subject to the Pachas of Grand Cairo It is certain the Province of Said is very large and if it were all inhabited and all manur'd as is the lower Egypt its Bey might contend with the Pacha of Cairo for pre-eminence They have often endeavour'd to free themselves from his Command but because the inhabited Country is very narrow and the Villages and Towns ruinated they could never succeed in their design Nevertheless the Government is much like that of the Pachas of Cairo for he hath the same Officers to attend him a Chiaoux-Bachi or a Captain of the Chiaoux an Interpreter an Aga of the Janizaries and other Aga's of the Military Orders named in their Language Boulouks who are taken out of the Souldiery of Cairo and are paid out of the Reversions of the Divan He hath likewise his Divan Catebi or Chancellour and in truth he hath all the Priviledges of a Pacha but he hath not the Title nor the Quality nor ever had This Bey gives to the Pacha of Cairo as James Albertus saith forty Purses every year besides he sends him fifty Horses fifty Mules and one hundred Camels He gives also ten Purses to his Kehaja and his Aga And for the Tax of his Country he pays to the Divan of Cairo one hundred and fifty Ardebs of Wheat and when he gives other Grain he delivers one Ardeb and a half instead of one Ardeb of Wheat and besides he sends four hundred and fourscore Purses each Purse containing five hundred Crowns And when he is in the last year of his Government he is bound to cause all the Lands of his Government to be sown which the River hath watered and for his Expences the Divan gives him an Allowance Of the Casciefs of Egypt IN regard the word Cascief is often repeated in this Treatise I have thought it needful before I proceed any farther in the general description of Egypt to mention its Origine and the number and imployment of the Casciefs By this means we shall see that all Egypt is divided into little Provinces or Governments The word Cascief proceeds from the Arabik Jickscif which signifies to discover a thing because their Ancient Office was to visit their Province and Jurisdiction to find out the Arabians and Thieves and Persons of an ill life and to punish them But now their Power and Riches increasing they have rented the Incomes of their Provinces without altering their Names so that at this time they are the Petty-Governours of Egypt and are in number six and thirty In the upper Egypt are twenty four namely of Sint where the upper Egypt begins of Abutig of Temeh of Tahta of Gezire of Sobaitg of Minscie of Tuh il essirat of Girgé where the Vali is the Cascief All these are on the West-side of Nilus before you come to Girgé These following are likewise on the West-side of Nilus but beyond Girge namely the Casciefs of Berdis of Fersciut of Hu of Bahgiura of Jarbuksas of Arment and of Isne These following reside on the East-part of Nilus namely the Casciefs of Scierkabuet of Achmin of Scierkmerg of Limbir ve il cheijam of Scierkfau of Cous of Kenne of Luxorein and of Ibrim Six dwell in the middle Egypt namely at Momfallot where the Cascief Commands the other of Vah there is the Cascief of Ischmunein that dwells at Minie the Casciefs of Behnese of Fium of Gize All these are at the West-side of Nilus and on the East there is only the Cascief of Atfieh in the middle of Egypt There are also six in the lower Egypt namely of Menuf of Garbie which two Provinces are in the Isle of Delta The Cascief of Beheire resides in the West-side of Nilus as we go to Gize over against Cairo This Province reaches as far as Alexandria and includes the little Cascief of Tarane that depends upon it There is likewise the Cascief of Kel Jub in the same side as Cairo and the Cascief of Mansoura on the same hand near the Province of Keliub and the Cascief of Bilbeis which is on the side of Crand Cairo All the Casciefs of the inferiour Egypt and some also of the middle never abide in the Towns of their Jurisdictions for the most part but only eight or nine Months from January till August When Nilus begins to overflow the Banks then they retreat to Cairo where they dwell
Inhabitants of the Country thus called as we have already said of Coptus the Son of Misraim who was King of Egypt after his Father The Moors who are named by the Arabians Aulad il Arab or Children of the Arabians are likewise as well as the Copties descended from the same Father but they are become Mahumetans and it may be since they have Conquered Egypt there are some amongst them yet that are come from the Arabians The Arabians are a people of Arabia and though they live in Egypt they have no communication with the Moors who are originally of the Country They are of many differing Generations govern'd by their several Chieftains whom I shall mention in the sequel of this discourse The Turks have establish'd themselves there since Sultan Selimus conquer'd Egypt These govern the Country defend it and act in all Offices of State The Greeks that live there now and that make yet profession of the Christian Religion have been invited thither by the great Trade of Egypt for there is no sign of the Ancient Greeks who establish'd themselves there when Alexander the Great conquer'd Egypt if there be any they are mingled with the Copties and are called by their names And because the Greekish Emperours that followed the Council of Chalcedonia were glad to incourage a Party in Egypt against the Copties sworn Enemies of that Council they protected there the Greeks that went thither from Greece that submitted to that Council and gave them means to establish themselves in this Kingdom since that time the Greekish Religion hath been there professed The Jews have always lived there at present they are very numerous and are in great repute chiefly at Cairo and in the Maritime Towns but unless it be in such places there are none to be found for if their occasions call them into the Country they usually disguise and hide themselves for when the Country-people find them out they abuse and affront them strangely The Copties at present in Egypt are not numerous in comparison of what they have been heretofore for in the days of Amru ibn il Ass who took this Country from the Greeks there was of this Nation six hundred thousand that paid him Tribute but now according to the relation of their own Patriarch there is scarce ten or fifteen thousand One of the Causes of this decrease was their constancy in the Christian Religion in the time of the Romans their Governours were so furious against them for that reason that they have put to death millions at a time for the Histories tell us of the Governour under Dioclesian the Emperour who massacred in one night at Christmas fourscore thousand who are buried upon Mount Achmim in the Upper Egypt And at another time near Isna either the same Governour or another put to death so many that they were not to be numbred for they covered fourscore Fiddans or Furlongs with their dead martyr'd bodies The Fiddan in Egypt contains 400 Cassabs or Yards every Yard is 6 Cubits Another Cause of their decrease in the days of the Christian Emperours was their obstinacy in maintaining the Errour of Dioscorus one of their Patriarchs concerning one Nature one Will and Person in Jesus Christ which caused them to suffer almost the same destructions as they had done formerly under the Heathen Emperours for the Christian Faith For when the Greek Emperours offered to force them to leave the Errour of Dioscorus and to embrace the Faith established in the Council of Chalcedone and when they found them disobedient and inflexible they made use of the Sword to compass their design Amongst the rest the Emperour Justinian as Macriz saith in his History of the Patriarchs caused two hundred thousand Copties to be killed at Alexandria for that very purpose I shall not mention the Cruelties of the other Emperours his Successors exercised upon them So that such as survived after such like Massacres when they saw the danger that attended the profession of this Opinion and of appearing in the Cities they retreated into the wilderness or withdrew themselves into the Monasteries in despair to lead a Monastical life without marriage or thinking to propagate their Nation After this the Mahometan Kings and Princes that have governed Egypt since the Christian Emperours when they found them rebellious against their Government have not spared them They have killed the Chief sold for Slaves the Wives and Children of others so that the weaker sort have been forc'd to turn Mahometans By this means after so many evils this Nation is reduced to a very small number They were anciently Heathens every City had a God to adore Abusir or the old Busiris worshipped a Calf Alexandria the ancient Racotis adored Serapis of Stone Achmim which is the old Panos acknowledged Apollo Bana worshipped a Dog Bassa or the old Bubastis had for God a Lion of Stone Eida adored Serapis Ischemunein which is the ancient Hermopolis worshipped a Man of Stone Isvan called by the Copties Sevan reverenced the Tree Lebaca Cous worshipped the Moon and Stars Mindadi the Fig-tree of Pharaoh Memphis a Calf Atrib or the old Atribis adored a Calf of Stone Semennut which is the ancient Sebennis worshipped a Calf of Brass Sa a Hog of Stone Tuba had a respect for the Water and all that is therein I have taken all these particulars out of an old Manuscript in Arabick that I have seen in the Monastry of S. Anthony But since the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ they have been some of the first that have embraced the Christian Religion at the preaching of the Apostle S. Mark They have continued in the right Faith till Dioscorus their Patriarch fell into this Heresie That in Jesus Christ there was but one Nature one Substance one Will and one Operation This Errour with its Author was condemned in the Council of Chalcedone and such as receive it are counted as Hereticks by the Church of Rome therefore they have been persecuted by the Christian Emperours in times past But because I treat more amply of their Belief and Ecclesiastical Ceremonies in another Book named the Church of Alexandria which I composed for that purpose when I was at Cairo therefore I will say no more at present The Egyptians have often changed their Language The first and ancient Language of the Country was that of the Copties which was used all the time that their Kings reigned in Egypt But when Alexander the Great had subdued that Country they were forced to learn the Speech of their Conquerour which was the Greek since commonly spoken in Egypt above nine hundred years till the Arabians had driven away the Greeks They brought in the Arabian Tongue which is now commonly used Of Saida or the Upper Egypt SAid in Arabick signifies a Place or a Country higher and above another Therefore because the Upper Egypt is higher and above the Lower it bears this Name The Arabians call it yet Vogh il ard or the Face of the Country
the Arabians have digg'd every where and spoil'd also the Hieroglyphick Cave which is named the Church They have so much undermin'd the Walls that some of the top is fallen down and the Rain hath spoiled some of the Emblems and Characters that adorned the Wall And as if Time had not blotted out enough they have put out the Eyes of the Images and Figures in a brutish manner natural to them I was highly displeas'd to see this for were it not for this brutality this beautiful Cave would have kept it self entire till now When we had staid nine days in the Monastery of Abuhennis I return'd to Melave the 8th of April from whence I went the 15th of the same Month to Minie altering my first design to go by Land for I saw that it would be too painful and too dangerous Minie in the Arabian Books called Miniet ibn chassit is an ancient great and beautiful Town on the West-side of Nilus It s Antiquity appears by its old Buildings by its strait Streets so narrow that two Men can scarce to a-breast In this Town the Bardaques or Water-pots are made which are highly esteem'd at Cairo for their fashion and property to cool Water They are made with a kind of Clay taken about a days Journey from thence on the East-side of Nilus in a place called Sciech fadl from the name of a religious Mahometan there Interr'd The 19th of this Month I went aboard a Vessel bound for Benesuef a good Wind carried us a great way in a little space of time At nine a Clock we were over against Gebel Teir or the Mountain of Birds so called because at a set day of the year all the Birds round about meet in a place where a Talisman draws them together from all sides and causeth them to stay there one day when they have continued there till night they all fly away one excepted which remains there the Bill fixed in the Rock till the same day the next year at which time it falls down and another takes its place When we pass'd over against this Mountain I saw on the top a Stone which is called the Camel because at a distance it is like a Camel A little further in our way we discover'd Taka or the Window or a great hole which Nature hath made in the Rock like a Window which serves as a passage for the Birds when they go to their Rendezvous whither the Talisman draws them as the People of the Country say and their Historians affirm When the Moors are come to this Window they use to say the Chapter of the Fatha or first Chapter of the Alcoran for the poor People who live as they say in this part of the Mountain as Beasts feeding upon nothing but raw Herbs After Dinner we went by Bene Mohammed il Kifur a Village scituate on the West-side of Nilus Over against it is an old Monastery ruinated and a little further appear a great many Caves upon the Mountain near by After we had pass'd by an old Castle destroyed we went to lye at Benemzar a great Village scituate on the West-side of Nilus this River having wash'd away almost half the Buildings We went from thence Thursday morning the 20th of April with a South-East Wind fit to carry us to Benesuef It was yet in the morning when we sailed before Heggiar Selame which is a Bank in the River Nilus Over against it are the Ruines of an ancient Town and the Tomb of a Sciech or Saint About noon we were near the Ruines of another ancient Town called Medinet Giahel which stands at the East of Nilus there are to be seen yet several Remains of Houses made up with Bricks dried in the Sun Over against it is Feggen a Village often mention'd in a Book called Sinaxar After Dinner a strong Wind arose and forced us to stop at Bebe a great Village which is near Benesuef where we found incamped a Troop of Arabians called Ateijat with whom I pass'd the rest of the day in discourse Friday the 21th of the Month we arriv'd at Benesuef where we continued till the next day and on the 24th of the Month I returned to Caire without seeing Isne as I had an intent But that the Reader may know what rarities are to be seen in this Town and round about I have here added that which hath been taken notice of by Father Portais a Capuchin in the year 1668. according to the account given me by the Reverend Father Francis his Brother and Companion in his Travels M. Thevenot hath already inserted it in his Collection of Travels printed at Paris in Folio but not so large nor with thâ— Particulars here added Of all the Towns of the Upper Egypt wherâ— the Copties have Churches that of Isne is the furthest from Cairo It is built at the West-side of Nilus upon a Hill that stretches along the River It may be judged to be an ancient Town by a Temple of Pagans yet standing The Copties have there two Churches but very poor one is dedicated to the blessed Virgin and the other to S. Pelagius The Christian Copties here may make twenty Caraches in number they are all Weavers and ruled by two Arch-Priests the one named Matthew and the other Soliman Half a mile from Isne is to be seen a Convent which the Copties say hath been built by S. Helena dedicated to the holy Martyrs of this Town whom the Governour of Dioclesian Massacred in such numbers that their dead Corpses covered fourscore Fiddans or Acres of Ground Round about this Burying-place are to be seen Tombs curiously wrought which they say were erected by this holy Empress Three leagues from Isne is another Convent dedicated to S. Matthew where are four or five Tombs like those that we come from mentioning Upon an Altar Stone of a little Chappel dedicated to St. Michael the Arch-Angel we sound some Characters which were not Hyeroglyphick in a Language that we understood not About eleven leagues on this side of Isne at the East of Nilus is to be seen Tuot a great Town where is a Temple of the ancient Egyptians Twelve leagues from Tuot at the West of Nilus is Arment heretofore a great Town but now forsaken and ruinated They call it in Arabick Beled Muse or the Country of Moses because the Egyptians believe that Moses was born here Here is under ground an ancient Temple Two leagues on this side of Tuot are two Villages very famous namely Luxor and Luxor il Kadim or the old Luxor they are about half a league from one another At Luxor is to be seen the Remains of an ancient and beautiful Temple of the Egyptians in which are threescore and eighteen Pillars of a prodigious bigness chiefly fourteen placed in rank two and two so big that six Men can scarce embrace them but they are but six Perches high The bottom of this Temple is yet entire here are several Chambers and separations whereof
of Menuf or Memphis where his Father lived as his Royal Seat From this King Coptus all the Race of the Egyptians are now called Copties Likewise from this first King the Greeks have given the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Land of Egypt by changing the K into G which is the custom not only of this Language but also of the Arabian as may appear by the words Nekkade and Dunkala written in Arabian with a K and nevertheless they are pronounced in discourse Neggade and Dungala as if they were written with a G. They are the names of two Towns the one in the Upper Egypt and the other in Nubia The Moors and Copties Natural Inhabitants of the Country call it Massr from Misraim the Son of Cham and the Grand-child of Noah who first laid the Foundations of it after the Deluge And from the same Misraim the Turks have named it Missir and the Jews Eretz Misraim the Country of Misraim Egypt is scituate in Africa according to the common and ordinary Opinion nevertheless some of the Ancient Geographers have placed it part in Africa and part in Asia making the River Nilus as the Bounds between these two great parts of the World Egypt is bounded on the South with Nubia and the last City of Egypt is Isvan called by the Europeans Siene which is commanded by the Bay of Girge on the West it hath the Provinces of Vah and Barca and on the East are the Desarts that divide it from Palestina and on the North is part of the Mediterranean Sea It stretcheth it self in length from the City of Isvan to the Mouth of the River Nilus at Rosetta in a streight line that is from South to North about five hundred and threescore miles it is not possible to declare it precisely because they are not wont to measure the Country by Miles or by Leagues but by the Camels Journeys only I say here nothing but according to the Relation of the Authors that have examin'd it It is divided according to the accounts of the Divan or Treasury into three parts 1. Into Said or the Upper Egypt which begins at Sint and extends as far as Isvan 2. Into Vostani or the middle Egypt in respect of the Said and Cairo And 3. Into Bahri or Inferiour Egypt The middle begins at Gize a Village over against Boulac and reaches as far as Momfallon and the lower commenceth at Cairo and includes Alexandria and Damietta The Upper Egypt or that part of it which is habitable and useful is very narrow In the widest part a Horse in four hours may pass over it in some places it is not above three hours riding and the Country in both sides is wild sandy and hilly I cannot give an exact account of its wideness in the middle but yet I am perswaded it is not much larger nor wider than the higher part for being scituated between both Egypt begins to grow wider about Cairo it must needs follow that the middle is not much wider than the upper part unless it be about the Cascieflik of Fiúm where Egypt in the middle begins to be wider but yet I cannot give any exact account of it The Inferiour part is wider The Inhabitants reckon about 70 miles from Damietta to Alexandria the most Western-Town upon the Sea-Coast A Learned Person of this Age in a discourse concerning the causes of the Inundation of Nilus hath very well proved against the Ancient Philosophers that the lower Egypt hath always been and is not a new gift of Nilus He grounds his Opinion first upon Homerus who mentions the old City of Canopus which was at one of the chief entrances into Nilus from the Sea Secondly upon the testimony of Moses and David Ps 77. who have mentioned the City of Tanis where was Pharaoh's Court and where God performed great Wonders Egypt was always governed by Kings but the Royal Seats have not always continued the same for the Conquerours have altered them according to their pleasure The first Royal City as Macrisi saith was Amsus but the Waters of the Deluge having ruined it the Posterity of Noah built Menuf or Memphis which was the Seat of the Ancient Kings of the Race of Coptus till Nabuchodonozor had sack'd it When Alexander the Great had built Alexandria he made it the Principal City where all the succeeding Kings of the Greeks made their Residence for nine hundred years till the Arabians had taken Egypt and made Fostat Metropolis But when Giauher the General of Meez le Din-alla had built Cairo about the year of the Hegeira 362. he called it Dar il Memleke that is the Royal Seat which it hath been ever since Egypt hath been govern'd by three several sorts of Mahumetan Princes since the Arabians took it from the Greeks The first were named Omara Massr or Lords of Egypt without any other Title They were all Arabians and Successors of Amru ibn il Ass who was the first Conquerour and after to Abu il Fevares the last of that Race We reckon one hundred and twelve Princes of Egypt during the space of 337 Years seven Months and twenty Days Their Conquest happen'd about twenty years after the Hegeira and ended in the year 358. They all dwelt at Fostat Masser or thereabouts The second Race of the Arabians were called Caliphs They began to take that Title when General Abuhassein Giauher had built Cairo by the Order of Meez le Din-alba who was then Prince of Barbary and Conquer'd Egypt and took it from the Arabians Egypt was afterwards govern'd by its Caliphs about 108 Years 4 Months and 22 Days that is to the death of Adet le Din-alla who was the last and Eleventh Caliph The third sort named Sultans or Soldans succeeded immediately after of them there have been of four Nations The first who was the Posterity of a certain Eijub were called Sultans Curdes The second came from beyond the Seas were named Mamaluk Turks because they had been before Slaves and sold by the Merchants of Constantinople to the Kings of Egypt who caused them to be brought up and instructed in all Martial Discipline When the King was dead one of these Slaves was chosen to succeed in the Throne The third sort were stiled Mamaluks Circassians because they came originally from Circassia and were brought thither by the Merchants as the former and sold also as Slaves to the Kings of Egypt who caused them to be also train'd up as the former unto whom they succeeded in the Regal Dignity and Command The fourth sort who are now in possession are the Sultans of the Race of Ottoman who overcame the Circassian Sultans in the year 922. of the Hegeira for Sultan Selim Conquer'd this Kingdom in the year 1517. Egypt is inhabited at present by Copties Moors Arabians Turks Greeks Jews and Franks and other strange Nations but as they are not numerous they deserve not to be mentioned The Copties or Copts are the Natural
Grapes to Cairo and then the Arabians retreat into the Desarts and there is nothing to be fear'd In this season I undertook this Journey that I had long designed I went from Cairo Monday the 21. of July And that I might not fall into the same danger as at Tarane I took with me a Janizary to whom I gave 15 Piasters every Month and I took my Blackmoor nam'd Abul Kerún whose courage I had experienc'd before for them and my self I hired three Mules that were going back to that City we went from Cairo the prefixt day before Noon At our arrival at the Monastery of Aduvie which is about an hours travelling from Old Cairo scituate upon the East-side of Nilus we past to the other side of the River and from thence we march'd to Mocanan a very good Town a place where dwells an Arabian Prince very famous called Ibn Chabir at night we got as far as Kahue Barnascht a Coffee-house built at the entry in of the Wilderness through which one goes to Fiúm After that we had rested our selves a little we proceeded on in our journey before the Sun-set marching through the Wilderness with many others in our Company who had overtaken as whiles we stayed We spent nine hours in going through this Desart going all night through a Campane very equal full of Sand and houndless and in the morning before the Sun-rising we arriv'd at Tamieh a very great and considerable Town belonging to the Cascieflik of Fiúm scituate at the end of the Wilderness about five hours journeying from Fiúm for a Horseman When we had rested here a while and drunk some Coffee according to the custom of the Country we march'd on in our way and enter'd into Fiúm about Noon At my first arrival I lodg'd in a publick Inn called Ocalet Beida scituate near the Market and almost ruinated till I could meet with a better and more convenient abode About ten days after I chang'd my dwelling because I was too much in the eye of the Turks and caus'd them to be too jealous of me which a Franc ought to be careful of that he may not be censur'd and affronted by them I took a lodging near the Christians dwellings at a Turks house called Tatar Sciaban who was a very honest man notwithstanding his Religion As soon as the Turks see a Franc in a Village or Country chiefly where they never saw him before they imagine immediately that he is loaden with Diamonds and Pearls They take therefore notice of all his steps to find out some occasion to quarrel with him and of all places of Turkie this happens most frequently in Egypt As soon as I was in the Town the report spread about that a rich Franc with a great Train was come The Cadi thinking therefore that he had a person from whom he might draw a sum of Money because he believ'd that I was a Merchant come thither to buy Wines in the Vintage-time to carry them to Cairo which Commodity is forbidden in all the Territories of the Grand Seignior he desired the Naib Gaibe or Soubachi of the place to endeavour to find out my designs and to let him understand them for he promised to give him half the money that he should get out of me if I did buy any Wines For this purpose the Naib Gaibe or Soubachi a Renegade Fleming who spoke well his Mother-tongue came to my lodging with two Ruffians and enter'd into my Chamber whiles I was taking out my Cloaths and without saluting any body sate down in a Corner which is the place that belongs to the Master of the house in the East-Countries The Ruffians stood at the door leaning upon their Staves I was mightily surpriz'd to see such a person come to visit me I called to my Janizary to know what he would have he answered that he understood that I was a Franc and that he was come to know whether I would buy any Wine because he would recommend me to that which was very good I reply'd that if he had no other business he might spare himself the trouble and pains that he took that I was never a Merchant of Wines and would not now begin and that we Francs care not much for the poor Wines of his Country To this he held his peace He enquir'd what Countryman I was when I had told him that I was of the City of Erford in Germany he seem'd to rejoyce because he had found one in such a far Country whom he might name his Countryman for he said he was of Amsterdam He promis'd me his friendship we eat afterwards together and I caus'd him to drink Wine as much as he would which was very pleasing to him when the liquor had a little chear'd his spirits he discover'd to me the design of the Cadi and the cause of his Visit by this means he became one of my best Friends in Egypt and my safety whiles I continued in that Town without whom I should not have escap'd the Train that was laid for me After a little rest in my lodging I sought some means to strike acquaintance with the Bishop of the place called Amba Michel who had a very good repute of an honest and a learned man because I was desirous to have some body to converse with and to spend my time with some advantage to my self I obtain'd this with ease for he came a few days after and lodg'd at my house I am much beholding to him for many things that he hath told me concerning their Belief and Ceremonies which I have inserted in my Church of Alexandria Let us now see the description of the Town and Territory of Fium The Town of Fium the chief of the Province whereof it bears the name is large and full of people It is built upon the Ruines of the old Arsinoe which is near adjoyning on the West-side Though the most part of the houses are but little and made of Bricks dried in the Sun they are nevertheless commodious and some where the Officers and Commanders dwell are large and beautiful There be many Copties Christians and a Bishop but no Church within the Walls they perform their Devotions at Desie a Village near by An artificial Channel cut from the River passeth through this City from East to West They name it Bahr Jusef or the River of Joseph for they believe that Joseph Jacobs Son caus'd it to be made 'T is call'd also Calitz il Menhi or the Channel of Menhi This Channel is remarkable because it keeps fresh water all the year which proceeds from several Fountains there but it is too shallow to carry Boats but when the River overflows It begins about three days journey from Fium drawing towards the South near a Village named Tarut Isscerif where I have been It runs when it hath left the Town into the Lake named Birket il Kern or the Lake of Charon where the waters become salt In this Town are to
the Walls are full from the top to the bottom of Figures roughly drawn and Hieroglyphick Letters carved over Before the Door stands two Needles square and very high and entire so fresh that one would think that the Workman hath newly finish'd them They are on every side eight foot broad Near their Basis are two Statues of Women of black Marble and though they be half under ground to the Girdle they stand out as high as three Men. Their bigness is answerable to their height for there is twelve foot from one shoulder to another They have a strange kind of covering upon their heads with a Globe on the top Their Faces are disfigur'd the rest is whole The description of the Frontispiece of this Temple is with the other Pictures At the old Luxor is a very ancient Palace Its Ruines shew that it hath been very glorious They say that here dwelt one of the ancient Kings of Egypt In the Walks of this Palace are to be seen many Sphinxes in ranks on both sides of the Alleys two foot from one another looking upon the Alley They have every one one and twenty foot in length This Palace hath four Walks that answer to four Gates In the first are one hundred and twenty Sphinxes threescore in each side and in the second are one hundred and two one and fifty in aside Every Walk is about the length of a place to play at Mall the Gates of the Palace are extraordinary high made with the most beautiful Stones in the World one of the sides of the Gate is six and twenty foot high I find in another Copy of this Relation that it hath thirty six foot The Palace is so defaced that there is no order nor beauty that appears nevertheless there are so many curious things in it that no Man in a Month can take a full view of them for there is above a Million of Figures roughly drawn some are covered over others appear with an open face Here are also a great many Pillars I counted saith the Father in a Parlour threescore which are all so great that five Men can scarce embrace one of them about In the Court of the Palace is a Bason garnished about with beautiful Stones and full of a bitter VVater which as the People say whitens Linen very well I tried it saith the Father by dipping into it my Handkerchief which kept above four days the smell of Soap At one Front of the Palace are two Statues of a Giant of one Stone as white as Alabaster They have Swords by their sides In the middle of the Palace is another as high as three Men not well pollish'd but well proportioned A league on this side there is an ancient Town called Habu where are to be seen many rarities chiefly Mommies At a distance one may there discover two Statues one of a Man the other of a VVoman The Country People call that Sciama and this Tama They seem to be at least as big as the Abulhon or the Sphinx over against Cairo Near this place is a Village where is to be seen two Statues from the River Nilus so new that one would think the Workman had just perfected them Thirteen leagues on this side of the old Luxor is a Town named Neggade where is a Bishop with about seventy Families of Christian Copties Here is yet three Monasteries one is called Deir il Salib or the Monastery of the holy Cross the second Deir il Megma the third Deir Mary Poctor but these two last are not inhabited Two miles from Neggade on the East-side of Nilus is the ancient Town of Kus but here are but threescore Christian Copties who have here a Church dedicated to S. Stephen Six leagues from Neggade on this side is Kenne a Village scituate on the Eastern Bank of Nilus It is a Mart-Town and the Rendezvous of the Caravans that go from Cairo to Cosseir heretofore named Berenice four days Journies from this Village and a Haven of the Red-Sea The Christians that live at Kenne are very poor and without any Church Two leagues on this side of Kenne is the ancient Town of Tentiris now called Dendera where is a wonderful Temple of the ancient Egyptians of a prodigious bigness and height It is to be seen at two leagues distance Macrizi saith that it hath as many Windows as there are days in the year They are so plac'd that every one answers to a degree of the Zodiack so that the Sun rising in a differing degree every day of the Zodiack it sends in its Beams into a distinct Window from the day before And when at the end of the year it hath finish'd and run through every degree of the Zodiack it hath also from the East cast in its Beams into every Window of this Temple For this cause it is look'd upon as a Wonder in Egypt Ten Leagues on this side of Dendera at the West of Nilus is Cassr a Village where is an old Convent dedicated to Amba Balamon Over against this Village is the ancient Town Hu where is yet a Convent dedicated to S. Menna but there was then no Priest Two Leagues on this side of Hu on the same Bank is Bahgiura at a little distance from the River Its Port is called Sahel there is two Convents one dedicated to S. Bidabe the other to S. George At two Leagues on this side of Bahgiura on the same Bank is the Village Beliene where is a very beautiful Church under ground dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Girge the chief Town of the Vpper Egypt stands six Leagues from Beliene on this side Here ends the Relation of Father Portais I could wish that this good man had given us a more exact account and more at large of the Rarities that he saw in these places for this Relation is superficial The 14th of June I went at Cairo to see the Inchanted watering place called in Arabick Houd il merasset which is under the Mosque of the Palace called Kalet it Kebsch no Taveller hath over spoken of it It is a black Marble-stone made like a Watering place seven foot long arising out of the ground about a foot and a half The sides within and without are adorned with little Hieroglyphick Letters as well as the Brims The people of Cairo say that in the time of the ancient Egyptians the sick people did recover their health by drinking Water out of it and that by the virtue of a Rassem or Charm which the Priests of Egypt had given to it The 20th of this Month I went to see the wonderful Well which is in the Castle commonly named Joseph's Well It s top is square very large cut in the Rock it is about one hundred and twenty Perches deep the Perch containing six foot The water is drawn out with two Wheels the one plac'd at the Mouth of the Well and the other about threescore and fifteen Perches underneath There are two Oxen at each Wheel