be seen many Relicks of Antiquity as Capitals Antick Works Pillars of Marble broken In the Corn-market is to be seen a great Pillar entire laid upon the ground and a great Mill-stone both of a red stone and almost in all houses is to be seen something very remarkable for its antiquity Here is made much Linen for the house and Canvas to pack up the Commodities of the Country They have a great deal of Flax which yields a great benefit strak'd Linen is plentiful here and very good with which the Country-people cloath themselves The Leather of this Country is much esteem'd but chiefly the Blankets that are made here are the finest of the Levant and are carried all over the world Here are also made Sacks of Network of Cord to carry upon Camels Straw or dried Dung to burn or Stones or some such thing for they never use Carts This Territory is very fruitful and pleasant and all that grows here is of a better taste than in the other Provinces Here are Fields full of Rose-trees and Woods of Fig-trees which are not in other parts of Egypt The Gardens are full of all manner of Trees bearing Fruit as Pear-trees Orange-trees Lemon-tree Peach-trees Plumb-trees Apricock-trees and many others that are sent to be sold at Cairo which yields them a great profit In Fium only of all the Provinces of Egypt are Vineyards and in these Villages only in Fidimin where I have been in Nacalife Seliin Abukesa Agiamiin Gerrado and Tobhar They make Wine thus They press the Grapes either with their Feet or other wise into a great Earthen Vessel they put afterwards the new Wine into a Sack of course Linen and strain it into another Vessel from thence they draw it and secure it in Jars well pitch'd within which contain about twelve thousand Drams Now these Jars they place in the Sun during seven days leaving them open that the new Wine might purge it self they stop them afterwards with Palm-leaves and cover them close with Mud. They leave their Wine in this manner till they intend to drink it This Wine is not much esteemed of by the Francs because there remains so much dregs that come out into the Cup with the Wine but if they had but the art of clearing and clarifying the Wine it would be doubtless a very pleasant Wine for the Grapes are very sweet and pleasing to the taste I have not seen a Province in Egypt that is so much cut into Channels as this They all proceed from Josephs River and they are made to water the Fields with more ease and because this great number of Ditches would hinder men from travelling up and down were it not for the Bridges here be more than in any other part of Egypt They are all made with burnt Bricks and very strong The Tradition saith that they were builded in the days of the Pharaoh's and it is the opinion of the Copties that these Kings imployed the Israelites in making Bricks for these Bridges which is very probable for it is certain that almost an infinite number of men are needful to make such a prodigious quantity of Bricks This Province of Fium anciently had three hundred threescore and five Towns and Villages but now there be but threescore and two all the other have been swallowed up in the Lake Kern or destroyed by the tyranny of the Governours The Cascief dwells in the Town He pays now to the Pacha five and twenty Purses and five to his Kehaja or Lieutenant and to his Agas He pays for his Province two hundred purses in four payments The Divan of Cairo allows him three Cornets of Horse or Spahins to keep his Country unto whom he pays every six Months five and twenty Piasters which is but a small allowance so that they are but poorly clad and appear as so many Beggars rather than as the Souldiers of so great an Emperour The ancient Town of Arsinoe scituated near Fium on the North-East-side is now totally ruinated There remains nothing of it now but a great many Mountains very high raised with the ruines and rubbish of the Town They shew sufficiently that it was one of the greatest and most glorious Cities of Egypt The people of the Country call it Medinet Fares or the Town of the Persian but I could never understand the cause of this name They say that it was destroyed and burnt by Cats which the Enemies set into it when they had tyed Fire-brands at their Tails which scattered the fire into every corner of the City and burnt it to ashes The Copties call it in their Books Arsinoe and Pliny calls all that Province the Government of Arsinoe On the 24th of this Month I went to Fidintin a Village distant from Fium about two hours riding towards the West to visit the Bishop who was gone thither out of the Casciefs sight I was cloathed in a Turkish habit with a Janizary and a Negre well armed upon good Horses Our coming put the poor Bishop into such a fright that he thought himself already kill'd when he heard that three strange Horse-men ask'd for him He thought at first that we were some sent by the Cascief to do him an injury These poor people are become wonderful timerous through the continual tyranny of those Barbarians so that at the least motion they tremble and shake He was pretty well satisfied when I told him that I was a Franc come purposely to crave acquaintance with him He entertain'd us in a very poor dwelling invited us into his Parlour and treated us with very good Wine of the Country When we had spent some hours in conversation with him we went to see the Vines of that Quarter and in the Evening we return'd home to the City The 29th of the same Month I went to Bijamuh a Village about half a League from Fium towards the North to see an ancient thing the Body of a great Statue of a Gyant of a red Stone without Head or Arms standing upon a Basis This Statue is behind the Village in a great broad Road. I could never learn what it is because the Country-people have no Tradition of it and in the Histories of Egypt there is no mention made of it I have only learnt that the people of the Country call it the Statue of Pharaoh which I think not to be true because it is the custom of the Egyptians to entitle all things of an extraordinary bigness with the name of Pharaoh from a conceit they have that they were all Gyants The Basis of this Statue is square of hewn stones that are very great every stone hath two foot and a half in breadth and almost ten foot in length the fore-front hath five Perches in length that is about thirty foot Near this Basis five others stand in a Demi-circle but less and without any Statue upon them The Bishop inform'd me that heretofore in this Village was an Agiasma or Fountain of holy Water called
the Haven yield a most delightful Prospect There are no Walls nor Fortifications only a round and very high Tower that stands at the end of the Town towards the Sea where there is neither Watch nor Ward nor Guns In this City there is great Trading in Linen Rice Coffee and Stuffs I was told that every year about five hundred Ships go out of this Haven small and great loaded with Rice for Turkie Here are made many beautiful sorts of Linen of all kinds and colours which are Transported to Foreign Countries Here is also a great deal of Fish salted The Mullet that are here pickled are highly esteem'd all over the Levant The Town is Governd by an Aga sent thither from the Pacha and therefore nam'd by the Turks Pachagasi or the Aga of the Pacha Besides his other Incomes he takes from every Tavern of Aqua-vitae ten Pora's in the City are a great many such Taverns From every Carache it being a little Ship he receives five Pora's and from greater Ships six and thirty and forty when they go out of the Port Besides many Casualties which amount to a great deal through his extortion as the manner of the Turks is for out of our Ship he took six Barrels of Cyprus-wine containing each six Metres and every Metre holding twenty Pots though this was not his due I had some difficulty to save from his greedy hands a Box of excellent Wine of the Country of Kesrovan The Souldiery and chiefly the Janissaries are very insolent There be but two hundred and about twenty Spahins Of the Christians the Grecks are the most numerous They be about two hundred Families and have a considerable Church Of the Copties there be about eight Families The Turks about a year since took Possession of their Church because they had not paid them a certain Tax that they had laid upon them There are no Francs that dwell there in the City for want of Trade because this Haven is at a little distance from all the Christian Countries and because they are settled at Rosetta which lies more convenient for them and nearer There is only a Chamber which the Franciscans of the holy Land have hired in the Apartment of the Greek Patriarch which is a little House very filthy yet they Lodge there when they pass to and fro from Jerusalem to Cairo The greatest Traffick in this City by Sea is of Wood and Timber which is Imported as well for Fewel as for the building of Houses and Ships for Wood is very scarce in Egypt chiefly in the Inferiour During my abode in this City I met with an old Ship-Captain by Religion a Maronite who told me that between this City and the Town of Bogas the River Nilus grew shallower every year and that he had taken notice that about fifteen years ago it was fifteen Cubits deep but now scarce fifteen Foot This proceeds from the Earth which the Water loosens from its sides and washes into the middle about the Mouth of the River there the Earth stops He gather'd from thence that it was to be fear'd that in this River great Ships would not be able one day to pass from the Mouth to Damietta The Town of Mansoura i. e. Victorious the abode of the Cascief of Dekahlie is a great and beautiful Town scituate upon the East-side of Nilus Its Houses are not builded as those of Damietta upon the Water but there is a large Street between them for to walk but because we Landed not then in that place I had not the opportunity to view it nor to give an exact Description of it I shall only say this of it That in this Town the French King S. Lewis was taken Prisoner by Sultan Saleh negm iddin eiiub ibn il Kamel All the particulars of the end and carrying on of this War are to be seen in the Macrizi and in Ibn Zulak I could wish these Histories of the Arabians were Translated into any known Languages for here are several remarkable Circumstances mentioned in them with which we are not acquainted Here are likewise many Verses full of Wit but Satyrical made then by the Moors upon the taking of S. Lewis and the conclusion of this War so happy for their Nation Between Damietta and Grand Cairo are to be seen upon the River side a prodigious number of Pigeon-houses which is here remarkable because there are not found so many in any other part of Egypt nor builded in the same manner These Pigeon-houses begin at Mitbedri a Village near Mansoura on the same side in sailing towards Cairo In one days Journey and a half I saw so many that I wondred at it for there is scarce a House in all the Villages but there is one or more Pigeon-houses At the Foundation the Walls are of Earth only and round on the top very spacious within full of Earthen Pots for the Pigeons Nests and without are many Poles for them to pitch on and rest themselves It is easie to judge whether the sight and Prospect of so many Pigeon-houses be not very delightful The Moors that were in our Boat told us that in these Villages fifteen Pigeons were commonly sold for one Para forty Para's make 4 s. 6 d. So that I reckon that about two hundred and forty Couples were sold for that Money Semennut is a great Town scituate on the West-side of Nilus in the Cascieftik of Garbie not far from Mohelle KabÃre or the great Mohelle It is built in a Triangular Form the lower part stretches it self along the River The Barques that sail towards Cairo are bound to stop here and pay Custome The Custome-house is built upon a Ship in the River at which the Vessels never stop above an hour In the middle Way between Diametta and Cairo is Mitgamr a very beautiful and large Town scituate upon the East-side of Nilus We landed and I found there many fair Houses and a spacious Bazar or Market-place where all manner of Provisions were to be sold Here are also a great many Christians of the Copties Over against Mitgamr that is on the West-side Nilus is Sitfe a beautiful and big Town belonging to to the Cascieftik of Mohelle KebÃre where we beheld a pursuit of some Peasants whom the Cascief of that Province chas'd They were come to demand a certain Tribute which he was wont to pay them and upon his denial of it they rose up in Arms against him But as soon as he had sent out the Spahins against them they ran all away These poor Caitiffs being on Foot and finding themselves followed by Horse-men that they might not fall into their hands they cast themselves in haste into the River to swim over six were unhappily drown'd before our Eyes In the upper Egypt is a Village named also Sitfe which I shall mention in another place The 12th of April about two a-Clock in the Afternoon we left one of the Branches of Nilus that leaves the main River and runs to
by the Arab. Ein il Mandura and that every Holy-Thursday a great many Christians were wont to meet there to drink of this Water out of devotion but that the people of the place who are all Mahometans have stop'd it up to prevent the continuance of this Superstition When we had well seen these things we return'd to the Town and in our way we went over the Ruines of the ancient Arsinoe where I saw nothing remarkable but some old Walls which my Guide told me were the remains of a Bath When we were come near the Town we left it on the left hand and went to see the Needle of Bibig whereof this is the description This Needle is placed on the ground without any Basis in the middle of a Corn-field in a place where is no house nor mark of any that hath been there It is distant from Fium about a long half league near a Village called Bibig from whence it borrows the name This Village is scituated on the South-west of Fium and belongs unto it It is built in a long square very high its largest sides have six foot and the narrowest are of four This Needle abuts not into a sharp point as others in Egypt and Italy but the top is made like an Asses back On the South-side which is one of the largest there are three ranks of Images that represent Men and Women holding one another by the hand under these three ranks begin fourteen ranks of Hieroglyphick Characters about the bigness of a finger which are to be read from the top to the bottom every rank is divided from the other which is near with a line that is drawn between all along the Needle So that without doubt this Needle is the most curious that may be seen In every one of the lesser sides is but one rank of lesser Characters which yet continue very clear and beautiful There is one thing to be lamented at that time hath almost blotted out the Figures from the middle of the Pillar to the bottom and that the Stones have not been able to defend themselves from corruption being much worn out It is of a red Stone as all others It s top is like an Asses back and very large sit for the Vultures and Hawks to pitch upon it at night These Birds have so whitened it with their dung that the uppermost Figures are scarce to be discern'd I have taken notice that all the Needles that I have seen in Egypt stand not upon any Basis but upon the ground which makes me believe that the invention of planting them upon a Basis is not derived from the Egyptians but from the Romans who having taken notice that this kind of Pillar was very useful and contain'd great Mysteries in their Characters they have rais'd them upon a Basis to render them more remarkable and considerable to the curious We return'd to the Town about Noon A little Journey to Sennuris SVnday the 31. of July I went to Sennuris a Village belonging to the Cascieflik of Fium scituate on the North of this Town and about four hours travelling on Horseback to see the remains of Antiquity that are there and thereabouts besides my Servants some other Copties Christians went with me When I had a little rested my self at Sennuris in the house of Sciech il Beled the Chief of the Village a Moor where my friends oblig'd me to take my lodging I went to take notice of the Village which is great and very beautiful and at the same time I saw the Church of the Copties dedicated to the Archangel S. Michael but it is very mean Nevertheless I took notice there of one thing very remarkable namely a square stone where are three little Figures cut the first represents the Archangel S. Michael the middle represents the Virgin Mary who holds in her Arms her Son and the third the Angel Raphael The names of every one is written underneath in Greek Letters in the Copties Language This stone is a foot and a half long from side to side The Priests informed me that this Stone was heretofore in the Chancel but when they saw that the people render'd homage to these Figures they plac'd them in a corner of the Church that they might hinder them from Idolatry They offer'd it to me for a Piaster and a half because I seem'd to value it at a high rate I would not take it because I had no intent to return so soon to Cairo but to go further into Sayda At the West-side of the Village about a Musquet-shot from it is to be seen a very ancient Bridge of Bricks made for a Passage for the River when it overflows The People of the Country say that Joseph Jacob's Son caused it to be built It is apparent by its Ruines that heretofore it was very great but now there remains no more but four Arches Round about this Village is sown a great deal of Flax but it is not esteem'd so good as that which grows in other parts of Egypt At that time there was as well as at Fiúm a want of fresh Water because the people of the Country usually cast into the River their Hemp where they take their Water to drink this had so poisoned the Waters that they did stink so that I was forced to cause some fresh Water to be brought from Fiúm which is about four hours distant from this Village In an evening I walk'd to see the Lake Kern which is very near Sennúris on the West-side This Lake is narrow but long for I was told that it is about two days travelling for a Horse in length This is doubtless the Lake Miris mentioned by Pliny when he saith Inter Arsinoïten Prafecturam ac Memphiten Lacus fuit circuitu CCL.M. passuum aut ut Mutianus tradit CCCCL M latitudinis L. passuum manu factus à Rege qui fecerat Moeridis appellatus For there is no other Lake between Fium which is Arsinoe and the City of Memphis or the place where it stood At its Eastern end is plac'd the Village TamÃch mentioned before and in its West end is the famous Castle of Vizir Caron of which I shall speak hereafter This Lake receives all the Waters that run from the Fields when Nilus is overflown and from the River of Joseph they become salt because the Earth is full of Niter Here is much Fish chiefly a Fish called is Arab. Houd which I have described in the Chapter concerning the Fish of Nilus On the other side of the Lake are Desarts of Sand very large I have heard from Persons worthy to be believed that there are to be seen many remarkable Ruines of ancient Towns particularly of Temeh issebag or of Temeh of Lieus a Town so named because of the Statues of Lieus that were there to be seen Here is also to be seen the Ruines of an ancient Monastery named Deir AbulÃfe or the Monastery of AbulÃfe They told me that they had
THE PRESENT STATE OF EGYPT Or A new RELATION OF A LATE VOYAGE INTO THAT KINGDOM Performed in the Years 1672. and 1673. By F. VANSLEB R. D. Wherein you have an exact and true Account of many Rare and Wonderful Particulars of that Ancient Kingdom Englished by M. D. B. D. LONDON Printed by R. E. for John Starkey at the Miter in Fleet-street near Temple-Bar 1678. TO THE READER Ingenuous Reader TO thee alone I recommend the perusal of this Journal which not only my self but some other judicious Persons have thought worthy to appear in our Tongue and amongst the Curioso's of our Nation The Author is well known to be a Man of Integrity and one that scorns to impose upon the World an untruth of which in this occasion nothing can tempt him to be guilty If therefore some Particulars look with a strange and unprobable Countenance be not so unsociable in thy perswasion as to reject whatsoever thou hast no demonstration to prove A ridiculous Humour and a pernicious Rule which tends to deprive us of the benefit of many Knowledges both in Divine and Humane Matters It is unlikely that such a Person of discretion and interest in the World as he is known to be should so much forget his reason as to subscribe his Name to such falshoods as may be easily discovered at Rome in the place of his ordinary abode I confess some Observations are trivial and ordinary but others will prove satisfactory to such worthy Souls as desire to know the passages of the World and Foreign Nations This Country of Egypt hath heretofore been the richest Magazin of Learning as well as of Provisions It hath flourished in all Manual Arts and the rarest Sciences No doubt but that there are yet to be seen some Monuments of the Primitive Grandeur and Learning of the ancient Inhabitants As therefore Vanslebius hath judg'd them worthy to be visited in his Travels and afterwards of this account which he gives in Print I think them not unworthy of thy knowledge which thou mayest perhaps improve in the interpretation of some obscure passages of holy Writ and for other purposes according to thy Profession Vale M. D. THE PRESENT STATE OF EGYPT OR A New Relation or Journal of the Travels of Father Vansleb through Egypt IN the Year 1671. about the 8th of May I was at Marseilles with an intention to sail again into Egypt for that purpose I found an opportunity the Ship the Three Kings Commanded by an Aged Captain named Artaut was ready to depart for Alexandretta I went aboard and set sail from the Port the 20th of the same Month strait towards Malta where we remained five days and after directed our Course to Lernica in the Island of Cyprus where the French Merchants make their abode on the Sea-side looking towards the South we arrived the 17th of June As soon as I set foot ashore I fell desperately sick of an ordinary Disease to all Strangers proceeding from the Infection of the Air that is an Enemy to them But my Distemper could not hinder me from going to Nicosia the chief City of the Island When I felt my Malady increasing every day and the rather through the dangerous Infection of the Plague which was then in the Island I resolved to be carried to Tripoli in Syria the nearest and most convenient Port where the French Nation hath a Consul Whilest I was at Nicosia Captain Artaut was departed with his Ship for Alexandretta and the 26th of June I went aboard another Ship in the Haven of Lernica and the next day with a favourable Wind we landed at Tripoli Though I had forsaken the infectious Island the disease of my body forsook me not but grew to that pass that I prepar'd my self as Christianity injoyns us to leave the World Nevertheless at the end of 35 days my distemper being weary to torment me suffer'd me to recover a little strength and though I was but weak I went aboard a Ship bound for Alepo the first of Septemb. arriv'd the 13th and abode there four Months About the last of Decemb. I went to Damascus where I remain'd a Month and from thence to Seyda where I was also two Months My purpose is not to give any account of the Curiosities of Lernica of Nicosia of Tripoli of Alepo of Damascus and of Seyda These Towns are sufficiently known to all the World by the many Relations already published of the Levant Countries Besides the shortness of the time of my abode there together with the inconveniency of a Quartan Feaver which kept me company sixteen Months suffered me not to inquire into any such matters I shall therefore in this Treatise give an account only of what Curiosities I have seen in Egypt where during the space of twenty Months I have had the leisure and opportunities to take a view of the most remarkable things with the greatest exactness and care imaginable which hath never been done of this famous and beautiful Country till now The 19th day of February 1672. I took Ship at Seyda a Town of Phoenicia to sail for Damietta in Egypt but a contrary Wind rose and brought us back to Seyda again where we remain'd till the 16th of March I went then aboard and met with a favourable Gale that drove us very happily to Bogas which lies at the Mouth of the River Nilus I think it convenient before we proceed to give a general account and description of Egypt that the things that I shall hereafter mention may better be understood A General Description of Egypt C Ham one of the three Sons of Noah had four Children Males Cus Misraim named by the Arabs Beidar Fut and Canaan Cus was the Father of the Abyssins Misraim of the Copties and Nubians Fut of the Africans and Canaan of the Syrians and their Neighbours Misraim after the Deluge as Macrisi an Arabian Historian saith pitcht upon Egypt made there his abode and left it and the Country as far as the farthest part of Africa to his Posterity He had likewise four Sons Ischemun Atrib Sá and Coptus unto whom he divided the Land of Egypt in four equal parts Coptus had all that tract of Land from Isvan to the City of Coptus to Ischemun he allotted the Country from that City to Menuf to Atrib he gave the Heart and middle of Egypt now called Delta and to Sá he appointed all the Continent from the Province of Beheire as far as Barbary They all builded Cities in their several Dominions calling them by their own Names We shall mention them in the sequel of this Discourse After the decease of their Father the four Brothers were at variance about the Soveraignty neither of them could endure a Partner At last they resolved to end their Controversies by a Battle which was to give the chief Command to the Victor Coptus the youngest overcame all the rest of his Brethren and was acknowledg'd by them as their Chief Lord. He chose the City
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
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
Damietta and entred into the Bogas or Channel of Boulac The clear Weather gave me the liberty to take notice of the separation of the two Branches of the River I found that the Branch that goes to Rosetta stretches it self to the North-East and that of Diametta to the North. In respect of this last Cairo stands to the South-East and its Castle to the South At this Bogas the two great Pyramides of Egypt are first discover'd They appear here to be equal though one is far higher than the other From this separation or division of Nilus as far as Boulac there is but an hour and a halfs travelling though Monsieur Thevenot tells us of six Leagues We landed at Boulac the Wednesday before Easter at Night I staid there till the next Morning and entred into Cairo about Noon At my entrance I paid a Crown at the Custome-house of Boulac which is an ordinary Tribute demanded of all Francs many years ago A Description of the City of Cairo MY design at first was to publish a large Description of all the Rarities of this great and famous City before I proceed on in my Journal But since I have considered that great Volumes are wont to nauseate rather than to delight the Reader chiefly in these days that Men are pleas'd with the reading of short and small Volumes I have therefore taken notice of those things only which other Travellers have omitted and could never know perfectly for want of an insight into the Arabian Tongue He that will know more may peruse the second Part of the Chottats of Macrizi The City of Cairo borrows the Name from the Planet Mars called by the Arabians Kaher which Name was given to it as saith the Serrúr an Arabian Historian because the Foundation of its Walls were laid when this Planet was in its ascent which hapned unhappily in this manner Giauher the General of Meez le dÃn allá one of the Cailiffs of Egypt having resolved to build a new City for the abode of his Lord in the Year 362 of the Hegira he gave orders to the Astronomers to observe the time of the rising of a good Star when the Foundation might be laid that the City might be the more happy and of a longer continuance The Astronomers accordingly encompassed about with Ropes all that space of Ground that was to be shut into the Walls tying to the Ropes a great many little Bells to give notice to the Builders when they were to cast the Foundation The signal was the sounding of the Bells which was to be given when they saw the rising of a good Star By chance it happen'd that a Crow pitch'd upon the Ropes that was stretch'd along when Mars was in its rising and with the motion of the Ropes caused the Bells to sound As soon as the Masons heard the signal given they cast all with one consent the Foundation which when the Astronomers had understood they declar'd by unlucky rising of Mars that govern'd at that Instant that the City should be one day taken by a Conqueror that should come out of Romania where Mars governs Which hath proved true about five hundred and threescore years after when Sultan Selim came from Constantinople the chief City of Romania and took not only the City but the whole Country and destroyed the Race of their Kings by hanging the last Though they conceived that this Star would prove unlucky they called the City nevertheless Kahera or Cairo as we name it in Europe which Name continues till this day This City is become very rich powerful and great by its Trade insomuch that of all the Cities of the Levant this alone hath deserv'd the name of Great It is scituate in a Champain very delightful at the Foot of a Mountain of Sand named in Arab. Gebel il mokattam or the Mountain cut through which stands on the East-side and incommodes the City because it deprives it of the benefit of the fresh Winds that blow from thence This City hath another inconveniency it is far from the River There is nothing in the World more delightful than to take a prospect of it from some eminent place for you might from thence view an infinite number of Houses which instead of Coverings have Turrets and see an innumerable company of Mosques with their various colours of differing Buildings intermingled and surrounded with Palm-trees and Gardens all which together represents a most beautiful Prospect It hath seven Gates The Names are 1. Bab zucile 2. Bab innassr 3. Bab il fetúb 4. Bab il Kántara 5. Bab isscia a rÃe 6. Bab issaade 7. Bab il mahrúk There are eight Lakes very large that belong to it 1. Birket ittemálgie 2. Birket inassrÃe 3. Birket ibn il ademe 4. Birket il fil 5. Birket il kar-a 6. Birket il ferrain 7. Birket il Ezbekie and 8. Birket il kassarin There is a Channel cut through this City from the West to the North-East called the Calitz of Cairo It is very ancient Ibn abd il hokm an Arabian Historian saith That Tarsis ibn Malia one of the Pharaoh's and as he believes the King that took the Wife of Abraham when he was in Egypt caused it first to be cut Since the Arabians conquer'd Egypt and took it from the Emperour Heraclius they have named it Calitz Emir il Muminin or The Channel of the Prince of the faithful because of Amru ibn Chottab the second Califf after Mahomet who was the first sirnamed The Prince of the faithful because he commanded Amru ibn ass to lead him as far as Colzim a Town scituate near the Red-Sea that he might convey the Provisions of Cairo as far as this City and from thence by the Red-Sea to Mecha where there was at that time a great want of Food It continued in this manner till the Year 150 of the Hegira when Ciafer il Mansur a Califf of Egypt of the Race of Abbas caused it to be stopt on that side which is towards the Sea Now it is called Calitz il Hakemi or the Calitz of Hakem because Hakem-be amr ille another Califf of Egypt caused this Channel which was decayed through the negligence of his Predecessors to be repaired It is called also Merachemi or the Calitz paved with Marble as we may see by some Passages of the Serrúr an Arabian History which I have brought with me from Egypt In my Relation of Egypt Printed in Italian at Paris 1671. I said that the Turks Copties and Jews open in their turns this Channel every Year but I understand since that this Office belongs only to the Soubaschi of Cairo who strikes the first three or four blows upon the Bank that hinders the River from entring into the Channel afterwards all that will work have liberty granted The Copies have but two Churches at Cairo one in the Street named Haret Zuele and the other in the Greek's Street The first is Dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was built by
a renowned Physician named Zabulon He lived about two-hundred-seventy years before the Arabians became Masters of Egypt He is yet famous for his wonderful Riches They say that he hid them in a Well which is in the same Church and secur'd them with a Talisman that none might have them after his decease The Patriarch of the Copties House is joining to this Church The other in the Greek's Street is Dedicated to S. Barba It is but small and obscure I went to see it the 4th of November 1672. Heretofore they had many Churches and Monasteries and a Bishop in the Chandak an old Suburb of Cairo but now ruinated But now they have but two one Dedicated to the Arch-Angel Gabriel the other to the Abbot Mercurius sirnamed Roes Here the Copties of Cairo have a Burying-place Of the many Mosques at Cairo that which is called Giama ill assar is the richest and the greatest It was built by Giauher the first Founder of the City It is yet the Cathedral where the four Mouftis or Doctors of the Mahometan Law reside It is a Refuge for Offenders and a School for to teach the Law of Mahomet with its Revenues it entertains no less than eight hundred Persons of that Profession and receives for that purpose two thousand Ardebs of Corn from the Store-houses of the Grand Seignior and seven thousand more from other Benefactors There are four Mouftis at Cairo that borrow their Names from the four chief Sects of Mahemet 1. Of Sciaffeà 2. Of Maleki 3. Of Hambali 4. Of Hanefi They are all equal in Dignity because their Sects whereof they are the chief are likewise equal They have power to excommunicate the Pacha's when they attempt to do any thing against their Religion or their Mosques For Instance they excommunicated Pacha Ibrahim in the year 1672 because he offered to take away some of the Gifts and Rents belonging to the Mosques of Cairo By that means they hinder'd him from executing his sacrilegious design When the Excommunication prevails not they shut the Gates of this Mosque which causes the People to rise up in Arms and they never are quiet till they have kill'd the Offender In Cairo and in its Suburbs there are nine publick Shambles belonging to the Grand Seignior 1. That of HassenÃe which is the greatest 2. That of Haret Jehúd or of the Street of the Jews 3. That of Bab illuk or of the Whore's Quarter 4. That of the Lions Bridge 5. That of old Cairo 6. That of GÃze 7. That of Haret il sakkain 8. That of Telun 9. Two that are at Boulac whereof in one the Oxen are killed in the other the Sheep and Goats The Heads and the Skins of all the Beasts that are kill'd in these Markets unless it be of the Goats belong to the Grand Seignior out of this Custome he receives a great profit It is very true that in Cairo are seven differing Orders of the Militia Amongst these the Montrosses and Gunners are not reckon'd but only the Metferracas three Cornets of Spahins which be il Giúmulli il Tefakschi and il Cércassi The Janissaries the Chiaoux and the Azapes belong to them The Janissaries the Spahins the Azapes and the Gebegis are paid only every three Months but the Chiaoux and Metferracas the Jetams or Orphelins the Giavalis the Kescie and the Metkaeds receive their pay every Month without any delay A Description of Old Cairo OLD Cairo so called erroneously by the Francs is named by the Arabians Massr from Massr or Mizraim the Son of Cham and Grand-child of Noah that caused it to be built It is the ancientest City of Egypt next to Memphis after the destruction of this Old Cairo became the chief It is scituate on the East-side of Nilus over against the place where Memphis stood next to New Cairo It was heretofore a stately City but now it is almost all ruinated In the 18th year of the Hegira which is about 1033 years since that Amru ibn il ass General of Amru ibn Chottab a successor of Mahomet took this City John Mekaukes a noble Coptie was then Governour for the Emperour Heraclius When Amru had taken it he made Peace with Mekaukes upon condition that every Coptie should pay him and all his Successors two-pence a-year as a Tribute and that he should give entertainment for three days to all the Arabians that should pass through Egypt as may be seen more fully in the Macrizi This City hath been increas'd many times as the Conquerors and Lords of the Country did think convenient to pitch upon a more pleasant place for their abode The places where the Fostat the Cassr iscémma the Quarter of the Patriarch of the Copties Babylon Cateia the Caraff and others Fostat is a Greek Name which signifies a Tent of Goat-skins The Arabians name one side of Old Cairo thus because the Tent of Amru ibn il ass of this substance was planted there when he was busie in Conquering Egypt The same Amru caused it to be inclosed in with Walls after that he had taken the City of Alexdria he settled there his abode and that of his Successors Alexandria that had been the Royal City of the Greeks for about nine hundred years was then forsaken and the Fostat was the chief City of Egypt It continued so till Ahmed ibn Toulon built Cateia very near Fostat His Successors of his Race forsook it and settled themselves in Cateia But when this Race was extinct and Grand Cairo being built by Giauher as we have said the Califfs chose it for their abode causing Fostat to be burnt that the new City might be stronger and fuller of People and they left Cateia as we may see in Macrizi Cassr Isscémma is a Castle or Suburb inclosed with Walls near adjoining to Fostat built by Artaxerxes King of Persia Now only Christians inhabit there They have many Churches which we shall describe in this following Journal for I went to see them on the 18th day of July 1672. There are two differing Opinions concerning the Origine of this Name Some would have it written Cassr iggiama that is the Castle of the Assembly for they say that here the great Wits did meet to increase Learning but this Opinion is not well grounded Others write it Cassr isscémma this is likely to be the truest for I find it thus written by all Arabian Historians The Granaries and Store-houses of the Grand Seignior are adjoining to this Castle They are named by the Arabs Scióne The Provisions of Corn and other necessaries for the Food of the Malitia are here kept not only for the Malitia of Egypt but also for all the other Countries that depend upon Egypt And that this Corn might be better distributed there are four Aga's or Officers named in Arab. Agavat beta il ghelà l or Aga's of the Stores in the upper Egypt One dwells at Benesuef another at Minie the third at Momfallat the fourth at Girge Their Office is to gather up the
and the Old Testament written in the Ethiopian Language He and another of the same Nation named Peter of Constantinople went with this Pacha with an intention to get into their own Country I heard some time after that this Pietro was become a Mahometan at Sues to escape the Fire unto which he was condemn'd for striking a Moor. A Voyage to Rosetta ON Monday the last of May I went out of Cairo designed for Rosetta with the same Leonard who had been with me at Gemiane and a Nubian Slave that I had I went thither on purpose to spend there the time of the violent heats which are not so fierce in that City as at Cairo as also to see the Mouth of the River Nilus at that City and to satisfie a doubt that I had about the Water of MaadÃe for I knew not whether it was a Gulph or a Mouth of the River Nilus with an intention from thence to go to Alexandria to see its Curiosities We were four days going from Cairo to Rosetta an extraordinary long time because the winds Maltam or Maestraux that blow against those that go down the River opposed our Voyage The most remarkable Towns in this way are Fuva Sindiun Teirut Motubis and Tféni by the River side Fuva called by the Greeks Metelis and in the Copties Dictionary Messil is a very ancient great and considerable Town scituated upon the East-side of Nilus seven hours travelling from Resetta It s Territory is very delightful because of the pleasant Fields and Gardens round about It bears Fruits that are much esteem'd in all Egypt Geziret Iddahab or the Island of Gold is over against this City Heretofore the River was so deep from the Mouth as far as this Town that great Barques loaden were able to sail hither at that time the Custom-house was kept here But in time the River becoming here so shallow that the Barques being not able to come so far the Custom-house hath been since establish'd at Rosetta where it continues yet Sindiun and Teirut are two other Towns scituated upon the Banks of Nilus over against one another as are also Motúbis and Tféni the first stands on the East-side the other on the West-side At Rosetta I lodged with Monsieur Reynaud Vice-Consul of the French in this City he is a very honest Man He imployed all his credit to procure me the sight of the Curiosities round about For the information of all European Travellers I have taken notice that of late there is a Carrier set up at Rosetta who goes by Land to Damietta when any desires to travel that way which conveniency was not formerly for when any intended that Journey he was to run many hazards and inconveniences I had first design'd to go thither but instead of that Journey I went to visit the Monasteries of the Desart of S. Macarius where I expected more satisfaction I have long doubted whether the Waters of MaadÃe or the Pool that is half-way between Rosetta and Alexandria was a Branch of Nilus or else a Gulph of the Sea In another Relation of Egypt which I Printed in Italian at Paris in the Year 1671. I have said that it was a Branch of Nilus but since I have understood the truth that it was nothing but a Gulph or Pool for 1. Its Waters are very salt as far as Etku its uttermost bounds which Town as I conceive is the same with Motubis 2. This Water comes not from Nilus neither hath any Correspondency with this River True it is when Nilus overflows it becomes sweeter because of the mixture of the River's-water with the Water of this Gulph It retains this sweetness about two Months until Nilus leaves the Fields and as soon as the Tramontane or Westerly Wind blows the Waters of this Pool return to their wonted saltness and acrimony The 10th of June I went to the Mouth of the River Nilus about an hours sailing from Rosetta to take the Description of it I took notice that Nilus hath there two Branches or Mouths though they be reckoned but one That which runs into the Sea towards the East and is called the Easterly Mouth and that which runs into the Sea towards the West and is named the Westerly Mouth They take the first to sail to Brullos to Damietta to Seyda and Constantinople c and by this last they go to Alexandria and other Western Parts This separation proceeds from a low Island very small which stands in the middle of the River next to the Sea The Mouth of Nilus next to this City is Guarded with two Castles one stands at the East-side of the River and the other at the West That which is about a Mile and a half from Rosetta is square encompassed about with strong Walls built according to the old Model having four Towers In the middle is a high Dungeon to retreat at last One hundred fourscore and four Janissaries are there in Garison They lye every Night in the Garison but in the Day-time they have liberty to go into the City to work for their living It is furnish'd with threescore and fourteen Pieces of Cannon seven are of an extraordinary bigness The Aga that Commanded here in chief was a Spanish Renegado The other Castle is but a Mosque before it stands seven Pieces of Artillery on the Ground Here Commands also an Aga over a Company of Moors who examine all that go in or out of the City When I attempted to go out they came to my Boat and obliged me to return into the City again though the Janissary that was with me and well acquainted with them offered to answer for me They treated me in this manner for fear of a Pirat of Malta that sailed before the Haven at that time they were afraid that I had some intelligence with him to give him notice of some Ships that were ready to set sail loaden from Rosetta Nevertheless I had another opportunity to take the Description of this Mouth also It is now in the Closet of that Person of Quality who hath the others A Journy by Land from Rosetta to Alexandria THE 14th of June I went in the Evening from Rosetta towards Alexandria with a Moor recommended to me by the French Vice-Consul of this City We had two Mules to carry us for which I paid seventeen Meidins for the whole Journy About Midnight we came to the Water named by the Moors MaadÃe After a little stay in the Han or publick Inn we proceeded on in our Journey in a Moon-shining Night towards Alexandria where we arriv'd the next day about eight or nine a Clock From Rosetta to Alexandria there is ten hours travelling for a Horseman the most part of the way is along the Sea-Coast so that the Beasts have a long way their Feet in Water The Country is so even that there is no trouble for Travellers and unless it be the Han in the Mid-way there is neither Village nor Tree nor Grass to be
about one Penny Farthing English A Purse contains 2500 Meidins and is worth 500 Crowns of France The 23d of this Month I saw a Moor return from a Race that he had made to shew his strength and to be admitted amongst the Posts that carry Letters from Alexandria to Cairo He that will be admitted to be Post or Messenger or Carrier of Letters must carry upon his Shoulders a Fire lighted in an Iron Basket made as a great Chafing-dish fasten'd at the end of a great Staff about the length of a Man to which are tied several Hoops of Iron all weighing 36 Rotols With this burden he must go twenty-seven Miles in the way to Rosetta and return the same day to the City before the setting of the Sun in all about 54 Miles he is to go always loaden with the same burden If he performs this he is not only admitted amongst the Carriers of Letters but he wins the Wager that others have made against him but if his strength fails him he loseth his Wager and his Employment that he pretends to The Man that I saw returning the same day to the City and finishing his course with honour because he was return'd when the Sun was two hours high won a Wager of fifteen Piasters and was admitted amongst the Posts or Carriers of Letters and gathered besides about eight Piasters or thereabouts from the beholders of his glorious return but he was in such a sweat that one would have judg'd him to be coming out of some Bath He was followed by a great Company of People both Horse and Foot some carrying Wood to entertain his Fire others Water to refresh and cool him that before I knew the cause of this Meeting I thought there had been some Tumult in the City When I had continued so long time in Alexandria as was needful for my affairs and having lost my Quartane Fever that had plagued me sixteen Months I departed very well satisfied for Rosetta on the Festival day of S. Peter and S. Paul I went this time by Sea because I had been so often by Land I went aboard a Ship and in five hours we came to Rosetta but not without danger of Ship-wrack at the Mouth of Nilus for the Waters of the River meet so furiously with the Waves of the Sea that they are able to affright the most skilful Pilots of Egypt A Voyage to the Monasteries of the Desarts of S. Macarius ON the 30th of June I went from Rosetta with an intention to visit the four Monasteries of the Desarts of S. Macarius for that purpose I went aboard of a Boat of a Janissary â—amed Reus Ahmed il Curdi a Man very well acquainted with the Francs to go with him to Tarane or Terenut as the Copties call it in their Dictionary It is a little Village in the Cascieflik of Beheire four and twenty hours travelling from Cairo scituate upon the East of Nilus the place where Men commonly go a-shore when they design to travel to those Monasteries But before I came to that Village I received many affronts from some young Turks because I carried with me a little Box full of Wine A zealous Cadi being troubled in Conscience for being in the company of a Franc that drunk Wine encourag'd them to ask me some that he might have an occasion to quarrel with me if I did give them some These Rogues having the Authority of a Cadi to countenance their wicked design four of the boldest ask'd me some very earnestly for they said they knew that I had some I excus'd my self at first that I could not give them any to drink because they were not to drink Wine and that I knew very well that it was a great Crime for a Franc to give Wine to a Musulman chiefly in a place where many others would be offended at it and that such an action might bring me into trouble But all these reasons could not prevail they would have some Volens Nolens threatning that if I denied them they would cast my Wine into the River When I saw my self in this danger I intreated the Reus unto whom I was well recommended by the Vice-Consul of Rosetta to defend me He did so much by his credit that he pacified them for that time At my arrival at Tarane whither I was to go a-shore I hired in the Morning a little Boat to carry me and my Cloaths and Provisions to the Village for our Vessel was great and well loaden and could not at that time go near the shore because the Water was not deep Three of these Turks cast themselves furiously into my Boat taking my Box in earnest to cast it into the River I snatch'd it from them and run to my Musquet as if I intended to shoot at them my Black-a-moor likewise who was couragious took one by the Neck and cast him into the River and with his Sword in his Hand put himself in a posture of defence When they saw that they had to do with Men of courage that were not afraid of them they went back into the Barque and very furiously assaulted the Reus with their Fists besides they accus'd him as he himself told me afterwards at his return to Cairo before his Aga to have drank Wine with a Franc making him pay as a punishment ten Piasters After this Rencounter I had another Accident that happen'd to me far more grievous and dangerous At my landing I wanted a Man to carry my Cloaths to the House where I intended to lodge I called therefore some of the Arabians that were newly arriv'd from the Desarts of S. Macarius with Nitre or Salt-Peter He that carried my Box of Wine finding it to be very heavy and knowing not what was in it he thought it had been a Box of Money therefore being proud of his burden he told all that he met with in the way that he carry'd a Box full of Money that belong'd to a Franc newly arriv'd that was going to the Monasteries This lye spread about the Village and was believ'd as true so that I was in no small danger for there was no other talk in the Town but of the rich Franc that was there and of the means to get his Money They thought I had been some Consul that travell'd incognito to see the Country therefore they resolv'd to wait for me in the way and to take from me all my Treasure In this manner I landed at Tarane on a Sunday and went to lodge at a poor Carpenters House a Christian Coptie the only Christian in that Village he allowed me for my Chamber a place where he put Straw for his Beasts it was covered with the Faggots of Palm-trees heap'd one upon another to hinder the heats of the Sun I found there two religious Persons of the Monasteries whither I intended to go with them I past my fears and apprehensions When I understood from all hands the Conspiracy that the Arabians had form'd against me the
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 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
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