Egypt Through The Stereoscope

A Journey Through The Land Of The Pharaohs

by James Henry Breasted | 1908 | 103,705 words

Examines how stereographs were used as a means of virtual travel. Focuses on James Henry Breasted's "Egypt through the Stereoscope" (1905, 1908). Provides context for resources in the Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA). Part 3 of a 4 part course called "History through the Stereoscope."...

Position 5 - “ship Of The Desert” Passing The Tombs Of By-gone Moslem Rulers, Outside The East Wall Of Cairo

These ladies of modern Cairo who are out “smelling the air,” as they say when out for an airing, do not seem oppressed by the solemnity of the place. Indeed, as one of them has removed her veil, there is much doubt whether they belong to the class of reputable ladies from the upper ranks of society. However, the opportunity of meeting and conversing untrammeled with foreigners is one which does not come every day to the members of the harem, and this may perhaps excuse what is considered by a well-bred Cairene an unpardonable lack of reserve and modesty. What a romantic carriage! Does it not recall innumerable scenes from the Arabian Nights in the good old days when wonders awaited the fortunate hero at every street corner; and the fair ladies of Cairo were but waiting for his appearance to bestow upon him happiness, favor and unbounded wealth?

A generation ago, such a vehicle usually conveyed the bride at every wedding. With tinkling bells and gayly caparisoned camels it made a brave show as it carried to the waiting bridegroom the vision of loveliness, whose face, as is always the case in Moslem marriages, he has never seen, and whom he might instantly divorce with a word, if the fondly anticipated “vision” turned out to be a disappointment. Such a harsh procedure, though perfectly legal in this land of the Koran, is, however, rarely practiced on the bride of an hour, but she is allowed time to recover from her disappointment in not having met the expectations of her husband, and in the course of a week or ten days is quietly divorced in private; while the fastidious husband then begins negotiations through a female member of his family for another unseen bride.

It is easy to see that we are on the border of the desert. I have often referred to it as on the east of the city. Cairo is now on our left and we look northward, with the desert on our right, along the northern end of that line of royal tombs which extends along the entire eastern side of the city, except where interrupted by the citadel, which is now behind us (Map 4).

These beautiful sepulchres were erected from the 13th to the 16th centuries by the Bahri and Circassian Sultans, the Mamlukes who followed the age of Saladin. They are the product of the finest age of Saracen art, and place us under a heavy debt of gratitude to the splendid artistic genius which created them. We have but a portion of them before us, only the northern end indeed.

They were liberally endowed by their builders, each of whom left a large income from lands and taxes for the support of a body of sheiks, and keepers attached to his respective mosque, and these with their families resided in the mosque enclosure. But Mohammed Ali confiscated the property of these mosques early in the 19th century, and since then they have fallen into sad decay. A commission of Europeans appointed by the government has in late years devoted much time and liberal government appropriations to the preservation and judicious restoration of these monuments, and their efforts have been crowned with the greatest success. We may therefore hope that the life of these priceless heritages from a great past has been indefinitely extended.

The large one on the right, with the high wall and those two minarets, was built by the Sultan Barkuk, and though he died before its completion, it was finished by his son, the Sultan Farag, in 1410. These three domes on the left, with their delicate ornamentation, belong to the extensive foundation of the Sultan Bursbey, in 1431. The fourth dome in this same row on the left, belongs to the mosque of the Emir Yusuf, the son of Bursbey, while the last is that of the Sultan el-Ashraf.

This line of yellow domes on the east of the city forms one of the loveliest sights in or about Cairo, and is an architectural display of Saracen genius which cannot be found anywhere else. Let us now examine more closely one of the most notable and, undoubtedly, the most beautiful of this entire group of tomb-mosques, that of Kait Bey; and while there we shall explain why we have called these buildings mosques, although they are also tombs.

The mosque of Kait Bey, to which we now go, is a short distance to the southwest of us; that is, on our left and at the same time behind us. We shall therefore move to the left and backward to reach our next point of view.

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