. The redemption of Egypt. slight incline where the long streetof Mohammed Ali joins the Rumeleh Square, we found Avails oneither side of us so vast that we craned our necks in vain tocatch sight of then- crests. To the left was the massive shellof the unfinished RifaiAeh mosque, which covers the familyburial-place of the ex-Khedive Isnijiil; to the right the titanicflank of its vast original, the ancient fane and tomb of SultanHasan. For the first time we felt that we were in Cairo—ina centre of El-Islam equal in significance to Constantinople, Damascus, and Morocco. As we entered the square,
. The redemption of Egypt. slight incline where the long streetof Mohammed Ali joins the Rumeleh Square, we found Avails oneither side of us so vast that we craned our necks in vain tocatch sight of then- crests. To the left was the massive shellof the unfinished RifaiAeh mosque, which covers the familyburial-place of the ex-Khedive Isnijiil; to the right the titanicflank of its vast original, the ancient fane and tomb of SultanHasan. For the first time we felt that we were in Cairo—ina centre of El-Islam equal in significance to Constantinople, Damascus, and Morocco. As we entered the square, the Citadel 84 MEDLEVAL CAIRO 8! spread itself before us. Above the towers and battlements of the fortress of the mountain, ^ raised by Saladins faithfulminister, the eunuch Bohar ed-Din, seven centuries ago, a greatdome rose easily from a square mass of grey stone, between twoslender minarets. The giant bulk of the fortress, gateway, walls,battlements, and towers, stood plain in the clear light; but the \ 1 .>-^ -^. ]5ab el-Azab. dome and the minarets of Mohammed Alls mosque were veiledin a blue haze, which seemed to lift them into the sky aboveour heads. We ascended the curving stairs which led to the gate El-Azab, and passing beneath its vaulted roof climbed to the centralspace, the summit of the spur, around Avhich the buildings ofSaladins royal residence were grouped. The road, which was Kala el-Gebel. 86 THE REDEMPTION OF EGYPT narrow and uneven, ran between high walls. This passage,closed at either end, was the trap in which the Mameluke Beyswere caught by Mohammed Ali on March i, 1811. Of the480 Avho obeyed the summons all were shot down, with the ex-ception of one, Amin Bey. There are two accounts of themanner in which he effected his escape. According to theromantic account, he leapt his horse through a broken parapetof the wall to the moat beneath, springing from the saddlebefore the animal crashed upon the ground forty feet belowthe battlements. The historical
Size: 2330px × 1073px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectegyptdescriptionandt
