The Nile boat or, glimpses of the land of Egypt / by . of former greatness, and forgotten ge-nius, we might almost weep that such a fate must, at no greatdistance of time, befall monuments, which, in lands more en-lightened, would be preserved as precious creations of art,that in their peculiar style have never been surpassed. The tombs extend for a considerable distance, and but aportion of them can be seen in the annexed illustration; themost remote, quite isolated from the rest, is that of Melek distant plains, expanding to the left of this monument,witnessed the final
The Nile boat or, glimpses of the land of Egypt / by . of former greatness, and forgotten ge-nius, we might almost weep that such a fate must, at no greatdistance of time, befall monuments, which, in lands more en-lightened, would be preserved as precious creations of art,that in their peculiar style have never been surpassed. The tombs extend for a considerable distance, and but aportion of them can be seen in the annexed illustration; themost remote, quite isolated from the rest, is that of Melek distant plains, expanding to the left of this monument,witnessed the final downfal of the Circassian Memlook dynasty,and the conquest of Egypt by the Turks. In the centre of theview is one of the numerous tombs erected to the memory ofSultan El Ghoree, the last but one of this race of militaryprinces. He perished in Syria, in battle against the Ottomansultan, Selim, who marched immediately upon Egypt. Mean-while Toman Bey had been elected to fill the place of theunfortunate Ghoree, and prepared to meet the Turks, who, *$fc! . J EL ASIIKAF KAITBAY. passing liis advanced guards, marched directly upon Cairo bythe plain of Heliopolis. Here the final encounter took place,the Mcmlooks, so often victorious, were routed, and theirfugitive leader was overtaken and brought back to Cairo, wherehe was hanged like a common malefactor upon the BabZooayleh. Henceforth the Memlook aristocracy subsisted onlyas dependants upon the Porte, but they still maintained theirhereditary prowess, till the strength of their brilliant cavalrywas broken against the French squares at the battle of thePyramids. Finally extinguished by Mehemet Ali, they haveleft but a romantic name in history, and these beautiful tombsfast mouldering to irretrievable ruin. Among the largest and most beautiful is that of ElAshraf Aboo-1-Nusr Kaitbay e Zaheree, the nineteenth sultanof the dynasty of the Circassian Memlook kings, who died andwas buried there in 1496, a. d.* To this, as to the other tomb
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, booksubjectegyptdescriptionandt
