1911-1912.] Notes on a Visit to Egypt. 4 1 7 



Landing at Port Said early in December 1910, I pro- 

 ceeded to Cairo, where I spent the first week visiting the 

 most important mosques, tombs, bazaars, &c. The life of the 

 city itself is a source of endless interest. 



The view of Cairo (Plate XXXI., Fig. 1), taken from the 

 Citadel, an old fortress built in 1176 by Saladin the Moslem 

 hero of the Third Crusade, is very striking, especially at 

 sunset, when the distant Pyramids are brought into relief 

 and the afterglow tones the land and sky with that beautiful 

 iridescence for which the country of the Pharaohs is famous. 

 In the foreground of my photo is the great mosque of the 

 Sultan Hassan, built in 1356; it is the finest example of 

 Egypto-Arabian architecture. The interior is decorated with 

 marble, malachite, and lapis-lazuli. The arabesques adorning 

 the walls represent texts from the Koran. The south 

 minaret measures 270 feet, being the highest in Cairo. 



To Egyptologists by far the most important centre of 

 interest is the Museum of Antiquities, with its priceless 

 treasures and relics of a hoary past, the contemplation of 

 which makes one ponder with admiration and bewilderment. 

 Eor the initiation of this grand collection the world is 

 indebted to that eminent Frenchman, Auguste Ferdinand 

 Mariette, 



The tropical and sub-tropical vegetation in the various 

 gardens was, of course, a great novelty to me. 



Every one is attracted by a shrub, Euphorhia ^puhherrima, 

 with its magnificent scarlet bracts surrounding the in- 

 florescence. 



I spent a day at Heliopolis, where one can see the only 

 remnant of the great Temple of the Sun, an obelisk erected 

 about 2430 B.C. by Usertsen I. It is of pink granite from 

 the famous quarries at Assouan, and stands among a grove 

 of mulberry trees. Obelisks were erected in pairs at the 

 entrance of temples. The neighbour of this one now adorns 

 the Thames Embankment in London. 



Everybody knows about the Sphinx and Pyramids (Plate 

 XXXL, Fig. 2), they are synonymous with Egypt. 



The Great Pyramid of Gizeh was one of the seven 

 wonders of the ancient world, and to-day it is still the most 

 prodigious of human constructions. It is a tomb for one 



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