108 CHRONOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



the time of Xerxes, the corn of Egypt was indispensable to his designs 

 against Greece (Herodotus vii. 25). It fed armies; and in the days 

 of Josephus (Bell. Jud. iv. 10, 5), formed an element in making and 

 unmaking Roman emperors. The circumstance is therefore worthy 

 of note, that after the Muslims entered Alexandria, European rulers 

 no longer had control over the corn of Egypt. 



From this time, also, Egypt appears as if withdrawn from the know- 

 ledge of Europeans for nearly a thousand years. But during the 

 greater part of this interval, Europe supplies very little information re- 

 specting her own condition. The Greeks and Romans being excepted, 

 the remaining European nations hardly possess records of their own 

 as ancient as the origin of the Muslim religion ; and the popular mind 

 rarely goes beyond the limits of the National Literature. 



The Pilgrimage to Mecca obviously tended to increase the commer- 

 cial intercourse between India and Europe ; and this intercourse, it 

 should be observed, everywhere remained in the hands of the Muslims. 

 There was indeed some choice of routes for the general objects of 

 traffic ; but the living Tropical plants, perhaps without exception, 

 reached the Mediterranean by the way of Egypt. 



In "A. D. 643" (Clot-Bey), the mosque of Amru was built at 

 Fostat, near Cairo ; but " having undergone frequent repairs, a very 

 small portion of the original edifice remains." This and another 

 mosque built by Amru at Assuan, present the usual round arches then 

 in vogue in Greece and Italy (Wilkinson, Thebes and Egypt, pp. 310 

 and 455). In other respects, a striking change is manifest in the 

 monumental history of Egypt : representations or images of external 

 objects,* whether living or inanimate, are from this time carefully 

 avoided ; a circumstance, which on many accounts has proved fortu- 

 nate for Antiquarian research. 



In " A. D. 644," the accession of Khalif Othman, the second Muslim 

 ruler of Egypt, took place. 



In "A. D. 651" (Plate, in Smith's Biog. Diet.), the Muslims fitted 

 out a naval expedition against Sicily ; and also captured Rhodes ; on 

 which occasion, the celebrated colossus was sold and broken up. 



In "A. D. 655" (Plate, in Smith's Biog. Diet.), the Greeks were 

 defeated in a naval combat by the Muslims. 



In " A. D. 656," the accession of Khalif Ali, the third Muslim ruler 



* A remarkable exception is made in favour of the heavenly bodies, the moon and 

 the stars. 



