The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth. Thomas Wallace Knox
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funny to hear the strangers at the hotel talk about their purchases of ottar of rose. Each one knows a place, which has been shown him in strict confidence, where the genuine perfume can be bought; but it can only be obtained on a promise not to reveal the locality, or some similar nonsense. If you ever come to Egypt this ottar of rose business will afford you much amusement if you are careful to manage it properly.
"The shoe bazaar and the arms bazaar were not particularly interesting, as the former contained little else than a great lot of shoes, and the latter had a miserable collection of weapons that were hardly worth carrying away. Formerly the arms bazaar was a favorite spot for visitors, as there were many old and curious things to be found there, but nearly everything worth buying up was secured long ago. We saw some Oriental guns with funny shaped stocks. The Doctor says the barrels of these weapons are nearly all from Europe, while the stocks are of Egyptian or other Oriental manufacture. There is a strong prejudice against explosive caps, and if you give a gun with a percussion-lock to a native, he will have it changed as soon as possible to a flint-lock. They rarely use shot, and the best of the native sportsmen would hardly think of shooting a bird on the wing.
"From the bazaars we continued our walk to the Bab-el-Nasr, or 'Gate of Victory,' one of the most important gates of Cairo. It was built in the eleventh century, and is mostly of hewn stone, with winding stairways leading to the top, holes for cannon and small arms, and is so large and strong that it was selected by Napoleon as the central point of defence while he held the city. It is a little fort in itself, and we were very glad to have the opportunity of examining it.
"We gave a little backsheesh to the gate-keeper, and he allowed us to go to the top, where we had a view of the nearest part of the city, and of the heaps of rubbish lying outside the gates. There were several wolfish-looking dogs prowling among the dust-heaps, and they growled as they caught sight of us, and saw that we were not natives. The dogs of Cairo have a great hatred of foreigners, as we shall have occasion to say by-and-by."
Chapter VI.
MOSQUES, DERVISHES, AND SCHOOLS.—EDUCATION IN EGYPT.
From the Bab-el-Nasr our friends returned, by the direction of the guide, through a street that led them past several of the famous mosques of Cairo. They entered the Mosque of Tooloon, which is the oldest in the city, and said to be modelled after the Kaaba at Mecca; according to the historians it was built about a.d. 879, and there are several legends concerning it. One is that it stands on the spot where Abraham sacrificed a goat in place of his son, and another puts it on the site where Noah's ark ran aground, though the general belief of the Moslems locates the latter event near Moosool, in Syria.
The mosque has been neglected in the latter centuries of its existence, and at present is not specially inviting. It covers a very large area (about six hundred square feet), and consists of a series of arcades running around a court-yard, which has a fountain in the centre. On the east side there are five rows of these arcades, but on the other three sides there are only two rows. The west, north, and south sides are used as lodgings for poor people, and their continual begging renders a visit the reverse of agreeable. The east side is the holiest part of the edifice, but at the time our friends went there it was not easy to discover that it was any more respected than the other sections.
The guide said there were not far from four hundred mosques in Cairo, and that a good many of them were in ruins, and not likely to be repaired. The government does not build any new ones, as it has more practical uses for its money, and the followers of Mohammed seem to be growing more and more indifferent to religious observances every year. The Moslem Sabbath is on Friday; the mosques are tolerably filled on that day, but during the rest of the week the attendance is very light. Formerly it was difficult or even dangerous to enter some of the mosques, but at present the whole matter can be arranged on payment of a backsheesh. Once in a while a fanatic insults a stranger, but he is generally suppressed immediately by his friends.
Frank and Fred found that the general plan of the mosques was the same, and the difference was mainly in the outer walls and the style of architecture. In every mosque there is a mihrab, or alcove, usually opposite the entrance, and this mihrab points toward Mecca, so that the faithful may know how to direct their faces when saying their prayers. Near the alcove is a pulpit with a steep flight of steps ascending to it, and over the pulpit there is generally a column, like the spire of a church in miniature. On each side of the alcove is an enormous candlestick, and there is generally a frame with swinging lamps, not more than eight or ten feet from the floor. There are many of these lamps, and also a great many ostrich eggs, and altogether they present a curious effect.
There is very little interior decoration in the mosque, as the religion of Mohammed forbids its believers to make a representation of anything that has life. It was formerly very difficult to induce a Moslem to allow his portrait to be made. The writer of this book once sought in vain to induce a wild native of Central Asia to sit for his photograph, the reason being that the man feared the portrait might get to Paradise ahead of him, and prevent his own admission within the gates. The more intelligent of the Moslems pay no heed to this superstition, but the decorators of the mosques adhere to it most carefully, consequently all the ornamentation of the walls consists of scroll-work or of sentences from the Koran.[3]
From the Mosque of Tooloon our friends went to the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, which is considered the finest in the city. It was built of stone taken from the pyramids of Gizeh, and was begun in the year 1356. According to the traditions it occupied three years in building, and was considered so fine that the Sultan ordered the hands of the architect to be cut off, in order that he should not be able to construct another equal to it. The story is of doubtful authenticity, and has been told in various ways, and concerning other buildings in many parts of the world. Whether it be true or not, the building is certainly a fine one, and has been greatly admired during all the centuries that it has been in existence. One of its minarets is the tallest in Cairo, and probably in all the lands where the Moslem religion prevails. It is two hundred and eighty feet high, and from its top there is a fine view of Cairo, but, unfortunately, it is considered unsafe, and no one is allowed to ascend it.
By the time they had finished with the Mosque of Sultan Hassan our friends were weary, and glad to return to the hotel. The next day was Friday, the Moslem Sunday, and at the suggestion of the Doctor they went to see the whirling dervishes, who perform only on that day. We will let the boys tell the story of their visit to these singular people.
"The dervishes are religious devotees corresponding to the monks of the Catholic Church, whom they resemble in some of their practices. They are supposed to be wholly occupied with religious matters, and there are several branches or orders of them, who are distinguished by their dress. They have property set apart for their use, and some of the societies are very wealthy; the most numerous, and at the same time the richest, are the Mevlevies, who can be recognized by their tall caps of gray felt, with jackets and robes of the same color. The lower part of the robe is like a lady's skirt, as it is made in folds, and will spread out into