Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-05-26
LETTER FROM EGYPT.
CAIRO AND ITS TREASURES
RAMESES THE SECOND.
The Pyramids and Sphinx-Memphis
and the Necropolis-Many Other
Objects OF Interest.

Especial Correspondence of the RgCoED-USaoN.l
CAIRO Egypt, April 10, 1888.
Cairo does not possess the commercial
advantages Of Alexandria, but having its
location in the great garden plain of the
Nile, brings an artisan population into
demand, whose consumption in return i'm
ports merchants and thus rapidlF increases
the population of the city. The census Of
Alexandria at the beginning of the GER
fury is estimated at 5000, and that Of
Cairo at 100000; and now, after inolud-
ing the Suburbs of Boolak and Old Cairo, |
its population Is 100000. But the in
crease is 50 rapid that the number will
swell to 425,000 by the close of the CEN
tury. The estimate includes the suburban |
settlements. 1t twill be the resort of visit |
ors while making excursions among
the ruins of Egypt, and will |
no doubt attract thousands from Europe,
Asia and America, whowill take up resi-
denees here. ! say this because the
climate and agricultural resources en-
courage it, and because the excavations
that will later take place on more ex-
tended plan Will invite scientists, histo-
rians, archaclogist and ethnoogists tocome
with the implements of modern research,
and reveal to the world what God has kept
under key until its demand weald answer
the increoulous queries of the gainsayer.
Visitors WILL then flock to the scene, and
the future greatness of the city will by far
exceed that of the past
The population of Cairo rs stated above,
consists o. 327, 600 native Egyptians, 2200e
Europeans, $500 Soudaniens, 10000 Turks,
and 500 Bedouins, besides numerous Wis
itors and business men who spend from
three to six months year in the city
Her streets and bazaars are constantly
crowded, and her manufacturing interests
rapidly increasing.
We climbed the eminenee upon which is
built the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, and
from it had a splendid view of the city.
We looked upon the minarets of 265
mosques, and nearly as many chapels.
There are also to be seen the less conspic-
uous churches, viz: the Coptic, the Ar
menian Protestant and the Catholic Ar
menian, the Greek Protestant Church and
the Greek Catholics, the Maronite Cath
.olics and the Syrian Catholics; also, the
Roman Catholics, the English Church and
the German Protestant and the new Pres
byterian Churches, and the German Lu-
theran, the foundation stone of which was
laid in 1863 by the Prince Imperial of
Germany.
Our visit to mosques citadels, tombs,
palaces, gardens, museums, the pyramids
of Geezeh and Sakhara, the Metropolis, to
Heliopolis, and TO the reputed sites of an
Gent history, both sacred and profane,
would prove too lengthy here to fully de-
scribe. But let us visit the Mosque OF Mo
manned Ali, and the citadel bearing the
same name. The citadel in which the
mosque is located was built by Saladin in
1166, from stones brought from the minia-
ture pyramids Of Geezeh. 1t was in this
citadel that Mohammed Ali treacherouslv
assassinated 400 Mamelukes. Mohammed
Ali did not live TO complete the mosque
that bears his name, but it was finished as
he designed it.
Before entering the mosque each mem
Der of the company was asked to put on a
pair of sandals, lest his infdel boots pol
lutte the sacred shrine. There, the sandals
are on over the boots, and we are now shod
to tread upon the rug that covers the mar
bic floor. If any one in that procession
had in him pride, or if anyone had mems
persons in admiration because of adyant-
age, one look at the feet would dismiss
the former and discharge the latter. Such
shoes They are relics of a filthy antiquity.
If the ragpicker had passed that entrance
gate before we reached it, we would have
lost the decorators and been obliged to en-
ter in stocking feet. 1t was Mohammedan
Sabbath friday, and the rug that covers
the whole center of the dome area had
been changed, and in few hours the
priests were coming to hold religious exer-
cises. The men may enter with him, but
the women will stay at home and there
gaze towards Mecca and pray When
they do come it is to a separate apartment.
The Hdnqfeegeh, in the center of the
mosque court for addition, is a huge laver,
and is visited in turn by each worshiper
who enters the temple. He washes his
feet and his hands, and may add his head
and face. This preparation fits him to
step upon the sacred rug and pray to the
one God who was so marvelously revealed
to His prophet, Mohammed. The Mo-
hammedans also believe that Jesus was
great prophet, and that He Will rise from
the dead and come again to the earth on
a mission of good will to men. But of all
prophets, AlDiltsIlulSU WIS the greatest.
They tell of his greatness, of his miracles,
of his conquests and of the great religion
that he founded religion that has en-
listed the sympathy and support of mill
ions Of people, and that no people on
earth are so happy and prosperous as
they. The fact is that there are no
people on earth so utterly degraded,
and no women Except in Central
l. l.
their women. Ignorance and superstition,
combined with fear and folly, are the sum
total qualifications of the lower classes.
and few there are above them who have
thorough acquaintance with the most COM
mon literature, sacred or secular.
One of the most interesting sights in
Egypt is the embalmed body of Rameses
H., On exhibition in the Boolak Museum.
Rameses was at least six feet in hight,
and, from the appearance of the bands the
outer of which coil loosely about him,
portly man as well. A tuft of auburn
hair lies gracefully upon the right side of
the Uranium. The nose and chin are
prominent, the mouth large and the teeth
in good preservation. The face is long.
but the forehead moderately low The
intellectual organs indicate good percep-
ton, with individuality very large. The
back of the head could not be seen, but,
from the curves ending about the ears
and those on the top Of the head, his emo
tional disposition does not contradict the
statements Of history nor the hieroglyphi-
cal records Of his treachery and cruelty.
Ranleses was discovered in the Rame-
scum at Thebes, in the spring of 1881, by
an Arabian named Ahmed Adder Rasoul.
Professor Naspero caused Rasoups arrest
for mutilating mummies in order to sell
their skulls re visitors. Rssoul knew
that he had discovered d prize, and ex-
pected large Gbacksheesh" to reveal its
location. He endured the bastinado and
the brow-beating given him, and even
feared not threats of execution. Finally
through Herr Emil Brugsch Bey. curator
of the Boolak Museum, led by Rasoul, the
sarcophagus was poiEted ont, but not until
the Arab prisoner received large sum of
money and his personal liberty The ex-
cavations began ct once by Emil Brugsch,
the expert tomb searcher, and after
tedious removal Of debris that had been
thrown into the shaft from which a sub !
ferranea0 naSsara LEADING westward tben /