Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-05-31
BY EDGAR
E. FOLK,
ID. d.
VU.-CairO,
The Gem of Egypt

breaches to the khedive and the nobles
is green and gold. The main dome is
$50 feet high. The other is 100. The
galleries on each side were intended for
the harem of Mohammed Ali. Here
again 1t is stated that the arm of the
architect was cut off to keep him from
building a finer structure. We visited
several other mosques, but as they are
/ of inferior Importance / need not speak
Of them in detail. These mosques, espe-
cially the larger ones, as has been indi-
Gated, are a combination of church, tenn
pie and tomb. Perhaps the modern
| Egyptian officials got their idea of erect
| ing a monument for themselves in the
shape of a mosque from the pyramids
which were erected by the pharaohs as
monuments to themselves, besides burial
places. 1t all shows the vanity of hu-
man nature. the striving after immor-
tally of some kind.
THE CITADEL.
Near the mosque of Mohammed Ali is
| the citadel where the mamelukes were
so treacherously put to death by him.
| 1t was bull thy Saladin in 1866. 1t COM
I mands the city, but is itself commanded
by the Mokattam bill. The mamelukes
as the name implies. were slaves They
were purchased by the sultans and
trained as an imperial guard. But like
the praetorian guard Of Rome and the
! janissaries of Constantinople, they be-
] came all powerful, then despotic, and
were finally overthrown by Mohammed
! Ali. He invited them to a banquet in
| the palace and then gave a signal for
| the death of all. Only one escaped, and
he succeeded in doing so by a daring
! leap from a steep precipice in which his
horse was killed. He then succeeded in
making his way to the Libyan desert.
I mi
| though, that 1t would have been impos-
sible for anyone to jump over that prec-
| ipice and escape with the life either of
horse or man, and that the reason this
one mameluke escaped was because he
happened to come late to the banquet.
| 1t was gratifying, though, to know that
at least one escaped by whatever means
The yard of the mosque adjoining the
citadel is the highest point in Cairo and
from it may be obtained a beautiful
view Of the city. Another good view in
cludes the mosques of Sultan Hassan
and Ismial Pacha. We can also see the
windmills erected by Napoleon to grind
corn for his army. Only one of these is
now in operation.
:. drive to the tombs of the knalifs
and the mamelukes is quite interestinR
as illustrating the manner of burial by
Mohammedans. The body is put about
is feet under ground. over 1t is erected
mound made Of wood or iron or stone
or marble, according to the wealth and
rank of the person. At either end is a
fat slab sticking up some two or three
feet. The uniformity of the graves Is
very monotonous A Monammedan Gem
etery has nothing Of the grace and beau
ty OF a Christian cemetery. Some Of
these tombs though. are quite handsome.
notably that of the wife Of Ismal Pacha.
1t is made OF marble from Rome It is
gilded and has a verse from the Koran
on 1t. In the room where the tomb is
situated there is a piece of holy carpet,
which means simply a carpet that has
been carried to Mecca, put on the grave
OF Mohammed, and brought back.
There are a number of such carpets in
Cairo.
A MOHAMMEDAN FUNERAL.
AS We were leaving the hotel for our
morning drive, a lady member OF the
party expressed the desire that she
might see Mohammendan funeral Her
wish was amply fulfilled. Before our
return for lunch we had seen nve funeral
PROFESSIONS The coffin is a plain wooden
box borne on the shoulders Of the pail
bearers. The professional mourners
walk-or ride on donkeys, If the de-
ceased was a man of wealth-in ad-
vance, chanting in a weird, monotonous
strain. The family and other friends
foIIow behind 1 saw few manifesto
tions Of grief on the part of the mourn
ers.
THE CoPTs.
Not all Egyptians are Mohammedans. |
Out Of the 100000 population Of the
country about 100000 are Copts. They !
claim that Mark, the evangelist, came
over to Alexandria in the year so, |
preached and founded a church, which !
grew into a large denomination, and |
has continued to exist ever since. Ger I
tain II is that the Coptic translation OF
the New Testament is very ola, going
back probably of the fourth century, the
date Of the earliest Greek manuscripts
OF theS New Testament now existent. The
Copts have a cathedral in Cairo. Also
they have a church in what is known as
old Cairo. To reach 1T IL is necessary to
pass through the oldest part Of the city, |
with its narrow, crooked, dirty streets
and dilapidated houses. The church is
a small, rather crude building, with very
plain furniture. 1t gathers its chief in
terest probably from the claim that in
a cave or crypt underneath the church
Joseph and Mary and the infant child
staid during their sojourn IN Egypt. The
keeper Of the church-whether pastor or
sexton, I am not able to say-sh owed
us two inches in this cave, in one OF
which II Is claimed Mary and her babe
slept, ana IN announcer Joseph. Inc
inches are rounded and only about or
4 feet in diameter. 1 can easily see how
an infant child could sleep in one of
them But If Joseph and Mary slept in
them, they must either nave been much
smaller than mad supposed them to be,
or they must have slept In . a very
cramped position Our dragoman. Sulel-
man MOUSSE, who is himself Copt,
thoroughly believed the story, and ex-
explains that the molly Family were very
poor and that they mad to do the best
they could. At any rate. there is just
as much foundation for this story as for
many another one about places and per-
sons of biblical interest Some of these
I shall have occasion to speak Of little
later in telling about Palestine. If this
cave with this tradition had been in the
hands OF some other denominations, you
would probably have heard a good deal
more about IT. 1t is worthy Of mention
that while the Bible only speaks Of
Joseph fleeing into Egypt" with the
young child and his mother, to this day
the people of Palestine have no distinct
name for Cairo. but speak Of IT simply
as Egypt.
THE AMERICAN MISSION.
This mission is under the auspices of
the limited PresbyterianS II was start