The Englishwoman in Egypt Letters from Cairo, Written During a Residence There in 1842, 3, & 4

I remember writing, in my simplicity, that I believed Mohammad ’Alee Pasha to have but two wives; but having been introduced to another of his wives, the mother of Haleem Bey, i...

Although so many have written of the pyramids, and a new description cannot fail to have something of the character of an often repeated tale, I find much that I must say respec...

The entrance of the Great Pyramid[40] is over the sixteenth course, or layer of stone, about fifty feet above the base; a slope of rubbish, as I said before, leading up to it.[4...

On leaving Alexandria, we engaged an iron track-boat, used chiefly for the conveyance of travellers on their way to India from Alexandria, by the canal called the Mahmoodeeyeh,...

From the city, you must now accompany me, in imagination, to the citadel. If you could do so in reality, you would be amply repaid for the trouble of ascending its steep acclivi...

I will continue the subject I left incomplete in my last. Several of the finest mosques in Cairo front the main street of the city. In proceeding along this street from north to...

I have already attempted to describe to you my impressions on my first entry into Cairo. My ideas of it, for a considerable time, were very confused; it seemed to me, for the mo...

Since I last wrote to you, the weather has continued intensely hot; but during the last three days almost constant lightning throughout the evening, though succeeded by excessiv...

We find little to interest us in this place, excepting by association with bygone times; therefore our stay will not be long. But I will give you concisely an account of all tha...

Although prepared by the motley groups at Malta, and the changing scene and variety of costume at Alexandria, for much that is more astonishing to the European in Cairo, I find...

You will congratulate us on our having quitted “the haunted house;” and you will do so heartily when I tell you that six families have succeeded each other in it, in as many wee...

The blessing of going into port, at the conclusion of a first long voyage, awakens feelings so deep and so lasting, that it must form a striking era in the life of every travell...

I cannot better give you an idea of the order and discipline observed in the hareems of the great and wealthy than by comparing each to a petty state, with its rulers and its of...

My brother’s account of the hareem, and all that he has written respecting the manners and customs of the women of this country, I have found to be not only minutely accurate, b...

The chief residence of his ladies is the Kasr-ed-Dubárah, a fine house situated on the west of Cairo, on the eastern bank of the Nile, and justly their favourite retreat. After...

You know how much I desire to obtain access to respectable hareems, as well those of the highest as those of the middle classes; and now that my hope has been realized, I find t...

I was presented yesterday to Nezleh Hánum, by my friend Mrs. Sieder. My reception was remarkably flattering, and perhaps unusually so, because it took place in her bedroom. I wa...

Since I remarked to you the general cheerfulness which reigns in the hareems I had then seen, I have visited one belonging to a Turkish grandee, which offers a sad exception, an...

That you may be better prepared for future letters, you wish me to give you a general physical sketch of this most singular country, which is distinguished by its natural charac...

Being extremely anxious to see the interiors of the principal mosques, I was much vexed at finding that it had become very difficult for a Christian to obtain access to them. My...

You may have heard of a famous magician in this famous city of Cairo, who, though not supposed to be possessed of art equal to that of Pharaoh’s wise men and sorcerers, has perp...

I fear that I might weary you if I gave you a description of the other pyramids as full as that of the first; and, as they are far less interesting, I would pass them over entir...

The leading topic of conversation in this country, at the present time, is the state of the Nile, which has hitherto (to the 18th of October) continued rising, and occasioned a...

There has been an alarm of plague in Cairo, and several of the great hareems have been in quarantine. The apprehension has been induced by the fearful murrain which has raged du...

I have just returned from witnessing the curious procession of the Mahmal, preparatory to the departure of the great caravan of pilgrims to Mekkah. We were early on the way, and...

I do assure you that slavery in the East is not what you imagine it to be. Here, perhaps, the slave is more in the power of the master than in the West, and there are some monst...

You must bear with me if I recur to the subject of the haunted house, for our disturbances came to a sort of climax which I think as curious as it was exciting, and so strikingl...

When I promised you a description of the Bath, I did not anticipate that I should enter upon the subject with pleasure. Whatever others may think of it, I confess that the opera...

_October._—Mean temperature in the afternoon during this month, at Cairo, about 80°. The leaves of trees become yellow. Green sugar-canes cut, to be sucked. Drinking water at ni...

Citadel of Cairo—Ruins of the old palace called 108 Kasr Yoosuf, or Deewán Yoosuf—Remarkable view of Cairo from the edge of the hill on which are the remains of ‘the house of Yo...

Collegiate mosque called Barkookeeyeh—Tomb, 97 mosque, and hospital of the Sultán Kalá-oon—State and treatment of the lunatics confined in the máristán, or hospital—Anecdotes co...

General appearance of Cairo—Narrowness of the 81 ‘shárës,’ or great thoroughfare-streets, and inconveniences of transit through them—Costume of the inhabitants, as seen in the s...

Visit to the pyramids—Approach to the pyramids, 186 and inadequate idea of their dimensions—Tombs occupied as dwellings—Circumstances connected with Mr. Lane’s visit to the pyra...

Etiquette of the hareems as to order and 164 precedence—Arrangement of the apartments, and doorkeepers—Facility of admission to the houses of grandees, as distinct from the hare...

Voyage from Alexandria to Cairo—Canal from 31 Alexandria to the Nile—Boats on the Nile—Town of Fooweh—Village of Shubra Kheet—Ancient town of Sais, and present state of the rema...

Distress exhibited by the females of the hareem of 149 a Turkish grandee, in consequence of his imprisonment—Fear of the ‘evil eye’—Interest which the ladies of the hareem take...

Difficulty experienced by Europeans of obtaining 91 access to the interiors of the principal mosques—Mosque of the Hasaneyn—Custom of taking off the shoes or slippers—El-Záme-el...

The Ramadán, or month of abstinence—Severity of 70 the fasting—Imposing effect of the night-call to prayer by the Mueddins—Meals at night during the Ramadán—Oppressive heat, and...

Visits to some of the principal hareems—Necessity 124 of riding the high ass in paying visits to the high hareems—Hareem apartments—Costume of the Turkish ladies—Ceremonial obse...

Visit to the hareem of Mohammad ’Alee—Decorations 156 of the rooms and splendour of the furniture—Reception by the wives of the Pasha—Dinner, dinner-arrangements, and courtesy d...

The “haunted house”—Climate of Egypt—State of the 131 poor—Respect paid to the mother of a family—The wife—Preparation of food and manner of eating—Eastern etiquette—Dinner arra...

General physical sketch of Egypt—Lower Egypt—The 52 Nile—The valleys of the Nile—Soil and cultivation—Annual inundation of Lower Egypt by the Nile—Gradual rise and decrease of t...

Treatment of females in the hareems—Cruelty 178 practised by the middle and lower orders—Missionary Society in Cairo—Instances of cruel treatment of wives, children and slaves M...

Arrival at Cairo—Bridal processions—Funeral 43 processions—General form of construction of the better class of houses in Cairo—Annoyance arising from the supposed visits of an ’...

Physical sketch of Egypt, continued—Climate of 59 Egypt—Heat—Infrequency of rain—Prevalence of northwesterly winds—Other winds—Khamáseen winds—The Samoom—Whirling pillars of san...

Wives of Mohammad ’Alee—Visit to his hareem in the 228 citadel—Apartments and reception—Ceremony on quitting this hareem—Visit to the hareem of Habeeb Efendee—Courteous behaviou...

Treatment of slaves in Egypt—Dancing and 139 singing—Influence and power of wives among the higher classes, and tyranny of husbands among the lower classes—Employments of female...

Danger in travelling through the streets of 76 Cairo—Prejudice against Europeans, and oppressive treatment of Christians and Jews—Procession of the Mahmal, preparatory to the de...

Visit to the eldest daughter of Mohammad 172 ’Alee—Affability of the reception, company present, and general ceremonial of visiting—Her Highness’s pipes—Bridal processions among...

Plague in Egypt—Means used to ascertain whether 144 the disease be contagious or not—Enforcement of quarantine—Egypt visited by pestilence, murrain, and locusts—Extravagance of...

Situation and construction of Alexandria—Supply of 21 water—Climate and degree of salubrity—Telegraphs—City wall—Cleopatra’s Needle—Pompey’s Pillar—Tradition respecting the burn...