268 CAIRO. Cairo (from the Arabic Ķâhira, 'the Victorious,' because the planet Kâhir or Mars was visible on the night of the foundation of the city) is situated on the right or eastern bank of the Nile, about ten miles south of the division of the Nile into the Rosetta and Damietta branches. It is called in Arabic Masr*: it is the largest city in Africa, and its population must be now over 570,000 souls. Josephus says that the fortress of the Babylon of Egypt, which stood on the spot occupied by old Cairo or Fosțâț, was founded by the Babylonian mercenary soldiers of Cambyses, B.C. 525; Diodorus says that it was founded by Assyrian captives in the time of Rameses II., and Ctesias is inclined to think that it was built in the time of Semiramis. The opinions of the two last mentioned writers are valuable in one respect, for they show that it was believed in their time that Babylon of Egypt was of very ancient foundation. During the reign of Augustus it was the headquarters of one of the legions that garrisoned Egypt, and remains of the town and fortress which these legionaries occupied are still to be seen a little to the north of Fosțâț. The word Fosțâț† means a 'tent,' and the place is so called from the tent of 'Amr ibn el-Âși, which was pitched there when he invaded Egypt, A.D. 638, and to which he returned after his capture of Alexandria. Around his tent lived a large number of his followers, and * Masr is a form of the old name Mîşri (Hebrew Miṣraim), by which it is called in the cuneiform tablets, R. C. 1450. Byzantine Greek = وفساط another form of وفسطاط .Arab + Φοσσάτον. these being joined by new comers, the city of Fostât at length arose. It was enlarged by Aḥmed ibn Tulûn, who built a mosque there; by Khamarûyeh, who built a palace there; but when the Fâțimite Khalif Mu'izz conquered Egypt (A.D. 969), he removed the seat of his government from there, and founded Masr el-Kâhira, "Masr the Victorious," near Fosțâț. Fosțâț, which was also known by the name of Mașr, was henceforth called Masr el-'Atika. During the reign of Ṣalâheddîn the walls of the new city were thoroughly repaired and the citadel was built. Sulțân after Sulțân added handsome buildings to the town, and though it suffered from plagues and fires, it gained the reputation of being one of the most beautiful capitals in the Muḥammadan empire. In 1517 it was captured by Selim I., and Egypt became a pashalik of the Turkish empire, and remained so until its conquest by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. Cairo was occupied by Muḥammad 'Ali in 1805. and the massacre of the Mamelukes took place March 1, 1811. COPTIC CHURCHES IN CAIRO.* The Church of MAR MINÂ lies between Fosțâț and Cairo; it was built in honour of St. Menas, an early martyr, who is said to have been born at Mareotis, and martyred during the persecution of Galerius Maximinus at Alexandria. The name Mînâ, or Menâ, probably represents the Coptic form of Menȧ, the name of the first historical king of Egypt. The church was probably founded during the fourth century, and it seems to have been restored in the eighth century; the first church built *The authorities for the following facts relating to Coptic Churches are Butler's Coptic Churches of Egypt, 2 vols., 1884; and Curzon, Visits to Monasteries in the Levant. to Mâr Mînâ was near Alexandria. The church measures 60 feet 50 feet; it contains some interesting pictures, and a very ancient bronze candelabrum in the shape of two winged dragons, with seventeen sockets for lighted tapers. On the roof of the church is a small bell in a cupola. About half-a-mile beyond the Dêr* containing the church of St. Menas, lies the Dêr of Abu's Sêfên, in which are situated the churches al-'Aḍhra (the Virgin), Anba Shenûti, and Abu's Sêfên. The last-named church was built in the tenth century, and is dedicated to St. Mercurius, who is called "Father of two swords," or Abu's Sêfên. The church measures 90 feet × 50 feet, and is built chiefly of brick; there are no pillars in it. It contains a fine ebony partition dating from A.D. 927, some interesting pictures, an altar casket dating from A.D. 1280, and a marble pulpit. In this church are chapels dedicated to Saints Gabriel, John the Baptist, James, Mâr Buktor, Antony, Abbâ Nûb, Michael, and George. Within the Dêr of Abu's Sêfên is the "Convent of the Maidens "; the account of Mr. Butler's discovery of this place is told by him in his Coptic Churches of Egypt, Vol. I. p. 128. The church of the Virgin was founded probably in the eighth century. The church of Abu Sargah, or Abu Sergius, stands well towards the middle of the Roman fortress of Babylon in Egypt. Though nothing is known of the saint after whom it was named, it is certain that in A.D. 859 Shenûti was elected patriarch of Abu Sargah; the church was most probably built much earlier, and some go so far as to state that the crypt (20 feet × 15 feet) was occupied by the Virgin and her Son when they fled to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod. "The general shape of the church is, or was, a nearly regular oblong, and its general structure is basilican. It consists of narthex, nave, north and south "convent, monastery.” * Arabic : aisle, choir, and three altars eastward each in its own chapel of these the central and southern chapels are apsidal, the northern is square ended . . . . . . Over the aisles and narthex runs a continuous gallery or triforium, which originally served as the place for women at the service. On the north side it stops short at the choir, forming a kind of transept, which, however, does not project beyond the north aisle... . . On the south side of the church the triforium is prolonged over the choir and over the south side-chapel. The gallery is flat-roofed while the nave is covered with a pointed roof with framed principals like that at Abu's Sêfên . . . . . Outside, the roof of Abu Sargah is plastered over with cement showing the king-posts projecting above the ridge-piece. Over the central part of the choir and over the haikal the roof changes to a wagon-vaulting; it is flat over the north transept, and a lofty dome overshadows the north aisle chapel. The twelve monolithic columns round the nave are all, with one exception, of white marble streaked with dusky lines . . . . . . The exceptional column is of red Assuân granite, 22 inches in diameter. The wooden pulpit. . is of rosewood inlaid with designs in ebony set with ivory edgings.. The haikal-screen projects forward into the choir as at Al ‘Aḍra . . . . . . and is of very ancient and beautiful workmanship; pentagons and other shapes of solid ivory, carved in relief with arabesques, being inlaid and set round with rich mouldings . . . . . . The upper part of the screen contains square panels of ebony set with large crosses of solid ivory, most exquisitely chiselled with scrollwork, and panels of ebony carved through in work of the most delicate and skilful finish." (Butler, Coptic Churches, Vol. I., pp. 183190, ff.) The early carvings representing St. Demetrius, Mâr George, Abu's Sêfên, the Nativity, and the Last Supper are worthy of careful examination. The Jewish synagogue near Abu Sargah was originally a Coptic church dedicated to St. Michael, which was sold to the Jews by a patriarch called Michael towards the end of the ninth century; it measures 65 feet × 35 feet, and is said to contain a copy of the Law written by Ezra. A little to the south-east of Abu Sargah is the church dedicated to the Virgin, more commonly called ElMu'allakah, or the 'hanging,' from the fact that it is suspended between two bastions, and must be entered by a staircase. The church is triapsal, and is of the basilican order. It originally contained some very beautiful screens, which have been removed from their original positions and made into a sort of wall, and, unfortunately, modern stained glass has been made to replace the old. The cedar doors, sculptured in panels, are now in the British Museum. The cedar and ivory screens are thought to belong to the eleventh century. The church is remarkable in having no choir, and Mr. Butler says it is "a double-aisled church, and as such is remarkable in having no transepts." The pulpit is one of the most valuable things left in the church, and probably dates from the twelfth century; in the wooden coffer near it are the bones of four saints. Authorities differ as to the date to be assigned to the founding of this church, but all the available evidence now known would seem to point to the sixth century as the most probable period; at any rate, it must have been before the betrayal of the fortress of Babylon to 'Amr by the Monophysite Copts in the seventh century. A little to the north-east of Abu Sargah is the church of St. Barbara, the daughter of a man of position in the East, who was martyred during the persecution of Maximinus; it was built probably during the eighth century. In the church is a picture of the saint, and a chapel in honour of St. George. At the west end of the triforium are some mural paintings of great interest. |