The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy LandKnox, Thomas Wallace
General
The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy Land
Knox, Thomas Wallace
Egypt -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature; Palestine -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
Frank and Fred were up in good season on the morning after their arrival
in Cairo. While waiting for breakfast they read the description of the
city, and familiarized themselves with some of the most important points
of its history, which they afterward wrote down to make sure of
remembering them. Here is what they found:
[Illustration: A CALIPH OF EGYPT ON HIS THRONE.]
"The city known as 'Cairo' (_Ky_-ro) to Europeans is called
Masr-el-Ka_he_rah by the Arabs, the word _Kaherah_ meaning 'victorious.'
It was founded about the end of the tenth century by a Moslem general
who had been sent from Tunis to invade Egypt; he signalled his victory
by building a city not far from Fostat; the latter is called
Masr-el-Ateekah, or Old Cairo, and was formerly the capital; but the new
city grew so fast that it became the capital very soon after it was
founded. It has gone through a good many sieges, and had a prominent
place in the history of the Crusades; the great Moslem conqueror, Yoosef
Salah-ed-Deen (known to us as Saladin), built strong walls around Cairo,
and founded the citadel on the hill at the southern end. The city is
about two miles broad by three in length, and stands on a plain
overlooked by the range of the Mokattam Hills; the new quarter of
Ismaileeyah was recently added, and when that is included, the Cairo of
to-day will be nearly twice the extent of the city of fifty years ago.
Cairo was the city of the Caliphs, or Moslem rulers, down to 1517; from
that time till it was captured by the French, in 1798, it was the chief
city of the Turkish province of Egypt. The French held it three years,
when it was captured by the Turks and English; ten years later Mohammed
Ali became an almost independent ruler of the country, and from his time
to the present Egypt has been ruled by his family, who pay an annual
tribute to Turkey, and are required to do in certain things as they are
ordered by the Sultan. Cairo is still the capital of Egypt; the Viceroy
or Khedive lives there except during the hottest part of summer, when he
goes to Alexandria, where he has a palace.
"The word 'Khedive' comes from the Persian language, and means 'ruler'
or 'prince.' It was adopted by Ismail Pacha, and continued by his
successor; the English word which is nearest in meaning to Khedive is
'Viceroy,' and the head of the Egyptian government is generally called
the Viceroy by Europeans. He should be addressed as 'Your Highness.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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