Travel
Diary of Mrs. R.P. Eaton:
Europe,
Egypt, and Palestine, ca. 1857
Sometime before we reached Cairo we caught sight of the Pyramids, and felt in our wondering excitement, like shouting over the grand vision. Old Cleops and its companions, which stood probably in the days of Abraham, and which that patriarch saw, as he went into Egypt—which met the gaze of Moses for many years, and which Jacob and Joseph had often looked upon—monuments which have stood through so much of the world’s history, and under whose shadows events so stupendous have transpired—the Pyramids, of which we had heard and read with wonder from our childhood—to actually see with our own eyes, even at a distance, was surely an era in our lives, and a day long to stand our in marked prominence. Our all-absorbed attention was long turned to numerous domes and minarets rising out of groves of pollen and sycamores and soon we were domiciled in the Hotel D’Orient.
(Cairo)
Cairo, the Grand, the Magnificent, the Beautiful, the Blessed, as it is
called, is a fine specimen of an Oriental city.
I visited but two or three mosques, as they seem not to have any special
attractions. The Mosque of the Citadel, however is one of the finest in
Cairo, and is richly ornamented, having splendid chandeliers and stained
windows, which the Moslems generally discard.
Before entering the square leading to the mosque, we had to exchange our
boots and shoes, for rag-slippers. In this square is the Wall of Joseph,
said to have been dug by the ancient Egyptians. Here, too, for this square
is within the citadel, the ill-fated Mamelukes were massacred by order
of Mohammed Ali, who, under the cover of friendship, enticed them with
the walls. Their power was thus brought to a bloody termination. In the
mosque were a few of the faithful at prayer. With their faces toward Mecca,
they frequently dropped on their knees, and then bowed their faces to
the floor,