The City of the Caliphs by Eustace Alfred Reynolds Ball

Author:Eustace Alfred Reynolds Ball [Ball, Eustace Alfred Reynolds]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Geschichte
Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag
Published: 2017-07-19T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XIII. THE ACROPOLIS OF CAIRO.

Ambition, like a torrent, ne'er looks back; It is a swelling, and the last affection A great mind can put off. It is a rebel Both to the soul and reason, and enforces All laws, all conscience; tramples on Religion, And offers violence to Loyalty.

BEN JONSON.

THE citadel which frowns over Cairo appears, at a distance, to overhang the city, and, no doubt, in the age of Saladin its position was as impregnable as Gibraltar or Malta. It is, however, completely commanded by the Mokattam Hills immediately behind it, and in 1805 Mehemet Ali was able to rake it completely with his cannon posted on these heights, and took it with little difficulty. Its walls are built of the stones which formed the casing of the Great Pyramid, and this waste of precious material seems especially wanton and inexcusable, considering the proximity of the Gebel Mokattam, which is one vast quarry of excellent building material.

The great adventurer who, with some reason, has been styled the Oriental Napoleon, is, indeed, the genius loci in this grim fortress. His is the one dominant figure in the later history of Egypt, and a slight sketch of his career may conveniently be given here, when describing the scene of his triumphs and his crimes.

Mehemet Ali's life is as romantic and remarkable, and as rich in eventful episodes, as that of his great namesake the founder of the Moslem faith, or as that of Saladin, or, to come to modern times, as that of Napoleon, or Bernadotte. It is a curious coincidence that Mehemet Ali, Napoleon I., and Wellington, each came into the world in the same year — 1769. Mehemet came of humble parentage, his father being a fisherman, and he does not appear to have received any education at all. In fact, even when Viceroy of Egypt, he scarcely knew how to write. His boyhood was adventurous, and when quite a lad he distinguished himself by leading an attack on some pirates who had been pillaging the coast, driving them off, and recovering the spoil. This early display of promise brought him to the notice of the governor of the province, and, helped, it is said, by the influence of the wife of this functionary, he succeeded him in office on his death, and married his widow. When Napoleon invaded Egypt, Mehemet saw his opportunity, and, being given the command of a troop of irregulars, sailed for his future kingdom. He distinguished himself conspicuously in this short campaign, and was promoted to the rank of colonel. After the evacuation of Egypt by the French troops, the Mameluke beys—who had, ever since Egypt became a Turkish pachalic, regarded the Turkish viceroy as a mere roi fainéant, and had practically obtained control of the country — attempted to set up a viceroy of their own, and rebelled against the Turkish governor, Khosref Pacha. Mehemet, foreseeing on whose side victory was likely to remain, took a prominent part in the agitation against Turkish rule, and threw in his lot with the beys.

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