T-.* i -n fcis «f** % V . ^ ' • L*^ • ’v CA: --\-\ „ -V% '•r: X: ‘t f t V‘* - 1 t é. 1 •j'|'v»!J' 1 > M TRAVELS THROUGH SYRIA AND EGYP. T. V O L. I. I — T R A V E L S THROUGH SYRIA AND EGYPT, IN THE YEARS I783, I784, AND 1785. CONJAINING- The prefent Natural and Political State of thofc Countries, their Produdions, Arts, Manufac- tures, and Commerce} with Obfervations on the Manners, Cuftoms, and Government of the Turks and Arabs. ILLUSTRATED WITH COPPER PLATES- By m. c—f. y o l n e y. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCN. IN TWO VOLUMES. V O L. I. THE SECOND EDITION. I I — LONDON: PRINTED FOR G. G. J. AND J. ROBINSON^ P A T E R-N O S T E R-R 0 W. MDCCLXXXVIII. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with fùnding from Wellcome Library’ https://archive.org/details/b28775478 i ( ) PREFACE. » October, 1786. Five years ago, being flill young, a fmall inheritance, which fell to me, put me in pof- feflion of a fum of money. The difficulty was, how to employ it. Some of my friends advifed me to enjoy, the capital, others to purchafe an annuity ; but, on re- fleâiion, I thought the fum too inconfiderable to make any fenfible addition to my income, and too great to be diffipated in frivolous ex- pences. Some fortunate circiimftances had t habituated me to ftudy ; I had acquired a tafte, and even a paffion for knowledge, arid this acceffion to my fortune appeared to me a frefh means of gratifying my inclina- VoL. I, A tion. • • 11 PREFACE. tion, and opening a new way to improve- ment. I had read, and frequently heard re- peated, that of all the methods of adorning the mind, and forming the judgment, travel- ling is the mod: efficacious ; I determined, therefore, on a plan of travelling, but to what part of the world I ffiould dired: my courfe remained ftill to be chofen : I wiffied the fcene of my obfervations to be new, or at lead brilliant. My own country, and the neighbouring nations, feemed to me either too well known, or too eafy of accefs : the riling States of America, and the favages, were not without their temptations ; but other confiderations determined me in favour of Alia. Syria, efpecially, and Egypt, both with a view to what they once have been, and what they now are, appeared to me a field equally adapted to thofe political and moral obfervations with which I wiffied to occupy my mind. “ Thofe are the coun- “ tries,” faid I, “ in which the greater part of the opinions that govern us at this day “ have had their origin. In them, thofe religious ideas took their rife, which have “ operated fo powerfully on our private “ and PREFACE. Ill and public manners, on our laws, and “ our focial ftate. It will be interefting, “ therefore, to be acquainted with the countries where they originated, the cuf- toms and manners which gave them birth, “ and the fpirit and character of the nations “ from whom they have been received as “ facred ; to examine to what degree this “ fpirit, thefe manners, and thefe cuftoms, are altered or retained j to afcertain the “ influence of climate, the efFeds of the “ government, and the caufes of the va- rious habits and prejudices of thefe coun- tries i in a word, to judge from their pre- “ fent ftate, what was their fltuation in for- “ mer times.” On the other hand, confldering the po- litical circumfliances of the Turkifli empire, for the lafl: twenty years, and reflediing on their poflible confequences, it appeared to me equally curious and ufeful to acquire correâ: notions of its internal government, in order to form a juft eftimate of its real power and refources. With thefe views I fet out for Egypt, about the end of 1782. After continuing feven months at Cairo, ' A 2 finding IV PREFACE. finding too many obftacles to a proper ex- amination of the interior parts of the country, and too little afiifiance in learning Arabic, I determined to proceed into Syria. The more tranquil ftate of that province cor- refponded better with my intentions. Eight months refidence among the Drufes, in an Arabian convent, rendered the Arabic fa- miliar to me, and enabled me to travel through all Syria during a whole year. On my return to France, after an abfence of near three years, imagining my refearches might prove of fome utility, 1 refolved to publilh a few obfervations on the prefent ftate of Syria and Egypt ; and I was con- firmed in this refolution by the difficulty attending travelling in thofe countries, which have, therefore, but feldom been vifited, and are but imperfectly known. Travellers, in general, have directed their refearches more to examine their antiquities, than their pre- fent fituation ; and almofi; all, haftily paffing through them, have been deficient in the two principal means of acquiring knowledge, time, and the language of the country. Without pofieffing the language, it is impof- fible , f PREFACE. V fible to appreciate either the genius or the chara(5ter of a nation. Interpreters can never fupply the defeat of a diredt communication. And wdthout continuing a fufficient time, no traveller can form an accurate judgment, for the novelty of every thing around us naturally confounds and aftonidies. The frf; tumult muft -fublide, and the objedts which prefent themfelves be repeatedly ex- arfiined, before we can be certain the ideas we have formed ar;e juft. To fee well is an art which requires more pradlice than is commonly imagined. On my return to France, I found that a late traveller * had anticipated me, with re- fpedt to Egypt by a firfl volume of Letters on that country. He has fince publifhed two others ; hut, as the field is extenfive and fertile, there ftill remain fome novelties to glean ^ and on fubjedls already treated, the world may poflibly not be averfe to hear two witneffes. Syria, though nbt lefs interefting than Egypt, is undoubtedly a more novel fubjedt. What has been already written on it by fome •* M. Savary. ^ 3 travellers. VI PREFACE. travellers, is now grown obfolete, and, at beft, very imperfeâ:. I had at firft deter- mined to -relate only what I myfelf had feen ; but, defirous, for the fatisfaâiion of my readers, to complete my defcription of that province, I was unwilling to deprive myfelf of the obfer\iations of others, when, from what I had feen myfelf, I could not doubt their veracity. In my relation, I have endeavoured to main- tain the fpirit with which I conduced my refearches into fadls ; that is, an impartial love of truth. I have reftrained myfelf from indulging any fallies of the imagination, though I am no ftranger to' the power of fuch illufion over the generality of readers ; but I am of opinion that travels belong to the department of hiftory, and not that of romance. I have not therefore defcribed countries as more beautiful than they appear- ed to me ; I have not reprefented their in- habitants more virtuous, nor more wicked than I found them, and I have perhaps been enabled to fee them fuch as they really are, fince I have never received from them either benefits or injuries. As PREFACE. vil As to the form of this work, I have not followed the method ufual in books of travels, though, perhaps, the mod dmple. I have rejeded, as too. prolix, both the order and the details of an itinerary, as well as all perfonal adventures ; 1 have only exhibited general views, as better calculated to com- bine fads and ideas, and from a defire of faving the time of the reader, amid the prodigious fucceflion of new publications. To render more clear my geographical ob- fervations on Egypt and Syria, 1 have an- nexed maps of thofe two countries. That of Egypt, for the Delta, and the defert of Si- nai, is laid down from the aftronomical ob- fervations of M. Niebuhr, who travelled for the King of Denmark, in 1761 : they are the lateft, and mod accurate, yet publifhed. The fame traveller has afforded me great adidance in the map of Syria, which I have completed from that of Danville, and my own obfervations. To conclude, I have no doubt but the lovers of the ancient arts will thank me for accompanying with a drawing the defcription I have given of the two mod beautiful yiii PREFACE. beautiful remains of antiquity in Afia, the Ruins of Palmyra, and thofe of the Temple of the Sun at Balbec ; and I have reafon to believe that the admirers of the modern arts will fee with pleafure the execution of f the two engrave^ plates of thofe monu- ments. CONTENTS )• ( ÎX CONTENTS O F T H E FIRST VOLUME. Page Chap. i. Of Egypt in general, and of the city of Alexandria Chap. II. Of the Nile, and of the en~ largement of the Delta i8 Whether the Delta has gained upon the fea fo much as M. Savary pre-' tends ? Chap. III. Of the rife of the Delta 35 Chap. IV. Of the winds in Egypt, and their phrenomena 55 Of the hot wind of the defert 6o Chap. 1 X CONTENTS. Page Ghap, V. Of the climat and air of Egypt 6 y_ Chap, VL Of the various mhabitants of Egypt j the peafaiit Arabs ; the Bedouin Arabs, or fiepherds 5 the Copts, Turks, and Maînlouks 73 Chap. VII. Summary of the hiftory of the Mamlouks 98 Chap.