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Voyage in Lower and Upper Egypt, during the Campaigns of General Bonaparte. Vivant Denon | | | | |
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Chapter 31: The White Convent.—Ptolemeis. (p.157)
On
the 28th, we crossed a desert, and came to a Coptic convent, which the
Mamluks had set fire to the day before, and which was still burning;
which prevented me from entering: but we will know the details from
those which I am going to give of the White convent, which resembles
it, and which is only twenty minutes' walk from the other, situated in
the same way. under the mountain, and likewise on the edge of the
desert; the first is called the Red Convent, because it is built of
bricks; the other the White Convent, because it is made of cut stones
of this color: the latter had also been burned the day before; (p.158)
but the monks, while fleeing, had left the door open, and a few
servants to save the debris.
Plate 10-1:
The White Convent.
"No. 1.—Deir Beyadh or the White Convent, the view of which is taken from north to south over the Abou-Assan canal."
"In
the plan and interior decoration we easily recognize the taste of
architecture of the fourth century, in which Catholicity began to build
for its worship: with quite beautiful plans, poor details, and the use
of antique materials poorly matched, the exterior of poorly matched
antique materials, the exterior is more of the Egyptian style than any
other, the main lines and the general embankment of the whole building
are still imitations of it; it is a square 250 by 125 feet long,
pierced with three doors, and two rows of twenty-six crosses, for each
row on the long sides, and nine on the other side. See the plan, No. 2.
The mountain against which this convent is leaning is part of the
Libyan chain." (Comments by Vivant Denon in vol.2, Explanations of Plates.)
The erection of this
building is attributed to St. Helena [1]; which is likely judging by
the plan. There was undoubtedly a convent near this temple; some wall
tears and granite blocks attest to its former existence. Looking at
these monuments, we must think that if it was St. Helena who had them
built, the Emperor Constantine supported her zeal and placed large sums
at her disposal; the convent not being, like the church, built in such
a way as to be able to enclose and defend itself, will undoubtedly have
been burned or destroyed in circumstances similar to that of which we
had just witnessed: the construction of this church is also such that
with a machicouli on the doors and a few pieces of cannon on the walls
we can defend ourselves very well against the Arabs, and even against
the Mamluks; but, without weapons, these poor monks could only oppose
patience, resignation, their holiness, and above all their misery which
in any other occasion would have saved them; in this one, the Mamluks
took revenge on Catholics for the evils they experienced against
Catholics: as if they could repair by such an unjust means the
misfortunes of which we were the cause. We saw in the ruins produced by
this catastrophe the coal which resulted from the fire of the choir
woodwork; and the insatiable needs of the insatiable war made us once
again remove these debris of misery, and these remains of the
devastation of which we were the cause.
(p.159) The
fathers had fled; we only found the brothers, covered in rags, and
barely recovered from the agony they had experienced the day before. To
get an idea of the life, character, and means of subsistence of these
monks, one must read what General Andréossi wrote about them in the
excellent memoir he gave on the lakes of Natron, and the convents of EI
- Baramous, Saint - Ephrem, and Saint - Macaire; this exact and
judicious observer described the needs of these monks, their state of
continual war with the Arabs, the misfortunes of their existence, the
moral causes which make them endure them and perpetuate these
establishments.
Plate 10-2: Plan of the White Convent.
"No.
2. The interior consists of a large side gallery B, through which one
enters, and which could have been the place where the proselytes who
had not been baptized were held; this room is decorated with porticos
topped with a cornice; parallel porticos topped with a cornice;
parallel to this gallery was nave C, decorated with sixteen arches and
pilasters, and two rows of sixteen columns each; the choir, composed of
a cu-de-four II, and four chapels EE and DD, decorated with two orders
of columns: in the cu-de-four and the two neighboring chapels, the two
orders are surmounted by a shell which serves as their crowning glory.
All these columns ARE so many ancient fragments adjusted in bad taste;
the pulpit for the epistle, K, and the staircase which goes up to it,
are made of two enormous pieces of granite: what remains of the paving
stone in the choir is in beautiful breccia marble, but absolutely
degraded; the nave is paved with large pieces of granite - where we can
still see hieroglyphics. At the end of the nave, across the width of
the temple, is a chapel, decorated in very good taste, in a single
order: behind the altar, L, five columns supporting an entablature
crowned with a shell: the lateral parts are decorated with three
niches; the whole finished by a square portico, M, supported by four
columns; it was perhaps the place where Christians made their act of
faith: next to it, N, were the baptistery, and a superb cistern, P." (Comments by Vivant Denon in vol.2, Explanations of Plates.)
While we were stopping, I took two views of it
as quickly as I could. One (plate 10-1) is drawn from the Red convent to the White
convent, which indicates the space between them, and the situation of
these two monasteries leaning against the desert, and having the view
of a rich countryside watered by the canal of Abou-Assis: the other
(plate 10-2) gives the idea of the architecture of these buildings of the fourth
century, consequently twenty centuries later than the great Egyptian
monuments, and whose gravity of style, the cornice and the doors
absolutely recall the genre of this first architecture; the plan shows
beautiful lines, except in the part of the choir, where we recognize
the decadence of good taste. We went to bivouac at Bonasse-Boura.
On
the 29th, we returned to the Nile, and we crossed the battlefield
where, in the last war of the Turks with the Mamluks, Assan pasha was
defeated by Mourat-bey, and where the latter, with five thousand
Mamluks, overthrew and put eighteen thousand Turks and three thousand
Marmelouks fled. Malem-Jacob, the Cophte, who accompanied us as steward
of the finances, spectator and actor in this battle, explained the
details to us: he demonstrated to us with what superiority of talent
Mourat had (p.160) taken his advantages and had profited; this same
Mourat-bey must have roared with anger at being forced to return to the
same ground fleeing in front of fifteen hundred infantry men. As we
reasoned about the vicissitudes of fortune, carried away by the
interest of conversation, we very imprudently, as happened to us every
day, got ahead of the army by half a league.
I
said jokingly to Desaix that it would be very ridiculous to find in
history that his neck had been cut in a meeting of five or six Mamluks,
and that for my part I would be sorry to leave my head behind some
bushes, where she would be forgotten: at this moment we were passing
Minchie; Adjutant Clément came to tell the general that there were
Mamluks in the village: in fact two appeared, then six, then ten, then
four others, then two others, then crews; they went to stand within
rifle range, and observed us: to backslide would have been to be
kidnapped; the country was covered: Desaix decided to put on a good
face, to appear to be making arrangements; he had four riflemen, whom
he placed alternately on all points, in order to multiply them by their
movements: we put some ditches between the Mamluks and us; we gained
time; our vanguard finally appeared, and they withdrew.
Fig.1: (left:) Detail of map of upper Egypt, with locations of sites named in the text,
(Denon
1802 vol.3, plate 1); (right:)
Archaeological site map of the early 20th century, including
sites named by Denon but not shown on the 1802 map (red dots),
(Atlas of the Egyptian
Exploration Fund, ca. 1910).
They
came to tell us that Mourat was waiting for us in front of Girgé; we
heard loud cries, we saw clouds of dust rising; Desaix believed he had
won the battle after which we had been chasing for fourteen days: I was
sent to advance the infantry column; I noticed, as I galloped past, an
ancient covering on the edge of the Nile, and stepped ramps descending
into two basins: were these the ruins of Ptolemais? . . . . A cannon
was fired to bring back the cavalry which had lain a league from us;
after half an hour, we found ourselves in a state of defense or attack:
we marched in battle on the gathering, which dissipated; the (p.161)
amelouks themselves disappeared, and we arrived at Girgé without having
joined the enemies.
Sitting near his desk,
the map in front of him, the pitiless reader said to the poor traveler,
harassed, pursued, hungry, exposed to all the miseries of war, I need
here Aphroditopolis, Crocodilopolis, Ptolemais; what have you done with
these cities? What did you go there to do if you can't tell me? have
you not a horse to carry you, an army to protect you, an interpreter to
question you? Did you not think that I would honor you with my
confidence?—At the right time; but please, reader, remember that we are
surrounded by Arabs, Mamluks, and that very probably they would have
kidnapped, pillaged, killed me, if I had decided to go a hundred paces
from the column to fetch you some bricks of Aphroditopolis.
This paved quay, which I saw while galloping past Minchie, was Ptolemais; nothing else remains.
A
little more patience, and we will go together to tread brand new ground
for research, to see what Herodotus himself only described using false
accounts, what modern travelers have only been able to draw and measure
with all kinds of anxiety, without daring to lose sight of the Nile and
their boat: in fact these unfortunate travelers, ransomed in turn and
under all kinds of pretexts by the reis, by their interpreter, by all
the sheikhs, kiachefs and pashas, abandoned by their own, stolen from
others, suspected as sorcerers, tormented for the treasures they were
supposed to have found or for those they were going to look for,
obliged while drawing to keep an eye on all those around them, and who
were always ready to rise up and attack the work, if they did not go so
far as to attack the person; these travelers, I say, are not so guilty
of not transmitting (p.162) all the details that one could desire about
this country so curious, but so dangerous to observe.
Thanks to
the courageous obstinacy of the brave Mourat-bey who will try the fate
of war, we will continue to pursue him, and we will finally enter the
promised land.
Chapter 32: Girgé.—News of Darfur, and Tombout (p.162).
Girgé,
where we arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon, is the capital of
Upper Egypt: it is a modern city which has nothing remarkable; she is
as big as Mynyeh and Melaui; less large than Siouth; and less pretty
than all three: the name of Girgé or Dgirdgd comes from a large
monastery, built older than the city, dedicated to St. George, which is
pronounced Qerg-e in the language of the country;, the convent still
exists, and we found European monks there. The Nile comes crashing
against the constructions of Girgé, and daily demolishes part of them;
we would only make it a bad port for boats at great expense: this city
is therefore only interesting because of its position at an equal
distance from Cairo and Syene, and by that. wealth of its territory, We
found all the edibles there at a very low price; penny bread the pound;
twelve eggs for two sous, two pigeons for three sous, a goose weighing
fifteen pounds for twelve sous. Was it poverty? no, it was abundance;
because, after a stay of three weeks, where more than five thousand
people had increased consumption and spent money, everything was still
at the same price.
The boats (p.163) did not join us; we lacked
shoes and biscuits: we settled down, had ovens built, barracks prepared
to station five hundred men: the troop rested; and I personally found
the advantage of refreshing my eyes, which were threatening to cease
service altogether. I had no help from any remedy; but a pot of honey
that I found in the house of a sheikh where I was staying, and a jar of
vinegar, took my place: I ate of the first until indigestion, and
calmed the heat of my blood by drinking the other with water and sugar.
On
December 30, we learned that peasants, seduced by the Mamluks, were
gathering behind us to attack us from behind, while they were promised
to attack us in front. It was only a month since they had robbed a
caravan of two hundred merchants who were coming from India by the Red
Sea, Cosseïr, and Quss; they believed themselves to be brave: forty
insurgent villages had gathered six to seven thousand men; a charge of
our cavalry which slaughtered a thousand to twelve hundred taught them
that their project was worthless.
We found a Nubian prince in
Girgé: he was brother of the sovereign of Darfur [2]; he was returning
from India, and was going to join another of his brothers who
accompanied a caravan of eight hundred Nubians from Sennar with as many
women: elephant teeth and gold powder were the goods he carried to the
Cairo, to exchange them for coffee, sugar, schals and sheets, lead,
iron, senna, and tamarind. We talked a lot with this young prince, who
was lively, cheerful, ardent and witty; his physiognomy depicted all
this: he was more than tanned; very beautiful and well-set eyes; the
nose slightly raised, but small; the mouth is very flat, but not flat;
legs like all Africans, slender and arched: he told us that his brother
was allied with the king of Bournou, that he (p.164) traded with him,
and that he waged perpetual war with those of Sennar; he told us that
from Darfur to Siouth there were forty days of crossing, during which
they only found water every eight days, either in cisterns or as they
passed through the Oases. The profits from these caravans must be
incalculable to compensate those who bring them together for the
expenses they have to incur, and pay them for the excess of their
fatigue.
When their female slaves are not captives, and they buy
them, they cost them a bad gun; and the men, two. He told us that it
was very cold at his place during one time of the year; having no words
to describe ice cream, he told us that we ate a lot of something which
was hard when held in the hand, and which slipped out of the fingers
when held for a while.
We spoke to him about Tombout, this
famous city whose existence is still a problem in Europe. Our questions
did not surprise him: according to him, Tombout was in the southwest of
his country; its inhabitants came to trade with them; it took them six
months to arrive; They sold them all the objects they came to collect
in Cairo, and were paid for them with gold powder: this country was
called Paradise in their language; finally the town of Tombout was on
the edge of a river which flowed to the West; the inhabitants were very
small and gentle. We greatly regretted having had this interesting
traveler for such a short time, whom we could not, however, question to
the point of indiscretion, but who would have asked nothing better than
to tell us many things, having none of the Muslim seriousness, and expressing himself with energy and ease.
He
also tells us that in the royal family the succession was elective,
that it was the military and civil leaders who chose from among the
sons of the dead king the one they judged most worthy to succeed him to
the throne, and that he There was as yet no example of this having
produced (p.165) civil war. Everything we have just read is word for
word the report of the interrogation that we subjected to this strange
prince: he added that we had infinitely many things to provide to
Africa; that we would very voluntarily make it our tributary, without
harming the trade that they themselves had to carry on, and that we
would attach them to our interests by all their needs, and by the
export of all the surplus of our productions; that the trade of India
would be carried out in the same way through Mecca, taking this city or
that of Cosseïr as a common warehouse, as Aleppo was for that of the
Muslim states, despite the length of the marches which had to be made
from each side to arrive at this point of contact.
Footnote:
1.
[Editor's note:]
St. Helena (Flavia Julia Helena, AD 248-330) was the mother of the
emperor Constantine I (the Great), who in AD 313 established
Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
She founded a number of early Christian monasteries and basilica,
including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
2.
[Editor's note:] Darfur, a region in southwestern Sudan, was founded by
emigrants from Meroe in ca. AD 350, and remained an independent
sultanate until conquered by the Sudanese in 1874.
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