Part 66

=Tramways= (fare 1 or ½ pias. unless otherwise stated; separate compartment for women). The following are the chief lines: 1. From the _Atabet el-Khadra_ (Pl. C, 3) to Place de l’Opéra (Pl. C, 3), Shâria Bûlâk (Pl. B, A, 3), Kasr en-Nîl (Egyptian Museum), Kasr el-Aïni (Pl. A, 7), Rôda, Gîzeh Village, and the Pyramids (Mena House, see above), every 30 (aftern. every 20) min.; fare 4 or 2 pias.—2. From the _Atabet el-Khadra_ to Bâb el-Khalk (Pl. D, 4; Arab Museum), Shâria Khalîg el-Masri, Place Seiyideh Zeinab (Pl. C, 6), Shâria Mawardi, and the _Abattoirs_ (beyond Pl. B, C, 7), every 7½ min.—3. From the _Mîdân el-Khaznedâr_ (Pl. C, 3) to Kasr en-Nîl, Kasr el-Aïni (Pl. A, 7), Gezîret Rôda (p. 461), Pont Abbâs II., and the _Village of Gîzeh_ (p. 461), every 10 min.; fare 2 or 1 pias.—4. From the _Mîdân el-Khaznedâr_ to Mîdân Bâb el-Lûk (Pl. B, 4), Mîdân Ismaîlîyeh (Pl. A, 4, 5; for the Great Nile Bridge and Egyptian Museum), Shâria Kasr el-Aïni, Fum el-Khalîg (Pl. A, 7), and _Old Cairo_, every 6½ min.—5. From _Kasr en-Nîl_ (Gezîreh, p. 457) to Zoological Garden and _Village of Gîzeh_, every 10 min.—6. From _Bûlâk_ (p. 454) to Shâria Abou el-Ela (Pl. A, 3), Shâria Bûlâk, Atabet el-Khadra (see above), Bâb el-Khalk (see above), and the _Citadel_ (Place Rumeileh; Pl. E, 6), every 3 min.—7. From _Zabtîyeh_ (Shubra), to Central Station (Pl. B, 1), Shâria Clot Bey, Atabet el-Khadra, Mîdân Bâb el-Lûk (Pl. B, 4), and _Mîdân Nasrîyeh_ (Pl. B, 5), every 3 min.—8. From _Central Station_ (Pl. B, 1) to Shâria Abbâs (Pl. B, A, 2, 3), Shâria Mariette Bâsha (Pl. A, 4; Egyptian Museum), Kasr en-Nîl, _Mîdân el-Azhâr_ (Pl. B, 4; Gare de Bâb el-Lûk), every 9 min.—9. From _Ghamra_ (to the N. of Pl. D, 1) to Mîdân ez-Zâhir (Pl. D, E, 1), Bâb esh-Sharîyeh (Pl. D, 2), Muski, Bâb el-Khalk, and thence as No. 2, every 6 min.—10. From the _Atabet el-Khadra_ (Pl. C, 3) viâ the Place de l’Opéra, Shâria Bûlâk, Shâria Imâd ed-Dîn (Pl. B, 3, 2), Bâb el-Hadîd (Pl. B, 1), and Abbâsîyeh to the _Heliopolis Oasis_ (p. 459), every 10 min.; in ca. 50 min.; fare 1½ or 1 pias.

=Electric Railway= (‘Métropolitain’) from the _Pont Limûn Station_ (Pl. B, 1) every 10 min. (from 6.30 a.m. till 12 p.m.) to the _Heliopolis Oasis_ (p. 459), in 10 min.; fares 1st cl. 2, 2nd cl. 1 pias.

=Steam Ferries= between Bûlâk (Shâria Abou el-Ela; to the W. of Pl. A, 3; corresponding with tramway No. 6) and Gezîreh (p. 457), and between Old Cairo (p. 460; corresponding with tramway No. 4) and the village of Gîzeh (p. 461).—_Local Steamers_ from the Bûlâk Bridge (Pl. A, 4) to Bûlâk.

=Cabs= (comp. p. 431), open victorias with two horses, abound in the European quarters and tourist-resorts. Closed cabs (landaus) usually have to be ordered, and the fares are higher. The TARIFF (in cab) is for 1–3 pers. (each addit. pers. 2, trunk 1 pias.) as follows:

1. DRIVE within a radius of 4 kil. (2½ M.) from the Administration Building (Gouvernorat; Pl. D, 4), for 1 kil. 3, each addit. kil. 2 pias.; if dismissed outside the zone named, 2 pias. more per kil.; waiting, up to ¼ hr., 2 pias.

2. BY TIME (Arab, bis-sâa), in town 1 hr. 10, each addit. ¼ hr. 2 pias.; per day (12 hrs.) 70 pias.

3. LONGER DRIVES. To the Citadel 10, and back 20 pias. (incl. stay of 1 hr.); to Old Cairo 12 or 18 pias. (halt of 1 hr.); to the Pyramids 50 or 80 pias. (halt of 3 hrs.); to the Heliopolis Oasis 30 or 50 pias. (halt of 2 hrs.).

A gratuity (bakshîsh) of 5–10 per cent over the fare is usually given. Complaints, with the number of the cab and other details, should be lodged at the police-office (p. 442). During the season the demands of the cabmen are often exorbitant, but the mere mention of the dreaded word ‘karakól’ (prison) generally brings them to reason.

=Motor Cabs= (with taximeter): 3½ pias. for the first 1200 mètres (¾ M.), 1 pias. each addit. 400 mètres (¼ M.), waiting 1 pias. for each 5 min. In addition to these fares a surtax must be paid for each drive as follows: from or to the Mena House (Pyramids) 10 pias., Heliopolis 8 pias., Citadel, Gîzeh 5 pias., Gezîreh 3 pias.

=Donkeys= (Arabic _homâr_; per hour about 2, day 12 pias.) abound. They are pleasant on bridle-paths free from dust. The donkey-boys (_hammâr_) often lash the animals into a gallop, but this should be checked. _Ala mahlak_ means ‘slow’, _erbût_ or the English _stop_ ‘halt’. The bakshish should be of course proportioned to the donkey-boy’s behaviour.

=Post Office= (Pl. C, 3; p. 446), corner of Shâria Tâhir and Shâria el-Baidak. The outside-offices, for the sale of stamps only, are open from 7.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. (inland letter ½, in postal union 1 pias.; post-cards 3 and 4 mill.). The offices inside are open from 9 to 6.30, with a short break at 12.30. Lists of the over-sea mails are exhibited in the vestibule. Notice of the arrival of registered letters is sent to the addressee, who obtains delivery by producing the notice, stamped by the hotel or signed by some well-known person. Branch-offices at Shepheard’s, the Continental, Ghezireh Palace, and Mena House. Letter-boxes at all the hotels.

=Telegraph Office.= _Eastern Telegraph Co._ (Pl. B, 3), corner of Shâria Imâd ed-Dîn and Shâria el-Manâkh. _Egyptian_ (Pl. B, 3), Shâria Bûlâk, corner of Shâria Imâd ed-Dîn.—Branches at Shepheard’s, the Crédit Lyonnais, and Ghezireh Palace.

=Consulates.= GREAT BRITAIN, Shâria Gâmia esh-Sherkes (Pl. B, 4): consul-general and plenipotentiary, _Sir Arthur Hardinge_; consul, _A. D. Alban_; vice-consul _R. M. Graves_.—UNITED STATES, Kasr ed-Dubara: consul-general and plenipotentiary, _P. A. Jay_; vice-consul, _L. Belrose_. Also French, German, Austrian, Italian, etc.

=Tourist Agents.= _Thos. Cook & Son_ (Pl. B, 2, 3), Shâria Kâmel 6; _Lubin_, Shâria Bûlâk 5; _F. C. Clark_, near Shepheard’s; _Hamburg-American Line_, Hôt. Continental (Pl. B, C, 3); _D. E. Munari_, Shâria Kâmel 5.

=Steamboat Offices.= _Khedivial Mail_, _White Star_, _Union Castle_, _Thos. Cook & Son_ (see p. 441); _Messageries Maritimes_, Shâria el-Maghrâbi 10; _Società Nazionale_, Figari, Shâria el-Maghrâbi 33; _Austrian Lloyd_, Heller, same street, No. 2; _North German Lloyd_, _Rumanian State Maritime Service_, Sterzing, Place de l’Opéra 3; _German East African Line_, Fix & David, Shâria Mansûr Bâsha; _Russian Steam Navigation & Trading Co._, Alchewsky, Shâria el-Manâkh 6.—Notices of departure also posted in the hotels.

=Police Office= (Pl. D, 4; p. 450; _Zabtîyeh_). About 300 officials, incl. a few Europeans, chiefly Italians, obliging to strangers and well organized. Complaints against the police must be lodged at the traveller’s consulate.

=Banks.= _Crédit Lyonnais_ (Pl. C, 3), Shâria el-Bosta; _Ottoman_ (Pl. B, 3), Shâria Imâd ed-Dîn 13; _Bank of Egypt_ (Pl. B, 3, 4), Shâria Kasr en-Nîl 17; _Anglo-Egyptian_, Shâria el-Manâkh; _National Bank of Egypt_, Shâria Kasr en-Nîl 35; _Deutsche Orientbank_ (Pl. B, 3), Shâria el-Manâkh 23; _Banque d’Athènes_.

=Shops.= BOOKSELLERS. _Diemer_, at Shepheard’s Hotel; _British Library_, opposite the Savoy.—PHOTOGRAPHS, at _Diemer’s_; also sold by _Dittrich_, Shâria Elfi Bey; _Paul_, Shâria el-Manâkh 26.—EMBROIDERY, CARPETS, and various ORIENTAL ARTICLES (mostly made in Europe): _Chellaram_, Hôt. Continental; _Madjar_, at Shepheard’s; _Spartali_, opposite the Savoy; _J. Cohen_, _Valliram Bros._, and other dealers in the Khân el-Khalîli (p. 446).—ARABIAN WOODWORK. _Parvis_, next to Shepheard’s (large warehouse near the entrance to the Muski, p. 446; to the left in the court); _Haloun_, Sikket el-Gedîdeh (Pl. D, 3); _Furino_, Shâria Suleimân Bâsha.—ANTIQUITIES (genuine) at the Egyptian Museum (p. 455).

=Physicians= (addresses obtainable at the hotels, at Diemer’s, or at the chemists’). _Dr. Keatinge_ (head of the Kasr el-Aïni school of medicine), _Dr. Murison_ (of Victoria Hospital), _Dr. Milton_, _Dr. Phillips_, _Dr. Tribe_, _Dr. Madden_, and _Dr. Richards_, all English; _Dr. Keichline_, American.

=Chemists.= _Pharmacie Anglo-Américaine_, Place de l’Opéra; _Pharm. Coscarelli_, Shâria Abdîn 17; _Pharm. Nardi_, in the Muski; _Anglo-German Dispensary_, Shâria el-Bawaki 11; _Savoy Pharmacy_ (_Norton & Co._), Shâria Kasr en-Nîl 34; _Stephenson & Co._, Shâria el Manâkh 15.

=Theatres.= _Khedivial Opera_ (Pl. C, 3; p. 446; French or Italian), boxes dear; evening dress compulsory; office open 8–12 and 2–5.—_Théâtre Abbas_ (Pl. B, 2), Shâria Kantaret ed-Dikkeh, Ital. operas and Fr. operettas.—_Théâtre Printania_ (Pl. B, 3), Shâria Elfi Bey.—_Ex-Verdi_, Shâria Bâb el-Bahari 5, Arabian and Greek.—_Nouveautés_, Shâria Nubar Bâsha 9; _Jardin de Paris_, Shâria Imâd ed-Dîn; at both varieties.—_Summer Theatre_, mostly Italian pieces, in the _Ezbekîyeh Garden_ (p. 445).—EVENING CONCERTS by English military bands on Tues. and Thurs. in the Ezbekîyeh Garden (p. 445).

=Churches.= _Church of England Services_ at _All Saints Church_ (Pl. B, 3), Shâria Bûlâk (services at 8 and 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m.), and at _St. Mary’s_ (Pl. A, 5), Shâria Kasr el-Aïni.—_Church of Scotland_ (_St. Andrew’s_; Pl. A, 3), Shâria Bûlâk, to the S. of the Bridge of Abu’l Eileh.—_American Mission_ (Pl. B, C, 3), opposite Shepheard’s.—_Rom. Cath._ (_L’Assomption_; Pl. D, 3), Shâria el-Banadkiah 2, in the Muski; _St. Joseph’s_, in the Ismaîlîyeh quarter (Pl. A, B, 4).—_Orthodox Greek_ (_St. Nicholas_; Pl. D, 2, 3), in the Hamzâwî (p. 447).—_Coptic Cath._ (Pl. D, 3) and _Coptic Orthodox_ (Pl. C, 2).—_New Synagogue_ (Pl. B, 3), Shâria el-Maghrâbi, and others.

=Collections= (closed on Frid. and Mohammedan festivals): _Arab Museum_ (p. 450), 9 to 4.30 (May-Oct. 8–1), adm. 5 (in summer 1) pias.—_Egyptian Museum_ (p. 455), 9 to 4.30 (May-Sept. 8.30 to 1), adm. 5 (in summer 1) pias.—_Khedivial Library_ (p. 451), exhibition-room 9–4, free.

Visitors are admitted to most of the _Mosques_ (p. xxv) and to the _Mameluke Tombs_ (p. 458) daily except Frid. and at the hour of noonday prayer. Ticket (2 pias.) at the entrance. Fee of ½–1 pias. to the attendant who supplies slippers.

THREE DAYS (when time is limited). 1st. Forenoon, _Muski_ (p. 446), _Market Quarter_ (p. 446), *_Gâmia el-Azhar_ (p. 447), _Muristân Kâlaûn_ (p. 448), *_Gâmia el-Muaiyad_ (p. 450), _Bâb Zuweileh_ (p. 450); afternoon, _Mameluke Tombs_ (p. 458) or _Gezîreh_ (p. 457) or _Heliopolis Oasis_ (p. 459).—2nd. Forenoon, _Arab Museum_ (p. 450; closed Frid.), _Medreseh Kâït Bey_ (p. 451), *_Gâmia Ibn Tulûn_ (p. 451); afternoon, *_Gâmia Sultân Hasan_ (p. 452), _Citadel_ (p. 453).—3rd. Forenoon, *_Egyptian Museum_ (p. 455; closed Frid.); afternoon, *_Pyramids of Gîzeh_ (p. 461).—Intercourse with natives, see p. xxv.—Guides, touts, and beggars should be summarily shaken off.

_Cairo_, Arabic _El-Kâhira_ or _Masr el-Kâhira_, or simply _Masr_ or _Misr_ (after the old Semitic name of Egypt), lies in 30° 4′ N. lat. and 31° 17′ E. long., on the right bank of the Nile, about 12½ M. to the S. of the ‘cow’s belly’, where the river divides into the Rosetta and Damietta arms (p. 418).—On the E. side of the city, which covers an area of about 11 sq. M., rise the reddish rocky slopes of the _Mokattam Hills_ (p. 454; about 650 ft.), marking the beginning of the Arabian desert.

Cairo, the largest city in Africa and in the whole of the Arabian world, is the residence of the Khedive and of all the chief authorities. The population is estimated at 630,000, including 50,000 Europeans, chiefly Greeks and Italians. The great majority of the citizens are Egypto-Arabian, Fellah (peasant) settlers, Christian Copts (also nearly pure descendants of the ancient Egyptians), Nubians, Turks, Armenians, and (about 6000) Jews; then negroes of many different tribes, Berbers and Arabs from the N. African seaboard, Bedouins (nomadic Arabs), Syrians, Persians, Indians. The street scenes in the older quarters are very curious and picturesque.

HISTORY. In hoar antiquity a suburb of Heliopolis (p. 459) lay on the E. bank of the Nile, opposite the great Pyramids, and was called by the Egyptians _Kherē-ohē_, or place of combat, because the gods Horus and Seth, the tutelary deities of Upper and Lower Egypt respectively, are said to have fought there. The Greeks called it _Babylon_, probably in imitation of the Egyptian name of the island of Rôda, _Perhapi-n-On_, the ‘Nile city of On’ (Heliopolis). The Roman citadel of Babylon was garrisoned under Augustus by one of the three legions stationed in Egypt. In 611 A.D. the town was conquered by _Amr ibn el-Âsî_ (p. 433), who founded the new capital of the country in the plain to the N. of the fortress, a city which, unlike Alexandria, was to be free from the hated Christian element. On the site of his _fostât_ or tent he built a mosque, and the new city then took the name of Fostât. Between Fostât and the citadel and adjoining the older suburb of _El-Askar_ (of 815) the new quarter of _El-Katâi_ was begun by _Ahmed ibn Tulûn_ (868–83), founder of the Egyptian dynasty of the Tulunides, but it was burned down in 905. The Cairo of to-day owes its origin mainly to _Gôhar_, the general of the Fatimites (p. 323), who conquered Egypt in 969 and founded a new town to the N.E. of El-Katâi and made it the residence of the caliph and head quarters of his army. At the hour when its foundations were laid the planet Mars (Arabic Kâhir, ‘the victorious’) is said to have crossed the meridian of the new city, whence it received its new name of _Masr el-Kâhira_ or _El-Kâhira_, while Fostât was afterwards called, by way of distinction, _Masr el-Kadîmeh_ or _el-Atika_ (Old Cairo). In 973 _Abû Teminn el-Muizz_ transferred his residence from Mehdia (p. 369) to Cairo. Two centuries later the famous _Saladin_ comes prominently on the scene. This was the Kurd general of mercenaries, _Salâheddîn Yûsuf ibn Aiyûb_, who, on the death of the last Fatimite in 1171, usurped the supreme power. He built a new citadel on the slope of the Mokattam Hills and enclosed the whole city with a wall 29,000 ells long (p. 453), and Cairo soon became the most populous place in N. Africa next to Fez. Under the dynasty of the _Aiyubides_ (1171–1250) and the _Mameluke Dynasties_ (Bahrite, 1250–1382, and Circassian or Borgite, 1382–1517), the sultans chosen from the white body-guard, Cairo witnessed almost continuous scenes of revolution, rapine, and bloodshed. In 1302 it suffered severely also from an earthquake, and terribly in 1295 and 1492 from the plague. And yet, in spite or all these disasters, the city grew and prospered wonderfully.

After his victory at Heliopolis in 1517 the Osman sultan _Selim I._ (p. 542) marched into Cairo; _Tûman Bey_, the last Mameluke sultan, was captured and executed; and Selim caused the finest marble columns in the citadel to be removed to Constantinople. Cairo now became the seat of a bey (‘prince’), who was placed over the twenty-four Mameluke chiefs entrusted with the government of Egypt and was controlled by a Turkish pasha. Thenceforth the city was a mere provincial capital.

It was not till 1798 that Cairo again became prominent in history. After the Battle of the Pyramids _Bonaparte_ had his headquarters for several months in the ancient city of the caliphs. From Cairo in 1799 he started on his Syrian expedition; and when he returned to France Kléber remained behind as commander-in-chief of the French troops. Kléber was assassinated in Cairo in 1800, and the following year the French garrison, hard pressed by the grand-vizier and the British troops, had to capitulate.

Under _Mohammed Ali_ (1805–48), the new Turkish pasha, with whom begins the modern chapter in the chequered history of Egypt, and who did much to develop the resources of the country, the citadel of Cairo witnessed another tragedy in 1811, when by his order the last of the Mameluke beys were shot (comp. p. 453). His successors, particularly _Ismaîl_ (1863–79; Khedive or viceroy from 1867) and _Tewfik_ (Arabic _Taufîk_; 1879–92), greatly improved and extended the city by the construction of new quarters (Ismaîlîyeh and Tewfîkîyeh, p. 454), though to the prejudice of its mediæval architecture; and under the present Khedive _Abbâs II. Hilmi_ (b. 1874) Cairo has expanded as far as the islands in the Nile. Since the defeat of the national party under _Arâbi Bey_ (p. 433) in 1882 the country in general and Cairo in

## particular have prospered greatly. The paramount British control of

the administration is more noticeable at Cairo than at Alexandria or on the Suez Canal.

A convenient short history of Cairo is ‘The Story of Cairo’, by _Stanley Lane-Poole_, in the ‘Mediæval Towns Series’ (2nd ed., London, 1906). Comp, also ‘Cairo and its Environs’, by _A. O. Lamplough_ and _R. Francis_ (London, 1909, illus.; 20_s._) and ‘The City of the Caliphs’, by _E. A. Reynolds-Ball_ (Boston and London, 1897).

HISTORY OF ART. The Arabian architecture of Egypt is founded partly on antique, on Byzantine, and on Coptic models which the conquerors of the country found ready to their hand, and partly on Persian types, developed under the Sassanides and adopted by the Arabs with the aid of native builders. The chief Arabian edifices at Cairo are the mosques, the fountains, and the tombs. The period of their construction extends from the time of the Tulunides (9th cent.) down to the conquest of Egypt by the Turks (1517). Of the earlier buildings, known to us only from the fantastic descriptions of Arabian authors, hardly a trace is left. The later edifices, partly of Arabian-Turkish type with Egyptian-Arabian ornamentation, seldom show much artistic merit.

The oldest mosques (_gâmia_, or chief mosque; _mesgid_, smaller mosque or chapel), such as the Amru Mosque (p. 460) and that of Ibn Tulûn (p. 451), are simple in plan. A quadrangle (_sahn_), answering to the atrium of the Byzantine basilica, is flanked with four flat-roofed colonnades (_lîwân_), which on three sides are single or double, while on the fourth side, in the direction of Mecca, the chief lîwân (sanctuarium) is composed of several aisles or arcades. The cruciform _medreseh_ (school-mosque), of Persian origin, was first introduced by Saladin the Aiyubide. The lîwâns were now roofed with massive barrel-vaulting, and in their four corners were introduced schools or lecture-rooms for the four orthodox sects of Islam (Hanefites, Shafiites, Malekites, and Hambalites). To the second Mameluke dynasty (1382–1517) Cairo owes its most beautiful specimens of Arabian architecture. In the smaller mosques the lateral lîwâns were shortened, the court reduced in size, roofed in, and lighted from above, and the transepts were again roofed with flat timber ceilings. In the Turkish period, as in the case of the mosque of Mohammed Ali (p. 454), the four lîwâns were often replaced by a single vaulted hall, preceded by a forecourt.

The minarets, always in three stories, are of the Pharos or lighthouse type (p. 434; Arabic _manara_, light).

Most of the mosques built since the middle of the 14th cent. have a _sebîl_ attached. This is a public street-fountain, roofed over, with a chamber above it (_kuttâb_) used as an elementary school.

The tombs of sultans and emirs are always connected with the mosques. The tombs of saints or _sheikhs_, on the other hand, as everywhere in the East, are independent buildings, domed like the burial-chapels in the mosques. The ordinary tombs of the Moslems are underground chambers; above the vault usually stands a sarcophagus or cenotaph (_tarkîbeh_). Wealthy families enclosed their tombs with halls for funeral festivals, rooms for the mourners, a dwelling for the custodian, etc., collectively called a _hôsh_.

Of the old palaces and caravanserais a few ruins only remain. The latter (_okellas_; Arabic _wakkâleh_) served also as warehouses (_khân_). Of the mediæval dwelling-house the so-called Bookbinder’s House (p. 449) is a good example.

Sculpture and painting existed as independent arts under the Tulunides and Fatimites, being favoured by the Persians and the sect of the Shiites, but in the later Egyptian-Arabian art they survived only in the ornamentation of walls. The main features of this surface decoration consisted in curiously interlaced geometrical figures (entrelacs) and conventional foliage (arabesques). Both mosques and private houses often have charming _kamarîyehs_, or windows of perforated slabs of plaster, inlaid with coloured glass. The façades of the older houses are adorned also with picturesque oriel-windows and with _mashrebîyehs_, or balcony-gratings or lattice-work of beech-wood rods.

a. Northern Quarters.

The main thoroughfare here is the SHÂRIA CLOT BEY (Pl. B, C, 2; tramway No. 7, p. 440), leading from the _Railway Stations_ and the _Limûn Bridge_ (Pl. B, 1) to the Mîdân el-Khaznedâr (Pl. C, 3), adjoining which, between the old Arabian Cairo and the new town (p. 454), is the—

=Ezbekîyeh Garden=, the chief rallying-point of strangers. The name is derived from the Ezbek mosque which once stood here, built in 1495 in honour of a general of the sultan Kâït Bey (p. 458). The grounds (adm. ½ pias.), 20 acres in area, laid out by _Barillet_ in 1870, contain many rare trees and plants. The open spaces are planted with _Lippia nodiflora_ instead of grass, which does not thrive in this dry climate. Among the attractions are a café, a restaurant, a summer theatre, and evening concerts (see p. 442).

To the S. of the Ezbekîyeh Garden rises the _Opera House_ (p. 442), between which and the Hôtel Continental is the PLACE DE L’OPÉRA (Mîdân et-Teatro; Pl. B, C, 3), with the monument of the famous general _Ibrâhîm Pasha_ (d. 1848). From this point the Shâria Abdîn leads to the S. to the spacious _Mîdân Abdîn_, where the _Khedivial Palace_ (Pl. C, 4, 5) rises on the left.

To the E. of the Place de l’Opéra, between the Ezbekîyeh and the Opera House, the Shâria et-Teatro leads to the small Mîdân Ezbek, in which are the _Tribunaux Mixtes_ (Pl. C, 3; international law-courts). A parallel street, Shâria Tâhir, in which is the _General Post Office_ (Pl. C, 3; p. 441), on the right, leads to the ATABET EL-KHADRA, where the principal tramways intersect (p. 440).

On the E. side of this square begins the *=Muski=, or =Mouski= (Pl. C, D, 3), which, with its continuations the Sikket el-Gedîdeh and Shâria esh-Sharawâni (Pl. E, F, 3), is 1 M. long, and forms the chief artery of the Oriental quarters, intersecting the whole of the old town. Externally these streets have lost their mediæval character, the shops appearing quite European, but the motley throng that surges through them at all hours is still quite Oriental.

At the end of the Muski, near the Sûk el-Kanto (Pl. D, 3), we enter the old =Fatimite City= (_Masr el-Kâhira_, p. 443), to whose second wall, dating from 1074, belonged the still existing N. gateways _Bâb el-Futûh_ and _Bâb en-Nasr_ (Pl. E, 2; p. 449), and the S. gateway _Bâb Zuweileh_ (Pl. E, 4; p. 450). The old town was bounded on the W. by the old town-conduit _El-Khalîg_, now Shâria Khalîg el-Masri (tramways Nos. 2 & 9, p. 440).

The _Gâmia el-Ashraf_ (Pl. E, 3), a small mosque built by Sultan Bars Bey (1422–38), at the point where the Sikket el-Gedîdeh is crossed by the old and important line of streets (1 M. long) between Bâb el-Futûh and Bâb Zuweileh, lies in the heart of the =Market Quarter=, which, though usually overcrowded, especially in the early morning, should by all means be visited.

Immediately to the left of the Shâria el-Khordagîyeh (Pl. E, 3; p. 448), which leads from the mosque to the N., is the _Sûk es-Sâigh_ (pl. siyâgh), the bazaar of the goldsmiths and silversmiths, who keep their wares under glass in their cramped little shops, selling them by weight (but often spurious).

On the opposite (E.) side of the same street is the _Khân el-Khalîli_ (Pl. E, 3), founded in 1400 on the site of the Fatimite tombs, and once the centre of business. Vendors of silks and carpets, of trinkets and other wares are still located here. Buyers who are judges of carpets will select those of Bagdad or Brussa, but exorbitant prices are generally asked. The silk-stuffs of Lyons and Crefeld often do duty for those of Damascus. The main street of the khân, Sikket el-Bâdistân, contains two pretty Arabian gates.