Between The Shami And The Jum'ah
Gates, Towards The North, Is The Bab Al-Ziyafah (Of Hospitality); And
Westwards The Bab Al-Misri (Egyptian) Opens Upon The Plain Called The
Barr Al-Manakhah.
The Eastern and the Egyptian gates are fine massive
buildings, with double towers close together, painted with broad bands
of red, yellow, and other colors, not unlike that old entrance of the
Cairo citadel which opens upon the Ramayliyah plain.
They may be
compared with the gateway towers of the old Norman castles-Arques, for
instance. In their shady and well-watered interiors, soldiers keep
guard, camel-men dispute, and numerous idlers congregate, to enjoy the
luxuries of coolness and of companionship. Beyond this gate, in the
street leading to the Mosque, is the great bazar. Outside it lie the
Suk al-Khuzayriyah, or greengrocers' market, and the Suk al-Habbabah,
or the grain bazar, with a fair sprinkling of coffee-houses. These
markets are long masses of palm-leaf huts, blackened in the sun and
wind, of a mean and squalid appearance, detracting greatly from the
appearance of the gates. Amongst them there is a little domed and
whitewashed building, which I was told is a Sabil or public fountain.
In the days of the Prophet the town
[p.392] was not walled. Even in Al-Idrisi's time (twelfth century), and
as late as Bartema's (eighteenth century), the fortifications were
mounds of earth, made by order of Kasim al-Daulat al-Ghori, who
re-populated the town and provided for its inhabitants. Now, the
enceinte is in excellent condition. The walls are well built of granite
and lava blocks, in regular layers, cemented with lime; they are
provided with "Mazghal" (or "Matras") long loopholes, and "Shararif" or
trefoil-shaped crenelles: in order to secure a flanking fire,
semicircular towers, also loopholed and crenellated, are disposed in
the curtain at short and irregular intervals. Inside, the streets are
what they always should be in these torrid lands, deep, dark, and
narrow, in few places paved-a thing to be deprecated-and generally
covered with black earth well watered and trodden to hardness. The most
considerable lines radiate towards the Mosque. There are few public
buildings. The principal Wakalahs are four in number; one is the
Wakalat Bab Salam near the Harim, another the Wakalat Jabarti, and two
are inside the Misri gate; they all belong to Arab citizens. These
Caravanserais are used principally as stores, rarely for
dwelling-places like those of Cairo; travellers, therefore, must hire
houses at a considerable expense, or pitch tents to the detriment of
health and to their extreme discomfort. The other public buildings are
a few mean coffee-houses and an excellent bath in the Harat Zarawan,
inside the town: far superior to the unclean establishments of Cairo,
it borrows something from the luxury of Stambul. The houses are, for
the East, well built, flat-roofed and double-storied; the materials
generally used are a basaltic scoria, burnt brick, and palm wood.
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