On the northwest of this mosque, stood, about twelve or thirteen years ago, a noble ruin—an old palace, commonly called Kasr Yoosuf, or Deewán Yoosuf, and believed to have been the palace of Yoosuf Saláh-ed-Deen; but erroneously. European travellers adopted the same opinion, and called it “Joseph’s Hall.” My brother informs me, on the authority of El-Makreezee, that this noble structure was built by the prince before mentioned.[[32]] Huge ancient columns of granite were employed in its construction; their capitals of various kinds, and ill-wrought, but the shafts very fine. It had a large dome, which had fallen some time before the ruin was taken down. On entering it was observed, in the centre of the southeastern side, a niche, marking the direction of Mekkeh, like that of a mosque, which in other respects this building did not much resemble. Both within and without are remains of Arabic inscriptions, in large letters of wood; but of which many had fallen long before its demolition.
[32]. The Sultán Ibn-Kala’-oon.
A little to the west of the site of the old palace were the remains of a very massive building, called “the house of Yoosuf Saláh-ed-Deen,” partly on the brow, and partly on the declivity of the hill. From this spot, on the edge of the hill, we have a most remarkable view of the metropolis and its environs. Its numerous mád’nehs and domes, its flat-topped houses, with the sloping sheds which serve as ventilators, and a few palms and other trees among the houses, give it an appearance quite unlike that of any European city. Beyond the metropolis we see the Nile, intersecting a verdant plain; with the towns of Boolák, Masr Ateekah, and El-Geezeh; on the south, the aqueduct, and the mounds of rubbish which occupy the site of El-Fustát, and in the distance, all the pyramids of Memphis, and the palm-groves on the site of that city. On the north of the metropolis are seen the plains of Heliopolis and Goshen. No one with a spark of feeling can look unmoved on such a prospect: the physical sight has enough to charm it; but the deepest interest is felt while, in gazing on this scene, the mind’s eye runs rapidly over the historic pages of the Word of God. The oppression and the deliverance of the tribes of Israel, and the miracles which marked that deliverance, all these events are overwhelmingly present to the memory, while looking on the scenes they have consecrated—their subsequent prosperity, disobedience, and punishment, all pass in melancholy review. O! that the power of Almighty God may be present with those who labour for their restoration, and “may they at length,” as Mr. Wilberforce beautifully expresses his petition on their behalf “may they at length acknowledge their long-neglected Saviour.” Well have they been described as “tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast.” Often “houseless, homeless, and proscribed,” they endure every indignity and become inured to every hardship; but the eye of God is still upon them, and his ear is open to their prayers. How true it is, that hitherto “they will not turn to Him that they might receive mercy,” but they are not forsaken; and while we hear with thankfulness of the zeal of many from among their own people in the cause of Christianity, we trust that the day is not far off when, rather than
“Weep for those who wept by Babel’s stream,
Whose shrines are desolate, whose land a dream,”
we shall rejoice in the prospect of that blessed time when the Lord God shall “give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;” when all nations of the earth shall “rejoice with Jerusalem, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”
Adjacent to the Kasr Yoosuf is a very large mosque, not yet completed; a costly structure, with a profusion of alabaster columns; but of a mixed style of architecture, which I cannot much admire, though the effect of the building, when it is finished, will certainly be grand. I need hardly add, that the founder of this sumptuous edifice is Mohammad ’Alee, by whose name it is to be called.
The famous well of Yoosuf Saláh-ed-Deen, so called because it was excavated in the reign of that Sultán, is near the southern angle of the old great mosque. It is entirely cut in the calcareous rock, and consists of two rectangular shafts, one below the other; with a winding stairway round each to the bottom. In descending the first shaft my heart and limbs failed me, and I contented myself with seeing as much as I could through the large apertures between the stairs and the well. Our guide bore a most picturesque aspect; she was a young girl, and if I might judge by her beautiful dark eyes, her countenance must have been lovely. She held a lighted taper in each hand, and stepped backwards before us, down the dark and (in my opinion) dangerous descent. Accustomed to the winding way, she continued fearlessly through the gloom, while her light and graceful figure receded slowly, and the glimmer of her tapers shone on the damp rock on either side, and made the darkness seem intense.
The upper shaft is about 155 feet deep, and the lower about 125; therefore the whole depth of the well is about 280 feet. The water, which is rather brackish, is raised by a sákiyeh at the top of each shaft.
There are several large edifices in the modern Turkish style, worthy in this country of being called palaces, in the southern quarter of the citadel, and in the quarter of the Janisaries, which did not form a part of the old citadel, and which lies to the east of the latter. Some of the walls, together with many houses, on the northern slope of the hill, were overthrown by the explosion of a magazine of powder, in the year 1824. On the western slope of the hill is an arsenal, with a cannon-foundry, &c.