Identifier: zigzagjourneysi00buttuoft (find matches)
Title: Zigzag journeys in the Levant, with a Talmudist story-teller : a spring trip of the Zigzag club through Egypt and the Holy Land
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors: Butterworth, Hezekiah, 1839-1905
Subjects: Middle East -- Description and travel
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriant
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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— O King, live forever ! This is Paradise ! On returning to Cairo, Ali Bcdair made a pilgrimage with hisparty to the Pyramids; for the former visit to the Great Pyramid hadbeen only an adventure. THE MAMELUKES. Among the places in Cairo that excited the boys interest was thewall of the citadel from which the Mameluke on his horse leaped.The view of the city and the plain of Memphis from this place wasgrand and extended. The Mariielukes were originally slaves of the beys, and werebrought from the Caucasus, and at last made their body-guards. Inthe thirteenth century the Sultan bought twelve thousand of thesetrained soldiers, and formed them into a body of troops. Their powergrew; and they used it for their own advantage, and finally made oneof their own number Sultan of Egypt, and founded a dynasty. IniSii the Mameluke nobles, or beys, were massacred by MohammedAli. One escaped from Cairo. His horse, seemingly knowing thedanger to which his master v/as exposed, was made to leap from
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X C/2 THE DERVISHES. 189 the walls of the citadel, and he reached the ground with his masterunharmed. Ali Bedair, of course, took the party to see the ceremonies of — THE DERVISHES. The Koran commends poverty.Hence sprang into existence differentorders of Mohammedan monks, knownas dervishes. They are supposed tolive in poverty, and to practise self-denial. One of their peculiar religiousceremonies is dancing, and in such amanner as to produce an ecstatic frenzy,which they regard as a very high orderof devotion. Some of the old dervishes do veryremarkable things. In their ecstatic de-votions they eat scorpions, handle cobras,and pierce their cheeks with long lances.They punish the flesh in many ways,and without seeming injury. In Cairo the dervishes are particu-larly numerous. The convents of thebrotherhood in Egypt are many, andrichly endowed. Ri^ One may often hear their night K^chants at Cairo, as they go to visit thetomb of some saint of their order. Their devotions do not produc

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