Napoleon's Egypt: Invading The Middle East - Reenactor.ru

10THE OBJECT OF HIS DESIRESDespite the burning of Shu’ara and other campaigns, the Delta remainedunsettled. Through the first half of October, town and citytax strikes and revolts and alliances with Bedouin cavalry in the regionpopped up first in one place in the Delta, then in another. If we think ofLower Egypt as an outstretched hand, thumb on the right, all the fingers werebusy. The thumb is the Sharqiya line from Cairo through al-Khanka to Bilbeisand Salahiya, thence east toward Suez or the Sinai. Despite the garrison at Bilbeis,this route remained parlous. The tip of the pointer finger is the villagesalong Lake Manzala. The middle finger goes down the eastern branch of theNile through Banha, Mit Ghamr, and Zifta to the inland rice and cotton depotcity of Mansura, then out to the Mediterranean at Damietta. The ring fingerstretches between the two Nile branches through Minuf and Shibin al-Kum tothe Sufi holy center of Tanta, then over to the western Nile past Shubrakhit tothe Mediterranean port of Rosetta. This area between the two branches of theNile was extremely fertile and productive, and therefore valuable to French taxcollectors. One officer who traveled down the Rosetta branch of the Nile wrote,“I can best compare the verdure of much of the countryside, crisscrossed by variouscanals, to brilliant emeralds in a silver setting.” 1 The pinky of our imaginaryhand goes down the west bank of the western branch of the Nile toRahmaniya and then cuts northwest through Damanhur along the now-filledcanal down to Alexandria. Many of these inland urban spaces were lightly garrisonedby the French, who were nevertheless making enormous tax demandson the livestock and still-green winter crops.On 29 September at Bilbeis to the east, Sergeant François said, the garrisonlearned from the order of the day that there was another revolt in Lower Egypt.“We worried that night, and were obliged to double the nocturnal patrols.” 2