A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

MOSQUE OF AMR. 73
ship ever erected in Egypt, having been built
there by Amr, the Saracen conqueror of the
country, and general of the forces of Omar, the
Ommayide Caliph, in whose reign Egypt be-
came subjugated by the descendants of the Pro-
phet. It is called the Mosque of Amr, and is
built upon the site of the ancient Egyptian Babylon,—
the spot where the Saracen army was
encamped, and where, subsequently, Amr found-
ed a city, which was originally called Fostat, and
became the first capital of Moslem Egypt.
Four centuries later, the present city of Cairo
was built by the first of the Fatimite Caliphs,
who established there the seat of government,
and named it Masr-el-Kahira, or the City of Vic-
tory, (the name still given to it by the Egyptians,
and which Europeans have turned into Cairo)
the town built by Amr then became JNIasr-el-
Ateekeh, or, Old Cairo, to distinguish it from
the new creation, and as such it has been known
ever since. It has degenerated into a wretched
Arab village, and now forms one of the miser-
able suburbs of the present capital.
To return, however, to the mosque of Amr,
which, as I have already told you, was the first
Mahometan tem])le founded in Egypt. Contrary
to the usual custom here, where j)ublic and
;