the convent of Mar Girgis (St. George) to cure the pains a bad rheumatic
fever has left in her hands. Evidently Mar Girgis is simply Ammon Ra,
the God of the Sun and great serpent-slayer, who is still revered in
Egypt by all sects, and Seyd el-Bedawee is as certainly one form of
Osiris. His festivals, held twice a year at Tanta, still display the
symbol of the Creator of all things. All is thus here--the women wail
the dead, as on the old sculptures, all the ceremonies are pagan, and
would shock an Indian Mussulman as much as his objection to eat with a
Christian shocks an Arab. This country is a palimpsest, in which the
Bible is written over Herodotus, and the Koran over that. In the towns
the Koran is most visible, in the country Herodotus. I fancy it is most
marked and most curious among the Copts, whose churches are shaped like
the ancient temples, but they are so much less accessible than the Arabs
that I know less of their customs.

Now I have filled such a long letter I hardly know if it is worth
sending, and whether you will be amused by my commonplaces of Eastern
life. I kill a sheep next Friday, and Omar will cook a stupendous dish
for the poor Fellaheen who are lying about the railway-station, waiting
to be taken to work somewhere. That is to be my Bairam, and Omar hopes
for great benefit for me from the process.



May 25, 1863: Sir Alexander Duff Gordon


_To Sir Alexander Duff Gordon_.
CAIRO,
_May_ 25, 1863.