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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 28 January 1999 Issue No. 413 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 28 January 1999 Issue No. 413
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Book Fair Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Rosetta: no stone unturned
By Zeinab Abul-GeitRosetta, also known as Rachid, at the mouth of the Rosetta branch of the Nile, may not be as old as many other Egyptian towns, but it has a distinctly medieval feel to it.
As I approached the city, the first image that greeted me was that of the branches of the trees lining the Al-Mahmoudiya Canal leaning over so far that they appeared to be trying to touch the water. Ducks and geese were swimming, and the women from the village were washing their household implements, in a scene straight out of the history books. Decorative pigeon- breeding houses stand among the leafy profusion lining the bank of the canal.
Medieval travellers described Rosetta as a large port and market place, which it remained until its prosperity declined with the rise of Alexandria. Today's travellers know it as the place where the Rosetta Stone was discovered. In 196BC, Ptolemy V ordered a text to be inscribed in hieroglyphics, demotic and Greek scripts. The stone was found in 1799 and in 1822, Champollion used it to decipher the lost language of the pharaohs.
As I approached Al-Bahr Street, the main thoroughfare overlooking the Nile, my first reaction was one of disappointment. The city boasts 22 historical houses, 12 mosques, Abu Shahin Mill, Arouz Bath, Abul-Rish Gate and Qait Bey Citadel. Moreover, it is known as the city of a million palm trees, so I expected something more extravagant and impressive than what first meets the eye.
We began our tour on Sheikh Kandil Street, the centre of the Islamic city where the mosques of Sheikh Kandil, Galal Thabet, El-Tourkatli and others featured simple and harmonious lines.
The imposing Zaghloul Mosque is, in fact, two mosques joined together. Incorporated into its structure are almost 300 columns of varying sizes, salvaged from older buildings. But I found it regrettable that the columns and other architectural elements were in urgent need of a good clean. Rosetta has been chosen as one of the five sites in Egypt to be part of an open-air Islamic Museum, opening in 1999, and it still has a long way to go.
The 18th and 19th century houses built in red and black brick, with facades decorated in the 'Delta Style', are delightful, with delicately carved wooden mashrabiya balconies. We visited the three-storey El-Omasyli House of Hasiba Gazal, the servant of the house built by Othman Agha El-Toubagi in 1808. Its wooden decorative elements inlaid with conch and ivory is reminiscent of a time when women were confined to the inner chambers of such houses, and watched street activities from secluded windows.
Dahliz Al-Mulk Street (above) has the biggest concentration of monuments. Basket-manufacture and ship-building are two of the local industries. El-Osmayli House is being restored
photos: Mohamed AtiyaThe shoughsheiga, a skylight known as a lantern ceiling, enabled light to penetrate the halls of the house. There was also an oven for heating water and the mastaba, a bench, for massage. Walking through the haramlek, for women on the second floor, and the salamlek for men on the third, I was transported back in time to a lavish era when merchants' houses were comfortable and elegant; to a pre-colonial Rosetta before it became an important Mediterranean port at the height of Europe's trade relations with India.
Reaching Dahliz Al-Mulk Street, where the biggest collection of monuments is located in a one-square- kilometre area, I was again struck by the chaos, the obvious negligence of the town planners in the laying out of the city. Horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts pushed their way through muddy, overcrowded streets, where vendors selling fish and plastic household objects plied their wares -- loudly.
The most impressive house is a four-storey structure which used to belong to a judge called Ramadan. The house, situated on Dehliz Al-Mulk Street, was built by Othman Khoga in the 18th century and was first used as a meeting place for merchants to discuss trade. The cellar, in the time of Khoga, provided sanctuary when the town was subjected to raids, and my attention was drawn to a subterranean vault used by Khoga himself. Judge Ramadan later used the cellar as a prison.
Our tour took us to the mosque of Zaghloul Haroun, the most famous in Rosetta, which played a prominent role in the 19th century: it was from here that the signal to attack the British in the Frazer Campaign, was made. The mosque, which is bigger than Al-Azhar and has 244 ramparts of granite and marble, was once a symbol of popular struggle.
The residents are proud of the historical importance of their city. "I come here [to the Mosque of Zaghloul] regularly with my children to teach them how Rosetta's population defended their country through their belief in God," said Mosad Hamza. "Zaghloul Mosque is not an ordinary mosque; it is a symbol of the struggle of the people of Rosetta," echoed Ahmed Metwalli.
Hammam Arouz, one of the few working public baths, was our last port of call. It has a fountain at the entrance, a room for removing clothes, and a maghtas, the bathtub itself. Women are admitted on certain days of the week, men on the other days. Ali Abdel-Razek, the supervisor of the bath, said it was privately owned until it was put under the supervision of the antiquities authority in 1985.
Later in the day I took a stroll along the shore and watched the blacksmiths and shipbuilders at work. "We make hulls for ships," said Abu Ibrahim, adding that most of the demand comes from Alexandria. Mohamed Raslan, another shipbuilder, struck a less than positive note: "The industry is facing many obstacles as licences are becoming difficult to obtain," he said.
Market-places are always an attraction and I was happy to see that many of the local industries, such as basket-weaving, survive. Mohamed El-Azazi, director of public relations in the local council, said these will be encouraged and markets will be developed. Furthermore, he said steps are being taken for the construction of new hotels and the development of leisure facilities.
"Resorts are being planned on 20,000 feddans along the coast," said Farouk El-Tellawi, governor of Beheira Governorate, in which Rosetta falls. "The Tourism Development Authority is planning to turn Rosetta and its coastal area into a first-class resort. Monuments are being restored, roads paved and residential areas upgraded."
