Notes of an old order changing
The Englishwoman in Egypt by Sophia Lane-Poole, Azza Kararah, ed., Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2003. pp257
The Englishwoman in Egypt, edited by Azza Kararah, retains the original title under which the Egyptian letters of Sophia Lane-Poole were first published in London in the mid-19th century. Like much 19th-century literature, the letters were originally serialised before being collected in book form and were eventually published in three volumes between 1844 and 1846.
Sophia Lane-Poole along with other women travellers -- notably Lucie Duff Gordon and Florence Nightingale -- came to Egypt in the 19th century and recorded her impressions in letter form. Letters are a familiar literary convention, as well as a means of communication, dating back to Montesquieu, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, and Crèvecoeur, and in typical literary fashion this collection of letters goes far beyond the art of cursory communication. Instead, it is a repository of the writer's observations and opinions, covering a wide range of subjects including archaeology, architecture, the weather, health conditions, religion, and a diversity of social practices, with a fair amount of history and geography thrown in for good measure.
Arriving with her two young sons in Egypt, along with her more famous brother, Edward Lane and his Egyptian wife Nefeesa, Lane-Poole creates the illusion that she has started to record her impressions immediately upon disembarkation by addressing minutely detailed epistles to someone who goes by the anonymous appellation of "My Dear Friend". Unlike Sophia, Edward Lane was not a novice in the country, being a veteran of two stays in Egypt, an undertaking which had already produced his widely acclaimed book An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. The party was to reside in the country for seven years, much of which were taken up by Edward Lane's exhausting work on an Arabic-English lexicon.
Sophia's work was inspired by Lane himself, since he rightly assumed that she would be allowed to witness life among the ladies of Egypt, a privilege denied to him as a man. To encourage her to produce a companion piece to his own magnum opus, he provided her with the unpublished manuscript of what came to be known as Lane's Description of Egypt, encouraging her to insert whatever she "might think fit". As Kararah points out, and as the letters prove, Lane-Poole did just that, helping herself to large chunks of her brother's work.
Lane-Poole's first three letters, a record of the family's arrival in Alexandria, their boat trip to Cairo, and their eventual arrival at the port of Boulaq, are unrealistically knowledgeable, betraying a familiarity with the country's history and geography that goes far beyond the premise of an ordinary traveller. She also inserts some precociously transliterated words -- evidence of not a little knowledge of Arabic, although she later admits that her knowledge of the language was subsequent to her arrival in the country. Not only do these early letters show a surprising familiarity with place names, but also with such diverse historians as Strabo and Makreezee. According to Kararah, these letters were not only the work of a later date but were also produced with the unmistakable assistance of the author's brother.
Generally speaking, Lane-Poole's early letters are more laboured and academic and far less interesting than the later ones. She arrived in an Egypt that was at an historical juncture: power was subtly changing hands. While Arabic was quietly replacing Turkish as language of choice in the "high harem", the viceroy, Mohamed Ali, was making a bid for a European-style renaissance, and Britain was cautiously edging its way into the country. Lane-Poole, an astute observer, took note of an old order changing.
Like her brother, she also immersed herself totally in Egyptian life. What was to become her uniform, the habara and the veil, she initially regarded with dismay. "Imagine the face covered closely by a Muslim veil...the eyes only uncovered, and over a dress of coloured silk an overwhelming covering of black silk, extending... in every direction...having nothing free but my eyes..." Apparently the dismay soon wore off, and draped in this costume she traversed the streets of the metropolis armed with an inquisitive mind and very observant eyes. Her favourite means of transportation was the back of a donkey, and of these animals she writes, "their paces are quick and easy; and the kind of saddle with which they are furnished is a very comfortable seat...."
Although Cairo -- referred to as Umm ed Dunya -- is the author's focal point, other far less well-known Egyptian towns are also referred to, including Kafr Al-Zaiyat, Matoobis and Fooweh. Nothing escapes Lane-Poole's notice: houses, roads, canals and open fields. A stickler for detail, she pauses to explain the difference between darb, harah and sharee. Lane-Poole also left no stone unturned. Archaeological sites are introduced under a canopy of historical and geographical fact: "The citadel (El-Kalah) is situated at the southeastern extremity of the metropolis, upon an extensive, flat-topped, rocky eminence....It was founded by Salah-ed- Deen (the famous Saladin), in the year of the Flight 572 (A.D. 1176-7), but not finished till 604; since which latter period it has been residence of the sultans and governors of Egypt."
Being the daughter of a clergyman, Lane-Poole, who invariably displays much Biblical knowledge, does not hesitate to give both Islam and Coptic Christianity a great deal of notice. The Mahmal procession, as well as several mosques, is described with much colour. Although, in the words of Kararah, Lane-Poole "was a typical Victorian Englishwoman who shared the patriotic sentiments and religious beliefs of her countrymen", the author still notes her admiration for the Ramadan fast, adding the wry remark that for some, "fasting does not improve their tempers". Writing at the time of the advent of Western missionary societies in the Middle East, she expresses the hope that their presence would improve "the religious and moral condition" of the Copts.
Then, as now, the most captivating part of any narrative is the human element. Lane-Poole depicts Egypt as a cosmopolitan haven of Muslims, Copts, Jews and Franks. By attending weddings and funerals and spending many hours on divans conversing with women of the harem about children, religion and even politics she is able to assess the society from inside. Social conditions receive a great deal of scrutiny: the wretchedness and ignorance of the poor, the deplorable conditions at the Maristan (the public hospital), the prevalence of superstitions among Muslims and Christians alike, are all elaborated upon. A humane observer, as well as a dabbler in nursing, she frequently records her distress at the frequency of blindness, especially among children.
Intrigued by the marriage customs of the East, she constantly makes comparisons with Europe. Although "a very large proportion of the men, and a few of the women, are frequently, and almost habitually, guilty of the most abominable acts of cruelty and oppression", she concedes that "wives and female slaves, in the houses of the higher orders, are generally...treated by the husband and master with much kindness".
Naturally some letters are more memorable than others. Whereas the letters covering the Pyramids -- replete with diagrams -- are the most comprehensive, the ones dealing with the problem of the "haunted house" and the "efreet" (demons) are the most hilarious. While the letter detailing the rituals of public bathing is one of the most vivid, the ones which include Boccaccio-like anecdotes -- such as a beggar's revenge -- are the most amusing. Whether casual or scholarly, funny or sombre, censorious or favourable, Lane- Poole's letters, always thematic, are interesting as well as informative.
However, above all else the author was intrigued by the system of the harem. In character, Lane-Poole attempts to trace this institution's historical roots: "In the mention of the veil we trace the Hareem system to the time of Abraham," she writes. For her, the magic and exoticism of the East were manifested in the sequestered quarters inhabited by women and girls, waited upon by female slaves, and watched over by eunuchs. The clothes and jewellery worn, the sweetmeats consumed and the lavish entertainment of that inner sanctum of Egyptian life are made the subject of many of the later letters.
According to the editor, Lane-Poole was also made an unwitting pawn in the larger political game of the time. Being the sister of Edward Lane, whose words were then resounding in England, a country which the ambitious Mohamed Ali sought to impress, she was singled out for preferential treatment. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the wedding of Zeynab Hanem, the Pasha's youngest daughter. The marriage was an eight-day fairytale affair to which one hundred foreign women were invited. Not only was Lane- Poole among the few foreign women guests invited to spend the night, she was also the only one privileged with viewing the fabulous wedding gifts of the bride. The Pasha alone had given his daughter jewels amounting to LE200,000 in value! The description of these fabled nuptials marks the climax of Lane-Poole's epistolary achievement.
This book is a scholar's delight, patiently and meticulously researched and annotated. The editor's introduction, as well as the inclusion of the author's own preface, provides the reader with the necessary background. A Table of Contents outlines the letters for the more selective reader, and the editor's own footnotes, sometimes with cross-references to writers like Jabarti and Lady Mary Wortley Montague, provide commentary, explanation, and, at times, correction. It is worth mentioning that this edition follows an annotated Arabic translation of the letters, also by Azza Kararah, and issued in 1999.
The Englishwoman in Egypt captures a critical moment in the history of this country; an Egypt at the crossroads of mediaevalism and modernity; an Egypt caught between Turks and Europeans; an Egypt of fairytale opulence and heart- rending misery; a crisscross of civilisations, cultures and religions.
Reviewed by Nazek Fahmy
