Leo Africanus
Descrittione dell’Africa
1525/1550 CE
translated by John Pory (adapted)
1600
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NOTE |
Johannes Leo Africanus (c. 1494-1554), born al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad, was a Muslim traveler and diplomat who converted to Christianity after being captured by Christians and presented to the pope in Rome. In 1526, he completed a massive geography of North Africa and the Nile Valley, which was published in 1550 in Italian as the Description of Africa. It was translated into Latin and French in 1556 and English (from the Latin) in 1600. The book is a rich compendium of geographical and cultural information, considered the most comprehensive until the modern era. In his lengthy section on Egypt, Africanus devotes most of his space to accounts of contemporary Egyptians and the court of the Sultan, but scattered throughout are passages referencing the history of Egypt before the Islamic conquest. Of particular interest is his description of Akhmim, made after the destruction of its famous temple, where he notes its reputation as the oldest city in Egypt, providing an explanation for the Islamic legend that it was the site where Hermes preserved knowledge from the Flood (al-Idrisi, Tabula Rogeriana 2.4). The excerpts below are adapted from John Pory’s 1600 translation, with spelling and place names modernized for readability and errors in Pory’s translation corrected according to the notes of editor Robert Brown; however, Leo’s own errors appear as in the original. I have added a few explanatory notes in square brackets.
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THE DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA
BOOK EIGHT
Of Egypt
The most noble and famous province of Egypt, bordering westward upon the deserts of Barca, Numidia, and Libya; eastward upon the deserts lying between Egypt itself and the Red Sea; and northward upon the Mediterranean Sea; is enclosed southward by the land of the people called Bugiha, and by the river Nile.
It stretches in length from the Mediterranean Sea to the land of the people called Bugiha about four hundred and fifty miles; but in breadth it is very narrow, containing nothing but a small distance between the banks of the Nile and the barren mountains bordering upon the aforesaid deserts, being inhabited only in that place where the Nile is separated from the said mountains—though toward the Mediterranean Sea it extends somewhat broader.
For the Nile, about fourscore miles from the great city of Cairo, is divided into two branches, one of which, running westward in its channel, returns at length into the main stream from whence it took its origin; and having passed about threescore miles beyond Cairo, divides itself into two other branches, whereof one runs to Damietta and the other to Rosetta. And out of that which trends toward Damietta issues another branch, which, discharging itself into a lake, passes through a certain gullet or strait into the Mediterranean Sea, upon the bank whereof stands the most ancient city of Tennis.
This division of the Nile into so many streams and branches causes Egypt (as I have said before) to be so narrow. […]
Of the Ancient Pedigree and Origin of the Egyptians
The Egyptians (as Moses writes) derive their origin from Mizraim, the son of Cush, the son of Cham, the son of Noah; and the Hebrews call both the country and the inhabitants of Egypt by the name Mizraim. The Arabians call Egypt itself Misr, but the inhabitants Qibti. And Qibti, they say, was the man who first took upon himself the government of this region and first began to build houses there.
Also, the inhabitants call themselves by the same name; neither are there any true Egyptians left besides a few Christians who remain at this present. The rest, embracing the Mahometan religion, have mingled themselves among the Arabians and the Moors.
This kingdom was governed many years by the Egyptians themselves—namely by the kings called Pharaoh (who, by their monuments and admirable buildings, seem to have been mighty princes), and also by the kings called Ptolemies. Afterwards, being subdued to the Roman Empire, this kingdom, since the coming of Christ, was converted to the Christian religion under the said Roman government. After the decay of that Empire, it fell into the possession of the Emperors of Constantinople, who, being very careful to maintain this kingdom, were at length deprived of it by the Muslims under the conduct of Amr the son of al‑‘As, being appointed captain‑general over the Arabian army of Omar, the second Caliph or Mahometan patriarch of that name; who, permitting all men to have their own religion, required nothing but tribute at their hands.
The said captain built upon the bank of the Nile a certain town called by the Arabians Fustat, which word signifies in their language “tabernacle”; for when he first undertook this expedition, he marched through wild and desert places void of inhabitants, so that his army was constrained to lie in tents. The common people call this town Misr al‑‘Atiq, that is to say, “the ancient city,” which nevertheless, in comparison with Cairo, may not unfitly be called the New City.
And concerning the situation of this town, many excellent men—Christians, Jews, and Muslims—have in our times been deceived. For they think Misr to be situated in the same place where King Pharaoh in the time of Moses, and King Pharaoh in the time of Joseph, had their abode; because they suppose the town of Pharaoh to have stood in that part of Africa where the Nile stretches out one of its arms westward toward Africa, and where the pyramids are yet to be seen. The Holy Scripture also seems to affirm this in the book of Genesis, where it is said that the Jews in Moses’ time were employed in building the town of Pithom, which was founded by Pharaoh—namely in that place where the Nile trends toward Africa, being about fifty miles south of Cairo and near the most westerly arm or branch of the Nile.
They allege also another probability: that the town of Pharaoh was built in the same place because at the very head or confluence of the branches of the Nile there stands a building of marvellous antiquity, called the sepulchre of Joseph, wherein the dead body of Joseph lay until it was transported by the Jews to the sepulchre of their fathers.
To be brief, neither Cairo nor any place near it can with any likelihood claim to have been inhabited by the ancient Pharaohs. But here it is to be noted that the nobility of the ancient Egyptians dwelt in times past in the region of Upper Egypt beyond Cairo, in the cities of Fayyum, of Manfichmin, and in other such famous cities.
However, after Egypt was conquered by the Romans, the Egyptian nobility planted themselves in the region of Lower Egypt upon the seashore, namely about the cities of Alexandria, Rosetta, and other famous towns retaining as yet their Latin names. And when the Roman Empire was translated into Greece, the said nobility still inhabited the seashore, the Emperor’s lieutenant residing at Alexandria. But after the Mahometans gained the dominion of Egypt, the aforesaid nobility retired into the inland, hoping thereby to reap a double commodity: first, that they might be a means to pacify the kingdom on both sides of them; and secondly, that they might be free from the invasions of the Christians, to which they would have been exposed had they remained any longer upon the coast. […]
Of the Great City of Alexandria in Egypt
The great city of Alexandria in Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great not without the advice of most famous and skilful architects, upon a beautiful point of land stretching into the Mediterranean Sea and being distant forty miles westward of the Nile, was in times past—until it became subject to the Muslims—most sumptuously and strongly built, as diverse authors record.
Afterwards this city, decaying many years together, was deprived of its ancient renown and honour, and remained almost desolate, because no merchants of Greece nor of any other part of Europe exercised traffic there any longer.
However, a certain crafty Muslim patriarch made the rude people believe that, by the prophecy of Mahomet, most ample indulgences were granted to all who would inhabit the city or guard it for certain days, and who would bestow some alms for a public benefit. By this wily stratagem the city was in short time filled with foreign people who resorted there from all places; by whom were built many houses near the city walls, many colleges of students, and diverse monasteries for the relief of pilgrims.
The city itself is four‑square and has four gates: one on the east side toward the Nile; another on the south side toward the lake of Buchaira; the third westward toward the desert of Barca; and the fourth toward the Mediterranean Sea and the harbour. […]
Six miles westward of Alexandria, among certain ancient buildings, stands a pillar of wonderful height and thickness [i.e. “Pompey’s Pillar”], which the Arabians call Hemadussaoar, that is to say, “the pillar of trees.” Of this pillar a fable is reported: that Ptolemy, one of the kings of Alexandria, built it upon an extreme point of land stretching from the harbour, and that, to defend the city from the invasion of foreign enemies and make it invincible, he placed a certain steel‑glass upon the top thereof, by whose hidden virtue as many ships as passed by while the glass was uncovered should immediately be set on fire. But the said glass, being broken by the Muslims, lost its secret virtue, and the great pillar whereon it stood was removed out of its place.
But this is a most ridiculous tale, fit only for children to believe.
At this present there are among the ancient inhabitants of Alexandria many Christians called Jacobites, being all of them artisans and merchants. These Jacobites have a church of their own, wherein the body of St. Mark the Evangelist lay in times past interred, which has since been secretly stolen by the Venetians and carried to Venice. And the said Jacobites pay tribute to the governor of Cairo.
Neither is it to be passed over in silence that, in the midst of the city, there remains a certain little house built in the form of a chapel and containing a sepulchre much honoured by the Muslims, wherein they affirm—upon the authority of their Quran—that the body of the high prophet and king (as they call him) Alexander the Great lies buried. Thither resort yearly great multitudes of pilgrims from foreign nations to adore and reverence the said sepulchre, and often to bestow large alms upon it.
Other things worthy of note I purposely pass over, lest I seem too tedious to the reader.
Of the City of Thebes [sic for Memphis]
By whom this ancient city of Thebes, standing upon the western bank of the Nile, was built, our African chroniclers are of sundry opinions. Some affirm it to have been built by the Egyptians, some by the Romans, and others by the Greeks, because there are yet to be seen most ancient monuments partly in Latin, partly in Greek, and partly in Egyptian characters.
However, at this present it contains but three hundred families in all, most of them living in very stately and sumptuously built houses. It abounds with corn, rice, and sugar, and with certain fruits of excellent taste called muse. It is also furnished with great store of merchants and artificers; but the greater part of the inhabitants are husbandmen. And if a man walk the streets in the daytime, he shall see none but trim and beautiful women.
The territory adjacent abounds with date‑trees growing so thick that a man cannot see the city until he approaches near the walls. Here grow likewise great store of grapes, figs, and peaches, which are carried in great plenty to Cairo. Without the city there are many ancient monuments—pillars, inscriptions, and walls of great thickness built of excellent stone—and such a number of ruins that this city seems in times past to have been very large.
Of the City of Fayum [i.e. Medinet el-Fayum]
This ancient city was founded by one of the Pharaohs upon a little branch of the Nile and on high ground, at the same time when the Israelites departed out of Egypt, whom the said Pharaoh greatly oppressed with making of brick and other servile occupations. In this city they say that Joseph the son of Jacob was buried, and that his bones were dug up by Moses and the Israelites when they departed.
Fruits grow here in great plenty, especially olives, which are good to eat but unprofitable for making oil. It is a well‑governed and populous city and contains many artificers, especially weavers.
Of the City of Manfalūṭ
This great and ancient city was built by the Egyptians, destroyed by the Romans, and rebuilt by the Muslims, though not in so stately a manner as it was first built. At this present there are found certain huge and high pillars and porches, whereon are verses engraved in the Egyptian tongue. Near the Nile stand the ruins of a stately building which seems to have been a temple in times past, among which ruins the citizens sometimes find coins of silver, sometimes of gold, and sometimes of lead, having on one side hieroglyphic notes and on the other the pictures of ancient kings. […]
Of the City of Asiut
This ancient city, founded by the Egyptians upon the bank of the Nile two hundred and fifty miles from Cairo, is most admirable for the greatness and variety of old buildings and epitaphs engraved in Egyptian letters, although at this present the greatest part of it lies desolate. […]
Of the City of Akhmim
Akhmim, being the most ancient city in all Egypt, was built by Akhmim the son of Mizraim, whose father was Cush, the son of Ham, upon the bank of the Nile next unto Asia, and three hundred miles eastward from Cairo. This city the Muslims, when they first began to usurp over Egypt, so wasted and destroyed—for certain causes mentioned in histories—that besides the foundations and rubbish they left nothing remaining. For, transporting the pillars and principal stones to the other side of the Nile, they built therewith the city called Munsia, as we shall now declare. […]
Of the City of Aswan
The great, ancient, and populous city of Aswan was built by the Egyptians upon the river Nile, about fourscore miles eastward from Asna. […] Here are to be seen also many buildings of the ancient Egyptians, and most high towers, which they call in the language of that country Barba.
The most noble and famous province of Egypt, bordering westward upon the deserts of Barca, Numidia, and Libya; eastward upon the deserts lying between Egypt itself and the Red Sea; and northward upon the Mediterranean Sea; is enclosed southward by the land of the people called Bugiha, and by the river Nile.
It stretches in length from the Mediterranean Sea to the land of the people called Bugiha about four hundred and fifty miles; but in breadth it is very narrow, containing nothing but a small distance between the banks of the Nile and the barren mountains bordering upon the aforesaid deserts, being inhabited only in that place where the Nile is separated from the said mountains—though toward the Mediterranean Sea it extends somewhat broader.
For the Nile, about fourscore miles from the great city of Cairo, is divided into two branches, one of which, running westward in its channel, returns at length into the main stream from whence it took its origin; and having passed about threescore miles beyond Cairo, divides itself into two other branches, whereof one runs to Damietta and the other to Rosetta. And out of that which trends toward Damietta issues another branch, which, discharging itself into a lake, passes through a certain gullet or strait into the Mediterranean Sea, upon the bank whereof stands the most ancient city of Tennis.
This division of the Nile into so many streams and branches causes Egypt (as I have said before) to be so narrow. […]
Of the Ancient Pedigree and Origin of the Egyptians
The Egyptians (as Moses writes) derive their origin from Mizraim, the son of Cush, the son of Cham, the son of Noah; and the Hebrews call both the country and the inhabitants of Egypt by the name Mizraim. The Arabians call Egypt itself Misr, but the inhabitants Qibti. And Qibti, they say, was the man who first took upon himself the government of this region and first began to build houses there.
Also, the inhabitants call themselves by the same name; neither are there any true Egyptians left besides a few Christians who remain at this present. The rest, embracing the Mahometan religion, have mingled themselves among the Arabians and the Moors.
This kingdom was governed many years by the Egyptians themselves—namely by the kings called Pharaoh (who, by their monuments and admirable buildings, seem to have been mighty princes), and also by the kings called Ptolemies. Afterwards, being subdued to the Roman Empire, this kingdom, since the coming of Christ, was converted to the Christian religion under the said Roman government. After the decay of that Empire, it fell into the possession of the Emperors of Constantinople, who, being very careful to maintain this kingdom, were at length deprived of it by the Muslims under the conduct of Amr the son of al‑‘As, being appointed captain‑general over the Arabian army of Omar, the second Caliph or Mahometan patriarch of that name; who, permitting all men to have their own religion, required nothing but tribute at their hands.
The said captain built upon the bank of the Nile a certain town called by the Arabians Fustat, which word signifies in their language “tabernacle”; for when he first undertook this expedition, he marched through wild and desert places void of inhabitants, so that his army was constrained to lie in tents. The common people call this town Misr al‑‘Atiq, that is to say, “the ancient city,” which nevertheless, in comparison with Cairo, may not unfitly be called the New City.
And concerning the situation of this town, many excellent men—Christians, Jews, and Muslims—have in our times been deceived. For they think Misr to be situated in the same place where King Pharaoh in the time of Moses, and King Pharaoh in the time of Joseph, had their abode; because they suppose the town of Pharaoh to have stood in that part of Africa where the Nile stretches out one of its arms westward toward Africa, and where the pyramids are yet to be seen. The Holy Scripture also seems to affirm this in the book of Genesis, where it is said that the Jews in Moses’ time were employed in building the town of Pithom, which was founded by Pharaoh—namely in that place where the Nile trends toward Africa, being about fifty miles south of Cairo and near the most westerly arm or branch of the Nile.
They allege also another probability: that the town of Pharaoh was built in the same place because at the very head or confluence of the branches of the Nile there stands a building of marvellous antiquity, called the sepulchre of Joseph, wherein the dead body of Joseph lay until it was transported by the Jews to the sepulchre of their fathers.
To be brief, neither Cairo nor any place near it can with any likelihood claim to have been inhabited by the ancient Pharaohs. But here it is to be noted that the nobility of the ancient Egyptians dwelt in times past in the region of Upper Egypt beyond Cairo, in the cities of Fayyum, of Manfichmin, and in other such famous cities.
However, after Egypt was conquered by the Romans, the Egyptian nobility planted themselves in the region of Lower Egypt upon the seashore, namely about the cities of Alexandria, Rosetta, and other famous towns retaining as yet their Latin names. And when the Roman Empire was translated into Greece, the said nobility still inhabited the seashore, the Emperor’s lieutenant residing at Alexandria. But after the Mahometans gained the dominion of Egypt, the aforesaid nobility retired into the inland, hoping thereby to reap a double commodity: first, that they might be a means to pacify the kingdom on both sides of them; and secondly, that they might be free from the invasions of the Christians, to which they would have been exposed had they remained any longer upon the coast. […]
Of the Great City of Alexandria in Egypt
The great city of Alexandria in Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great not without the advice of most famous and skilful architects, upon a beautiful point of land stretching into the Mediterranean Sea and being distant forty miles westward of the Nile, was in times past—until it became subject to the Muslims—most sumptuously and strongly built, as diverse authors record.
Afterwards this city, decaying many years together, was deprived of its ancient renown and honour, and remained almost desolate, because no merchants of Greece nor of any other part of Europe exercised traffic there any longer.
However, a certain crafty Muslim patriarch made the rude people believe that, by the prophecy of Mahomet, most ample indulgences were granted to all who would inhabit the city or guard it for certain days, and who would bestow some alms for a public benefit. By this wily stratagem the city was in short time filled with foreign people who resorted there from all places; by whom were built many houses near the city walls, many colleges of students, and diverse monasteries for the relief of pilgrims.
The city itself is four‑square and has four gates: one on the east side toward the Nile; another on the south side toward the lake of Buchaira; the third westward toward the desert of Barca; and the fourth toward the Mediterranean Sea and the harbour. […]
Six miles westward of Alexandria, among certain ancient buildings, stands a pillar of wonderful height and thickness [i.e. “Pompey’s Pillar”], which the Arabians call Hemadussaoar, that is to say, “the pillar of trees.” Of this pillar a fable is reported: that Ptolemy, one of the kings of Alexandria, built it upon an extreme point of land stretching from the harbour, and that, to defend the city from the invasion of foreign enemies and make it invincible, he placed a certain steel‑glass upon the top thereof, by whose hidden virtue as many ships as passed by while the glass was uncovered should immediately be set on fire. But the said glass, being broken by the Muslims, lost its secret virtue, and the great pillar whereon it stood was removed out of its place.
But this is a most ridiculous tale, fit only for children to believe.
At this present there are among the ancient inhabitants of Alexandria many Christians called Jacobites, being all of them artisans and merchants. These Jacobites have a church of their own, wherein the body of St. Mark the Evangelist lay in times past interred, which has since been secretly stolen by the Venetians and carried to Venice. And the said Jacobites pay tribute to the governor of Cairo.
Neither is it to be passed over in silence that, in the midst of the city, there remains a certain little house built in the form of a chapel and containing a sepulchre much honoured by the Muslims, wherein they affirm—upon the authority of their Quran—that the body of the high prophet and king (as they call him) Alexander the Great lies buried. Thither resort yearly great multitudes of pilgrims from foreign nations to adore and reverence the said sepulchre, and often to bestow large alms upon it.
Other things worthy of note I purposely pass over, lest I seem too tedious to the reader.
Of the City of Thebes [sic for Memphis]
By whom this ancient city of Thebes, standing upon the western bank of the Nile, was built, our African chroniclers are of sundry opinions. Some affirm it to have been built by the Egyptians, some by the Romans, and others by the Greeks, because there are yet to be seen most ancient monuments partly in Latin, partly in Greek, and partly in Egyptian characters.
However, at this present it contains but three hundred families in all, most of them living in very stately and sumptuously built houses. It abounds with corn, rice, and sugar, and with certain fruits of excellent taste called muse. It is also furnished with great store of merchants and artificers; but the greater part of the inhabitants are husbandmen. And if a man walk the streets in the daytime, he shall see none but trim and beautiful women.
The territory adjacent abounds with date‑trees growing so thick that a man cannot see the city until he approaches near the walls. Here grow likewise great store of grapes, figs, and peaches, which are carried in great plenty to Cairo. Without the city there are many ancient monuments—pillars, inscriptions, and walls of great thickness built of excellent stone—and such a number of ruins that this city seems in times past to have been very large.
Of the City of Fayum [i.e. Medinet el-Fayum]
This ancient city was founded by one of the Pharaohs upon a little branch of the Nile and on high ground, at the same time when the Israelites departed out of Egypt, whom the said Pharaoh greatly oppressed with making of brick and other servile occupations. In this city they say that Joseph the son of Jacob was buried, and that his bones were dug up by Moses and the Israelites when they departed.
Fruits grow here in great plenty, especially olives, which are good to eat but unprofitable for making oil. It is a well‑governed and populous city and contains many artificers, especially weavers.
Of the City of Manfalūṭ
This great and ancient city was built by the Egyptians, destroyed by the Romans, and rebuilt by the Muslims, though not in so stately a manner as it was first built. At this present there are found certain huge and high pillars and porches, whereon are verses engraved in the Egyptian tongue. Near the Nile stand the ruins of a stately building which seems to have been a temple in times past, among which ruins the citizens sometimes find coins of silver, sometimes of gold, and sometimes of lead, having on one side hieroglyphic notes and on the other the pictures of ancient kings. […]
Of the City of Asiut
This ancient city, founded by the Egyptians upon the bank of the Nile two hundred and fifty miles from Cairo, is most admirable for the greatness and variety of old buildings and epitaphs engraved in Egyptian letters, although at this present the greatest part of it lies desolate. […]
Of the City of Akhmim
Akhmim, being the most ancient city in all Egypt, was built by Akhmim the son of Mizraim, whose father was Cush, the son of Ham, upon the bank of the Nile next unto Asia, and three hundred miles eastward from Cairo. This city the Muslims, when they first began to usurp over Egypt, so wasted and destroyed—for certain causes mentioned in histories—that besides the foundations and rubbish they left nothing remaining. For, transporting the pillars and principal stones to the other side of the Nile, they built therewith the city called Munsia, as we shall now declare. […]
Of the City of Aswan
The great, ancient, and populous city of Aswan was built by the Egyptians upon the river Nile, about fourscore miles eastward from Asna. […] Here are to be seen also many buildings of the ancient Egyptians, and most high towers, which they call in the language of that country Barba.
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Source: Leo Africanus, The History and Description of Africa, trans. John Pory, ed. Robert Brown, vol. III (London: Hakluyt Society, 1896), 855-905.
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