Egypt in paintings .. a wonderful paradise where time has come

Hind Massad

Until the late nineteenth century, approximately in the year 1890, Egypt had seven branches of the Nile, and one of these branches was passing by the pyramids of Giza. Of course, the area surrounding the pyramids was a rural village due to the widespread cultivation of crops and mud houses.

It can be said that the presence of the Nile branch near the pyramids in that period was a fascinating and fascinating sight that a large number of oriental painters worked on drawing that area because of its cultural and civilization peculiarities.

The ancient Pharaonic monuments were surrounded by peasants carrying water shortening over their heads. The sun of the pyramids shines on wheat and cotton fields. It is hard for travelers and orientalists to pass through Egypt until they are stripped of its picturesque beauty, which combines its pharaonic heritage with its Islamic and rural culture.

The decision to bridge the multiple Nile branches, and to keep only the Damietta and Rashid branches, seemed to be in the disadvantage of the Egyptians. Egypt has turned from a major oasis with water flowing in all its parts, to a desert where its residents are concentrated around the long Nile line that runs from its south to its north.

This caused the country to lose a large part of its historical charm due to the crowd beside the water. However, the area of ​​the pyramids itself turned into a desert mountainous region and the water and palm trees went away.

Some old maps confirm that the Nile River was reaching Sinai. However, due to the massive floods, landslides and crocodiles spread, this branch was also backfilled, and that area became, by extension, a desert region.

In the book "The Geography of Egypt" by Prince Omar Toson, quoting the Byzantine historian Gerges El-Qubursi, the Nile branch that was present in the Sinai was called "El-Belouzi", in relation to the town of Pilizium.

Pyramids Oasis
In 1858, orientalist Frederick Goodall visited Egypt with a number of English painters after the Fraser campaign. Godal was so captivated by Egypt that he visited her again because he wanted to live in Saqqara specifically, in the year 1870.

During his stay in Saqqara, Godal drew almost 170 paintings on the nature of rural life, peasants, and sheep. These paintings have been exhibited at the Royal Academy in England for 46 years.

One of his most famous panoramic paintings depicting the pyramids as an oasis, in which the Pharaonic history embraces the rural culture of the Egyptian peasants, is the "Water of the Nile" painting in which female farmers fill the water of the Nile with some animals and pyramids surrounded by palms.

There is also the Swiss orientalist painter Johann Jacob Frye who painted several paintings of pyramids, temples and inhabitants in the second half of the nineteenth century. Among his most prominent paintings are "The Plains of the Nile and the Pyramids Behind It", which he drew in 1844.

It is one of the typical and idyllic landscapes of Egyptians at sunset sitting between water and palms. Frey generally excelled in portraying the landscape in a romantic way, with elements of shadow and light highlighting the warmth of the scenes and the nature of events.

Live happily
In the mid-nineteenth century, an English painter named John Frederick Lewis (1804-1876) lived in Cairo, was one of several painters who fascinated Egypt and its people, and presented several paintings showing the nature of life and population.

His works reflected his passion and passion for Islamic architecture, and its subtle and attractive details. Unlike many orientalists, Louis Juarre or naked women were not portrayed in the Haramulik. Moreover, Muslim women are usually portrayed in complete galabiyas identical to reality, expressing his full respect for the Arab and Islamic culture of the Egyptians.

Louis has two famous paintings on the life of the Egyptian family inside and outside the home. Outside the house, the "Midday Meal, Cairo" painting, which he painted in 1875, shows a number of men sitting around lunch in a spacious courtyard and around them children and servants.

The courtyard of the house overlooks a street where pigeons hover over the heads of passers-by as they run their horses. We also see in the painting a clear representation of the nature of architecture in that era in terms of the nature of wooden houses and the spread of mashrabiyas between homes.

In his portrait, Louis presented "a lady receiving guests" (reception), which he drew in 1873, as a clear and accurate example of the nature of Egyptian homes from the inside. We see the high ceilings and the stained glass used to decorate the windows clearly.

The mashrabiyas also appear again, from which light enters the house. The painting also shows a large number of women dressed in full clothes, walking towards the lady of the house, who sits on a bench furnished with blue carpets and curtains.

It can be said that the beauty of ancient Egypt, which was transmitted by travelers and orientalists in their artwork, was not the result of one particular culture, but rather the result of harmony and mixing of many cultures in one crucible. We see houses that were designed on Islamic systems inhabited by people whose culture is closer to the countryside and who enjoy a very beautiful Pharaonic heritage.