Medieval Appreciation for the Pyramids,
pt. 1

July 10/11, 2006

My project this summer centers on a chapter about the pyramids in the mammoth Khitat by al-Maqrizi. In the process of working through a translation and introduction to this chapter, I came across a very different medieval work on the pyramids, commonly referred to as the Anwar, and written by al-Idrisi (d. 1251 AD). This short work was not nearly as popular as al-Maqrizi's Khitat. The oldest surviving manuscript comes from the 17th century library of an Ottoman philologist who was himself working on a book about the pyramids. Al-Idrisi sets down some interesting arguments for the importance of the pyramids.. specifically, he answers the nagging question: why care about monuments that are foreign to your own tradition? It is a question that lies at the heart of preservation.. I plan on devoting a few blogs to an examination of al-Idrisi's arguments on this point.

The following is a report given by al-Idrisi:

Myself and a man among the eminent westerners in Egypt, came together at a sitting of Zakaria al-Biyasi aimed at the gathering of his precious pearls in the craft of medicine and the science of education. We had on that day settled down at a place from the Book of Cones and Their Forming, and we paid attention to the commentary of the man on the origin of their shape. There occurred in what we were going over from our study a mention of the forming of fiery bodies as translunar masses (?), so we compelled him to a discussion of the traditions of the pyramids. We closed our talk finally in a discussion about the secrets of the pyramids. We broke up our study with a maxim about the beautiful blossoms of reports about them.

The eminent fellow who had come to us from the Maghreb, a newcomer arriving amongst us, said: Seeking knowledge of wisdom and right conduct I used to frequent the house of a learned man from among the learned men of my country, and he stoked the notion of a determination for the Hajj in my heart. So I said goodbye and traveled the various stages, famished all the while. I did not intend anything but the Hajj and the visitation [to Medina]. When I had spent my stop with the customs and details which people commonly go on about, it was enough. I hastened to return and get back to my land. When I arrived in the country and got down from my camel, I set forth right away...

I attended a sitting of the Skeikh al-Fadil al-Hakim, seeking benefit from him and education. He met me with welcome and honor and awe. Then he said: "Tell me about the pyramids of Egypt and what you saw of them!" and he produced a [blank] page for what I might relate about them in the way of reports. I said to him: "Teacher, I don't have any sort of observation of them which I could relate or convey to you as a true tradition. So he responded: "Base in his zeal for seeking knowledge and wisdom is the one who does not turn from his determination [for the hajj] to see the likes of the pyramids when he is staying nearby, and whose desire is not agitated—that is, his desire to observe what he is able of concealed wonders. What could have stood between you and reports about the pyramids, and a testimony for me about what you witnessed of them? Only the gallop of your mount or the shoving off of a boat! It is appropriate for every mean person to be zealous to not be among the people of blind copying of the precious jewels of wisdom. So do not return to me after this day for the reading of books about wisdom and correct manners!"

So I traveled right away to Egypt, for toward no goal did I shoot from the bow of my desire, except to see the pyramids.

The basic setting is in a scholarly "sitting" (majlis) in Egypt, and one guy who is from somewhere in North Africa tells a story of his Hajj, taken on the cheap, in which he neglected to see the pyramids. The result was a tongue lashing from his teacher back home. This generally conforms to what we find in Arabic travel narratives. Both Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta are sure to mention the pyramids and other ancient Egyptian ruins. It seems that these monuments were on every pilgrim's "must see" list. At the same time, it is striking that the above tale does not represent any kind of "popular view" with respect to the pyramids.. the tale involves a reading group that seems to be dedicated to somewhat abstruse knowledge.. not exactly the "traditionalist club."

The marrow of the report is contained in the exchange between the sheikh and the hapless pilgrim. That poor pilgrim, having completed the Hajj "famished", returns with joy, only to have the first question be: "What did you think of the pyramids?" That would be deflating. But the words of the sheikh, while a little hard, are the important part of the report. They allow us to glimpse that the pyramids had an independent importance among certain quarters of the Islamic world.

That importance seems to be summed up by the word "wonder." The idea of "wonders of the world" goes back to Classical times, and continues strong in the Islamic period. But it is clear from this story that "wonders of the world" is not simply an abstract category, but refers to sites that are apt to produce a strong desire to observe them on the part of human beings. A "wonder" is not a passive site, but powerful in its own right. A traveler who gallops past or shoves off without witnessing it is shown to be devoid of a sharp human feeling. It is possible that the invention of photography has cheapened the sense that a site carries with it this force of wonder. We no longer feel to the same extent that sites carry with them the power of "wonder." But at least through the Medieval periods monuments still possessed this force. I we look for an explanation as to why people found importance in monuments from the past, then it is to an exegesis of the word "wonder" that we must turn.