'The Holy Carpet Parade with the Mahmal, Cairo, Egypt', 1905. 'Every year at the expense of the Sultan a fine carpet or huge fabric for festooning the Kaaba at Mecca is made in this city, and we are now viewing the procession which is bearing it from the citadel to the mosque of the Hasanên, where the pieces will be sewed together and lined, in readiness for the departure of the pilgrims. We cannot here see the carpet itself, but the mahmal which accompanies it is even more sacred. We refer to the curious object which you see at the head of the long procession. It is a pyramid of woven fabric richly embroidered, surmounting a roughly cubical base, of the same material. The whole is stretched on a wooden frame, and contains nothing. Brazen ornaments at each corner and a similar adornment crowning a cylinder at the top complete the strange object. Attached to the ornament at the top are two copies of the Koran, the holy scripture of Islam. It is all mounted upon a magnificent camel, which is here so hidden by the mahmal and the crowd that you can scarcely see it at all.' Stereoscopic card. Detail. From a series called Egypt Through the Stereoscope, text by James H Breasted.
