Dahabieh
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Dahabieh (from Arabic ذهبية dhahabiyya , DMG ḏahabiyya ) (also Dahabiya or Sandal ) is aterm for a long, narrow ship on the Nile with a hood and cabin, which is regarded as historical today and isno longer usedin modern shipping . Karl May readers are also familiar with it because of its Orient cycle .
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history
In the mid-19th century, before Thomas Cook imported modern steamships from Scotland, Dahabiya Nile cruises were very popular with European travelers to Egypt. Numerous travel guides and travel diaries (“Hand-book for travelers in Egypt” Sir John Gardner Wilkinson - 1847, “The English woman in Egypt” Sophia Lane Poole - 1844, “From A Thousand Miles up the Nile” Amelia Edwards - 1873, “From Egypt La Mort de Philae ”Piere Loti - 1909) describe in great detail how such a Dahabeya river cruise was experienced from the point of view of tourists at the time. Sir John Gardner Wilkinson describes in a very practical way in his travel guide “Hand-book for travelers in Egypt” in 1847 the extensive preparations to be made before departure. Ships were first sunk to remove vermin and rats, then holes were patched and walls repainted. R. Etzensberger, Keith Johnston describe in their book “Up the Nile by Steam” in 1872 that a Dahabiya could stand in one place for up to a week when there was no wind and could only be pulled further up the Nile by the crew.