WATANI International
31 October 2010
The town of Ras al-Barr—it literally means ‘head of land’ or headland—lies on the eastern tip of the Nile Delta, on the ‘golden triangle’ of land through which the Nile flows into the Mediterranean. It stands at the head of a peninsula on the Mediterranean coast, and is remarkable as the spot where one of the two existing branches of the Nile washes into the sea.
This is one of those special and relatively rare points where the sea welcomes a great river—in this case the longest river in the world. It could even be said that the town exists as a result of that unique meeting, where both the sea and the Nile have deposited sand and alluvium. The sands of the sea, however, played a main role in endowing the spot with sandy beaches rather than the usual muddy alluvial land in the rest of the Delta.
To protect this northern land from coastal erosion, a 35-metre-long and two-metre-wide platform of spiked cement was built in 1938 by the ports authority extending into the Mediterranean, and was aptly given the name the Lissaan, literally the Tongue.
Many names
The Mediterranean Sea has been given many names over the years. The pharaohs called it ‘the great green sea’, while the Romans, not surprisingly, called it ‘the Romans’ sea’. The spot where the river met the sea was called Be Tamosh, meaning the place between two waves or two seas. The name Ras al-Barr came from some sailors who felt that this place provided a safe haven from the dangers of the sea.
The spot Ras al-Barr today occupies, is mentioned three times in the Qur’an to stress the mighty power of the God that made river and sea meet with an invisible divider separator that prevents the two from blending.
Damietta (Dumyat in Arabic), the large neighbouring city port southeast Ras al-Barr, to which the town is administratively affiliated and which gave its name to the Nile branch, was an important Coptic Bishopric during the fifth century. It was then called Tamiatis, a name which means ‘the northern land cultivated with linen’. The town was also mentioned in the Torah as Kaftor. Being mentioned and described in the books of the heavenly religions is something the people of Damietta and Ras al-Barr hold in great pride.
Damietta…a glorious history
Damietta’s position on the west bank of the River Nile has proved strategic in that it lured several enemy fleets to try to conquer it, which in turn led the people of the town to build a number of fortified towers to protect it from invasion.
In 1218 a Crusader army approached Damietta. The Crusaders built a bailey surrounded by a dike to protect themselves, and settled down to initiate their assaults against strong resistance from Damietta people. The resistance held strong for four months, but the Crusaders condensed their attacks and surrounded the town, preventing anyone from coming to the support of the residents. The people of Damietta stood strong, however, and kept up their resistance until the summer months which brought about the annual Nile flood with an inundation so deep that the bailey was destroyed and the area became an island surrounded by water. The Crusaders sought a treaty to disengage from the town and from Egypt.
In 1248, the then king of France, Louis IX, sailed from the south of France with a great fleet as far as the shore at Damietta. As he neared the town the Mamluk general—the Mamluks were then the rulers of Egypt—Prince Fakhr Eddin fled Damietta, but the people of the town put up a resistance to the fleet. They burnt their own shops and everything that the enemy could make use of, and then retreated to the swamps and the inner places in the town to inveigle the enemy to attack.
The people beat the Crusaders in a number of battles, the last one at Faraskour, south of Damietta, where the people are said to have killed a large number of French soldiers and captured others, along with Louis IX (St Louis) himself, whom they held to ransom. St Louis paid 4,000 pounds for his release along with his men, and left Damietta on 8 May 1250. That day later became the Damietta National Day.
Destination of the modest and the élite
Ras al-Barr started off as a Damietta suburb where the fishermen used to erect reed huts as homes for the season of catching fish and quail. It became known as a summer destination in 1823, when the Sufi sheikhs and their followers in Damietta used to walk together northwards along the Nile to celebrate the mulid (feast) of sheikh Sadid.
The spot was famous for its sea breeze fresh with the smell of iodine, its dry weather, and relaxed atmosphere. Its beaches, greenery and gardens, as well as its simple one-storey huts gave it a reputation for being a ‘family’ resort where children could run about or cycle in absolute safety while their parents relaxed or visited.
Despite its simple, non-sophisticated character—or maybe because of it—Ras al-Barr became one of the most sought-after summer destinations of Egypt’s rich and famous. Queen Nazli, mother of King Farouk, was fond of the beach of Ras al-Barr, and President Gamal Abdel-Nasser visited the Lissaan region. But probably its most famous summer resident was the legendary diva Umm Kalthoum, who had a tradtional summer home there built of reeds which could be stowed away for the winter when the sea came in. It was also the favourite destination of the pioneer writer and journalist Mohammed al-Tabei in the 1940s. Over the years it has become a popular summer destination for people of all classes.
Gaily painted boats
The first luxury hotel—the Courtelle—with a view of the lighthouse, was built by a Frenchman and a female compatriot in 1891. This hotel still exists today under the same name, but its administration is Egyptian. Others copied the Courtell and built more hotels.
Roll forward to 1902, and the first simple geometric map of the resort was drawn citing the location and number of reed huts (eshash), markets and other amenities.
The first huts were built of reed, wood, and other simple materials, had only one floor and were temporary houses for single families. They were built at the start of the summer and removed at the season’s end. Today, however, two- to four-story houses dot the town, and despite looking, clean, modern, and attractive, they are a far cry from the original huts.
Ras al-Barr has a large fishing fleet. The gaily-painted wooden boats that go out to sea and return laden with fish form a large portion of the national industry.
Fabulous sunsets
A substantial project to develop the Lissaan area was launched in 2002, as part of a wider project to develop Damietta and Ras al-Barr which has now become a fully fledged island. This is on account of a navigational canal dug between the Nile southeast Ras al-Barr to the Mediterranean west of the town. The Lissaan is now a marvellous promenade, beautifully lined with trees and palms. Wood and brick seats are there for those who wish to enjoy the fabulous sunsets.
Off-season Ras al-Barr is quiet, but not entirely deserted, but as soon as the season gets going in June one can hardly find space to walk. The town quietens down again in September.
As an old-time fan of Ras al-Barr, I firmly believe that the Damietta governor deserves to be congratulated for turning the town around and sprucing it up to be a great place for a summer—or winter—holiday. There are good facilities; a good bus service and plenty of taxis; and all traffic obstructions have been removed. I would, however, make just one remark. The national museum of Ras al-Barr, which was such a landmark on the corniche, no longer exists. It was removed more than 10 years ago. Despite its being a small and relatively insignificant museum, it showcased the struggle of the people of Damietta who withstood the foreign campaigns of occupation all those centuries ago. Could we not have our museum back, in better condition and covering all the activities and industries that Damietta is famous for?