The Rosetta Probe: Oh, Alexandria!

 Rashid (Rosetta) on the Nile

Having written about the European Space Agency Rosetta probe the other day, I recalled something.

In 1879, Sir Richard Burton wrote in his Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madina and Meccah:

Alexandria, moreover, is an interesting place to Moslems, on account of the prophecy that it will succeed to the honours of Meccah, when the holy city falls into the hands of the indidel. In its turn, Alexandria will be followed by Kairawan (in the Regency of Tunis); and this by Rashid or Rosetta, which last shall endure to the end of time.

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