Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto =
, national_anthem =
, image_ ...
) was a French merchant, naturalist, physician and antiquarian to King Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reigning mo ...
.
Life
Lucas was the son of Centurion Lucas, a well known book printer and publisher in Rouen, and Judith Mauclerc. In 1688, he served with theVenetians
Venetian often means from or related to:
* Venice, a city in Italy
* Veneto, a region of Italy
* Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area
Venetian and the like may also refer to:
* Venetian language, a Romance language sp ...
at the Siege of Negroponte. In 1696 he returned to France with a large collection of medals and other antiquities which were purchased for the French Royal Cabinet. This brought him to the attention of the court and he then began a series of three voyages to the East: he travelled extensively in Greece
Greece ( el, Ελλάδα, Elláda, ), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country located in Southeastern Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe () is a geographical subregion
A subregion is a part of a larger region
In geogr ...
, Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Turkey, is a country located mainly on Anatolia
Anatolia,, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau. also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia an ...
, the Levant
The Levant () is an term referring to a large area in the region of . In its narrowest sense, it is equivalent to the , which included present-day , , , , and most of southwest of the middle . In its widest historical sense, the Levant ...
and Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مِصر, Miṣr), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country
This is a list of countries located on more than one continent
A continent is one of several large landmasses. Generally identi ...
, in three major voyages (1699–1703, 1704–1708 and 1714–1717).
Lucas is one of the earliest sources of information from Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مِصر, Miṣr), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country
This is a list of countries lo ...
, visiting among other places Thebes (though he does not identify it) and the Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin
Nobiin, or Mahas, is a Northern Nubian languages, Nubian language of the Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan language family. "Nobiin" is the genitive case, genitive form of ''Nòòbíí'' ("Nub ...
up to the cataracts
A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens
A lens is a transmissive optical
Optics is the branch of physics
Physics (from grc, φυσική (ἐπιστήμη), physikḗ (epistḗmē), knowledge of nature, from ''phýsis'' 'natur ...
.
A panegyrical portrayal of Lucas is also afforded in the Arabic autobiography of Hanna Diyab
Antun Yusuf Hanna Diyab ( ar, اَنْطون يوسُف حَنّا دِياب, Anṭūn Yūsuf Ḥannā Diyāb; born ''circa'' 1688) was a Syrian Maronite
The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة, syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are an ethnoreligious Christians ...
, a Syrian whom Lucas employed as an interpreter, assistant, and servant from around 1707-10. Diyab viewed Lucas as having miraculous medical powers. Lucas's own writings never mention Diyab, however.John-Paul Ghobrial, review of Hanna Dyâb, ''D’Alep à Paris: Les pérégrinations d’un jeune syrien au temps de Louis XIV'', ed. and trans. by Paule Fahmé-Thiéry, Bernard Heyberger, and Jérôme Lentin (Paris: Sindbad, 2015), ''The English Historical Review'', volume 132, issue 554 (February 2017), 147–49 .
Works
* ''Voyage du Sieur paul Lucas au Levant. On y trouvera entr'autre une description de la haute Egypte, suivant le cours du Nil, depuis le Caire jusques aux Cataractes, avec une Carte exacte de ce fleuve, que personne n'avoit donné.'' Paris, Guillaume Vandive, 1704; 2 vol. * ''Voyage du Sieur paul Lucas, fait par ordre du Roi dans la Grèce, l'Asie Mineure, la Macédoine et l'Afrique.'' Nicolas Simart, Paris, 1712; 2 vol. * ''Voyage du Sieur Paul Lucas, fait en 1714... dans la Turquie, l'Asie, la Syrie, la Palestine, la Haute et la Basse-Égypte, etc...,'' Rouen, R. Machuel le jeune, 1719; 3 vol.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Paul 1664 births 1737 deaths French naturalists French travel writers French merchants French male non-fiction writers French expatriates in the Ottoman Empire 18th-century French businesspeople 17th-century French businesspeople