Abbas Hilmi Pasha I (1813-1854) is probably the one modern Egyptian ruler Arabian horse breeders know best, for the magnificent collection of desert-bred Arabian horses he is said to have kept. His son’s only claim to fame was to have dispersed this collection in 1861. In every single Arabian horse related publication, I have seen the name of Abbas Pasha’s son transcribed as “El Hami” Pasha, which sort of means ‘the Protector’, but which is not a first name. I always wondered about this, since Arabic first names seldom start with the definite article El/Al, and thought it was a mistake of some sort. Yesterday, I fell upon an Egyptian chancery document where Abbas Pasha’s son’s name is clearly written “Ilhami”, which literally means ‘My Inspiration’, and was a rather common first name within the Egyptian upper class at the time. Names with a possessive form and a romantic connotation were not uncommon within Egypt’s ruling family at the time. Another example is Ilhami’s own father’s second name: Abbas Pasha’s middle name was Hilmi, and it means “My Dream”. It was also the middle name of Abbas Hilmi II. By the way, if you’re into the history of Egypt around this time,…