(via the port of Alexandria)
"We took the (rail)cars and came up here to ancient Cairo, which is an Oriental city and of the completest pattern... Stately camels and dromedaries, swarthy Egyptians, turbaned, sashed and blazing in a rich variety of Oriental costumes of all shades of flashy colors, are what one sees on every hand crowding the narrow streets and the honey-combed bazaars. "
"The sphinx is grand in its loneliness; it is imposing in its magnitude; it is impressive in the mystery that hangs over its story. And there is that in the overshadowing majesty of this eternal figure of stone, with its accusing memory of the deeds of all ages, which reveals to one something of what he shall feel when he shall stand at last in the awful presence of God"
"One of our well-meaning reptiles--I mean relic-hunters--had crawled up there and was trying to break a "specimen" from the face of this the most majestic creation the hand of man has wrought. But the great image contemplated the dead ages as calmly as ever, unconscious of the small insect that was fretting at his jaw."
Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad, 1867
While the ancient capitol of upper Egypt, Memphis, was located in the Nile Delta not far from modern Cairo, Cairo is not Memphis renamed. Cairo was probably established about 2,000 years ago when Romans occupied a small village on the site. By the Middle Ages Cairo's population had grown to 500,000, but thereafter the city declined due to the Black Death and the opening of the spice trade in India by Portugal. The Turks occupied Cairo for most of the 16th and 17th centuries until finally vanquished by Muhammad Ali, whose family ruled Egypt until the abdication of King Farouk in 1952. With a population today of about 16 million, Cairo is the largest city in the Arab world - though many Egyptians would be quick to claim that they are not Arabs.
To visit Cairo these days typically involves either
hiring a taxi to cover the 100 miles from Alexandria or, taking a bus tour from
Alexandria. The road between Alexandria and Cairo is aptly named the Desert
Highway. Driving this highway it is easy to understand why Moslems believe
Paradise is a garden. Looking at this desert, a lush garden has to be something
from another world. Buses departing from cruise ships receive an Egyptian police escort the
entire way to Cairo. Cairo is no longer a city of narrow streets and
honey-combed bazaars, as Twain described it. Few buildings are older than the
turn-of-the-century. However, Cairo has a couple of things to recommend it that
render
everything else of little importance. Modern Cairo has expanded right to
the edge of the area occupied by Pyramids and Sphinx and the colorful
costumed Egyptians and camels Twain wrote about can now be found only around
these great monuments, mugging for the the cameras and selling camel rides.
Which, by the way, must be paid for in American dollars. It seems that not even
the Egyptians want Egyptian money.
One of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World., the
Pyramid of Khufu (King Cheops) was built as his tomb and monument in 2560
B.C. Today the entire plateau has been designated as a World
Heritage Site.
Originally, the Great Pyramid was 481 feet high, the largest
structure on Earth for 43 centuries. The Great Pyramid is one among
five pyramids in the Giza Plateau, the Pyramid of
Khefre being nearly the same size as Khufu's.
The Sphinx dates from about 2500
B.C., (Fourth Dynasty), and is contemporary with the
Great Pyramid of King
Cheops. "Sphinx" is a Greek word. The Ancient Egyptians knew
this monument as "Hor-em-akht" which means Horus in the Horizon, or
"Bw-Hol", place of Horus, the protector of Kings.
Excavations around the Sphinx have gone on since Napoleon’s army invaded Egypt. Restorations using cement in 1926 damaged the Sphinx, as has air pollution from the nearby city of Cairo. The current restoration is being done with stone and a lime and sand cement. And fortunately, the Sphinx is entirely enclosed by a fence to prevent just the kind of souvenir hunting Twain described.
At the end of the 19th Century, well
after Twain's visit to Cairo, a grand museum was designed in the Beaux Arts
style to house the enormous number of artifacts that had been recovered since
the 18th Century. The Cairo Museum has hardly
changed since its construction a century ago and in many ways it has become a
museum of how museums used to be. However, one very impressive collection has
been added to the Museum
in the last century. In 1922 Howard Carter discovered
the tomb of the boy king, Tutankhamun. His discovery set off a sort of
egyptomania worldwide. Egyptian motifs began to be incorporated in almost every
kind
of design imaginable. On display at the Cairo Museum are most of the
artifacts from Tut's tomb, including his gold
covered sarcophagus and his unbelievable gold mask.
19th Century Photographs of Cairo
For more information, please visit the following websites.
